Repentence: Strange Bedfellows

Recorder on.

The view is not of the screen room, nor is it of Mortis. Repentence is slumped back on a bed in a comfortable set of living quarters built in Caldari style, her PRELI uniform abandoned for more casual wear.

Mort's going to kill me if he finds I've stolen one of his camera drones. Let him. He's a multi-billionaire, he can afford to replace one little gadget.

I'm mostly just wondering how I ended up here. And whether it's all been a big mistake.

She waves a hand in the air, and sits up abruptly.

I started out with a few million to my name after I graduated... all of three weeks ago. God, is it really that little time? In that time, I've consorted with pirates, been reunited with my brother, and given access to a nine figure account, with more available on request. And right at this moment, here I am, on the Echidna's Daughter, a Chimera-class carrier, at the request of her commander, who just happens to be a sadist that lured me into her bed.

She considers this statement for a moment.

...metaphorically speaking.

I dread to think what Mortis will say. I can still remember how angry he was when he first saw me out here... but I think I'm only just beginning to understand why. I was nervous, coming out to lowsec to find him, but I didn't really take it all seriously, I guess.

Then I looked up Inara's criminal record, about half an hour ago...

She collapses back again, staring at the ceiling.

I knew she was a criminal, a pirate. I knew that all the Ghosts were. But the scale... the numbers just wouldn't process. Who are we to have the right to snuff out so many lives, and walk away laughing every time ourselves? The immortal, godlike capsuleer, the arbiter of fate for thousands of lives.

She grimaces.

I've only got a few dozen people on retainer, purely for managing cargo and suchlike, but when I start expanding into larger ships, I know that number's going to rise. And some day, I'm going to get caught, and people will die. And I won't. I'll just walk away, and get a new ship, and it won't matter.

Now I understand why my arrogant asshole of a brother, Purity, went on such long tirades about capsuleers and their view on warfare. He was a bastard, but he knew the value of lives. Probably doing well for himself in the Khanid navy.

How many capsuleers really understand what they control and are responsible for? It's insane.

That Brutor thug that unwittingly sent me on this path - don't even remember his name now - seemed like the height of criminality and rebellion once. Now I see that he was just a loudmouth, too stupid to keep a low profile in the heart of Empire space. Now I'm up around real criminals...

And it scares me. I don't know what to do.

She lies still for a while, then raises a hand and flicks a remote control.

Recorder off.