2024-10-26: A Little Coordination

• Cast: Astarte Spalding-Monteiro, Rose Tritten
• Where: The One Fine Day
• Date: U.C. 0099 10 26
• Summary: Astarte and the Tritten Team have a talk about what it means to be a Coordinator.

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<Pose Tracker> Rose Tritten has posed.

HOPE. The new task force the Space Assembly League had formed to continue supporting their various interests while still playing by NUNE and Cathedra's rules. Gilbert Durandal had certainly put forward a shrewd plan at the invite only meeting in the aftermath of the Gaia Saber's attempted elimination of all Coordinator-kind.

Of course, it wasn't the only thing he had revealed to those in attendance. He had revealed to them the Devil's Bargain that had been a closely guarded secret for the PLANTs, and its possible ramifications for all Coordinators. Amongst those in attendance were the Tritten Team, and Captain Astarte. How the implications impacted the three young women, third-generation Coordinators all, was obvious, but unspoken. Later still, once all the flurry of activity from the Area 6 Vajra nest hunt had died down, the Tritten Team finally had time to take up Captain Astarte's offer to discuss what Chairman Durandal had revealed to all of them. And there was much to discuss.

"Good evening Ma'am." Rose said into the intercom after buzzing Captain Astarte's office and quarters. "Tritten Team reporting, permission to enter?"

<Pose Tracker> Astarte Spalding-Monteiro has posed.

         "Permission granted. I'm just finishing a call."

         As the door opens and the three are allowed in, their captain sits at her desk, conversing to an image of a dark-haired young man, no older than his late teens.

         Anyway, Kit, I should be letting you go. You've got a lot of studying to do for that exam next week, I'm sure."

         "I got it, I got it. You don't have to keep insisting on it, I'm fine."

         "I know you are, but your dad wouldn't rest easy if I didn't get on your ass every once in a while."

         "Yeah, you keep saying that, but I think you like it. I'll get right on it, I promise. Tell Miss Xiao I said hi."

         "You got it, kiddo. Love you."

         "Love you too, Mom."

         The image of the young man disappears from the screen as the call ends, and Astarte turns to the team. "Apologies, it's a weekly engagement of mine. I'm assuming you're here to talk about the new task force."

<Pose Tracker> Rose Tritten has posed.

The trio drifted into the room with precision, and gave their Captain a sharp salute as she ended her call. Knowing that Captain Astarte was more casual than most ZAFT officers, they quickly took any nearby seats."Yes ma'am. It's something that's been rolling around in all our minds ever since the Chairman declared it at... the meeting we're not supposed to be discussing openly." Rose said, folding her hands in her lap.

"Or rattling, in Aspyn's case." Sushila smirked. Aspyn growled and muttered something under her breath.

Rose looked annoyed, but sighed and kept her composure. "I suppose the Chairman didn't really have a choice. At the very least we can keep hunting down Vajra nests and stopping them from invading the Earth, and the Colonies."

The wishy-washy nature of discussing the task force was obvious. It was pretty clear that the other revelations at the meeting were far more pressing to the trio.

<Pose Tracker> Astarte Spalding-Monteiro has posed.

         Astarte nods as Rose speaks. She had known since the meeting that they had wanted to talk about something else. And frankly, it was something she was curious to know about, too.

         "The Vajra are the more immediate concern right now, yes. That being said, I should be asking you three something." She leans back in her chair. "I'm just your average girl from Side 1, so there's a lot about the PLANTs that I don't really know too much about. Like Coordinators. I was wondering if you could fill me in about all that stuff."

<Pose Tracker> Rose Tritten has posed.

The trio, even Sushila, for once, looked...confused.

"What do you mean you don't know much about Coordinators, ma'am?" Rose asked, her head tilting slightly. "If you're from Side 1, I can understand not knowing much about the PLANTs but..."

"Are you like...not a Coordinator?" Aspyn asked, bluntly.

<Pose Tracker> Astarte Spalding-Monteiro has posed.

         "I'm not even a Newtype, really." She gives a short chuckle. "Like I said, I'm just an average girl who found herself thrown in a war at some point twenty years ago and refused to die."

<Pose Tracker> Rose Tritten has posed.

The three younger women looked at each other for a moment, they weren't shaken, like their entire world had been uprooted or anything, they just seemed surprised.

"We kind of just presumed you were one, ma'am." Sushila said, fidgeting a bit in her seat. "You are a ZAFT White uniform after all."

"But if you aren't a coordinator I...I mean we can certainly answer any questions but I don't really know what to share that isn't already out there. On average we have higher physical and mental capabilities that surpass the average natural, we're pretty much immune to most diseases, barring a few particularly nasty ones. Our metabolisms are higher so we tend to eat more..." Rose scratched the back of her neck, still trying to dance around the enormous elephant in the room, the biggest issue of course facing the PLANTs, aside from the desire of a good chunk of humanity for all of them to be completely obliterated as a race.

<Pose Tracker> Astarte Spalding-Monteiro has posed.

         "Heh, I see. White's just a good color on me, is all." She nods along as Rose describes the qualities of Coordinators. She had figured it was something like this, but she was still dancing around the issue. She supposed she would have to be direct about it.

         "And the birth rate?

<Pose Tracker> Rose Tritten has posed.

The three women's faces sank, Aspyn's most of all.

"Right. Yes." Rose said, though her eyes hinted she was happier that it was Astarte who put the topic forward. "Well, you heard the Chairman...it's..."

"Plummeting." Sushila interjected. "And probably only getting worse with each generation. If we can even make one."

Rose sighed and continued."The first generation of Coordinators, those whose parents were both Naturals...the process wasn't exactly perfect, though that generation doesn't like to admit it. But a lot of the problems came when the tensions between Naturals and Coordinators started to make Coordinators...make babies with other Coordinators. When they realized doing so made a...for lack of a better term 'purebred' Coordinator, then it started to become more and more the default."

Rose began to rub her palm nervously, her voice starting to show it as well. "The problem then on is... well if we're all sharing the same enhanced genetics, when...when we start to share those genetics with each other th-that basically means that uh...our overall genetic pool isn't actually that big...or deep."

Rose paused for a moment, clearly embarassed at what she had to say next. "My mom's a geneticist. She uh...it's her view that nature is kinda...self correcting because we're all...sorta...as she says...genetically inbreeding."

Sushila and Aspyn both looked mortified, but not towards Rose, but because they knew the reality. "I don't use that lightly, it's...a really taboo concept on the PLANTs outside of academic circles."

<Pose Tracker> Astarte Spalding-Monteiro has posed.

         Astarte turns her chair to the side, hands clasped in her lap. She listened quietly. I see, she thought to herself, so it's a matter of genetic diversity.

         "And Chairman Durandal believes that the Jovians hold the key to making that gene pool wider." A sigh. "But, of course, that comes with a... I'll be polite and call it a cultural clash. The tough decision of whether you'd rather have motherhood or personhood." She could never imagine having to make that decision.

<Pose Tracker> Rose Tritten has posed.

Rose nodded, solemly. "It's...it's already not easy. The only legally recognized marriages on the PLANTs are ones between genetically compatible coordinators."

"And in case you think they don't, the well to do use that to powerbroker. Like Lacus Clyne and Patrick Zala's son. They were supposed to get married until she went off and started doing her own thing." Sushila cut in. "We all have to take the test eventually, and a lot of parents try to get it done as early as possible... you know before we can start falling in love with each other. And even though it's not publicly available knowledge it..."

"It can...ruin your life." Aspyn added, looking down at her shoes.

<Pose Tracker> Astarte Spalding-Monteiro has posed.

         Astarte slips off her glasses and rubs the bridge of her nose. She probably should have gotten off the phone with her son before letting them in, huh? "That all sounds terrible. Of course, any opportunity the people at the top can take to stay on top, they do. I couldn't even imagine... I apologize for having you come in during my call. If I had known, I would have waited."

<Pose Tracker> Rose Tritten has posed.

"It's okay ma'am. You're not facing the same problems we are." Rose replied, and Aspyn and Sushila nodded in turn. "Seeing someone with a family isn't the same pressure as seeing a million posters and organizations demanding the PLANTs government start arranging the marriages themselves."

<Pose Tracker> Astarte Spalding-Monteiro has posed.

         "One of the greatest joys in my life was finding the love of my life and starting a family with him." She closes her eyes for a second, remembering her late husband. "If I had that denied of me from my very own government, I don't know what I would do. It's simply not right."

<Pose Tracker> Rose Tritten has posed.

"Unfortunately we're in too deep of a hole to get out. All the hatred between Naturals and Coordinators..." Rose said.

"Unless they make that deal with the Jovians..." Sushila frowned.

"No! No! NO!" Aspyn cut in, covering her ears and shaking her head. "No they can't we can't! WE CAN'T! I'd rather DIE!"

Rose reached over and patted Aspyn on the shoulder, before turning back to Astarte. "That possible compatibility rate can never be made public. It can't, no matter what. There are...there are way too many men, and women on the PLANTs who would willingly and happily live like that if it meant more Coordinators."

<Pose Tracker> Astarte Spalding-Monteiro has posed.

         "I wouldn't stand for it, myself, but I doubt I have much sway in the matter, even in my position. I won't let you three go without a fight, at least. You're too damn good in those ZAKUs for me to give you up." She gives a wry chuckle. "At the end of the day, what I want is what you want. And all we can do is what we can do. I won't tell anyone, you won't tell anyone, and we'll just hope no one else in that room tells anyone."

<Pose Tracker> Rose Tritten has posed.

Rose smiled. She knew Astarte was telling the truth. "That means a lot ma'am, really it does."

<Pose Tracker> Astarte Spalding-Monteiro has posed.

         "Of course. Now, if there's nothing more you need, then don't let me keep you."

<Pose Tracker> Rose Tritten has posed.

The Tritten Team nodded, stood as one and gave their captain a salute, before quickly departing...though Rose paused as her friends took the mover-handle down the corridor. "Ma'am?...Thank you." And with that, she followed.