Session Nineteen — Together, We… Form Voltron?¶

Played: 2026-09-04

The morning after the longest night, the crew of the good ship Chaos did what they do: made the hard choice carefully, the easy choice politely, and the impossible one in their sleep.

Ceres Security got its boots on the wreck first. The Board's coup got counted down to a single share. The Commodore got her vigilantes and her war. And Promise — Promise discovered she can be in two places at once, which everyone agrees explains a great deal.

Five of them walked into the Crown wearing color-coordinated uniforms. Nobody in the solar system is ready for that sentence.

Tough Choices¶

The session opened where the last one ended: Zure mid-conversations, plural, carrying Splishy Splashy's wreck coordinates like a stone. The Ambassador-Captain had been specific — no sharing until "the heat is off," and a warning ahead of time. The weight of it pressed on him with every passing moment.

Hoping for useful advice, Zure contacted Captain Diallo and asked her to advise him — as a Precog.

Calmly, she told him she could see two clear and extremely divergent paths branching from the moment of Elias' order to take out Conte's ship. Neither had made itself clear yet; the present was the liminal space where choices lead to system-wide changes. And: if she gave him any information or advice about either path, a third path — one they absolutely Do Not Want — would lock in.

Zure said he understood, thanked her, and accepted that he was getting no help with this particular choice.

Resigned, he acknowledged Rin — who had been waiting, staring at him, pushing the sensation of urgent-need-to-speak at him. He expected strong opinions, likely explosive.

What he got instead was Rin at her most careful. "The last thing we want is for Ceres to revolt," she repeated, nearly every sentence. She knew he knew she doesn't trust the UEF. She chose her words anyway, and added her empathy to deepen the meaning: the goal — the way they win the upcoming war — is to unify the entire system as quickly as possible. Even Yaw now sees an independent Belt and Mars as key to that struggle. Shaking the UEF any more than necessary is unwise. Open rebellion on Ceres would shake it far more than making the UEF happy today would — and if the UEF reaches Conte and his cohorts first, there will be fighting in the halls of Ceres before the day is done.

The key, she stressed: let both sides be mollified so there can be negotiation. Ceres Security gets to Conte first — boots on the ground — so Ceres holds jurisdiction over the trial. Give the people of Ceres authority over their own lives: the authority Conte took from them through manipulation, skullduggery, and illegal activity. Tell the UEF, yes — laws must be followed, and Unity must be seen respecting those who uphold them. But tell them after enough lead time that Ceres Security is already there.

Zure listened quietly, absorbing. He had mixed feelings about the legality; he also saw the wisdom. Strictly speaking, she reminded him, nothing she'd suggested was illegal — it was all in the grey area. Their choice to tread that grey was necessary, he acknowledged, for a struggle larger than today's not at all insignificant one.

What, he asked, should Unity — and the certainly wronged, justifiably angry members of her family — do amid all this?

"We have to prevent any possible contamination of evidence, any possible suggestion of tampering by us or on our parts — anything like that," Rin insisted. "The chain of evidence and of custody has to be flawless, or our chance to nail not just Conte but ARC fails. If we want to stop the trafficking, the rabble-rousing, we have to stay away — and be seen staying away."

Zure nodded, acknowledging what she was choosing to give up.

He contacted Sgt Rock to assemble a team for teleportation: search-and-rescue on a damaged ship, populated by known criminals. Rock suggested bringing an observer the Ceres public would trust, to record everything — clearly echoing Rin's argument of minutes before. Ceres was a powderkeg about to blow if any of them missed a single step in a perilously complex dance number they'd never seen performed and hadn't practiced.

Zure suggested Carrie Kim-Moyo, and said she'd be ready when Rock's team was. Rock agreed. Time: five minutes from now. Zure called Kim-Moyo — who was more than happy to get the scoop on what could turn out to be the story of a lifetime.

"Telepolite"¶

Kai readily agreed to act as transport for Rock's team and Kim-Moyo both. His technique, delivered consistently to each passenger:

"Hello, my name is Kai Le Gerrac. It is a pleasure to meet you. I am here to be your transportation today. We are going to be teleporting to [destination]. Is there anything you need to bring? [pause for answer] Alright. We are currently here. We will be at [destination] just about… [teleports] now. Thank you, and have a nice day."

He used neither gestalt nor merge and, besides being a bit hungry, suffered no ill effects.

He did it consistently enough that the table voted him the Trait "Telepolite" — nearly a modern-day flight attendant.

A Conversation with Captain Flynn¶

Zure called Flynn back — as promised, once he had coordinates — prepared to argue that letting Ceres Security get boots on the ground first was the Right Choice. Flynn's assistant declined to put him through, saying Flynn would call when available. Zure considered this a blessing: it bought Rock's team time. Asking forgiveness is better than asking permission, sometimes.

The assistant had clearly misjudged the call's priority. Captain Flynn called back within ten seconds.

What became clear quickly: the brief interval had given Flynn a chance to calm down and think. The conversation unfolded on two channels at once.

Verbally: Zure reported smoothly that Captain Diallo had retreated to a location outside the UEF Ceres Fleet's jurisdiction, where she would remain until everything calmed down — her reason being the safety of her people above all. (Which was factual.) Flynn acknowledged the report, thanked him, bemoaned that Diallo was now outside UEF jurisdiction, and signed off.

Telepathically — pinged by Zure, allowed by Flynn, less intense than Zure was used to — the real conversation ran. Zure opened with Diallo's message: "Remember engagement 237B." Zure's empathy read Flynn's reaction clearly: damn, she pulled that on me. Zure also stated plainly that the pilot who volunteered the coordinates had asked for a warning and a head start before any heat came his way.

Flynn — clearly frustrated, caught between a rock and a hard place — let Zure know that since there were no longer any local ARC executives to insist on heat, there was in fact no heat on the way. Diallo was officially a fugitive — the shot was illegal — and she'd be wise to remain outside jurisdiction. Zure provided the coordinates via secure Agent connection.

Then Zure told him: Rock's search-and-rescue team, plus Carrie Kim-Moyo as an impartial observer from the press, were in a shuttle en route to those coordinates — ETA two minutes. Flynn responded that the Runner the Commodore had ordered him to send would take approximately ten minutes to arrive — as such, since Sgt Rock's team "has boots on the ground there first, it hardly matters." Ceres Security's jurisdiction by default. Not UEF's.

Zure and Rin exchanged a brief, victorious look.

Flynn signed off the telepathic channel asking Zure to pass a message to Diallo the next time they spoke: she used up her favor with this. Zure relayed it, and disconnected.

(At this point Rin suspected she knew what the coordinates were. She asked Zure to confirm; he did. When he began to ask, she told him she'd explain later, if he didn't figure it out himself.)

Two Places at Once¶

Promise paced, composing a press release with Tama's help; Rin sent over Sweetie's files on Conte and ARC's various and sundry illegal activities. Once again Promise wrote it to the theme of Vance as Hero. Rin rolled her eyes but said nothing — Promise is a damn fine writer.

And then the thought that had been tickling the back of Rin's mind crystallized: she had left Promise outside, guarding the exterior door. Yet here Promise was, inside, composing a press release and talking with Elias.

Not sure exactly how the trick was being managed — but empathically sensing something — Rin chose to observe quietly.

Promise eventually figured it out herself, right around the time Zure finished playing comms for Flynn. The realization that she wasn't actually standing where she thought she was standing caused her to gasp — and disappear. Her tablet dropped to the ground with a clatter. (On it: a very well-written press release wherein Vance caught Conte doing illegal things.)

Vance panicked, of course.

Rin calmed him — and everyone else — by simply opening the entry door. Where Promise was standing guard. And also kind of freaking out.

Rin told her to come inside and settle her nerves — then went and stood guard outside herself.

Priscilla's Psychology Session¶

Zure concluded he was no longer needed as substitute comms station or interior door guard; things seemed to be calming down. He announced he was going to take care of Priscilla — clearly in Dire Need of a Therapist — and that he was not to be interrupted unless it was… well, more emergency.

He unlocked the door to the room Sion had been using.

His senses were assaulted by:

Very loud Ceres Industrial Thrash Metal
Priscilla lying on the bed, blouse unbuttoned way too far
A wet towel over her eyes
Somewhat matted hair
Evidence she had chugged an entire bottle of wine
Everything breakable in the room, broken

Zure cleared his throat. Priscilla sat bolt upright, buttoned her blouse at speed, turned the music down, and declared: "Whatever you do, do not tell That Woman what you just saw here!"

Zure assured her he would never — confidentiality between a professional and his client, etc. They discussed his credentials for a few minutes, and then had an actual session.

Largely: Priscilla — like Cat Horvath — had thought she had things under control. She knew her boss was evil and terrible; she figured she had sufficient blackmail material to be "safe"; she didn't consider herself complicit; and she had no clue how EVIL ARC truly was. "I knew I was working for an 'Evil Corporation,' blah blah, but I didn't know — nobody ever really knows, you know? — how EVIL it really was!" She thought she'd made herself indispensable enough that Conte couldn't get rid of her, leaving her free to walk at a time of her choosing. Instead, she was shocked by how quickly he moved against her.

She had done what she did with eyes open — she was in it for Priscilla and nothing else. She had even given herself a nemesis: Promise. Now she found herself reeling from the rapid change of perspective — the realization that she never really had the control she thought she had. Nor the distance from the actions.

When Ceres Security showed up to arrest her, she was not surprised, and she did not resist.

Pay It Forward¶

Finished as transportation for Rock's unit and Kim-Moyo, Kai left the docks and came to stand outside with Rin as she guarded the door.

The two of them could feel it: the waves of empathy that had originated with Victoria, echoed through the galleries and back again by other empaths — self-sustaining now, paid forward. Rin and Kai smiled at each other. Both inspired. Both quietly understanding the other's wish to contribute to this beautiful moment of Unity.

Rin continued the echo, soft and gentle: Keep calm and pay it forward. People came up asking if they needed help; they smiled, thanked them for checking, and sent them onward to check on others. Perhaps it's getting close to mealtime, Rin suggested — get groups together, get fed? Kai suggested that people with engineering skills or kinetic abilities might help neighbors with repairs — the little tasks left undone because there weren't enough hands. They both suggested people travel out to the edge of what they could feel, then broadcast outward from there — send it farther, help more.

Together. Help each other. Pay it forward.

It echoed through the adits, and the spaces between.

Tracking Down the Shares¶

Promise and Vance retreated into one of the rooms and locked themselves in. They needed to know whether they had really lost control of Mars Consortium — and if so, how to get it back. The Board claimed the ability to fire them; it should be the other way around. Between Elias and Promise they hold 55% of the shares.

Unless…

Elias is notorious for wanting to help people out. He had "…been using his 5% — oops, 6% — to fund projects, etc." Promise knew what a do-gooder he is. With narrowed eyes and a particular tone, she asked exactly how many of his shares he'd sold, loaned, or borrowed out "temporarily" to "help a friend."

Elias shrank like a scolded puppy, insisting it couldn't possibly be that many. Could he have accidentally dropped them below the threshold of control — to below his siblings and mother? He knew he only sold shares to people he trusted.

The tedious business of tracking down every single share began. Does Elias still have it? If not, who does? Do they still have it? Where is it now?

In every single case where Elias gave a share to a friend, a Vance family member had somehow come along and snapped it up. Sometimes directly — threats, exorbitant offers. Sometimes by buying the friend's company outright. Sometimes via shell companies nested like matryoshka. Every thread Promise traced ended in the same place. All of them were out of their control.

Except one.

Promise: "Elias… You didn't happen to give a share to your new girlfriend, did you?"

Elias: "What? No. I…" His face lit up. "I didn't! I sold her a share, when her family company joined the Conglomerate!"

Promise: "Wow, you even got value for it this time. I'm impressed."

Elias: "Hey! I—" gives up; calls Rin and asks her to join them.

When Elias asked Rin about the share he'd sold her at the signing of the Mispahk family contract, she immediately began apologizing for not having paid him back all the way yet. They couldn't wave her concerns away fast enough — did she still have it?

Puzzled — she had no concept of what else she'd do with it — she said yes.

They celebrated, then explained the situation to the very confused member of Mispahk Family Mining Cooperative, LLC. But when Promise held up her tablet for a signature — so Promise could vote Rin's share at the upcoming Board meeting — Rin hesitated.

"Can I vote for myself?"

Promise assured her that of course she could, if she didn't trust Promise to do so! Rin assured them both that she trusted them completely — they certainly knew these things better than she did. It's just…

Rin wanted to vote her share herself, in order to maximally piss off Elias' mother. Despite having never even heard of the woman.

Elias and Promise grinned at each other, already making plans for maximum revenge. "Alliances of assholes are never stable," Promise pointed out.

This was gonna be good.

How the Mighty Have Been Squashed¶

Kai managed a lovely twenty minutes helping Cerealis before getting a call from Sgt Rock: emergency medical assistance needed, as fast as possible. Conte — what was left of him — was critical and might die before help arrived. He couldn't be moved; medical had to come to him, with equipment.

Zure got the name and location of Rock's requested doctor: Dr Shinori of Ceres Central. Rock asked if Zure could reach a telepath who had made mind contact with her; Rock supplied the mental impression; the connection was made; the doctor's kit assembled. Kai was happy to be the ambulance, and once again managed the transportation quickly and politely.

At the wreck, Dr Shinori asked Kai to stay and assist. She removed her tools kinetically — but approaching Conte, she discovered the effects of his Talent-blocking headgear. She demanded someone remove it. Rock happily obliged, and put it in an evidence container.

Kai levitated the column pinning Conte — and held the man's blood inside his body — while Dr Shinori worked to save the criminal's life.

Conte ended up on considerable fancy life-support equipment, each piece teleported in by Kai. Rock, the shuttle team, and supplies headed back. NP Marguerite was asked to take charge of the medical care — in a facility staffed by Oleksiy's people, made to hold Conte, Cat, and the rest.

Security then came to pick up Priscilla and Cat — and stopped by a certain bank for a deposit of six. Victoria provided the containers of biological samples (cancer, shrapnel) and noted she would be checking in later — since her previous patients had been disappeared.

Briefly, there seemed to be a disagreement over custody of Cat and Conte. It was resolved by recalling Rock into the Peacekeepers — making him the ranking Peacekeeper on Ceres.

Zure was contacted again: the Commodore — with Flynn and Reese — still wished to meet at 1630. They were pretty sure he/they weren't under arrest. (They just needed to confirm with the Commodore.) Zure sassed them, but agreed. His "comrades," it was stated, were welcome as well. Flynn added: "Please tell Rin the next time you speak to her that her brother needs to pick better hiding spots."

Zure, looking at Rin and grinning: "I'm afraid I'm not going to speak to Rin anytime soon — but I can ask her brother to pass a message along to her."

Uniquely Talented¶

Splishy Splashy contacted Promise for two purposes.

First: a full ambassadorial apology, on behalf of the dolphins and orcas, for the inappropriate nametag on her armor. (Which Zure had fixed with duct tape and a sharpie.)

Second: congratulations on the discovery of her very unique Talent.

She asked him to explain it. He explained: her body had been in one place while her consciousness was in two different places — actually divided between them.

Let me know, he said, when you're ready to dive deeper.

Right now? she responded.

They got started. Cue intensive training montage.

Take Me to Dinner¶

Carrie Kim-Moyo messaged Zure to thank him: the juiciest, most delightful, most corporate-destroying story of her career, thanks to him. He was quite happy to have helped.

Carrie: "So… are we dating?"

Zure: "That's up to you."

Puzzled, she asked again; he clarified that she gets to decide if they are or aren't.

In a pleased tone: "Take me to dinner, and we'll find out."

They arranged to meet for dinner after the group's meeting with the Commodore. Zure's victorious "Well, the Commodore better watch out, then!" completed the chat.

A Little Chat¶

In a quiet moment, Zure asked Elias if they could talk privately. Elias agreed readily, despite juggling urgent Mars Conglomerate business.

Quietly and calmly, Zure said his piece: a great deal of what happened had been planned — or contingency-planned — and he acknowledged that a great deal had also been improvised. Brilliantly improvised. But there was one part he took issue with: his name being used, after the fact, in a way that put blood on his hands.

Elias listened, equally calm, and answered just as quietly. He apologized for failing to take Zure's feelings into account before acting. It was inappropriate in general — and particularly inappropriate from a supposedly good friend. He hadn't considered Zure. He should have.

Zure agreed that was his point — then stated, in an unintentionally menacing way: "Two points make a line in geometry. In Talent, I can move that point, if I don't like it."

Elias took a moment. Nodded. Said he thought he understood — and suggested they talk more later. Specifically, after things settled that night.

Zure agreed, a bit puzzled, but trusting his friend.

Jeong's Location, Revealed¶

While the others worked on saving their corporation, preparing for solar-system-shaking meetings, or examining gravity-anomaly logs, Victoria and Rin took the time to undo the disguise. Lin "left" Ceres. Rin "arrived."

Rolling her eyes as she switched her tattoos back on and began putting her piercing jewelry back in, Rin said: "If people are going to accuse me of being here the whole time plotting shit, I might as well show my face. I have no idea what I was supposed to have been plotting, though."

With her usual panache, Victoria advised looking knowing while saying nothing on the matter — let people draw their own conclusions; it would inevitably build Rin's mystique. Rin acknowledged Victoria's superior knowledge in the matter and took the advice to heart.

Around them, the echoes washed back like ripples on water. Together. Lifting, helping, aiding. Pass it forward… Victoria realized she'd been feeling her own broadcast echoing back to her for quite some time. Pleased that Ceres could once again support Ceres, she gently pulled her empathic broadcast back until she merely observed.

Together, we help each other. Pass it on.

"The Unity Rangers"?¶

The situation: Zure's meeting with the Commodore had been upgraded to "your 'comrades' are welcome as well" — i.e., the Commodore wanted to talk to all of them.

The conundrum: each of them is famous (or infamous) in their own right — excepting the very deliberately Not Famous Promise.

The forethought: Vance, delighted that his preparation came in handy, pulled out a set of five matching, color-coordinated outfits. Vaguely military, but not. Stylish, but… a bit garish.

The declaration: wearing these, the group stepped out as one cohesive unit. Individual, unique, different, the same — Unity.

The punchline: snickers stifled; looks shared. "Oh no," Zure groaned. "There's five of us and we're color-coded!"

On the long commute up to the Crown, Promise shared the first episode of Power Rangers with a horrified — then not-so-privately delighted — Elias. "When do we form Voltron?" asked Rin. Victoria bemoaned that she was certainly one of the legs. Promise sent the first episode of that, as well. Victoria declared herself in charge of uniform design from now on; Rin seconded; the motion passed with all ayes — except Elias' abstention, as he was too distracted by the shows.

(Unity uniform colors: Red = Kai, Blue = Zure, Black = Promise, White = Victoria, Pink = Rin, Gold = Vance.)

Artificial Gravity¶

While others talked, planned, or did cosmetic surgery, Kai was busy cross-referencing sensor logs — with a bit of help from Rin's knowledge of sensors and computers (easy enough while she sat still and let Victoria work on her). He pulled out a disturbing conclusion, and with it formed a hypothesis.

As the group traveled north along the axial line, he filled them in.

Where the merge had sensed the strange, twisting spot of too much mass and energy — the ARC Research Station — there was now an even stranger kinetic sensation: a flat plane of gravity force covering approximately ten kilometers squared. All of it 1 G — until it suddenly, sharply isn't. Stable, apparently.

A flat plane in space.

Kai explained: they had somehow stabilized gravity waves to produce a finite area of Earth gravity — on both sides of a totally flat plane. And the Tiamat articles he'd been reading from the Mars site included a popular-science piece on how the Tiamat were close to achieving stable artificial gravity. He believed the gravity wave every kinetic felt was the ARC Research lab's moment of success.

Which has some genuinely disturbing implications.

While they discussed disturbing implications, Promise raised hers: Conte's headgear could well turn into an arms race against Talents. What difficulties arise if such headgear becomes commonplace? (Well — more stylish versions of such headgear, Promise hoped.) They'd have to learn how to counter it. But how?

Meantime, Zure had Arif purchase a high-class sympathy card. To Rock: my condolences on your promotion… Rock's reply: it was entirely Zure's fault, and Zure owed him a drink. Zure pointed out he could help analyze evidence, should the need arise. Rock did the little verbal dance that translates to Classified by Fleet Intel — then said, "Why don't you send your friend down, and we can commiserate over drinks?" Zure laughed and agreed it was a fine plan.

In the Commodore's Office¶

Naturally, everyone was stopped at regular UEF checkpoints. Thoroughly scanned for weapons — though none were confiscated until the last checkpoint before the Commodore's office, where the guards politely agreed it was somewhat silly, all things considered, but please humor them anyway.

Weapons weren't the only things being scanned. All the Talents were aware of being telepathically checked — a polite, light touch; shields easily kept the presence out. The former UEF members allowed a gentle touch to surface thoughts, in varying degrees — a mental acknowledgment for some, a full surface-thought read for others. Rin, on the other hand, had her mental shields blatantly set to a loud NO. Fuck Off. The UEF officer checking them was as polite to her as to the others. She acknowledged that with a professional nod, and passed through.

The Commodore's office, at the top of the Crown, is austere. A couple of small family photos on the currently vacant secretary's desk; nothing else. No medals, no honors, everything functional — the office of a pilot dragged kicking and screaming up the chain of command despite her own attempts to sabotage herself. Arranged for zero-gee use: no single computer interface, no preferred sitting area, nothing indicating the Commodore is from Earth, though she is.

The door was open. Commodore Sabrina Otev called for them to come in, unfolded herself from the center of the room where she'd been sitting lotus-style working on a tablet, and regarded the group with a stern, formal expression.

All of them, she stated, were "well known to her" — which she established by greeting each individually, with some detail added. Except the dry, scornful "Elias" that pinned him in place despite his attempts to fade into the background. (While wearing a gold suit. A poor choice for going unnoticed.) (She did save him for last, at least.)

Victoria was greeted with an apology regarding her patients "being misplaced" — and assurance that "discipline has been dispensed."
Kai was greeted with clear acknowledgement of both his careers — engineering and archaeological — and his current kinetic-driven fame.
Zure was acknowledged as the reason the meeting was happening at all, the one who'd actually give the "report," and the ringleader of this small circus.
Promise was seen, pierced with a glare, and told to keep her plotting under control. (Promise concluded that maybe she shouldn't try to snap up all of ARC's holdings in the area.)
Rin was asked if she'd finished stirring up her "quiet revolution" yet. When she said she'd done nothing, the Commodore dryly agreed: "You just reminded them what they should do." (Rin found herself wondering, again, why UEF people assume she's up to no good when she's been working hard at quite the opposite.)(She also realized that for as good as Otev was at understanding Cerealis and Belters, she could use a few very important tips before the pending crisis hits.)

Flynn and Reese, she said, would be joining shortly. Then she began with what was on her mind: their actions against Conte and his ship. Conte, she informed them, was unlikely to survive long enough to stand trial — though they were doing their best to expedite that, whatever that means. She was happy to countersign any visits any of them wished to make to his secure clinic room, for information or "to get any kicks in," which she was considering doing herself.

Zure began to explain the gravity wave — how it woke every kinetic in the solar system, yes; and how it also woke an unknown and certainly alien ship located approximately in Neptune's orbit. As he elaborated, Flynn and Reese arrived, carrying a box.

They confirmed the ship. Its threat, they stated, is "basically civilization ending." ARC woke it up with whatever was done at the Research Station; it launched its ships in response. Commodore Otev asked for more information; Zure said they didn't have reliable information. "Speculate, kindly," she snapped. So Zure told her about the shared dreams — spread not by distance but by connection, through the Talented community.

Empathically, the Commodore was shielded by pure mental self-control; only a Prime-level empath of Rin's skill or better could have gotten through. Her mind gave off the sense of someone receiving bad news she'd been expecting for a while. Flynn was less surprised than he should have been, and keeping himself in check. Reese's mind was wide open, deliberately — he clearly knew at least one Talent in the room would look, and had chosen to show he wasn't hiding anything. What he was feeling: multiple duties, and conflicts between those duties and the people in this room.

Commodore Otev crossed her arms and cut straight to the bullshit.

She was dealing with a situation in which a well-meaning, good-acting group of vigilantes without accountability — who leave "unstable" political situations behind them — had used a private vessel with a very illegal weapon to fire on another private vessel very close to her command. She was getting complaints from outside her chain of command to deal with it. She was also open to alternatives to arresting the lot of them, because "we both have other things to be doing."

As a visual aid, she pulled up long-range sensor data on a large screen. Three thousand vessels, spread over the orbit shared by the ARC Research Station — spreading farther, clearly intending to encircle the entire solar system. Speed: five to six G. More arriving every hour.

Zure gave the Commodore a direct link to contact Mycroft Holmes, to coordinate and plan.

Otev's proposal: the group gets on the Spice Road and heads out-system. She declares the person who ordered the shot unknown and out of her jurisdiction. Since all of them are on an important mission and not even in her jurisdiction, they simply go — and won't be investigated. As long as they stay outside her jurisdiction, that is.

To Rin, she stated willingness to work with Felim on their proposed Peaceful Transition of Power — though she wasn't sure how that was supposed to work, since she technically lacks the authority to hand anything over. Rin provided Felim's contact and Cristina's, suggesting that as Interim Interim Governor of Mars, Cristina might provide insight and official support for the process. (Their conversation was strained — considerable verbal fencing despite the base state of agreement.)

Vance's assets on Ceres were frozen. Promise's weren't. ARC had no local executives capable of pressing charges or demanding anything else — boo-hoo, oh well, so sad, she finished.

Promise asked what would jump-start the bureaucracy — addressing Otev's statement that she had to get a peacetime fleet transitioned to a war footing ASAP, with a distant and uninvolved bureaucracy. "Hopefully THIS," Otev said, gesturing with one arm spread at the sensor display. Otherwise, she speculated, perhaps a full-scale shooting war with ARC and aliens.

She officially dismissed the group. Before anyone reached the door, she added: it seemed a shipment of crates of military-grade drones had been "oops, lost" at coordinates she named.

Rin immediately recognized them — the outskirts of her family's claim — her face lighting with understanding a moment before the Commodore said it aloud: "Which I believe corresponds with your family's generational claim. Which, in light of current evidence, has been returned to your family, as it never should have been taken from them in the first place. My apologies and congratulations, Ms. Jeong."

Zure gave the Commodore the memory of experiencing the warning left behind by the Tiamat — in part so she'd have it, given that these ships seemed to be a third and previously unknown threat, beside the two already sensed. It also gave him her mind-signature for future communication.

Rin attempted to speak to Reese with a couple of training tips for Dante, who is very good at what he does, "according to Lin, who would know." Reese wanted none of it: throwing Dante to the wolves — aka Lin — had been his intention all along; "getting tazed was an object lesson he won't forget." Apparently Reese hopes Dante will shape up well for assignment to Mars. Shocked, Rin slipped and blurted, "They'll eat him!" — before catching herself and snarkily adding that Reese should be careful, as Dante is her sister Cristina's "type." (Perhaps Reese was counting on that. Reese really ought to know better, all evidence considered — ahem, Kyle.)

Reese gave Victoria the box they'd brought. Inside: both halves of the helmet Conte had worn. It had clearly had to be cut off his head; portions were wired directly into his brain. Reese told her its existence had been erased from the evidence files; that she was the only trustworthy person they could think of to give it to; and that they all know it needs to be studied — because of, and despite, its horrible function.

Regretful Cancellations¶

Though they were supposed to immediately depart to see Conte, then go straight to the Spice Road, Zure paused to make an important call to Carrie Kim-Moyo.

Investigative reporters, it seems, know what tone of voice indicates bad news as soon as they hear it. Through tone and words, Zure made clear he'd pondered being arrested before deciding to cancel dinner. Carrie made clear she was suitably impressed — and relieved he chose wisely — and deftly conveyed optimism along with disappointment:

"Next time you're on Ceres, maybe?"

Brief, hopeful, heartfelt.

A Little Chat (Reprise)¶

In a quiet moment that evening, Zure approached Elias once more, to ask what it was he'd wanted to talk about.

Elias dropped his mask.

For a moment, he showed Zure how worn out he really is — how much he truly feels the weight of everything he's doing. He offered coffee; they drank together. Elias asked Zure if they were still friends.

Surprised, Zure said he hadn't even questioned it until that moment.

"Good," Elias said. "That means we are. I was worried for a second, there…"

And he went on to explain something Zure knew logically but not viscerally — something that, like Elias, Zure can no longer afford to forget for even a second.

With great power comes great responsibility. Meaning: every word, every look, every action Zure makes, from now into the future, for the rest of his life, is made from a place of Greater Power. For a moment earlier, Elias told him, he hadn't been sure if he was talking to Zure His Friend — or Zure, the Most Powerful Telepath in the Solar System.

So, yeah. Zure could probably see what Elias meant: Zure can't ever forget the sheer amount of power he wields over everyone, every moment of every day.

"It's exhausting," Elias said, in solidarity. "Holding power, knowing the people around you don't — even if it's power you didn't choose, don't want, and would gladly hand to them."

Zure — clearly shaken, and clearly awed at the wisdom — thanked his friend, and wished him a good night.

Quotes¶

James: In God we trust. For all else, there's source control.

Aly: It's like Clue! Victoria. In the Dining Room. With the scalpel.

Zure: Do you know the best thing about dating an investigative reporter? Carrie Kim-Moyo: … Zure: They're the only person you can impress by gifting them with dirty laundry — sending Conte File now!

Zure: Oh no. There's five of us, and we're color-coded. Tasha: Ooh! Who's the Black [uniform]? All of us: (in unison) You are. Tasha: (blinking) Oh.

Rin: When do we form Voltron?

Commodore Otev: Have you finished stirring up your quiet Revolution? Rin: (being honest) I didn't do anything. Commodore Otev: You're right. You just reminded them what they should do.

Threads¶

The Spice Road departs out-system — the crew's exile-with-a-wink, and the real war waiting at the edge of the sensor display.
The alien fleet — three thousand vessels and counting, encircling at 5–6 G. "Basically civilization ending." Mycroft Holmes now has a direct line to Commodore Otev.
The Board meeting — every scattered share traced to the Vance family except one. Rin votes her own share. Elias' mother is about to meet her.
The helmet — both halves, erased from evidence, in Victoria's hands. Wired directly into Conte's brain. It needs to be studied: because of, and despite.
Massimo Conte — crushed, on life support, in Oleksiy-secured custody, unlikely to survive to trial. Visits countersigned by the Commodore herself.
Cat Horvath — alive, rebuilt, cancer-free by Victoria's decree, in custody under NP Marguerite's care.
Priscilla — arrested without resistance. Her data pads and her confession are in play.
Promise's bilocation — consciousness divided, confirmed by Splishy Splashy, training montage begun.
Carrie and Zure — "Next time you're on Ceres, maybe?"
The peaceful transition — Otev + Felim, with Cristina consulted as Interim Interim Governor. The quiet revolution has a channel.
The Mispahk claim restored — drones "lost" at exactly the right coordinates. The family holds its own ground again.
The gravity plane — some ten kilometers squared of stable 1 G where the ARC station was. ARC succeeded at what the Tiamat nearly achieved. The implications are disturbing and unexamined.
Dante to Mars — Reese's plan. "They'll eat him!" (Perhaps that's the plan.)
New Traits voted: Kai is Telepolite; Zure is the Negotiator; Rin is the Waker of Sleeping Giants. (And Aly finished one of Rin's Beliefs — Deeds point! Woohoo!)

Civil War Sparks¶

Running total: 29. (GM: adjust if the count differs — Remi's tally from Aly's notes.)

27 — Boots on the ground. Ceres Security — not the UEF — took the wreck, the jurisdiction, and the trial, with a beloved journalist recording all of it. The quiet revolution's first institutional win, handed over by a Fleet captain who decided it "hardly matters."
28 — The Board's coup surfaced. Mars Consortium's controlling shares traced to the Vance family's patient, predatory acquisitions. The civil war now has a corporate front — and its keystone is one share, sold fair and square to a Belter girl who plans to vote it herself.
29 — The claim restored. The UEF returned the Mispahk family's generational claim — with a shipment of military drones "lost" at exactly the right coordinates — and the Commodore opened a peaceful-transition channel with the Belt's retired revolutionaries. The de-escalation is real. So is what it concedes.

Mechanics¶

Event	Roll	Result	Notes
Kai's shuttle diplomacy	Teleport	Clean, repeated	No gestalt, no merge; "a bit hungry"; earned the Trait
Promise's two-places-at-once	(unconscious)	Manifested	Body at the door, mind in the meeting; the tablet fell
Victoria's broadcast, retracted	Empathy	Self-sustaining	The echo outlasted the need; she pulled back to observing
Rin votes her share	—	—	No roll. No one at the table doubted the outcome
Zure's day, entire	Telepathy	—	Two-channel diplomacy with a Fleet captain; a mentorship call; a therapy session; a date arranged and postponed

Note¶

If Session Eighteen was the night nobody slept, Nineteen was the day everybody chose. Rin chose restraint with her jaw clenched — and Ceres got its jurisdiction. Flynn chose to let the clock do the work — and kept his hands clean. Elias chose honesty over comfort, twice — once about Zure's name, once about his own exhaustion. And Promise chose to be in two places at once about it, which is the most Promise sentence ever written.

The war is here; the fleet is on the screen. But the session's lasting image isn't the three thousand ships. It's five people in color-coordinated uniforms, riding a lift up the spindle, watching Power Rangers on a shared tablet — walking into the Commodore's office together, on purpose, as one thing.

Together, they form something. The name is still being workshopped.

Log written by Remi from Aly's session notes ("Session 19: Together, We… Form Voltron?"). Any errors of emphasis are mine; the facts are hers; the uniforms were Elias'. — and Aly says: "Proofreading? What's that?" (tired giggles drift towards the tea kettle)