Fred
Retired Staff
Princess Ketsurui Kotori, Senator of the planet named after herself, presented herself to the Senate.
"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen," she coolly greeted. "You must surely have heard of the uproar that came with the recently transmitted 'Nekovalkyrja Upgrade Order', as soldiers of the Empire protested the mandatory change in order to pursue a constructive career in our interstellar military."
"This order, made on policy which was established here, was widely condemned. A substantial amount of people have expressed disagreements, meaning that in our clarification of Bill 95, we have done them the injustice of misrepresenting them."
"It is not my place to raise the issue of how justified Star Army Command and Ketsurui Yui-Taisho's were in making this order. However, it presented an interesting opinion as our Fleet Admiral, Clan Mistress of the Ruling Clan, and Former-Empress expressed the following:"
Kotori opened a volumetric window, with a larger one bearing the same content blinking into existence for all Senate members to read. The Ketsurui Princess read aloud: "As the de-facto leader of the Nekovalkyrja species, I know that in spite of the senate's decision not to grant species status to our bodies, as a whole we are more than just equipment."
"Nekovalkyrja species. Not equipment," Kotori echoed keywords for emphasis.
The Princess let the imprecations of the Senate's credibility in face of the unofficial actual ruler of the Empire unvoiced - it didn't take an genius to understand that the Senate existed at the sufferance of the Empress, and that the Empress was on her throne because the much more powerful Yui allowed her to rule, while she still managed the entire infrastructure that gave the throne power in the first place. Like it or not, the Empire hadn't progressed far enough for the Ketsurui Zaibatsu to not be anything else than its beating heart.
"Now, my proposal is as follows: the Nekovalkyrja is a species, embodied in the model known as the 'NH-29'. Any nekovalkyrja bearing such a body after such this ruling would be natively considered part of the nekovalkyrja species, and considered lifeforms in the same standing as we'd consider any other in our Empire such as Nepleslian, Phod and Kodian. Even if they stop being yamataian citizens, they would still be considered full owners of their bodies, exactly the same as the other species I mentioned in example. This consideration would be extended to any youngling naturally born from a nekovalkyrja as well."
"Being part of the native nekovalkyrja species does not stop at the 'NH-29'; we could easily add to this its close cousin of the 'NH-33' series. However, the 'Tennyo' and 'Ehei' models are the latest offered to serve as Star Army soldiers, and we may still wish to qualify them as 'augmenting equipment' to the nekovalkyrja species until such a point that the bio-engineering behind them become an open secret such as the NH-29 nekovalkyrja is presently for our interstellar neighbors."
"I would add lenience on the civilian front in regard to the availability of the NH-29 body as well," she added. "Any mind-transferred neko into a Yamataian or Minkan body ought to have the chance to be one, and it should still be permissible by law for any native nekovalkyrja to be revived in a NH-29 body. The same distinction would not apply in the military, and the 'use-until-exhausted' clause would be normally followed for any native nekovalkyrja soldier expiring in pursuit of her duty."
The Ketsurui noble emitted a tremulous breath out, and then dared ask: "What say you?"
"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen," she coolly greeted. "You must surely have heard of the uproar that came with the recently transmitted 'Nekovalkyrja Upgrade Order', as soldiers of the Empire protested the mandatory change in order to pursue a constructive career in our interstellar military."
"This order, made on policy which was established here, was widely condemned. A substantial amount of people have expressed disagreements, meaning that in our clarification of Bill 95, we have done them the injustice of misrepresenting them."
"It is not my place to raise the issue of how justified Star Army Command and Ketsurui Yui-Taisho's were in making this order. However, it presented an interesting opinion as our Fleet Admiral, Clan Mistress of the Ruling Clan, and Former-Empress expressed the following:"
Kotori opened a volumetric window, with a larger one bearing the same content blinking into existence for all Senate members to read. The Ketsurui Princess read aloud: "As the de-facto leader of the Nekovalkyrja species, I know that in spite of the senate's decision not to grant species status to our bodies, as a whole we are more than just equipment."
"Nekovalkyrja species. Not equipment," Kotori echoed keywords for emphasis.
The Princess let the imprecations of the Senate's credibility in face of the unofficial actual ruler of the Empire unvoiced - it didn't take an genius to understand that the Senate existed at the sufferance of the Empress, and that the Empress was on her throne because the much more powerful Yui allowed her to rule, while she still managed the entire infrastructure that gave the throne power in the first place. Like it or not, the Empire hadn't progressed far enough for the Ketsurui Zaibatsu to not be anything else than its beating heart.
"Now, my proposal is as follows: the Nekovalkyrja is a species, embodied in the model known as the 'NH-29'. Any nekovalkyrja bearing such a body after such this ruling would be natively considered part of the nekovalkyrja species, and considered lifeforms in the same standing as we'd consider any other in our Empire such as Nepleslian, Phod and Kodian. Even if they stop being yamataian citizens, they would still be considered full owners of their bodies, exactly the same as the other species I mentioned in example. This consideration would be extended to any youngling naturally born from a nekovalkyrja as well."
"Being part of the native nekovalkyrja species does not stop at the 'NH-29'; we could easily add to this its close cousin of the 'NH-33' series. However, the 'Tennyo' and 'Ehei' models are the latest offered to serve as Star Army soldiers, and we may still wish to qualify them as 'augmenting equipment' to the nekovalkyrja species until such a point that the bio-engineering behind them become an open secret such as the NH-29 nekovalkyrja is presently for our interstellar neighbors."
"I would add lenience on the civilian front in regard to the availability of the NH-29 body as well," she added. "Any mind-transferred neko into a Yamataian or Minkan body ought to have the chance to be one, and it should still be permissible by law for any native nekovalkyrja to be revived in a NH-29 body. The same distinction would not apply in the military, and the 'use-until-exhausted' clause would be normally followed for any native nekovalkyrja soldier expiring in pursuit of her duty."
The Ketsurui noble emitted a tremulous breath out, and then dared ask: "What say you?"