When an unstoppable force meets an immovable object

Posted on Sat Apr 6th, 2019 @ 4:38am by Civillian Shae & Brigadier General Nathan Wolf & Civillian "Mama" Edith Jackson

Mission: Interlude 1
Location: Cheyenne Mountain: Project New Dawn (Conference Room)
Timeline: Current (Tuesday)

Nathan sat at the head of the table and waited for Shae and Edith to arrive. Settling disputes was part of leadership, but that didn't make the prospect of dealing with this any more pleasant. Nathan had been fairly nice, warm, and cuddly with everyone so far, and he intended to be fair. But neither Edith nor Shae were ever going to do anything like this ever again.

Shae had found her way to the conference room quickly once she was summoned. She had not been looking forward to this meeting, but she knew it was one she could not avoid; it was best to simply get all the unpleasantness done and over with as quickly as possible. As she came up to the open door, she gave a small courtesy knock to the door frame before stepping inside.

"General-sama," Shae said as she saw Nathan at the conference table. "Before Edith-kaasan arrives, I just wanted to say to you how sorry I am for causing a disturbance in your base. I have spoken with Major Asher about my actions and I will strive to never cause such a disturbance again," she said humbly.

Mama entered the conference room and stopped at the door, seeing Shae sitting there as well. Her eyes narrowed as she took in the scene. Then she fixed herself with a smile while fiddling with the cross on a chain around her neck with the other.

"I accept your apology, Shae," Nathan said. "As we discussed, I'm not the only one who has an apology coming. Please, both of you, sit."

Shae bowed again, then took a seat, but she couldn't bring herself to even look at the woman who sat next to her.

Once the two of them were sitting Nathan started what he hoped was going to be a quick and easy exchange of apologies...because he was going to make it extremely painful for either of them not to offer and/or accept an apology.

"Alright," he said. "Let me first say that I am extremely disappointed in both of you. This is not the kind of behavior I expect from the adults who work for me. Shae, as we discussed, you should have come to me or to Jake with your concerns and let us help you address them instead of storming off to Edith a piece of your mind. Edith, I assume you meant well, but you screwed the pooch on this one. That, however, does not excuse your behavior, Shae. I want to thank you both, though, for alerting me to a grave security threat, namely, the civilian DFAC staff. I had everyone of them vetted to make sure they were safe to bring here, but now that you've warned us that they can't be trusted, Security is confiscating their phones and other devices and Cyber will be crawling all over their electronic footprints, removing even the slightest mention of where they work. You can leave me your phone before you leave this room, or I can have Security confiscate it. You'll all get them back when we're done with them. From now on, only military and government issue devices of that kind will be permitted on base without my express approval. I take security very seriously around here, and when I hear about a threat, I deal with it." Nathan let that settle in. Words and actions had consequences. "Now, I think the both of you owe each other at least an apology, and perhaps some explanation as well. Which one of you wants to go first."

"Not sure why ya thin' there need to be apologies at'll," Mama said, taking a chair and sitting. "An' unless she think she owe an apology from her heart, then there ain't no apology comin' and ya shoul' be 'shamed'a ya'self for tryin' to force anyone to say words they don' mean. She wan' talk 'bout what happen, then she come to me to talk 'bout what happen, not be forced into doin' it."

Mama was actually happy to hear that phones were going to be restricted. She was tired of all this time the young people spent on their snapbooks and facechats and other things on their phones that took them away from doing their jobs. While she told them to put the phones away, even reprimanded them if she caught them on the phone instead of doing their work, there was still too many phones. Then they'd come back late from breaks because they were on their phones. Now, with the General taking care of that problem, it took care of some other problems. And... "I do wan' tell you," she said, turning to Shae, "I woul' never allow any'ne to bring harm to ya. It hurt too many people who come to care 'bout ya. I don't care if they my employee or my kin who work for me, they do anyt'ing to bring ya harm then I ain't no Mama to them. No matter how hard ya heart becom' toward me, I'm still Mama to ya."

"Shae," Nathan said. "If you have anything you need to say to Edith, anything you need to clear up with her, here and now is where you do it."

"If you are truly 'mama' to me and so concerned for my safety, then why would you make such a threat to my safety?" Shae asked, still unable to even look at the woman. She was angry at this Edith-kaasan who felt like she had nothing for which she needed to apologize; could she not see how she'd hurt Shae? "I understand that you may have thought you were helping me, but I want to know why you thought you had the right to intentionally confuse me after I told you I was having trouble understanding you, and then unnecessarily instill fear by threatening me. Do you feel no shame or remorse for causing such harm to me? If I must apologize, then I believe I deserve an answer."

"Ain't nobody 'must apologize' for nothin' they don' feel sorry for and I don' think you feelin' sorry for nothing at the moment. If ya wan' to know, I worry for ya. I know we, what you call us? The Tarwee? We Tarwee can be beautiful angels truly reflective of our Creator, the best in all Heaven and Earth. But we still got our devil inna church and that's a problem. I don' wanna see ya go out there and get hurt. I wan' ya to practice knowin what ya shoul' be sayin when ya not among people who care for ya. Where you lucky girl, you can hid the parts of ya that others will not like. When I was a girl your age, I couldn'. Nor could my love or my own children. Ya'll see enough ugliness of us Tarwee without needin' to see all of it."

Shae scoffed. "You don't have the right to say what I do or don't feel, just as you didn't have the right to make any decision on my behalf as to what I should or shouldn't say. I am sorry that I caused a disruption in the dining facility. I should have been civil and spoken to you in private instead of letting my anger loose in public where I could cause you embarrassment. I cannot apologize for my words because I still feel them to be true to how I feel, and you have given me no reason to change that opinion. I can, however apologize for how I said those words with my voice in anger; I know this was wrong, and for that I am truly sorry. But I still mean what I said, I think you are a mean person for knowingly causing harm, and I still will not accept any apology you may have to offer because there's nothing you can say that can repair the damage you have done to my ability to trust, and I would rather starve than to be fed by one as cruel as you," she said, calm and composed and still not looking at her.

"What make ya think ya can come back anyway? Ya think I gonna let anyone act like that and disrupt ever'one else?" Mama said, she was loving but she had her limits. "An' I don' care how much ya like me, only that ya stay safe. But, ya right 'bout one thing, I shouldna be the one who be tellin ya any'a this. But those that should ain't doin' they job for non'ya."

"That. Is. Enough." Nathan said. "Edith, you can't keep Shae safe. It's not your job. It's mine. It's that of my military staff, my intelligence staff, my security forces, and that of OSI. And we're doing that job, including teaching her how to interact outside of the mountain. And she's done well so far. But it's not your job to protect her. Your job is to provide good food and warm and friendly environment for people to eat it in. To create a space where people can feel free to be themselves, and where they can feel taken care of. Shae knows she disrupted that the other day, and she's apologized for it. But ask yourself this: When you frightened her the other day, was that part of creating a warm and friendly environment to serve that wonderful food you cook? I think if you're honest with yourself you'll agree that it wasn't. So, ladies. How do we work this out between you? Ultimately, I don't care if you like each other or not, only that you both treat each other with civility and respect. But if there's something I can do to help that process along, I'd love to hear it."

"Give it time, General," Mama said. "Let what will be, be. An' som'times tempers need time to die out. Ya may think they're cooled, but hot embers hide in ashes. When things are further down the road, things may change for the better. Sides, eventually she'll wanna taste'a some'a Mama's rabbit stew. Best she e'er did have!"

"I'll pass on the food, thank you," Shae said in a sour tone. This woman showed no remorse, no sign that she was willing to accept responsibility! It was actually starting to make Shae doubt whether she was in the right or not; had she merely over reacted? Was there an actual offense that needed to be mended? Shae replayed the 'conversation' in her head and her frustration grew; no, she said very clearly that she did not understand Mama Edith, and yet Edith continued to say things that baffled Shae, confusing her to the point of frustration, and then violated Shae's sense of personal safety by suggesting that she might get taken away. No, Edith seemed to have no regard for Shae's level of comprehension nor any remorse for causing her distress! "I don't know how many ways I can express how hurt I am by your actions, yet you seem oblivious to this and completely without remorse, and because you are doing this in the guise of friendship, it makes it hurt even more. Do you understand how terrified I am to leave the base now? I'm so afraid of being found out that I can't even show my true self here now! How does this help me? How does this teach me to trust the people around me who are trying to help me?! Please, I am trying to understand, because I am truly baffled as to how your actions are helping! You say that my temper is an ember hiding in the ashes? Well you are the one ensuring it stays there!"

"Okay," Nathan said. "Enough. Here is my word and here my word is law and will be obeyed. Anyone that can't do that is going to make a very loud thud when they hit the ground back where they came from. Mama, you will provide a warm and welcoming place for ALL members of this project and our guests to eat. You will continue to provide the wonderful food that we all love, but you will endeavor to forgo the side of bullshit I don't need. You will treat Shae with courtesy and respect and you will not harass her. Shae, you need to eat. The food is in the DFAC. Mama runs the DFAC. So you will get your food from there even if you have to get it to go. You will not starve yourself to make a point. When you need to interact with Mama, you will be courteous and civil. Okay, that was the law. Next comes a suggestion. Mama, the food you prepare is excellent. Shae is known to have a healthy appetite. Further, I understand that Shae is an accomplished cook herself. If you two were looking for common ground, these aspects of yourselves seem to be a good place to take. Take my suggestion, don't take my suggestion, that's your choice. But my orders will be obeyed." Nathan rose from his seat. "I'm going back to work now. Good day, ladies." With that Nathan was gone. Out of the conference room and out of earshot before either woman could respond. Nathan had learned a long time ago that a good exit was as important as a good entrance.

Shae did not linger to speak with Edith any further, instead she simply walked out, content to follow the Wolf General's orders and never interact with Edith if she didn't have to, because she truly believed that this woman did not know the meaning of respect.