"Greetings, General Lodge."
Roger turned around and snapped into a salute, staring Admiral Sato in the eye.
"Commodore, actually, but greetings, Admiral."
Admiral Sato gave a quick smile before his face slid back into one of seriousness. "At ease. They promoted you after...?"
A quick nod of the head answered Admiral Sato's question. "I'm... sorry for your loss."
Roger's jaw hardened and he clenched his fists, a short "thanks," escaping his throat.
He couldn't wait for the elevator to arrive faster.
Then again, the meeting was on Floor 111, so he probably couldn't expect it to arrive anytime soon.
Admiral Sato cleared his throat and Roger glanced at him. Clean and pressed formal uniform, an aged expression of wisdom on his face, and hand adjusting its grip on his cane. Usually Admiral Sato used a wheelchair to get around, but recently had a breakthrough and was able to stand up and walk for short periods of time with assistance. Although, he still tired easily, but that shouldn't be much of a problem, seeing that they would be sitting for most of the meeting.
And the reason for all of that? An Impostor had lost control, and shot Admiral Sato, severely damaging his spine.
One of the many reasons why Roger wasn't fond of them.
"You know... she... she really was a good person. And I'm genuinely sorry... I know that no words can express your loss, but... just know that we all support you, okay?"
Roger gave a terse nod as a pleasant ding sounded and the doors to the elevator opened. He gestured with his hand. "After you, sir."
He didn't need another reminder of what he lost.
___||___
There was no one in the entirety of MIRA who could say that they hadn't lost anything to the Impostors.
Everyone knew somebody that died, or at least, knew somebody who lost someone, who was close to them.
It made Roger wonder how everyone slept well at night, although the answer was quite obvious, because of his branch, and the subsidiaries.
After they cracked down on Security and Weapons, and opened up Tactical, fatality rates dropped 'significantly,' meaning that it was less likely that one would get stabbed in the back by a coworker.
But 'less likely' didn't mean, 'impossible,' hence the reason why this year, Command had called a special meeting, to debate a new option that was on the table.
What that was, Roger wasn't privy to, and neither did he think that he would care that much. But, since he was the Head of Security, he was required to attend.
He quite hoped that the new Head of Tactical wouldn't be there, since she was still getting used to her position. Hopefully a representative would be there in her place.
The elevator arrived at the designated floor, and Roger waited for Admiral Sato to leave before following in step behind him, expression stony and emotionless.
It was expected of him, after all, to be the hard and unyielding Head of Security that everyone knew and was used to.
His hand went, unconsciously, to his neck, where two rings threaded on a silver chain were hanging. He then cursed under his breath, keeping his emotions in check. Not right now. Later, when everything was all clear.
Admiral Sato led the way to a set of glass doors and they slid open, the sight of an almost-full rectangular meeting table and several sets of eyes meeting their gaze.
YOU ARE READING
Command: Past is Present
Fanfiction"We've learned from our mistakes, Altera. Enough blood has already been shed." "That didn't stop the start of World War III, did it?" "No. It didn't. But it ended it." "Human minds are just sacs of salt interacting with proteins. Even now, you live...
