tushanshu | ( video )

[A man appears on the network of indeterminate age, extremely short-- under five feet tall, easily-- with a slight hunch to his posture and Germanic features. His eyes are sharply alive, bright with challenge. There's no hesitation as he speaks, in a gravelly kind of accent that sounds almost Russian, the words flowing quickly as he makes them up on the spot.

Right now, he desperately needs intel of all kinds, and eventually a spotter to watch him while he uses his seizure inducer. That fact he's assiduously ignoring. He'd checked his neurotransmitter levels this morning, and he has at least three days, even with all the stress of arrival. No, four days, probably. Five. Really, he can go a lot longer without one than the ImpSec medical staff had given him credit for. --Focus, Vorkosigan.]

So. I see you all have quite a neat set up here. Let's not waste time. Who can bring me up to speed, ex tempore? Surely we have more intelligence than "don't say its name" on our bogey man. Since confirmed facts are likely to be scarce, personal accounts would be acceptable.

I'm also taking proposals for getting miserably drunk at the bar, as is traditional in times of drawn out peril. I need someone to drag me home, y'see; alcohol has quite a soporific effect on my constitution. [And Ivan is unfortunately not here to do the dragging. Miles ignores the resulting pang that inspires in him.

Then he hesitates imperceptibly, the memory of his previous catastrophic failure to report his seizures clanging loudly through his brain. No. He can't ignore this, much as he'd like to. The only thing that scares Miles more than never going home is turning into a vegetable, mindless and drooling. He can at least do the preliminary investigation about options.]

Information about local medical facilities would be appreciated as well. They're not all-- er, at this level of technology, are they? [He looks dubious about anyone surviving on that level of medical care, but immediately recovers with a wide, convincing smile.] I'd just like to know preemptively for when I wake up with a skull splitting headache.

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Improved? Dare I ask how? That doesn't seem the sort of thing that happens overnight.

So she's informed me. [Miles smiles at the comment, unoffended.] I am properly warned-- she seems a capable sort. [This is half fishing, half genuine. Miles generally wants to know everything about everyone; he can't help himself.]

[He points up at the sky with a shrug and a sheepish smile] A satellite crash, a couple months ago- around the time I got here actually, so I don't know much about it. But the Kedan and some foreigners adapted the technology to this place- there weren't even cars when people first got here.

And I assure you she's extremely capable, but she's my boss so I'm almost obligated to say it.

A satellite crash? [Congrats, his previous general interest has now focused to a razor's edge, the whole other topic of conversation left to the wayside.] That means someone had to have built it. [Presumably not the kedan.] Who would I speak to if I did want to know more?

The Emperor, I guess? In his open audience. I'm not sure how much he'll share though, he's kind of- he isn't mean, but he's kind of blunt. He was a soldier, so he's a bit scary.

Ah-- really? [Unlike Frank, Miles seems to think that's the best news he's heard all day.] Excellent. Soldier Emperors are my favorite kind. When does he have an open audience? I find it imperative that I speak to him.

[If Frank's warning that he doesn't share much (and the implication that others have tried, and failed, to demand information) sinks in for Miles at all, he certainly isn't showing it.]

[Frank blinks, but he guesses not everyone thinks of soldiers the same way. His mother was a soldier after all, and he loves her dearly... but he still resents war for stealing her from him.]

I don't know, I have never paid much attention to it. Once a month or so, I think.

[Being a soldier is the greatest aspiration one could have, didn't you know? Miles thinks so.]

Alright, [he says crisply, thinking on that already.] I'll have to investigate. Thanks for the lead. Any other tips about His Majesty?

[A snort] You even know the right title, huh? He will like you I bet.

We had another emperor before, also some sort of soldier. She was murdered. and our current emperor cared for her, like, a lot. [Frank might have shipped it.] Not mentioning it would be for the best.

Titles are in my blood, [he says flippantly, though it's an incredibly true statement.]

Now that is worthwhile information, thank you. I've seen record of the murderer's execution, but I didn't realize it was so... personal.

[Of course, this means Miles definitely is going to mention it. Looks like a weak spot? Better prod at it.]

Uh, sure.

[Frank knows better than most what having something in one's blood is like, but he doesn't really know how titles could enter the equation. So he doesn't ask.]

Yeah, they were friends. He was pretty devastated when she died, and so was the turtle itself to be honest. She was a pretty damn strict emperor but she was a soldier lost in battle and that should be respected.

[That's what happens when you're from a nepotistic, old Russian style feudal system.

Miles nods. It's not lack of respect that would make him prod at weak spots; it's simple practicality. But he has the utmost and sincere respect for that kind of sacrifice. That, too, is in his blood.]

Her sacrifice should be honored, [he agrees soberly.] She sounds like a remarkable woman. I regret that I wasn't able to meet her. I've never met a female Emperor; I'm not surprised she was strict.

[He doesn't mean to snort, but he can't help it. That's a bit misogynistic, isn't it? From what Frank understands anyway. He hopes Annabeth isn't listening.]

Yeah, she was- they both are really. We spent a lot of time before we actually started gathering information on what was happening. And a lot of people have been here for longer than I've been, so they had to wait even more and were left without even knowing what was going on. Even when stuff like water-zombies or the satellite or Asti getting sick happened we were left in the dark.

I think that's why she pissed off so many people, but she wasn't evil or bad. I don't think she was anyway, but I might be biased towards soldier woman. [His mother was one and died in Afghanistan.]

[Miles himself has a little touch of sexism, but the misogyny in this case isn't his. His planet is exceedingly misogynistic and he can't, from his own personal experience, imagine a woman becoming Emperor without having to fight her way to the position tooth and nail. That would make anyone strict in retaliation.]

They're spectacular. [His admiration is heartfelt and visible.] My mother was one. Not to mention several others I've met who've left, if not as indelible an impression as my mother, nearly as much of a one.

Few people are evil or bad. I can certainly respect dedication in all its forms, no matter how aggravating the manifestation.

[So he had a soldier mother as well, and he spoke of her in the past. Frank would ask, but his own mother's death is still recent and painful. So painful so far only Leo has been able to resonate with it and understand Frank.

So he decides to save that conversation for another time.]

She got the short end of the stick too, since when we got here they couldn't tell us much. She came across as cold when all she was doing was protecting Asti from us.

[Fortunately for Miles, it's only past tense because his mother had retired from soldiering a long time ago. It's hard to think of her as a present tense soldier when she so disdains any form of unnecessary violence. That, however, Miles sees as a wisdom and not a weakness. Of course, he's oblivious to any undertones of tragedy here.]

Why does he need protecting from us? [Miles is a little sharper, due to his interest in this bit of information. Then he reins himself in.] Are we harming him in some way by our presence?

[He shakes his head] Nah, not in that way.

Do you know how the last Emperor died?

( video )

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