Henry Armitage's Questionnaire

"This really isn't the best time for this."  Henry spoke softly, to himself, in an empty room.

"I'm sorry, Fleet Officer - you've already postponed this enough.  You're required to undergo this evaluation."

"Fine.  Let's get this over with."  Henry sighs softly, closing his eyes as he lies back on the bed.  He could hear the voice of the automated psych evaluation AI in his ear, soft and feminine, perfectly calming.  Or at least, scientifically proven to be in the widest range of cases. 

"What town or city do you live in? Why do you live there instead of anywhere else?"

Henry sucked in a suffering breath.  "I live in Maine, on Earth.  I live there because my quarters on the Dance on the Edge of the Endless Dream aren't exactly available right now.  Another.. freelance operator offered it to me.  It's nice enough.  I've made the space my own."

"Describe your home."

Suffering sigh. "Utilitarian, so far.  Just starting to accept I'm stuck here for a while and starting to make it more.. homely.  Mostly equipment around, but I have thick blankets on my bed and I keep the room just about frigid.  Harder to sleep like that here - easier when your bedmates are covered in fur.  But it's habit.  I can sleep in a desert sandstorm if I need to, but I think I sleep best in the cold."

"Right now?  I have a stipend from the local military forces - Lith forged a couple of entries into their records, so I have a rank with them, and along with that a couple of paychecks. I occasionally make a showing, but Lith is able to juggle thing easily enough so nobody notices anything. People trust their records more than they trust their eyes. That's good for all of us.

What do I spend it on?

I don't have a ton of things I need.  Some utilitarian things.  Weapons, food.  Although... perhaps I have a soft spot for women and liquor.  Neither are as good here as home, but... I guess they take the edge off being stuck in this primitive backwater. 

"My ambition?  My ambition is to go home.  Is that very complicated?    Yes, yes.  I know the ideal answer of promoting the Empire's ideals and slaying her enemies and all of that, but right now, I will settle for going home."  Henry sighs.  Bloody psych AIs.  They had no context for anything.

"How far would you go to achieve this?  Would you kill for it?"

"How far would I go to active it?  As far as I bloody need to.  And what a bloody dumb question that is. I have killed for Empress and Empire, as many as they asked for, and I'll keep going as long as it's asked for.  I've done nothing but what's been required of me!"

"How close to death would you come for it?"

"Bah.  You don't complete missions by dying for them.  You do so by making the bastard on the other side die for them."  He waves a hand dismissively.  "But I will if I must."

"Same answer I always give.  Being put into the Officer's Cadre at the beginning."  There's another sigh.  "I grew up knowing there were only two options; to excel or to die.  And I'm still here."

No audio; 13.2 seconds.

"What are you looking for as an answer?  How did it change me? That's an illusion.  It's looking back at a life of forked lightening, asking about each branch taken.  If I'd taken a different branch, it would be a different person looking back, asking different questions."

"You're not answering the question, Fleet Officer."

"Fine.  It gave me the skills and drive to survive today, trapped behind enemy lines. It built my entire worldview, and put me on the track to becoming a Fleet Officer." 

"Mmph.  I guess I can't go with most of the regular people I use for this answer.  Fine..."

"Obviously Lith is the one I'm closest to."

"I'm not sure your personal AI counts-"

"How about you shut the fuck up?"

"..."

"I know the regs.  I know she doesn't meet cinder-2 specs.  She's still a person to me. 

"You realize that's an intended illusion, correct, Fleet Officer?  She's not a person, she doesn't think like you, she just pretends to be one for you."

"What's the difference?"

"...I'm sorry, I'm lacking an Annabelle connection and don't have metaphysical argument databases loaded."

"Probably for the best.  Second person is Charlie Blackstone.  Local human, transforms into a werewolf. She's the one who offered me my current place to stay.    Nice person.  Well behaved." 

"And the third?"

"Probably Jamie.  She's one of the workers at the bakery below the place here I'm staying.  I'm training the bakery staff in standard combat tactics to try to keep my skills sharp.  And because staying still is painful.  It feels like I have to do something.  But fine.

No audio, 8.9 seconds.

"My childhood was hard.  The creche for the Officer's Cadre was brutal.  I don't know my biological parents.  I could look them up, I have the security clearance to do so now.  I'll consider it, and then like every time after one of these evaluations I'll decide to let the past lie.  My parents were my instructors and Executrix White.  They were stern, but fair. I wasn't ever punished unless I deserved it.  I deserved it often."  Henry cracks his neck for a moment.  "But they gave out rewards as well. I deserved those often as well." 

No audio, 5.5 seconds. 

"Simpler times. I remember going from CQC class into hyperspaces sciences.  I was a bit late and there was a test, so I skipped cleaning up.  Did the entire thing with blood leaking down my face from a broken nose.   Still got top marks."  He chuckles softly. "Did I fit in? Yeah.  I was popular.  The rewards I got from Executrix White helped too."

"Lith.  They are... unique.  Along with the fact they inhabit my uniform, which is somewhat keeping me alive on this Empress-forsaken place."

"Do you consider her a possession?"

"...I'm not interested in rehashing this discussion again."

"I think it's an important discussion to have.  You're straddling the difference."

"What does that even mean?"

"You know what it means.  You didn't state that your most prized possession was your uniform, it was Lith."

"Fine. Yes-  No.  Yes.  These Empire-damned psych evals.  Does it matter?  What right do you have to judge me?  I'm a Fleet Officer of the Stellar Navy,  I don't need to answer questions to a bloody AI." 

[Silence, 8.2 seconds.]

"What do you want me to say?  She's been with me since I was a child.  She's always... always..."  There's a pause.  "I don't know.  I know the regulations, and I know the rules.  Everything has gotten more complex since I've been separated from the Empire..."

"Everything was simpler before."

"Being more than a million miles away from home, behind enemy lines, with damaged equipment.  Other than that.. I've settled in pretty well to life here. I've covered the big problems I had when I got here - namely no currency and no documents - with Lith's assistance."

"So, you would say there's no big problems in your life right now, Fleet Officer?"

"Outside of that?  No, not really.  Besides having to answer these stupid questions.  But the only way out is though, so..."

"So it is.  Do you have a plan for steps forward, then?"

"Besides just keep repairing my suit?  Not quite yet.  My best bet is probably to try to build a quantum flare.  The quantum beacon hasn't worked, but a flare might work to signal down the Fleet.  And if I can bring the Fleet here.. well, despite some of the abnormalities here, I'm sure they can make short work of the governments here."

"Sigh.  Fine.  Wake up with Lith waking me.  Get up.  Shower.  Practice a bit.  Head out for breakfast - not a huge fan heading out, but Lith says I need to keep practicing my social skills on this world."

"You do have the simulator unit.  Wouldn't that be a better choice for practice?"

"Perhaps.  Not that Lith recommends, and I tend to defer to her recommendations.  I guess there's an argument to be made that the simulator units aren't perfect, and that there might be variants from reality.  And that... I don't know.  Even in a non-combat scenario, there's a certain element of risk that the simulator just doesn't have.  If I fuck up in the simulator, there's no fur in the game.  Even if I fuck up at the breakfast place, it could be an issue.  It quickens the blood just a little bit.  I don't suppose you'd understand that, though."

Mm.  I remember having to get ready for my Judging. 

...

I suppose at this point, I missed my Actualization.  I... can only hope that they understand it wasn't my fault.  I've spent my entire life getting ready for that moment, and.. I've missed it.

But I suppose that's neither here nor there for the question at hand.  For the question given... preen, of course.  Prepare my hair, my skin.  Entire Lith and my uniform are proper and ensure my medals and such are shined.  My uniform always doubles as a dress uniform, but I can always clean it up a bit more.  Important, certainly, when my entire life is on the line.  It took me the entire day to get ready for it, really.  Although perhaps part of that was nerves.  Couldn't really do stress relief well without messing up the uniform.

Lith helped, though. She always helps. 

Don't know if I deserve her.

Henry takes in a deep breath, holding it for a long moment.

"Must we?"

"We must."

"Tough question.  Lot of contenders.  Being abducted to this Empress-forsaken world, probably is on top, even if I'm not altogether sure what I could have done against it to begin with."

He rubs his head, opening his eyes for a moment to stare at the ceiling before closing them again.

"There was that incident on the Lighthouse station.  Almost turned into a huge thing.  I.. regret failing there, truly.  I regret what I had to do there to cover it up."

"Not enough to turn yourself in for it."

"No, not enough for that.  I'll live with it."

"Anything else?"

"Not too much since I've been here.  ...I guess some part of me asks if I had settled down, if I'd stopped striving, if I'd still be here.  Or if I'd have some comfortable desk job with a mate or two.  But I needed more.  I  needed Actualization."

"And everything that came with it.  It is the highest calling your species can strive for."

"Well. The perks might be nice, too..."

"My gifts are bestowed by the Empress for service."  The reply comes as a reflex.

There's a pause.

"I know that all I am was by Her paw.  I was placed into the Officer's creche, and I was driven.  Most of the others with my batch faltered and died, but I survived. I thrived.  I was trained.  By the time I was a teen I'd already started technological and biological augmentation, needed to survive  further training.   That's when I was told I'd be entering the Stellar Navy.  That's when I got Lith.  I confess, she does a good part of the heavy lifting."

"Are there any chances after our abduction?"

"No.   Whatever happened when I got sucked here broke my equipment, and... well, I wasn't in the great shape.  Our benefactors have agreed to provide limited repair support in exchange for me playing in their games.  That's as far as it goes.  They're not offering me anything I don't already have."

"I worship the Empress, as one is meant to.  My service is to her and the Lithese."  Henry takes a moment to calm his breath.  "I know that when I die, if I die as I am now, I will go into the soil.  If I die as I am now in home, my final action is to go into the vats, to be broken down and recycled.  But should I undergo Actualization, I become beyond death. I become one of the Lithese, my form transformed, my mind elevated to be one with the Gods.  I know this to be true.

The religions of these worlds are primitive, superstitious.  They worship gods that do not act, that their beliefs somehow deify this lack of action. I do not understand.  Even if such gods exist... why would one worship them?

As for what I believe? I believe forgiveness of enemies can only come upon their repentance.

"What conflict are you talking about?  That there's bigger, more powerful assholes out there who are willing to put us in deadly danger for their own amusement?"

"Careful, Fleet Officer."

"Apologies.  It's been... a while.  Forgive my lapse.  No, there haven't been any substantial cases where everything I thought was true were put into doubt.  I'm not sure what could cause that really, even.  I suppose you could say moments like that have already been worked out of me.  Hesitation and second guessing are poor traits for a soldier.  I'd like to imagine I could immediately re-contextualize, re-orient my worldview if I got something truly new, but...I can't imagine what would that be. The Empress has already told me what the truth is."

No audio, 5.2 seconds.

"I was so much more certain of everything before I got abducted. It's like... I'm losing my grip on reality."

...

"Or maybe I'm just finally getting one."

"I can't say that I see a ton of them often, really."

"Really, now?"

"Yeah.  Going though my memory...  I've met a number of them... twice?  So I assume our benefactors have a large pool of... individuals to draw from."

"Go ahead and describe them."

"Sigh.  Fine.

Albert, technical officer.  Insane, paranoid, very good at his job.  Have to treat him with kids gloves if I work with him.

Liam, medical officer.  Competent, grounded.  Might be able to talk to ghosts?  Good man to drink with, honestly.   A male psych-witch, if you could believe it. 

Valentine.  Present on the contracts. Some kind of a... local sportsball player cosplayer?  Not the most effective.  But perhaps it was just a factor of the missions we were on."

"Are those all of the ones you can think of?"

"Yes. My mission logs are quite detailed, and-  Ah.  Yes, Sally.  She was a psych-witch in the traditional  term.  Insane.  But powerful dark magics..."

I am expected to be the best at everything.

Such is the life of a member of the Officer Cadre.

But even with that said, an officer has strengths.

I've always had a favour for direct action.  Preferentially stealth - infiltrating an area, taking the one shot that's necessary, and then vanishing out the same way I came before the enemy is even aware I was ever there. That is what I am best at.

There are other things I'm expected to be the best at.  Information gathering, intelligence, social engineering.  Alertness.  I can outrun any man and react faster than them as well. 

The situation we've been thrown into is complex and overwhelming - I believe many lesser men would be dead.  I've seen many lesser men die in situations less bad than this one, behind enemy lines with malfunctioning equipment.  And of course...

I've even seen equals die in it.

My limits are what are most important for my service to the Immortal Empress and the Stellar Navy.

Betrayal.  Traitors. The most despicable, fit to burn in the deepest circles of the underworld.  I cannot stand being lied to, being betrayed.

Capture.  A lack of control, and typically the first step towards failure.  Unacceptable.  In addition, being bound is most improper for a man.

Failure.  To fail in any task charged is to fail the Immortal Empress, to fail the Stellar Navy.  It is to step away from Actualization, to turn one's back on everything that is true and good. It is better to die than to fail.

I lack some of the limitations of those outside of the Stellar Navy - it is right and just to kill in some, many cases.  It is a necessary evil to suffer.  And we must tolerate atrocities... both those committed by others, and those we must commit ourselves.

1) Warframe | We All Lift Together - Henry was born to parents in the Officer's Cadre - From the moment he was out of the womb, he had great expectations placed upon him.  Every action was expected to be towards a greater purpose, one they were all working towards.

2) Dawid Podsiadło, P.T. Adamczyk - Henry is accepted as a candidate Fleet Officer.   He is given Lith.  Teacher, servant, assistant, watcher, minder.  He is inexorability bound to her.  His body is augmented, cybernetically, biologically.  They will live together.  Or they will die together.

3) Gods Ft. NewJeans - Henry advances the ranks of the Cadre, excelling.  He defeats his fellow students in whatever manner  that the teachers  decree.  Physical, mental, loyalty.

4) M.O.O.N - Hydrogen - Henry is accepted as a Junior Fleet Officer.  He is expected to be the tip of the spear in situations where the Fleet cannot act.  He acts as a direct action force, taking a small force to accomplish a dagger's work.  For it is often that a dagger in the dark is worth a thousand swords at dawn.  When he entered a killing trace, there was nothing but the motion towards the objective.

5) Caravan Palace - Lone Digger - Henry is vengeful, and prone to escalation.  More than once a subtle slight from a peer winded the hapless man on the other end of Henry's blade in a duel. 

6) SUPERHUMAN by Miracle Of Sound - Henry, accepted as a full Fleet Officer, is given nearly unlimited power and authority in the name of the Empress.  He kept a list of everyone who had wronged him in any way during his ascension and he had been unable to take his vengeance at the time.

7) The House of the Dying Sun - Henry is an officer of the Immortal Empress, charged with her service. Worlds have burned by her decree.  Worlds will.  Rebellions put down.  Should she command it, the Throneworld would burn.

My Ambition is to the Immortal Empress, and it cannot change.  The mere concept of the question is an affront. 

[Pause, 4.2 seconds.]

I don't remember this question being part of a standard psych battery.  Perform diagnostics.

"Diagnostics complete.  No abnormalities detected.   Will you eventually retire, Fleet Officer?"

"...Retire?" The question was almost a surprise.  "No.  Officers of the Stellar Navy do not retire. I will serve.  Occasionally, I will take a sabbatical.  I will choose a child of mine to take personal interest in, I will raise them.  And then I will return to service.  Or... perhaps Actualization is 'retirement' for this question?  Ah.   That must be it.  ...No. I know the Actualized often act in ways that are... beyond our comprehension at the time.  I am sure there is a greater purpose to their madness.  They are physical gods, afterall.  Surely there is a grand design in them."

[Pause, 6.2 seconds].

"I feel like that's somewhat self-defeating to tell you, no?"

"This session is classified ANGEL/OA.  Whatever you discuss here will not be revealed except on personal orders of the Immortal Empress."

"Well, I suppose those aren't really likely to come right now, are they?"

[Pause, 10.1 seconds].

"Fine.  I suppose there's a number of things, isn't there?  My Stellar Navy access keys.  Battle plans, fleet specifications and routing codes.  Shield harmonic algorithms."

[Pause, 3.2 seconds.] 

"But I suppose that's not what you're asking about, is it?  You're more curious about the Lighthouse Incident.  The battle at Starling Gate."

[Pause, 5.6 seconds.]

"...Or how I feel about Lith.   That is forbidden, for many reasons."

"Do you believe it's unethical to be in a relationship with an entity that is incapable of disobeying?"

"I'm not in a relationship with her, you bloody virtual ghost!"

"I never said you were, Fleet Officer. You were not named in the question."

"Lith, force end session."

To Harbinger?  I do hope I've made it back home before then.  Or maybe brought the Stellar Navy here.  Perhaps I would be given a role as planetary administrator.

But in this thought experiment...

I rather like my current title.

The Fleet Officer.

What kind of contracts would I run?  Well.  Having more of an idea of what the context is - games, trials.. I still I'd have more proper, tactical ones.  No word games or misleading statements.

Here is a situation, here is an objective, resolve it effectively within the operational constraints.

Simple contracts?

Here is a compound.  There are hostages inside.  Retrieve the hostages, kill or neutralize the terrorists.

Advanced? 

Here's a compound. It's currently surrounded by angry protesters.  The people inside have been controlled by a psych-witch, who is disguised by one of them.  You can't kill any of the staff, can't harm any of the Nobility there, and your presence can't be known by anyone at the end.  Resolve all outstanding situations.

Impossible?

I'll reproduce the Lighthouse Incident and see if anyone else does any better.

The living need it more than the dead.

Past that, it depends on the situation.

If it allows for it, take the body with us and give it proper funeral rites as they would have wanted.  A small memorial for those who knew them and were among us.  Strip the equipment, of course.  That of particular sentimental value can be distributed those who it means things to.  Equipment of use goes to who needs it most.

If it doesn't allow for it... well, strip everything of use off of them if we have time and keep moving.  If not, just keep moving period.  The living shouldn't die for the dead.

In an ideal world, if it was possible to return after the situation was resolved, we should try to recover the body for a proper funeral.

But yes.  I would do everything I could to drag a wounded teammate out of there, but once there's nothing more that can be done for them, have to save your efforts to save yourself.

Ideally we wouldn't interact with them at all.  In and out before the local security directorate responds, using active camouflage to conceal ourselves from recording devices, gloves and such to conceal ourselves from more primitive investigation techniques.

Normally I'd have a whole suite of equipment meant to conceal me from more interesting detection techniques - hell, I'd even settle just for thermal dampening right right.  But sadly, not available yet.  Trying to fix it, but everything is broken still.  Let alone stuff like graviton wave dispersion.  But this planet doesn't have that technology yet, so lacking the jamming technology isn't the worst and has put the priority down on its repair.

And should worst come to worst, force can be applied. Preferably less-lethal force - reactions are typically more muted when you don't leave a body.  But should they be aware of my identity or compromising information about the mission, deadly force could be applied.

Likely not.  Local laws and the local security directorate are ultimately irrelevant with the operations we do and the people we work for. 

If I consider the actions taken to be acceptable, then there is nothing to be concerned with.

If I consider the actions taken to be unacceptable, then I will deal with it myself.  There is no prison that can hold individuals such as ourselves on this planet that I have access to, so there are only two options.  Clemency, or death.  No other punishments can be levied against entities such as ourselves in this backwater.

Clemency can be issued with or without comment, depending on the situation. 

Death will be issued without comment.  This is not the time, nor place for a trial, and the entity that I will be passing judgement upon will likely disagree with it - in ways that I may not be aware of. Thus, a pair of shots to the back of the head when they're distracted is the safest course of action for everyone involved.