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Virginia shook her head and rose from her chair. She folded her arms at her side and stepped closer to Morreti's bedside, examining the extent of his injuries and the aids keeping him conscious with concern in her eyes. But even a cursory examination of the patient didn't tell her much about his condition - her knowledge of medicine ended at field first aid.
"Okay, enough about the past and what can't be changed.", she smiled encouragingly at him, "How long before you get out of here? Are you in any pain - is there anything you need to bring from your office to here?", she asked him a few questions in an attempt to see if she could somehow ease his lot when she had listed all the mistakes he had made moments ago. "Whether for work or relaxation... er, I meant recovery. No booze, though.", she added immediately afterwards.
With a smile at her comment about booze being off the menu, he lied through his teeth when the subject of pain was brought up. "No, I'm not in any pain, just tired. They're letting me go in a week but I'm prohibited from flying for at least a month." The only thing revealing that this was a lie was a subtle nuance to the way he seemed to look at her, and if she blinked then the "tell" would have been missed .
"Only thing which would be nice to have is my terminal, but that's not portable. If I get any priority communications, I should be able to take them on my PDA which I have with me. So I don't think I really need anything. I just-" Hesitation and doubt cut him short for the moment and he looked away before making eye contact again, and his expression suggested that he was no doubt trying to broach the topic carefully. "Could you stay with me for a while?" The caution to the tone behind his request was firmly rooted in his knowledge and experience of her reservations when it came to closeness. It also seemed like there was an element of tension behind his actions and mannerisms, as if he wasn't sure who else among his own people was going to decide to try and kill him.
And with that nagging him in the back of his mind, thoughts naturally wandered to sorties from years prior, back when the mutineers seemed to truly believe in him.
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"Damien, I can tell when you're lying.", Virginia said amusedly, "Don't you remember how I looked inside you during our first meeting at Fontana?". She pointed at his face with her left hand, "It's all written on your face. Different colored skin around your jaw and cheeks, you're clenching them a lot.", she pointed with her left index finger around his mouth at the slight changes in skin color she perceived with her innate tetrachromacy.
She then folded her hands at her sides, "I'd lend you my laptop, but that would be useless - we're still using our original network protocols, but maybe I could find a spare one aboard the Roanoke that your people could patch to work with what you need. It's a military laptop, so it's designed to be repaired or modified by an untrained monkey with a knife instead of a screwdriver. As long as you don't need some fancy graphical features on it.".
"Well... I can stay here, I have a day off anyway - the Roanoke can't go anywhere, the whole senior staff went overboard with the celebration, not just me.", Virginia pouted her lips slightly, though it was obvious that she was still in terrible headache and it was evident in the way she spoke - she spoke unusually quietly, making the most economical, laziest movements she could. "Unless Fort Ramsey itself is attacked, no one will get us anywhere.".
She'd caught the lie easily, reminding him that even if he wanted to lie to her about certain things that it was simply unlikely to work. With a defeated sigh, a shake of the head, and a smirk, he conceded that she was right again. "Right, I forgot you were a walking lie detector. I'm topped out on painkillers but I'm still in agony. It'll be agony I can tolerate within a week, but for now it's like I'm being repeatedly stabbed." This, she could tell, was the truth and he stopped hiding his discomfort as well. Being seated upright for this long was only making how he felt worse, and when he began to feel lightheaded and like he was swaying a little, he lay back down and turned to face his visitor.
"If for some reason my injuries cause complications, or if someone else finishes the job the mutineers started, can I count on you to take care of our people?" It was certainly a grim thing to bring up in conversation, especially when she was clearly trying to be reassuring about the situation. But he was thinking about this logically and didn't seem afraid of the prospect that he might die, only that what he'd set out to do would be left unfinished, and that people who needed him would be easy prey after his passing. That wasn't the legacy he wanted to leave behind, far from it.
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Virginia smiled encouragingly at him and took his hand, "There will be no complications, you're getting the best care anyone could have here. And if you don't...", she paused for a moment and tapped her right index finger on her chin thoughtfully, "... then we can hibernate you and ask John Holiday to take a look on you and patch you up.".
As she thought about how she would respond to the second half of his statement, she let out a long sigh, "Damien... I don't mind people hating me here, but it would be a problem for the Democratic leadership, don't you think?". Virginia couldn't imagine the fact that she'd been elected to any more important position in the LFR than captaining her battle cruiser, the Roanoke.
"Well... if you're worried about your safety though, I can station my marines here. You know... the ones who helped me and your people get my ship. Whoever wanted to kill me or you already tried to do so, at least when my crew is concerned.", she pitched the next solution she could currently think of and sat down on the chair next to his bed, still holding his hand - perhaps to ease his discomfort.
The moment she took his hand he squeezed in response, obviously deeply appreciating the fact she was making tangible attempts to comfort him. Lying down like this reduced the sense of strain to his voice and face, something which rang through his tone as he cleared up a misunderstanding. "I'm not asking you to become the Commander, that's up to a popular vote. What I'm asking you to do, is to simply do what's necessary for the sake of our people and to keep them safe if I'm no longer able to." There was a look of absolute seriousness to him as he said all of this, like he needed to hear her say the words and enunciate commitment.
"I'm not worried about my safety. The militia's the least likely to do anything that would be considered a betrayal of the LFR. The Alliance is still temperamental, it's much older and has more scope for narrow thinking. That's the benefit of building something from the ground-up versus trying to reform something older than most independent colonies." Facts like these greatly pronounced the absolute nightmare it must have been for him to manage an entity like the Alliance on a daily basis, it spoke volumes of how much effort a Commander would have needed to put in. And with that in mind his position was thoroughly unenviable.
Once he'd finished talking his gaze turned to the ceiling, it appeared as if the more she was trying to comfort him, the more it was making the pain he was trying to restrain present itself.
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Virginia smiled encouragingly at Morreti and nodded, "Of course I'll be here if anything happens to you. I didn't feel up to emigrating from Liberty then, and I don't feel up to it now.", she took a brief pause before continuing, biting her bottom lip at that, "Hopefully not too many people here will want to kill me, then I'd have to pack - I'm willing to take the risk, but I'm not going to trap my people just for ideals." Actually, she assessed her chances realistically - no point in staying with the LFR if she was going to be persona non grata, she'd have to come up with another plan - a plan she hadn't bothered to think about in depth yet.
"Yes, I know the Alliance is a bit temperamental, I can judge that from my limited experience with them. One grump next to another. That's why I never dreamed of perhaps fitting in with them or asking you to fit into the organizational structure. No no, my position at LFR is very comfortable at the moment, thank you very much for asking.", she gave him her honest opinion of the Xeno Alliance. While she respected them, there was something about them that seemed a little over the top.
"But don't think of any grim scenarios. You'll get out of here on your own two feet.", Virginia patted his hand condescendingly, "Instead, tell me how you've been perfecting your singing since the last time."
Having been with the Alliance for years now he was no stranger to their nature and by extension his own. The chief problem with a cause based around collective understanding but valuing an extreme degree of independence was the rampant disagreement. And unless he sought to rip everything out by the roots and start over, there was no changing the basic nature of the people in this cause. Guidance could be provided and people could be steered towards goals, but they'd always choose their own means to achieve said ends. "The reason the Alliance is the way it is, is because for decades upon decades now it's had no clear direction, sense of purpose or even a single goal in mind. It was just a collection of pilots collectively sharing resources and reporting to one Commander. It's grown tremendously since then, but people who still remember those early days for what they were haven't changed with the times. I'm sure change is frightening to them, and it sure doesn't help that I've been making lots of changes." There was an intangible quality to the tone behind his answer which made it seem like he already had a solution to this in mind, but that it must have been obvious enough to avoid mentioning.
The sudden shift in conversation caught him off-guard somewhat, but he managed to keep pace and even seemed amused by the angle she'd chosen. "I didn't feel inspired enough to do any of that recently. Maybe I'll have a reason to once I'm out of here and we're making headway again." For all his faults and depravity, he had a remarkable resolve for weathering uncertainty and inspiring loyalty. Even now and in his current condition, he was still capable of oozing confidence and trying to motivate himself. Of course, there'd been a catalyst in this case who was still in the room with him.
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Virginia nodded her head understandingly at both of his answers. There wasn't much to protest about, she didn't understand the Xeno Alliance so this answer had to be enough. A certain softening of her expression could be read on his face as he explained his reasons for not training his voice. Her head was still pounding.
"Yeah, too many changes in too short a time. It was too fast for me too - the Sniffers and Cardamine in general.", Virginia reiterated her previous point. He was in too much of a hurry, it was all too rushed. Maybe even she herself would have rebelled if she hadn't learned to let things in one ear and out the other with the Insurgency, "Promise me you'll be more transparent about such drastic changes next time. Even for your own good, Damien."
"Do tell me...", she began her sentence after a long pause, "...what factions are we going to deal with now that we've declared war on the Technocracy?", Virginia asked, running her left hand through her slightly wavy blonde hair.
He chuckled but had to stop rather quickly because it caused him an agonizing amount of pain to laugh. "Oh, please. They always knew, it was why we sacked Rochester to begin with. Doing that was a symbol that the Outcasts had to take us seriously, and now they are because there isn't a choice. These people who decided their friend that was getting too close to the Nomads and the Technocracy was worth more than the entirety of the LFR, were just dead-set on living in a fairy tale. A world where we'd be able to control the Cardamine trade without having to make any form of a deal with the Outcasts. They were idiots to think that, and they were outright fools to not understand how much of a victory it is that the freaks are now willing to make and uphold a deal, on our terms, when less than two decades prior they said they'd never deal with us. I won't lose any sleep over doing what I promised I would." It was a stern response, and it seemed truthful from his end, although the crux of this dispute was likely less to do with what the truth was and more about how people felt over the truth of the matter.
Despite his response however, he nodded his head with a sigh and agreed. "I promise that I'll be open about what I'm doing and why. I took an oath to protect the LFR and its people the day I won the vote. So did the four who just tried to kill me. What we're seeing now is who's willing to keep their word even if it hurts and people hate you for it. This war with the Technocracy doesn't change much either. The Corsairs weren't being a reliable partner, so I severed the agreement and made their associates in this House targets instead. Our deal with the Order is still valid, support for independent groups like the IMG and the people of Erie is also still on the table. Was there anything else you wanted to know about standing policy that our published modus operandi doesn't already make clear?" Clearly he felt her last question was redundant, but it might have been the hangover talking so he was willing to cut her some slack over it and just move on rather than criticize the lack of awareness.