004. voice.

[sorrycharles]

My name is Erik Lehnsherr.

[ His voice is rough, still raw from the scrape of the breathing tube up and out through his trachea. Blood from his nose is clagged thick down the back of his throat, the taste of copper on his tongue soured further by bile. ]

For the complacent -- for those of you content to shelter in place gumming canned corn while this ship bends you to its will: you need only ask if you crave the added comfort of certain death.

For the rest of us: we do what we must to survive so that we might live. It’s true that no dead prisoner has ever escaped captivity.

But neither has any man who hasn’t tried.

If you have a chance, take it. If you’re afforded a choice, make it. Fight, and suffer, and die screaming before you pass on an opportunity to break this cycle.

If no one else will take up the mantle of Commander Shepard’s mission, I will.

[ A pause, then: ]


An entity with nothing to fear from the truth has no need to kill to protect it.

[ The feed ends. ]

Comments

[private voice]

[sorrycharles]

[ Relief closes Erik’s eyes and bleeds some of the tension out of his neck -- invisible, of course in another, shorter silence.

Focus. ]

I am going into the halls, [ he waits to confirm. ] This is a loose end we can’t afford to leave hanging.

[anybodies]

[Raven isn't looking straight at the screen anymore, in part because Erik's face isn't there anyway, and partly because she's thinking. Trying to understand.] Loose end, [she repeats.]

The vulnerability, you mean? Because the ship tried to defend itself?

Or are you talking about Commander Shepard and Javik? [It's then that her eyes focus too. This would be interesting, in no small part because Shepard, to all appearances, was merely human.]

[sorrycharles]

[ Unknown to Raven, Erik meets her gaze. ]

The vulnerability, [ he is kind enough to clarify.

His speech is careful, enunciation very clear. He forgets to blink. ]

They’ve forced the ship to react.

[anybodies]

[A little pinch shows in her forehead, almost invisible in the pattern and color of her scales.]

The ship reacted to our visit in Arima. The ship-- 'reacted' to those pirates we saw about, on the network. Shepard said they reached a... a-- some kind of sanctuary and would've been safe through the Jump if they'd stayed-- that means the ship let them. But she left. She chose to leave.

What is it you think you're gonna find if you do exactly what she did again? [Her irises sliver more brightly into view when she makes herself look again.]

[sorrycharles]

Nathan believes that Shepard was compromised, before the end. Her testimony can’t be trusted.

I don’t know what I’ll find.

But I’m not content with knowing only what I’m told.

[anybodies]

I just don't understand why you think this is your moment.

[Her face is dark with frustration.] But if you do, I'm going with you.

[disconnect]

[sorrycharles]

This isn't about moments.

If you don't understand, don't follow. I want your loyalty, but not blind.

We'll talk later.