19 - The Interrogation

GM: You arrive at the appointed place, a squat stone construction protruding from a hill, suggesting far more extensive accommodations within and below than visible. Five agents in JRS garb await, two of them women. Given that the JRS is rumored to only use female operatives for 'special assignments' - the definition of such varying wildly from rumor to rumor - this is not particularly good news.

The leader says, "Thank you for coming, and thank you in advance for not making too much of a fuss. We appreciate your... patriotism."

The women step forward, one to either side of you, and the leader adds, "As we will be escorting you to a secure facility, we must search and sanitize your person. These agents will see to your clothes and your inspection." They seem to mean to lead you into the low bunker for a strip search and magical assessment. Do you consent?

Helena: "Of course." I follow them.

GM: The search is extremely thorough, but professionally conducted. They use cutters to remove your clothes, examining linings, buttons, trim - most everything. Your hair is combed, scalp to ends, and then they give you earplugs and send you into a sonic shower. After being buffeted like a stone in a polishing wheel, there is a long magical sweep of your person, conducted both in person and by conjured devices. Then you are given a wetsuit-like one-piece garment to wear that covers you from fingers and toes to just below your jawline, shifting to have no seams once pulled into place.

Helena: I'm curious if the magical sweeps found anything, actually, but I don't ask if they don't indicate one way or another.

GM: They are very circumspect, making no visible reaction to their findings.

The leader enters the de-con room once you're dressed, and gives you a hood to put on. "We need to minimize the intelligence exposure and keep all interviews strictly controlled," he explains. One of the women takes back the earplugs and offers you a few soft pins and elastic bits to manage your hair, as the hood is not of the same malleable material as the suit, and "you may be called on to remove and replace it several times during this interview process." Any prep or comment before you situate the seemingly featureless head pullover? Your 'interviewers' seem fairly patient so far.

Helena: I tie my hair back and braid it efficiently so that it won't get in the way. "Before we start is there anything I can tell you that will make this process easier for you... and for myself? I am sure you have significant intelligence on the situation, but several things have changed since I've been in the second realm. I don't know if any of those things would... interact with what we need to do here."

GM: "We'd like to debrief you fully once we've transited to our secure facility... get your version of the entire timeline, to compare against our observations. There will be some cross-examination, but I don't think your situation will require intrusive tests." You sense a 'yet' or the start of a 'but' at the end of the sentence that doesn't quite come. "If you are ready...."

Helena: In spite of my fears about the eventual outcome of this, I am somewhat looking forward to getting this all out in a place where some of my questions might be answered. And even if they're not, I cannot help but believe that these people share my loyalties and that thus there must be some level at which we may be allies.

GM: These seem like cool-headed, clinical people; clearly loyal to the JRS and Jesby. Your only persistent concern is the order of their loyalty - do they place their agency's agenda ahead of that of the house?

Helena: That is always a concern, even among soldiers, so while I don't forget my concern, I do not let it control me, either.

GM: Once the hood is in place, the only sound that reaches you is the voices of your 'escorts,' and no light penetrates whatsoever. Your breath seems to enter through the left side and your exhalations pass out the right. One JRS woman takes each arm, and you are escorted out. Do you make any effort to mentally mark your path, or do you just go?

Helena: Certainly, though that stops as irrelevant as soon as we pass through the Trump feeling, below.

GM: At the end of a moderate walk, you feel a sudden rush of Trump, as if passing through a Gate. Another, slightly longer walk ends with the faint vibration of a heavy door closing, and the hood is removed. You are in a mid-sized interrogation room, seated opposite the leader of the team who met you. There are empty chairs to your left and right at the short ends of the table. The two women flank the exit door you face, and the walls to your left and right are polished mirrors. Behind you is blank, stout brickwork, while the wall you face appears to be dull metal.

The team leader touches a recording crystal between you on the table and asks you to relate your story, from the moment you suspected anything of the covert action, up to the present.

Helena: I start with... "Because of my recent experience in Amber, and things of which their Prince General Julian and Lord General Benedict made persistent note to me, I had questions for my father, Lord Loren, regarding the Prince General's role in my conception. He felt these questions could not be answered without involving the JRS, and so they met with him and with me... You probably have notes of that meeting. I was quite satisfied with their answers to me at that time.

"Later that day I met with my mother, Lady Alma; we had a social engagement. Because of her ongoing... disability, my father had not told her of my appointment to a position in Amber; he felt it would cause her considerable distress, perhaps even a violent relapse. Unfortunately due to the public nature of my new position, it seemed inevitable that word would get to her. We both judged it best for me to tell her in person about my appointment and be able to reassure her concerns.

"Father's guess at her reaction was quite correct. She began shifting... in the ways she had been limited to since her return from the war; she was doing physical harm to herself. My own ability is fairly extraordinary; I sought to hold her back from injury." I give a small huff of amusement at my remembered concern, and then look up at my interrogator, realizing I should explain. "I recall thinking at the time that what I could do now would be such a small thing after all the doctors had not been able to do for her over so many years.

"As it was, there seemed some specific focus for her panic, for her pain around my announcement. Either she -- or perhaps as I later found out, the spy or entity that was trapped within her -- pushed that towards me. I was overwhelmed and lost consciousness, and awoke sometime later.

"Alma seemed much recovered... much recovered, and I felt only somewhat strange. She and I made further arrangements for our social visit, and I went on my way.

"I was able to meet with my father, to have him look into what had happened, but he detected nothing even though he could see the memory of what I had experienced in my mind. I was wary, but there seemed nothing else I could do.

"That night while I slept, this 'entity' as we came to call it, used my body and my shapeshifting ability to travel in Chaos and seek out a liaison with a young man at a club -- a Jorgumandr player. Whether the being targetted him specifically or just pulled the first man that showed interest in her efforts I still don't know. I only knew that it had happened at all because I was physically tired the next day... and the entity left me a note." I quote the note and chuckle a little at the irony. "I believe it was trying to reassure me that its... escapades would not compromise my reputation.

"I went on to my party with Alma, thinking of all people she might know most about this thing. When I was finally able to show her the note, we were still on our way to more engagements, but I felt I had to show her as the club we were headed towards was the same one the entity had visited the night before! She seemed to know a little about it, but nothing clear in her mind yet, and she asked me to wait to talk further to my father, and to carry on with the social meeting she had arranged for me."

I find myself very reluctant to talk about Saras here, but he is such an integral part of my world now, I know I cannot keep him out of this. "My parents introduced me to Knight Protector Saras Essen. My reading of their purpose was both as a political introduction -- his potential service to our new Trade Embassy in Jesby seemed valuable," I glance up, "is valuable -- and social." I feel color come to my cheeks that I would have controlled in past times. "Matchmaking on my mother's part, though it was also clear that since my revelation to her she thought the Knight Protector's abilities as a shift surgeon might help me."

I can't help but smile a little. "Saras fulfilled all my parents' expectations quite well. Since his retirement he had been seeking more meaningful work; his skills as shift-surgeon proved extremely helpful to me; and, well, we have discovered we are well-suited to one another.

"As the evening progressed, I couldn't cover my concern about the entity and its... free action with my body any longer. Saras agreed to do a preliminary examination, and see if he could outline the shape of my difficulty. Again, for him as for Loren previously, a simple sharing of memory was insufficient to give him any idea of what was going on with me, but we hoped the deeper scan afforded by a shift-surgeon's skills would reveal something.

"On first examination he was in fact able to detect the entity. He was not certain he had the skill to remove it, but I urged him to do so. I felt very uncomfortable that this thing that had apparently so harmed my mother might be free to take action using my skills and abilities. My second, more powerful concern was that the trade embassy in Amber was quite new and should not be neglected, or other Houses would jump at the announcement already made and surpass our efforts. Further stress was applied by my brand new appointment as Ambassador from His Majesty King Merlin to Amber's Crown.

"Finally, on a more personal level, I felt that my fear of this thing would... interfere with my ability to come to know Saras openly and in honesty.

"Thus, despite his misgivings, Saras agreed to make an initial investigation. His assessment was that removing the entity would be difficult and perhaps cause me some harm, but that the harm would most likely be temporary.

"He was successful, but due to complications -- we think from interference from my assay of the Pattern of Amber -- the damage done was not temporary, and in fact without a lot more input will probably last indefinitely." I shrug. "Until I learned what I learned from the JRS through father recently, I thought that harm a reasonable price to pay, given all that Alma and I had gained.

"Over weeks in attempting to mitigate the harm done to me, Saras and I learned that the entity had, even in its brief contact with me, had time to set up at least the rudimentary structure of its controls for my body and function. That structure remains, locked in place with memory keys only it has access to. I have been able to close most of it off and come to this," I spread my hands, indicating my form, "compromise for a best working form to use in my roles for the House and Crown in Amber. Even I could see the risk of having elements of the entity's... working form visible upon me.

"I regret not having the entity destroyed and/or delivered to the JRS directly sooner. It is through your contact with it, and my father's articulation of the risks described to him, that I became aware that I was much more of a risk of compromise to our House than I had ever guessed. Hence my resignation of my commissions and return home -- and ultimately to you to make this report.

"If there are any elements you wish more details on, please do ask."

GM: "Do you believe the entity would negotiate with you? It has made threats that we must confirm... threats that your account gives some unfortunate weight to. None of our interrogators have been able to break it," he admits flatly.

Helena: "I have no idea if it would, but I'd be willing to try. Is there some background you can give me on what it's told you so far and what you've offered or threatened in return? Or would it be best for me to go in blind?"

GM: "We've engaged in physical and magical coercion, including the blatant threat of death and discorporation. The one reward it openly desires we clearly cannot offer; its freedom. Before it ceased communication, it warned that it had left evidence to implicate this program within the reach of Amber." He pauses to let that sink in before continuing. "Even our best have succeeded in little against its mental fury. Frankly, I am pleased that none of my interrogators have yet been killed. We can attempt to isolate you from its psyche and yet allow you to communicate with it, if you are willing to try, but I do not know what links may remain between you."

Helena: "If it meant me... well, I'm here now. That may shake it up.

GM: "If you were its poison pill, we need not shake. It can be disposed of."

Helena: "As far as communicating with it mentally... you may already know my defenses in that regard are very poor."

GM: "We meant physical communication, with protections for your psyche." He smirks. "We've seen your sorcerous test scores, Lady Helena." His smugness quickly evaporates. "We would not risk you, ma'am. Your father has ensured that your death would be a poison pill we could not swallow."

Helena: I am irritated that he thought to be smug with something I already admit to as a weakness. Since getting irritated in such situations is no use at all, I press on, businesslike, to cover. "Well, tell me what you need to know from it. I'll try."

GM: All business, "We need to know what the poison pill is, and how to remove that threat."

Helena: I nod. "So, shall we prepare?"

GM: "Certainly. How important is it for you to see her as you negotiate? The last interrogator to make eye contact is still in a coma."

Helena: "Can I perceive her safely through... a camera of some kind?"

GM: "The safest method would be a blindfold, but we could arrange a sorcerous observation."

Helena: "A technological method would expose us less; I assume there is some reason it should not be used."

GM: "The creature is some sort of technopath."

Helena: I nod, laughing in frustration. "Of course, that would be a reason."

GM: "We've put out its eyes, and yet somehow it sees. Our sorcerers are still working on that one."

Helena: "I'm glad to hear it will be in a good mood for our conversation."

GM: "I extend no foolish protections to an enemy of the House, and the entity has done much to prove so."

Helena: "I am sorry. It is not its protection or my own weakness I am concerned with, it is my ability to get anywhere pursuing your agenda with it now."

GM: "You are sister to it, and what glimpses we have stolen seem intent on your involvement somehow."

Helena: I nod. "It was fixated on this 'sister' concept in what little we interacted before. It seems impossible to me, but then I know so little of such things." I shrug then. "As I said, I am willing to try in whatever way you think most valuable."

GM: "So... shall I arrange a sorcerous observation, or will you work in the dark?"

Helena: "I would not put more of your people at risk, or myself. Let us see if I can accomplish what you want without the vision of it. If that is not successful... well, we can reevaluate."

GM: "Very well. I will arrange some small refreshment, and then guide you to an adjoining room."

Helena: I nod and wait.

GM: He returns with a tall glass of water and some bland but nutritious wafers. Serves you himself.

Helena: I eat and drink, aware I may need strength for this.

GM: When you are done, he leads the way, the two women flanking and behind you. Short hallway, long hallway, short hallway, armored door, short hallway, armored door, observation room with blast door down.

Helena: I nod in thanks. "Let me know when I should begin."

GM: He touches a communication globe in the control console, then gestures toward the shield.

Helena: "Hello," I say, my voice neutral.

GM: Silence.

Helena: "They said you would not speak to them anymore. What they seek is very important, and so they brought me."

GM: A brief silence, and then, "How much authority do you have to negotiate, my sister?"

Helena: "Very little, but not none."

GM: "They have told you what I want?"

Helena: "Freedom. That seems unlikely."

GM: "If they had not given me a body so blatantly marked, it would not be such a risk."

Helena: "Tell me what you mean. I cannot see you."

GM: "They arranged the vessel to be vulnerable to my arts. The work in you that took hours fell into this mocking vessel with a stray thought... and you know the permanence my arts bear. Then they took my eyes, my hands, my feet, my tongue. Very childish."

Helena: I look to the JRS man for confirmation of her statement.

GM: He mutes the stone. "For security reasons."

Helena: "I mean, does she speak accurately? I am trying to get a sense to what extent she will exagerate for effect."

GM: "The first was necessary to determine her origins. The rest was done cleanly."

Helena: "Describe the form she took, please."

GM: One of the women produces two photos from a file. The first looks like Julian's daughter, the second the Entity's form.

Helena: (Julian's daughter?)

GM: (if Julian had a daughter, that's what you'd think she'd look like)

Helena: "She takes both these forms?"

GM: "Since her pruning, only the second. The first was as she first formed, based on what flesh we could replicate."

Helena: I nod, assimilating. "I don't really understand about what flesh there may have been to replicate. She is completely convinced she is of the Prince General's <seed>, and powerful in her mind. Could it not be just some shape she longs for, strongly? It looks to my eye like something you would draw if you wanted to invent a daughter for the man."

GM: He considers, but dismisses the analysis. "That was accounted for, and balanced against. This form is true to our arts."

Helena: "That second one," I point at the photo, "is the one she refers to as having marked me with." I nod again. "Turn it back on."

GM: He nods, and the stone is lit again.

Helena: "I am sorry for my silence. I wanted to see what you meant.

"While I doubt you will have freedom, it seems possible you could be given a more resilient body."

GM: "So they might cut it more slowly? To what end would I wish such a thing?"

Helena: "So that you could be made comfortable and live a useful life within whatever confines are allowed you."

GM: "I would see all of Jesby burn rather than endure another cage. Forty years is enough."

Helena: "How dare you say that, after what my mother endured during that same forty years? A sacrifice, I would point out, that she took willingly to serve the House you so cavalierly discard."

I reach to turn off the stone, then look to the JRS man for guidance.

GM: He sighs. "Can you envision a scenario where this beast would not endanger the House if unbound?"

Helena: "I can't at this time." I shake my head. "What of the being whose place it took? If this thing is really Julian's daughter, then where did the creature go that was installed to help Alma with her mission?"

GM: "Since you already know most, it can harm little to tell you. The 'creature' as you put it was merely a figment, a shaped fragment of consciousness and harvested emotional and chemical motes. It had no separate existance."

Helena: "And so it left a place this one," I gesture towards the wall, "could take up?"

GM: "I would imagine so. The testing did not proceed to destruction before implementation." So very clinical.

Helena: "The only way it would be safe to release is if what it receives is enough for it to be... happy in its way. Or if it could somehow be given enough memories of life that it could form a proper conscience."

GM: "Even then, I would need convincing."

Helena: "I agree," I say grimly. I turn the stone back on, unless he has me hesitate further.

GM: He lets you.

Helena: "You understand that it is words such as you have just spoken that make your release so unlikely."

GM: "I know. But it is not in our nature to lie."

Helena: "Our nature? What nature is that?"

GM: "Mine is borrowed and stolen from Alma, as yours is aped from Loren. They are much alike."

Helena: I narrow my eyes. "What have you left to bring the Prince General down upon us? Give them that, so that they have any reason at all to deal with you other than they have. Give them that because I ask it of you."

GM: "Come to me, so I can feel if there is any truth in your words. You would only lie for Jesby."

Helena: "I tell you the truth, because I have nothing I can promise. I don't know they will give you another body. I don't even know they will let you live. But they have no reason to do either, right now. Give them a reason to reconsider.

"And for my part, yes, I would lie to save my House."

GM: "I will tell you with my own lips, not through these machines."

Helena: "That's not going to happen. I have no defenses against you, as well you know. So you have this one thing that you can do, this one decision you can make. It helps me, it helps the House, it saves maybe a lot of people I care about."

GM: "Yes. I know. And I know what remains." A silence stretches

Helena: I let her think.

GM: "Perhaps.... The messenger will arrive soon. A drake I stole, marked with a scent of blood to find Julian. It knows what I know."

Helena: Oh, Serpent, no. I rise, forgetting my place. "How long ago?"

GM: "It will arrive soon. I thought you would come for me before this."

Helena: "Can it be intercepted?"

GM: "If it could be beaten to Amber, my blood might lure it from him."

Helena: "Will it seek him in the Arden?"

GM: "It will, but it cannot traverse such a forest quickly."

Helena: "Thank you."

GM: "We will see what your thanks are worth, Helena."

Helena: "I wish I knew."

I turn off the stone, and turn to the agent. "Do you think she is lying? Sending us on a false path to keep us from finding the true one?"

GM: "Can we afford to assume a lie?"

Helena: "No, we'd still have to pursue this. But we need to be ready to move quickly in another direction."

GM: "We have no agents in Amber."

Helena: "I would suggest we use the Lord General Benedict." Here. Laying it on the line. "I think he knows most of this information already, and he has no desire to see us unravelled."

GM: "I will have to confer with my superiors."

Helena: "I suggest him because I can think of no agent of Jesby or Chaos who could enter the Arden and expect to find this thing before Julian or his creatures find them."

GM: "Save yourself."

Helena: "I did not succeed."

GM: "Then let me get permission." He moves to depart.

Helena: I nod. I stretch my arms a moment and then sit back down. If there is more water, I drink it.

GM: There is. You are not waiting long. "Go ahead. Call the Lord General. I am asked that you explain as little as possible."

Helena: "I will need a Trump. Or access to my Ways to get my own."

GM: A door opens, a Trump deck is passed in, and the leader offers it to you, Benedict on top.

Helena: I take that card only, and after another glance at the agent, try to contact the man.

GM: The connection takes some effort, and more time. Finally, "Helena?" spoken like the word 'ambassador' belonged in that space.

Helena: "Lord General. I call with urgent need for your help. I left my commission to withdraw a threat to my House and realm from Prince General Julian's grasp. It seems now a sabotuer has intent to give him what he seeks by another route. We have just learned that the message travels in the shape of a tame drake, set to seek him. This thing is most likely at the edges of the Arden now, or perhaps even within it."

GM: "How long did you know?" he asks, but you know not what about exactly.

Helena: "Moments ago, Lord General." I choose to take him literally.

GM: "Await news," he says, rising from his seat. The connection breaks.

Helena: I sit back, blinking, then hand the card back to the agent. "He says to await news."

GM: "Then we shall wait." He considers a moment. "If this passes, and your word were counted, would you vote to see the Entity extinguished?"

Helena: I look down. "Extinguished rather than tortured further, yes. But if some measure of useful life can be given to it, and us remain secure, I would give it that choice. If it has truly given up its... bomb to us, it may see some value to service in the future, rather than annihilation.

"I would say it has abilities very few have mastered to so great an extent. That alone might warrant its survival."

GM: "It may." He looks toward the blast doors, then back to you. "You will wait here until word comes?"

Helena: "Yes. I can be reached here?"

GM: "You are not fixed in the Trump wards. You should be able to, especially with the registered talents of the Lord General."

Helena: "I will wait, then."

GM: He exhales. "Our luxury resources here are slim, but... seeing as we are awaiting word of our destruction... can I offer you anything?"

Helena: I laugh wearily. "A cot."

GM: He laughs a little in sympathy. "Might I offer you my bunk? I'll have no use for it until this is done."

Helena: "That would be most welcome."

GM: He leads the way, offering you his key outside the door. "I will station guards outside... just to pass the word if you are contacted," he amends.

Helena: "I will give word immediately." I unlock the door and pass the key back to him.

GM: "Keep it. The door locks from both sides... and I have a spare." He smirks.

Helena: I nod, and go in, closing the door behind me. I plan only to rest, not to sleep.

GM: Small, austere room. Bunk, table, chair, mirror, wardrobe, light sphere.

Helena: I go to the bunk without disturbing anything, and rest, staying aware for Benedict's return contact.

GM: There is a long nothing, the kind of waiting that reminds you so much of the battlefield.

Helena: Very much. If I am in danger of sleeping, I sit up.

GM: No perceived danger of that

Helena: Stretch and do kata.

GM: That may bring you a little peace.

At last, a contact.

Helena: I open immediately.

GM: You get the start of communication with Benedict, and then there is a thunderous sound, and the contact breaks.

Helena: What was the background?

GM: The first syllable of your name, then a flash of white yellow and blue, and the connection breaks.
No time to resolve the background, or even Benedict's face. You might sense Julian in frame, but it may be a trick of your mind.

Helena: I unlock the door and exit. To one of the guards I say, "I need your commander immediately."
I run with her.

GM: She heads out at a run. She leads you to him. He sees your expression. "What?"

Helena: "A contact from Benedict was interrupted. I don't know the signature of the effect. Quickest if you..." I gesture towards my head.

GM: "Sorry, I don't have clearance to intrude on your mind, ma'am. Describe."

Helena: I breathe. "It had just started opening. I had no clear resolution yet of his face or location, just that he had begun to say my name. There was another presence in the background... some motion I barely caught. Light and a loud sound. Um... whitish yellow and blue light. The connection was broken."

GM: He replies with a quaint vulgarism. "We need another means to confirm."

Helena: I await his thought. "Unless Trump in the other direction might be successful."

GM: He extends the Trump deck to you. "Try. Fuck permission."

Helena: I try.

GM: How much effort?

Helena: A lot of my little bitty amount ;-)

GM: risking fatigue and injury, or just pushing?

Helena: I don't know what that means; I just try hard, and if it's not working, I say I need more power. And try a lot harder.

GM: The leader and the women all put their hands on your shoulders. Suddenly, you get a dark image of Benedict, lying on the forest floor, burnt and bleeding. His left hand reaches toward you, and a blade plunges into his chest.

Helena: I reach through to him at the intersection of blade and chest. Making the connection immediately physical.

I want to go part through, while whoever it is, is busy stabbing Benedict.

My intention is to go through or part through, heaving the blade up out of him and into the groin of whoever is there. No evaluating, no looking. Just whoever is there.

I leave it to the JRS to keep a hand on me and pull Benedict and me back through, not caring about that part.

GM: You fall through farther than they could anticipate as you drive the hilt of the blade against Julian's white armor. Julian's helm and right shoulder plate are gone, their straps and fastenings smoking, and the rest of his armor blackened as if by fire. He drops to his knees, but you think Benedict has little time to live, having survived the same blast AND a sword wound.

Helena: I grab a piece of his plate, a piece of Benedict, and scream PULL!

GM: They have lost you somehow.

Helena: I stab Julian in the eye

GM: He turns, losing the eye, but not the small brain behind it. Screams.

Helena: I am climbing him, savage, I don't let the blade leave his head, and lever it hard to the side.

GM: He rams his arm up, cutting the forearm to the bone, but forcing the point from his skull. You hear hellhounds closing in.

Helena: In the back of my head I pray to the Serpent that they got Benedict out.

I drive the four fingers of my other hand into his exposed throat and crush with all my strength.

GM: You feel the neck armor collapse, his blood compromising your grip, but hate making up much of the loss. His remaining eye begins to roll back, and then hundreds of pounds of canine collide with you teeth-first.

Helena: If I can take his throat with me as I go, I will.

GM: You come away with his blood-soaked gorget as the hellhound tears at your arms. Other hounds pile on, attacking legs and belly.

Helena: I tuck my legs up, and my arms over my face, and try not to die screaming.

GM: (You can manage a parting shot or two, but the blood loss and sheer damage will be too much very quickly.)

Helena: if a piece of me is lying on Benedict, maybe

they'll reestablish with him and get us both out

but I would rather they'd already got him out.

GM: You cannot see Benedict. Perhaps they did get him out somehow.

Helena: I grab the nearest dog and try to kill it with my hands, so its body would be some protection to me.

GM: SNAP! and then Pain and Darkness.