Sequel

I manage to get this out and done and all of a sudden my net connection is dead. JUST as I hit the update button.

That's just my luck though.

Read, Review and Enjoy.



For a few days, that was his routine. He and Muan would pray in the morning, in the afternoon, the group sat around, near each other but not really interacting with everyone else, and did odd tasks. Sometimes they talked, sometimes they were quiet. Rel continued chatting with Raya, more out of boredom than anything else. Searching the user name and email address online gave him nothing to work with. Raya was a nobody, a nothing. Which hardly surprised Rel, considering Raya’s seeming insanity.

One minute they would be talking about religion and the next Raya would change to chemical compounds, asking if Rel thought such and such a combination would explode, or just make a funny smell? And straight into philosophy and the warrants of having higher spirits as high priests of religions.

The third morning, Rel asked Raya which his god was, finally giving into temptation. Raya wrote for a good long while before ‘Ayata’ appeared and the user logged off.

Which was just as well, as Ashun bounded off the elevator and launched herself on Muan, chattering away in Sidhe excitedly. Either someone had given birth, or they were going to eat someone’s … thing.

Sidhe was so complex it was like trying to piece neutrons together. Without the danger of things exploding, of course. Which made Rel absolutely love it, even if he made Raoh and Osht go bright red when he tried to speak Sidhe.

“Oh, and Edno’s back.” Ashun murmured, as if it was an errant thought, an unimportant happenstance, “they want Rel and Muan to attend with their parents.”

Raoh and Osht dropped, literally, what they were doing and raced to the elevator, fighting like two young men Rel’s age. Rel and Muan watched the two go before looking to Ashun for an explanation.

Ashun shrugged, “Souse had much the same reaction and kept pestering Essuan during the labour.”

Rel logged off and shut the laptop down, setting it on the table before he stood and offered a hand to Muan. Something he and the male had found they could do, something that unleashed a whole new world for Rel, as he could see and feel and hear through Muan’s senses. It was like… waking up one day and washing the grime and dirt off the windows.

Muan took Rel’s hand and led him to the elevator. The Sidhe was disturbed. He hadn’t know there was a female in labour and he always knew when one went into… but then that fat one had looked someone healthy for being fat. He hadn’t even known she was pregnant. Muan turned it over and over in his mind until Rel questioned whether or not Muan could tell when a female people gave birth and if not, could that be the explanation? That Muan couldn’t tell when one without power was pregnant?

The elevator doors opened quickly and they all stepped onto it. Down however many floors and when the elevator opened. Rel could have sworn he was stepping into a jungle. The walls were painted with the lifelike representations of plants and animals peaking out from under leaves. Pine and birch towered over the hallway, taking their branches to the ceiling in a stunning play on perception.

Ashun led the way down the hall and to the third door on the left, no door, just a curtain not long enough to cover the entire doorway. As soon as Rel stepped through the doorway, Mik’s eyes met his. It was like the man lit the entire room up with his presence. Not physically, but… power. There was some kind of power flowing off of him, wrapping around the Sidhe, dazzling the people with no one the wiser. And then Mik looked over Rel’s shoulder and to Muan.

Who followed Rel but trailed his fingers over everything, snuffed at the air and thought:

Mine. Mine. Mine. So totally mine. Mmmmine. Mine. Definitely mine. Try to take it from me mortal, I dare you directing every thought he had towards Mik. Mik looked upset by the thoughts, as if he could hear them as Muan and Rel sat and Muan turned his attention to Paw totally going to be mine. Later. Mine and Mine and mine and… Muan realised Rel was peering into his mind and suddenly found the ceiling very interesting.

Paw, who was sitting beside the seat Rel had chosen for himself, regarded Muan mentally as an adult regards a child who has brought something home as a trophy but was covered from head to foot in mud. He turned conversation towards everyday happenings and they all began eating the snack foods and tea that was offered by Souse. Once everyone had eaten a round of food and had a cup of tea, once the teacups were refilled and the odd bits of food were removed, then everyone sat back and looked at the oldest man at the table. Gray hair, lines on his face that denoted worry and concern, laugh lines and frown lines. Rimless glasses perched on the bridge of his nose and his hair was ruffled up one side, like he hadn’t bothered to brush it before he had left the house.

Souse, the leader of the tribe, seemed to worry and fret and go on about the man. Which likely meant that he was the older leader’s partner.

“You’re a new face,” Edno muttered, snapping Rel out of a line of thought that he immediately forgot. Edno’s look seemed to imply that Rel had been staring at him.

Thus Rel replied in a near snarl, “My name’s Rel.” a focused thought from Muan had Rel jabbing a finger at the Sidhe, “that’s Muan.” mine, Rel sent the thought across the table and felt the Sidhe react to it. Saw Taln lean instinctually away from Muan, as if being too close to the male might get him in trouble.

“Ah,” Edno’s mind stumbled around the name, dismissing the possibility that Rel was the Rel that… Edno frowned and carefully blanked his mind as his eyes studied Rel, took in his face and his new beard and the clothing. The eyes. “well,” the man’s mind was being too careful, too blank, too focused on his words, “I suppose you all want to know what I’ve been doing over the past few months.”

Souse offered Edno more food. Edno gave the Sidhe a look that clearly stated Souse was crossing a line. Looking up, over his glasses. Souse’s rejection rolled across the table before the Sidhe snatched up the plate and brought it down the table, setting it in front of Muan, who was all but begging like a dog for table scraps. Did Souse know that his moving the plate was more than just instinct? Did Souse realise that Muan begged mentally for the food? Muan’s stomach ached, nearly empty, as Muan took a huge bite.

Rel looked at Muan, thinking loudly how the Sidhe should eat slower, take smaller bites. The Sidhe chewed thoroughly, obviously having heard Rel’s thought, small bites ensued.

“I’ve been working with the Tele family on a new project of the heir’s.”

The Tele family had tried to destroy Rel’s businesses several times. They had sued him, attacked him in the media, all but tried to assassinate him. It was well known that the Tele family had no love for Rel, and Rel had no love for them.

“They’ve named an heir?” Rel asked, trying to sound bored, trying to sound like it didn’t matter whether the Tele had named an heir. He tried to make it sound like he was just asking to be polite. The oldest child of the Tele family was five, perhaps. To name a child heir at that age was preposterous. Savel or not, acknowledged descendent of Tele or not, no five year old child could carry a company and not break under the pressure.

“Yes. He called what we were working on a toy, said that he had the components, he knew it would work, he just couldn’t get them to obey.”

“Nanobots,” Rel filled in for Edno.

“Yes, nanobots, complex organisms to you or I but-”

“Is there a kill switch for these nanobots?” Rel asked, “How exactly does this child,” stressing the word child, “expect to control them, to stop them from mutating and evolving, adapting to their surroundings to consume everything in sight?”

“I wasn’t working on the kill switch… Rel, did you say your name was?” Edno frowned at Rel, the man‘s mind did a stumble, a twirl and his heart did a skip. Fear permeated the air around the man, “oh, by the gods, you aren’t Rel DeAniege are you?”

“Yes, I am,” Rel murmured, curious at how Muan was suddenly wanting to touch Edno. Muan thought he could fix that heart patter, could extend that life another twenty years.

“Ah,” Edno licked his lips, dragging his fear into a hidden place before closing his eyes for a moment. One second there was Edno, body, soul and that special little thing that allowed Rel to view nearly any people’s mind, the next the old man was gone from his mental sense, leaving a gaping hole in the world that everything around it tried to fill in. His eyes could still see Edno, his ears told him that nothing had really changed, yet Edno wasn’t there, “well. Shall we continue?”

It was impossible, it was… Rel became aware that something was being said.

“Strange how?”

Rel had to plunge into the thoughts of the people at the table to understand what was going on, a question of Edno, “he removed himself from sight. Hiding something.”

Edno shrugged, “attacking me would be an attack on Him, are you sure you want to try my master? We were all hand selected by the heir, we were all sworn in as … followers, let’s say. Our lives, our freedom for the safety of the toy. None of us knew all of any part, we never saw a whole,” Edno set his hands on the table, studying them for a moment, “but he kept making me practice what I just did, said I’d need to use it, if I ever met you, Rel. You look like your father, but younger, it had me confused for the longest time. Must be the beard.”

Rel felt his face heat up. The beard made him look like his father? The facial hair that marked him as fully grown, as a man, and he… looked like. Oh gods. He was hacking the fucking thing off first chance he got.

“I can tell you I worked on the trigger, I can tell you that my roommate was working on writing the chemical signature of PCT so that it was smaller than the nanobots.”

“PCT?” Rel frowned, completely confused about why someone would want to link nanobots to PCT, “it’s a common chemical. He’s likely just using it to repair his toys. Nearly everything in our society has PCT in it. From the windows to the wax on the food, to the clothing we’re wearing.”


“A nanobot fused with PCT could nullify any repairs ever needed,” Paw murmured, “could also end… everything. World hunger would no longer be needed, linking base chemicals with PCT and you’ve got food. Link a virus with a PCT and wars could end over night.”

“Could it,” Mik sat forward in his seat, “Be used to destroy the world?”

“No,” Edno shook his head, “There was nothing destructive about the bot, the heir himself was working on the order sequencing.”

It dawned on Rel, and so he spoke, “How is he linking it to the- he’s already linked it to the nanobots.”

“Was he the one who sold to the Valeasans?” Paw’s voice went up a pitch in fear.

Edno shook his head again, “no. The colleague working on the connection sold it to the Valeasans, and he was fired on the spot.”

“Fired,” Rel muttered, lifting his eyebrows to give the rest of what he said a stressing without actually stressing the words, “or fired?”

“As in let go. The heir shrugged and said that only the gods could judge a man and sent him on his way with his pay. He’s very… optimistic for a genius,” Edno looked right at Rel, a blatant insult at Rel, the older man even threw the thought out there, out into the air, that Rel was not optimistic and was nothing compared to the heir.

Rel growled, standing in his spot, ready to fight Edno to shut the old man up. Muan grabbed his wrist and Rel glanced down as the Sidhe stuffed the last of his sandwich into his mouth. Swirled eyes blinked up at him and nothing was offered, but the message was clear. Rel had to get control of his anger. So Rel clenched his jaw and dampened his anger as he sat down and looked away from Edno, pissed at the man.

“Enough bickering between the two of you,” Violet snapped, “Water must froth to get to the big waters but it must also return to being a calm pool. Now is the time to calm and quiet,” Violet looked at Mik, “least we all lose something precious to us.”

The Sidhe stood as one. Muan’s fingers traced over the back of Rel’s hand lightly, conveying a byebye as Paw led the way out of the kitchen and into the living room. The Sidhe left, and Rel was alone. Utterly, entirely. It was oddly… creepy, being alone with his own race. The Sidhe he could understand, he could connect with the creatures, he could trust them. But his own people…

Taln was focused on Koln, wondering what kind of a talk they had to have that evening.

Koln was wondering if he should really do it. Should he really have Taln, should he push that button? Taln said he was ready, Taln claimed he was okay. But Koln just couldn’t see it, he just couldn’t accept that Taln, raped less than a year ago was ready to jump into bed.

Mari was concerned about her fertility. About her recent tests, about how she might not be able to have her own child, to carry it to term and hold it and raise it the way she wanted to. She was nervous and she knew the Sidhe knew it was her fertile time but they hadn’t reacted like that before… did that mean… it would be the last time?

Tuhn was wanting chocolate. Mmm chocolate. And wondering if she had signed those papers properly, had she filled out the information properly? Probably not, she should grab Taln after the meeting and get him to check her work. She was so flustered by it all.

Mik pitied him.

Rel shifted his focus, and his eyes, to Mik. The older man met his look, outwardly giving no sign of the pity, but Mik was acutely aware of how uncomfortable Rel was amongst his own people.

Well if they didn’t think so damned loud, maybe he’d be more comfortable.

He didn’t need his pity and certainly didn’t want it.

Mik looked away and Rel was shocked that he had just inserted the thought inside the man’s head. But there was little he could do to take it back, not without doing possible damage.

“He said that in a month, or so,” Edno sighed out, “he would be releasing his toy on the mass market. That it would change the way we looked at toys. All the pieces have to align, he said, and if the gods be willing, that which is most precious …” Edno shook his head, “he trailed off there and got an odd sort of smile on his face, like a grown man in love and he said ten days.”

“Ten days until what?” Rel asked, wondering what kind of damage control he would have to do, before he remembered that he was no longer in control of his businesses, “he tries to destroy my companies? Again?”

“No,” Edno looked at Mari, then at Rel, “no, nothing like that. Doesn’t seem the type.”

Mari’s cell went off and the woman snatched it up and flitted out of the apartment, making affirmative sounds even though the call was from her doctor.

Rel couldn’t take it. Take. This. The existence of living outside of his own race, but unable to live with the Sidhe.

“I have to talk to Paw.” the only one who could help him.

Rel rushed into the living room, only to find it empty. Something was scrawled over the wall by a closed door. Rel noted a few words he knew and vaulted up the steps, skidding to a stop at the top.

It was like Muan’s plants, except… not. The room vibrated with life, plant and insect. Fish flitted in pots of water and somewhere Rel knew there was a squirrel, smuggled in by Paw after the poor thing had fallen down most of the building and broken a leg. It was still healing.

Muan sat with the Sidhe, talking with wide gestures. A creation myth. When Muan spotted Rel, the Sidhe pulled to a stop and straightened his back, directing the attention of the other Sidhe to Rel.

“Paw, could I talk to you?” Rel motioned off to the corner, where he walked to.

Paw came up to him quickly, simply. Rel knew that standing in the corner wouldn’t help keep anything private, but he pretended that it would keep things private. He turned his back on the Sidhe, something he had seen Raoh and Osht do when they were conversing together.

“Yes, Rel, what is it?”

“Find me a sex partner,” Rel said quickly, before he could second guess his words, “I don’t want to stay like this and if you say it will help me… well.. It can’t do any harm… can it?”

Paw grinned, “let Paw deal with problems and thoughts. Muan, come take Rel to nap or some such. Paw will call,” Paw said to Rel, “soon as have details.”

Paw was so excited that he began chattering in broken people.

Rel completely forgot to tell Paw that several of the words on the wall implied that a mother born had bred with whoever was at the top of the family line, he was plucked up so quickly by Muan and carried off that he didn’t even have the time to mention it.


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