Microstory 1925: Apostle’s Virtue

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National Commander Apostle Virtue: Not that I don’t enjoy our in-person visits, Director, but what do you have to say that could not be said over secure video chat?

OSI Director: Is that a new uniform? It looks nice, Commander. There’s an update on the alien situation. Remember how I told you we made contact with the human traveler?

Apostle: I recall, the supposed parole officer?

OSI Director: We let him interview the creature, and I believe that we have an opportunity here. I came in person, because we have a short window to act, and I don’t need chatlag getting in the way of me getting my point across.

Apostle: You let a civilian—an escaped jail detainee—interrogate another detainee, who also happens to be an alien from another world, and the greatest, most dangerous, discovery that this country—this planet—has ever made?

OSI Director: Yes, and I’d do it again, because he actually got through to it. We were right, it does speak. It knows a lot, it’s just stubborn.

Apostle: Well, what did it say?

OSI Director: It knows things about the P.O.’s future, and the P.O. was not surprised or confused about that. I think they experience time differently than we do.

Apostle: What’s this opportunity then?

OSI Director: It asked to be set free. No, it asked him to break it out. There’s more it could tell, but it won’t say anything further while it’s locked up.

Apostle: Reasonable response. I would probably say that too if I were in its position. That doesn’t mean we can release it.

OSI Director: I think we should. We could stage a fake escape. We already implanted the tracker in its arm, so we’ll always know where it is. Plus, we can place a tracker or two on the human, and a listening device. We can stay on them, no problem. My worst investigative team could pull it off.

Apostle: You have bad investigative teams?

OSI Director: Sir—

Apostle: No, Director, you’re having trouble understanding the gravity of the situation here. We are this close to getting military aid from Australia against Russia. I can’t make one misstep here. I can elevate our status on the international stage, but only if I play my cards right. It’s not poker; it’s a strategy card game. Because it’s not just about holding the right cards, but about you playing the right cards at the right time to get ahead. This alien is going to get us out of our hundred year slump, but not if it’s discovered by some village idiot in some rando town while it’s on the run from the government. We have to make the announcement. We have to control the narrative.

OSI Director: We still can. The alien doesn’t know what our world is like. We can control its environment. All we have to do is make the human feel like he’s one of us.

Apostle: This is a big risk. If it looked human enough, I would be more comfortable. Of course, that would make it less dramatic when we reveal its existence to the world...

OSI Director: I have an idea about that.

Apostle: Go ahead, soldier.

OSI Director: Its wings make it stand out the most, right? So let’s get rid of ‘em.