He had gone unconscious, limp in her hand. She needed just one more good, hard squeeze, and the greatest threat to her daughter’s future would be eliminated.
Inna would hate her. She knew that. But in time, perhaps, she’d realize she’d done right. She’d find a good Titan boy or girl, and have a child or two, and while she wouldn’t be happy….
Xene shook her head. She wasn’t sure why she’d thought that. Strange. No, Inna would marry a Titan, and while she’d never forgive Xene…
While she’d stay single, out of spite….
While she’d always always miss Ammer, and always hate her mother for what she’d done….
Xene looked at the tiny human in her hand. One good squeeze.
She had sacrificed so much for her daughters.
And if she did this…she would be sacrificing not just this human, but her eldest daughter as well.
Her hand went limp. And suddenly a mounting panic swept over her. Gods…had she really been about to….
“Xene! What in the Emperor’s name are you doing?”
* * *
Eyrn was engrossed in her conversation, and she barely nodded to her brother-in-law when he entered her office. But she looked up and smiled as she saw who else was in tow, and signaled for just a moment of time.
“Madam President, I’m going to have to consult with the Floor Leader before I can agree to that. Uh huh. Right, but…well, I certainly don’t disagree, but on this, it’s up to my government….Right. Okay….Great. I’ll call you tomorrow. Thank you again, Madam President. Good-bye.” Eyrn jabbed a finger down on her pad, and pulled her earpiece out. “Tig! Ted! What are you guys doing here?” she said, rounding her desk, and staring straight into the rest of the group. “And who might these folks be?”
“Ambassador, this is my family,” Ted said, rattling off their names again.
“My family too,” Tig said. “Well, soon.”
Eyrn looked up at the pilot, and beamed. “You two…when? Where?”
“We just got engaged,” Ted said. “We haven’t planned beyond that.”
“Well, wherever it is, consider your travel requests approved.”
“Ay, didn’t think about that,” Dora said. “I suppose…well…we’ll have to go to your world, won’t we, chiquita?” She began to worry all over again. She could deal with a giant as her daughter-in-law. But she wasn’t sure how she felt about a world of giants.
Tig looked down, and shook her head. “I don’t know. We hadn’t planned, but…Ambassador, how hard would it be to get four Titans temporary visas to Earth?”
Eyrn blinked. “Wait…you think…here?”
“Near Santa Fe, if we can swing it,” she said. “When we first met, Ted told me about it. I mean, if we have to go in as holograms, we will….”
“There’s testing grounds near Alamogordo. Plenty of room,” Dora said. “But…I don’t want to make your family travel….”
“Someone’s going to have to, and my dad’s got a shuttle, and he’s flown into Titan Station before. With no notice, much to Ted’s surprise.”
“It went almost as well as this. And no human/Titan couple’s been married on Earth, have they?” Ted asked the room in general.
“Not yet,” Eyrn said.
“Well then,” Ted said, “I think that’s a wonderful idea, my love. As long as you don’t mind.”
Tig looked down at her husband’s family, and her own. “I think it would be marvelous,” she said.
Eyrn sat down on her desk, and grinned. “Well, I think I can probably get you up to twenty,” she said. “I’d say less, but I have a feeling that President Martin will be happy to go along once I mention Captain Martínez. But you may have to invite her.”
Ted laughed at that. “Well, good,” he said. “We certainly want Ulala there. Not to mention Rixie and Alex.”
“And Ryan too, and Centurium Starati,” Tig added. “And…well, Ambassador Bass, we’d….”
“You’d better invite me!” Eyrn said with a grin. “Otherwise I’m crashing it!”
Ted laughed at that. “Now I’m half-tempted not to invite you, just to see that.”
* * *
“He needs a vet. Right away,” Xene murmured, looking down in horror at the tiny human. He was breathing. That was something. She prayed it was enough. “I….”
Fodis ran up to her, and snatched Ammer from her grasp. “What did you do, Xee? For the Emperor’s sake…what did you do?”
“I was…I….” Xene mumbled, sitting down heavily. “Get him to a vet. Please. I…I can’t…I was….”
She was vaguely conscious of her daughter rushing into the room, screaming in horror and rage, shoving her out of her chair. Xene didn’t move to defend herself. Not for some time. She took Inna’s blows; she deserved them.
When the fog finally lifted, she was aware that Inna was talking hurriedly and animatedly with someone. “Right, Block Two, 423, Range 4. We’ll be watching. Sir, I can’t possibly….”
“Gorram, Lektas, you get him healthy, that’s what you can do! My driver’s on his way, I’ll make the arrangements – Bobb Jorma is as good a vet as I know, and he’s a night-shaar anyhow. You call me when you know more, you hear?”
“Yes, Mr. Floor Leader. Again, I….”
“Innanae,” the voice said, more gentle than she’d ever heard it, “I am glad that if it had to happen, it happened in Wedney. And I’m glad you thought to call me. Driver should be there in two minutes.”
“Thank you again, Mr. Floor Leader. I’ll keep you posted.” Inna said, wiping her eyes on her sleeve.
“You do that. I’d better get Bobb moving. Goodbye, Innanae.”
She closed the call, turned, and looked at her mother with ferocious anger. She looked like she could scream again, but the words came out as a murderous growl. “If he dies, mom, I won’t just never speak to you again. I won’t just send you to prison. I’ll destroy you. I know people, mom. People who like Ammer. I can destroy your career, I can destroy your life. And I will.”
“Inna,” Fodis began, but Xene leaned up against a wall, and raised her hand.
“He would die,” she said, “rather than leave you. I don’t approve. I never will. But…I’d rather he live, Inna. Not for me. But for you, and for him. And if he does not….”
Xene swallowed, hard. “I am so sorry,” she finally said. “I lost control of myself. And I was wrong.”
Inna’s anger was no less, but it was now leavened with confusion. She could count on one hand the times in her life that her mother had genuinely apologized to anyone, much less her.
“Fodis,” Xene said, “if you haven’t already, give Inna the link to our credit account. Anything the vet can do for him…anything at all….”
The front door chimed.
“Dae, go with Inna and Ammer,” Fodis said, quietly, keying something on his pad and hitting send. “I’ll be along soon. I want to talk with your mother.”
Inna wanted very much to kick her mother, but Ammer was more important. She carefully reached under him and lifted him, and quickmarched toward the door.
* * *
Soon enough, Tig was setting the Martínez clan down near the reception area. There were happy goodbyes, and playful ribbing, and Dorotea even hugged Tig’s thumb.
“Are you sure you want to get married here?” Ted asked, as his parents walked out of view. “I mean….”
“You’re from Earth, Ted, and so is your family. And that means it’s a wonderful, wonderful place. And quite frankly, it’s closer to Azatlia than Grelau is, so my sister won’t have to travel that far…and it’s close to Avalon, and how many of our friends live there? It’s perfect.”
Ted looked up at his fiancée, and beamed. “You’re perfect. And you were worried about how my family would feel about you.”
Meanwhile, Dorotea was sighing.
“What is it, amorcita?” Juan asked.
“Oh, just thinking,” Dora replied. “It won’t be easy for Teodoro. Or Tigoni. You read things….”
“They are just stories, mamá. Blinkbait,” Mike said.
“I don’t think they are,” Juan replied. “At least not all of them. But think of our ancestors, amorcita. They had to fight to be recognized as equal.”
“As did mine,” Imani said.
“Your people’s struggle made ours look simple, chula,” Juan said. “Ted may have to struggle too, at least with some. But not with his wife. Tigoni saw us as her equals. We’ve all run into those few racists in the world. You know what it feels like.”
Dora nodded. “I know. I don’t worry about Tigoni. But I worry about Ted. I hope he knows what he’s in for.”
“Whether he does or not,” Juan said, “he’s the descendant of fighters. He has it in him to stand tall.”
“Even against people that size?” Dora asked.
Juan nodded. “He has his future wife, and she will lend him a shoulder.” He put his arm around his wife, and hugged her. “None of us can ask for a better foundation than that.”
* * *
Ammer blinked, and yawned, and immediately wished he hadn’t.
He hurt all over, but especially in his ribs. That said, the pain in his shoulder, his head, his legs….
He tried to remember what exactly had happened. He’d been at Inna’s parents’ house for dinner, and….
He stopped thinking, and suddenly let loose a piercing scream.
The looming figure sleeping by his bed side started and woke up, and looked down at him; he was breathing hard, and blinking rapidly; he arrested his movement as he looked up at her. No, it wasn’t his attacker. This woman had red hair, and she stared down at him kindly. It was Inna. Inna. Not Xene. Inna.
He couldn’t help but feel fear as she gazed down upon him; the resemblance really was remarkable. But he swallowed, and closed his eyes. He knew Inna loved him, and he knew he would get through this…and if he needed therapy after what had happened, he would get it. As it was, he tried to remember his father’s work with PTSD. First, breathe. Get control of yourself. It’s okay. You’re aware you’ve been triggered. You are safe. It’s okay.
He forced his eyes back open. “I’m sorry,” he croaked.
“Don’t be. You have every right…and I look like her,” Inna spat. “I always have. Ammer…I’ll go if….”
“Never,” Ammer said, closing his eyes again. “It wasn’t you, Inna. What she did…you never would.”
He kept his eyes closed, as he felt as soft finger brush carefully over him. He opened his eyes again, and looked into her eyes.
They were different than Xene’s. Not in form, but in spirit; Inna’s eyes were tranquil and kind. He looked into those eyes, and he smiled. “So how did I manage to survive?” he asked.
“She stopped. I don’t know what got her to stop, but…somehow, at the last second….”
There was a knock, and Inna turned to the door, and said, simply, “Get the frak out of here.”
“Inna….”
“Mom, honestly, I don’t want to see you again. Ammer’s alive, no thanks to you, I’ll see you at the trial, maybe….”
“Inna…wait.”
Inna turned back to her boyfriend, and frowned. “What is it? What do you need?”
“I’m not pressing charges. I don’t…I don’t want to go through a trial. It’s over. I’m alive. I’ll be okay.”
Inna bit her lip. Intellectually, she knew that Ammer had no choice; the legal offense was against her, and damage to her “property.”
It was for that reason that Inna said, “Okay, if that’s what you want. But if you change your mind….”
“Statute of limitations is a full Titan year. And I’m guessing there’s plenty of evidence. But…no. No, Inna, I want you to give your mom a chance,” he said.
Inna’s eyes widened at that. “What…what?”
“Why didn’t you kill me, Xene?”
Xene didn’t step toward him. She looked at the battered human, and shook her head. Fodis had asked for a trial separation while Ammer was in surgery – he’d told her this was the last straw. He’d taken her abuse for years, and so had the girls, but this….He’d demanded she go to therapy, get help, before he’d consider moving back in. Danae had barely spoken to her once she’d arrived here. Inna…Inna was rightly furious with her, and she knew Inna well enough to know it was a struggle for her not to find any sharp object and drive it through her heart.
Xene knew Inna wanted to do that, and moreover, knew that if Inna did, right now, it would be justified.
And so she looked back at the human, and shook her head, because of everyone…he was the one showing her the most patience.
“You love my daughter,” Xene said, softly. “And she loves you. And I…I couldn’t take you from her. If I could take it back, I would. I don’t expect you to believe that….”
“I do,” Ammer said. “Because if you’d actually wanted to kill me, you would have succeeded. You love Inna. You worry about her being with me. I do too. You might have chosen a more productive way of saying that….”
Xene laughed, in spite of herself.
“How?” Inna said, looking at Ammer. “How can you just…how?”
“Your mom is your mom, Inna. Always will be. I’m not going to be the one to send her to jail. Not saying I’ll forget. With due respect, Xene, we won’t be sharing a room alone, not for a long time. But perhaps, eventually, I’ll forgive you – in time.”
Xene nodded. “Mr. Smit,” she said, quietly, “you are almost everything I would want my daughter’s boyfriend to be.”
She looked at Inna, who she knew was not planning to forgive prior to the heat death of the universe. “I’ll leave you alone,” she said, softly. “For a good while. I need…I need to get some things straightened out. I’ve not been a very good mother, or a very good wife. I’ve been excellent at pretending…not so good at doing.”
She looked at the floor. “Innanae, for what little it counts, I’m sorry. I will always love you.” And with that, Xene Lektas left the room.
Inna looked back at Ammer, who she saw was shaking. “Did you really mean that?”
“I meant most of it,” Ammer said. “Got the response I wanted. Up to her how it goes from here.”
Inna looked down. “You are brave as hell, Mr. Smit.”
“I’m just good at faking it.” Ammer said. He took slow, methodical breaths. “So,” he asked, after a time, “how do you think it went?”
Inna laughed, and shook her head. He was still terrified. And gorram…she was so proud of him. “Well…you have three broken ribs, a broken leg, and you needed cortexifan, which you only got because Rep. Zeramblin got it here….”
“Oh, Gods, I owe my life to the Floor Leader? This is gonna cost me.”
Inna grinned. “Nah, he said this one’s on him.”
“Still.”
“Anyhow…yeah, it probably could have gone better. But that’s not your fault. You were amazing. You always are. And Ammer, if you ever…if you can’t….If you can’t be with me, after this….”
“Inna, I damn near died rather than agree to leave you,” he said. “You are never getting rid of me.”
“I would never want to,” Inna said. She stroked his hair, and felt him still trembling. “You get some rest. We’ll work on this. It’s okay, Ammer. Whatever you need, however much time….”
“I’ll find a way,” Ammer said. He smiled at Inna – a true and genuine smile. “I love you. I’ll sort out the panic attacks. I’ll do whatever I have to do to be with you, Inna.”
“I know you will,” Inna said, blinking back tears. “I knew it long before you went and proved it.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyTOZCfp8OY
*SOB*
Patience 🙂
While we wait maybe somebody knows the story behind why Ambassador Bass has a Ford Model T touring car parked on her desktop?
My guess is it was in her toy box that was sealed in her old bunker.
And that Xene, is why Inna deserves Ammer.
However , Ammer doesn’t want to press charges could also be due to the embarrassment of it all. He mentioned it when the person being hurt in the eyes of law is Inna, not him. It would be humiliating for her to see her future husband treated like a pet in the eyes of the media and also seeing her own mother in court.
Best is to avoid a trial and to have Xene know that she got off lucky since I believe Ammer more or less proved he has connections powerful enough to dispose of her in less than legal ways.
Good of her though, to recognise that she would not lose her own daughter over this, even if it is too late.
Ammer is more forgiving than Xene deserves, I think. Not that I’m one to talk. I suspect that if it had happened to me, my reaction would have been very similar.
The line “He’d taken her abuse for years, and so had the girls, but this….” puzzles me somewhat. Was Fodis talking about verbal abuse only? That’s not the impression I’m getting, but if Inna knew that Xene has a history of physically abusing her loved ones (no matter how infrequent) then why on Archavia did she agree to leave Xene and Ammer alone? The only reason I can think of is that Inna, in an attempt to avoid smothering Ammer by following her natural titan protective instinct, overcompensated and agreed with Ammer’s request to leave him and Xene alone for a moment despite her internal alarm bells going off.
Speaking of being puzzled, what’s the deal with cortexifan? This is the second time it’s been mentioned as a lifesaving medicine of some sort that for some reason is usually only used on titans, even though humans can apparently benefit from it just as much. So why the distinction? Is cortexifan that expensive? Even though humans would only need a fraction of the amount that a titan would need?
Btw has anyone noticed that all the bad guys in the titanverse have been girls? With the ignoble exception of Shhhhholish..
Just noticing…….
*Ow!*
(you don’t want to know)
Define “bad guys”. The other two that broke out of prison with Trell were pretty bad and male. Plenty of men at the feast in Exile, including Lyroo’s father. Lauryna’s nemesis in the last Continuing Adventures was a demi, or what ever the third gender is called.
Yes, but so are the good “guys”. Oh, there are several male good guys, but they’re for the most part don’t move the plot, and almost never the main characters. Aerti is the exception.
And don’t give me Taron. What’s Taron done? Gone to get some emetic? Piloted the ship? Carried a bag of supplies? Looked awesome so as to make three women and one human man fall for him? Yeah, that’s the one.
Kir? Yeah, he gets the hero treatment. Mostly because he died. First he did what Solis told him, then what Aerti told him. And he cried a little in the middle. Man had a spine like a pipe cleaner.
Zeramblin is OK. But he mostly goes with the flow. The Bass brothers and Hussel do their bit. Not much more than OK.
But the ones who change things are Pryvanni, Loona, Aisell, even Lyroo. Not so much the male titans.
Left out Vanser.
And what’s he done other than bumble through the galaxy with Molly?
He recalled Rixie, but then let her go on her own. After she fed him everything he needed, he went ahead and arrested Syon Fand after an “investigation” that happened behind the scenes because we never see it.
To be fair he also arrested Solis, and the guy who wounded Rixie back in Pandemic. Granted he lags way behind some of the female Titans, but he’s worthy of mention.
Synp you’re mixing up two stories.
Vanser had Rixie recalled in Pandemic where they went after Trell, Greno and Dorok together.
Rixie went off on her own, without sanction from the military, on a vendetta against Vasha Zakrov in Arena. Vanser helped her in an off-the-books capacity because she was on her own crusade and not a military mission. That was in Arena.
As for “bumble through the galaxy with Molly” Pursuit is only on chapter *five* for god’s sake.
Fact is while most facets of Titan society are seemingly gender neutral there is a certain imbalance of initiative that seems to cause the female to be both the dominant antagonist and protagonist.
This is best demonstrated on the day the titans formally introduced themselves to Earth: “These, ladies and gentlemen, are friends,” Eyrn said. “Some of them very good friends. For instance, the man who is trying to look important, standing there in the middle, is the Navarchos in charge of Gama fleet, which covers this territory; he’s also my husband, Aertimus Bass. He’s joined by seven titan women and no other titan men as it turned out.
Of course we all know why the titans have to be biased but if your looking for an rationalization the characters can buy themselves it can probably be found in the writings of Shondra Har.
And why do they have to be biased? If you mean the stereotypical Fm relationship in this type of story, I think these authors are trying real hard to avoid that. Sure, the cast happens to be large amount of female Titans and male humans for the primary characters, but I like to think of that as just the POV the authors have taken in their storytelling. Just a very small slice of life in an otherwise large universe. The fact that pretty much all the main characters are at most 1-2 degrees of seperation makes sense in this regard as well.
I’ve never read that as an in-universe thing; I’ve read it as an artifact from the story’s original home, a site where everyone expects F/m and F/f. As for Eyrn’s comment, I read that as Eyrn poking fun at her husband.
It did start out as a fetish story after all and still is, just with really good plot at this point in favour of swimming in sex. So its natural to have a large female involvement when it comes to protagonists and antagonists. If it weren’ a fetish story , some critics might say its refreshing.
“Why did you write so many strong independent women?”
“Because I enjoy the thought of having sex with them when they’re giants. Dudes, too”
AR, that exchange is one I’ve rehearsed at least once with myself, mentally.
I was surprised it all worked out about as perfectly as it could and how forgiving people were… /end sarcasm
Tell us how you really feel.
I really wish he’d stop.
Same, I did suggest he look into Hans Christian Anderson if he wants stories without a happy ending. This site is certainly not the place.
And you clearly don’t understand my criticism then, because I loved Exile and Physics and those both technically had happy endings.
In AApA’s defense, his problem seems to be that he feels the ending(s) to be unrealistic, not just that they’re happy.
I’m not sure you understand how stories work AApA….
Ammer has at least the beginnings of PTSD. Hooray!
Also, who said the story was over? I didn’t.
In fairness DX I think Ammer’s forgiveness comes from you. You channel a lot of your personality into Ammer (whether you’ve realised it or not) and you are a very rational and forgiving person.
Ammer didn’t forgive Xene but he said he would. He didn’t do it for Xene or himself but for Inna. He doesn’t want the woman he loves to lose an important relationship because of him. And that has both potential risks and rewards.
If you want to compare, compare to Niall and Kiri. Niall didn’t forgive Kiri as such but they both came to an understanding through a shared trauma. And even after that, Kiri never recovered her relationship with Naskia fully. Something Niall likely didn’t push for.
Kiri saw herself as in competition with Niall for Naskia’s attention. When she conceded she wasn’t going to kill him she accepted the loss of close friendship with Naskia. It worked out ok because they could get away from each other.
Xene understands intellectually she too is in a losing battle trying to get between Inna and Ammer and going to the edge herself she knows she isn’t going to kill Ammer either, but she’s far from emotionally settled and her family’s in chaos and Ammer isn’t going to let Inna put space between herself and her mother.
Niall eventually learned that the only way he could truly trust Naskia was to accept that he had to trust himself not to drive her into an emotional state she couldn’t control. Now Ammer knows who he is dealing with he has to accept he has some responsibility for not prodding Xene beyond her limits too.
Now we just gotta get some more of that other “meet the parents” story that JS is working on. I’m really curious to see how the Mavoys and the Prias react.
Hmm it seems Xene has something of a heart after all, even if it can be argued she only did it for selfish purposes.
Props to Inna for not pulling punches and threatening to destroy Xene. She certainly has the connections to do so.
Minus points to Inna for doing this dinner in the first place! She’s got a history of this stuff and you thought it was safe to bring your tiny boyfriend over?!
Not sure if Ammer is forgiving or just didn’t want to go through the drama/trauma of a trial, maybe both.
On the otherside a little dark cloud on the happy day. Elephant in the room of the true human condition in the empire. Also seems the truth is leaking out.
I would have rather her kill him, just to show that racism can go that deep and some people can’t be changed instead of her stopping at the last second.
Even though I have said that people like xene need to be showcased more in this universe. I actually don’t agree with the idea of xene killing ammer. I am glad that she thought rationally at the last second about the ramifications of what she was about to do.
That legal aspect though. About the charges that would be brought to xene actually made me realize something. Humans will probably only truly be reconized as people when the law allows them to be punished by it too. I mean think about it, if a human got sentence to imprisionment. He can’t be sent to a penal colony. So locking him up could basically be nothing more than putting a pet into time out. And if a human ever did something so bad he could be sentence to death it would just be darrons case all over again except it would be allowed to happen.
As soon as they suggested the wedding might be held on a titan world, I expected the news of why that’s not a good idea to finally break. They managed to avoid that by opting to have it on Earth, but turns out there are already rumors out there that they are aware of. Ted’s family is thankfully understanding
And so both Xene and Ammer get live afterall. It only cost Xene her whole family, though she’ll keep her freedom for now. I hope Ammer’s recovery is more Niall than Alex’s struggle. He is certainly a class act.
“As it was, he tried to remember his father’s work with PTSD. First, breathe. Get control of yourself. It’s okay. You’re aware you’ve been triggered. You are safe. It’s okay.
He knows what’s going on, and how to deal with it, right from the start. That will help a lot.
Well Xene came in her sense just in time lol Another last-moment twist. About the first inter spieces marriage on Earth, a law should be made but I bet something gonna make difficult that law to pass.
Sooo…
I lay the blame here on……
Inna
She should have known she was throwing Ammer into the lions den and thought ahead. It doesn’t take a lot of deep thought to realize that these two personalities are conflicting and it was a matter of time before things blow up…..and someone gets hurt………duh
Furthermore if she was such an abusive person (borderline personality/sociopath) why even associate with her at all? Doesn’t matter if she is a blood relation. The quality of one’s life would vastly improve by not being in the presence of such a person….
—
Udder Stuff;
Ammer may forgive her?………… he is such a nice boy….
Zeramblin continues to shine, my regard for him continues to go up (Oh well I tried not to pun really I did..)
The Martinez family is dangerously naive in regard to Los Titanos especially in their native environment….I would strongly suggest to them that they do more research into how humans are really treated on Titan worlds.
“You read things….”
“They are just stories, mamá. Blinkbait,” Mike said.
“I don’t think they are,” Juan replied. “At least not all of them. But think of our ancestors, amorcita. They had to fight to be recognized as equal.”
So there are rumors at least. And Mike’s reaction is disbelief, because, why would he believe those stories. After all, the ambassador is so nice… Aren’t there any reporters in Contact to follow up on those rumors ?
And right there is introduced the equal sign between Earth racism and what’s going on in the Empire. I can see it already : “oh, well, that’s horrible but we humans did just as bad so let’s not be too upset”…
As for Xene, her change of heart was a bit abrupt. I don’t believe she stopped out of love for her daughter.
“While she’d stay single, out of spite….” THAT is a logical reason (for her) not to go through with it : because, knowing her daughter, she realized killing Ammer would make Inna abandon her “status”.
And yeah, if Inna knew her mother was that unstable, why in hell did she leave Ammer alone with her ? And don’t give the “it was his decision” BS; you stop a loved one from getting in harm’s way, especially if they’re not aware of the danger.
Well they aren’t just talking about subtle “pass you over for a job” racism. The history he’s talking about includes “group rides up and strings you from a tree” racism. The big difference here is the family isn’t using that to excuse titans. They are being resolute in their, and Ted’s, ability to overcome that struggle.
Its not up to an individual family to do that. Its a realization of what is and to make a sound decision based on that reality..If I were a human in that time and presented with the facts of that reality I would opt to avoid placing myself in harm’s way (meaning NOT travel to Archavia or most Titan dominated worlds) some here would say thats xenophobic or narrow minded or titanphobic…whatever. Its common sense – to me.
Its beautiful to all get along and be kumbaya and co-exist.. and thats also a very quick way to put yourself in a world of hurt..Cuz (I actually have to say this..) not everyone will see things as the way you do..An annoyance if they are the same size – deadly if they are 24x
The key point is knowing the situation and how adventurous are you willing to be.
Given the slow pace of the legislature it’s all but inevitable that there is going to be an incident resulting in a legal challenge in the Imperial courts where some human is going to demand legal standing and at the same time question the legal validity of that 1000T year old sentience classification.
Inna didn’t quite realize the situation but Ammer was on the verge of that in this story. For a host of reasons including Inna’s well being and his own potential conflict of interest it wasn’t going to happen but you can expect that if the legislature stalls the good guys will be in a position to pick their test cases, forcing the courts to vacate the existing sentience classification and driving the legislature to act.
How much information is out there though? Rimght now it just seems to be ‘blinkbait’ stories that can be dismissed (though that’s a sign the truth is leaking out.
Really the responsibility is on Tig and Ted, if not to tell the truth, to at the very least make sure its held in a safe location which it seems they have.
@Locutus of Boar : I don’t think a court could reverse the classification of Humans. The implications are too big and too political.
And even if they could, I don’t think they should : how many Titans would refuse to accept that change if it came from a some judge rather than from the elected Legislature ?
The courts don’t make the law but they do sometimes invalidate laws enacted without regard to basic rights. This can create a vacuum forcing the legislature to adopt better laws even against the will of the majority.
Assuming the Imperial justice system is similar to Earth systems, the court would not decide that humans are class one, merely decide that the existing law saying they are not class one is potentially a violation of class one rights and is unenforceable particularly pending the ongoing judicial review of human status.
Lacking legislative action sooner or later the courts were going to be faced with officially recognizing legal standing one or more of the human-titan hybrids with knowledge of the fact they are indeed a hybrid which couldn’t by scientific definition exist if humans and titans were truly separate species. Again the courts can choose to simply invalidate the law till the legislature acts.
Courts don’t all work like that on Earth, they don’t all have that much power.
I think the original classification was made by unelected bureaucrats thus becoming a law by default..but not really one….
By the way the law never really stopped anyone from doing something – if they really wanted to do something. At best it is a deterrent. Sort of the like the police.
What may stop the bad guy is the consequences of his actions, or perhaps the displeasure of society, or maybe his moral upbringing..or the culture he was raised in prohibiting such actions…The last is the big one IMO and it will drive most behavior including Los Titans..I’ll go into this in much greater detail later…. Its the culture of a society that determines the behavior of its inhabitants
Zeramblin probably is with the good guys but he was just being practical. You be in a panic too if you were Floor Leader and you just got word the one guy in the whole galaxy who can manage Pryvani Tarsuss and Loona Armac has nearly been killed.
He’d taken her abuse for years, and so had the girls
“So Ammer did I ever mention mom’s just a bit…umm…bi-polar and…well…err…maybe it’d be a good idea if you avoided being alone with her when we go over to visit this evening?”
Yeah… that was a bit of poor writing. Knowing her mom was like that, she should probably shouldn’t have set up that dinner at all, much less leave him alone with her.
I would cut Inna a little slack here. There is a bit of jump between verbally abusive and controlling to someone willing to crush a small mammal in her bare hand. We’re used to seeing the atypical titans at each extreme, but I believe the average titan is generally not willing to purposely hurt a human, even when angry. We see this a little during Contact with the couple and the pair of humans who want a kid. The male titan softens at the sight of the human cowering. It was certainly shocking enough behavior for her husband to leave over.
Well, things worked out, mostly. Seems like this story is wrapping up, or at least no major cliffhangers this chapter.
So now the Floor Leader knows about this. I don’t think Xene needs to go to jail to see consequences.
I don’t think it’s going to stop at just Zeramblin. His other friends and colleagues will find out as well, and while Pryvanni is more subtle in her annihilation of a person, Xene may need to fear for her safety when Loona finds out.