Phase 2: Ciao is unable to take the shot

There was a lot to consider before firing upon Vaarvel, A.K.A. the Adjutant. For a moment, you felt stopped in time... So much was riding on this shot. It was the desire of every agent of CEDIT to protect world peace by killing the highest ranked operative in Adder-- this time, you'd be doing it for real. On the other hand, in some ways, it was a betrayal of your stated goal as a handler; to accomplish your mission, you would seemingly need to shoot your own agent. For all the evil she'd apparently done, Vaarvel was still one of the founding members of the Goodbye Girls. She had apparently established Adder... but she'd also established a world peace-keeping force that had stopped the Deliverers from burning New York and taken in Ivan Bortnik before he could unleash a new-age robotic army. Did the sins outweigh the good? Did you even want to take the shot?

... As it turned out, that was nearly irrelevant. You literally couldn't take the shot. You didn't just feel frozen; you were, essentially, frozen. Your finger wouldn't so much as begin to squeeze the trigger.

"Well done, slipping free just now, Nathaniel. I have to admit, you've grown a lot as an agent. In the end, however, you're still under my thumb where you belong. Bound Blood 1000... Nora came up with such a splendid compound. You were coded to obey the voices of all of the highest ranked members in Adder. I doubt she ever saw the list... I wonder who did? Well, what matters is that I was on it." Her crescent grin widened further into a mischievous C shape. "Come join me now. We'll have that tea."

Powerless, you felt your own legs moving beneath you, as though you were having painless muscle spasms. These spasms, however, pushed you in exactly the direction Vaarvel had told you to go. As if guided by unseen strings like a puppet, you maneuvered your way towards Madison's desk, sat across from the desk, and watched as she poured tea into a pair of elegant cups. They were clearly Madison's, rather than her personal set.

"Ha ha... This isn't the first time I've done it, you know. You've been under my power ever since that day, when we conducted Operation First Plague together. When I found out about Nora's experiment, I took a riskless gamble, but one that earned big. When the situation called for it, I'd manipulate you however I pleased. In short, this was a game you lost long, long ago. Nothing gives me a more genuine chuckle than observing the manipulated. You gave me plenty to watch~" With a quiet laugh, Vaarvel set aside the tea kettle and lifted her cup. As she moved, you reflected again: if she'd stood up from the chair earlier, you never could have mistaken her for Madison. The shape of her hips, shifting in those tight blue slacks, was too distinct. "Cheers. To the good of humanity. Toast me."

You toasted her, clattering the side of your tea-cup naturally against hers. You grit your teeth, trying to resist her games, but it seemed useless. You'd been made a genetic slave to the leader of Adder.

"While Au Revoir keeps everyone occupied with her diversion, I'd like to take the time to make clear to you what I mean by 'the good of humanity.'" Vaarvel spoke evenly, with a serene expression, as she sweetened her tea and then stirred in the sugar. "Adder has committed atrocities, this is true. In the moment, people suffer from their actions ever day. That suffering serves a cause, however... a counterweight to CEDIT's ambitions. Certainly, CEDIT was founded on the best of intentions by many people, but over time, it has become a tool for a select few to support humanity's progress for the benefit of those few. This goes beyond petty concepts like religion, class, race, and politics... the people like Milaslava Bortnik, who believe they're acting in national interests, are really dancing on somebody else's palm. That is to say: even those achievements that seem to benefit a certain nation are actually working toward the hyper-specific motivations of a shadow puppeteer. Understanding so far? Nod if so."

You nodded.

"Genetic slaves. Cybernetic slaves. You can see the common theme there: slavery. There are people in this world who want not only to create a stronger class of human, be that enhanced humans or the mechanically augmented, but also, to ensure that that class of human is subservient to their orders. I'm talking slavery on a global scale... the worst conspiracy imaginable, perpetrated by a small group of privileged people against humanity at large. Against that sort of ambition, what is a few deaths aboard the Palm of Royalty? What does a lethal raid against CEDIT of South Africa cost humanity? Even civilian casualties pale in comparison to the scope of this threat. Warding off this threat to humanity has been my greatest goal all along," she explained, staring into her tea-cup with an unreadable grin, despite the grim topic. "I've devoted everything to this. My life... my conscience... my flesh, literally. My very soul. CEDIT and Adder are nothing; a ruse. What matters is that small group of megalomaniacs and myself."

You countered: to think that she could take this all on by herself was megalomaniacal in its own right. Furthermore, she was apparently using the very genetic slavery that she attested she meant to destroy.

"My hands are very dirty, Nathaniel. Filthy, dripping with the blood of innocents," Vaarvel responded, failing to break her smug expression, even now. "I had to become this kind of person in order to advance in my mission. Once I learned the kinds of things CEDIT mandated, I created Adder to curb their ambitions. Once that proved ineffective, I switched sides again and reinvented myself. I won't say it's all been perfect... but that's what happens when you're working with problems on the scale that I am, as just one woman."

What you were hearing was madness! Why would she generate Adder and create such a boon to world terrorism, arming the worst perpetrators of unspeakable horrors around the globe? Why not change CEDIT from within?

"Ha! CEDIT was deep in bed with those same forces before they were muscled out. There may be good people within CEDIT, but their good intentions are for naught as long as they're being directed by the unseen."

You told her that what she needed wasn't this one woman crusade against threats outside of the public's comprehension... She needed people she could trust.

"Perhaps," Vaarvel admitted, staring at her tea-cup with a thin smile and a nostalgic expression. "But I tried that once. It didn't work out. It sounds like you already know about that one. It would have been nice to work with you in that capacity, but it wasn't in the cards... I'm not the kind of idiot who makes the same mistake twice. I've lived on my own for a very long time now, making my own judgment calls, and it's worked out so far. On that note, our time together draws short."

You knew what that meant: the time to dispose of you was fast approaching.

Despite what Vaarvel had said, this explanation had given you time to think. It amazed you, how clearly your brain was processing this new information and formulating a plan. Vaarvel's one woman show would come to an end, one way or another.