solo: recordkeeping
The cow Senshi--Amateru--had been an absolute font of information. So much so that honestly, Diaboleite was having trouble sorting through it all. He wished he'd brought a notepad to take more detailed notes, or thought to pull out his tablet and record what the Senshi said, openly or illicitly. But the insight from someone from beyond the stars was incredibly useful, and he was thinking about it his entire way home that night. When he finally got there, he did indeed pull down a notebook and get to taking as many notes as he could, a step towards compiling a decent database entry on this particular stranger from beyond the stars.
Subject: Sailor Amateru. Nonhuman. Has cow features, including ears with somewhat patchy fur, tail, and small horns. Seems to be more interested in talking than in fighting, which may prove useful in the future. Likely not a threat.
That seemed a snap judgement, but given his attitude it seemed likely. Perhaps other officers would have different experiences, but approaching with care...well, whatever grudge Amateru had against Chaos generally did not seem to extend directly to the Negaverse. A fascinating thing. Which led to the next part of all of this: Amateru's story.
It seemed fanciful, but obviously the Senshi had no reason to lie to him, and perhaps Diaboleite was being unfair in his assessment, but he hadn't seemed like the type to lie. Not just because he had the general character of a folksy aw-shucks kind of person, because those were absolutely capable of lying--the Simple Country Lawyer was a stereotype for a reason--but because he just seemed....well, it didn't seem likely that he was being deceitful, was the point. So.
Major Points:
- Claims "chaos meteors" fell on his home planet, bringing an infection
Describes a strange sickness: symptoms are not dissimilar from a form of rabies or mad cow.
...The mad cow comparison seemed ironic, and perhaps more accurate than was entirely fair. A planet of cow people, struck down my magical mad cow disease. Tragic and a little ironic.
- Describes changes in the climate, making it significantly hotter than normal
Indicated that he experienced symptoms, but displays none of them now
Stated he was healthy when he woke after several centuries of statis-sleep
A strange but fascinating story, with the suggestion of far more. He'd said that his story was likely similar to any other alien's, and maybe that was true, but Gerard couldn't know that until he actually talked to more of them. If any more of them would talk, which was perhaps a hopeless endeavor, since the only other one he'd ever met had gleefully attacked him and that had been...messy. Brutal. Not exactly an opportunity to interview him. Nor had there been for the other elf, or the deer that had introduced himself feet-first.
And he'd concluded that Chaos killed. Perhaps that was true of whatever he'd had on his homeworld--but clearly it wasn't so here on Earth. Earth was thriving--well, perhaps not thriving, but the damage being done to it was consistent with human activity and greed and foolishness and that was a problem for the future. The point was, it wasn't Chaos doing the damage, particularly not when, as Gerard understood, Chaos had only existed for a relatively short time compared to how far back Earth's problems stretched.
So whatever had happened to these other worlds, it wasn't happening here, despite Chaos clearly being present. His own powers spoke to that. Which meant...well, it could mean any number of things. It was hard to say, with only one alien's account. But perhaps that was something to pursue--to learn from them, to see what they all had to say. To see if all of them shared the hatred of Chaos that seemed to fuel the little gray-purple b*****d that had so eagerly attacked him.
And what a fascinating dichotomy, really. One alien had been glad to sit on a bench with him and talk, to tell his whole story, a story that came with any number of interesting possibilities. Perhaps the Chaos in space was simply different from what was here. Perhaps it was stronger or, ironically, weaker, or it had come in a different way, or...
Many possibilities. Too many to consider. For certain he would have to put in an entry about the Senshi himself, but as for the further details of his story...it was too difficult to draw any conclusions from them just yet, and part of Gerard wondered if the logic of it might resonate with some less than loyal officers. The idea that Chaos, in and of itself, killed seemed absurd, not when they had plenty of evidence that in its form on Earth, as granted by Metallia, Chaos empowered and grew. Yes, it fed on human energy and the occasional starseed, but wasn't that just thermodynamics in action? Energy could not be created or destroyed, after all, it could only change form. So it had to change form to be useful.
A simple principle. One so few of those in white seemed to have a decent grasp on. Power had to come from somewhere, and clearly, not everyone had a connection to an ancient force to empower them. So Chaos required energy to continue to fuinction. A simple enough tax to take from the people of Earth who were completely ignorant of the protection they were afforded.
He'd thought the idea of aliens coming to Earth to take over had been a little fanciful, but clearly they were here, and eventually, their loyalties would shine through. They were magical beings, so high above ordinary mortals that it would simply be an easy step to turn to actual conquest if they decided it. But perhaps others wouldn't see it the same way.
He needed to gather more information. Clearly not every alien was hostile on introduction. Surely there would be more that were willing to talk. And all he had to do was find them.
[wc: 1,008 words]
