et tu?
Tesla’s right fins drooped, ever so slightly. “Sorry?”
“You’re being reassigned to Power,” Craklinne stated. “I’m sorry to see you go, of course, but I think it’ll suit you.”
xxxxxShe was stunned. This was completely out of left field. Years and years of dedicated research in the Department of Energy, only to have her life uprooted so suddenly. She gulped, mouth dry. “What’s this about?”
“Well, your research has made some waves, naturally. The Guild really wants to look into sacridite based power storage, since you proved it’s rechargeable once depleted, so–”
“Linne,” She warned. “What’s this really about?”
xxxxxCraklinne paused, her claws poised over the paperwork she was reaching for. She was emotionless, even for a Fae, but Tesla could see the nearly imperceptible quiver of her carefully stilled frills that she’d come to recognize. Ever so slightly, they poised into a show of remorse. “You have to understand Tes, this would mean great things for the Expanse–”
“You’re still going through with it? After everything I’ve told you, all the damage it could do, you’re still trying to build on the Sanctum?”
She sighed. “You said it yourself, didn’t you? It’d be a massive boon, enough that we’d be able to meet the rising energy demand and then some.”
“I did,” She began, leaning forward with urgency. “But I also made it clear that the consequences could be devastating. We don’t understand what the effects of interrupting the flow of magic this much could be. If we just reached out to the Oculus–”
“We don’t–!” Craklinne sighed again, frustrated. “We don’t have the time to deal with their idealism and traditions, Tes. They don’t understand these things. You know this!”
“Oh they don’t, do they? It’s not like we’ve been staring an energy source in the face for years because we were unwilling to listen to their ‘idealism and traditions’, now, is it?”
xxxxxCraklinne leaned back into her seat and regarded her carefully. The drake that sat across from Tesla was exactly the same one who she’d worked so hard on this research with. Her most respected peer, her closest conspirator– Boss, she was there when she proved her hypothesis! For a moment, she wondered what changed. Suddenly, it clicked: This was always who she was. After all, when Tesla found herself slipping into machines while they were still running, flying through raging thunderstorms, playing fast and loose with her life, to the point where Safety and Health got involved after a close call between some gears, Craklinne made her stance pretty clear. She watched as she closed her eyes and gathered herself. Her frills fell into a schooled, business-like demeanor, she sighed, one final time.
“You have to understand, Tes. This is for the greater good.”
