Tweak

“My family is going under, surely you must understand my need to get out, anyway I possibly can,” Uwahn said, brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes.

Amazing, how much the Meita family relied on cosmetics to make them look better. Shin sat across from Uwahn. He had no cosmetics on and had rolled out of bed, ruffled his hair and then headed out the door after dressing. Uwahn’s morning routine was obviously much different. Her skin was nearly flawless, to be certain, but her hair frizzled and escaped its bun at every turn. The escort Uwahn had was female and had blotchy skin and dark rings under her eyes. Hair every which way.

Shin adjusted in his seat, “I really do not see how that is my problem.”

“If they become our masters,” Uwahn looked absolutely horrified and adjusted the handle of her teacup, “what is the world coming to, if tweakers are masters to genetics? I cannot live in a world like that.”

There was nothing in the teacups. Shin had never tasted tea in his life. The cups were more for show and for something to be on the table. Possible breeding partners talked over tea, that was what tradition stated. As metabolisms slowed and were adjusted, the milk and sugar were removed, then the tea. If they wanted to serve water, they could.

But Shin had told the staff not to bother themselves with pouring water for Uwahn. They nodded knowingly and had gone off to do his bidding. Apparently not serving water was some sign to the rest of the household as to how the talk was going. Shin really hoped it said that he wasn’t interested.

“Genetics are not the masters of tweakers,” Shin said in response, “the tweakers are our beneficiaries and if your family were running as the other families were, genetic and tweaker working side by side in the factories, companies and in the household, you would not have this problem. Instead you view them as nothing more than toys. Just as you viewed me, until your family fell.”

“Well look at you, who could have predicted that you would turn out so fine?” Uwahn said quickly.

“And you are the best of the Meita family,” Shin muttered bitterly, standing from the table, “that is very sad indeed. My answer is the same it was then, Uwahn, I do not want a contract with you and, as the choice has been given to me, I do not wish to breed you. That should be the end of the conversation.”

“What are you going to do? Shack up with that tweaker?” Uwahn stood, snarling as she jabbed a finger towards the estate, “perform unnatural acts with him? No woman is going to want you when they realise you’re the female of the relationship.”

Shin stiffened. He hadn’t told Uwahn about him and Ash. Approaching her, within inches of Uwahn, Shin made certain that his voice was just high enough for the escort to hear.

“If you ever come around here pursuing me again or making accusations such as those, if you allege, ever, that what I do in the privacy of my own room is unnatural, I will have you investigated for power user,” Shin hissed out, eliciting the response he had hoped for, Uwahn went deathly pale, “first I’m a runt that no one would ever want, then I’m a homosexual no one would ever want. Next it will be that I’m a power user and I’m not properly altered. Perhaps you’d like to claim I killed my own parents and therefore no one will ever want me. But if you do, I want you to know that I will call for a full investigation of your possible power use.

“And then, when they brand you and the government owns you?” Shin stepped away from Uwahn, “I’ll lease you at minimum wage as a servant for my tweaker family. Good day.”

He walked away from her and ignored the wail of despair that followed him back to the estate. At the garden doors, the footman gave him a questioning look.

“Escort her and her companion off of the grounds,” Shin muttered, straightening his shirt, “do I look alright?”

“You look as well as you did when you entered the garden, sir, your next guest is waiting in the solar room, as you asked her to be seated, with small foods available.”

Shin hadn’t lined up another appointment. All his would be suitors were being rerouted through Layaent, Shin had simply decided to deal with Uwahn himself, because he was getting tired of her emails. If Shin hadn’t lined anything up, and food was being served, it could only mean one thing.

“Where is my brother?” Shin asked the footman.

“In the dining room, preparing for the dinner, the council of six will be joining you tonight and all members must attend,” the footman responded calmly.

“Send him. Immediately. To the solar room, tell him that Mally is here,” Shin said, smiling, he tried to seem like everything was normal, “she’s very special and Layaent wanted to meet her as well.”

“Of course,” the footman nodded, “er, before or after I escort the lady and her companion from the grounds?”

“Before. She,” Shin motioned toward the garden, “will be a while. Excuse me.”

He walked through the back side of the estate. There were three rooms between the garden entrance and the solar room. By the time he was halfway through the second, a music room, Shin knew something was off. Halfway through the third room, he felt the fear that was trying to claw at the edges of his mind. Or perhaps that was his own fear, Shin thought as something else tried to ensnare him. His fear kept him sharp as he walked into the solar room and came face to face with the thief.

“What is your name?” he asked her.

“Mally,” she responded, crossing her long, perfect legs. Eyebrows arched upward, expectantly.

Shin didn’t bother trying to focus on the details, he knew that he wouldn’t recall the curve of her jaw or the fullness of her lips once he left the room. Her dress was purple, though, the same colour her undergarments had been when she had come to the after party. It had a conservative neckline but a woman with her assets didn’t have to show them off. Coming to her knees, the dress was loose and seemed to try to float around her.

“I highly doubt that,” Shin murmured, taking a seat across from her, “Mally is a fourteen year old girl, who is upset with you. That is very unfortunate for you, I think, as Mally is likely the only one capable of reigning you in. Let me guess, your name starts with a P, and ends with those legs of yours.”

“I am nothing more than a creature created in a lab, just as you …” Mally looked Shin up and down, “well, perhaps you aren’t quite just a creature, are you Shin? Look, we can be reasonable, you and I. All I want is the ring. You can keep everything it’s given you, that will be, let us say, a gift from me to you.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Please,” Mally smiled at him, grazed a hand up those long legs of her as if she were used to distracting men in such a manner, “don’t tell me that you haven’t noticed? You put the ring on and you didn’t notice the difference, the way everyone acted towards you? Aw, did you think that was all you?”

“What are you talking about?”

“The ring, silly. It’s like a parasite, except the kind you want. The star metal amplifies your own powers while absorbing them. Then the spells woven into the ring deal with all of your problems. Anything that gets in your way is gotten rid of. What, did one of the Meita insult you? I heard your parents are missing, did mommy and daddy have it out for you? And you’ve got that unbranded mutt snuffling about your ass all of a sudden.”

“The ring keeps it’s bearer alive.”

“Until it can find a better replacement, you don’t want the burdens that come with that ring, Shin. The Emperor’s murderer died for that ring, it’s killed multiple people and the moment you become your own hurdle, it will destroy you as well. Best to give it over to someone who knows how to use it.”

Shin breathed in and watch her eat a little sandwich, “you genetics have everything, what could you possibly need the ring for? Your head of household is more than willing to shuffle you off to whatever existence you want, if only you’d shut up and tell him what you want. After that, you don’t need the ring.”

“Let’s talk about you,” Shin murmured, leaning towards her, “why do you want the ring? You’ve enough power in your mind to do whatever you want, why do you need the ring?”

“To walk the wilds, you’ve been there, haven’t you? The ring does marvellous things for those walking through the wilds.”

“No, it doesn’t. There are no treasures in the woods, there are no power users who will rise to help you defeat your enemies. I’m alive as much from the ring as from luck or Ash’s help. It doesn’t lead you to treasure.”

“Don’t lie to me, I know better. The Emperor walked into the wilds a poor slave boy and walked out covered in enough riches to buy a city state. Are you telling me that you didn’t find something worth millions, billions, trillions even?”

“No.” Shin shook his head, “that’s not what I found at all.”

Her eyes narrowed, she considered Shin, “then what did you find?”

“A tree,” it just came out. Shin had found a lot of things in the wilds, it was impossible to walk the forest without noticing something new or different from the last time one walked the forest. There were just too many unknown species in the wilds.

“A…tree?”

A glorious, perfect example of life thriving where nothing else seemed capable. Comfortable and protective, a tree house that was just begging to be built and lived in.

“Yes,” Shin said, pulling himself out of his daze, “a tree was all I found.”

She blinked and looked startled, “well I don’t know what to say to that. I intend to use it to find the Emperor’s treasury. His library. His palace, his burial and the last battlefield.”

“But you taking it is a hurdle in the path,” Shin said, tugging at the ring to prove his point. It didn’t move, “thus it won’t come off. Your own logic proves you are not meant to have the ring.”

“A hurdle in your path perhaps,” she went red in the cheeks, “but you have the ring on your finger, so obviously it wouldn’t-” she turned her head, “what is that?”

“What is what?” Shin asked innocently, fairly certain that the ‘what’ she was talking about was either Ash sweeping through the estate with his power or Layaent really, really upset. No amount of power had ever kept Shin safe from Layaent’s foul moods.

“That,” she stood as Layaent stepped into the room, “you-”

“Don’t bother,” Layaent snapped as Ash stepped in behind him, “Ash.”

She jumped like someone was throwing explosives at her, leaping out of the way and throwing up her hands. Peaking over her arms, she blinked at Ash.

“That’s all?” she asked.

“Don’t bother,” Layaent snapped again, “he’s a carrier of a power bound virus.”

Her eyes moved from Ash, to Layaent, “pass that by me again?”

“He’s a carrier of a power bound virus.”

“As in?”

“He touches your mind, you go mad and kill yourself,” Layaent muttered.

Eyes wide, she bolted, throwing a hand at Ash. Tile shattered near Ash’s feet as she fled out the rear door. Shin stood and looked from the door she had escaped from and to Layaent, not fully comprehending what was going on.

“What? I wanted a witness not a-”

“Bri,” Ash called out, “gray eyes, under six feet and light brown hair.”

“I thought her eyes were blue,” Layaent muttered.

Bri walked in, writing things down on a piece of paper as she came into the room. Having written down the description, she tucked the paper into her pocket and looked around the males.

“So,” she said, “did we learn anything?”

“She thinks the ring has had something to do with everything that has happened and wants it to get to the Emperor’s treasury out in the wilds. She also implied that the ring is stuck on my finger because she wants the ring and I don’t want her to have the ring. It was almost entirely complete nonsense.”

“Doesn’t sound like nonsense to me,” Ash murmured, “sounds like a logical explanation. The ring keeps you alive any way it can and if that means it has to wipe out a family to keep you alive, why not?”

“I can spread the description around and see what comes up,” Bri murmured, “does that description sound familiar to any of you?”

“What description?” Ash asked.

Shin struggled back and couldn’t recall the description that had been called out to Bri. It was so strange, the description had been called out as the woman had left. If it had been talked about as she left, then it really should be in his memory, should it not?

“Purple.” Shin said.

“What?” Bri asked, obviously confused.

“She was wearing purple both times,” Shin said, “maybe it’s a thing with her. Purple.”

“Right,” Bri said, pulling out her paper, “gray eyes, under six feet, light brown hair.”

“Doesn’t sound familiar,” Layaent said, “who fits that description?”

Bri groaned and put the paper back into her pocket, “I was really hoping that would ring a bell for you three.”

“Purple,” Shin insisted, “I remember purple.”

“The guide at the museum was wearing a purple choker,” Ash murmured suddenly.

“Purple,” Bri looked at Ash, “Purple is our key? Well. I suppose we’ll have to work with what we’ve got to work with.”

***

“Shin,” Ash pulled Shin to the side of the hall as family members passed by, “look. About the ring.”

“What about it?” Shin asked, looking down at the metal band on his finger.

“Whatever she said, it.” Ash sighed as Shin gave him a funny look, “I’m not here because the ring has kept me here. Anything that happens between you and I, that’s not the ring. It’s us.”

Shin frowned, looking down at the ring for a very long time, “well, nothing has actually happened between us anyhow and nothing will happen.”

Ash tilted Shin’s face upward, deciding that he had to do this for himself. He needed to know that his fate was in his own hands, that was all it was, he told himself. He leaned in close and pressed his lips against Shin’s, a chaste kiss, compared to what he had done before, that lingered for a moment before he pulled away. Shin’s eyes stayed closed for a moment longer, leaning in towards Ash.

The young man pulled straight and cleared his throat, looking around them as he tugged his shirt down, “we should get to the dining hall. Joral promised that if I showed up on time he would give me actual food to eat.”

“Right, I was there when the message was delivered,” Ash murmured in response, motioning towards the dining hall.

Shin began walking and Ash fell in beside as Shin said, “we can talk after dinner, just not now. Not. Here. Where everyone can, you know, see us.”

“Alright,” Ash muttered as they stepped into the dining hall, “whatever you say.”

Maybe Shin didn’t know that it was an insult to just dismiss a kiss in such a manner. The dining hall wasn’t the place to bring up the subject, most especially with the council of six already sitting and waiting for everyone else to enter the hall. Shin was directed to sit at one end of the table, by the larger backed seat and beside Layaent, the new head of Shin’s immediate family. Ash was directed to sit by, of all people, Taya with the underage children on the other side of the table.

On the other side of the table.

Joral, as he entered, made eye contact with Ash and then looked at Shin and got a look on his face. An odd little smirk that implied that Joral knew what had happened in the hallway. Ash had to wonder if that was why he was sitting beside Taya and someone who proudly introduced himself as Mei.

“Why do you look like you were chewing on a lemon?” Mei said in that adorably innocent tone that came naturally to commoner children but genetic children picked up all too quickly.

Which was a problem, as Ash had no idea if Mei was actually asking an innocent question or if Taya had put Mei up to it. While Taya seemed innocent enough most of the time, he had been warned several times about the girl’s attachment to her older brother. Ten years old and she had most of the adults wrapped around her finger.

Personally Ash thought that Taya was on her way to the infirmary as a nurse. Being a nurse had more benefits than a nanny, like the ability to have children of one’s own, for example.

“I did not chew on a lemon,” Ash said quietly in return.

“What did you do?” Taya asked quickly as water was served to everyone.

“I,” Ash nodded to the servant who poured him a glass of water, “kissed Shin and he brushed me off. Said we had to go to dinner and we could talk about it after dinner.”

“How is that a brush off?” Taya responded.

“What’s a brush off?” Mei asked as he was served some sort of frozen puree.

“What’s he eating?” Ash asked Taya, jabbing a finger at the orange coloured ice scoops in the bowl. It looked a lot more edible than the tablets that the Ishteshtin family served at the end of their dinner meals. Shin, down at the other end of the table was getting a plate of food and, Ash noted grumpily, everyone else at the underage side of the table was being served the iced food.

“It’s fruit puree mixed with vitamins and necessary minerals as well as a random assortment of antibiotics that we need because we weren’t breastfed,” Taya said, scooping up a small amount with a spoon, “did you know if a genetic breast fed her child for one month it would save six years of antibiotics and nutrients?”

“Really? Because my mother breastfed me for a year and a half,” Ash said, “what’s that do for my immunity?”

“Do tweakers,” Mei said, then scooped more of his iced puree into his mouth, swallowed, licked his lips and continued, “do tweakers care for their own children? My nurse said. She said. She said that tweakers let their children wallow in mud and run around without clothing.”

“Well,” Ash said, turning his attention to Mei, “my mother did not let me wallow in mud but with how quickly we grow, there’s no point in buying or making clothing, by the time we got it home, they’d no longer fit.” Mei blinked at him, “she also taught me that genetic children aren’t idiots.”

Mei glared at Ash and scraped up a big spoon of the puree, he put it into his mouth and moaned around it, “so good to eat solid food. Mm.”

“You’re evil, Taya, he’s evil. You’re older than him, can you like,” Ash made a jabbing motion.

“No,” Taya said quietly, eating a little of her puree, “I’m upset because I’m not supposed to be over here at the underage table. I’m supposed to be eating with the adults. But my tests came back and my white blood count is low and my antibodies aren’t at the right level so I have to eat this stuff for another six months and then go back for the tests.”

“So you’re upset.”

“Yes, I am. Most don’t need it past age ten, I’m almost eleven and I’m still eating it.” Taya placed her spoon back into the puree and sipped her water instead, “I don’t like it.”

“Why not,” Ash murmured, “see if the staff can make you some sort of drink instead of the puree? Who says you have to have your vitamins and stuff in a puree form? Have a drink.”

“Because if you drink,” Mei said, drawing Ash’s attention back to him, “your digestive system doesn’t work properly, it doesn’t start up. The tablets they take don’t start up the digestive tract enough to burn calories but delivers some nutrients. For us, we need more nutrients because we’re growing. So the tract has to actually start working which means solid food.”

“From the ages of ten to fourteen,” Taya growled, “we drink water and are dismissed from making mistakes, it’s the learning period for interacting with the family and learning how things work. At fourteen we usually hit puberty, at which time we’re given food, solid, real food. We eat that for anywhere between two and five years, then go back to water.”

“Only to hit second growth within a year,” Ash reminded her.

“Well.” Taya said, “yes, but second growth isn’t usually,” she looked down at Shin, then back at Ash, “usually it’s water and usual meal time behaviour and you get a bit of food in your room. I’ve not heard of anyone who eats like him.”

“Happens all the time with tweakers,” Ash informed her, “I had a cousin once who ate non-stop for four days.”

“Oh, what happened to him?” Taya asked, “I only ask because you said you had a cousin.”

“At the end of the four days he entered his growth state. His bones grew so fast he was in pain, a foot in twelve hours he grew. But because he was growing so quickly, he curled up to ease the ache on his muscles. Didn’t stretch, just stayed curled up. Except his muscles grew to accommodate his curled form so when the pain abated and he uncurled his muscles tore and he had massive internal bleeding.”

Taya’s eyes grew wide, “didn’t my brother grow really fast?”

“Yes, he did,” Ash said quietly, “but I recalled my cousin and a few other cases. I knew what to do and he was, for the most part, cooperative. He did as I told him to and he’s pulled through alright. I haven’t seen him do much more than walking, but he’s alive and he can walk without hurting himself.”

“Oh,” Taya said, nodding, “so you haven’t done what adults do behind closed doors?”

To which Mei said, “what do adults do behind closed doors?”

Ash had been in the middle of sipping his water. He coughed and set the glass back onto the table, “I hardly think it is my place to discuss with you what adults do behind closed doors.”

“Why?” Mei asked.

“Because,” Taya said, talking around Ash, “he and brother aren’t doing what adults do behind closed doors so he’s flustered about it. That’s what happens when males don’t get to do what adults do behind closed doors.”

“Why?”

“Because their brains are connected to their-” Taya happened to be sitting beside an adult, who had, apparently, been paying attention to the conversation and had turned at the moment the word was about to come out of Taya’s mouth and placed a hand over Taya’s mouth as she said it. Taya glared at the adult’s hand and batted it away, “and that stops them from thinking properly.”

“That’s very sexist, Taya,” Ash said quietly, “males are not all about that part of life, it’s not fair to judge the flock by a few.”

“Well, oldest brother said that to me, so how is it sexist?” Taya asked.

Which was where the immaturity of a child mingled with the openness of a genetic household. Taya didn’t understand why what she was saying was wrong. She was repeating what her brother had told her without actually contemplating what she said. How could she understand what a male was like without being closely involved with a male?

“It’s something that you will come to understand as you age.” Ash said.

Taya glared at him and picked up her spoon, “I am old enough to understand what parts of a male go where.”

“Your brother doesn’t have female parts,” Ash grumbled, “and that is one of the reasons I like him.”

Through a mouthful of puree Taya asked, “then what do you do with him?”

“Hmm?” Ash asked, picking up his glass.

“Tell me what you do with him, or I’ll tell you that you told me that you like him.”

“I don’t do anything with your brother, older or younger,” Ash responded blandly and focused on his water.

He watched his glass of water the entire rest of the dinner, pointedly ignoring Taya’s demanding question until she finally stopped asking Ash things. Instead, Taya turned to the adult beside her and began a conversation about the rights and privileges of tweakers. Teaching a youth information through a carefully led conversation.

After the tablets had been served and the family was filing out, Ash was caught by Layaent and ask to stay behind. Ash did as he was told, and waited for nearly everyone to file out. Shin, Joral and Layaent remained behind along with the council of six.

“Ash, Shin, please sit,” the Ishteshtin representative said, motioning to the two seats that were across from him.

Shin glanced at Ash, but did as he was asked. Ash sat beside Shin and looked to Layaent, but the man had his back to the table. Which gave Ash absolutely nothing to play off of and was likely the point.

“Ash, Shin, yes, you too. This council has yet to thank you for your deeds. Despite what stood against you, despite the fact that you were looking into a genetic family the pair of you stood strong. Shin, if it had not been for your investigation, whatever the cause of it, this council would still be blind to the Meita crimes. Ash, if it had not been for your testimony to this council, about what the Meita had done, not only to the law but to the tweakers themselves, we may not have been able to remove them from power. No matter what the coming months brings, we want you to know that we are truly and utterly thankful for the services you rendered for this council in shining a light on the corruption that had been festering away at our own society.”

Shin frowned. The young man’s eyes were locked on the Ishteshtin representative’s hands. The council member was a fast talker, that much Ash knew instantly. But it took a moment longer for Ash to realise why Shin was frowning, he was having trouble translating such fast movements. Most of the tenth generation had slowed down their sign language, either to try to communicate to Shin or through some other fad. The council of six, however, was made up of seventh and eighth generations. In their time, sign language was new and was something to be done quickly behind a teacher’s back.

“Shin,” Ash leaned over to the young man, “I’ll explain afterwards, just smile and be gracious.”

Obviously not liking what he was being told, Shin straightened and nodded to the Ishteshtin representative.

The older man paused, watching Shin, he turned to Ash and asked very quickly, “is there something the matter with Shin’s mind that he does not understand what this council is trying to say?”

“No,” Ash said as if he were speaking to a commoner, “Shin’s not damaged, he was simply not given the chance to learn every aspect of our society. You talk very fast for him, council member.”

Frowning, Ishteshtin looked to his right, then to his left. The Meita council member was sitting to the left and his hands did a flurry of movement so quick that even Ash couldn’t have translated, had he been asked to. Obviously this was something the council did, a silent consulting in the middle of a session.

“Ah,” Ishteshtin looked back to Ash, “this council perfectly understands, however, this council is not well suited to speaking commoner. As he has trouble understanding us, we have trouble understanding your commoner speak. Please, you may translate for him later.”

“As the council wishes.” Ash said. Shin would still understand a majority of what was going on, because the words were still spoken. But the tone would be off and Shin might think the council members were being flighty or even annoyed as they spoke. What translated as stress and fatigue for Ash would, Ash realised with cold dread, translate as annoyance and frustration to a commoner, and thus Shin.

“As per the requests of certain groups who represent the six genetic families to the public,” Ash stiffened as he noticed another oddity. The council member didn’t actually say ‘the six genetic families,’ he listed off the families and the very specific groups. Ash’s mind was simply snipping out the information he didn’t need and smoothing out what was left over. He tried very hard to pay attention, what was important to him was likely not as important to Shin, “this council of six members has agreed to partake and go forward with many inquiries and investigations into any allegation and to post the results in the public forum of the governing body’s choice.” Ash translated as ‘this council has agreed to investigate every family and post the results publicly.’

What an odd world he lived in, once he looked at it from the outside.

“Four, two and six allegations have been made against the noble Ishteshtin line, the line that has existed for ten generations and has never before been accused of a four and a six allegation. This council of six was very unnerved, that one family such as the Ishteshtin line, could possibly be accused of such things. That pairing of allegations, four and six, made against this family, this Ishteshtin line, are not for your concerns.

“The two allegation is,” Ishteshtin looked at Shin, “Shin, of the Ishteshtin line, this council of six was very disheartened to hear such allegations made against a tenth generation youth such as Shin of Ishteshtin.”

Shin’s eyes narrowed, the young man moved his attention from the Ishteshtin representative’s hands and to the man’s face, “what is a class two felony?”

Joral closed his eyes, “The murder of another through the use of power.”

“But. Who would I even want to murder?” Shin protested, “I don’t even know anyone who has died!”

“Your parents,” Ash said quietly.

“There’s no proof that they are dead,” Shin countered, “they could be very much alive and simply lost in the wilds or if they are dead, it was likely the smack to the head that my father suffered when chasing you and the wasps that Mysh brought with him through the forest and then falling over a cliff and into a raging river.

“The council does not seriously suggest that I somehow drew the wasps with power and then sent them after my mother then threw her off a cliff to somehow hide the evidence that wasn’t even on her body to begin with? Or. Or do you presume that I made a tree sprout out of the ground and age hundreds of years so that my father would run straight into it, headfirst, as he chased Ash through the woods? Or are you instead suggesting that these things were simply a cover, that the blood on the tree and that the tale that Ash and I told you was in fact that, a tale?”

“This council of six hears the allegation and must investigate,” Ishteshtin murmured, “thus, this council of six will be travelling to the honoured Ishteshtin estate in the wilds and conducting a full investigation into the allegation of two placed on one Shin Ishteshtin. This investigation, as per the rules of conduct created by this council of six some seven generations ago, created by the original council of six, must be paid for, in full, by one Shin Ishteshtin. Should the one being accused of such an allegation not be capable of paying this bill, we ask the honoured Ishteshtin line to help pay the expenses to keep this one, this Shin Ishteshtin from going bankrupt in the process of what this council of six is certain a false accusation.

“To be fair, Shin, if this council believed that you had murdered the parents of Shin Ishteshtin using powers inherited from your genetic predecessors, this council would have ordered an execution be laid upon this Shin, this tenth generation’s head.”

“I would be dead already.”

“Would not have made it back to the city alive.”


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