Whoa. Tough crowd. There's room for at least a couple more comments before the thread closes, you know!
I'll be on hiatus for all of next week. When I return, I'll be starting Thread 3. This doesn't mean I'll be gone- just at the beach, and not posting more fic.
**********
"...and that's when the tidal wave slammed into the compound."
Uno opened the door in front of us, waving me through. "Tidal wave? Where did you get a tidal wave?"
I waved a hand airily. "Oh, the Syndicate compound was built right in the path of a local river. All I had to do was arrange for their dam to fail in just the right way- just a bit of stressed stone around the forcefield generators- and..."
Uno gave me a smile. "Ah, I see. What happened next?"
We rounded a corner, stopping at a set of stairs. "Well, I'd partially collapsed a hill, partway between the dam and the compound. It forced the wave to one side, just enough to swamp the Beni-ya and the compound, but not the Syndicate troops. Naturally, the Beni-ya put up shields and prepared to evacuate.
So I knocked them out, and let the water take them." We went down the stairs, Uno contemplating the situation.
At the bottom of the steps, Uno stopped me. "I believe I understand your logic." She began to pace as she talked. "When the Beni-ya investigate, they will find that the dam failed, in a way that could be considered suspicious, and that the path of the river was subtly altered to target their people. Then they will find the bodies of their people downriver, apparently drowned to death- but none of the Syndicate agents.
The Syndicate will claim that their people have yet to report back, but the Beni-ya will find no evidence that they died... or were even attacked. In the end, it will appear that the whole incident was a Syndicate plot against the Beni-ya- and while the Syndicate know that they intended no such act, they cannot prove it. Am I right?"
Gah... bwah...
Smiling, Uno reached down to my mouth- currently hanging open in surprise- and gently closed it. "Remember who you're talking to. Information is my specialty, Imma- and deception is merely an exercise in controlling it." She led me through another hallway, and up to an impressively thick blast door. "We're here." A wave of her hand, and the door- the first of a series of three blast doors, if the numbering on it was correct- began to open.
Once the door had opened, Uno started to walk into the storage room- only to stop, and turn to face me, a touch of... is that apprehension? Regret?- on her face. "I... my words may have implied that your strategy was... insufficiently well-developed. That was not my intention." She swallowed, and continued. "I have not conducted an in-depth analysis, but my immediate conclusion is that your actions have no less than a sixty percent chance of permanently preventing an alliance between the Syndicate and the Beni-ya, and an additional twenty-five percent chance of inciting hostilities between the organizations. I shall-"
"It's fine!", I said, waving it off. "I already know you're smarter than the average-" bear- "-human being. If anybody could see through my ruse, it'd be you." I forced a grin. "I just wasn't expecting it to happen so soon. Or so thoroughly."
There was a long pause after that. Jeez, this is awkward.
"Alright." Uno pushed a virtual button, and the second door began to grind open. I had just enough time to notice the third door behind it before that one also began to open... revealing a fourth door.
Their numbering is off... oh. It's a construct, not an actual door.
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.
I've been writing a bit.
I'll be on hiatus for all of next week. When I return, I'll be starting Thread 3. This doesn't mean I'll be gone- just at the beach, and not posting more fic.
**********
"...and that's when the tidal wave slammed into the compound."
Uno opened the door in front of us, waving me through. "Tidal wave? Where did you get a tidal wave?"
I waved a hand airily. "Oh, the Syndicate compound was built right in the path of a local river. All I had to do was arrange for their dam to fail in just the right way- just a bit of stressed stone around the forcefield generators- and..."
Uno gave me a smile. "Ah, I see. What happened next?"
We rounded a corner, stopping at a set of stairs. "Well, I'd partially collapsed a hill, partway between the dam and the compound. It forced the wave to one side, just enough to swamp the Beni-ya and the compound, but not the Syndicate troops. Naturally, the Beni-ya put up shields and prepared to evacuate.
So I knocked them out, and let the water take them." We went down the stairs, Uno contemplating the situation.
At the bottom of the steps, Uno stopped me. "I believe I understand your logic." She began to pace as she talked. "When the Beni-ya investigate, they will find that the dam failed, in a way that could be considered suspicious, and that the path of the river was subtly altered to target their people. Then they will find the bodies of their people downriver, apparently drowned to death- but none of the Syndicate agents.
The Syndicate will claim that their people have yet to report back, but the Beni-ya will find no evidence that they died... or were even attacked. In the end, it will appear that the whole incident was a Syndicate plot against the Beni-ya- and while the Syndicate know that they intended no such act, they cannot prove it. Am I right?"
Gah... bwah...
Smiling, Uno reached down to my mouth- currently hanging open in surprise- and gently closed it. "Remember who you're talking to. Information is my specialty, Imma- and deception is merely an exercise in controlling it." She led me through another hallway, and up to an impressively thick blast door. "We're here." A wave of her hand, and the door- the first of a series of three blast doors, if the numbering on it was correct- began to open.
Once the door had opened, Uno started to walk into the storage room- only to stop, and turn to face me, a touch of... is that apprehension? Regret?- on her face. "I... my words may have implied that your strategy was... insufficiently well-developed. That was not my intention." She swallowed, and continued. "I have not conducted an in-depth analysis, but my immediate conclusion is that your actions have no less than a sixty percent chance of permanently preventing an alliance between the Syndicate and the Beni-ya, and an additional twenty-five percent chance of inciting hostilities between the organizations. I shall-"
"It's fine!", I said, waving it off. "I already know you're smarter than the average-" bear- "-human being. If anybody could see through my ruse, it'd be you." I forced a grin. "I just wasn't expecting it to happen so soon. Or so thoroughly."
There was a long pause after that. Jeez, this is awkward.
"Alright." Uno pushed a virtual button, and the second door began to grind open. I had just enough time to notice the third door behind it before that one also began to open... revealing a fourth door.
Their numbering is off... oh. It's a construct, not an actual door.
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.
I've been writing a bit.