No Choice

Posted on Nov 16, 2016 @ 2:36pm by Ensign Sofia Andersson
Edited on on Nov 16, 2016 @ 2:37pm

Mission: Aftermath

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“No Choice”
(Continued from “Reverti Possit De Tenebris” written by the marvelous Marko)
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LOCATION: EARTH
SD: [2.16] 1116.1235
SCENE: Versailles Detention Center
TIME FRAME: Very early morning

She had no idea if this location had been created for her alone or if others had been sent to this hell to help with the cleanup efforts. Truth be knowns though Sofia didn't care. She had been given a room with just enough space for a bed, a toilet and a sink. She had been allowed to shower both before and after putting on the HAZMAT suit, and as for the rest of the day was concerned she would be dealing with scorched bodies and whatever item on them that might be useful in identifying the owner. That and only that had been and would continue to be her world for as long as it had been deemed necessary to atone for her crime.

If she allowed herself to think of the future, Sofia reminded herself that should this task be completed before her own death, they would find another hell for her to be in. There would be no forgiveness for what she had helped bring about, not when more than 28 million people had died.

A single loud buzz echoed through the building indicating that the time to get up had come. Breakfast, or at least the replicated sorry excuse for nourishment that she was being given first thing in the morning, was served in her room through a small slit at the bottom of the door. Like clockwork the metal tray slid into the room only seconds after the tone leaving Sofia with a choice; either she needed to get up and eat the mush while it was still relatively warm or stay in bed a few more minutes and eat the same mush cold. As bad as the warm mush had been, the cold mush had been worse, a lot worse.

Sitting on the floor while eating her breakfast, Sofia wondered if her treatment had been in some way a violation of her human rights or of some Federation accord on the treatment of prisoners. That was when she would recall what the Security Officer had screamed at her the first and only time she had tried to run away.

"You think you get to just die and make it all better? You think that your life is worth the lives of the 28 millions who died here? Do you think yourself to be that high and mighty that you think your death will make amends for everything that happened here?"

He had been right even though the reason that had caused her to run had not been to escape her punishment. She had accepted the consequence of her actions at least as a whole, but because of Jayson she had been made to feel the individual pain of her support of the Neo Essentialist movement.

Had he known what she had been, had he known what she had done, Sofia doubted that Jayson would have been as friendly as he had been.

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SCENE: Versailles Triage Center
TIME FRAME: An hour later

There had been no shortage of work at the Triage Center and it had not been all that complicated for Sofia to find ways to keep her distances from the people she had met a few days ago. The HAZMAT suit had insured that they could not identify her, and the distance that she kept between them had made sure that they would not run into each other by mistake.

As much as Sofia tried to concentrate on her work though, she often found herself looking up and the pair of suits she knew to be Ya'Han and Jayson. What were they thinking about the strange blonde hair woman, if anything at all? They had come here to help the living by giving them closure on what had happened to those they knew and loved. In a way they had offered her the same, but her situation had not been that easy.

What was she to do? Was she meant to stay hidden from them and everyone like them for the rest of her life? Had this not gone against her promise to make amends, to make things right and to face the consequences of her actions? Working here as she was had only been part of the deal, facing those that had been left behind and hurt by her actions, be them direct or indirect had also been something she needed to do. There was no choice in the matter, not she if had truthfully wanted to prove her being sorry for what had happened.

She had wanted to hide from him, to avoid seeing the pain she had helped cause. The truth was that there had been no hiding, not from him or the friends and family of the 28 million people who had been killed. From where she stood, Sofia could see the darkened silhouette of Paris in the distant, a form that echoed the complete emptiness of the once vibrant city.

As long as Paris stood she would never be able to hide. As long as the ashes flowed in the wind she would never be allowed to forget. In the end Sofia had no choice, she needed to face Jayson and admit her role in the death of his wife. As much as it would hurt him she needed to give him the choice as to how to respond, and she would have no choice but to accept his judgement as she had that of the board of inquiry.

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NRPG:

I know that this post is a lot shorter than what is standard for the FRPG, and for that I am sorry. I am just setting up another group of crossover posts between a couple of STDH writers and myself while we still can. Hoping this is acceptable to all, if not let me know.

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Tiffany Reeve

Ensign Sofia Andersson
Currently sentenced to the
VERSAILLES Triage Center