Tweak

Ice made it better. Ice and eating like a mad man. He sat in a tub of ice water, more ice than water, eating a full chicken dinner, with a full chicken, and relaxed as much as he could. The lights flickered overhead as he relaxed. He yanked control back to himself as his younger sister came into the bathroom as if she owned the place.

“Shin!”

“Tayatanettanet!”

She put her hands on her hips as he grabbed the washcloth and stuffed it under the water to cover himself. Taya didn’t like being called by her full name but it annoyed her and her walking in on him annoyed him so it was a fair trade off.

“I brought you a present and that’s the way you treat me?” she asked.

“I’m sorry but-” he knew that Taya had been planning on buying him a replica of the star metal ring. He also knew the man Taya had been buying the rings from and the man’s daughter and the daughter’s boyfriend, “you know I don’t like you walking in on me, especially right now.”

“You eat funny. If you’re so worried about getting dirty, why not use a bib?” she asked, frowning at the tub. One eyebrow went up, “is that ice.”

“Yes, it makes it better.”

“You have a fever?”

“Yes.”

“Ohwenta had a fever. Turns out, he had power.”

“Some people just have a fever,” he growled, “are you going to give me my present, or not?”

“Oh, this?” she held out the ring box with two hands.

Shin sat up in the tub and took the ring box carefully. His fingers tingled, anticipation drifted through him. Opening the box, Shin smiled down at the ring. Pulling the ring out with his left hand, he slid it onto his right middle finger. Nothing happened. Absolutely nothing.

He didn’t explode, he didn’t gain power or lose it, things were simply. As they had been before.

“Thank you, Taya,” he smiled and tried to take the ring off. It hugged at the flesh of his finger and refused to budge. It wasn’t just stuck because it was too small, it was attached to his skin.

Well, at least he knew he had the real thing.

“Oh, is it too small?” his sister looked like she might cry. And knowing Taya, she would, because she was a perfectionist and something not working properly meant that she was upset. Taya, when upset, got really upset. She sobbed and cried and would hide herself.

“No. Well. Might be in a few months, give the growing and all, but it’s nice and snug and I’ve been soaking all day so my fingers are all wrinkly and…”

“You’re bloated!”

“Yes,” sure, let her believe whatever she wanted. Taya was not the brightest kid around, but she was still just a kid. Ten years old and more than enough life ahead of her to be an adult, “it is a lovely gift and I am very grateful.”

The pair of them stared at one another for a long moment. Taya rocked back on her heels and watched him as he watched her.

“So, I suppose you want me to leave now?”

“Please, I’m sitting in a tub of ice, trying to eat, so yes, I would very much appreciate being left alone.”

“See you later, then,” Taya said before she nodded her head and left.

Shin waited until he heard his bedroom door close before he drifted deeper into the bath. Hands on the rim of the tub, he closed his eyes for a moment and felt the weight of the metal on his finger. A popular trend amongst everyone his age, the ring would not be particularly noticeable, especially since Taya had been giving them to everyone in the family who had come of age.

He reached over and gave the ring a little tug. It didn’t move. Too bad, he had really wanted it on his left hand like a majority of the common folk were wearing it. The genetics were wearing the ring on their right hand, wearing it opposite of the commoners, to set themselves apart. Well, once the ring’s absence was noticed, he would be even less of a suspect because he was the same as all the others.

Shin sat up and swung the tray of food over the tub. The marvels of modern civilization. He pulled the remaining leg off of the chicken. He tore the meat off with his teeth and chewed, moaning at the delicious taste. Salt was a marvel. And the spices on the chicken were just magnificent, absolutely magnificent. So much more flavour than the food tablets.

The stripped bone went on the plate beside the other bones and he picked up the fork. Potatoes were creamy and light, airy and flavoured with garlic. Corn boiled and removed from the cob. All in all, he ate enough food to feed a third generation for several days. Enough to feed an entire genetics family for over a month.

It over filled him and made him feel tired, so very tired.

He slid his arms into the tub and relaxed.. With the heat finally calmed, his stomach no longer growling, he felt content.

But he had work to do, paperwork to keep up on. With Meshnan dead, the family plot had to be adjusted, a new head of the household would be appointed and everyone’s ranks were shifting upward by one level. Which meant Shin all of a sudden had to learn the genetics labs and take part in the plotting of the new generations. Hybrids and research was his especial focus, which meant he would be working with the tweakers for several years before he was put in charge of the genetic lines.

Groaning, Shin climbed out of the warming tub and onto his thick bath rug. He patted himself dry with an expensive towel made of northern cotton then dropped the towel into the laundry basket. He walked into his bedroom utterly naked.

His horizontal blinds were opened, allowing the sunlight to come in. The windows were open, allowing air to flow in and shift the horizontal blinds. His bed was pushed against the wall, with the door of the room opening onto the left side of the bed and windows on the right side. At the end of the bed was a small table and a low chair. Atop the table was a computer and fourteen discs with the information Shin needed to study up on to begin his job.

Fourteen discs with seventy gigabytes of information on each one and that was just to get started in his new position. Shin popped a disc into the computer and allowed the system to load while he paced. His muscles ached, his legs itched and he wanted to run and leap. Shin hopped up and down several times, his muscles loosened up almost immediately. Shin thrust his hips forward and pushed his shoulders back, the position was almost comfortable.

He bent over backward and placed his hands on the floor. His weight shifted, legs coming off the ground as his body centered itself and he was doing a handstand. Shin lowered himself almost to the floor and then lifted his weight off again, until his arms were straight. He lowered and back up again.

“Shin?”

He toppled, hit the floor on his hip and smacked his nose on his carpet. Thick as the carpet was, it still hurt, and he was holding his nose as he stood and faced his eldest brother.

Oldest of the generation, a born and bred leader, Layaent was taller than anyone else, broader in the shoulders and hips and more muscled than any others. His hair was dark, as were his eyes. Layaent had taken on a few traits of the tweakers, longer canine teeth and eyes that weren’t quite the right colour. His breeding partner was expecting to be harvested any day and was one of four in contending for the first born of the eleventh generation.

“What are you doing?”

“Stretching?” Shin crossed the room to the wardrobe and pulled out a pair of pants. He put them on and turned back to his brother, trying to smile, “what can I do for you?”

“Mother said you were upset, that you had locked yourself in your room and refused to come out, mourning Meshnan‘s passing,” Layaent glanced around the room before he met Shin’s eyes, “I think that’s a bunch of bullshit, you are doing quite well at hiding your feelings. She also seems to think you are upset that you are being presented with a breeding partner.”

“I’m not upset about being presented with a -”

“I know.”

“Know what?”

“That you don’t like women. Shin, we’ve invited you multiple times to the after parties with the tweakers. Hot. Wild sex and here you are, still a virgin.” Layaent murmured, folding his hands in front of him. “it’s obviously not a problem with you missing balls or other necessary parts, as I have just found out.”

“It’s not-”

“Are you asexual, or homophobic?”

“I think you mean homosexual,” Shin said, “homophobic is the one who doesn’t like homosexual. It’s like hydrophobic.”

Layaent’s eyebrows raised, “so you aren’t homophobic?”

“No, I’m not and I’m asexual.”

“Do you like men?”

“I don’t.”

“Do… you like tweaks?”

“I’m asexual!”

Layaent simply stared at him. Shin clenched his jaw. Homosexuality hadn’t yet been linked to genetic or to raising, like power, it was placed as a case of nature. But the genetics still frowned on breeders being homosexual. It was expected that a breeding pair would draw close together to care for the children. Couples were created and would spend their entire lives together.

“Shin.” Layaent’s voice rolled across the room.

“What?”

“If you lie to me again, I will show you the difference between the first and second growth periods.”

“Resorting to threats is not your-”

Despite the fact that they were on opposite sides of the room, despite the fact that Layaent rarely moved and Shin had outrun him many times before, despite all that, the other man was across the room in a moment. Layaent slammed Shin into the floor, grabbed a handful of hair and pulled until Shin whimpered. Shin wrapped his hands around Layaent’s wrists and tried to alleviate the pull. Layaent twisted his hand, causing Shin to cry out.

“Are you a homosexual?”

“Yes, ow, stop hurting me! Yes!”

Layaent released Shin. The older man hovered over him a moment, hand precariously close to Shin’s neck. Shin wasn’t certain how to take the motion, as a threat, as Layaent taking a moment or as the animalistic instincts coming out. Any which way it was, Shin was ready to piss himself.

“If you ever lie to me again, I will feed you to the animal tweakers.”

“What?”

“If you ever lie to me again. I will feed you to the animal tweakers. Starting with your feet and working up,” Layaent growled and stood, “I am your superior and you will treat me as such. Now,” the older man straightened his shirt, “Now. About your breeding partner.”


***


Ash blinked at Bri, “Wow. Amazing.”

“You don’t have to be sarcastic.” she snapped, smoothing out the blue satin gown. Bri had pulled back her hair into a hasty bun, and was wearing gray stone earrings. Soft blue shoes to off set the sound of Bri’s steps which, once Ash had begun thinking about taking Bri to the ball, were annoying with how they were offset and unbalanced. They had both agreed that Bri putting herself together before hand would be best. That way Ash had time to correct any problems.

“No, I mean, amazing. You look gorgeous. Your hair looks like spun wheat.”

“Is. That good, or bad?”

“Most of us have dark coloured hair so. Adorable,” Ash murmured, “good. Washing it all tonight so it doesn’t smell tomorrow, yes?”

“I. Guess.”

“Also. Your underwear.”

“You can see my underwear?”

“No, but I can smell them, no fabric softener with the undergarments, especially that scent, it’s too. Fake and amongst a room of people with little to no scent it would be highly noticeable,” Ash adjusted his weight and winced, “I can’t believe we’re going to do this. You realise nothing we see or find can really be used in a court. If we find out who has the ring, we still have to find some kind of evidence.”

“Well. What we know,” Bri motioned for Ash to turn around, so he did, “is that the first victim grabbed the ring. We took it from her and put it back.”

“We?” Ash glanced over his shoulder and got a shoe upside his head for looking.

“Yes, she was caught with the ring, the police were called, we got there and took her and the ring back into the room and had her put it back. Then two officers escorted her out while two stood there and watched the ring while being watched with the cameras as the insurance company went through the tapes.” Bri sighed, “you can turn around now.”

Ash turned back towards Bri. She was dressed in a housecoat, the gown draped over one arm and shoes held lightly in the other hand.

“And was anyone else in the room at the time?”

“No, jut them. I’ve watched the tapes already. If you had a bit more control-”

“I know, if I had a bit more control…” Ash quieted down as he thought, “power users more often than not interfere with security footage. You would think that after hundreds of years the government would have upgraded to the more expensive but tamper proof tech that can‘t be erased by a power user‘s errant thoughts.”

“But she doesn’t recall who was in the tour to start with, we might be able to tell a height but nearly everyone is six foot and a couple of inches. I know my job, Ash, this is why I am a detective and you are here to help with unregistered.”

“Six inch what?”

“Six inches and a few.”

“Runts are about six inches and a few.”

“I’m sorry, you’ve used that term before,” Bri wlaked to her closet and hung up her gown, “but I don’t understand. Normal people are six inches and a few, so how is that a runt?”

Ash held his hands away from his sides. “I’m about average. Some are taller than me, a few are a bit shorter. Six foot is a runt, they’re smaller than us, more sickly, break easier and thinner. They tend to burn more food. A runt can also refer to one who hasn’t hit the second growth period or is shorter than normal before the growth period. Also can refer to someone who either hasn’t entered second growth at all or is late into the growth.”

“The one who is contracting into your fund family is a runt because…”

“He’s like five foot seven and even though he’s twenty years old, he hasn’t hit his second growth yet. If he doesn’t hit the second growth within the next two years it will be assumed he’s a throwback. Which is good in some ways, but at the same time means that his family will pay more for my family’s contract. He’s a throwback so it doesn’t much affect the breeding but we’ll still charge more money.”

“Oh.”

“At the same time, the one we’re looking for is capable of giving orders to a power user. The guide was pretty strong, picked because she’s capable of giving orders and capable or repelling them. Her job is to pick out the ones who notice the chains and point them out to security. A perfectly trained leader. She doesn’t take orders from just anyone.”

“From just anyone means, you went to check up on her and she threw you out on your ass?” Bri asked, crossing her arms.

“No, she will take orders from me, because of my rank. She dealt with the last unregistered power investigator and told me straight out that if I tried to touch her like he tried to, she would break my toes just like she had broken his. After getting out of the station, she got her feet back under her, it seems. She’s also requesting for the display user to change, says she’s morose and won’t stop crying and babbling about something.”

“Odd, when we came in, wasn’t there paperwork on your desk about that display having just been delivered? They usually last longer than four days.”

“Usually, yes,” Ash nodded, “but some few don’t do as well as others. I told her I would look into it.”

“Did you look at the display? Is it actually broken?”

“Oh yes, it is. Very morose, kept going on about a ring in the eye and slates are the cue. Sounded almost like the guide’s mind when I walked through it. It’s possible that I’m the one who broke her. What do we do in a case like that?”

Ash struggled for a moment to recall what the guide looked like. In the station, when she had been questioned, she had seemed a completely different person. The problem with walking through a mind was that he neglected to pay attention to physical features. He would recognise the guide if he saw her again, but he couldn’t quite remember the colour of her hair, or the shade of her eyes.

“You broke her and put these thoughts in her head? Or, she felt him go through, felt the orders going to the guide and absorbed them as a sort of echo? Your being there might not have been the trigger at all, it might have been a million other things. If she came in contact with the ring itself and is a power user, that could have caused it. Did the guide show any stressor signs?”

“Irritability and a bit of arrogance, she was back in her territory and knows the rules well enough. She knows the ground she’s got to give and knows how to give back as badly as she gets. Won’t be a problem in my side but if someone mishandles her, there will be trouble.”

“Wait,” Bri shook her head, “you moved off the topic.”

“I think you did.”

“One of us did. What led us there?”

“The six foot some odd blur on the tapes,” Ash murmured, “and the possibility that it’s not the actual perp on the tape, but is, instead, yet another victim.”

“We’ll have to find that one, then,” she sighed, “all we know is that he’s obviously unregistered and that the museum seriously has got to up it’s security, even the guards only see blurred faces now, none of them could even recall the one face the guide remembered, a little three year old girl by the name of Talla. Of course, the only reason we got the name was because a curator happened to be walking by and was curious as to why the guide was so focused on Talla and kept repeating the name like a broken record.”

“Talla, talla, talla, talla,” Ash repeated the name over.

“Taller? Tell ah?”

“Like a broken record? That’s what he said?”

“Yes.”

“Why… then would the curator not stop a guide who was saying ‘talla talla talla talla talla’ over and over again? Why let the guide continue when she is obviously demented, damaged or hurt in some way? The guide wasn’t listed as a silent guide, she wasn’t hired for that capability. The curator obviously knew the guide because he didn’t call security.”

“What are you thinking?”

“What if the curator is another victim? What if the entire tour group was a victim and didn’t realise it?”

“Someone that powerful walking around and no one noticed it before?” Bri pressed her lips together and ended up chewing on her bottom one, “Of course he wouldn’t be noticed.”

“Or she. We’ve just assumed it was a male we were looking for because the original thief was thought to be male. But if the user can control an entire tour group, there is absolutely no reason for the genetics to suspect the kid. He could just manipulate his own family.”

“Unless he doesn’t know, but then. Can he manipulate the tweakers? You said it was young and stupid.”

“Foolishly constructed. It was done by someone without much of a grasp of how to work. Made his own way up or learned from someone in a very strange and backwards way. That would be a very real concern, the genetics have the tweakers sweep through the generations all the time, they encourage their young to partake in after parties so that the tweakers can pry. The result of the parties can determine new ranks and breeding pairs.

“But,” Ash paused and sighed, “the list of those who have refused the invitation is longer than the list of those who have accepted. Most genetics can’t be bothered with tweakers.”

“I suppose those are the ones who get the highest ranks.”

“No. If one is not accepting of tweakers, then one cannot take on the higher ranks. The genetics need the tweakers more than the tweakers need the genetics. We can still breed and get jobs without them. They need us to be servants, do the dirty jobs, run their businesses and to protect and guide their young.”

“Not to mention provide entertainment.”

“That too.”


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