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The plan did not work as well as Waldemar and Faramund hoped. Some thought
Waldemar was faking being an idiot while others claimed they thought he was
stupid the whole time. This experiment has mostly served to show him who his
friends are, and who his enemies are. So that’s something. He’s afraid that
some have fallen through the cracks, though. What if his true enemies
are smarter than that, and know how to keep themselves hidden? They could be
conspiring against him right now, and he would have no idea. He needs help.
He needs someone he knows might be powerful enough to track everyone on this
ship. And she just so happens to be his girlfriend.
He’s sitting on the couch with Sable now. He knows he can’t trust her fully,
but they’ve been getting along, so he will take this risk. It’s the only
way. “Do you love me?”
“Of course I do, Waldy,” Sable replies. “What is this about?”
“I need something from you, but you may not like it. You may not agree with
it.” He sighs. If she blabs to anyone it could ruin him. He won’t be able to
control an uprising. Even some of his loyalists will fight back. This ship
needs stability. No one else can give them that. They wouldn’t even try,
because they don’t have the stomach for it.
“What is it?” Sable presses. “You’re making me a little nervous. Just say
it.”
“I have reason to believe that there are people on this ship who don’t like
the way I’m running things. I believe that they are plotting against me.
Finding every single one of them might not be possible. It might even be
multiple parties who have nothing to do with each other. I could never truly
know. Unless I track everyone. The ship’s privacy controls are unalterable.
Believe me, I’ve tried. They’re hardcoded into the design.” Probably to
prevent this very thing. “So I need a workaround. I know that you’re an
expert in time tech. I think you can help me. Would you be interested in
that?”
“You want to spy on everyone?” Sable presses. “Would anyone be exempt?”
“Besides you and me?” Waldemar asks rhetorically. “No. No one can be
trusted.”
“How can you be sure you can trust me?” Sable questions. “I could be faking
my relationship with you. You don’t know. You can’t read emotions, let alone
thoughts.”
“I don’t know it,” he admits, “but I have to ask someone for help, and
you’re the best. There’s a way to know what’s happening on Extremus by
peering through spacetime. It subverts all cameras, all spatial locks,
everything. It can’t be avoided.”
“Are you sure that this technology exists, or are you simply guessing?”
“I know the tech exists,” he says. “What I don’t know is if you have it.
Don’t deny that you have abilities. I remember killing you once. I thought
it was a dream, but now I’m certain that you traveled back in time to undo
it. It’s fine, I’m not mad. I don’t actually have an inherent problem with
secrets. I just don’t want people to use their secrets against me. I
don’t have the time or bandwidth to get people in trouble for every little
thing they do. The surveillance tech would only be used to find rebels, full
stop.”
“Well, how do I know if I can trust you? You say that that’s
all it would be for. You might even mean it at this very moment, but you
could always change your mind.”
“You can always turn it off,” Waldemar says. “You will retain that power.”
Sable appears to think about it. “Hm. That’s not good enough. I would have
to suspect that you’re abusing it and then turn it off. Besides,
you’re in a tricky spot, being the captain. You should distance yourself
from this anyway. I won’t give you the tech—which I admit, does exist,
though I would have to make some modifications—but I would give you the
intel. I retain full control over it. I surveil, and report my
findings.”
Waldemar considers her proposition then offers her his hand. “Deal.”
