Kotori bowed her head in return to their greetings. Somberly, she spoke:
"Our journey has ended. The tumultuous chain of events which began at the Battle of Taiie have been all but resolved. We have challenged and defeated all of the opponents that stood in our way through Amaya's Gate, and out of the realm in which the Second Draconian Fleet was imprisoned."
"Our survival is largely owed by the members of Miharu's modest crew and their selfless heroism. It makes our survival nothing short of miraculous, a miracle we have wrought together. But costly sacrifices were made, and what we still had was not a perfect victory."
"The men, women, nekovalkyrja and sprites we rescued number in the millions. Unfortunately, we did not rescue people; we rescued slaves. People trapped within their own minds, no longer able to be the people they once were, their ambitions subverted so that they would instead look after the welfare and whims of one person: Ketsurui Kotori-Hime."
"Observe."
As if on cue, a relatively large volumetric window blinked to life over Kotori's right, depicting the scene of her hospital quarters (Tom noted the timestamp was about half-an-hour before his own visit). It was a simple scene of a nurse coming in with a rolling tray and very respectfully offering lunch. Kasami-Chujo came in moments later and inquired after Kotori's health as the nurse placed the meal on Kotori's bedside table.
As the nurse left, Kasami-Chujo inquired about there being anything she could do to be of service. Then a long silence. Before the silence became awkward, Kotori's hand reached out to seize the saucer dish holding a carrot cake topped with glazed sugar and upended it, letting the dessert slap against the tiled floor a second later.
"Hime-sama?"
"Eat it off the floor," the princess commanded.
The Chujo did not hesitate. She knelt to the floor, bent and ate the carrot cake like an animal. Kotori stared down at her, hard, until the Chujo was done.
Kasami Erika stood back up. "It was delicious, Hime-sama. Would you like me to have another one brought for you?"
Kotori stiffened. "No," she spat out, the loathing in her voice evident. "Please leave."
"Hime-sama? Is everything-"
"BEGONE!"
The Chujo quickly bent into a deep bow and made herself scarce. Kotori stared after her as the door closed, hands fisting her bedcovers.
...and the volumetric window went dark, before it blinked away.
Kotori, whom had half-closed her eyes and not looked at the recording, opened them again as she looked to the three before her.
"I understand that through clever orders, trickery could be engineered to make it appear as if things are not as they are," she continued. "But I see this solution as flawed. A lie of such magnitude is bound to be uncovered in time. There is also no way, once the fleet rejoins with the PANTHEON network, to prevent Taisho Yui from making contact with all the Integrated Electronic Suites in the thousand of ships in this fleet."
"The KAMI, MEGAMI and the other ship AIs have been quiescent so far because there was no foul play apparent on our part, but that doesn't mean they cannot act. We know firsthand what difference our MEGAMI was capable of doing, and I expect the same from them."
"Miharu, Mara and nearly half our crew were sacrificed... for the sake of fulfilling our mission... but the end result we face is dreams being stolen from over a million people. Unless something more can be done, this cheapens their selfless sacrifice, and blemishes the victory earned by them."
"I am no samurai, but I was born learning to be one; and one thing a samurai first understand is the importance of balance between duty and harmony. I do not see the balance being met by standing by and letting the dreams of millions of individuals die for the purpose of one woman who'se dreams have practically been shattered. Even if it was not so, it is hard to reason keeping one person alive so she can hold millions in her thrall."
"We fought to preserve our safety and our freedom. We did not fight to see the people we saved shackled further through our own actions. With one more sacrifice, I have the power to make all of the others done before worth it."
Kotori resolutely lifted her chin, as if gathering what dignity she had left to muster, and finished with: "I have brought you here in order to hear my last will, and to be witness to my sepukku."