Chapter One

The meeting began with its usual long and boring ceremonies, full of speeches from the elderly men and women, and heavily-repeated words from the younger ones. Zenarith glanced at the red-head seated next to him with a small amount of amusement. Byakuya looked bored. More than bored. He looked incredibly irritated. Small bits of flame were starting to curl off of the tips of his vibrant hair. A small smile pulled at Zenarith's lips. So typical...The Council's meetings were always like this. The boring formalities first, and then on to business. Usually the little things first, such as delays in shipments due to raids, or another request to increase the mining budget. Zenarith glanced around at the faces of the council members, ice blue eyes sliding over the dark, weathered face of Shan Young, one of the councilmen from Mirath, and continuing to the strong features of Sorrel Valerian, of Sedrin. She smiled ever so slightly at him, and nodded her head in acknowledgment. He returned the nod with a small grin. The council was full of people he knew. Some of them he knew better than others, and some of them he wished he didn't know at all.

Zenarith's eyes darted back to the smaller red-head next to him. Byakuya was now drumming his fingers. All of the present members had been called here for a very specific reason. Even the Headmaster of Aria University had taken an airship down into the city to be at this meeting. Everyone knew what was on the agenda...and everyone also knew that the subject to be broached was a rather sensitive one. That was why Zenarith was there in the first place. He was there to keep things from getting out of hand. His presence had been requested by the Chairman himself. Zenarith wasn't the only member of the Guard here, however. Several other uniformed men were stationed at the various entrances to the council chamber. Most of them, however, were outside of the area's auditory shielding. They weren't meant to hear what was to be discussed, apparently. He half wondered why it was that he was being allowed to listen to something that was apparently an extremely sensitive subject. Zenarith tilted his head. It was strange, really, to be here again after so long an absence.

Zenarith had spent the last few months in his home city, Rashek, helping rebuild after a bio-gen raid. His normally serene face tightened, lips pulling into a thin line at that grim thought. For some reason, the shielding around the mountainous city had failed temporarily, and a sizable number of Bio-gens had made their way into the city, their Hunger driving them to eat anything within sight, killing a few hundred citizens before the Guard had finally stopped them. The shield had been restored, and the buildings reconstructed, but the damage had been done. People had died, and their families mourned them, donning black and singing mourning songs until dawn. Zenarith had been called back to help with the cleanup. It stung...he'd known a few of the brave men who'd fallen before the mass of creatures. A warm hand touched his softly and he glanced up, looking at the elegant profile of his lover. He squeezed the others hand to reassure him, before returning his attention to the meeting at hand.

It seemed that the formalities were nearly done with and he straightened in his seat, eyes darting around the room in anticipation, making sure that the sentries were in position. The other members of the council, twenty-one in total, not including the Chairman and himself, all straightened their robes, taking a breath seemingly in unison, awaiting the next words with silent apprehension.

“And now on to the next order of business,” the Chairman said, brushing off an invisible dust particle from his simple robes. Everyone in the room stirred quietly, whispering quietly to each other. “Doctor Fen Quilar has brought to my attention a matter which is both startling and disturbing. I felt it was a matter of some urgency, which is the reason behind this...rather sudden call for a meeting.”

A whisper coursed throughout the large room, echoed throughout the empty seats high above the central chamber. The silence above was nearly deafening. It was unusual enough that this meeting had been called between normal sessions, but the added abnormality of it being closed to the general public, and having an auditory shielding on top of that had caused quite a stir.

Byakuya's face was a carefully controlled mask, the tendrils of flame at the tips of his hair flickering with apprehension. Zenarith couldn't help but share that uncomfortable anticipation. He was familiar with Doctor Quilar's work because of the events four years earlier when Fen had assisted him in finding the underground experimental lab funded by the intelligent, yet certainly mentally unstable, Nefe Kuro. That discovery had led to yet another...Rinn, a boy with the ears and tail of a feline, the empathic senses of at least four augmented humans, and a delicate, but extraordinarily strong bone structure that was capable of taking a great deal of damage. The boy had been pulled out of the gel-tubes used to hold Biogen test-subjects in stasis during the shut-down. Rinn had survived inhumane tortures and experimentation in the name of 'science'...all of which had been controlled by Nefe, who'd been using said experiments to see if the genetic data of Bio-gens would be useful in creating an army to fight the Bio-gens. Fen had been vital in discovering the science behind Rinn's creation, and the methods that Nefe had used to perform his experiments. Those methods had been what put Nefe on trial, and ultimately, Nefe had been shut in a cell with shielded walls to prevent Nefe's use of his gift, a powerful skill of persuasion. It had been Rinn's sensitivity to Nefe's mental energy which had finally tipped them off about Nefe's gift.

Zenarith knew with some certainty now that they had to be dealing with a case on Bio-gens, the creatures that plagued their world with seemingly no end. The creatures were pitiful, in a way. Unable to fight the Hunger, Bio-gens were driven to kill, destroy, and devour anything living. Sometimes they devoured inorganic materials, but it was not uncommon for them to chew through stone itself. They had an aversion to water, which was why Naunet Riva was the safest City, except for Aeros, the sky-city

Fen made his way to the podium, and Zenarith pulled himself out of his thoughts, leaning forward slightly as if to make it easier to hear the doctor. It was a completely unnecessary gesture, as the whole of the chamber was acoustically designed for optimal hearing. There were no ancient devices for enhancing sound, no audio crystals to augment their hearing...just the shell-design of the chamber. It was an extraordinary design....though the architect was long gone, his name forgotten, the building had stood for centuries. The only difference today, was the nearly-transparent energy shield that kept their voices audible -only- in the council chamber proper.

Zenarith felt Byakuya tense beside him. The red-head held no large amount of love for the seemingly cold doctor. They hadn't gotten along very well in their previous encounter, and old grudges seemed to take a great deal of time to fade where Byakuya was concerned. The small flames flickered and seemed to grow slightly, before dying out. The red-head was obviously trying very hard to control himself, not wanting to make a scene here.

Fen cleared his throat, glancing down at his report before letting his eyes roam throughout the room, briefly meeting eyes with each member of the council before returning to his notes. He was silent a bit longer, and the tenseness of his shoulder, and the dark shadows beneath his eyes made it quite clear to Zenarith that the subject of this meeting was rather serious indeed.

“We have discovered a bio-gen capable of speech,” he said simply. There was silence, and then the whole of the council chamber seemed to burst into one grand argument. They'd certainly expected something about Biogen raids, or perhaps even an ominous increase in Biogen number, but not this. Most certainly, not anything like this. Byakuya was oddly silent, his usually vibrant, azure eyes darkened, burning coal black. He was gripping the arms of his chair, smoke wafting from the upholstery.

Zenarith sighed softly. He'd not expected something quite like this, though he'd heard whispers of such a myth from the wounded in Rashek. He extended his gift, cooling the by-now ruined fabric on the arms of the chair. Byakuya glanced at him, glaring hard at Zenarith, those darkened eyes tightening. Zenarith knew of his lover's intense dislike for the Bio-gens He shook his head slightly, a futile attempt to calm the others volatile temper. He nodded at the doctor at the podium and Byakuya's eyes narrowed before returning to the man.

Fen was silent, surveying the group with a tired grimace. He held up his hands in a plead for silence. The chairman cleared his throat, and the chamber reluctantly grew silent once again, the atmosphere tense. “I am well aware of the laws regarding the study of Bio-gens,” Fen continued, running a hand over his close-cropped dark hair. “However, due to the events four years ago, I was given permission by secret vote to look into the Biogen studies of Nefe Kuro.” Another startled hiss ran through the room, though seven of the councilmen remained grimly silent, Byakuya among them.

“During our research, we came across a female Biogen,” he said, his voice dropping into what many would call a 'lecture mode'. Zenarith folded his arms across his chest, his icy eyes hardening as he listened in silence. This was surprising, and a little disturbing. All of the Bio-gen's he'd come across ahd been visibly male, or indeterminate. The thought that he'd killed women...that disturbed him greatly. The air around him grew noticeably colder, and it was Byakuya's turn to nudge Zenarith to calm down. Zenarith smiled a bit to reassure the other before returning his attention to Fen.

The doctor continued, apparently oblivious to the mutters and whispers floating throughout the chamber. “It is a rare find, to come across the females of the species,” he said, glancing through his notes. “We found, interestingly, that the females have a measure of telepathic power which allows them to control the males to a degree. We assume that their...society..operates on a Hive mentality.” New mutters and whispers surged up at those words. Did it mean the Bio-gens had a measurable amount of intelligence? Had they been attacking more often than usual? Did it mean war? Fen cleared his throat again. “We were able to record some of the speech before the female seized, and died in our lab after two hours.” He turned to an assistant, and accepted the violet crystalline device, setting it atop the podium before caressing the slender object. It began to make a static noise before clearing, the sound echoing throughout the room.

“S-stop.....the Hunger. We must ...f-feed. Y-you will p-pay!”

The voice deteriorated into a wailing screech, and then...nothing. There was stunned silence in the room. Zenarith's eyes were wide as he stared at the crystal recorder, half expecting a Biogen to appear out of thin air. The voice had been so clear...so very human sounding, apart from the gurgling hisses between each phrase. A murmur surged throughout the chamber, and members of the council rose from their seats with angry mutterings. Several of them demanded the evidence be given to them for further study, others urged the council to disregard this information immediately. Byakuya's eyes grew darker as he looked with distaste at the violet recorder. The Chairman stood, holding up his hands to request silence from the group. “Now...the information has been placed before you. I am sure you understand the necessity for secrecy in this circumstance. We cannot have the general public become aware of this...I have received a request to pass the motion for a continued investigation. All in favor?”

Several of the council members reluctantly raised their hands, avoiding the glares of the members from Mirath. Zenarith noticed with pleasure that Sorrell had raised her hand first, her back straight, chin high. He heard the shifting of silken fabric and turned slightly to see Byakuya raise one pale hand, a gold bracelet with swirled designs slipping further up his slender arm. Byakuya stood, his hair swirling with the movement, robes rustling.

The Chairman raised an eyebrow. “The Chair recognizes Councilman Himonori of Naunet Riva,” he announced, nodding at Byakuya to speak.

“With your permission, Chairman, the Himonori Family will further fund and head this investigation,” he stated, his voice holding a hard edge to it. Zenarith blinked at him in surprise. This was certainly unexpected. He knew of Byakuya's general distaste of the Bio-gens, and wondered at this sudden interest. He gave the other a curious glance, but Byakuya gave no sign that he'd seen Zenarith's curious expression.

Other members of the council apparently had similar thoughts as curious whispers circled the room. Fen's expression was unreadable, his lips pulled into a tight line. The Chairman eyed Byakuya for a moment before he straightened, addressing the chamber again. “Anyone opposed to the Himonori Family heading the investigation?” Only a few council members raised their hands, foremost among them one Malin Semdar, an aging councilman from Naunet Riva, a man who had strong opinions that he was certainly not afraid to share. Zenarith disliked the man for a multitude of reasons, the first of which was the older man's smell. He smelled strongly of fermented fruit...perhaps because of his brewery. Unfortunately, Malin shared the council-box, since he also represented Naunet Riva. Zenarith sighed. Malin's opposition was not surprising, but he was relieved to find that Malin was nearly alone in his opinion.

The chairman smiled widely and struck his gavel on the podium. “Done then. The Himonori Family will head and fund the investigation on Biogen intelligence, and we will hear a report on the matter in three weeks. This meeting is adjourned.”