The training room echoed with the thunder of a whole body tumbling over its own feet. The plush toy that Ezra had been given – a miniature of a spiny Tieke fish called a shandrek - bounced along the floor, followed soon after by the hybrid's eager claws.
“He’s a lively thing when he wants to be.” Derec remarked, lifting his paw out of the way. The toy skipped off the wall behind him. Ezra slid by, wings tucked in tightly enough that all he felt was the breeze from the hybrid’s passing.
Derec scowled gently. He’s nearly full grown, but he still acts like a pup. He paced a few steps away from the action, rapidly brushing one of his tiny claws against the flexible recording screen on the lower half of his datapad. As he did so, the fluid scrawl of the tikedi language transcribed itself, blue-white on black, on the upper screen. He finished his notes and tapped a button with his thumb, saving the document.
On the opposite side of the room, oblivious to her cohort’s scrutiny, Ardreal was crouched and grinning broadly. "He always was," she mused. "It's good to see him enjoying himself again.”
“Mm.”
“It broke my heart when they took him away, you know. Poor little thing." She bent down, tail swishing, and plucked the toy from Ezra’s path. He skittered and slid to a comically awkward halt, breathing in pants, and watched. He was all fins and ears and inquisitiveness.
For a moment, Derec simply leaned back and observed, paying particular attention to his new co-worker.
Like Jamet, Ardreal had much darker fur than the average tikedi in the facility. She was not Harangin, but between the dull gray of her fur and the fact that the dark stripes beneath her eyes were so much smaller and fainter than those of most Tieke, Derec couldn’t imagine her heritage to be anything but mixed. That, if nothing else- although indeed there were many unusual things about Ardreal – surprised him.
It was rare enough to see one of the elusive Harangin outside of their mountain home in the south, and hybrids between their race and any other were even more so. Jamet was still the only tikedi of that race that Derec had ever personally met, and until now he’d never imagined what a mix between Tieke and Harangin would even look like.
He tilted his head just a bit, tracing her features in profile with his eyes. How many of their secrets do you have in your head, I wonder? Or are there any? If I’m right, how much would they trust you?
How much should I trust you?
Ezra made a sudden vicious leap, going from a crouch to standing in such a quick motion that it shocked Derec right out of his thoughts, puffing the fur on his tail before he could stop himself. He resisted the urge to curse and hastily smoothed it back out, embarrassed but relieved that she hadn’t seen.
Indeed, Ardreal hadn’t noticed at all. She’d only giggled at Ezra, keeping her full attention on dancing just out of the reach of his claws. The toy was held high above her head and she didn’t even seem to care that all Ezra had to do – all he could do – to get the toy back was to dig those claws into her muzzle and bring her down.
Derec marveled. He was claws and teeth, fins and wings and bloody eyes. All the things that just screamed tekk: mortal enemy. Yet she was dancing. She was smiling. She was dodging him as if they’d played this game every day of their lives. No Tieke was that nimble on land.
But even a Harangin, with as little contact as they had with the tekk, shouldn’t have been able to be that carefree alongside a creature that was so predatorial and dangerous.
“You’ve worked with him for a long time.”
“Six years.” she confirmed, catching Ezra’s hand in her own and fending him off. “We’re like family by now.”
To that, Derec’s scowl noticeably deepened. “We’re not supposed to…”
“I know. I know.” She laughed, tail lashing in pure excitement. “We're not supposed to get attached to the specimens. But it's so hard with this one. He’s like a big pup." She finally forced Ezra down into a crouch again, and dangled the toy over his head with both hands. "Besides, I’m a caretaker. If you don’t love someone, how can you care for them? It’s not like cleaning a cave.”
He started to argue, but she was distracted again, trying to use the toy to re-capture Ezra’s attention onto her face.
Derec sighed, shook his head. Ah, well. If it works for you…
“Come on, Ezra. Show Mr. Larenden your superior language skills. What do you say?"
There was a moment’s deliberation, and then, like a spark going off, determination crossed Ezra’s face. “Please?”
Derec started, curiosity and concern tightening his expression. He’d never heard Ezra speak before. “That’s an odd click he has. Like audible punctuation. Is that normal for him?"
She nodded. "Happens all the time with him. I’m no specialist, but I’m guessing that’s something to do with his throat or his teeth.” She smirked. “He’s understandably not perfect, but still perfectly understandable.”
"Please." Ezra begged again, flailing one clawed hand in the air. Again, there was that wet click in his throat.
Ardreal smiled and tossed the toy back to him. The hybrid snared it quickly with his claws, scaly tail swishing against the floor in glee, then settled on his haunches to examine his prize.
Intrigued, Derec knelt down, holding out his hand to Ezra. It was ignored. "How much of a vocabulary does he have?"
"It’s around the equivalent of a three-year old tikedi’s. He can express his needs and wants, he understands names, objects, basic descriptors like colors and textures. No tekk. Not yet." She reached out, gently grasping under Ezra's dog-like bare muzzle. He jerked his head up, eyes meeting hers briefly, and opened his mouth in a grin. Every tooth was a needle and his tongue had a pronounced point. "Although he’s equipped for it with the teeth and the tongue. The clicks are a small price to pay. He’s coherent.”
“Language is more than just physical capability, though. Has anyone ever even tried him on the tekk language?”
“Not enough resources. Besides that, we don’t have a proper teacher. Kitani was a student under Jahrd Ardeana and had a few tricks he wanted to try, but he…” there was the briefest moment of discomfort in her voice, “…died before he could put them into practice.”
Derec raised an eyebrow. "You two were close?"
“We shared a philosophy.”
“I’m sorry.”
“That we shared a philosophy?”
“That you lost someone you cared about.”
"Well..." She released her hold on Ezra’s chin, letting him go back to his aimless play, before settling into a crouch with her arms resting on her knees. "Not to get personal, but… I tend to care about everyone. That’s sort of the basis of my philosophy.”
“Part of a religion?”
“Sort of.” She rubbed her left ear on her shoulder, scratching an itch, then gave him a querying look. “Have you ever heard of the Circle?”
Derec’s eyes flickered for a moment, thinking, and then he shook his head. “Sorry. Never. Unless you’re referring to the closed circle metaphor that the priestesses are always bringing up.” He shrugged sheepishly, “Although if that’s the case I admit that I haven’t even paid much attention to that…”
She shook her head. “No, it’s all right. That’s not it. It is a religious belief, but not like the worship of Teyka. More of a moral code based on spiritual theory.” She waved a hand dismissively. “Never mind that much. The details aren’t too terribly important and it would probably take me days to explain.”
He nodded. “We’ll…skip that then. No problem. I don’t mind.”
She continued as if she hadn’t heard. “ At any rate, Erdrell was the same way. He knew the Circle as well as I did. So did Katrix.”
Derec quirked an eyebrow but said nothing.
“I was so excited to find that out. There aren’t many of us.” She smirked. “But it assured me that I’m in the right place. I’ve met more of my kind here than anywhere else I’ve been. It’s refreshing. It feels right.”
“I’m…” in the middle of a group of cult fanatics now? “…sure it is.” He shifted his weight, suddenly eager to change the subject. “I’ve got a curiosity.”
“Hmm?”
“If you don’t terribly mind, how exactly did Erdrell die? It’s not that I want to bother you with it, it’s just that I’ve never been able to uncover many details. It’s all right if you don’t want to talk about it, it’s just that I’m curious as to what could end a man working in this kind of environment. It seems friendly, safe, organized…” He shrugged. “I have a hard time imagining what sort of accident could have taken him.”
“Ahh.” She said quietly. “I see. Well, the interesting thing is that you’re not the only one who can’t find any details. I was there and I still don’t know what happened. I can only guess.”
“You don’t know anything at all?”
“Well, I know that it was a result of some sort of mechanical failure, but beyond that, no. It was, by and large, accidental. Anything else is classified. That’s all there is to it.” She dragged a finger along the tiles, briefly attracting Ezra’s attention, but a wave of her hand and he was back to playing. “Strange that a mere accident would be under such close scrutiny, but I’ve given up trying to find out why.”
His black-lipped mouth curved into a slight frown. This was a topic that pained her more than she was letting on. “I’m sorry. That must be hard on you.”
“Very. He was a good friend and a strong ally.” She met his gaze. “I can only hope you’re a suitable replacement. So far you’re all right.”
“I’ll do my best as far as the job’s concerned, but I’m sure I can’t replace whatever he was to you.”
He watched her face for a bit. She was studying him, brown eyes flickering over his features as if looking for a way in. After a moment she seemed to satisfy something and pushed herself back up onto her toes.
He got to his own feet, straightening his cloak while she crossed the floor. “At least it wasn’t Ezra who killed him.” He said. “I admit that I was wondering about that.”
“You’re not the only one there either,” she muttered, with a hint of bitterness. “He was the first suspect and I’ve always assumed that it was why he was locked up for so long.” She dropped to a crouch in front of Ezra, scruffling his ears with both hands so he let out a happy little rumble from his throat. “I may have found a lot of allies here, but we’re all still tikedi. All afraid of the tekk. No matter how much he proves himself, Ezra here is always going to be under attack for almost being one of them.”
Derec balanced on his tail for a moment, using one foot to scratch the opposite leg. “Well… I hope that at least enough people will trust him that we can save our people.”
“I hope so, too. Although I’m sure this will only be the beginning of what we need. I’m expecting that…”
“It will be a long road to salvation.” Interrupted a gruff voice behind them. “The important thing is to not get discouraged. Or complacent.”
Derec and Ardreal whirled in tandem to see a relatively short tikedi, white-furred and severe of expression, leaning in the doorway. Derec found himself staring. Streaking down from the man’s closely cropped gray hair was a striking spider web pattern of midnight blue stripes, The design, particularly where it arched around his eyes, served to turn his already sharp features into something downright unnerving.
"Professor Katrix!" Ardreal rose to her feet. "I wasn't expecting you to drop in on us so soon."
Katrix nodded briefly in her direction, then turned his attention to Derec. “I see you’re busy getting acquainted. Good for you. He’s a very interesting creature, isn’t he?"
Derec made to reply, but was distracted by the scrabble of claws on the floor from a few feet away. He glanced up just in time to see as Ezra slid from Ardreal’s grasp and dropped slowly to a crouch, all traces of his earlier excitement and playfulness gone in an instant. He was staring at Katrix without blinking. The fur between his wings rippled.
The head researcher sighed. “But he is wary, and sometimes defensive.”
Derec licked his top lip slowly, regarding the hybrid with slight concern. "Apparently." He slowly rose to his feet. "But I don’t believe that that’ll be too much of a trouble."
"Indeed." Katrix snapped his gaze onto the hybrid and his caretaker. "Ardreal?"
"Yes, sir."
"Take the hybrid back to containment. I'd prefer to speak to Derec alone."
"Yes, sir."
Katrix clasped his hands together behind his back and watched intently as Ardreal quietly and obediently hustled Ezra out of the room. The hybrid’s eyes, in turn, never left Katrix. It was one of the most unnerving stares that Derec had ever seen. Finally, the door closed, ending it.
Derec continued staring thoughtfully at the plain wood, then turned back to Katrix.
"Sir?" he asked.
"Yes. Larenden." A soft, almost gentle smile spread across the professor's face and he held out his left hand. "Good to finally meet you. It's a pleasure to have you on the team at last."
"Indeed, sir." Derec chuckled nervously as he tapped his superior's hand. "It's a pleasure to be here."
"I'm sure." Katrix's eyes wandered for a moment. The room, meant primarily as a play space for the specimens and their caretakers, was little more than an empty white-walled room, carpeted with spongy, pale blue-green grish - a plant that grew in acre-wide patches beneath the Teyka Ocean and, when properly harvested and dried, acted as an ideal floor covering, capable of withstanding decades of use.
Katrix frowned, then turned towards the door, beckoning absently for Derec to follow. "Come. We'll take a walk to my office."
"Yes, sir." Derec fell in behind the professor. "Sir, if I may..."
"In due time, Larenden." They turned out into the corridor, paw pads clicking softly on the polished stone tiles. "First, I have a few things that I would like to impart to you. After all, you are something of a special case. You've worked with us before, albeit never within our walls."
"This is true, sir."
Katrix slowed his pace until he was walking at Derec's side. "First, there is the matter of your duties among us. This project is our most important one, Derec, and if anything were to go wrong, I fear that it would mean the loss in this trouble with the tekk. I don’t need to explain what disaster that could mean for us.”
"Possibly..."
"Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that I stress to you that you treat this project the way it needs to be treated. This is, I guarantee, like nothing you’ve dealt with before.”
“Understood, Sir.”
“Not quite. You see, normally I wouldn't have reason to worry. Professionals of your caliber are well trained in objectivity. However, this is no mere animal we are dealing with. Ezra is unique. To some he is a monster." He gazed sidelong down his muzzle at Derec. "To others, he is our superior."
Derec cocked his head to one side, puzzled. “I'm not certain that I understand that last entirely… and I don’t think I agree with either philosophy, sir. While I admit that Ezra's tekk DNA is bound to give him certain physical advantages... I mean, he certainly is fascinating and I admit to being more than a little enamored with the mere idea of his existence, his potential..." Derec furrowed his brow, "...but he is still only our tool, is he not?"
The corners of Katrix's mouth twitched into a smile. “That is what you truly see?”
“Well…”
“In a way, you are exactly right. Ezra is our tool. The first one of our kind built not only to understand the tekk language, but also to speak it right back. If you choose to look at him that way, he’s a walking translator. But it’s important to realize that at the same time he’s one of our kind. You are not a mere tool of science, or of language. You are a person. So is he.”
“But we’re not to get attached to this… person.”
“We’re to remember that this hybrid has a job to do and we are to encourage that above all else. Treat him well. Not as family. Not as a friend, but as a student, Derec. What I want to be sure of is that you won’t let either his tekk or his tikedi heritage come between you and your work. Our work.”
Derec furrowed his brow, and nodded slowly, pondering this.
The two rounded a corner, coming to a halt in front of a thick, obviously soundproofed, door. It was marked with the name Professor Lim Katrix. The professor scrawled his access code into the panel by the door with his claw, then ushered Derec inside.
The office, like the play space, was carpeted pale aqua. However, it was there that the similarity ended. Where the former had been bare and clean, Katrix’s office – painted a comforting deep sea blue at what was probably great cost – was littered with furniture. There was a desk, a pair of stools, a table littered with papers and strange carved bone artifacts, and a floor-to-ceiling set of drawers in one corner. One drawer was open, revealing rows upon rows of paper scrolls.
It was unusual to see such a display of materialism in Tieke society in any regard, but this was exceptional. All were expensive pieces, built from a combination of coastal tree woods and carved stone from the Ashra Cliffs: the same cliffs that housed the great tunnels and passages of Tieke City itself.
Perhaps most impressively was the window. In the interest of security, such was a rarity in this facility. The presence of actual glass looking out over the sky and the sea was enough that, before he could stop himself, Derec found that he had crossed the room and laid a hand against the cool glass. Beyond the rocky slope of the island, there was nothing but blue as far as he could see, marred only by the hazy shadow of Tieke’s coast on the very edge of the horizon.
Behind him, Katrix chuckled. "Larenden. Have a seat."
Derec blinked, reluctantly pulling his gaze away. "Mm. Yes, sir." He made his way back and settled onto one of the stools, taking a moment to curl his tail over his lap. He shifted uncomfortably, finding that he much preferred the floor. Chairs were something that the mountain dwelling Harangin tikedi had introduced and that the mainly aquatic Tieke tikedi had never quite gotten the hang of.
Katrix strode past and took his own seat, facing Derec with his hands neatly crossed and resting on the stone slab of the desk between them.
"Now," the professor said quietly, "we can speak more openly."
"Then may I speak frankly, sir?"
"Certainly, Larenden."
Derec scratched at one of his drooping pointed ears. “Why did it take you more than a decade to summon me to a project that I should have been in on since the first day? You hired Erdrell Kitani before me, and it took his death to remedy the situation.”
“Ah.” Katrix nodded. “Admittedly, I should have had that explained to you long ago, Larenden.”
Derec gave a faint nod, then settled to listen.
“The core of it is fairly simple.” Katrix explained. “ It wasn’t my choice. As you know, this is Jahrd Ardeana’s project. Though he no longer leads our people, he still leads our team, and it was Kitani that he chose. I would have preferred you for the task, but it was not my place to argue.”
“Huh.” Derec frowned. “What an odd decision. I read up on Kitani recently, sir. He was a supporter of Jahrd’s government, but not even in the top five percent of his class for linguistics or biological studies.”
“As I said, I would have preferred you.” Katrix frowned. “But Ardeana was never one to make decisions based solely on the statistics. Erdrell was a man you would have had to know, trust me. He was not an incompetent, and he was not as political a man as the records would show. He did his job well, and the loss of him was a tragedy. I still stand that your education makes you much better suited to the task at hand, but I will not slander a good employee.”
“Ah.” Derec shifted, lowering his gaze for just a moment. “Understood, sir.”
“Good.”
“Um. On another note of curiosity…”
“Yes?”
“The hybrid isn’t a worry, evidently. But then what is? Something killed Erdrell and six other people. I’m assuming you heard the conversation with Ardreal, but I’m… far from satisfied.”
“So you should be, in all honesty. I can tell you that she is mistaken. It isn’t confidential, it’s simply an unknown.”
This quirked Derec’s brow. “They haven’t found the cause?”
“Not directly. The air circulation system for the third level malfunctioned. The details aren’t important, but Kitani was among those unfortunate enough not to escape.” He shrugged. “It was, as far as we can tell, purely accidental. A mechanical fluke. The investigation ended months ago, but we’ve hired an extra technician to keep an eye on things.”
“Ah.” Derec smiled. “That would be Raena, my mate. I was wondering about the special duties that she’d mentioned to me.”
“Ah. Well that’s excellent to hear, Larenden.” He bowed his head just slightly. “Then I don’t need to assure you that, no matter the past tragedies, you are in good hands. Is there anything else?"
"Just one final question, if I may, sir. A small thing."
"Certainly."
"I'm thinking back to what you said about not becoming attached to Ezra as… family. Just to clarify, for the sake of curiosity... it’s because Ezra is essentially my son, isn't it?"
"You're a smart man, Derec. Correct."
Derec leaned forward, smiling back. "Then I'd just like to reassure you, sir, that I have no intention of letting that get in the way. Ending this war and saving millions of lives would mean more to me than any one hybrid ever could."
"Ahh, good man." Katrix rose, clapping a hand on Derec's shoulder. "Keep up that attitude and we'll see this war end yet. You're dismissed."
"Thank you, sir."
O
Ardreal crouched in the doorway of the small room. It was an improvement on the storage closet that Ezra had been forced to stay in before, but still much less than she would have liked. As before, the hybrid was to be kept in the lowest levels of the facility, in what had once been the short branch of a cavern. The lighting was dim here, and the only change from the rough stone of the walls and floor was a nest of blankets beside a small pool where water flowed naturally in from outside. It was filtered and regulated, perfect for drinking and even bathing, should Ezra need it.
The hybrid himself was leaning his head against her knee and humming softly in contentment.
He let out a chirp. "Ardreal."
She chuckled, then smiled sadly. "Poor thing. Not much of a life for one so special." He opened one eye halfway, as if questioning, but said not a word.
Before she could speak another word to him, however, she was interrupted by the pale glow of the warning light on her datapad’s communicator module. Ezra sat abruptly upright as Ardreal sucked in a quick breath and got to her feet. A quick check of the signal told her that this was a call she couldn’t miss.
She gently ushered Ezra away, sparing time for one quick rub behind his ears before seeing him back to his bed. She slipped into the dark hall, closed the door with her foot, and finally tapped the screen to receive the message.
At once, the blurry, pixilated image of a male tikedi appeared on the top screen. "Ardreal?"
"It's me," she confirmed. "And I've met with Larenden."
"Good. Thoughts?"
"I'm not certain. Not a danger, but nothing like Kitani,” she smiled weakly. “I'll do my best, though. We need him."
"That's all I can ask. Keep me updated if anything changes."
"I will. How's the situation at Novarc?"
"Stable for now. I’m keeping an ear on all channels but if the skies stay clear, we’ll have a smooth run."
"Excellent." She glanced around. "I'll have to go. I'm expected."
"All right. Good luck."
"You too."
With that, the screen went dark.
She glanced left, then right, before tucking her datapad back onto her hip and continuing down the corridor.