Welcome to Gaia! ::

Silva saved my life. I'm surprised... shocked, actually. But that's not important. The feien shop is closed. Silva and I went over the other day. The shop is closed. I have yet to tell Ice, but I'm sure she already knows. So the draft has begun.

I wonder when they will come for us. I will miss this place, this family, my life. If this is my last few days in this world I suppose I should make the best of them. I will try to find a way out of it. It's not like me to go down easily. Nor is it like Silva.

I regret never having children. And as Silva said, I would like to go with no regrets. But somehow I doubt that is possible.

Earlier this morning...



Pavel Pavlovich Antipov surveyed the street below his new offices and watched the crowds pass by oblivious to the spectre of his form in the one-way window. Beside him stood Captain Maruo Hamada (Comm/Int) and Dr. M, a small, odd man whom Pavel considered his only living relative despite their never having shared any genetic forebears.

Pavel could see M reflected faintly in the window. The little man was bouncing up and down nervously, his hands stuffed deep into the pockets of his lab coat to hide their shaking. It only succeeded in making a curiously animated lab coat. "Jonathan," said Pavel, turning slightly so M would be reassured but keeping his gaze on the window.

The bouncing stopped but not the shaking hands. "Yes, Pavel?"

"You're unsettling me. Stop it."

"Yes, Pavel," replied M, his confirmation only minutely different from his question. The trembling of the lab coat quieted slightly.

Antipov let out a throaty sigh and rolled his head so the bones in his neck cracked. Four weeks he had been working on this project, four weeks of bitter arguments and arduous planning. He could hardly wait for it to be over. "Are the charges in place?"

"Yes, Pavel," said Dr. M. If he said nothing else, M could always be counted on to say "Yes, Pavel" even when he meant no. M's expression was strangely unreadable, eyes hidden behind thick sodapop glasses and mouth wrinkled into a slight frown. Antipov knew his relative was anxious.

The reason for M's anxiety was something both Antipov and Captain Hamada shared. Of the three, only Antipov's posture and expression concealed it. He was a professional. Had he been staring at the horrors of a nuclear explosion in Moscow he would have remained unflinching. Antipov was one of those unlucky few who had faced the peril of his own mortal demise and picked himself up afterwards. Compared to that, the rest of existence was hardly worth his time. Certainly the four weeks spent on the project fell into this category.

Now this first phase of the project was nearing its end and Antipov could get back to work. Most people would have considered this sort of project a vacation. Antipov considered it a hindrance. He was an important man, or so he told himself frequently, and his Directorship of the Intelligence Division confirmed his belief. Few appointments were so prestigious and certainly none was more integral to the war effort.

Antipov straightened, conscious of how he must he look in his tailored dark blue coat with its silver trim and black shoulders. He always liked to look prestigious during moments of historical significance. "Mr. Brinkley?"

The fourth figure in the room, obscured completely by a sub-phasic stealth shield, replied, "Everything's ready, sir." The voice was gravely and curt, leading to all sorts of speculation as to what the speaker might actually look like.

"Good," said Antipov. His attention turned from the crowd on the street to the building located directly beyond it.

Someone had thoughtfully put up a series of cones and caution tape around the faux-Tudor shop, a narrow but very important safety buffer for the people on the street. Antipov could not have cared less about their well-being. From his research he knew that he was looking at a crowd of pigs, one of the largest infestations of them he had even been subjected to. Several times in the weeks prior to this incursion he had considered the pigs and smiled cruelly to think of the bourgeois riches he would strip from them but he did not smile now.

Antipov opened his mouth to issue the order to blow the charges only to hear someone else's voice speaking.

"Shouldn't we at least check with the city authorities to see if there are any laws regarding building demolition?" said Captain Hamada. The Japanese man was looking directly at Antipov, having not noted the faint reflection in the window. His eyes were wide with concern.

Antipov's open mouth, so ready to issue the order, twisted into a grimace of anger. "Permits and papers. I am on the brink of a new revolution and you bother me with permits and papers?" His voice escalated into a shout too quickly. For a moment he had forgotten that he was standing inside a building talking to his subordinates and not outside rallying the mob to his cause.

Hamada looked offended. "I'm only suggesting it because this could have unwanted consequences later-- sir."

The nasal drone of Dr. M broke between them: "Are you sure this is not connected to your desire to see the shop location retained and used in some other capacity, Captain?"

As much as he valued M, there were moments when Antipov wished he would shut up and this was one of them. The shop's fate was sealed. Hamada's petitions for its reuse had been dismissed and there was no need to bring up the argument once more. "The building materials must not fall into enemy hands and that is the final decision of the Supreme Commander," said Antipov. "We will speak no more of it. As to the permits and local ordinances, I leave them to you to deal with later, captain."

Hamada looked as if he had just tasted something sour but he nodded. "Yes, sir."

Antipov addressed their fourth companion. "Mr. Brinkley?"

"Sir?" came the voice again, always ready and always on edge. Brinkley was a commander in the Assassin Core and his mannerisms reflected that.

"Are we still set to proceed?"

"Yes, sir."

Crisp and professional. A model subordinate. Antipov allowed his lips to begin curling into a smile. "Detonate the charges!"

There was a momentary delay as the order was relayed to the demolitions captain, just long enough to set everyone on edge. Then the entire structure of the feien shop erupted into dust particles. The cloud spread out across the street in the blink of an eye and turned the scene grey.

As abruptly as it began it was over, the dust settling into a thin layer over the screaming pedestrians. Now Antipov permitted himself an amused snicker. Behind him, Dr. M laughed in that peculiar, half-choking manner of his. Hamada just sighed and shook his head.

The explosion was perfect. Aside from the ring of dust stretching out into the street the debris (what little there was) remained perfectly contained within the narrow ring afforded it by the cones and caution tape. A small pile of shingles and twisted chairs was all the remained of the feien shop.

"Mr. Brinkley, please send my commendations to the demolitions captain for the show," said Antipov.

"I'll do that, sir," said Brinkley.

Antipov turned away from the window and looked at M. The doctor was still shaking with a combination of fear and laughter. He looked up at Antipov and went completely still for a brief moment. "Boom!" he said, and began to titter once more.

Antipov smiled again as he placed a firming grip on Dr. M's shoulder. "Yes, Jonathan. Boom. Careful now, you only have one lung left."

"Worth it," gasped M, and smiled merrily like a too-eager child. There were tears in the corners of his eyes.

Antipov took a moment to make sure M was not in any medical danger. Then he said, "The next step is yours, Captain Hamada."

Hamada straightened and swallowed. "Yes, sir."

Their eyes met for the briefest moment and then Antipov was gone, steering Dr. M out through the dimensional portal that flickered almost imperceptibly in the center of the room. The portal sealed automatically behind them.

Hamada looked down at the empty space across the street. There was a small curious crowd around it now that the danger was gone. He frowned to himself. He felt much like the former shop looked. This was not a job he relished. It was open, exposed, and involved a hefty bit of public relations. Hamada preferred computers. He was a technician at heart.

Then he remembered he was not truly alone and put on a look of grim determination. Time to work.

-------

The hubbub concerning the sudden demolition of the feien shop continued for several hours with a fluctuating crowd. Word spread throughout Gaia like wildfire. "Did you hear? A building just blew up!" "I wonder if it's part of a new special event?" "There haven't been any announcements..."

It was only after the crowd thinned and the chatter quieted that a sign appeared surreptitiously on the caution tape stretched between two cones:

"All feien, their bonds, and other interested parties are welcome at Battle Fleet Regional HQ located across the street."

Ice stared at the destroyed building, a blank look on her face. Silva and Aleric were sitting on her shoulders, both void of expression for a moment, until Silva spoke. "You know... that was almost enjoyable."

"Don't be an a**, Silva. Can't you see that Ice is traumatized?" Aleric asked calmly. He reached up, patting Ice's cheek. "Shhh, maybe we should see what's in that building over there." He said softly. Ice nodded, not really responding as she turned, heading for the battle fleet offices. She needed to know if she was out of a job or not.

The door, of course, opened when buzzed and revealed the dark, cramped stairwell leading up to the second floor.

"I think I've seen this movie before..." Silva said, smirking as he chewed on his toothpick. "There's this crazy b*****d that seems nice on the surface, then he tries to sacrifice--"

"Shut up, Silva." Ice muttered. But it was a sign of life. She took a deep breath and headed down the stairs, heading into the waiting room. She looked around for a moment, wondering if she should ring a bell or something. "Hello? Is anyone here?"

The waiting room was empty, but the first door on the right in the hallway leading back was open and from it came a moderate male voice, "Yes! Yes, I'll be right out!" A hop and a small crash later and a head appeared in the doorway. The man was around thirty, Japanese, with thick glasses. "How do you-- ah, I'm Captain Hamada, Maruo Hamada." He stepped further out into the hallway and extended his hand towards Ice.

He was average in height, dressed in a wrinkled tan uniform with blue and black shoulders, and seemed both eager and nervous. His eyes moved from Ice to Silva to Aleric and then back again.

Ice smiled slightly, taking his hand. But there was a hint of caution in her eyes as she replied. "Forgive me for coming in uninvited, it's just..."

"We noticed that the ond place was shot to hell, thought we'd see if we're getting drafted just yet." Silva interrupted coldly.

"Silva, could we wait until after we've told him our names?" Ice growled, his lack of manners clearing her head. "My name is Ice. These two are Aleric and Silva, my feien. I used to work at the shop across the way before it was destroyed. And I've been hearing rumors about what's going on, but frankly, I'm confused. I thought you might know something about what's going on..." She shrugged, making both feien grab her neck to keep from falling.

Hamada shook Ice's hand twice and released. "Yes, I've heard of you mentioned in the reports. Hopefully I can help clear up any confusion. I'm the S.C. of this project." He adjusted his glasses nervously and looked again to Aleric, whose appearance he seemed to find interesting. "Please, come into my office!" Stepping aside, Hamada gestured towards the open door.

"Yes, of course." Ice said, following. She could almost hear Aleric's and Silva's thoughts. "This place, it's really nice. Are there going to be feien visiting it like they did the shop?" She asked, looking around. She read the small gold sign quickly before they walked past it, slightly confused by what it meant.

"Yes, of course the feien of Gaia are welcome," said Hamada, closing his office door and ushering his guests towards his desk, oblivious to how repetitive he sounded.

Several holographic displays were hovering in the air above Hamada's desk which he quickly turned off with a wave of his hand. "Please forgive the clutter, I've been working on some paperwork, can I get you anything to drink?" A cup of steaming tea sat on the desk already, indicating either that Hamada's equipment was waterproof or that he was a very careless man.

No, I'm fine. Thank you." Ice said, she was looking around, as was Aleric, slightly awed by all the things in the room. Silva's eyes were unwaveringly focused on Hamada. "Wow... this is like one of those books you read, Aleric." she said to the purple feien, grinning slightly. "Are you an engineer or something?" she asked Hamada, glancing at him finally.

Hamada's face instantly dissolved into a joyful grin. "Yes, I have a degree in computer engineering. It's the primary focus of my work -- that and computer programming. I designed these systems here." He indicated the entirety of the surface of his desk. It was an impressive amount of equipment.

Aleric stepped off of Ice's shoulder, hovering slightly above the equipment. He looked up at Hamada, smiling. "You look to be very good at what you do, sir. I've never seen such complex pieces. Of course, so far most of my knowledge about technical things comes from books."

"I'm afraid I'm not that mechanically inclined. Aleric has to learn things on his own more often than not." Ice admitted. "Do you have a feien?"

"I have to be good, the fleet relies on me," said Hamada diplomatically. "I live with a feien named Johannes, he was one of the first five feien we bred in the Fleet. And yourself? Do you have any other feien bonds?" There was maybe the slightest hint of jealousy in Hamada's voice as he looked at Ice's duo.

"No, these are my two. I've had Silva since he was a bloom, and Aleric..." She paused, holding out a hand for Aleric to step onto. "Aleric is an ancient. I found his gemstone lying on the floor of the shop one day, and he came back to life. I haven't quite figured out how that happened, but I'm not about to complain."

"So... the... rumors about the draft... are they true?" Aleric asked, dropping down on Ice's hand. "Will we be forced to leave our bond?"

Hamada's eyes widened at the mention of an Ancient and he viewed Aleric with newfound respect. He had never met an Ancient before... "The, um, no. You won't be leaving your bond if you're still together at present. A few days ago we went through our surveillance and pulled every feien who was deemed to be in an unsatisfactory home. Since you weren't in that group you're staying where you are."

"Then..." Aleric paused, thinking of all the conversations he had had with Silva over the draft. He shrugged, a grin pulling at his lips the only sign of his relief. "That's good. I'm rather fond of my present home."

"I have to ask... I know that most of the summoner feien have left Gaia, how are you planning on breeding more feien?" Ice asked, figuring it was the best time to. "I know I had hoped that Aleric would breed sometime in the future, since he's an ancient. Of course, that would be up to him, but--"

"I would not mind assisting the feien race." Aleric said calmly. "But if there's no summoner--"

Hamada leaned forward on his desk so his elbows were resting on the edge and frowned slightly. He looked troubled by the question. "We have our own summoner feien," he said carefully. "Given the misuse of the process in the past, it's the official stance that breeding should be rigorously controlled by the Fleet. The best I can say for you if you want to breed is to volunteer yourself for selection, but you have no choice in when or where or with whom you breed." Hamada thought over his words, found them sufficient, and nodded his head slowly.

Ice nodded, looking at Aleric. "Aleric?"

"I do not remember my past life..." Aleric said calmly, looking at Hamada directly, "But I still have the genes of the past. In breeding I can pass on some of our past to the future generations. I get along with most people I meet, and have not met a feien yet that I would be adverse to breeding with." He glanced over his shoulder at Silva, a tiny little smile on his lips. "And I have met some that are more... difficult than others. As long as I was returned to my bond afterwards, I don't believe I would have a problem."

"Silva?" Ice asked, nudging her other feien with a finger.

"I'll have to think about it." Silva said grudgingly.

"Then I believe that is your answer." Ice said, grinning. "Aleric is very noble, don't you think?"

Silva snorted and a slight flush went up the back of Aleric's neck.


"Thank you," said Hamada, adjusting his glasses. "I'll note that down. About your employment, did you want to continue your job with us or terminate it with the closing of the previous shop?"

Ice blinked. "I would love to keep my job. It's a great excuse to throw feien parties and meet new owners. And I doubt Aleric would be happy if he couldn't help whenever he was needed. But with this place being as large as it is, are you sure you'll still need me?"

Hamada threw his hands down flat on his desk andleaned forward. "It would be an incredible weight off my back to have someone here to look over things. The offices are mostly self-sufficient and fully-secured, so you wouldn't have to do anything in that regard, but someone should be here to try and help people and I can't be here all the time. I have job responsibilities. I'll give you files of information so you can help people by answering questions and that sort of thing." Hamada's eyes were pleading as he looked over at Ice.

Ice grinned, not bothered by his job description at all. "Sounds great! And if I'm not here to answer I'm sure Aleric will be. Silva's a little... um... daunting to some of the other feien at times."

"He scares little children." Aleric added, remembering a few of their run ins with juvenile feien. Silva shot him a dark look. "He's quite good at it." There was a hint of laughter in his tone.

"Only if they're irritating." Silva replied.

Ice tried not to laugh. "We'll be happy to help." She told Hamada, ignoring the two feien.

"Thank goodness," said Hamada, sliding his hands over his desk to a machine that must have been an input device. Without warning, the various displays on the desk sprang into life. "If you give me one moment I'll get you a primer of all the new procedures. This is such a relief, I'd honestly rather be working on computer repairs than dealing with people."

As Hamada spoke his hands twitched through the air in inscrutiable patterns and the displays across the desk changed rapidly. A moment later there was a buzzing noise from somewhere on the ground. Hamada disengaged himself from the comptuer and looked odwn at his feet. "So that's where the printer went!" He disappeared behind his desk and returned a moment later with a slim stack of papers which he handed over to Ice. "That should be everything you or anyone else needs to know, and if anything isn't there you can go ahead and ask me."

Ice took the papers, wrapping her arms around them even as Aleric hopped back to his place on her shoulder. "Looks like I've got a lot of reading to do." She said, standing. "thank you for your assistance. You've dealt with a lot of our worries." She nodded, waving a hand under all of the papers. "And good luck with your engineering!" She called, already heading for the door.

"Thank you!" Hamada called after her, and sincerely hoped this would all turn out for the best. Now he just had to deal with the complaints from the city... With a sigh he went back to work.