Equal Responsibility

Open Field: Warui runs across an open field south of Tiria.

Malia: She chases after him with a beehive hanging from the end of a stick as bees swarm around it. She wears a heavy linen robe and wicker face mask.

Warui: Nothing is appearing!

Warui: Can we stop now?!

Malia: We need to push the limits on this one!

Kiel: He sits at a distance with Khyrie, River, Chena, and Sarah, watching.

Chena: She stands.

Chena: I said this one was the dumbest of all the ideas.

Khyrie and River: They grab Chena and hold her back.

Khyrie: Malia will know when to stop.

River: Y-yeah.

River: You also wouldn’t want to get stung.

River: Right, Chena?

Chena: I’ll get stung if it means Warui gets stung less.

Chena: Let go.

Kiel: She’s done now.

Warui: He lies down on the grass.

Malia: She tosses the stick with the beehive far away.

Bees: The swarm flies toward the beehive.

Malia: If buzzing didn’t work...

Malia: I don’t know what will.

Warui: He breathes heavily.

Warui: Why’d we go so hard on that one?

Malia: You ranked buzzing first among all things that irritated you.

Malia: We tried Chena complaints.

Malia: Keeping you up at night.

Malia: Whatever else.

Malia: This one had the most potential to me.

Chena: From across the field. That’s the last one that goes like that!

Malia: I still have one more idea!

Warui: He looks to his left and sees a man on horseback.

Warui: Hey, I choked that guy out in Fort Avelorn.

Chena: She approaches with River, Kiel, Khyrie, and Sarah.

River: That soldier.

Warui: Yeah.

Warui: Why is he going to Tiria?

Malia: Kids these days.

Malia: You know you can just ask, right?

Warui: I’m not doing that.

Warui: I-

Sarah: Yeah, don’t.

Sarah: You called him a bastard.

Warui: He looks at the grass.

Malia: Alright.

Malia: Let’s get ready for the next attempt.

Warui: He groans.

Commander Mercer’s Office: Commander Mercer sits at his desk, signing papers with a quill.

Commander Mercer: He hears muttering outside the door and stops signing.

First Voice: From outside. The Army took a week to submit their report for the operation in Fort Avelorn.

Second Voice: From outside. Maybe they finally feel some remorse.

Commander Mercer: He stands and walks toward the door.

First Voice: From outside, laughing. That would be beautiful.

First Voice: But don’t give them too much credit.

Door: Two knocks sound from the other side.

Commander Mercer: He opens the door.

Crown Wardens: Two soldiers stand outside. Their left shoulders show a closed iron crown with five broad points resembling the silhouette of a battlement.

Commander Mercer: Crown Wardens don’t patrol the Army’s base in Valeria.

First Crown Warden: Commander Duncan Mercer.

First Crown Warden: Sorry to bother you, but this is no patrol.

Commander Mercer: His eyes tighten.

Second Crown Warden: He raises the Fort Avelorn report.

Commander Mercer: Reports are to be seen by the government first.

First Crown Warden: They hit Commander Dirk’s desk first when it involves the seizure of civilian registries.

Commander Mercer: We seized registries under government orders.

Commander Mercer: That doesn't put my branch under Warden review.

First Crown Warden: The registries are why the report reached us.

First Crown Warden: Soldier Warui Reiki is why we're here.

Commander Mercer: What for?

First Crown Warden: A fifteen-year-old manifested an unknown weapon under severe combat stress.

First Crown Warden: Your branch then returned him to active military custody and has spent the last week trying to make him reproduce said weapon.

First Crown Warden: We’re assuming protective custody until its nature and risk can be determined.

Commander Mercer: Protective custody?

Second Crown Warden: Yes.

Commander Mercer: You mean taking him?

Commander Mercer: He’s my soldier.

Commander Mercer: He isn’t property.

Commander Mercer: You can’t just walk in here and remove him because something happened to him.

Commander Mercer: And we’ve spent the last week doing exactly that, determining the nature and risk of the unknown weapon.

Second Crown Warden: He is a Tirian citizen under Crown protection.

Commander Mercer: Who authorized this?

First Crown Warden: We’ll ask for his cooperation.

Commander Mercer: That wasn’t my question.

Second Crown Warden: Take it up to Commander Dirk.

Second Crown Warden: We answer to Crown Warden command, not the Army.

Commander Mercer: I’ll speak with Dirk before my soldier is approached.

Second Crown Warden: We’re sorry, Com-

First Crown Warden: The commander will allow it.

First Crown Warden: We appreciate your cooperation, Commander Mercer.

Commander Mercer: No problem.

Crown Wardens: They turn and walk away.

Commander Mercer: [Under his breath]. I wouldn’t say I cooperated.

Twenty-five minutes later

Crown Warden Valeria City Post: Commander Mercer enters.

Commander Mercer: He makes his way toward Commander Dirk’s office door.

Crown Warden: Commander Mercer.

Crown Warden: Commander Dirk is preoccupied.

Commander Dirk’s Office Door: The door opens.

Avelorn Soldier: He walks out of Commander Dirk’s office.

Commander Mercer: He watches the Avelorn soldier, then looks back toward the Crown Warden.

Crown Warden: You may proceed.

Commander Mercer: He enters Commander Dirk’s office and sits.

Commander Dirk: He sits across from Mercer.

Commander Dirk: Duncan.

Commander Dirk: Nice of you to stop by.

Commander Mercer: Tell your wardens to stand down.

Commander Mercer: The Army is responsible for Warui.

Commander Dirk: Legally, Mercer, they can make the request.

Commander Dirk: Your soldier is also fifteen and Tirian.

Commander Mercer: He exhales deeply through his nose.

Commander Mercer: Why was an Avelorn soldier here?

Commander Dirk: Your operation seized protected civilian records.

Commander Dirk: Crown Warden procedure requires the Army’s account to be corroborated by somebody from the affected territory before the record is certified.

Commander Mercer: But he's no random soldier?

Commander Dirk: He's one of the witnesses your recorder listed.

Commander Dirk: Warui also choked him unconscious after he saw the unknown weapon firsthand.

Commander Dirk: Squad Leader Zay Brinks also questioned him.

Commander Mercer: The final account was certified this morning.

Commander Mercer: Your people were at my door before noon.

Commander Dirk: Which is why I'm looking into it.

Commander Mercer: Fine. The report was yours to review.

Commander Mercer: But taking Warui is something else.

Commander Dirk: Warui knows nothing about this?

Commander Mercer: He doesn’t.

Commander Dirk: Alright.

Commander Dirk: Give me time to figure out what authority they’re invoking.

Commander Dirk: For now, stop the experiments.

Commander Mercer: We won't give more reasons.