"Facet" noun *one aspect of a problem *one side of a many sided cut gem
...tower west unit 23.a.21...21.39 hours...limited consensus meeting . emergency session...tower lockdown remains in effect . alert status yellow...present are Commander Zavala (CZ), hunter vanguard Cayde 6 (C6), warlock vanguard ikora rey(IR), executor hideo (EH), lakshmi-2 (L2)...beginning live transcription...
CZ : Arach Jalaal will not be joining us. The Speaker is still recovering from his injury. You all have copies of the report on your screens. This includes casualty numbers and a list of equipment damage with estimated repair time. There is no indication of further attacks at this time. I have reduced the alert status and ended the lockdown. Amanda Holliday informs me that we should be back to full operation in 2 hours. We -
EH : with all due respect commander, this is not why we are here. We need to know, all of us, how this happened. Why this happened. Many lives have been lost.
CZ : failings. In security processes. In decision making. I am as culpable as anyone.
L2 : I am not here for blame, commander. I do not believe any of us are. I have no wish to find a scapegoat. But we must know why.
CZ : I believe... we believe she was given this task. We don't know by who. Or why. Not yet. But it does not appear to have been her choice.
EH : And why do you think this?
C6 : She has an explosive charge attached to her spine. Subcutaneous, fused to the bone. Enough kick in it to incinerate anyone in a ten metre radius.
CZ : Whoever fitted her with it wishes her dead. They tried to activate it. The signal frequency was broadcasting when we tracked it.
L2 : then why did it not go off? Was it faulty? Or a ruse?
C6 : No. Amanda deactivated it before it could go off. The speakers chamber is one of the most secure places in the tower, particularly for a comms traffic, so before that the activation signal couldn't get through.
EH : And how did Miss Holliday know this explosive was there?
IR : She told her.
EH : I'm sorry...the hunter told her?
IR : Yes.
L2 : And what about her? This traitor. Has anyone spoken with her?
The door slides closed. The prisoner raises her eyes to the visitor.
"Hello, Diz."
She begins to laugh.
Cayde steps forward, tries to speak again but the laughter continues, cutting him off. The sound of it stabs at him, cruel and cold as it rises and falls.
He doesn't know what to say.
He can still hear it, long after he has left.
C6 : she wouldn't talk. Whoever she was before is ... gone.
IR : We should kill her. Sooner rather than later. If we can't get the information quickly.
L2 : I do not wish to sound hasty commander, but I am inclined to agree with Ikora Rey. To have a creature like this in the tower, no matter how well secured...
YOU ARE READING
Inlustris
Science FictionThis is my confession. Sometimes Guardians turn to the dark. They must be stopped. They must be killed. This is my duty. This is my last confession.
