Sinner Born: Part 6.1 Extended Ending.
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Ago
The camera turns on and reveals Ago sitting in a chair at the police station. He is calm, lounging in his chair, until he looks off-screen as if someone is talking to him.
He turns to the camera.
Ago: "What's there to know? I got involved because of Barak."
Ago shrugs.
Ago: "He used to be a good guy... Uh, okay, maybe not really, but..."
He pauses to think for a moment.
Ago: "We were at least friends. He lost his gym, then he lost our gym. It's one of those things where you have a good friend, but years later you learn things about them you never knew. The person you thought they were isn't who they really are."
He shrugs again.
Ago: "Whatever. I kicked his face in, and his hands broke on my jaw. Good enough."
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Dalia
The camera turns on and reveals Dalia leaning back in her chair. She is humming to herself before stopping and looking at someone off-screen.
She turns to the camera but keeps glancing all over the place.
Dalia: "Getting involved? Me? Naw."
She giggles.
Dalia: "I learned a few things, watched the net, and soon found myself at the warehouses. Fero asked me to work for the police, and I saw an opportunity to expand my résumé. Also, all the danger, conspiracies, and gang members made everything exciting."
She leans forward.
Dalia: "Can you tell me what happened to Governor Eitan? We must've defeated the big bad evil guy, right?"
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Fero
The camera turns on and reveals Fero staring directly at it. His posture is professional.
Fero: "Every legal avenue for investigating the governor or any of these strange happenings was blocked."
He glares angrily at the camera.
Fero: "You tell a cop to stand down in the face of corruption, and you're going to get bitten."
He relaxes.
Fero: "I was doing my job. Protecting and serving the people."
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Servo
The camera turns on, and Servo is just staring blankly ahead. He looks to the side before looking back at the camera.
Servo: "Uh. Wrong place at the wrong time, I guess."
He is quiet for a moment before looking back at the person off-screen. He sighs and returns his attention to the camera.
Servo: "A friend wanted me to grab something from her workplace. I met these strangers fighting gang members, and I helped. It's not like I need a reason to defend others."
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Zev
Zev looks caught somewhere between bored and nervous. Then he looks at the camera.
Zev: "The gangs were acting weird, and Talia and I needed an out. The violence at the warehouse just kind of fell on top of us. After that, we realized we couldn't buy our way out anymore."
He raises a hand and rolls his eyes.
Zev: "The only way to survive was to fight. Conflict and gang violence are just normal in District Three. I didn't really think about it."
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Ardea
Ardea is calm and collected, much like Fero.
Ardea: "The gangs threatened my family. I went in to tear them apart. I guess my wrathborn nature got the better of me."
She waits for a moment.
Ardea: "No. No other reason. I fought because of the gangs. They should know better than to challenge a wrathborn."
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Talia
Talia lets out a sigh before paying attention.
Talia: "Uh, hm. I don't think I ever really thought about it."
She takes a moment to think.
Talia: "Like, I suppose once we found out we couldn't escape the gangs, it was just full speed at the problem with weapons drawn."
She gives herself another second to think.
Talia: "That's District Three thinking right there."
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Ago
Ago
Thirty minutes in, and Ago was still emotionally well.
Ago: "Like I said, I was after Barak. Nothing else mattered."
Ago looked to the side.
Ago: "After that, I learned there was a plot to biologically attack my people. Then it became self-defense."
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Dalia
Thirty minutes in, and Dalia was still full of energy.
Dalia: "For the mystery! I had to know, and all of those gangs weren't going to stop me."
Then she took a few seconds to think of her next response.
Dalia: "Then there was the Reclamation Engine. After seeing that thing in the... blueprints, I had to take it down. Er, uh, I mean, I was still with Fero and, by extension, the police. That's how he described it, not me. But I was totally up for being a superhero and stopping the governor and his fiendish plan."
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Fero
Thirty minutes in, and Fero remained calm and focused on the camera.
Fero: "When investigating the government, sometimes the police have to use methods that aren't strictly within the spirit of the law. The government basically said they investigated themselves and found no wrongdoing."
He rolled his neck.
Fero: "I said that I saw you commit a crime."
He leaned forward.
Fero: "There are laws for when the government becomes the enemy of the people, and the police are more than willing to use them."
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Servo
Thirty minutes in, and Servo had not changed at all.
Servo: "I wanted to leave at that point, but my friends needed me. Considering how often I ended up protecting someone, it was probably a good thing I stayed."
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Zev
Thirty minutes in, and Zev was calm and no longer nervous.
Zev: "Talia is my friend. She wanted to continue, therefore so did I."
He leaned back.
Zev: "I have no other motives."
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Ardea
Thirty minutes in, Ardea was growing uninterested.
Ardea: "I guess it seems weird after the whole Micah thing ended for me."
She took a few seconds to think, her tail giving a small flick.
Ardea: "At that point, I guess I wanted to stay with my new friends. The journey may have been dangerous, but it was something to do, and spending it with the Party was worth it in the end. Also, you know, stopping my species from getting messed up by a biological agent."
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Talia
By the thirty-minute mark, Talia was yawning and ready to go home.
Talia: "Yeah. Project Inheritance."
She leaned forward.
Talia: "I honor my grandfather by continuing his fight. Not that I'm all for generational grievances, but this one just seemed right. Besides, smashing the government's plans and the governor's scheme was worth every wound."
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A television screen turned on.
Various news media covered the trial of Governor Eitan Sovel. The coverage was divided between emotional reactions and attempts to logically reconstruct what Eitan's story had been.
Voice 1: "The judge dismissed the charges against the youths who damaged the Water Control Node..."
Channel flip.
Voice 2: "An illegal private security force created by companies in which the governor had significant influence..."
Channel flip.
Voice 3: "Hundreds of employees embezzling money, hired gangs, and an assault in public..."
Channel flip. Fero was giving a speech in his police uniform outside the police station.
Fero: "Sometimes that's how the courts work. The people decide innocence and guilt. While Governor, uh, former Governor Eitan Sovel did not get convicted on the construction and attempted use of the Reclamation Engine, he has been found guilty on enough other charges that he will be going to prison."
He paused.
Fero: "It's not everything the police wanted, but fifteen years imprisonment, large asset forfeitures, and a lifetime ban from government service. As a wrathborn, it will have to do."
A barrage of questions followed from reporters. Fero pointed to one.
Reporter off screen: "Officer Onus, many citizens believe Governor Sovel was responsible for the Reclamation Engine project. How do you respond to criticism that he escaped conviction on the most serious allegation?"
Fero remained calm.
Fero: "Something like this is normally seen in fiction. It is hard to believe, and harder still to accept that someone you trusted too much would do such a thing. If you ask me, I'd say the governor did well in making sure he had nothing to do with the Engine. Next question."
Reporter 2: "How many people have been arrested as part of the broader conspiracy?"
Fero: "Hundreds."
Fero seemed a little sad after saying that.
Reporter 3: "Has this investigation changed relations between wrathborn and greedborn communities?"
Fero gave a short chuckle.
Fero: "Not at all. The governor's beliefs are not the majority's beliefs. Everyone is living their lives just fine. Every poll I've seen on this topic has shown basically zero change in viewpoints."
He took a second to think.
Fero: "Eitan Sovel wasn't incorrect about his fear, but he wasn't correct either. The future will be changing. Thousands of years of greedborn history have shown that with every generation, everything before becomes alien. Vigilance is what keeps religion, culture, and country on the same path. Eitan simply did not want the greedborn to become a minority and lose their standing and their way of life."
He leaned forward.
Fero: "Domus Secunda is our home. The Light is our God. We may be biologically different, but these are the things every wrathborn holds up as where our loyalty lies. God bless Domus Secunda."
The television turned off, the other six members of the Party, got back to their board game.
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End of Part 6.1
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Alternate Ending.
Author's Note: This ending, while described as a What If, was actaully made to be the true ending.
However, it is the kind of ending that many people might not like and it is an ending that will hurt any future stories that take place in the same setting.
So, I've decided to make the real ending a What If, something that readers may or may not take as the cannon as they see fit.
Please enjoy.
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Sinner Born: Part 6.1 Alternate Ending.
The wind blew across the savannah plains. Nearby lay the woodlands of the wrathborn. It had been eighty years since the Reclamation Campaign (80 AC), and the wrathborn had finally spread across the land, founding new settlements of their own.
Surrounding the main city were numerous bunkers where books gathered from hundreds of libraries, various devices, and historically important artifacts had been preserved.
Several days' travel to the north lay Black Stone. Yet where a city, or even its decaying remains, should have stood, there was only a massive crater. The surviving greedborn had ensured that nothing of theirs could be inherited.
The wrathborn city itself was built from tents and simple cabins. Inside one such cabin, a group of eight friends sat around a table. Wooden dice rolled across papyrus character sheets.
The Game Master finished his narration, covering the fallout of the Eitan trial, what became of the player characters, and the aftermath of their choices. Finally, he closed the module book for The Reclamation Engine.
His tail flicked with excitement as the blonde-furred, blonde-haired teen set the book down.
Game Master: "And that's Black Stone and the Reclamation Engine. What did you think?"
All of the youths were dressed in fur clothing.
The youth whose character sheet was labeled "Ago" spoke first.
1st Youth (Ago): "And thus, while Governor Eitan escaped the most serious charges, he's still going to prison for a long time. You know, for the first module we'll be publishing, I think it does a good job showing what our TTRPG is all about."
Several books lay nearby: Sinnerborn TTRPG and Sinnerborn Character Creation.
2nd Youth (Servo): "There are a lot of stories people can tell in a world where the greedborn never went extinct. We've already gotten three campaigns out of this setting. Now we just need a scribe who can mass-produce our books."
3rd Youth (Dalia): "And then we'll literally be the first people to publish a wrathborn-made TTRPG! Let's go!"
1st Youth (Ago): "The only real issue is how accurate our content actually is."
4th Youth (Ardea): "Eh. Even if we don't have technology completely accurate, it will just make our setting look that much more intresting."
Game Master: "Hey, hey. I used the actual blueprints of Black Stone. I don't want to hear any of that thank you." He joked.
Wrathborn tails were active.
5th Youth (Fero): "If anything, the thought experiment of what would happen if our two species actually got a chance to interact certainly has to draw attention."
6th Youth (Talia): "Technically, we've interacted. A few cyborgs and old people blowing up their colony cities."
7th Youth (Zev): "Yeah, but the last greedborn I don't think were an accurate representation of their species."
After gathering up their stuff, they would eventually make their way outside to discuss any changes needed and game balance as they made their way towards a large tent with several scavenged grills and the smell of cooked meat on the air.
