Full Circle

Ryven looked at the man sitting in his chair in the corner of his suite in Cerra Manor.  So, this man had exacted revenge on the man who had the man who had Ryven re-wired killed.  Ryven wasn't sure what that should mean for him, but he wasn't sure if he felt gratitude or just simply relief at knowing more of what had happened.  He still had a few questions. "So, you came here to give me these research notes in hopes that it'd clean the slate between the State and me?  That doesn't wash.  If you know what I did on Prime, then you know it was entirely for the purposes of cleaning that slate.  I've been trying to keep you guys off of me, not deliberately attacking you.  You double-crossed me, not the other way around."

The man nodded, his expression veiled by the shadows.  "I know."  His voice had an annoyed quality to it, as though he too were irritated by the way his State sometimes dealt with things.  Ryven could understand.  This man was an operative, an admittedly powerful one, and had to deal with the many missteps and bunglings of bureaucracy.  "Actually, I had one other thing I wanted to approach you about."

Ryven snorted. "Figures.  There always is."

The man's teeth glinted in the low light, a smile suddenly visible.  "Yes.  There is, isn't there?  I'm sorry to be cliche, but, well, things are cliche because they are so common as to be overly banal, are they not?"  He actually laughed, and found himself liking Mr. Krennel, despite himself.  "I had hoped I might persuade you to serve your country in an unofficial capacity and on an ad hoc basis."

Ryven rolled his eyes. "You're kidding me, right?  After what we just talked about?"

"Mr. Krennel, I won't offend you by calling you by your birth name, or appeal to your sense of duty, because you have far surpassed your origins, and frankly, you owe the State nothing.  We have never fulfilled our end of the bargain.  I would not be surprised if you don't even think of yourself as Caldari."  He paused for a moment.  "However, you are Caldari.  The State fathered you, even if it was a deadbeat father.  The fact of the matter is, I'm trying to recruit you to do what I do.  To save the State from itself."

Ryven remained silent.

"I would be your contact.  Your only contact.  I will be the only one who knows what you do for us or even that you do it.  When you have to visit the State for a job, you will be anonymous, but no one will question your authority.  However, I imagine most of your assignments will be here in the Amarr/Minmatar warzone.  This particular conflict is of importance to the State, though it doesn't know it." 

Ryven pondered for a moment. "So, I get to stay here and do what I'm doing, but with the occasional bit of wetwork on the side, and all of it to make the State a better place?"

The man shook his head. "No, Mr. Krennel.  To make New Eden a better place."

Surfacing

6-23  YC 115  19:37
Cerra Manor
Huola VII

Ryven awoke, his head splitting under the internal cacophonous echoes of far too much alcohol the previous night...day... week.  He wasn't sure if it was even day or night.  Come to think of it, he wasn't sure if he was even in his room.  He was lying face down on a bed.  He pulled his face away from the covers enough to recognize them as his covers.  He scanned his eyes around the room, recognizing his rather spartan decor.  Okay, so he was in his suite at Cerra Manor.  He rolled himself over, groaning as he did so.  He closed his eyes, hoping to will away the pain.  It dulled, but didn't manage to evaporate.  He sighed deeply into his empty room.

The revelation that his entire personality, his entire way of life, and even his faith were all the products of a Caldari scientist's wild experiment was too much for him to process at first.  He had thanked Leela and Zhou for telling him and disappeared for a while.  He needed time to gather his thoughts, he had told himself.  Of course, gathering his thoughts meant a whole lot of introspection, which inevitably lead to even more drinking.  The rest was just a blur, really.

However, the problem still remained.  What does one do when they discover that everything they feel or think is artificial?  How does a person deal with that?  Further, knowing this, does he choose to remain as he is, or does he choose to seek a way to reverse it and return to his real self?  Does that real self exist anymore?  Or, is the new self the real self?  Ryven had turned to drinking to escape that twisted philosophical shit. 

Truthfully, Ryven was terrified of going back to his old ways.  For one, he had finally made friends.  He even had managed to get married, fall in love (albeit not with the same person), and even made a few heroic sacrifices.  These are things the old Ryven would not have done.  The new Ryven was a decent human being for the most part.  The old Ryven was barely passable as one.   These thoughts chased about in his mind until he fell back asleep and the hours drifted by.

*****************************

Ryven awoke a few hours later, his room dark except for a single lamp across the room in the corner behind a high-backed chair.  His eyes adjusted quickly and he could barely make out the form of a man in the chair staring at him through dark sunglasses that glinted as he looked at them.  The man sat, fingers touching in a peak in front of him as he spoke in a voice that showed no emotion, but was immediately calming and absolutely captivating.  "I was hoping you'd wake up soon, Mr. Krennel."

Ryven rose calmly and sat on the edge of the bed.  He quickly analyzed the situation.  They were alone.  Ryven was unarmed, but couldn't be certain about this man with his rather theatrical, although practical, methods.  Further, since he clearly wanted to talk, Ryven stood to gain from listening, at least for the moment. "Everyone keeps telling me I'm a terrible host." He gave a sly grin.

The man's voice remained the same.  "I am here of my own volition.  I chose to come here because, well, after a decade of doing so, I still do what is best for the Caldari State."

Ryven laughed. "I pegged you for megacorp with that suit you're wearing."

The man raised a hand to correct him. "Not quite.  I owe allegiance to no megacorp.  I am something else entirely.  Most people make the same mistake as you, assuming that megacorps are the entirety of the State.  However, I think you most likely know differently, do you not?"

Ryven remained silent, wondering what he was getting at.

"No?  Well, I won't go into all the sordid details, but suffice to say that the State would be nothing but piss and ashes if everything were left to the megacorps' directors.  No, sometimes things have to be dealt with in such a way as to steer the State where it needs to go."

Ryven frowned. "Sabotage.  Assassination.  Blackmail.  The usual."

"Something like that, yes.  However, I'm not here for any of those reasons.  I must say that this is actually something of a first for me.  You see, in my career I have managed to make very few mistakes.  In fact, in a decade of service, I have only failed once.  I am here to try to make things right, you see."

Ryven shook his head. "No, not really."

"Dr. Tobit.  A younger and, might I say, more reckless director headed up the department of Kalaakiota that employed and financed Dr. Tobit.  This director, probably from watching far too many holos, got the idea that having Tobit killed was the best way to handle what he saw as an investment with little fruition, namely, you."

Ryven raised an eyebrow.  "Go on."

"Dr. Tobit should not have been killed.  I tried to stop it from happening but I miscalculated and arrived too late.  However, I did manage to salvage something that I am going to give to you as a means of correcting this mistake.  I recovered his research notes."

Ryven was skeptical. "And why give them to me?  How does that help the State?"

"I have a theory, Mr. Krennel.  You see, I theorize that you are a dangerous man.  I know the stunt you pulled on Caldari Prime.  You have the potential to be a very dangerous enemy to the State.  Honestly, the State probably deserves it after all they've done to you.  However, I am prepared to give you these notes in hopes of perhaps closing the divide somewhat.  Additionally, I am human and am inclined every so often to simply do things because they are the right thing to do.  Much like the night I killed that director."