Central Government/New Unified Earth Government Offices
Scaffolding covered the facade of the Central Government Building after the bombardment it'd been subjected to a couple of days ago. Life in the Ark had resumed to normalcy, Barricades had been cleared and the civilians were allowed to return to the streets, though, now, the Police was supported by the UNSC Marines that had been deployed to assist in curbing any potential extra violence. The Marines were also meant to replace the Mass Production Nikkes that were currently away.
Within the office of the Central Government, said Nikkes had been gathered in long lines. Among them were a couple of members from the Lucky Strikes, sent here by Chief's order. The UNSC had announced immediate and major reforms for the Military and how it operated. Rumors were abound, but Captain Cutter assured everyone that these reforms would make sense in due time.
The Central Government had been dissolved after it was discovered a lot of its staff had been... 'Inconvenienced'... By Syuen's acts and would not be able to return to work. Their families were contacted and the current fact the crematories were working overtime was disheartening, but at least some part of the capable staff remained. Pinne looked back to Niner and whispered, "The heck d'ya think this is about...?"
"I don't know," Niner shrugged, "Must be pretty big if they're summoning all Nikkes in basically waves at this point."
"There hasn't been a reform that moved this fast in forever," Pinne snorted, arms crossed to her chest. Truly, things were starting to take shape in the Ark right now. She smiled a little and told her friend, "The fact Chief gave us a free day for it means it must be real important, too. Layla, Sammy, Delta and Signal went yesterday and they've been giddy about it ever since."
"You get any info out of them?" The MG Gunner raised a brow. Her shotgunner friend shook her head.
"Lips were shut tight. Chief's orders again. Seems like he wants every one of us to get surprised," Scoffed Pinne. Niner rolled her eyes at that. Really, what could be so important they'd manage to keep it a secret from each-other on orders? Pinne hummed, then gasped and said, "Hey, 112!" as she saw the wounded shotgunner Stella had tended to leaving the place, beaming.
112 looked different now. She wore a technically 'new face' behind the visor and her hair had been dyed black to differentiate her from her sisters. However, when she noticed Pinne and Niner in the crowd, her smile grew tenfold. She took off her visor and asked, "Chief finally let you girls come by, eh?" as she put her hands on her hips. The girl was also wearing a tank top and cargo pants, minus the usual heavy armor. Why'd she have her visor with'er then? Eh.
"Yeah. You gonna tell us what this is about?" Pinne raised a brow, "Cuz I really wanna know why we're stuck in a line instead of on active duty."
"Tsk tsk," The girl shook her head and wiggled her index left to right. She grinned and said, "Chief and the New UEG gave orders directly that each Nikke is to only know what this is about after it happens. Talulah, y'know, Product 08-08, spilled the beans yesterday to Yelena and Katy and wound up with cleaning duty in Sector 13 for the next week... Ya ain't catching me slippin'."
"Jeez, man, it's that serious?" Snorted Niner. It must've really been something big.
112 nodded, "Yep. Oh, bee-tee-dubs! I finally have a name. Klara!"
"Heh. Nice to meet'cha, Klara, With a C or a K?" Pinne inquired, looking at her sister as the line advanced.
"K," She chuckled, then looked around after a whistle and saw her squad. She spoke happily, "Anyways. See ya! Enjoy the spoils!" and she grinned, then ran off to rejoin her squad outside. Pinne and Niner exchanged looks, then shrugged and continued deeper into the former CG Offices. As they entered, they came upon the sight of Navy Construction Battalion working to refurbish the lavish interior that'd been damaged during the Spartans' gunfight. Bullet holes and faint traces of blood splatters still marred the columns, but they were fading under the careful repairs of the Engineers.
At one of the booths, the girls were told to wait behind a curtain. One of the Marines guarding the curtain said, "You girls from Chief's squad, right? Niner and Pinne..."
"Yeah, that's us," Pinne nodded, "We famous or something...?"
"Considering you all took on the freak they call Chatterbox and managed to kick its ass, yeah," The other Marine, a girl, replied with a smirk. Her accent was heavy, eastern. Her blue eyes were visible past her helmet's goggles. She continued, "Plus, you're the Master Chief's squad, right up there with BLUE Team now. He's praised you enough to Captain Cutter and the rest of HighCom to earn you bonuses."
"To what?" Niner raised a brow. The Marines looked to each-other with smirks, shook their heads and caused Niner to groan. She let out, "Jesus, even the goddamn Marines are being quiet..." and it was infuriating. She thought that last part to herself. It was almost like a conspiracy theory meant to keep the Nikkes in check or something. She thought they'd gotten rid of that after the CG fell on its ass and was replaced by the NUEG.
The male Marine replied, "Nobody wants to scrub the toilets or pick up the dog shit in the parks," and shrugged. The two women nodded in agreement, then sighed. Mildly miffed at being unaware over what this was about, they waited. A voice echoed from the inside and the Male Marine pulled the Curtain to the side, allowing the two women inside. Sat behind the booth was a man with black hair and blue eyes, as well as a Navy uniform.
"Ladies," He greeted with a nod, "You're Niner and Pinne, Chief's other two squad members, eh?" then smiled. The two women gave nods, a little confused, then looked around to see they were separated from the other booths. The man, however, continued, "Welcome to the Unified Earth Government's Offices, ladies. I'm Military Affairs Adviser Tom Monet, Staff Sergeant Rank. Glad to have a couple of the Chief's newfound comrades here. I don't suppose you know why you're here, do you?" and, again, the girls shook their heads. His smile grew, "Well, this should be an enjoyable surprise."
Pinne and Niner looked to one-another as the man leaned under the booth and pulled a drawer back. Behind him, Nikkes and other military staff that had been recently recovered and hired to cover for the losses under Syuen's Half-Hour Regime milled about, carrying files, checking computers and the likes. The man popped up with two digital touchscreen tablets bearing the UNSC's marks on their cases, as well as a pair of ID Cards and forms. He handed them pens and said, "Please sign the release forms and you will officially be part of the UNSC military."
Huh. That was it? "Well, this is nice and all, but we didn't think it'd be this big a deal just to sign some papers," Niner chuckled as they signed their chosen names at the bottom. The man smiled a little, then tapped both tablets with the pens. The girls first picked up and slid their ID cards in specific pockets for safekeeping, then picked up the tablets. The man showed them how to turn them on and both girls paused.
"... What's this...?" Pinne asked, surprised.
"Your pay books," The man offered cordially as he set some extra stuff aside.
"... W-Wuh...?" Niner blanked.
"Pay... Books...?" The blonde Product 23 blinked.
"Yes," He chuckled, "What, did you think a proper military wouldn't give pay books to her soldiers? You ladies are active-duty in the UNSC Marine Corps, now. The UNSC's premier fighting force," and he patted the devices again from behind the booth. He told them, "Your salaries will be reported on these pay books and you'll have to tick the moment you receive them. The pay book also has a direct portal to your bank accounts-"
"Wait a fucking minute, SALARIES?!" Pinne's eyes shot wide open. The man nodded and she stared, completely in disbelief. She turned to a shocked Niner and grabbed her by the shoulder, yelling, "WE GET PAID NOW!" like a kid that just found a candy store whose prices had dropped to 'FREE' the moment he walked in. The two women laughed, partially shocked, but fully happy.
"Yes. Like I said, girls, you're UNSC Marines now. Our own personal jarheads," He chuckled, "Now, for the Backpay..."
"WHAT?!" Both of them screamed, sharply. Niner leaned against the counter and asked, "We get BACKPAY?! Wait, wait, pause, Tom! How much are salaries?!"
Tom hummed and made a few quick calculations, then said, "24,000 average base pay with included taxes for the Commanders. Increases over time with experiences and necessary expenses. 23,000 average base pay per month with taxes for Nikkes with increases coming the moment of your first combat deployment. As for you two specifically..." He turned to his computer and started checking. He spoke, "You've both been active for about two years each, right? With the latest quarter year spent under the Chief's command."
Both nodded, though both also felt their knees grow weak at the prospects.
He ran a few more calculus series, "Well, you each can stack up about 30k right now per month. In twelve months, that's approximately 360,000 Credits per year," and that seemed to get them to double over. He continued, "And for the past two years of activity, the rate remains the same. So you have about... 720,000 Credits in backpay right now we're gonna be delivering in rates of about 100,000-credit bonuses per month."
Pinne almost choked, while Niner heaved. The former asked, her voice a much higher pitch, "C-Can the Ark's economy even withstand this stuff...?" as she leaned against the desk. He nodded, smiling, then showed them some of the most recent earning reports and taxes taken from the Big Three, plus government officials, yadda yadda, adding up to maybe tens of triillions or more extra credits in the state budget, plus some investments from the UEG itself. Some chunks would go for the post-Syuen repairs, but most of that would be paid out of Missilis's own pocket and seized funds from Syuen's personal accounts, so not much of a loss.
Niner fainted, while Pinne was hyperventilating. She'd narrowly managed to catch her friend, then said with a high-pitched voice, "Okay, thank you, Tom... We'll leave now..." before throwing Niner over her shoulder, grabbing her paybook and sliding it in her pocket, then sliding her own paybook in its own space and walking out. Tom smiled and waved goodbye, then called for the next Nikke.
The two Marines watched them leave and laughed, with the woman calling out, "Welcome to the UNSC, sestriy! Life's good!" only to get a thumbs up from Pinne as she walked over toward the car that'd brought them over. Still in complete disbelief as she marched over to the military transport, Pinne set Niner down and slapped her hard to wake her up, only for both of them to look, wide-eyed at each-other... Then start jumping with joy. Rapi, who was in the crowd, looked at them and furrowed her brows, with Pinne noticing her and staring, embarrassed.
Rapi raised her brow and both girls gave thumbs up, then stepped off before they willingly spilled the beans and wound up in the toilet cleaning business. Holy shit, they actually had money to do the stuff they wanted to do now! And Royal Road was close by and they still had a full day off! They were gonna take advantage of this so frickin' hard and splurge a bit on themselves!
The Outpost
Johnson and his squad played basketball in the distance with Neon, Layla, Delta and Blue Team. Johnson was really not feeling confident about this darn match, but may he be damned if he wasn't gonna give it his all for his boys. He moved fast, dribbling past Fred as fast as he could, then spun around Kelly and tossed the ball over to Bisenti, who barely caught it and started dribbling when Layla came to intercept.
Chief, who was sat on the sidelines as he didn't want to really get involved with his sport just yet, watched what looked like just people following the ball. Sure, both teams had agreed on strategies to win what was a competitive game after all, but to Chief, just shooting hoops like that was an easy enough mission. He looked over to doctor Halsey, who sat on the sidelines as well, chatting up Commander Keyes.
The two of them seemed to be reminiscing about the Captain. Chief had learned rather recently that Doctor Halsey had been with the Captain, which spawned the Commander. He wasn't sure if he was surprised or not, seeing as the two did share some similitudes. Commander Keyes had taken more in terms of behavior from her father, however.
He felt a hand clap onto his shoulder and watched Cal sit herself down beside him, offering him a soda that Anis had given her. She popped open her own can as Daisy also jumped onto the bench, smirking and with her own Soda. Cal, meanwhile, looked to John and said to him, "Thanks for telling us we won the war, John. Daisy over here keeps wanting to get blackout drunk."
"Gotta try everything first time. And how better to celebrate both winnin' a war and kicking that little runt's ass than with a drink, eh?" Daze chuckled. She looked to John and asked, "Tell me I'm right, Johnny. C'mon," almost demandingly.
Chief looked at her like a disappointed father would be looking at his daughter. Which was probably not far from the truth, considering the age differences between them. And considering the fact Daisy shrunk a little under his gaze and simply continued sipping from her Soda, she seemed to agree. Cal chuckled at the sight, while Chief took a sip from the sweet and sparkly drink, coughed and said, "It's surprising, just how calm everything is..."
"It's a day of relaxation for now as everyone gets their bearings in the New World, John," Cal told him, holding the soda can with both hands gently, so as not to crush it and spill it all over her face. She told him, "It's good to see you again, by the way," then smiled. John nodded and gave a lighthearted smile, too, looking between the two women. Daisy raised her soda to that, giving a cheer to living, then took a long swig. She snorted when she saw Kelly body Johnson by mistake, then slam dunk. She'd snorted so hard, in fact, that some soda got up her nose, pricking at her nostrils.
Chief sighed and shook his head, while Cal switched over to sit next to Daisy and start poking her for laughing at Johnson. The Spartan continued nursing his drink and hummed as he checked the time on the clock nearby. He knew for a fact that Cortana was helping Isabel with administrative items while Enikk prepared the trial of one certain Syuen for television.
He looked to see the Commander approaching, an MRE in hand. The Spirit of Fire had enough Meals Ready-to-Eat in its freezer to feed everyone it needed to feed in the Military twice-over. So, some stuff slipped over into civilian markets as semi-luxury goods, though still sold at affordable prices. He knew for a fact Captain Cutter had authorized Anders to research the possibility of using flash-cloning technology to clone at least the edible meat of various animals.
Scooting over slightly right, he saluted Alyosha as the man sat down, then sighed deeply. Noticeable were the bags under his eyes, though John decided not to ask about it. He knew the Commander was having sleepless nights and had offered to take him to a psychiatrist in the Ark in order to give him a clean bill of health or the help he needed. He had just killed someone two days ago. But the man refused...
So, Chief decided to ask him, "Anything new today, sir?"
"Just paperwork, Chief," He replied as he lifted the MRE stuff from the bag, including the chemical heating back that activated in contact with water. He spoke, "Rapi is away, getting her first paycheck," and he smiled at that. He continued, "Up until now, I shared my payouts with the Nikkes on base. Yes, they got pocket money from their Manufacturers for the most part, but..."
"I know, sir. I saw," The Spartan replied, watching the ongoing match as Johnson managed to score a point in turn for their team, much to the cheers of some of the Marines and Nikkes sitting opposite. Fred, however, soon scored another point, putting the Blues and Luckies on top again. He said, "I wonder how Chief Deputy Andersen and the Goddess Squad are doing..."
Andersen's office...
Andersen had pretty much explained every single reason as to why he had faded out of existence to the team. And why he tried to keep them out of the Ark while still searching for them. Namely, Red Hood's return to the Ark with Rapi, followed up by what had occurred when Missilis had managed to seize her. The wide eyes and the silence in the room pressed hard down upon the old man's shoulders.
Snow blinked, bit her lower lip and murmured, "We should've stayed with her... Damn Missilis..." her voice filled with venom. She spoke, "They never learn, do they? They always do things like this. Always. It's a good thing we got rid of their CEO... Should dissolve their entire company, all of it, for this..." while the other two stared. They knew how much she cared for Red Hood. How much both cared for each-other. They were practically sisters.
"I know how you feel, Snow," Andersen replied, then let out a heavy sigh and said, "It's why I had a bone to pick with Syuen... And why I'm glad the Spartans and UNSC got involved. We know Red's... Parts... Went to someone. Another Nikke. She's a Special Purpose Nikke like most of the current high-end ones. Elysion. Just as an FYI, we're not gonna rip her apart..."
"Is it Rapi?" Snow inquired, raising a brow. Andersen nodded, to which Snow said, "No... We aren't touching her, but I knew I saw something odd during the fight with Chatterbox. That girl channeled a bit of Red Hood in the fight, gave the monkey one hell of a kick to the face. She tanked the hits from it very well, too. Her hair was even glowing the same way Red's usually did."
"Indeed? She must've shown quite the fighting prowess," Voiced Scarlet, smiling, "Truly, perhaps a worthy heir to our beloved Crimson Wolf."
"I'd like to hope that, maybe, the saviors that God sent down from the heaven might be able to rebuild Red..." Rapunzel smiled sadly, "If only to get her back to us for one final goodbye, at least... I don't know," while seeming still much warmer and more hopeful, with less of the pervy attitude that Andersen had gotten used to before his 'disappearance'. Their new comrades were really a good influence
"Thou hast gotten excessively religious since thou met Lieutenant Frederic," Scarlet spoke, grinning, "Arth thou perhaps finally returning to the Faith you said you would serve when you were chosen as the next Pope?"
"Simply returning to my own mission," The girl replied, a little awkward. She smiled, then stated again, jovially, "I know I've said it twenty times already, commander, but... It's so incredibly good to know you're still alive and that you have been looking out for us even from this deep, dark prison that is the Ark. Now that we are united again and that the Old World was replaced with the new by God's will..."
"We have a greater fighting chance than ever," Andersen completed, "We'll be ready. Captain Cutter's gonna contact me any minute to help me draw up plans on the deployment of UNSC Forward Operating Bases on the surface, maybe even points that could reinforce existing Research and development sites like the Northern Base you were around, Snow."
"We'd appreciate a little maintenance," Voiced the woman, arms crossed to her chest, "I've been running on fumes for the past few decades..." then a line of drool started running down from the right corner of her mouth as she held onto her stomach, "And maybe some fresh food... I've also been starving for a while. Last good meal I caught was a deer I managed to hunt."
"Heh," Andersen chuckled, "Don't worry. We have plenty of food, not to mention the Outpost I'm stationing you all at just received a surplus of UNSC MREs," then he heard the loudest stomach growl of the century. He, Scar and Rapu looked over to a blushing, wide-eyed Snow, who was now drooling from both sides of her mouth, before they all burst into a hearty laugh at the expense of the young woman.
Andersen sighed as he laughed, then leaned over and pat the girl on the head, causing her to pout. Scarlet snorted and started laughing even more loudly, stating, "By jove, she's still her old self! Hahaha!" as she leaned against Rapunzel. The nun-like woman giggled, wiping tears of joy from her eyes, then sighed deeply as memories of an old comrade rushed in.
"If only Dorothy was here to see this," Snow commented, acting bitter in jest. She sighed, rubbed her eyes and her mouth, then said, "... I miss that pompous little..." before shaking her head. She knew where Dorothy was and how she thought. It was better to keep the illusion of the ladylike woman instead of telling everyone of Dorothy's true thoughts since Pinne's death.
Noting the girl's look, Andersen suggested, "Syuen's trial is about to begin in..." and he checked his digital wristwatch, "About two minutes. It's televised if you girls wanna watch it with me..." before activating the ANN(Ark News Network) broadcast. The young Tetra Nikke that was the acting news anchor began to speak about Syuen's trial and that the Judges and Enikk had decided to make it public specifically to ensure the message got through to every other possible attempted tyrant. Andersen thought of Dhoban. The bastard had gone to ground, disappeared before they could seize him.
They'd catch him eventually...
The Ark Court
Syuen's legs trembled as she marched into the large and opulent courtroom. Two Marines clad in black uniforms flanked her, their faces obscured by tinted goggles and black balaclavas. Slung on their belts, in leather holsters, were 12,7mm pistols firing what she could only sum up as the 'Closed Casket' rounds of the UNSC. Hollow-points filled in with High-Explosives on a really short fuse. Following them was the Government's hound dogs, Triangle Squad.
She felt them almost dragging her, barely able to keep up due to her short feet. Looking left and right, she saw members of the jury, no longer those she'd put in charge of the place. She began to tremble, purple eyes locking onto Nikkes that had normally not been present beforehand in State Affairs like this, seeing as they were soldiers and machines. Enikk stood in the center, on a pedestal to signify she was the judge, jury and executioner here. The glare the girl felt from behind the semi-transparent dark veil the AI wore sent a shiver up her spine.
Sat down in the front row with a lawyer, she listened to Enikk. The AI began to speak, "By the power vested in me by the people of the Ark, the Unified Earth Government and the United Nations Space Command, acting military arm of Humanity's defense against the Raptures, I, Enikk, Command AI of the Ark and Judge, begin this Trial in full now..." and she struck a holographic wooden support with a holographic wooden mallet.
Syuen noticed the floating drone cameras watching her and the others. She swallowed, then looked up at Enikk as she spoke, "The defendant, Syuen, former CEO of Missilis," and she made sure to press down on the word 'FORMER' just to rub salt in her wound, "Is accused of ten counts of treason, innumerable counts of harm to human beings against the prerogatives of the New Mortal Dictata and the old Charters of Human Rights belonging to the United Nations, attempted murders of the first degree and second degree in the counts of hundreds and, most damning of all, the attempted Coup that cost the lives of almost a hundred Nikkes, forty-seven of which are unrecoverable due to destroyed brains and NIMPHs, sixteen United Nations Space Command Marines and approximately two hundred civilians that were caught in the crossfire."
She glared at Syuen, who was suddenly pale as bone, then asked her lawyer, "How does the defendant plead?"
"Not guilty, your honor," The lawyer spoke.
The entire room erupted into denouncing cries and anger, only stopped by the thunderclap of the mallet hitting the wood that reverberated across the room.
Enikk spoke, "There will be order in this Court of Law!" with a hidden fury behind her voice. She continued, "In the case of Syuen vs. UEG, 5th of May, 2122, the jury calls forth two witnesses:Nikke secretary and assistant to Syuen, Rian... And MMR researcher Nikke Mana," only for Syuen's heart to further sink. She looked back as she watched the two Nikkes walk in.
The two women looked at Syuen as they walked in. This entire thing was a sham, wasn't it? Those two would throw her under the bus the moment they could and this was it. She grit her teeth and prayed, while Enikk stated, "First Witness. Rian, please, take the booth beside me," and she motioned to her left. The glasses-wearing Nikke nodded and warily sat herself down beside the AI.
A UNSC member of staff stepped out from the Jury to be the inquisitor in this execution. Syuen watched the man in black step forward, with Enikk stating, "This will be the man representing the plaintiff of the Ark. Lieutenant Victor Ambrose, of the UNSC's Office of Naval Intelligence," as she looked at him. He nodded, then looked to Syuen with a slight compassion, but not a lot of it.
Enikk then turned toward Rian and asked, "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, miss Rian?"
"I do," The woman replied, looking Enikk in the eyes. Enikk gave her nod of approval to Ambrose to continue.
The man stepped forward and spoke, "Greetings, Rian. I have a few questions pertaining to your involvement with Syuen first, to set the stage, if you don't mind..." only to watch the girl swallow empty, but give a nod. He smiled and said, "Relax. You aren't the one on trial here..." before lifting up the tablet that contained the questions. He cleared his throat and started, "Sources from within Missilis that shall not be named say that you shared a close working relationship with Syuen as her secretary, correct?"
"As close as subordinates and bosses got," She replied fairly. Maybe Rian was gonna be alright, Syuen thought. Or at least she wouldn't trash her in front of the cameras... No, no the look she had now... Rian spoke, "Of course, with someone like Syuen, it's more like 'slave' and 'owner..." with a little fury. She sighed deeply, then continued, "But yes. I would do any job she asked of me."
"I see," The man nodded. He continued, "That brought you into contact with every single one of her black projects. Correct?"
"Quite a few, yes," She nodded, "Would you like me to list them?"
He nodded and gave her the mic, so to speak, to which she started, "... The Missilis Military Research Institute's Vocational School, where students, mostly young, freshly-recruited Nikkes, are put through years of grueling tests, physical examinations and psychological and neural checks, all for a final exam that would determine if they pass and become some of Missilis's best or not... Should they fail once, their memories would be wiped. Fail three times and... Well, I'm sure you have the files, but it isn't good."
The man looked over to Mana, who narrowed her lips and sighed, while Syuen was biting her nails. He urged Rian to continue. She did, "The nuclear weapon retrieval programs that involved attempted seizing of fissile materiel from surface and underground silos left abandoned by the long-defunct United Forces of Humanity... Thankfully, most of the weapons were inert. Those that weren't had damage due to weathering and were unusable... What else," She stopped to think while Syuen grabbed her head, then smirked, "Ah, yes... The Flood."
"You've overseen the Flood project that caused the destruction of one of the Sister Arks?" He raised a brow. She nodded.
"Better said Syuen oversaw it and kept me around as a living camera," She offered, then started to tremble, "I was only back there once, when everything had gone to hell..."
The Lieutenant nodded, "It's okay... Your honor, I rest my case for now, to give the defendant a chance," he then offered. Syuen felt her heart drop to her feet as she saw her lawyer stand to his feet, shake hands with the Lieutenant, then walk over to Rian, who was sweating bullets. She swore, if she got out of this mess by some fucking miracle, she was gonna tear that little traitor apart bolt by bolt.
The lawyer said, "Hello, miss Rian."
The girl nodded... What followed was one of the most embarrassing series of questions meant to deflect blame from her and onto anything else that Syuen had ever seen. From asking 'what if the newly-arrived people had done it, since it was one of their ships in the Lost Ark that bore the Flood' to some other nonsensical crap like that that Syuen's mind immediately tuned out. Rian and hard evidence obviously denied this.
Enikk sighed and pinched the bow of her nose behind her veil, stating, "Thank you, miss Rian. You are free to go." and the Nikke stood to her feet, bowed and walked out, casting one final glare at Syuen, who suddenly felt her shoes weighed down like concrete. She was thankful she was sitting down, else she might've actually fainted on the spot. When Mana came onto the podium, swore and started answering questions, her grave was dug...
She outed every illegal detail MMR's researchers had been 'FORCED' to do, the cunt did. The Lieutenant sighed deeply, gave a nod and let her Lawyer back onto the docket for the second witness. Syuen began to hyperventilate as her defender couldn't so much as crack anything to help counter the Lieutenant's hard evidence, nor the crap Mana had managed to spin about 'being forced to do it'.
Enikk hummed, then said, "Thank you to both the Defendant and the Plaintiff and their representatives. We will now deliberate on the chosen punishment," though she spoke with such certainty, as if she knew the punishment. Syuen knew it, too. And knew it was worse than a Death Sentence for her. She grabbed onto her head and started praying now of all times to whatever deity would listen. None answered.
An hour later, Enikk declared, "Deliberation is over... All Jury members, cast your votes," as holographic screens appeared ahead of the men and women in the Jury benches. They each hit their vote and, within a minute, Enikk cracked a visible, wide smile behind the veil. Syuen knew she was done then and there. Once the data appeared on her own screen, Enikk opened it up and said, "... Well, unsurprisingly... Defendant Syuen, please stand."
She was lifted by her arms by Yulha and Admi this time, while Privaty's glare bore into the back of her skull. She was barely able to stand, pale as bone as she listened to Enikk state her sentence. "On all accounts and by the Rule of Law of the Ark, the Mortal Dictata and the UN Charters of Human Rights, Syuen, former CEO of Missilis, you are found guilty!" and she struck the hammer blow that sealed Syuen's fate. The girl nearly collapsed, but Yulha and Admi willed her back to her trembling feet. She croaked out a few words, but Enikk smirked, "... Your judgement has been decided. In order to repay that pain which you have caused to the families, to the Ark and to Humanity, you will become one of her Defenders, unwilling as it may be."
Syuen's eyes shot wide open as Enikk barked, "Syuen of Missilis, you will be turned to that which you despise the most for no reason... You are now a Nikke! Honor at least this role if you couldn't honor that of a member of the Big Three and die in Mankind's defense if you can muster the courage!" And she struck with the mallet once more. Syuen's voice finally came loose as she let out a scream. She was dead. Done for. Doomed.
"No! PLEASE! PLEASE! THEY'LL FUCKING KILL ME IF YOU DO THIS! ALL OF THEM! ALL OF THOSE SCRAP HEAPS OUT THERE AND THE SOLDIERS, THEY'LL MURDER ME! PLEASE, ENIKK, I'M BEGGING YOU, HAVE MERCY-" She started screaming, only to get Privaty's rifle butt to the back of her skull, knocking her out. With one motion of her hand, Privaty showed the rest of Triangle to follow her.
"Little freaking rat..." Privaty murmured as she led the way.
Enikk sighed deeply, arms crossed, "And with that, this Court is adjourned..." before pinching her brow. She shook her head, "What an obnoxiously loud little pest that one Queen for a Day was... Thank Goodness it's over..." before turning to the Lieutenant. She said, "Nicely done. You picked the perfect witnesses to bring forth," and she transferred herself to the floor via the hologram system.
The Lieutenant sighed and nodded, "Damn shame, though. Psychos like that would be useful to ONI."
"Your kind scare the digital bloody life out of me, sir," Enikk quipped, hands interlaced in front of her, "Now... Let's each go about our business."
"Indeed," He replied, then tipped his cap and said, "Good day, ma'am..." only to depart. With the court adjourned and everything over, cheers had erupted across the Ark. On the Surface, where Nikkes that were on patrol watched, gunfire erupted in celebration. Waste of ammo, but nobody carred. The Wicked Witch was dead and Oz would celebrate regardless.
From the Outpost to Andersen's office, in fact, one could swear they heard champagne corks pop...