Mission #14 - Follow Up and Vote

[lucetimods]

By the conclusion of this mission, the volunteers will have the option to either help the Iron Eye or take measures to ensure they fail. There are four options to take, each with their own pros and cons, as well as chances for success or failure. The involvement of the Lucetians will have a significant impact on future drafts and missions.

Of course, the question is: what are the Iron Eye up to? If you haven’t figured it out, you may have to make a decision with just what you’ve figured out.

The voting will impact things thusly:

Options 1 and 2 are pro-Iron Eye. By voting for them, one vote is ADDED to their chance of success.

Options 3 and 4 are anti-Iron Eye. But voting against them, one voted is SUBTRACTED to their chance of success.

Whichever of the four options get the majority vote will be the one that is used to determine the outcome of the mission. So, for instance, if Option 3 is chosen with 10 votes for Anti-Iron Eye, and 4 votes for Pro-Iron Eye, we could end up with:

40% - 10% + 4% = 34% chance of success. This means the Iron Eye would very likely fail, which is the desired option of the majority vote.

Once we have the votes in, we’ll use the random dice roll in an AIM chatroom, where we will roll a 100-sided die. If the dice rolls 34 or higher, the Iron Eye will fail. Likewise, if the success percentage is at 85%, then any dice roll over 85 will result in failure.

Bear in mind that there are 28 characters involved, which means that there is a lot of sway on the success rate based simply on agreeing with any one option.

The dice roll will take place in lucetiplot on September 15th at 11:00PM EST for those who wish to observe. If you do not have your vote in by then, it will not be counted. But this should give you ample time to try and figure out what’s really going on and decide what your character will do.

And so your options are thus:

1. They help the Iron Eye find the entrance to the cultist’s underground city and do not report to the Malnosso. Although this dramatically increases the chances to succeed, it will also put them in danger of some reprisal.

Pro: This route secures them an alliance with the Iron Eye. The repercussions could dramatically shift the war away from the cultists.
Con: Direct collaboration would make them accountable to the Malnosso, and they would lack the ability to deny their involvement.
Chance of Iron Eye Success: 80% + one point for each volunteer supporting the Iron Eye.

2. They help the Iron Eye by not telling the Malnosso what’s going on. This increases the chance of success and doesn’t put them in any kind of danger. They claim ignorance.

Pro: This route frees them of accountability. The repercussions could dramatically shift the war away from the cultists.
Con: Their relationship with the Iron Eye and Malnosso is not improved, but it isn’t ruined either. Luceti’s influence is not altered.
Chance of Iron Eye Success: 60% + one point for each volunteer supporting the Iron Eye.

3. They report the Iron Eye’s activities to the Malnosso, informing them of their ultimate goal. This also reveals Bil’s location. This decreases the chance of success and doesn’t put the volunteers in any danger.

Pro: This route guarantees they secure some tangible physical reward for Luceti in return for their loyalty to the Organization. This could be new infrastructure, an expanded barrier, or some other surprise gift.
Con: This route leaves Bil and the Iron Eye’s fate to the Malnosso, which is not promising for either of them.
Chance of Iron Eye Success: 40% - one point for each volunteer opposing the Iron Eye.

4. They find a way to sabotage the Iron Eye’s activities, but don’t report it to the Malnosso. This dramatically decreases the chance of success, but puts them in danger of reprisal.

Pro: This route leaves the Iron Eye and Bil in tact, but foils their plans. They maintain good relations with the Malnosso.
Con: The route sours relations with the Iron Eye.
Chance of Iron Eye Success: 20% - one point for each volunteer opposing the Iron Eye.

Characters will find out the results of their decision via an NPC post sometime later in September.

Comments

[tearmeanewone]

"...so we have to just leave here like nothing happened," Elizabeth says, looking equally distressed by this option. "Otherwise we'll make an enemy of somebody we don't want to be up against."

[voidseeing]

"At the moment, that looks like our best option." Gai has long since learned the value of making and maintaining connections. Funeral Parlor needed supplies and backing in order to operate, after all. If there's one thing he's well-aware of, it's the importance of keeping friends in high places.

[tearmeanewone]

Elizabeth gives Gai a measured look. She isn't convinced that the best action is inaction, but Gai isn't her boyfriend right now. That much was easily discerned at the beginning of this meeting. What she needs to say and wants to hear can't be said now. Not in front of everyone.

So she nods and looks down at her hands.

[voidseeing]

For the briefest moment, Gai's expression softens as he looks at her. It doesn't last long, and to those who don't know him, it could easily be mistaken as a trick of the light before he puts his leader face back on again.

He's sorry that Elizabeth has to see this side of him, yet at the same time... this is a part of who he is: the calculating, ruthless leader. He can't divorce this part of him from the part she knows, and right now, this is the side of him the situation calls for.

She can ream him out for it all she wants later. He won't say a word to object.

[tearmeanewone]

After the meeting more or less breaks up, Elizabeth figures that Gai will no doubt be detained by people who need to talk to him one-on-one. Maybe Law even. Elizabeth has to go back to her tent, though. She's not in a good place, she's confused and worried, and overheating isn't helping.

Once she's back at the tent she starts undressing almost immediately to get some relief from the heat. It isn't helping as much as she'd hoped.

[voidseeing]

Predictably, Gai is detained, and he spends some time answering questions (and being lectured at) before he finally manages to slip away. Something tells him that he won't find Elizabeth at the medical tents; instead, he heads straight for her tent, figuring she's most likely to be there.

If it weren't for the situation they'd just been in, he would think nothing of just walking in. As it is, however, he pauses outside of the tent to announce his presence first and make sure she's okay with him being there.

"Elizabeth?"

[tearmeanewone]

Elizabeth looks towards the opening of the tent and quickly shrugs on her dressing gown.

"Come in, just don't open the flap too wide."

[voidseeing]

Gai does as she says, opening it just enough to let himself slip inside and then closing it behind him.

The look on his face once he gets inside is almost apologetic, certainly subdued. He'd thought he'd left that kind of decision-making behind him back in his own world...

[tearmeanewone]

Elizabeth goes to Gai immediately and wraps her arms around him. Not for his sake, for her own.

"If I'd known we would have to make this kind of choice..." She doesn't know how to finish that so she lets it go. "If we could run off into the desert..." But that would mean leaving Booker and Robert and Rosalind behind. There's no good answer, nothing is good about this.

[voidseeing]

"This is the kind of thing I had to do all the time," he says, hugging her tightly in return. "It's the kind of thing I wish you never had to see."

Not just the decisions, but this part of him. Gai Tsutsugami, leader of Funeral Parlor, the notorious terrorist organization. A man whose very presence could strike fear into people. The sort of man he'd hoped he wouldn't have to be here... but it looks as if fate won't be that kind to him.

[tearmeanewone]

"Oh I've seen this--" Elizabeth pulls away from Gai enough to look him in the eye. "What do you think I did when Booker first killed a dozen people while I dodged the bullets? I ran like hell. Away from him.

"...and then a few hours later I was opening tears that killed people. And a few months later I was hunting someone down, actively. Because he deserved it."

She breaks her gaze and looks down at Gai's chest. "It isn't whether or not I feel it's right to use on those people. But I couldn't say why in front of everyone.

"My power... it started to manifest when I was a child. And the older I got, the more powerful I became. I would be able to open a tear one day, and the next day it would be almost impossible. It grew, exponentially. I saw the charts. And I realized that whenever they realized I was stronger, they would increase the force of the siphon. The machine that kept my powers contained."

She hides her face in his chest again. "And then they knew they couldn't contain it anymore. And they shoved that, that cable into me...!" She can almost feel it happening again. The restraints, the antiseptic, the first pressure and--

"They were desperate, Gai! They had to control the force I possessed and they scraped together a way to do it out of sheer fear that I would kill them all the next chance I had."

Her tone is straying into something Gai hasn't heard before: quiet and angry, the sort of tone that someone used when they had been pushed too far and hurt too much. There's no doubt in her voice, she would have done it. She had done it.

"They'll do the same. They'll do anything to contain what the Iron Eye has built."

[ex_tessen852]

"That might be the best plan." Suki finally spoke up after remaining silent for so long. She spent this time listening to what everyone had to say and just thinking.

"If we go back and say nothing, then we help the Iron Eye without really helping them. And it will be a way for the Malnosso not to be angry with us. This way we'll just appear neutral, which might be our best option. Not making any enemies, but not making any friends either."

Though she said it, she was still was pretty unsure about how she felt about it. Part of her did want to team up with the Iron Eye. They could use someone like them on their side against the Malnosso, but they were a bit too radical for Suki's taste.

[yourfononsarewhack]

"Not friends - allies. This is a rare opportunity to make an ally from outside the enclosure - one that currently is in contact with one of the organization's former leaders. We can't underestimate the potential advantage that we can gain from an alliance."

[ex_tessen852]

"Would forming allies with them be wise though? I'm all for taking down the Malnosso, but if they discover we're working with them? What will they do to us? To our friends?"

It was the only thing making her nervous. There was no way she was going to tell the Malnosso what was going on with the Iron Eye, and there was no way she was going to stop them. But to help them? She was still on the fence about that.

[yourfononsarewhack]

"I imagine that there will be some harsh reprimands. However, we must not be overly dramatic about this matter. As I understand it, the Malnosso may seem to be cruel and merciless overlords, but they are in fact bound by a code of heroism. In fact, it seems that the very reason that Sir Catherine is siding with the Iron Eye is because their code binds them from making such decisive pre-emptive strikes upon the Malnosso. With that in mind, I imagine that the Malnosso would not punish us with methods beyond a temporary shift. It seems like a relatively small price to pay for our potential continued safety.

And please, keep in mind that we are not quite 'taking down' the Malnosso. We are only going against their wishes. Perhaps allying with the Iron Eye could be our first step towards finding a way to escape the enclosure, but I imagine that would be a discussion for a later day. For now, we can take action in this war for ourselves."

[ex_tessen852]

For a while, Suki said nothing. She just took in what Jade said, trying to think of what was best.

"Perhaps I chose the wrong words, but still. I don't know if I'm alright with actively helping the Iron Eye. Even if it's only a shift. I don't want to be the cause of it. Who knows what a shift might cause.

I agree that we need to take action, but how much is the question."

[voidseeing]

"Exactly," Gai says, pleased that someone else here seems to have sense. "We don't lose anything, but it gives us the chance to pursue further relations with the Iron Eye later. I suspect the former MSF member in question would be more inclined to trust us if I keep my word about not selling her out to the Malnosso. She's a connection we could potentially use in the future."

[ex_tessen852]

"Do you think she would want to help us if we don't help them?" She asked. Suki was still on the fence about helping them. "Or is just not telling the Malnosso enough?"

[voidseeing]

"Don't know," is Gai's response. "She seemed more afraid of being found out than anything else. I don't think she cared that much about the potential of us helping out."

[ex_tessen852]

She looked away, trying to think things over. "Well that's good to know, I guess. Makes it easier to decide what to do."

[voidseeing]

"If anything, she acted like she was expecting me to turn them over to the Malnosso." He wasn't surprised by that, but he wasn't pleased that she'd thought he was working for them either.

[ex_tessen852]

"Well I'd rather help them than the Malnosso. Do they really think we're the Malnosso's dogs or something?"

[voidseeing]

"Judging by her words, that's exactly what they think of us."

[ex_tessen852]

"Awesome. That's exactly what I want people to think of them." Her annoyance wasn't easily hidden. "I hope they realize we have minds of our own."

[voidseeing]

"I can't think of a better way to show that than by choosing to side with them over the Malnosso." Gai had been equally irritated to be faced with those words from Aka, the accusations that he was little more than one of the Malnosso's dogs.