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An immediate hush fell over the crowd.
The man calling himself John Doe flinched. But only for a moment. Looking at me, he let out a grin and said, "And look who we have here? One of the Commanders who treat those machines like-"
"Your brain. Shall I take it?" I said coldly. "I know how. I sever your spine, tear out your nervous system. Put you in cold storage, fashion a cybernetic casing. Then I put you inside of it. Tell me. If I do so, are you human, or machine?"
Deathly silence.
I took another step forward. The crowd immediately parted.
"You call them machines. You call them immortal witches. Do you know who I see in front of me right now? Nothing but trash."
John Doe took a step back. "Y-You...! You're a commander! You fight for humanity! You can't-"
"Yes." I cut him off. "I fight for humanity. And humanity consists of people who treat others as they wish to be treated. So. Since you are slandering the brave women who devoted their entire beings for just a sliver, a SLIVER of hope that the Rapture threat will be neutralized... I'll treat you the same as you treat them."
I unclipped my chest plate and tossed it to the ground. "I am a Commander. I have Nikke as my subordinates. I treat them as human... because they are. They were brave souls who devoted their beings to fight for humanity even after death. And you treat them like this?"
"S-Stay back!" John Doe drew a gun and pointed it at me. "I-I'll shoot! It's self-defense-"
"Do it. I'll kill you first." I stared at him, my voice cold and calm. "If you have the guts to slander the women who have accepted death, then resolve yourself to the same. Because I'll take your life for your glib tongue. They might not be able to punish you. But I certainly can. And I will."
John Doe froze.
The crowd waited with bated breath.
I kept walking, removing more pieces of armor as I moved. "You call them machines. You say they aren't human. But you know what?" I finished removing all my armor as I reached within ten meters of him. "In my eyes, you're just trash. Meat, waiting to be processed. So. Shall I begin?"
John Doe screamed and pulled the trigger-
Or he tried to.
But before he could, a white blur descended from the heavens and crushed the gun.
"Threat neutralized." A calm and mechanical female voice. The source of it was a petite woman with short-cropped hair and golden eyes, floating with a golden halo and anti-gravity wings.
I recognized her. Eternity, Endless's sister and one of the other autonomous Nikke that Enikk had created.
John Doe fainted and immediately crumpled to the ground.
The moment he did, the crowd was tense. Fear, rising in proportion to Eternity's ambivalence.
And I could sense it.
If nothing was said now, the perspective on Nikke would shift for the worse immediately.
Eternity had just shown the gap between normal humans and Nikke, after all.
And I knew too well how people could fall into fear under absolute power.
So I spun it.
After all, I came from a place where propaganda was perfected. So...
"Citizens of the Ark." I straightened and then looked out at the crowd. "My name is Commander Hoopa, leader of the Brave Squad. I was on my way to perform my duties when I came upon this expression of your discontent. I do not mind it. In fact, I appreciate you voicing your opinions. It indicates that there are real problems at play."
A low murmur echoed through the crowd.
"Is he just saying things?"
"But he threatened to kill John Doe!"
"That guy had it coming!"
"My sister was turned into a Nikke... he's right. They're people too."
Hearing that, I continued. "I'll say it plainly. The peace you enjoy now is paid for by the lives of women who devoted their everything. Tell me. Do you understand the process of becoming a Nikke?"
Silence.
Of course.
The gap in knowledge was what insurrectionists took advantage of.
"I'll tell you." I held up my finger. "One percent. That's how rare it is to maintain your memories after you undergo the procedure to become a Nikke. One percent. That's how many of those Nikke who maintain their memories survive beyond the first deployment. One percent. That's how many of those Nikke aren't treated as tools for lust or otherwise by Commanders who abuse their inability to deny a direct order from a superior and the inability to harm a human."
Gasps. Hitched breaths. Uneasy murmurings of 'I didn't know.'
I lowered my finger and walked forward, recollecting my armor and wearing it again. As I did, I said, "But it doesn't end there. Phantom pains. Mind dissociations. Identity crises." I put my helmet on and looked back at the crowd.
I noticed some were filming with phones.
Good.
I straightened and said, "It's fine for you to fear Nikke. They possess superior strength, lethality, and mobility to the average citizen. But as a consequence, their memory is capped. Their freewill, surrendered. Their very soul, given as the price to buy another day of peace for the Ark. Another chance to turn things around for humanity."
A hushed silence fell upon the crowd.
I continued. "You are citizens of the Ark. You are humanity itself. You are the ones that the brave goddesses of victory sold their souls to safeguard. And yet here you stand, decrying their names. Fearing the ones who wished to save you with all their hearts. Spitting upon the very saintesses who will not even be remembered!" I smacked a fist into my chest and said, "That infuriates me! That should infuriate you!"
The loud clang of my fist striking my armor echoed across the crowd, making people flinch.
Not a soul dared to speak back.
But of course.
That was the point.
John Doe wasn't the only one who could speak with conviction.
I smacked my chest again and said, "I am different! I was blessed with the ability to fight alongside these Goddesses of Victory! I was given this prototype armor so that our Goddesses would no longer suffer lonely battles! So that humanity would no longer have to watch helplessly as others die on our behalf! But you...!"
I looked at the crowd and said, "Citizens of the Ark! I ask this! You said you wish for Heavenly Ascension! You say that you want change! You say that the people of the Outer Rim lack human rights... Well, I ask you!" I drew my long sword and stabbed it into the ground. "Where is your sword? Where is your conviction? I have already determined to lay my life down for humanity! My soul belongs to the Surface! I may very well die a dog's death alongside my squad against the Raptures! Even so, I persist! Even so, I choose!"
A hushed silence filled the crowd. Hope- No, sanctity.
Because every point I made had struck home.
I continued, pressing my fist to my chest in the classic Attack on Titan salute. "My fight is on the Surface! My life is spent in an attempt to reclaim our world from the Rapture threat. But you, Citizens of the Ark! Your life is here! And so your fight must be here! If you deem the conditions of the Outer Rim inhumane, then act! If it is a cause you hold dear, lay your life down for it! Unlike the goddesses of victory, you are not nameless! You are human! You are here! So spend your life! Use it to walk the path truest to your heart!"
A single person cheered. And then another. And soon, cheers started erupting in the crowd.
Seeing that, I continued. "I am Commander Hoopa of the Brave Squad. Citizens of the Ark..." I struck a crisp salute. "I sincerely thank you for upholding the peace we so painstakingly bought. Please, continue to work hard! And one day soon..." I smiled and spread my arms out. "May we walk beneath the true sky together as one united humanity. Citizens, Outlaws, Commanders, Nikke, Sovereigns... Let's aim for it. The day where the only label, the only title we choose is this: Human."
Cheers broke out in the crowd.
I saluted them again and then I walked off towards the Central Government offices.
After all, a true actor knew when to exit stage left.