Explorer of Edregon

Vin wanted nothing more than to grab his friends and take off on another crazy adventure into an unknown fragment, risking life and limb along the way. Instead, he found himself sitting at the round table within the command room once more, rubbing tired eyes as he listened to Spur and Alice argue with one another.

He promised himself as soon as all this crap was dealt with, he was taking off no matter what unexpected thing popped up next.

"She took the law into her own hands. We can't allow someone like that to remain in our camp," Spur repeated for what felt like the tenth time, his arms crossed as he refused to budge on his stance.

"So did you!" Alice snapped, repeating Abby's own point as she continued to argue. "Why are you special and she's not? Because some big-wig a trillion light years away said you were? News flash, Spur, we're not on Earth anymore!"

"Spur is still technically the overall Commander of the Earthers," Witherson pointed out, frowning slightly as she backed him up. "And one could argue that his Traitor-Bane Capstone counts as being judged by a higher power. Abby was her own judge. She decided Patty and Kyle deserved to die all on her own, and she pulled the trigger in both cases without any oversight."

"You were going to have them both executed anyway, weren't you?" Alice demanded. "You would have had a revolt on your hands if you hadn't killed Patty after what she'd done."

"So just because someone is on death row, that means anyone is allowed to enter their cell and shoot them in the face?" Spur asked, shaking his head. "I understand where you're coming from, Alice, but Abby's a loose cannon. Not to mention her Righteous Action Capstone. She's too dangerous."

"Actually, if I may," Golrim finally interjected. All this time, the man had been calmly standing by the side of the room, watching their debate. Spur hadn't been too happy to see him sitting in on their council meeting, but he hadn't objected to his presence either. "There is a third option that neither of you seem to be considering."

"Please, do tell," Spur drawled. "If it ends this pointless argument, I'm all ears."

"Thanks to the actions of Witherson, the foundation of your new town is coming along quite nicely," Golrim said, gesturing toward Witherson and getting a slight nod in return. "However, there are still a number of critical components you have yet to start on. One of which being an official city guard."

"Your solution to Abby killing people that she didn't have the right to kill in the first place… is to give her more power?" Spur sputtered, looking at Golrim like he was crazy. "Are you insane?!"

"Hardly. Spur, you are an excellent leader in most cases, and I do mean that. I'm a rather harsh judge of character," Golrim admitted. "Though one thing has become clear to me since the two of us have begun working together. You're more stubborn than a mule."

"Oh, go on. This should be good," Spur said, his lips pressed into a thin line.

"You're open to change when it comes to little things, but when you have your mind set on something, you dig in your heels and fight against altering the bigger picture tooth and nail. Take turning the camp into an actual town, for example. It took the entire rest of the council to convince you it was the right thing to do to prevent your people from fracturing."

"It pains me, but I concede that one," Spur frowned. "Though I think the issue of giving a murderer more power rather than punishing them is a little different."

"Again, you are too set in thinking about things in black and white. In the rules of your old world," Golrim said, shaking his head. "Alice put it quite bluntly. Yes, the woman in question killed people. But only because they had done terrible things and had threatened to do far worse. The fact that her very own Capstone is called Righteous Action shows that she is truly working toward what she thinks is best for your people. Abilities like hers should be rewarded, the owners encouraged to work for the good of the crown, not against it."

"You're saying her mind-influencing ability is a good thing?" Phil asked, looking woefully unconvinced. "I find that hard to believe."

"Again, it is how the ability is used that is important, not what the ability is capable of," Golrim sighed. "You Earthers and your views on right and wrong… Tell me, what if there was an angry mob of people on their way to take Spur's head because of some misunderstanding? How would you rather deal with them? Wipe them all out? Or use an ability such as Abby's to calm them down and make them disperse?"

"We'd come up with a third option," Spur growled. "Messing with a person's mind should be illegal, end of story."

"While I'm against executing Abby for what she's done, I do have to agree with Spur on that," Alice nodded.

"Then tell me, how do you intend to deal with those who break your laws when you have none capable of wielding the same power on your side?" Golrim asked bluntly. "Mental magic is one thing, as having defenders with a high enough focus can easily resist. But what about soul magic? Or curse users? If someone capable of using such dark arts as those pops up, and you don't have anyone on your side capable of the same because it's illegal, you're signing your own death warrant. Not to mention you might be able to save yourself the hassle in the first place if you offer to hire the aspiring blood mage rather than threaten to kill them and their entire family."

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The room was silent as everyone thought about Golrim's points. Vin had to admit, he hadn't been in favor of killing Abby in the first place, but now he felt a lot more secure in his decision. And based on everyone's faces, he wasn't the only one that had been swayed.

"He has a point," Witherson said, looking thoughtful. "Government organizations hire hackers all the time to test their own electronic defenses against the real thing. Perhaps we should reconsider how we deal with Abby."

"Witherson, you can't be serious," Spur said. "I know you didn't witness what Patty was capable of, but she almost took over the entire camp all on her own!"

"You were all pretty low-level, and we didn't know persuasive skills like hers even existed at the time," Vin pointed out. "I think Golrim is right. I witnessed firsthand how well your current policing efforts have been working. Kyle was basically shaking people down in broad daylight, and barely anything was being done about it. I think forming an official guard is a good idea, and putting Abby on it would be for the best."

"A guard is a good idea…" Alice said slowly, giving Vin a look that was both apologetic and angry. "…but Abby shouldn't be on it. Don't get me wrong, I think her taking care of Patty and Kyle like she did was fine. Patty definitely got what she deserved. But I disagree with giving someone with her ability any sort of power over others."

"Okay, before we all start fighting again, I think we have a few separate issues we're combining here," Witherson said, getting to her feet and walking over to the whiteboard. "First, and entirely independent of Abby, is the formation of a town guard to deal with rule breakers and the like," she continued, writing the motion on the whiteboard. "Second, is dealing with Abby. To make things easier, I call for a quick vote. All in favor of execution or banishment?"

Spur and Phil both raised their hands, and while Phil seemed unsurprised by being outvoted, Spur scowled at the three of them. Witherson merely nodded, moving right along.

"Next, the formation of an actual town guard to function as an official police force?"

This time all five hands went up, and Witherson gave them a slight smile at the unanimous vote as she put a checkmark by the motion.

"It's nice to see us all in agreement at least every so often. In that case, motion three is whether or not we should put Abby on the guard."

"To be frank, I would suggest making her captain of it," Golrim said, giving his famous unsolicited advice.

"Golrim, I'm going to throw you in jail next if you don't stop butting in," Spur said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Dare I ask why you think that would be a good idea?"

"Three reasons, really," he smiled. "One, as I said, is that her heart is clearly in the right place. Two, is that she'll feel indebted to you. At the moment she no doubt thinks she's going to be made an example of. If you instead reward her and put her in charge, she'll try all the harder to live up to your expectations, meaning she'll be more likely to listen to whatever rules you put into place at the same time. And three, you can spin recent events more easily in your favor. In a world where truth-detecting magic exists, you should always try to conceal your lies in truth. If instead of saying she killed Kyle in cold blood, you announce that the head of your new guard has already dealt with two significant threats to everyone's safety, you'll raise public opinion of both your new guard force and yourselves."

"Hmph," Phil grunted, running a hand over his stubble as he considered Golrim's points. "He's not wrong, Spur. I told you morale has been an issue lately, and it would be quite the boost. Abby is a hard worker, and she's well known among the combat classes for giving a hundred and ten percent toward everything she does. Not to mention the old saying, 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer.' If we're not getting rid of Abby altogether, I'd actually prefer putting her in a position directly under me so I can monitor her more closely."

"I know he's not wrong, that's what worries me," Spur said, narrowing his eyes at the still smiling Golrim. "I can't help but feel like Golrim always gets his way, regardless of what my original thoughts were. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was the one with persuasive magic."

Everyone at the table turned to look at Vin, who merely shook his head.

"No magic. He's just very persuasive."

"I understand how you feel, Spur, and I apologize. But you have to remember, I worked as a royal advisor to the king himself for many years. Giving good advice is quite literally what I do best," Golrim smiled.

Vin thought back to the conversation he'd had with Spur about Golrim a few days back. The colonel had confided in him that so long as Golrim thought they were his best bet toward his goal of building the perfect city, the former advisor would move heaven and earth to make that happen.

It seemed Spur was thinking similar thoughts as he finally uncrossed his arms, giving Golrim a slow nod.

"Fine. A large part of me still thinks this is madness, but even I have to admit you haven't steered us wrong yet. Though there is no way in hell I'm making her captain. I move to make Abby the vice-captain of the new guard, working directly under Phil. Provided we give her a very clear list of rules she is expected to follow."

"Spur, you can't honestly-"

"All in favor?" Spur asked, cutting off Alice and looking pointedly at Golrim. As the colonel raised his own hand, Vin joined him, and even Phil put his hand up after a moment's hesitation. Alice's hand remained on the table, and she frowned at the rest of them. To Vin's surprise, Witherson's hand remained down as well, making the vote three to two.

"Well that settles it then," Spur sighed, giving Witherson an annoyed look for her lack of vote. "I suppose the next order of business would be coming up with some actual rules for our murder-happy new vice-captain to enforce."