[Melikyen, Sarilussa - story] Test of Loyalty
The two women, draenei and human, sat at the table, a pot of tea and an uncomfortable silence between them. The draenei woman, Melikyen, rolled her cup absently between her hands, staring at the opposite wall; the human, Sarilussa, tapped her foot against the leg of the table, then abruptly sighed.
"Something’s bothering you, and you don’t want to tell me," she said into the silence. "You can’t really hide this kind of thing from me, you know." Holding her hands up in front of her, palms out, she shook her head. "If you don’t want to talk about it, say so, and I’ll leave it alone. I just don’t want to have to play along while we pretend there isn't an elekk in the living room."
Melikyen gave a quick snort of laughter, then nodded once. She stood up and walked to her small desk, picking up a sheaf of papers. "You have to promise me one thing," she said. "Whatever else you decide to do, just promise that you won’t tell anybody about this, all right?"
Frowning slightly, Sarilussa nodded. "All right, I promise." She watched the draenei walk back, and took the sheaf of papers curiously. A second later she stiffened, inhaling sharply. Melikyen sat down and picked up her mug of tea as the pale human flipped through the pages, glancing at the contents, her complexion growing even paler. "Who... where..." she breathed, her eyes wide.
"They were captured along with several crates of supplies in Arathi Basin," Melikyen said, her voice low. "They were immediately identified as originating from Loraderon, but there aren’t many people in the Alliance who even recognize Gutterspeak, let alone translate it. Several experts have worked on them already, but they didn’t show me the translations that have already been done... didn’t want to prejudice my work." Sarilussa glanced up, and Melikyen nodded. "They tested my languages when I applied. I didn’t think to hide it."
"And you know enough," the mage muttered.
"Not... quite," the draenei said, leaning back and rubbing her forehead. "I know enough to know what it’s about, but I don’t know the more - technical words. I can’t translate the really important parts." She stared at Sarilussa intently. "I can’t figure out how to stop the plague."
"The plague?" Sarilussa looked up and blinked. "Which one?"
Frowning, Melikyen tilted her head. "How many are the Forsaken brewing?"
Sarilussa glanced up at the ceiling and murmured under her breath for a moment. "Uh... six, no... seven, officially being researched by the Royal Apothecary Society. I’m not counting the little side projects, like that crazy thing Dennis is working on with the murlocs."
“What - why?” Melikyen said, her forehead wrinkling. “Why so many?”
"We don’t know what will work, and what won’t," Sarilussa replied with a shrug. "There have been a few breakthroughs, but nothing definitive, and the ultimate goal is..." Abruptly she stopped, her face going blank.
"It says in those papers what the ultimate goal is," the draenei said softly. She leaned forward, her gaze intense. "Destroying the Legion, destroying the Scourge... destroying the Alliance. Killing everything."
Silence descended again. This time, Melikyen stared intently at the human, who kept her own eyes on the paperwork, flipping through it slowly. Finally, she spoke, her voice little more than a murmur. "The primary goal is, has always been, to destroy the Scourge. Everything else is..." She trailed off, frowning.
"A bonus?" Melikyen said, the words sharp.
"Maybe, something like that," Sarilussa replied, her own voice taking on an edge as she set down the paperwork and looked up. "Don't think for a minute it isn't the same thing that your happy friendly Alliance would like to do to the Forsaken."
The draenei sat back, her nostrils flaring. "The Alliance would - yes, we want to end the Scourge, and drive off the Legion, and defeat our enemies, but - kill everything? That's insane!"
"Defeat our enemies," the mage sneered. "That's a tidy little phrase, isn't it? No blood, no genocide... maybe you'd put the Forsaken in camps, like you did with the orcs a while back? That worked out so well."
"I didn't do anything!" Melikyen snarled. "Neither did my people, if it comes to that. It was..." She trailed off, frowning.
Sarilussa nodded. "It was the humans. And who is leading the Alliance, hmm? Who is setting the policies? What people do you think is really in control of your coalition of forces? And do you really think," she said, leaning forward and tapping the table with her finger, "do you really think that the humans would stop with camps this time?"
Sitting back, Melikyen folded her arms, glancing away at the wall behind the mage for a moment before looking back. "That's beside the point, this point here," she said, gesturing at the papers on the table. "The point is, there's a plague in the works that would kill everything that isn't Forsaken - that includes you, by the way, not to mention me - and you're the only one who might be able to figure out what it is and stop it!"
Leaning forward and resting her forehead on her hand, Sarilussa sighed again. "No, I'm not. It's not as dire as you think. Just - think about it for a minute, okay?" She looked up and into the draenei's eyes. "The Forsaken aren't mindless undead, like the Scourge. They're a bunch of people. And while most of them... maybe not even most, maybe just some, though they all claim to be... anyway, while they're supposedly all fanatically devoted to the Dark Lady and working tirelessly to advance her goals, in reality it's not that simple." Picking up the sheaf of papers, she flipped through them, pulling out one and pointing at it. "This is the part I worked on, right? Waterborne Vectors For Rapid Transmission of Poison and Disease. It's - I won't say it's crap, my research is solid, but it's obvious to any scholar that I've used a lot of words to repeat things that are already well-established. I was justifying my budget with this, which let me get on with what I really wanted to do - investigate the properties of water elementals."
Melikyen frowned skeptically. "So you're saying that the Royal Apothecary Society is really just - messing around?"
"Not all of them, probably," Sarilussa said, flipping through the sheaf of papers again. "I'm sure there are some who really do want to develop this terrible plague, and are working hard to do it. But the vast majority of field researchers are the same as me; we left to get some peace and quiet to pursue our own goals without the constant interference of the RAS, or we were given - hah, remote assignments to keep us out from underfoot."
"But what about the ones that are working on it?" Melikyen said, still frowning. "What if one of them comes to the right conclusions? They're bound to stumble across it sooner or later."
"And if they do, they'll obfuscate the results, publish a paper, then start all over again, most likely," Sarilussa replied with a slight smile. "You have to remember - the Forsaken are people. Some have friends who aren't Forsaken. Some realize that if they kill off everything else in the world, they'll be out of a job. I don't think most of them believe in the glorious future of the Forsaken, anyway. They're just treading water, hoping that the status quo keeps them safe in their positions."
Melikyen shook her head. "All this sounds like justifications, and thin ones at that," she said.
"What do you want from me?" Sarilussa yelled abruptly, slapping her palm on the table. "Legionblast it, I'm sorry for my part in it, I wish - it doesn't flaming matter!" Closing her eyes for a minute, she took a deep breath, then looked back at the mildly startled draenei. "You want me to help translate this, fine," she said, her expression carefully blank. "I can tell you right now, though, there may be a lot of talk about a terrible new plague, but it's just that - talk. From what I've seen, it's the same old stuff that's been going around for years."
"Thank you," Melikyen said, though her expression was uncertain. "It's all I can ask of you."
"No, it isn't." Sarilussa continued to stare flatly at the other woman. "You can ask me to sabotage their work. I'm sure that's the next step, after the translations are complete - they'll be handed off to the Alliance equivalent of the RAS, to work on counteractive measures."
"I don't - maybe, I suppose so, but they don't expect that of me, so I don't expect that of you." Melikyen looked away, her expression troubled.
With a small shrug, the mage rolled the papers up and stuffed them into her travel bag. "I'll get to work on them tonight. I should be able to give you the completed translations before this weekend."
"Sar- Sal," Melikyen said, holding out her hand. "I'm... sorry."
Sarilussa clenched her teeth. "Sorry? For what, accusing me of having been complicit in a long-term program of extermination against your kind and the Alliance as a whole, specifically and generally?" She stood up, slinging the strap of her bag over her shoulder. "Nothing to be sorry for. You're absolutely right."
Without another word, Sarilussa strode across the house and out the door, closing it carefully behind her. Her hand still resting outstretched on the table, Melikyen sat looking at the door for several minutes, in a long, unhappy silence.
"Something’s bothering you, and you don’t want to tell me," she said into the silence. "You can’t really hide this kind of thing from me, you know." Holding her hands up in front of her, palms out, she shook her head. "If you don’t want to talk about it, say so, and I’ll leave it alone. I just don’t want to have to play along while we pretend there isn't an elekk in the living room."
Melikyen gave a quick snort of laughter, then nodded once. She stood up and walked to her small desk, picking up a sheaf of papers. "You have to promise me one thing," she said. "Whatever else you decide to do, just promise that you won’t tell anybody about this, all right?"
Frowning slightly, Sarilussa nodded. "All right, I promise." She watched the draenei walk back, and took the sheaf of papers curiously. A second later she stiffened, inhaling sharply. Melikyen sat down and picked up her mug of tea as the pale human flipped through the pages, glancing at the contents, her complexion growing even paler. "Who... where..." she breathed, her eyes wide.
"They were captured along with several crates of supplies in Arathi Basin," Melikyen said, her voice low. "They were immediately identified as originating from Loraderon, but there aren’t many people in the Alliance who even recognize Gutterspeak, let alone translate it. Several experts have worked on them already, but they didn’t show me the translations that have already been done... didn’t want to prejudice my work." Sarilussa glanced up, and Melikyen nodded. "They tested my languages when I applied. I didn’t think to hide it."
"And you know enough," the mage muttered.
"Not... quite," the draenei said, leaning back and rubbing her forehead. "I know enough to know what it’s about, but I don’t know the more - technical words. I can’t translate the really important parts." She stared at Sarilussa intently. "I can’t figure out how to stop the plague."
"The plague?" Sarilussa looked up and blinked. "Which one?"
Frowning, Melikyen tilted her head. "How many are the Forsaken brewing?"
Sarilussa glanced up at the ceiling and murmured under her breath for a moment. "Uh... six, no... seven, officially being researched by the Royal Apothecary Society. I’m not counting the little side projects, like that crazy thing Dennis is working on with the murlocs."
“What - why?” Melikyen said, her forehead wrinkling. “Why so many?”
"We don’t know what will work, and what won’t," Sarilussa replied with a shrug. "There have been a few breakthroughs, but nothing definitive, and the ultimate goal is..." Abruptly she stopped, her face going blank.
"It says in those papers what the ultimate goal is," the draenei said softly. She leaned forward, her gaze intense. "Destroying the Legion, destroying the Scourge... destroying the Alliance. Killing everything."
Silence descended again. This time, Melikyen stared intently at the human, who kept her own eyes on the paperwork, flipping through it slowly. Finally, she spoke, her voice little more than a murmur. "The primary goal is, has always been, to destroy the Scourge. Everything else is..." She trailed off, frowning.
"A bonus?" Melikyen said, the words sharp.
"Maybe, something like that," Sarilussa replied, her own voice taking on an edge as she set down the paperwork and looked up. "Don't think for a minute it isn't the same thing that your happy friendly Alliance would like to do to the Forsaken."
The draenei sat back, her nostrils flaring. "The Alliance would - yes, we want to end the Scourge, and drive off the Legion, and defeat our enemies, but - kill everything? That's insane!"
"Defeat our enemies," the mage sneered. "That's a tidy little phrase, isn't it? No blood, no genocide... maybe you'd put the Forsaken in camps, like you did with the orcs a while back? That worked out so well."
"I didn't do anything!" Melikyen snarled. "Neither did my people, if it comes to that. It was..." She trailed off, frowning.
Sarilussa nodded. "It was the humans. And who is leading the Alliance, hmm? Who is setting the policies? What people do you think is really in control of your coalition of forces? And do you really think," she said, leaning forward and tapping the table with her finger, "do you really think that the humans would stop with camps this time?"
Sitting back, Melikyen folded her arms, glancing away at the wall behind the mage for a moment before looking back. "That's beside the point, this point here," she said, gesturing at the papers on the table. "The point is, there's a plague in the works that would kill everything that isn't Forsaken - that includes you, by the way, not to mention me - and you're the only one who might be able to figure out what it is and stop it!"
Leaning forward and resting her forehead on her hand, Sarilussa sighed again. "No, I'm not. It's not as dire as you think. Just - think about it for a minute, okay?" She looked up and into the draenei's eyes. "The Forsaken aren't mindless undead, like the Scourge. They're a bunch of people. And while most of them... maybe not even most, maybe just some, though they all claim to be... anyway, while they're supposedly all fanatically devoted to the Dark Lady and working tirelessly to advance her goals, in reality it's not that simple." Picking up the sheaf of papers, she flipped through them, pulling out one and pointing at it. "This is the part I worked on, right? Waterborne Vectors For Rapid Transmission of Poison and Disease. It's - I won't say it's crap, my research is solid, but it's obvious to any scholar that I've used a lot of words to repeat things that are already well-established. I was justifying my budget with this, which let me get on with what I really wanted to do - investigate the properties of water elementals."
Melikyen frowned skeptically. "So you're saying that the Royal Apothecary Society is really just - messing around?"
"Not all of them, probably," Sarilussa said, flipping through the sheaf of papers again. "I'm sure there are some who really do want to develop this terrible plague, and are working hard to do it. But the vast majority of field researchers are the same as me; we left to get some peace and quiet to pursue our own goals without the constant interference of the RAS, or we were given - hah, remote assignments to keep us out from underfoot."
"But what about the ones that are working on it?" Melikyen said, still frowning. "What if one of them comes to the right conclusions? They're bound to stumble across it sooner or later."
"And if they do, they'll obfuscate the results, publish a paper, then start all over again, most likely," Sarilussa replied with a slight smile. "You have to remember - the Forsaken are people. Some have friends who aren't Forsaken. Some realize that if they kill off everything else in the world, they'll be out of a job. I don't think most of them believe in the glorious future of the Forsaken, anyway. They're just treading water, hoping that the status quo keeps them safe in their positions."
Melikyen shook her head. "All this sounds like justifications, and thin ones at that," she said.
"What do you want from me?" Sarilussa yelled abruptly, slapping her palm on the table. "Legionblast it, I'm sorry for my part in it, I wish - it doesn't flaming matter!" Closing her eyes for a minute, she took a deep breath, then looked back at the mildly startled draenei. "You want me to help translate this, fine," she said, her expression carefully blank. "I can tell you right now, though, there may be a lot of talk about a terrible new plague, but it's just that - talk. From what I've seen, it's the same old stuff that's been going around for years."
"Thank you," Melikyen said, though her expression was uncertain. "It's all I can ask of you."
"No, it isn't." Sarilussa continued to stare flatly at the other woman. "You can ask me to sabotage their work. I'm sure that's the next step, after the translations are complete - they'll be handed off to the Alliance equivalent of the RAS, to work on counteractive measures."
"I don't - maybe, I suppose so, but they don't expect that of me, so I don't expect that of you." Melikyen looked away, her expression troubled.
With a small shrug, the mage rolled the papers up and stuffed them into her travel bag. "I'll get to work on them tonight. I should be able to give you the completed translations before this weekend."
"Sar- Sal," Melikyen said, holding out her hand. "I'm... sorry."
Sarilussa clenched her teeth. "Sorry? For what, accusing me of having been complicit in a long-term program of extermination against your kind and the Alliance as a whole, specifically and generally?" She stood up, slinging the strap of her bag over her shoulder. "Nothing to be sorry for. You're absolutely right."
Without another word, Sarilussa strode across the house and out the door, closing it carefully behind her. Her hand still resting outstretched on the table, Melikyen sat looking at the door for several minutes, in a long, unhappy silence.