Tweak

Shin woke the next morning and showered. His limbs moved more easily, he had to admit that, and he had slept soundly. Though waking to Ash curled up on the floor, leg twitching from some dream the male was having was very strange.

By the time he got out of the shower, Ash was sitting down to a light breakfast with a larger one for Shin. The pair ate in silence, only after the dishes were removed, did Ash speak.

“Could you do a lookup on the ring today? On the internet I mean?” Ash asked.

Shin blinked at Ash, “that’s our best resource? The internet?”

“What, did you look it up before you stole it?”

“No, I just thought it was a magnificent idea, that it would hide my powers. I don’t even recall what gave me that idea in the first place, so I’m guessing it was the thief.”

“Unfortunately it is our best resource,” Ash muttered, “Bri doesn’t exactly have the ranking to give her access to resources that you can’t find on the internet. You’re the one with the highest clearance, so. Really, you’re our best resource.”

Shin sighed and moved to his computer, “I don’t like searching the net. People always want to video chat with me.”

“Just. Don’t worry so much,” Ash responded, “I’m going to be sitting right beside you, the entire time.”

He plugged his cell phone into the side of the computer. It was the only way to access the internet and any incoming calls would be changed automatically to video calls. Which always startled Shin, because he never answered incoming phone calls and the computer automatically picked up every call.

Shin checked through his email. Ahta had sent an email stating that no one seemed to recall anything except for the colour blind janitor who happened to be cleaning the room at ten at night while Ahta basically held her employees hostage for information. The janitor gave a description. Just under six feet, light coloured hair, sort of the shade of gray as someone who had light brown hair, and eyes, with no colour stated for the eyes besides gray because there was no comparison. She had been wearing a neck to toe to wrist in a tight dress and had even been wearing gloves.

When asked if she behaved oddly, the janitor had scratched his head and asked what oddly meant, in terms of a power user’s behaviour. The display had eaten a meal, answered all the questions and pretended to get into some other clothing while a worker watched.

Ahta said the only explanation was that the display used the power of suggestion and everyone’s minds filled in the details. If one is expecting to see a brand, one doesn’t look too closely at the brand itself.

Shin relayed the information to Ash, then closed the email and brought up a search engine. There were a lot of responses. Every myth, legend and such about the ring. Instead of wading through it all for a possible truth, Shin clicked the little scholar button on the search engine and immediately weeded out everything but academic information.

The available links went down to a whole ten. Nine of which were for the same person so Shin clicked one of the links. That link, sadly, was actually a phone number. A man picked up, glasses perked on the tip of his nose, gray hair standing at all ends. The man was old, like a first generation who hadn’t been altered.

“Erpof Shayus here, what can I do for you?” brown eyes peered down at the caller id, “Ishteshtin. That’s different, a genetic calling me about the ring.”

“How did you know-”

“The only thing I know, boyo, is the ring, I’m a ring scholar. My thesis was on the ring, my four published works are on the ring and the notations on my walls,” he motioned over his shoulder to the papers pegged to his wall, “are all on the ring. There’s nothing else you could be calling me about.”

“Alright, I’ll admit that I’m calling you about the ring,” Shin muttered, “I’m wondering what would happen, if someone stole the ring then put it on.”

“Assuming they don’t die, that the ring doesn’t consume their power or twist them in such a way that the people around them would notice them being the thief of the ring,” Erpof paused, “that would make them the sixth user to control the ring’s powers. Let me tell you about the previous five.”

“Why?”

“To explain.” Erpof shook his head, “youth, always wanting to run about the actual story. The ring has had five previous owners. The first was Ouiooaya, a peasant who was said to be visited by God herself, who came from the heavens and handed over the ring. He was a martyr, you may have heard of him, burnt at the stake for blasphemy against the belief that there were no gods.

“The second person took the ring from the ashes and placed it on his finger. Aeoouea ruled almost half the national land mass when he took on a little slave boy. The slave boy took the ring from Aeoouea’s cold dead finger and wore it for nearly two hundred years. You know this boy better as the Emperor.

“When he died, the ring passed hands several times. Killing everyone who wore it. A young man put the ring on, Iiyaouioo, and became the master conductor. In his will, he gifted the ring to his lover; the lover wore the ring and took the name Ayaoieoo. He painted hundreds of canvases before he lit his home on fire, destroying all but a few of the images and most of Iiyaouioo’s work as well.

“At Ayaoieoo’s death, the ring was bequeathed, with most of his assets, to the National Museum. Star metal was destroyed slowly and the ring stayed on display.”

“What did they all have in common?”

“Nothing! The Emperor is the only one who had power. Ouiooaya was blind. Aeoouea was a tyrant with one testicle. Iiyaouioo was blind while Ayaoieoo was psychologically disturbed. There was nothing in common between these five before they put the ring on. After they did,” the man shrugged, “a whole world of possibilities opened up to them. No one could question them, no one could stand in their way.

“The ring’s power, you must realise, lies in the desires of the wearer. Power isn’t needed, but it can amplify the uses of the ring. The Emperor had instant action from the ring, he is the most influential of the five because of his power. Of the other four, the fastest reaction time was twenty years for the ring’s bearer to gain anything noticeable. The Emperor gained within moments of wearing the ring. Named leader of the mini nation Aeoouea had built because there was no heir and the ring didn’t kill him.”

“How do you get the ring off?”

Erpof snorted, “get it off? My boy, if you’ve put the ring on, you and it are bonded for life, no exceptions, no refunds, no take backs.”

“I never said I was the bearer.”

Erpof blinked at Shin, “then how did you know that it wouldn’t come off? It took me thirty years of study for me to realise why the Emperor owned the ring so long, because no one could steal it. Why did no one succeed in killing the Emperor? Because he was one with the ring.

“There have been many stories of the Emperor, each saying that the good lord was bound with his master and was of one flesh with his protector. Many have taken that to mean that the Emperor was his own master, his own protector, but it was the ring.

“If we view the ring as a gift from God, then we must admit that God exists and that she has very specific plans for our race, plans that are going according to plan. And if we view the ring as a gift from God, we must ask the very basic question. What is the use of giving the ring to you, who are not pure of race and are, in fact, a mix of several different species?”

“He’s a pure breed,” Ash muttered from beside Shin.

“Damn right I am. But as a view from God, we must admit that you are not her people. Almost no one is. Thus, if you have it, and word got out amongst religious scholars, then the debate for genetic versus the desires of God would be brought up. If you are a bearer of the ring of God, then God must bless the genetics or have a use for you beyond your simple life.”

“It doesn’t have to be a ring from God,” Shin responded.

“Who else, in a bronze age, could have melted star metal? Considering the fact that the ring was not identified as star metal until the Emperor’s time. Star metal itself was not smelted until a hundred years after the Emperor’s death. There are six, six pointed stars on the side of the ring, the most important number for God, it is her special number.

“Our civilization was said to have an apocalypse at the end of six hundred years, when that didn’t happen, it was the end of six thousand years. We’re still four thousand years off of that one,” Erpof sat back in his seat, “There have been five users of the ring and you would be the sixth. For the past ten years, the whole world of the ring and religion have been hypothetical scenarios about what will happen with the next ring bearer.

“And yes, we knew it was coming, we figured it would happen about now and we had even considered hiring someone to do it ourselves, to get the ring out of the government ‘safe’ which is not a safe at all. They planned to melt down the ring, and the ring can’t have that when it’s job isn’t finished.”

“You suggest the ring has a mind of it’s own?”

“Ayaoieoo tried slicing his wrists, drinking poison, jumping from a building, hanging himself and drowning himself in the bathtub before someone told him how the first bearer died,” Erpof muttered, “the only thing the ring cannot prevent is fire. It’s the only way you’ll die. Some little evidence has suggested that if someone is touching you, that protective ability is spread to the other person.”

“Are you absolutely certain there is no way to take it off? What about cutting off the finger?” Shin asked.

Erpof snorted, “go ahead and try. Just make certain that the person who wields the knife is someone you want dead. Power bounces off of people who wear the ring, bullets haven’t been tried yet, but I’m guessing it will just annoy the bearer. If it doesn’t cause a reaction like the last battle.”

“Last battle?” Ash asked.

“The last battle, the last one the Emperor fought, the one that destroyed the last city state and unified the nation. He made a hundred thousand men disappear in a cloud of red. The battle also killed fifty thousand of the Emperor’s own men, the backlash struck those who witnessed what the Emperor actually did. No one who was within sight of the Emperor survived.”

“Ah.”

“Basically,” Erpof said, adjusting in his seat, “if you’re wearing it, if your sister is wearing it, if your dog is wearing it, it doesn’t matter. The ring isn’t coming off. You can’t cut it off or pull it off. No amount of grease will get that sucker off. You, your sister, your dog, the bearer is stuck with the ring.

“For better or worse, ‘til death do you part.”

“Love how you make that sound like a marriage.”

“Treat it like it is one. Give and take, a balance of what you want against what the ring wants. If you want it and the ring wants it, it will come about faster, much faster and with less bumps along the way. If you want to kill yourself and the ring wants you to live, you’ll wake up with one hell of a headache and your life.”

“So the bearer just has to wish something?” Shin asked.

“Not that simple. It’s something about subconscious wants and desires versus what is in the way combined with what the ring needs and wants. You must understand, one cannot simply wish for a pie and have the pie appear through some power driven source. It is much like asking God for a pie. God might show you the berries and the wheat, but she won’t come down and bake you a pie because she’s not your servant. The ring will show you the way to what you want, but you have to be the one to recognise it for what it is and to do something about it.

“It’s just a very simple question of what you want. From there all you have to do is keep your eyes open for an opportunity to get what you want.”

***

Ash didn’t understand why Shin had looked so very confused when Erpof had told Shin about the ring’s powers. All Shin needed was to recognise the options to gain what he wanted. After the call with the mad pure bred ended, Ash called Bri and explained about the call. She made acknowledging sounds and only asked one question.

“What’s a pure bred.”

“They’re a special breed. Through sanctities and religious rights, they’ve obtained special licence from the government to not have their children altered. Their children are conceived the old fashioned way and born the old fashioned way. They are, in their own words, as God, created in her image and not the other way around. Most are anti-alterations and every once in a while you’ll hear about the Pure rallies.”

“Never have,” Bri muttered around something crunchy.

Ash glanced at the clock on the night table. It was about Bri’s usual lunch time. Shin had gone for a walk, deciding that he didn’t want to sit around the room all day again. Ash had lost track of time and days, time was such a fluid thing. With no longer having to punch in and out for work and not being around second and third generations, who needed to eat or drink every few hours, Ash was quickly finding himself out of place. The Ishteshtin family did not stress working for half an hour then running for an hour. There was no strict regiment or schedule to their days.

“Well Pure rallies were more a back home thing, since the reserves are right by us. A hundred or so families are on the massive reserve-”

“Wait, is that what the reserve is about? I though it was a bunch of people who were native to the land before the Emperor and so they had a claim on the land.”

“Some of them are, a majority moved there during zero generation. They didn’t want their children to be altered so they petitioned. Rights of freedom and such granted to the people before the alterations stated that no one could force a change like that on anyone else. So they formed the reserved. They’ll have rallies every once in a while.”

“Why?”

“Because zero generation’s genetic material is still on file and scheduled for destruction. They’re rallying to get the material saved for those of them who want to, you know-” Ash frowned as Layaent walked into the room as if he owned the place, “use that genetic material to broaden their own genetic pool. To prevent inbreeding…”

“Finish on the phone,” Layaent grumbled.

“Bri, I have to go,” Ash said quickly, “call in tonight if you hear anything, would you?”

“Will do.”

Ash closed his phone and watched Layaent pace across the room several times, hands running through his hair. Which meant that Layaent was truly, entirely worried. The man never paced, ever.

“What’s wrong?”

“My lover came to visit today,” Layaent said.

“So?”

“I’ve not seen her in nine months.”

“And?” Ash said, not immediately making the connection.

“She is heavily pregnant and claims the child is mine. Joral is having a fit. Genetics and commoners aren’t allowed to breed across and she told me she was infertile.”

“Sometimes infertility isn’t permanent,” Ash said quickly, “sometimes nature is just like ‘surprise! Not as infertile as you thought you were!’ it’s not your fault, she should have been on the pill. I mean, you’re not even breed-able yet. Not for what, another five years?”

“My genetic material is viable.”

“Wait,” Ash stood from the bed, “you’re telling me that she took your genetic material, took your lazy, underage boys and made herself a baby?”

“We’re waiting to see if I’m viable. It’s possible that I just matured early,” Layaent said quickly.

Genetics and tweakers could make children, via science, early in their lives. Females came to breeding maturity around twenty-five. Or, more of, the tenth generation females were predicted to come to breeding maturity around twenty-five. Their eggs could be harvested no earlier than twenty.

Males were predicted to come to sexual maturity at thirty with certain predictors making it earlier or later. Layaent was labelled as a late bloomer. As in, past the age of thirty.

This all meant that if a female tweaker and a male genetic got together and the female was twenty and the male was twenty-five, there was no way for a child to be conceived via sexual intercourse. Thus an infertile commoner and a sexually immature genetic male could not create a child the old fashioned way. As soon as a male or female hit sexual maturity, they began taking contraceptives to prevent any mistakes.

A recent, generational experiment proved that the tweaker and genetic families could still conceive children without the aid of science. The children would not be perfected in any way, would not be polished off with an alteration or two but at the same time it had been found that the children born carried the alterations of their parents. Biological standards were lowered, not as well constructed as the standards given in a lab, but the standards were still there, were still functional to some degree.

“You managed to-” Ash stopped speaking as Layaent glared at him. No, Layaent had not done his business into a cup, he had been stuck with a needle. Ouch.

“She’s heavy with child, about to give birth at any moment. The only reason they didn’t take my balls then and there was because she told Joral that I had no idea that she was pregnant. I know I’m not able, they tested me a few months ago. She stole my genetic material!”

“What are you going to do about the child?”

“I don’t know,” Layaent sighed and sat beside Ash, “Joral said that we will have to wait and see what is born before we can make any claims. If it is viable, he said, then we can discuss my role in its life.”

“How long?”

“For the test results? Another hour or so. For the child? She expects to go into labour at any moment, which is why she came here, now. So that we will pay for the child’s birth and have to acknowledge it. Once it’s born, it will be tested for paternity.”

“Oh.”

“I came here because Shin was supposed to be here. Why is he out of his room? What’s he doing?”

“Walking the garden, why were you looking for him?”

“Because the paternity test goes to the genetic investigator, Shin will be the one dealing with the child’s tests. I’d like him to know what is going on and why he’s getting these results in.”

“You also want to bribe him.”

“Not bribe him. You can’t really bribe Shin, which is why the family likes giving him such high ranking positions. Shin can’t be bought. He can barely be scared into giving out information and then he’ll only give out information that affects him alone.” Layaent sighed, “I was going to try to connect with him as a brother and maybe appeal to his belief of family is more important than a job. Maybe get the results earlier than Joral does.”

Shin slipped into the room, frowning at the floor as he closed the door. The young man kicked off his shoes at the door and looked up, frown deepening. He looked at Layaent and his lips pressed into a thin line.

“What do you want?” Shin asked Layaent.

“Nothing,” Layaent said, noticing Shin’s mood, “are you alright? You look upset.”

“The ring is permanently bonded with me,” Shin responded, leaning against the wall, “it reacts to what I want on a subconscious level and what’s in my way.”

“Well, that’s useful for you,” Layaent said, “You can get whatever you want.”

“Sure. It’s like, whatever, right? The ring will do what it wants and then supposedly I’ll end up better for it in the end. Can’t be killed or something like that and if I try really hard I’ll succeed. My power will amplify the uses of the ring. That kind of thing.” Shin shrugged.

Layaent sighed, “You have no idea what you want, do you?”

“What?” Shin looked at Layaent.

“You have no idea what you want. You’re just sort of stumbling through life, hoping things don’t go terribly wrong. Shin, it’s fine. Really. Almost no one your age actually knows what they want. Not for life long goals or something permanent. All you’re built to care about is eating, growing and learning. Just build from what you’re interested in. You want Ash?”

Shin blushed just slightly, “I don’t know.”

“Right, so you do but you don’t want him if he doesn’t want you, that’s normal too. How about a job? Find your job interesting?”

“Sort of.”

“Were you more interested anywhere else?”

Shin chewed his lip for a moment, “in the wilds. I. I felt alive in the wilds. My body made sense out there, my muscles were used and the most basic instincts are what will keep you alive. The forest doesn’t care if you’re young or old or how much money you make. It doesn’t want to hear about how you’re a genetic and it can’t treat you as it does.”

“See, you want to feel like you have a proper, real purpose in life. That’s completely normal as well, you just have to come to be comfortable with the idea that you can have what you want. Anyone in the family can have what they want. They just have to ask.”

“But I’m not in the wilds,” Shin said quickly, “I’m here, at the family estate and I’ve a job to do. I have to pay for the council of six to investigate me. I’ve a duty to my family to do my job, earn money for the family and pass on my genetic material to whomever is chosen for me.”

“This is the problem when you allow someone to be anti-social,” Ash said to Layaent before turning his attention to Shin, “the families are more than willing to shuttle people to wherever they are more interested. A person who is bored does less work and there is work to be had everywhere, including the wilds. Trips for genetic material aren’t just made by the companies themselves. Tweakers and genetics often go with the companies, to protect the lesser generations that make up the workers belonging to such companies.”

“There’s an outreach program,” Layaent said to Shin, “for genetics and tweakers. We learn how to survive in the wilds, which really doesn’t take much effort on our part. Then we try to teach third generations how to survive. Though, the mortality rate of the third generations is about eighty percent. I don’t think you’d enjoy that part of the program.”

“Why…” Shin muttered.

“We have an overpopulation problem, in case you hadn’t noticed.” Layaent muttered, “even the genetic families are overpopulated and we try to keep births down. How many children a person has is a marking of their worth, so the more worthy a person is, the more children we have to give them. Except if we give the elder three children, those three children each need at least two children and such on. We need someplace else to move our children and their children into and the wilds are looking better and better.”

.