Diplomacy Game

 “I’m—What?”

“You heard me right.”

Slater took a moment to take in his words. Flashes of everything he went through to get here passed through his mind. The trials of the past two days weighed on him, the battles, the friends, the sacrifices. He gave a silent ‘thank you’ as he tried to hide back a trickle of tears beginning down his face.

“I… made it…”

Once the past was set to rest, Slater wiped his face and set his expression to a determined stare forward, shifting his focus to the present.

“How… did I get here?” When his first question came out, a second was thrown out just as fast when it dawned on him. “And my sister! Where is she?!” Slater’s torso extended forward, throwing itself as far as it could without his legs moving.

The man in the sleep mask put his hands up, as he took a small step back.

“Ease it, buddy. I can explain everything, that’s why I’m here.”

Slater rested his body back to a comfortable position. I don’t fully trust him yet… But, the fact of the matter is I’m okay, and they haven’t done anything to harm me. He moved his head back, giving the floor to the man across from him.

In response, the man simply gave a small bow, humbling himself, but not too much.

“As a brief self-introduction: My name is Remiel. That’s all you’re allowed to know, at least. I’m known around here as the Secretary of the Army branch of the Eastern States Military. I don’t put much stock in titles like that, though.”

While he was unaware of how positions ranked in this country, Slater could at least tell he was commanding a sizable amount of people. No matter how high a man is, he felt humbling themselves before him of all people to be a bit surprising.

“A man as high up as you is bowing to me?”

Remiel shot back up to a relaxed standing position, running one hand through his hair.

“Ah, yeah. Formality and all. Besides, I do have respect for you. You’re quite unprecedented.”

“Unprecedented?”

“You’re the first group of people we’ve ever found crossing that border and making it through No Man’s Land. You’re quite lucky.”

First? I was the first? But, what about all those other parties sent out by Mr. Moretti, Theo, and their group? Had all of them failed? Slater began to break into a cold sweat, and his mind shot back to the skeleton he had seen in the garage with Lillian.

“That being said, you two weren’t in great shape when we found you. Your bike crashed right outside our camp monitoring the edge of No Man’s Land. I just happened to be in that day, and I was able to get you two to the hospital here in Indy pretty fast.”

“You said my sister’s here?!” Slater tried launching himself out of his bed, but only fell to the side as he threw off his blanket.

“Careful!” The woman doctor to the side exclaimed, running to catch his body from falling onto the tiled floor. “You’ve been out for three days, your legs aren’t ready to move just yet.”

“Your sister isn’t even awake yet, best leave her be.” Remiel added.

“She’s not? I would’ve thought—“ Slater’s sister was the strongest person he knew. Him waking before her seemed unimaginable.

“You only had minor injuries, those were easy to treat. Her? Not so much.”

It was only now Slater remembered, the sickness, the fatigue. The reason he was the one driving the bike on the way here.

“Is she okay?! What does she have?!”

Remiel’s hands went up again, trying to keep the boy calm.

“Cool it. She’s fine… For now.” He nodded to the doctor to the side, who approached Slater while pulling images up on her tablet. They had pictures of his sister, as well as various graphs and statistics he didn’t understand.

“Your sister seems to have gotten radiation poison while in No Man’s Land. As long as she stays here and we administer treatment, she’ll live. But we can’t guarantee her to be discharged any time soon.” Her explanation was efficient, and let the weight of things set on Slater’s mind. Even so, it soothed him a little to know she would at least be safe.

“But… We had a core? Why did she get poisoned?”

Remiel looked at Slater with a puzzled look.

“Yeah, we found a core on her. But, cores are made for individuals, buddy. A core only can absorb radiation enough for one person. Judging by the fact you’re okay…” He reached up to his sleep mask, lifting it up to over his forehead, revealing dark, gray eyes, and deep purple eye bags resting under them like a layer of sand dampened by the oncoming tides of the ocean. “That entire time, she was using that core to protect you.”

His eyes dropped to his own lap. Even though we fought and argued, that entire time she was still sacrificing her own well-being for mine? His fists curled. I got that sword, and yet— He looked around, remembering that his weapon had been taken from him.

“The device I had with me, is it—“

“Right. That’s a whole other topic.” Remiel’s shifted his eyes from side to side, looking for a non-existent person to hand the conversation off to. He then looked to a digital timepiece on his arm, then back at the door, tapping his foot. “Dammit, where is he?” He leisurely walked to the door with his hands in his pockets, then reached one out to move the door aside. Before he could, though, another figure stood on the opposite side, having opened it for him. Next thing Slater knew, Remiel let out an undignified grunt from a fist colliding with his stomach. The man stepped aside, as a small black-haired boy, dressed in a black suit and green tie, rolled his way into the room on a wheelchair that, with channels of whatever energy powered it flowing through it and various buttons to move its automated wheels, could only be described as cutting-edge. Behind him stood a retinue of men in black suits, all of various appearances, and yet all uniform in their expressions.

“Sorry for the hold up, I came as soon as you were notified he was awake.” The boy spoke politely, and in a friendly tone to Remiel. Then, turning his wheelchair, faced the boy in the bed. “Hello there! Welcome to our country, I hope you’ve found it hospitable!” The boy gave an excited smile as his emerald eyes reflected the light coming through the cracks in the blinds of the window to Slater’s right.

The boy’s energy was off-putting to Slater. Especially considering the last person Slater knew who smiled the way he did. However, with the boy being noticeably younger than him, likely only just venturing into his teen years, it was bearable enough for him to return a sheepish nod to his question.

Simply clapping in response, the boy leaned back in his chair with a chuckle.

“Great! Fantastic! I’m glad to see we’ve improved since the VIP Scandal!”

Slater’s senses returned at the familiar title. Even the boy across from him noticed the interest in his eyes.

“We had some issues accepting those folks in back then, so I’m glad this time around we were much more careful in our consideration for people immigrating! We just don’t get much practice with it after the VIP Scandal shut everything down.” The boy continued laughing, talking about an international incident like it was nothing.

“You talk like you had a hand in it…” Slater just wanted to hear about where his weapon was, a random kid was not exactly what he needed to explain that currently. At least, that’s what he thought until the words he heard next:

“In fact, I did!”

The only thing this statement earned was a singular quizzical head turn.

“Oh! Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself!” The boy’s arms were placed on his hips, and he adjusted his back in his chair to do his equivalent of standing proud. “I am Ellis Constance Smith! President of the Eastern States!” His announcement was met with a slow fanfare of applause from Remiel and the doctor, his men in suits at the door remaining unmoving and unreactive.

Slater, on the contrary, fell backwards in his bed, his legs finding the strength to move now as they kicked up into the air and laughter was unleashed upon the entire room.

“You—President?!” The newly immigrated patient kept on laughing in the face of the country’s commander-in-chief, which the boy in the wheelchair did not appreciate.

“I will not take your disrespect! I’ll have you know, the Archduke of the Western States also is quite young! They also repealed the age requirements for leadership when we did! Now their leader is only twenty-seven!” Pointing at the still-laughing Slater, Ellis continued hurling his arguments and reasonings to get him to stop. The noise from each only ended when, accompanied by another yawn, Remiel marched over and hit both the boys on the head with each of his fists. The men in black flinched at the president being assaulted, but Remiel’s stare at them over his shoulder bound them in inaction.

Ellis cleared his throat, his eyes focusing on the man of interest in front of him, who was reseting himself to his beginning position. “Back to the matter at hand. Had you just been any immigrant, I imagine Remiel would still be here, but, despite your unprecedented achievement, it wouldn’t be enough to make me visit you.”

“And this has to do with my weapon?”

“Of course! You’re not just some guy who crossed the border, you’re a national security concern.” He looked too jovial to be talking about threats to a nation’s wellbeing, and used his hands like a businessman doing a sales pitch. “To be completely honest, I’m not sure we would’ve kept you alive had that thing not bonded to your DNA.”

The room suddenly filled with the air of the foreign land Slater was in. Every gaze centered at him had been tainted into that of an enemy.

“And that’s not even mentioning the Aether!”

Trying to set aside the hostility he was entrenched in, Slater looked at Smith and kept the conversation running. After all, any information he could gain about what weapon he’d been using would be beneficial.

“Aether?”

“Right, I don’t see why they’d teach about it in the West.” A condescending smile swept across Ellis’ face, finally finding something he had over the older boy laying in front of him. “Aether is an energy that has been around for ages, but we’ve only recently made advances in controlling it, and with that, have made all sorts of technological advancements you may have seen the benefits of. Also important to note is the recent research we’ve done that shows Aether’s high combat capabilities.” He paused, then looked back at Remiel. The two exchanged a silent nod, then put their sights back to Slater. “More interestingly though, is the source of Aether. We don’t yet understand why… but very rarely, people are born with Aether naturally produced in their bodies.”

“Are you saying, I’m—“

“No. We examined your body while you were out, and it does not produce Aether. It’s your blade that produces its own Aether.” Remiel chimed in, but still was leaning against the wall next to the door with his arms crossed.

The young president’s face lit up. “That’s exactly right! Good job!” He clapped his hands excitedly for his subordinate, who just shook his head and pulled his sleep mask back down over his eyes. Slater gave an awkward chuckle at the sight. But, he couldn’t help but wonder out loud.

“If you know all of this, and even intended to kill me… Why are you telling me any of this?”

Ellis’ eyes darkened to a deep jade, as he leaned in closer to the patient’s bed. “Because, Slater Ferruccio, we have a deal for you.” The woman doctor turned her head downwards with darkened eyes as well, while Remiel seemed to drift off into sleep. With that, President Smith’s voice took a tone more fitting of a conquerer. “Your sister’s treatment we have no obligation to cover, but if you were to join the Western States military… I don’t see why we wouldn’t accommodate one of our own personnel. As it stands, you are a threat to us, but could be a major asset. We would have no issue disposing of you, should you choose to oppose us. The choice is yours, Slater. I hope you choose right.”