Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Cinder
So. This is what it feels like to be the one on trial.
Cinder forced herself to meet the gaze of the members of The Council, despite the hostility and suspicion burning in their eyes. After the battle, she'd dared to hope that maybe, The Council would overlook her dark and bloody heritage. That killing Levana and ending the war between the Rampions and the Lunars once and for all would wipe the slate clean.
Now, she knew that hope to be nothing more than stupidity born of triumph and euphoria in victory. What an idiot.
Finally, the Emperor spoke, his booming voice echoing around the room. "Selene Channary Jannali Blackburn-"
"Can you just call me Cinder?" she risked interrupting, "Or Mechanic? It's just, that's the name I grew up with." She hurriedly added as The Council glared at her, "I don't really consider Selene my real name."
The Emperor scowled, but obliged. "Very well then, Cinder. Do you know why you're here today?"
Cinder silently debated feigning ignorance. Maybe that would earn her a few sympathy points? Ah, who was she kidding. No-way was playing dumb going to help her in any way. "I am here because of my connection to the Blackburn family and, by extension, the Lunars."
"Indeed." Crime Minister said, "Given your family history, you must understand our caution in this matter. Throughout history, the Blackburns have shown themselves time and again to be corrupt, cruel and power-hungry. Combined with their exceptional powers of mind-control… well. As you could probably guess, that is quite a toxic combination."
"I know, and I understand that." Cinder said, "But can I just remind you that a big part of their behaviour was due to the way they were raised. They were taught by their family that that was the best way to get what you wanted from the world. And, with all due respect, I wasn't raised by the Blackburns. I was raised by a family of normal civilians!"
Who basically treated me like a slave,she added privately.
"She does have a point there." General Thunder said, "She's been taught to uphold the values we teach our citizens, not… whatever values the Blackburns think are good."
"Yes, but values can change." Crown Jewel reminded him darkly, "This girl is still young, plenty of time for her beliefs to change. And she has at her fingertips the perfect trigger to make her into a very powerful enemy for the Rampions."
"Or a very powerful ally." Primal pointed out. "None of our prodigies have the power of mind-control from what I remember, and if they do, none of them are in the same league as the Blackburns. Imagine what that could mean, for us to have something like that at our disposal. How much good we could do?"
Cinder made sure to keep her face blank and calm, though her mouth still twitched into a slight frown. At their disposal? What did they think she was, a tool?
"I hate to ruin your optimism Primal, but there's a reason we haven't yet accepted any mind-controllers into our ranks." President Star growled, "They are far too dangerous. And the Blackburns are the most dangerous of the lot!"
Cinder threw her hands up in the air as her patience started to break. "What do you think I'm going to do? Commit mass genocide? Enslave the entire world?" she cried.
"Yes."
She spluttered incredulously. "Wha-? Why would I do that? I literally just killed someone who had those goals! Why in the name of the powers would I decide to finish what she started? That makes absolutely no sense!"
Crown Jewel snorted. "You say that now, the picture of pure-hearted selflessness, but before you know it that power of yours will go right to your head. It will start off small. Just making people agree with you in arguments and suchlike. But eventually you'll just have everyone going about doing your bidding simply to make life easier for yourself."
"What do you think I am, a pampered princess who can't live without gourmet meals and designer clothes? I'm used to people treating me badly, I'm not going to turn insane if the prejudice continues."
The Emperor raised his hands for silence. "Please, forgive Crown Jewel and President Star for their rather dramatic views on how you will use your powers."
"Dramatic? That's realism that is!" President Star grumbled.
"But please, try to see this from our point of view." The Emperor continued, "You have a very dangerous, very powerful ability. You've proven that you're not about to use it for selfish reasons anytime soon, but you have to understand our caution. That's what's making this decision so… difficult."
Cinder sighed and tried to reign in her thoughts. "Fine. Then inject me with stasis. That'll solve the whole mind-control problem."
"Let's save that as a last resort." Primal said, "Your power's dangerous, but used for good and properly managed, it could prove to be an invaluable asset!"
Cinder's eye twitched. There it was again, this fixation on using her like some kind of building block for their monument of jobs-well-done.
Crown Jewel sniffed. "Well what would you have us do? Have her supervised for every second of her life so that we'll know when she starts to crack?"
"If I start to crack." Cinder said loudly.
Crown Jewel waved a hand dismissively, her crystalline skin sparkling in the light. "I understand your desire to utilise this power Primal, but it's too impractical to organise all of the necessary security measures. Stasis is the best choice."
"There's no need to jump to conclusions that quickly Camilla." General Thunder told her sternly, "There can easily be other solutions that we haven't thought of yet."
"Or maybe we're too late to implement those solutions." President Star said darkly.
Crime Minister frowned. "And what do you mean by that Vargas?"
"We all know the repercussions of not-using certain powers. Mind-control in particular has some extremely obvious ones. If this girl really hadn't used this power before in her life, she'd be in a padded cell right now!"
"What are you suggesting?" asked the Emperor, his tone perfectly formal and blank.
President Star snarled. "I'm saying that she's been using this power for years! By the powers, she's probably used it on us! How can we trust someone like that?"
"Actually… there's an explanation for that." Cinder told him, "Can you call Dr Erland up here?"
"So you're saying that this device can suppress powers by harnessing stardust in the recipient's cells?" the Emperor asked.
Dr Erland sighed in exasperation. "Yes. Honestly, is it that hard to understand? Prodigy powers are born from stardust, and as a result are fuelled by it. With this device, the body wouldn't be able to access the stardust. It would be as though the recipient doesn't have powers at all."
"Why not just use stasis then?" President Star grumbled.
Dr Erland glared at him. "Because, as I've already explained several times, the device is removable, and can be deactivated. Stasis, as I understand it, is permanent. And what you want is a way to manage and control Mechanic's power, without just removing it completely. Do you find this to be an ideal solution?"
"It certainly seems promising." Crime Minister said with a nod.
"Well, you're going to have to wait a while then." Dr Erland said dryly, "Cinder's device is damaged, and if I tried to replicate it, then it will likely take several tries, and several test subjects, to get it right."
"Is the device removable?" Primal said.
"Yes. The procedure itself should be largely non-invasive."
Primal glanced at the Emperor, who nodded and turned back to Dr Erland. "Do what you have to Dmitri. This device could prove to be immensely useful, not only for Mechanic's predicament, but for future Rampion activities as well."
The scientist raised an eyebrow. "You did hear me when I said I'll need test subjects, right?"
"Yes, but we'll use strictly volunteers, and they need to be fully informed on the potential dangers. Will that do?"
Dr Erland nodded. "Yes, that will do nicely."
The Emperor smiled and turned back to Cinder. "And does this solution sit well with you?"
Cinder frowned and crossed her arms. "I have no objections, but first, I'd like to clear something up first."
The Councillors tensed and narrowed their eyes at her, obviously expecting some kind of outrageous demand they couldn't hope to meet.
Cinder couldn't help but roll her eyes at them as she continued. "While I'm not exactly in love with my power, I'd like to keep some degree of control over it. I want to be consulted on when I'll be unable to use it, and when I will be able to use it and for what purpose. I'm not just a weapon for you to fire whenever you feel like, so I think I have a right at least to have a say in how my own powers are going to be used."
The Councillors stared at her, waiting for her to say more, to add to her demands.
But she said nothing.
As the moments went by, The Council slowly relaxed as they realised that this was her only request. Eventually, the Emperor sighed. "You're right Mechanic, you do have a right for control over your own powers. I sincerely apologise if anything we've said or done has made you feel otherwise. You're requests will be granted, and we will be sure not to overrule your will on matters concerning this. Do we have an agreement?"
Cinder scanned the chairs surrounding her, and at the faces, faces that have become familiar to her in the last few months, that studied her, anxiously awaiting her answer.
"Yes."
A/N: Please review!
