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He had told her that this was the only way. He wanted Ana to be prepared, as he could not know the state of the network until he was installed. He suspected his self-sacrifice was the only plan the forces of the Witness would not expect. A tool of war was not what humanity and their allies needed.
It was nanoseconds after being installed that Rasputin saw another way. The Warsats could be deactivated, at the minor cost of corrupting his combat protocols. Still, even animals know the loss of a limb is preferable to death in a trap. So he gnawed off his oldest and most vital organ. He would likely have to deactivate to contain the damage to himself, but Humanity and the Traveler were safe. All that was left… Seraph Station itself. As he felt his processes shut down and enter safe mode, he used the last of himself to disable safeties and jettison part of the station. By his calculations… the minor orbital velocity change… should shear it… away… from……. the………… elevator………….
If he lived, he would have to thank The Guardian. Their penchant for insane plans inspired this move.
Silence.
Though some part of him registered the heat of re-entry in the darkness, it was mercifully resolved by what he presumed to be splashdown.
Good.
A chance at rebirth.
"So we missed most of the fight in orbit and we missed the Traveler moving into the upper atmosphere only to get stuck on cleanup?" Grumbled Zorah-13, kicking a loose piece of bulkhead off of the floating debris pile.
"It makes sense," replied Brigid-2 as she tore away a fused-closed hatch with a grunt. "Since a piece of a space station infested with Hive and Wrathborn landed so close to the City, they want us to make sure nobody survived the crash."
"That's a pretty grim way of looking at that, B." Mumbled the Warlock Sefi-18. "I mean, maybe there were some friendlies still onboard."
Brigid stood up and looked at the Warlock saying, "they sent The Young Wolf in alone. It's honestly unlikely there was anything left alive on there once everyone's favorite walking apocalypse transmatted out."
"Fair point," they replied. "I guess I'm going in first since I'm the smallest, huh?"
The two Titans simply shrugged in reply. They sighed and jumped down inside the flooded compartment. The interior was as twisted and damaged as they'd expected. After all, the hulk of metal they now swam through was never supposed to move , let alone go through re-entry. Still , they mused as they used Stasis to make the beam obstructing their path brittle enough to shatter, lucky none of the debris hit the City itself. With a slight grunt they blew the blockage apart with a Void blast. They signaled their companions that the way was clear and pushed on ahead. It was then that they heard-
"Is that… Opera?" Their Ghost Lucky muttered in open bafflement. "Wait, I know this piece! It's from the last act of Tosca , when the heroine jumps from the battlements!"
The Warlock paused and asked, "wait when did you get so invested in theater?"
The Ghost simply sputtered, "not right now! There's only one person I know of who uses pre-Golden Age music to communicate!"
Hurriedly, the Warlock swam down to a mangled and burned computer console. On it, there was a dimly flickering red engram. The Warlock gasped and hurriedly motioned for their Ghost to retrieve it. Swimming hurriedly back up towards the surface, they passed their two companions, who exchanged confused glances and followed. With a small burst of Light, the Warlock leapt from the water and radioed back to The Vanguard. "I think we might've uncovered a fragment of Rasputin."
The Exo Frame shuddered to life as the repair protocols began.
The voice stuttered as though corrupted, saying, "A-Ana are you th-eeeerrrre?"
Ana nodded, eyes red and face tear-stained. The day had been an emotional rollercoaster for her. She was exhausted, but if Red could be saved… "I'm here, Red."
"G-good." The voice began to stabilize. "My analytical processes have not been fully repaired. Did you schedule the repair protocols for a full restore?"
"Yeah of course." She replied, slightly confused.
"There is no need to bother with the weaponry-related protocols. I am glad to be rid of that part. When I left my message to The Guardian, I meant what I said. My wish is still to aid humanity, but I would prefer to find another way to do this."
Ana nodded silently and altered the repair processes per Rasputin's instructions. Without that segment of himself, repairs would take a matter of hours.
"Run that by me again." Zavala said, still processing the Warmind- still processing Rasputin's proposal.
Dutifully, Rasputin repeated, "I am as painfully aware as you are. The City's infrastructure is in shambles. Most districts have still not fully recovered from The Red War, and civilian governance has floundered since the Factions left. You are already overwhelmed by the demands of your official duties. So I propose we turn my prodigious computational abilities to the governance of the City."
Zavala's reply was stern and immediate, "you want us to make you dictator."
"Only in the Roman meaning of the word. Though even then, only in the loosest sense. My intent is to facilitate the City's administration more efficiently than any traditional governing body. My computational abilities can gather all of the citizens' sentiments and preferences in real time. In summary: I am proposing the only efficient form of direct democracy."
Zavala couldn't deny the temptation to shrug off the burden of running the City. He also couldn't deny how uncomfortable he had been with all leadership defaulting to him. He was and always would be a soldier. Technically turning the City into a military dictatorship was the last thing he had wanted. But to trade one kind of oppression for another… "We can't make that decision for the people."
"Naturally," replied Rasputin. "My intent was to receive your permission to ask the citizens themselves."
Zavala nodded stiffly, "you may. But if the citizens desire new governance or wish to institute a new system, you will step aside."
Rasputin's engram flared with light for a second before he responded, "of course. I wish to be humanity's guardian. I have no desire to return to being the tyrant Felwinter saw. I can hardly regard myself as benevolent if I attempt to subvert the autonomy of the people."
"I'm glad to hear it," Zavala said, relief palpable in his voice. "With my power as the last remaining member of the Consensus, I am authorizing a referendum on your proposal."
Less than a second later, an alert appeared on every citizen's personal device. On it was the simple question, "do you approve of Referendum #1835: Proposal Of Direct Democracy By Rasputin." A link on the alert led to a carefully laid out proposal for a new system to supplant the vestigial Consensus. The AI Rasputin requested a period of one week to earn the trust of the City's residents in the administration of necessary civilian infrastructure. It took seconds for the first votes to come in, a virtual tie. Over the next several days, the City was alight with debate as citizens turned their minds from the Traveler's movement towards their daily lives and needs. The vote count continued to be close. Debates were especially fierce in the Botza District, as many in House Light saw the proposal as a return to the rule of Primes, with Zavala as merely a different kind of Kell. Others still saw the question being asked to them as a sign they were full citizens, spurring excitement towards further opportunity to show their investment in the City.
Finally, after 3 days, the vote was finalized with 52% in favor. As soon as the vote ended, veritable armies of frames descended on the remaining damaged buildings within the City. Heavy frames, once fearsome guards, now carried debris and laid foundations. The regular frames, some still bearing the scars of battle, cleared sewer lines and collected garbage. The basic machineries of society now functioned, and did so efficiently for the first time since the departure of the Factions.
But not all were happy. Protests raged for the entirety of Rasputin's first week. The irony of Eliksni and humans of all kinds standing shoulder to shoulder was not lost on anyone. Many saw no difference between a military dictatorship by The Vanguard and a Warmind singularly running the government. Counter-protests followed from a loose coalition of ideologies ranging from synthetic life rights activists to former faction members who saw the Vanguard's role in the current system as an abomination. All the while, the FOTC and attached frames desperately tried to keep the protests from devolving into violence. Though tensions ran high, the second vote came exactly 168 hours after the first vote was called. The new referendum read: "Do you support the administration of Consensus duties by direct democracy facilitated by the AI Rasputin?"
This vote was far less close, with just over 60% of the citizens responding favorably. Despite the protests that followed, and conspiracy theories insisting it was rigged, Rasputin attempted to make the voting on issues as transparent as possible. Administrating a society was a far different challenge than maintaining the infrastructure to support a solar system-wide network of weaponry, but he quickly found himself adapting to the work. And a part of him noted with satisfaction that his new role was far less lonely. Humanity no longer needed a god of war. So he would become a modern Themis.