Long, long way to the Seireitei (Training/closed)

[Akira Hinosai]

Luca grit his teeth as the two shinigami delivered their rebuttal. He paced around the room, eyeing the disassembled electronics, and twirling a lock of hair around his finger. Though it was difficult for him to stand still, hearing their voices was another matter. Luca couldn't tune them out if he tried. Kaen started off talking about how fullbringers weren't worthless, which caught Luca off guard. Luca genuinely didn't know how he felt about it, let alone what he should say in response to it. The strangest part was that it seemed...genuine, and maybe not completely wrong. Luca HAD gained power in the blink of an eye compared to however long Ailene spent eating hollows in Hueco Mundo...but still, Kaen didn't see Ailene release. He didn't see the difference that could span an ocean between arrancar and fullbringers, nor the scars that battle left him with.Kaen talked about the extent of atrocities commited by humans. There was no shortage of them to reference, sure...but the mod soul thing was different! Kaen didn't raise his voice, and still he got inside Luca's head.

His spiel was pretty tame, all things considered though. It made Luca feel strange, almost like he was being scolded by a cool teacher, one you almost felt bad for pissing off. Then there was Ken'ichi. Luca had been getting vibes from him since they met. He spoke in the third person, like some strange, hairless khajiit. Though during the whole capture Luca was too angry to focus on it all that much. Hearing him speak again, Luca quickly realized that was just the beginning on things clearly wrong with Ken'ichi. Luca stared at him with a face that said "what the actual fuck are you talking about?" Though when Ken'ichi mentioned the mod souls, Luca was surprised. I-it wasn't their fault? The shinigami at large, sure, but Ken'ichi, and those that created the mod souls didn't kill him. The rest of the soul society did. They didn't understand them, and killed them. Once again, Luca was overtaken with a wave of emotions as the uncertainty grew in him. Though this time, it was quickly replaced with amazement and second-hand embarrassment at Ken'ichi for doing what he did. He wanted to at least give him the benefit of the doubt and assume this was some way to keep Luca off balance. If so, it was very effective.

At the mention of sparring with Ken'ichi and/or Kaen, it was beginning to look like an Ailene scenario. Sure, maybe they didn't want to kill him but the general flow of "asking questions, emotions into fighting, into near death" was too similar to ignore. He didn't want to think about that. He couldn't be fooled so easily.

"Look, if this is some shinigami interrogation technique, I'd prefer to be tortured. The whole "skynet neonazi troll" thing was too much... " Luca smirked, though upon getting no indication Ken'ichi was playing some role he'd continue, "Right..." There was a lot to unpack, and jumping into it was easier than dealing with the complicated emotions he was left with. "Yeah well this hardly exonerates the shinigami...Maybe the research division knew the truth, but couldn't stop the other shinigami, but that still leaves 12 guilty squads. See with the nazis, the ones that survived got tried and executed, and those that didn't were marked for what they were, barred from office so their stupid ideology could die. But I'm guessing there haven't been any tribunals for the mod soul genocide." As Luca spoke, he could feel his resolve weakening. Somehow they were winning. Though he tried not to show it, any expert at reading people could see through his attempts to play it cool.

"I want you to tell me everything about what happened with the mod souls. And if you really weren't involved, what about your comrades, or superiors? People you care for and respect. What if they told you they were? What if a superior ordered a hit on some mod soul living in the human world? Do you just ignore the order?" Judging from the choice of words, it was unlikely either were personally involved. Ken'ichi showed no signs of lying when mentioning squad 12, and a bunch of scientists would know better than anyone that mod souls were sentient. Likewise, Ken'ichi wouldn't give an explanation that implicated and undermined Kaen, so even if squad 7 was involved, he wasn't. Luca didn't know how many mod souls there were, if they could reproduce on their own, nor how old his two captors were. Getting a timeline of extermination was next to impossible. All Luca had was Ken'ichi's testimony. If he could get more, and he could prove he was right about them. Luca wasn't going to lose again.

 

[Kaen Youji]

Luca's comment about exonerating the Shinigami actually had Kaen nod in agreement. "You're right on that account. It doesn't exonerate us. We've got a long way to go on making amends for some of the damage we've done. Shinigami aren't perfect. Far from it. I'd say we're at least as flawed as humans are. Some of us maybe a little moreso. Probably a few too many Shinigami do indeed go around believing they're better just by virtue of what we are." He acknowledged. "There's plenty of bad to go about in the Seireitei, but there's plenty of good too. A lot of people understand what happened with the mod soul genocide, and that we were wrong for what we did to them. It is, however, a little bit tricky to make amends when surviving mod souls have a tendency to kill Shinigami on sight. Not unjustifiably, in case you're wondering if I'm criticizing them. I don't blame them after what we did, but it does make talks of peace and reparations a bit difficult. That's not including what happened a year or two ago, which has soured a lot of Shinigami's opinions about them again..." Kaen murmured with a terse look on his face. Not that Luca would know but Kaen was referring to Kuroi's attack on the Seireitei, accompanied by thousands of mass produced Mod Souls. A lot of people had died.

"As far as your question goes... Since you're asking me personally? It depends, honestly. Fact is, I'm not at the top of the chain of command. My position allows me a certain amount of leeway, but at the end of the day I'm not allowed to choose which orders I follow and which ones I don't. That said. I'm not a machine. If our hypothetical mod soul's truly a threat to the people around them, then yes. I'd execute him. If he truly wasn't? ...Well. I'd just have to figure something out." Kaen replied. It probably wasn't a satisfactory answer to Luca, but Kaen thrived on loopholes and exact words. Ultimately, he couldn't disobey a direct order, but he could fail to carry them out.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy a good fight, but at the end of the day, I don't like killing. I especially don't want to kill someone who doesn't deserve it. And whether someone deserves to be killed or not is a way more complicated question than simply "Are they a mod soul, Shinigami, Hollow, Arrancar or a Fullbringer"." He argued. "People are people, regardless of what they happen to be. Some are great folks, some are assholes. Some are saints, and some truly deserve to be put down. I mentioned to you earlier that I'm a member of Soul Society's Internal Affairs and Interrogation division. One of the reasons I joined this division is because I know that statement applies as much to Shinigami as every other race." He concluded, on his end of his ability to answer Luca's question. Having limited involvement in the whole mod soul affair personally, he was counting on Ken'ichi to give a more thorough academic answer to Luca's question.

[Deleted]

"Look, if this is some shinigami interrogation technique, I'd prefer to be tortured. The whole "skynet neonazi troll" thing was too much... "

Confused, a look of bewilderment crossed Ken'ichi's face.

"Interrogation? Torture? What? No no. Nothing of the kind. You asked. This One answered. Though Skynet and the trolls were two separate events. Ken'ichi is confused about said trolls actually. Apparently they live in basements instead of underneath bridges like most of their kind. And apparently they are incapable of breeding? How then might they reproduce? Parthenogenesis? Or perhaps Mitosis?!

"And what of the subspecies called Incels. They apparently want to reproduce, but the other trolls inability to reproduce must make that very difficult. Do Incels also live in basements like their other trollish cousins? And why basements anyway?"

"Yeah well this hardly exonerates the shinigami...Maybe the research division knew the truth, but couldn't stop the other shinigami, but that still leaves 12 guilty squads...."

"You're right on that account. It doesn't exonerate us. We've got a long way to go on making amends for some of the damage we've done. Shinigami aren't perfect. Far from it. I'd say we're at least as flawed as humans are."

Ken'ichi nodded in agreement with Kaen. "Most astute. Our failure in correctly managing the whole affair smacks of the same arrogance that lead to the Quincy Extermination." A deep, troubling frown happened to cross his face at the mention of the event. "It pains Ken'ichi to say it, but we Shinigami have much more to learn when it comes to handling sensitive issues such as these. Our leadership in particular has much to learn..."

"I want you to tell me everything about what happened with the mod souls. And if you really weren't involved, what about your comrades, or superiors? People you care for and respect. What if they told you they were? What if a superior ordered a hit on some mod soul living in the human world? Do you just ignore the order?"

"This One wishes there was more Ken'ichi could say on the topic. Unfortunately, Ken'ichi was suffering a prolonged torture of his own at the time, and was fending off the hellish illusions of his fathers poison that had left him in a coma. This One has only recently returned to active duty following extensive interrogation of his own as to his loyalties, and whether he supported his father's treachery.

"All Ken'ichi knows of the situation, Ken'ichi has read from the official reports. Using modified Gikon technology and adapting forbidden research that resulted in the creation of the Bount race - several researchers at the SRDI managed to improve upon Gikon technology to create battle-ready artificial souls to aid we Shinigami in the fight against hollows. Alas, the technology proved unstable, and the personalities of these battle ready souls proved dangerous. There was an incident in which at least several of these newly created Mod Souls had killed humans recklessly, and had a superiority complex.

"In many ways, this was similar to your own Augment program that lead to the creation of Khan Noonian Singh and his co-conspirators. And for similar reasons, the Central 46 and the Captain Commander ordered the destruction of the Mod Souls and all research into their creation terminated.

"Efforts have been made in recent past to attempt to reconcile with the surviving mod souls, with limited success. This has been further complicated by the fact that thousands of Mod Souls lead by one of the most despotic Arrancar to ever walk Los Noches - invaded Soul Society not too long past, resulting in mass casualties on both sides. By invading the Sereitei using a veritable army of Mod Souls, any hope of reconciliation with their kind has largely vanished. Those few who would still desire reparations, and to make amends know better than to challenge their superiors on the issue.

"As to whether Ken'ichi would terminate a Mod Soul if so ordered? That is a complicated question. As you might have guessed, Soul Society is extremely rigid and traditional when it comes to military structure, and orders are expected to be followed without question. Much like how they were in feudal Japan. And much like your samurai, we Shinigami expect to be summarily executed for dereliction of duty. This does not always occur. Sometimes we are merely thrown in the Maggot's nest, but murdering each other for even minor infractions is not uncommon.

"It is for that reason that Ken'ichi informed you how fortunate you were to have run into Kaen and This One. Unlike many, drawing blood is not our first, and only response to most questions. As to whether Ken'ichi would follow such an order? Not if This One could avoid it. However, Ken'ichi has followed such orders in the past when it was unavoidable.

"During the Quincy Extermination, This One was tasked with leading a squad to infiltrate what Ken'ichi believed was a secret command structure of the Quincy. Intelligence was wrong, and This One only found children and non-combatants. Seeking further clarification, This One was ordered that there be no survivors. Ken'ichi questioned this order, but was given no alternative.

"Unlike your Nuremberg Trials however, Ken'ichi only had two choices. Follow his direct orders, or have one of his subordinates immediately execute him as a traitor. Ken'ichi lives with the torment of those lost lives each and every day. Ken'ichi appreciates that the Human World is not so binary when it comes to following one's conscience, and seeks to circumvent the spirit of orders he disagrees with, if he is still able to follow the letter of his orders. This One readily admits there have been several occasions in which this one deliberately failed to achieve a task he was ordered to do, and hopes that Kaen would choose to keep that in confidence.

"Ken'ichi is taking a great risk in telling you this. For if Kaen fuku-taichou decides to report Ken'ichi for his admission of deliberately failing to complete an assigned task, Ken'ichi would be immediately brought before Central 46. Were Ken'ichi not a member of the Noble Shihoin family, Ken'ichi would expect a grueling interrogation and culminating in his execution. As a Shihoin however, Ken'ichi is likely to avoid such himself. Maybe. It depends entirely on whether they take his nobility into account or not.

"It is not right, but nobles in Soul Society often face no punishment for things that would see others executed for even lesser crimes. This One believes this sentiment is familiar to you, and that similar avoidance of punishment happens with your own noble class?

"In any event, if Luca has further questions, in the spirit of sharing, Ken'ichi will answer any he is capable of."

[Akira Hinosai]

Kaen spoke from the heart. Maybe Luca didn't trust him, but there were no signs of lying. There's a chance he really wouldn't hurt an innocent, even if ordered to. For a shinigami, it was a strange response. It wasn't like Luca was about to become some shinigami fan all over again. One decent soul among thousands didn't erase all the evil deeds they were responsible for

A profound silence fell over Luca. He didn't have the words, nor the understanding to respond. How could one respond to that? He had wanted to see Ken'ichi as some kind of monster - another Ailene or Abaddon. Luca could understand hatred, not...whatever it was he was feeling now. Remorse? The ever so illusive "empathy"? Pity? Luca's heart was a weight in his chest. He hated this sort of thing. He wasn't made for emotional stuff. Physical pain, he could comprehend and subdue, but this? He was as helpless as he'd ever been. Half of Luca  wished he could just force away all the issues Ken'ichi had, just so he wouldn't be all sad. The other half desperately tried to cling to the idea Ken'ichi was an enemy and deserved no mercy. Can I just ignore the fact he's a babykiller because he feels bad?

Locking him away or killing him wouldn't make him a better person. If he really was in agony over it, Luca didn't have much right to ruin his life again. "You could have killed me, but you didn't...Was that because of what happened with the quincy? Some way to make amends?" Luca's words didn't contain anger or accusation.He had to know that. Luca couldn't bring himself to look at Ken'ichi. Luca didn't want to see his face, not if it was all weird and sad. Ken'ichi wasn't supposed to be like that. "I...I'm sorry, for whatever that's worth." Luca paused to think what words would make this whole problem go away. Assuming Ken'ichi's response was satisfactory, Luca would warm up to him everso slightly.

"Look, not that I'm all emotional...just I need to think about this. Maybe save the sparring for later, yeah?" Luca truly wasn't sure what to do now. He just needed some time to think. He needed to win, to get stronger...but it was all so confusing now. Maybe if he had some time, he'd think of a new plan, or something...He didn't know. For once, Luca was truly at a loss for words.

[Deleted]

I counted a whopping 289 paragraphs, giving each of you 1,440 TP to do what you please with!