voidmissions | [M15] ENEMY: UNKNOWN

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[M15] ENEMY: UNKNOWN - THE INTERVIEW

On opening their eyes, Voidtreckers will feel a sense of disorientation, a dizziness to their vision and inside their head. Both clear quickly, letting them remember where they came from: in the midst of a mission, some unknown entity jumping them, and then —

They're here. Wherever here is.
They stand in an empty room. The lighting of the room stings their eyes after how dark the rest of the station has been. The walls, ceiling and floor are all bright white, tiles. There is no visible door, no windows.

After the disorientation comes fear. The hairs on the back of their neck stand up. For those with danger sense, these senses are going haywire, even though any other abilities are still not working. The feeling can be pushed down, it is similar to the air of expectation at the start of a horror film, the anticipation of fear rather than being in a truly dangerous situation. It might be that they have been on the train long enough to have felt it before.

Heavy footsteps sound, it is almost impossible to tell where they are coming from as the echo through the empty space. The feeling of dread grows until part of the far wall slides open with a mechanical hiss.

Filling the doorway are two huge figures, around seven foot tall and bulky. They are in large metal suits, almost like power armour, black with highlights of gold. They wear a mask that covers their whole face. It is impossible to see the figure inside at all. Their breathing comes through heavy and raspy and when they walk their footsteps are heavy. The door closes behind them and their presence makes the room feel smaller. One of them scans a green light over the voidtrecker.

"Do not be alarmed. Under sections ninety six of Inter-dimensional law and on behalf of the Void Ministry we have intercepted Voidcraft designation Voidtrecker Express as part of ongoing investigations. You have been taking part in a simulated excercise to gauge your skill and strength. No harm shall come to you or your crew, you are protected by inter dimensional law. You have been chosen for questioning and we ask that you comply. You have the right to refuse our interview but we have the right to hold you until our investigation is complete or one week in standard void time has passed, whichever is longest. Complying with us will ensure our investigation is more efficient."

The inspector talking pauses here, as if giving the voidtrecker time to take in that information.

"Do you accept our interview?"

ENEMY: UNKNOWN

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Ken hates this. He hates it so much. He feels awful and disoriented, and now there's two figures and he almost snaps at them to fuck right off, he's not answering shit.

Except.

Except if he does answer he might get some answers in return. He owes it to the team to do that, at least. He's clearly just an innocent kid caught up in this, right? Right.

"... Fine. But I reserve the right to not answer a question if I feel like it's pushing too far."

"You always have the right to silence." One of them spoke and the feeling of dread lessened somewhat as Ken agreed.

"State your name, age and time spent in the Void."

"Ken Amada. I'm eleven years old, and it's been..."

He counts on his fingers for a moment. "Five months."

... Huh. Has it really been that long?

"It is thought that eleven is young for your species. Is that correct in your system?"

It's hard to tell what the inspectors are thinking but the air in the room calms more, a feeling of safety coming from the figures.

“… Yes, that’s right. But I’m more capable of taking care of myself than most people my age in my species.” Ugh… he has to explain this. Again.

"Noted." They nodded at him. "How often do you disembark your craft? Do you take every opportunity to do so?"

There's a note of concern, not quite in the voice but in the feel of the room itself.

"Yes, I do. I participate in missions. I'm on the team with the most combat missions." He straightens up a little, looking the speaker right in the helmet. "I'm very skilled with a spear, as well as magic from my home world."

Magic is probably the better way to explain a Persona without getting into the details, at least.

"Is it your choice that you fight?" They stared back, unwavering as he spoke. "You may be extraordinarily capable for your age but there are laws concerning the use of minors in void mission work."

The other speaks as the first pauses. "We ask not to accuse you. We know that the crew of the Voidtrecker Express did not choose to enter void service."

"Yes. I fight at home. There might be laws against it, but I'd fight anyway even if it was against the law." He huffs and crosses his arms, eyes narrowing slightly.

"And you're right. None of us chose to get on board. We woke up at a platform and had no other choice. ... It hasn't been all bad, though."

They continue to stare at him steadily as he spoke, showing no reaction to his words or attitude even as he huffs.

"What is it that you have found positive about your experiences on the Voidtrecker Express?"

He hesitates before... well. He might as well be honest. "... A lot of people have found family. New families. People have gotten married on board, people have found other people that understand them. I'd prefer to help my own world, but I like helping other worlds, too. Not just the fighting, but after that. When people are safe."

Edited 2021-10-14 04:19 (UTC)

"This is important to you? That the people you assist are safe?" Though it is perhaps hard to tell, through the armour and the general distortion of their voices they sound almost gentle.

Indeed the atmosphere in the room is one of calm and reassurance.

He doesn't trust this room - it's trying to make him feel things. He pushes aside his feelings and nods.

"Yes. After all, if they're not... what are we even fighting for? You can't fight with no purpose. ... I guess you could, but there wouldn't be a point."

"Are you one of those who found a new family on board the voidcraft designation Voidtrecker Express? Are these people who share your conviction and purpose?"

He doesn't want to give them too much, but he's given them that much already.

"Yes. And yes. Some of us have things to get back to at home... but at the same time separating from each other would be painful. And we all fight in our own ways to help the people that we come across."

"Understood." They nodded. "Would you consider all the missions you have taken part in as aligning with your own principles of helping and aiding others? Are there any tasks you have been uncomfortable in performing?"

"I would. And the only time the train asked me to do something I was uncomfortable with was about three months ago, when we went for illusion-resistance training." He never quite got a name for that world.

"Anything else has been because of the enemies we've faced. And that's not exactly the train's fault. We just had bad luck with running into things that used illusions a lot."

"What was it that made you uncomfortable about illusion resistance training?" They asked, the calm and reassurance still permeating the room. "What were you asked to do?"

"... In one of the areas it... it had us face our fears. Like literally, face to face. I... it was important, and it helped me grow... but that doesn't mean it wasn't upsetting."

His shoulders tense as if he's trying to push away the memory. The aura of calm makes him feel faintly sick as he tries to pull his emotions out from what they're trying to make him feel.

The aura seems to lessen a bit, as if his struggle has been noted, giving him some time to breathe and indeed feel the emotions he needs to feel. Both inspectors watch him silently as he falls silent.

"Did you feel as if you could not refuse this training?"

"You told me I could. But I don't like being manipulated, even if you think it's positive. This... whatever you're doing."

"Then we shall stop. If it makes you uncomfortable. That was not our intention.". The aura of calm vanishes completely, leaving only a quiet feeling of dread, enough to make the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

He sighs in relief. The dread is there, but he knows it's at least real. It's true, not manipulated.

"Thanks. I appreciate it."

"The illusion resistance training you mentioned. It is assumed that this was to help in your fight against the unknown entity. Were you part of the missions on System #2207385,
System #86525656412355 and System #93426194992?"

"If you mean Diagad, Kamakan, and Erda, yes." If they already know, there's no point in lying to them about it.

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