006 - Diplomacy

[JasonPaul]

Dealing with these Mystics was a damned waste of time.

Dr. Righteous did a lot of things. His manipulation of both the various felinefolk tribes and the UPCA into open war with each other was one of the most disastrous things to happen to the UPCA, although no one really knew that at the time, as the treatment of the felinefolk did much to ruin the goodwill that the UPCA once had. Although the UPCA apologized publicly, many of the tribes, among them the Kendou tribe, remained very angry at the UPCA. However, the felinefolk were small in number and could do little about the UPCA. Moreover, they were not a significant power in the world, and preferred to be ignored anyway.

The Mystics, however, were a whole other can of worms.

The destruction of Los Angeles was believed to be a result of a Mystic attack for about one week before Andrew Lizar and Akira Kusanagi revealed that it was actually the work of Dr. Righteous himself. Obviously, he had planned to manipulate the UPCA into warring with the Mystics just as he’d done with the felinefolk. Upon the realization of this, the UPCA cut off all ties to Righteous, although it was too little, too late. The Mystics were understandably upset at the UPCA about this. However Silf Lune-Belexes was willing to settle the matter peacefully, even if her demands--the release of all felinefolk, the destruction of all felinefolk internment camps, and a large donation to the empire of New Belexes to stimulate their fledgling economy--did nearly cost the UPCA an arm and a leg. However, the UPCA could do nothing but agree to her terms. By allowing the Mystics to found the separate nation of New Belexes, they built up a lot of good will not just with the Mystics, but the entire world, and that was worth more than all the money in the world at this point in time. The Mystics needed the UPCA, but not nearly as much as the UPCA needed the Mystics.

UPCA Secretary of State Michael Wight was currently meeting with the empress herself about the discussion of a subject that needed to be dealt with now that the UPCA was back on its feet again--the limiting of the use of powerful magics. This came as no surprise to the empress, as a highly skilled mage could easily reach the destructive level of an entire ground-based army division, and there was always the possibility of a Mystic turning renegade and leaving a trail of destruction in his wake. However, Silf found the UPCA’s demands to be ridiculous. She took one look at the 23 page proposed list of banned runes and found it unacceptable. Although she did sympathize with the humans’ fears and did agree that some of the runes deserved to be banned, what Michael was suggesting would dramatically change their way of life for the worse. Not wanting to get into an argument with the human, however, the empress summoned a more powerful mage than she to look over the list and make decisions. Professor Anwyn Ganymede was currently sitting next to Silf, across the table from Michael, looking carefully over the list, and glancing up at the human every now and then.

The first rune on the list, Alma, was a no-brainer. Notwithstanding the fact that its most notorious derivative was Almaghest, the rune invoked the arcane energies of the nether, and was used for destruction and nothing else. Alma runes were currently not taught to civilians, and the only (known) Mystic that knew Almaghest was Ganymede himself, and he had sworn an oath never to teach that spell to anyone. The second rune on the list was Degi, which was another no-brainer, as it was a death curse that solidified the blood of its victim. While it wasn’t always successful--and it could be avoided if you knew the right protection spells--it could usually kill a mundane human in an instant. Like Alma, it was not taught to civilians, and Anwyn did not see a need to continue to use either of these runes.

However, as the list went down, the proposed runes were becoming more and more ridiculous. While Anwyn would not deny that some of these runes could be used for destructive purposes, many were, in their most mundane of forms, used in everyday life. While a rune like the earth rune Gran, when combined with the Sa and Dein runes, could cause a destructive earthquake, it has also been used to assist in the leveling and fertilization of the land of New Belexes for crops and farms.

“I’ll be honest with you, there is much on this list that we cannot compromise on,” Anwyn said. “Some of these runes, I will admit, deserve to be banned, and if the empress has no objections then I will get to work on that immediately. However, some of these runes are, in their weakest forms, harmless. Still, I think we can work something out, although it will take some time to amend the list you have sent me.”

Michael nodded. “The ones that the president is most concerned with are the first two runes on the list. Is there any way I can get you to agree immediately on them?”

“Mr. Wight, the problem is that I am not the only instructor of magic in New Belexes. We have taught those two spells to our military for centuries, and many army recruits are already well versed in those runes. I guess their family members teach them this, I don’t know. Such a thing is very difficult to police. Even if we did ban those runes, they can still be acquired if you go through the proper channels.”

“But Professor Ganymede…”

“Perhaps a comparison is in order,” Anwyn said, interrupting Michael. “In many UPCA nations firearms are banned, correct? However, if you want a gun you can get it. It just depends on how badly you want it. Am I right?”

Michael nodded slowly.

“The same can be said of destructive magics. What I’m trying to say is, we’re willing to cooperate on the first two runes on the list, but it will take a great deal of time. It’s not like I can go out and tell people to forget the runes anymore than you can tell people to throw away their guns.”

“Very well,” Michael said. “When can I expect your amended list?”

“No more than twenty-four hours,” Anwyn said. “I’ll contact you at the embassy once we’re done.”

“Thank you, Professor Ganymede,” Michael said, shaking both his hand, and the hand of the empress. With that he walked out of the meeting room.

The UPCA called him a living legend, although Michael Wight certainly didn’t feel like it. He’d been stationed in Iraq during the first Gulf War shortly after joining the United States army. After he was honorably discharged, he found work in TECH as a mercenary under a young commander named Akira Kusanagi. When Akira turned his unit over to the resistance shortly before he participated in the RAVEN project (and promptly defected from TECH immediately afterwards), Wight quickly became a skilled soldier in that unit as well. He’d been a part of the groups that dismantled Ki and other organizations that threatened the world. He was a war veteran in every sense of the word.

Now he was working a desk job for the UPCA. He didn’t mind the position he was working, but he felt completely out of place as a diplomat. Maybe if he was better at his job he could have gotten more from the empress. Maybe. But in this case the UPCA opted for style rather than substance. Michael was a great speaker and a great leader, but his persuasive skills weren’t as highly touted. Still, he was a face that many former Americans recognized. He was a hero.

Of course, if that was what they wanted, they didn’t really need him. He wasn’t a hero. He just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

Not that all the diplomacy in the world would be of any use when dealing with Mystics, as they were so radically different from humans. New Belexes was a nation founded on magic, rather than technology. While this didn’t inconvenience the Mystics in the slightest, it was a real problem for humans visiting the empire. Wight immediately got a taste of how different everything was here when his cell phone stopped working, as all of New Belexes was one giant dead zone. Perhaps that was why Silf found the UPCA’s list unacceptable. New Belexes wasn’t exactly the Christian Dark Ages, and one could comfortably live here, but only because of magic. Of course, the Mystics could adapt human technology instead, to make things seem more normal. But then, Mystics were not known to be pliable on that subject. Magic has been working for them for thousands of years. Why change things now?

He was being followed, but he knew who was following him. A pair of felinefolk twin sisters dressed in black leather outfits, watching him from the shadows. Aside from their hair color (one had blue hair, the other red hair), and the fact that the red haired girl wore glasses, the two looked identical. Michael Wight didn’t turn to face them, but he knew they were there, and they knew he knew they were there as well.

“I have a job for you,” he said under his breath.

*****

NDR EDIT: Forgot that Akigiyama was still around. Corrected post accordingly