Trial of the Void

Nicole Taylor

## Grand Symposium of Riga - 2021

A symposium has been called in the city of Riga, by permanent Symposium member Mach Solarius. The topic of discussion is left vague, but hinted to be one of dire consequences to the entire Union. Antwerp Construct, however, knew the topic all to well - revealing the existance of Threat Null to the Technocratic Union at large (and convincing them that the Void Engineers handled the situation well).

The technocrats invited to attend the Symposium are:

* Fixed Members:
	+ Iteration X: High Calculator Thomas Elbrecht
	+ New World Order: Professor Sarah Hawke
	+ Progenitors: Jennifer Thorne M.D.
	+ Syndicate: Chairman John Blackmane
	+ Void Engineers: Lord Commander Mach Solarius
* Temporary Members:
	+ Iteration X
		- Cassandra Hayes (Statistician)
		- Irene Lagaffe (Time-Motion Manager)
		- Lt. XIV (Shock Troop Division)
	+ New World Order
		- Emma Circk (Watchers)
		- Patricia Jane (the Feed)
		- Henri de Lorre (Operatives)
	+ Progenitors
		- Isaac Clarke (Genengineer)
		- James Master (FACADE)
		- Gregory House M.D. (Psychology)
	+ Syndicate
		- Michiel Bloemers (Special Project Division)
		- Eugene Thompson (Disbursements)
		- Sakura Takimura (Special Project Division)
	+ Void Engineers
		- Dominique Faraday (Pan-Dimensional Corps)
		- Franklin Salisbury (Research & Execution)
		- Nicole Taylor (Neutralization Specialist Corps)

## Preperations

In advance of the Grand Symposium, Antwerp Construct (and the Void Engineers) went busy to prepare for the occasion. Heavily represented - and invested - they would in many ways be the driving force to what would happen there.

IDC's intelligence apparatus, lead by Nicole Taylor, went to work on gathering intelligence on Iteration X-attendees. At large, they would prove a tough bunch to convince, although Cassandra in particular looked like a promising ally, and XIV might be convinced with more practical arguments.

Patricia Jane send the feed, and her internal contacts, to work on her NWO colleagues. Both Hawke and Circke seemed open to reason, although not automatically sympathetic to the issue. De Lorre, as it turned out, was on their side. Lastly, she checked out Faraday of the Void Engineers - a seemingly perfect member of the convention. Almost too perfect.

Salisbury meanwhile used back channels to dig up information on the Progenitors in attendance. Jennifer Thorne and Clark both seemed agreeable enough, although some convincing might be needed. Masters was an enigma, seeming through all to be "nice", with not much more information. House seemed a typical bureaucrat, obsessed with procedure - which could be either a boon or a bane, depending on how he was approached.

Lastly, they received intelligence from Bloemers. He would be on their side - but political realities might force him to withhold open support, due to the SPD's reputation. Takimura, he mentioned, was with the actual SPD, rather than the SSID, so would be a danger - although she seemed supportive to this specific measure. The other two were more traditional Syndicate members, and as such would prove difficult, but likely open to arguments.

While the intelligence gathering was underway, Nicole Taylor scheduled a private meeting with Levi and Bloemers. With covert elements in the Technocracy, of which Levi was a member, being against the SPD, Bloemer's open support would prove problematic - even if the public face of the SPD was co-opted by Bloemer's covert SSID and on their side. With Bloemen and Levi aware of each other's organisation, Nicole hoped they would open up to each other - at least enough to not endanger the Symposium. The inherent secrecy of the groups proved frustrating, but in the end, they agreed to open up - if in an extremely limited way.

With all the information that could be gathered from afar - the rest would have to be done in-person in Riga - the team went to prepare the individual talks they would be presenting - and Patricia went to work to prepare psycho-statistical models on the symposium's possible reactions to the reveal.

## Backdoor Manipulations

Once in Riga, the team quickly set to work to talk to individual members to persuade them.

### Cassandra Hayes (Iteration X, Statistician)

Cassandra invite Jane to a lunch meeting to discuss the upcoming symposium. Known to have an idealistic view on the Technocracy, Patricia played on those aspects. As it turned out, Cassandra was already up to date on the team's exploits against the SPD and others, and was predisposed to supporting them - it didn't take long for Patricia to take away the last doubts.

### Sakura Takimura (Syndicate, SPD)

The invite by Takimura for Taylor and Salisbury came as a surprise to the construct. Knowing her affiliation, they were immediately suspicious, but after careful deliberation and preparation, it was deemed worth the risk.

In the end, the meeting seemed to go well; Sakura promised to support the VE, claiming that Threat Null was worse. They did "request" that the team took out James Master, telling the team that he was a shared enemy.

### James Master (Progenitors, FACADE)

Following up on Sakura's note - more to investigate than to take immediate action - Salisbury and Nicole were swiftly pressed into action after all, when analysis uncovered Master to be a Threat Null infiltrator. The threat was quickly and decisively erased by Salisbury, and Levi sprang into action with his backup plan - there was enough time to swap in a replacement, one who could be ensured to vote "correctly".

### Isaac Clarke (Progenitor, Genengineer)

Salisbury then visited Isaac Clarke, who appeared to have a similar disposition. The two did indeed hit it off, sharing stories of their exploits. Convinced of the team's efficiency, he would be more likely to be persuaded to support them later.

### Eugene Thompson (Syndicate, Disbursements)

Thompson was stationed at Riga. Lately, he was preoccupied with personal issues, however - recently having lost his daughter, and looking to find the party responsible. Jane set to digging out the details, and found the culprit - an Entropic EDE based at the local graveyard.

Thankful for the closure, the team won Thompson's support. He declined the offer for personal revenge, however, preferring to grieve in private. When Salisbury, contacted by Jane, offered Clarke to go hunting together, however, Clarke happily agreed - allowing the two to bond further.

### Gregory House M.D. (Progenitors, Pharmacopeia)

Nicole went on a meeting with House, heavily protesting her colleague's insinuation that it was a date. It quickly turned into an interrogation more than a date, however - Nicole quickly identified House as not just any EDE, but in fact an echo of Damian, of the precepts bearing his name.

Grilling Nicole on her and her team's adherence (and interpretation) of the precepts, Damian was impressed by the Void Engineer's dedication to the Technocracy, and subsequently supported the team's efforts.

## Presentations

The main event of the symposium was a trio of presentations, aimed at the future wellbeing of the Technocratic Union, all in their own way:

* Presentation: Conditioning 2.0 (Patricia Jane)
* Presentation: Unconventional Weaponry and You (Franklin Salisbury)
* Presentation: The Dangers of Void Adaptation (Nicole Taylor)

During the break prior to Nicole's presentation, the team took their final chance at influencing some of the key members they'd missed before.

### Lt. XIV (Iteration X, Shock Troop Division)

Nicole chatted up Lt. XIV, known to be "bored" with the enemies he faced. Priming him for the presentation to come, Nicole convinced XIV that many dangerous enemies awaited him, and there would be ample opportunity for him to challenge himself in the oncoming months.

### Dominique Faraday (Void Engineers, Pan-Dimensional Corps)

"Miss perfect" of the Void Engineers, Faraday was expected to support the Void Engineers as a matter of course. To be sure, however, Franklin decided to visit her - only to find her in the midst of an audience with a summoned Watcher of the Deep. Quickly dispatching the vile monster (with some backup), Faraday was placed in custody not soon after. As it turned out, she was a deep agent - gaining her lofty status by stabbing her fellow engineers in the back (often literally). With her gone, a replacement whose loyalty was unquestioned was soon put in place. The accidental demonstration of Franklin's firepower was appreciated by the gathering.

## Judgement

Presentation over, the room erupted in debate. While many accusations against the Void Engineers flew around, the presentations - and the earlier preparations - had convinced most of the attendees of the neccesity of uniting behind this new foe, however.

Only once voice dissented, with High Calculator Thomas Elbrecht refusing to support the Void Engineers' position. However, with him being the sole dissenting opinion, he did not appear to be planning on pressing the issue any further, being prepared to follow the overwhelming consensus of opinion, even amongst his fellow Iterators.

Even that last vestige of opposition vanished, however, when Salisbury blurted out their ace in the hole - the "alternative" computer recovered in Hear My Cry. The retrieval of the computer was Elbrecht's primary mission, and the (now non-optional) "donation" of the alternate proved enough for full support.

Thus, the Union as a whole united in support of the Void Engineers' position - any dissent being drowned out by the unanymous support of the Symposium.

## Epilogue

"And so it is decided by this conclave that the Union will throw it's full support behind the eradication of this new threat!"

<audible sigh>

"Next topic on the agenda; ItX' s specs for the new stationary calls for a 1.9 cm margin. NWO wants to cut that down to 1.8."

<violent shouting erupts>