Based on Emotion

The Zeboim Saga

Written by Arcana

Deus ex Machina: The Xenogears Tale https://members.tripod.com/~project_xat/

As usual, insert the normal disclaimer information here... these aren’t my characters, don’t use these characters, don’t take this story, please don’t sue me, Square...

Anyway, this fiction was very fun to write, and I purposely went in and inserted many subtle things. There are hundreds of spoilers in this fiction, and you’ll probably not understand all of the references unless you’ve beaten the game, so I recommend that you go do that before reading.

I’d like to dedicate this to the readers of my other three fiction works. Without an audience to write for, I wouldn’t be writing Xenogears Fanfics. This one goes out to you guys.

• Chapter 1: Too Small Pieces
  
• Chapter 2: Bonds Eternal
  
• Chapter 3: Lady of the Nation
  
• Chapter 4: Proposition
  
• Chapter 5: Jaws of Ice
  
• Chapter 6: Mother's Work
  
• Chapter 7: Shattering Egg of Dreams
  
• Chapter 8: Life... Fades Away
  
• Chapter 9: Human Shield
  
• Chapter 10: The Treasures That Can Be Stolen
  
• Chapter 11: Meant to Be
  
• Chapter 12: Demon of Eros
  
• Chapter 13: June Mermaid
  
• Chapter 14: Love Will Grow
  
• Chapter 15: Only Human
  
• Chapter 16: Emotions
  
• Chapter 17: Perfect Works - The Treasures That Can Never Be Stolen
  

• Interlude I
  
• Interlude II

• Chapter 1: Created From Struggle, Borne From Love
  
• Chapter 2: Can't You Share?
  
• Chapter 3: The Dreams of the Strong
  
• Chapter 4: Stand Tall
  
• Chapter 5: Bonds of Sea and Fire
  
• Chapter 6: Heart
  
• Chapter 7: Deus Ex Machina: God From the Machine
  
• Chapter 8: The Wounded Will Advance Into Light
  
• Chapter 9: Ease The Pain
  
• Chapter 10: Echoes Fade
  
• Chapter 11: Run to the End
  

• Epilogue

Based on Emotion

The Zeboim Saga

The nurse sat outside of the classroom door, occasionally turning her head, overhearing the lecture through the open door. She checked her watch. After their history lesson, she would be giving the children a quick course on how to do C.P.R.

She could hear the teacher address her students. "And on this section of the map, what do we have, kids? Lindsay, you can answer this one. That is the province of..."

"Loveh," Lindsay promptly replied.

"Three years ago, Zeboim used to be one country. It was split up into three major provinces. The three provinces were Valeria, Trewth, and Loveh. But now, because of the wars with Loveh and Trewth, Zeboim is now divided. We live in Zeboim-Valeria, which controls most of Zeboim's rivers, forests, and mountains. Trewth has a lot of deserts, where they can mine minerals. Loveh, on the other hand, has access to the seas, where they can trade with other countries." She lowered her pointer.

"In the past, Loveh's premier wanted to remove many of its poor and sick people from its streets, so they began to kill them. Zeboim-Valeria issued trade blocks against them. We refused to give metals to them because they were being so mean to their people. But one day, Zeboim-Loveh decided to attack us with their ground forces. To defend ourselves, we launched missiles at them. This is called a war, when two countries get their people to fight each other. Right now, we are at war with Loveh."

The waiting woman outside of the classroom sighed deeply. War. They were at war for three years, and she had already seen so much pain, so much suffering, so much death. Her hand swept a free wisp of auburn hair behind her ears.

"We cannot let Loveh win the war. They launched nuclear weapons at us. If we let them win, then we will all be killed because Loveh kills anyone who is sick or is poor." The kids nodded at the teacher's words. She inclined her head gravely. "Trewth is no better than Loveh. They did not kill their people, but they supported Loveh. When Loveh launched nuclear weapons, they destroyed the Valerian cities of Reibata and Teibon, and the radiation spread into Trewth, infecting their water and making their people very sick. Trewth did not like this, so they attacked Loveh. But when Valeria wanted to join forces with Trewth, they accused Valeria of being an evil country for provoking war, and attacked us, too. So now, we must defend ourselves from the two evils of Zeboim, Loveh, and Trewth."

One of the kids, who had blue spots over his arms raised a hand. The nurse noticed the defects. They were cells mutated by radiation. She saw the teacher point at him. "Yes, Jeffery?"

"Why are nuclear weapons so bad?" he asked.

The teacher was quick to answer this one, and her eyes flickered viciously as she snapped her reply. "Because they spread radiation! They toss up so much dust and dirt in the atmosphere, they block out the sun. Radiation kills humans! If nuclear weapons don't kill people right away, then they make all the people ill. Hundreds of thousands die immediately because of the blast. Millions more get sick and die. Loveh launched nuclear missiles at us! And for that, they must be punished! Look, you've all seen the bombs explode. The fallout it causes. The destruction they spread." The teacher wiped a finger under her round spectacles, moving a drop of sudden moisture.

The nurse's lips twitched.

"I think the mushroom clouds are pretty," one kid said.

"Irony! It's all irony!" the teacher exploded, slamming her hands on her desk loudly, causing more than one young child to jump in surprise. "It's so ironic. A beautiful thing like a mushroom cloud causes the most devastating wave of death on the earth. Radiation poisoning is worse than a disease. Do you remember Alfred, Milly, and Jenna? They all died because of radiation sickness. Who knows how many of you have it in you too... how many will... eventually..."

And suddenly, at the back corner of the room, a child began a drawn-out scream, but her lips were locked frozen as the muscles began to spasm. She shook uncontrollably, clutching the side of her desk with an iron grip.

It was like a direct reaction to the teacher's words.

The kids started to murmur in panic. The girl began to foam at the mouth and spit up white fluid. Her eyes rolled back into her head, showing only the large, gaping whites. One of the kids, taking initiative, tried to move the child onto the floor and to keep her from moving so violently, but the sheer strength of the seizure threw her helper off as she fell to the ground, limbs vibrating.

The nurse was on her feet instantly, and she dashed into the classroom. The others looked at her in both awe and fear. She was a beautiful woman dressed entirely in white, who looked to be in her mid-to-late twenties, with long, flowing auburn hair, eyes that glowed blue, and a petite face. She knelt by the child, checked her pulse, and began to administer first-aid. She whispered soft words to the little child.

"Oh my god! Oh my god!" the teacher shrieked. "Lindsay! Call the doctors! Jonathan, grab a blanket for Elizabeth! Make room for me!" The teacher dashed forward but in the end, did not know what to do. The other kids were grouped in tiny huddles, hugging each other and crying as they watched the life seep out of their companion. The nurse administered her treatment casually, as if it was just another event in her day.

In a span of minutes, two paramedics arrived with a stretcher. They helped the woman move the child onto the stretcher, then administered I.V. treatment. The woman kept whispering soft words to her.

"You're going to be all right, Elizabeth. I'll sing a song to you. '...Run through the cold of night... As passion burns in your heart. Ready to fight, a knife held close by your side...'"

The tones of the heart monitor attached to Elizabeth's chest beeped at regular invtervals. "More oxygen! Keep the heart rate up!" announced one of the paramedics.

"'And the proud wolf alone in the night, with eyes that watch the world... and my name like a shadow... on the face of the moon...'"

"We're losing her! Pulse is fading! Get the paddles! Turn up the power!" The beeping started to accelerate.

"'...Broken mirror...'"

"Clear!" Elizabeth's body jumped as the loud jolt went through her tiny body.

"'...A million shades of light...'"

"No good! Clear!" Another zap.

"'... the old echo...'"

"Again!"

"Please! Save her!" a kid shouted.

"'...fades away...'"

"Clear! Damn it!!! Come back to us! Come back to us!!!" The monitor beeped, faster, faster, faster.

"'...Cold fire clenched to my heart... in the blue of night... Torn by this pain, I paint your name in sound...'"

"It's not good! We can't..." The sound turned into a dull, constant tone, droning eerily in the background.

"'...And the girl of the dawn...'"

"She's gone."

"'...with eyes of blue, and angel wings...'"

"Elly..." She felt a hand on her shoulder. The tears began to reach her eyes.

"'...The songs of the season are....'" And she let the song drift away. The child had met her angel of dawn, she thought. And now, there was nothing she could do.

She wanted to feel pain. She wanted to feel the sorrow, but she couldn't. Inside, there was nothing except for a numbness inside of her. There was no more pain to be leaked, to be bled from her. Around her, the children and their teacher could only stare. But there were no tears from them, no aura of sadness, and no sniffles; only a dead, penetrating stillness.

Elizabeth was the third child lost from the classroom this month.

The notes were quite messy. Kim flipped through his lab book, jotting down the equations again, trying to re-attain the results. Organic chemistry, by nature, was not very predictable. However, these were nanomachines, not organic material. He sighed and ran a hand through his long black hair, pulled back in a tight ponytail. Kim pulled open the desk drawer and leafed through the folders, trying to locate the corresponding experiment he did with the organic cells. His Oriental eyes were lost in thought as he reviewed the past results.

The slam of the front door interrupted him. He checked the digital clock on his desk. It was seven. Elly was tardy again, and he had received no call.

"You're late tonight," Kim announced.

Elly promptly replied. "I know."

"You couldn't call? I don't have any food ready... I thought I shouldn't prepare it and let it get cold."

"I was called out. There was a strike on the civilian shelters in the north end. Loveh doesn't like us. What happens to ethics in war?"

"There are none."

"Not anymore?"

"Ever since the nuclear missiles began to fly, all sense of morality went out the window." Kim emerged from around the alcove, walking up to his wife and giving her quick peck on the lips before stepping into the kitchen.

"Another child from Avons Elementary School died today."

"How?"

"Radiation poisoning... her brain was so intoxicated with the stuff that she lost control of her body."

"It's a hard world."

"I don't believe you! Don't you care?"

Kim ceased for a moment. He was a researcher for the government, and he rarely had to face to ignore the injuries that his wife had to see every day. "I do, but I don't think I care enough," he murmured. "But it's hard to want to learn about things that hurt."

Elly nodded as she joined Kim in the kitchen, and changed the subject. "Any meals in mind?" She motioned toward the bowl of leftovers that Kim was staring at.

"Barbeque pork, rice, and leftover bok choy," he stated. Anything you might have in mind, Elly?"

"Let's eat out."

"Eat out?" Kim looked up at her, then down at the food on the table. He grinned. "Let's go. Any place is fine with me."

"Benvolio's Pasta," Elly blurted out, eyes sparkling brightly. "Let's walk. It's nice outside."

"Sure."

The sky was covered in black, dreary clouds, and the sunset could be barely made out from between the ominous smog. The wind was biting and crisp, a consequence of the blocked sunlight due to the dust tossed up by bombs. Just outside of their apartment, they could see the Freedom River, named not only because Valeria was a symbol of free thought and democracy, but also because the waters rushed liberally over the beds, unrestricted by any barriers. The Parliament building and its twin bell towers on the riverside were silhouetted by the red rays against the clouds.

Elly wrapped her cloak around herself and took care in breathing the thick air. It was certainly one of the nicer days this autumn. For once, the slivers of sunlight broke through the thick smog cover. She leaned on Kim's arm and gazed into the sky, absorbing all she could of the sunset before it would disappear for all of next week.

"I don't think we've ever seen the sun shine for so long since the war started," Elly uttered.

Kim stared up at the sky, pressing his wife closer to him with his arm. He leaned over to place a soft kiss on her forehead. "I see the sun, every day, when I wake up in the morning," the doctor whispered, losing himself in his wife's sapphire eyes.

She smirked and lifted an arm, touching him lightly on the cheek and drawing her fingertips across his tanned face in an imitation of a slap. "You're such a charmer," she giggled. "The last time you did this, we didn't even get eat dinner!"

"Because you are all of my food and drink," Kim said, turning to face his wife. He pulled her slight body against his, planting a long kiss on her rosy lips. She relaxed in his arms and softened against him.

"Too bad sex can't feed the family," Elly murmured after she released herself from the kiss.

Kim winked at her as they continued their walk under the slivers of the autumn sun.

As the doctor and nurse stepped inside Benvolio's, the server instantly recognized the faces of the prestigious Doctor Kasim and his beautiful wife. He nodded to them both and extend a warm greeting, leading them to one of the empty chairs in the dimly lit restaurant. It was not like some of those skyscraper restaurants that were built on a floor of glass and exposed the dim light of the city below. To Kim, the atmosphere here was more civil, and more relaxed.

"Kim," Elly asked after they placed their orders, "about the... what you think about this world? Today, when the child died, I wanted to cry. But I was numb, and felt as if, by crying, it would have only be an act... a falsity. I should've been sad. I've seen many die. And I wept for every single death. Until today."

Kim looked into his lap. He didn't know yet what he thought about the war and the people affected by it. Before the war started three years ago, he was unemployed and on the verge of bankruptcy. His wife was working overtime to get the bills paid. Now, he was working as a biochemist­specializing in nanomachines­for the government, and making more than he had ever dreamed. But he did not have to go through the horrors that Elly had to see. He didn't have to live through when she saw, day in, and day out. He was in its own little world, shut away from the rest of Zeboim.

As he was thinking, the waiter came, placing two wine glasses in front of the couple. Kim uncorked the wine in the cooler by their table and served it.

"One day, I want to see what you have to see every day," Kim said finally. "I don't know what it's like to have children die before my eyes. But I don't want to be protected. I want to see."

Elly nodded slowly. "Thank you, Kim."

"I don't want to pretend that I know. I live in my own world. But I am prepared to open my eyes to the truth."

"That's the word to you, isn't it?" stated Elly. "You're a scientist. You think in terms of truths and lies, of rights and wrongs... there's a black and white that can be drawn with molecular structures, mathematical equations and chemical reactions."

Kim let his face twitch in the slightest hint of the smile. "I study the human body, the elements that make up, the electrical pulses that run through the brain... and I will never figure out that line which separates black and white. Just when you start to draw the line, you find something that forces you to erase it. For instance, we all thought organs could never be made with nanomachines. Black, and white. Three days ago, we managed to make a heart beat."

"Really?" Elly asked.

"Really. An all-nanomachines heart. Now, the scientists are wondering if it's possible to use the organs as implants for humans. The nanomachines do not mutate in radiation. This may be the breakthrough that saves Valeria. Some are even discussing the possibility of building an entire living person out of nanomachines only, but I don't think that will ever happen in my lifetime."

"It would be scary," Elly said. "If we could clone life, what would the government do? The extra soldiers they need for the war... one man makes the entire difference in battle."

Kim nodded. "I know. But I don't think there's any way anyone could recreate life like that." The two of them were interrupted by the waiter, who handed down the plates for the main course. The couple ate together, exchanging the occasional casual word and comment about the food.

"Maybe you should tuck the napkin into your shirt so you don't spill sauce on it," Elly said, motioning to Kim's untucked serviette. "I don't want to clean and iron your shirts again."

Kim's eyes widened. "You calling me messy?" as he attempted to talk and chew at the same time. As he realizes manners, his eyes widened even further, and then he reached for his napkin and placed over his collar. "I should learn to respect the wishes of my wife," he stated cordially, nodding at her.

Elly rolled her eyes. "You're such a joker."

"I'm a joker who tries to listen to women named Elly."

"Good thing you don't know anyone at work named Elly."

"Even if I did, she wouldn't be as beautiful as you."

"I'm going to have to start wearing earplugs so you'll stop charming me out of you doing housework."

"That's what you think," Kim replied, leaning over the table and planting a kiss, complete with meat sauce, on her lips.

Elly just stared, and was tempted to return his favor, but she remembered her food, and kept eating, winking at Kim first. She flipped her tongue over her mouth. "At least I know what your dish tastes like now." Her eyes narrowed ominously. "When you least expect it, Kim Kasim, going to get you back."

When they got home after the satisfying meal, both of them collapsed on the coach, was Elly leading her head on Kim's shoulder. As he began to focus on one of the sitcoms on television, Elly grabbed Kim's tie, nearly squeezed his eyes out of their sockets, and placed her mouth fully on his, eyes open and teasing.

"You'll kill me before long," Kim commented, but Elly swung her leg over top of him and placed another long kiss on the face. Her eyes were full of mischief, and Kim's were bright with amusement.

Kim smiled when she pulled back, and he added, "But I think I'm going to die happy man."

They ended their evening late in the night, locked in each other's arms on the sofa. Elly's body was warm against his, and they took pleasure in each other, celebrating the act of giving your whole self to another in love.

For one night, they forgot their problems. For one night, the minds were free from the external world.

In the morning, reality would be back to strike them both in the face.

"More resources to the war effort," the woman declared to her husband. "Protect the soldiers, engineers and scientists. The civilians are not as important. They can be sacrificed for the greater good." She paced the room slowly. The prestigious lady was dressed in a form-hugging double-breasted suit that accentuated her hourglass figure and full bosom. She glanced outside the window, which was framed with elegant lace curtains.

"But the people are important to the nation," the man replied, trying to eye his wife, but she broke the gaze by turning away.

She stopped, then whirled on him suddenly, her long violet bangs and ponytail jumping animatedly as a result of her action. "The people do not exist if we are wiped out, mister Prime Minister Haawa."

The Prime Minister winced, his brown eyes narrowing. "You know much it annoys me, Miang, when you call me that." He left his arms limp at his sides.

Miang looked unapologetic. "You don't seem to listen to me if I don't."

"You're my wife. Why would I not listen to you?"

She sighed deeply. "Being the First Lady is a pretty invisible position, Meiji Haawa. Certainly, the nation does not follow my advice. Your advisors do not follow my advice. I've had experience with politics too... I've been a Municipal Governor for three years. Okay, admittedly, it's not as tough as the big cheese position, but still, I'm tired of not being heeded."

"We passed your nanomachine budget."

"And look where it's gotten us. We're that much ahead of Loveh because of it. We have a chance of winning this war."

Haawa nodded. "You're right, Miang. I'll suggest that we raise the taxes to fund the effort. I'm going to have to take the resources from health care... I've hammered on education enough already."

"Thank you."

The Prime Minister sat down at his desk and consulted his computer. "What about the diplomatic talks with Trewth?"

"They suggested a cease-fire, didn't they?"

"Yes. I'm thinking of accepting it. It will allow us to focus our resources on Loveh."

"I'm worried about the public reaction," Miang replied. "Trewth is the country that turned on us and attacked first because of our bombing of the I.T.T. Centre in Loveh. They're at war with Loveh as well. I'm afraid that Valeria will be seen as hypocritical. I've heard that Trewth, to correct the problems of radiation, are thinking of deporting all of their mutated and unhealthy citizens to Loveh."

"But they'll be executed there."

"Precisely. We have to do our part, as Zeboim-Valeria, to preserve these lives. It's good for the public opinion, and even better in our history's track record. When we win, we'll be heroes for preventing the atrocities of ethnic cleansing in Trewth and Loveh. In addition, we can't let Trewth get an upper hand in rebuilding their resources, either. They're out of nuclear missiles. We still have seven warheads."

"Then 'no' it is. Well, maybe if they ceased the deportation idea then..."

"Whatever," replied Miang. "Your meeting's in a half-hour, dear. I think you should prepare the financial recommendations."

The Prime Minister nodded.

"Reduce health care? That's crazy!"

"No cease-fire? I don't believe it! Our resources are being drained!"

"Calm down," Haawa recited. "I have very good reasons for all of this." He eyed the Finance Minister, then the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He unfolded the piece of paper that Miang had prepared for him to read in case there was opposition. Miang was an excellent speaker and an even better debater. She could make anyone believe anything, he thought.

"First. We reduce health care and push money into the war effort, especially the Nanomachine Human Regeneration Project. If we don't win this war, then, quite simply, Loveh and Trewth will drive us to the ground... and from then on, we have no more people to provide health care to.

"Second. We don't accept the cease-fire so we can be the righteous saviours of the world." He pounded a fist on his desk, letting his voice rise in patriotic speech. "We must fight the injustice of deporting the weak to other countries to be killed. We must stop the disaster of killing refugees. We must attack those who begin the trend of chemical weapons. There is one reason that we do this: for human dignity. If we cannot stand up and fight for what we believe in, then I may as well resign right now, quit being human, and die."

"But, Prime Minister, our..."

"The morale may be low in the army. But it will get better if we send the message that 'killing mutants is okay'? That 'chemical weapons for the children' is okay ? Our soldiers fight to make wrong into right. Frankly, I don't want to disappoint them."

"I suggest that we hold a referendum on this matter."

Haawa sighed. "We will waste thirty-million gil, another ten million in the distribution of information... all for a bloody opinion from thirty percent of the population? We can save our millions of gil. Give it to the army, so that they can fight the war. The rest goes to health care. Once we get the nanomachine facilities going, we will be able to reverse most radiation effects. By giving money to this project... which has produced concrete results so far... we can help our military, and our civilians; in essence, we do Zeboim-Valeria an immense favour." The Prime Minister ceased his talk, and after a pause, asked, "Are there are more questions or concerns?"

Not a man around the table moved a hand.

"Very well. I will execute the rest of my agenda. Let's get the numbers crunched. I have the documents here. You can revise small issues such as you see fit, but if you plan to make any large changes, inform me. Minister Saetome, you can distribute the money among the military as you need to. Minister Harfield, I'd like you to stay after for a few minutes so I can speak with you. All right, this meeting is adjourned. Thank you, gentlemen, for your time."

The other ministers filtered out slowly, some giving glares back at the Prime Minister, others leaving with a light gait and a confident smile. Only the Minister of Health stayed behind. Minister Harfield placed his elbows on the table and covered his mouth with his folded hands to hide his emotions. A wisp of light, brown hair fell forward over his forehead.

"Minister, I would like you to dedicate most of the money to the new nanomachines project. I want you to get together the best scientists of the country in the field together in one room and to make a team. You already have the draft documents, but with the extra funds, you can devote more resources to the project. I'd like to see it finished as soon as possible."

Minister Harfield nodded. "What about the people who need medical assistance, who you are taking these resources away from?" he smoothly asked, not showing any signs of emotion in his voice.

"They will be helped immensely, but only if we get the project off of the ground. Once we discover a way to regenerate lost body tissue, we will be able to apply the nanomachines to any human being alive. And thus, we will be able to save our people."

The minister nodded. "I understand."

"Good. I'd like you to start right away. Assemble a report for me in three days time about your progress. My optimum preference would be that you will start the work immediately."

"Yes, Mister Haawa. I will begin as soon as we're done."

"Do not worry about the cost. I want you to execute this plan without any bars. You may leave now, Minister."

"Thank you sir." Harfield rose up from his chair and turned abruptly away, not glancing back as he placed a hand on the doorknob and disappeared from the room.

Haawa leaned back. Miang was usually right about humans and the people in his country, but he could not help but feel guilty about taking money away from Health Care. At least, he thought, by making the nanomachines project more widespread, he would be able to help the mutants and the people in his nation.

Kim heard a loud ringing in his head. He frowned, and tried to roll over, but a warm weight was draped over his body. "Urrgh," he groaned, trying to recall where he was.

Elly's breathing was even as he lay on top of her, and the ringing did not disrupt her peaceful face. The phone rang for the third time, and Kim wished it would disappear. Elly shifted slightly, wrapping an arm around Kim's neck, mumbling in her sleep.

"Make it go away," Elly murmured, obviously referring to the incessantly ringing phone that was blaring out its tone as if there was no tomorrow. Kim nodded, and pushing Elly to one side, he crawled off of the couch, reached for the table, and grabbed the receiver.

"Hello?"

"Doctor Kasim?"

"Yeah," Kim replied, wiping his eyes with his free hand.

"This is Mister Harfield, Minister of Health speaking. I'd like to inform you that you are going to be transferred."

Kim's drowsiness disappeared. "What? What is this, without consulting me?"

"You will be relocated to the National Research Council. This is in regards to the war effort, and we need your utmost cooperation. However, to compensate you, we will multiply your salary by one-point-five times of what you currently earn... tax free."

Kim tried to hide the internal joy in his heart. "What about security?" he asked. "What makes me know I'll be keeping this job after the war's over?"

"Do not worry. We are, as we speak, working on your pension plan that will cover you from your retirement at age fifty-five. We're thinking of providing with approximately one million gil for your retirement savings, and that's just a starting value."

Kim resisted the temptation to cheer into the phone. "Uhh, okay, so this sounds great and all, but I'd like this all in writing... you know, the contract."

"Of course, Doctor. Are you around this afternoon? If you are, I'd like you to come to the National Research Council in person so we may meet. Your work will focus almost entirely on nanomachines. The project goal is to develop away to help regenerate mutated and damaged body tissue so we may help the military and the civilians."

"A rather humane cause," Kim concurred.

"Of course. We are the government. We must look after our people."

"Where, in the N.R.C., will I meet you?"

"I will meet you personally at the front desk. Two P.M.. Is that a problem?"

"No, no, it's not. Thank you, Minister."

"The pleasure is mine."

Kim placed the phone back on the cradle with slightly trembling fingers.

"Who the heck was that?" Elly asked, shifting on the couch and pulling the sheets around her.

"It was Minister Harfield. He's promoting me!" Kim announced. "I'm getting a raise. One-point five times my current salary, tax-free, plus, I get a pension plan that's paid for!"

Elly's blue eyes glowed. "Really?"

Kim nodded, jumping back on the couch and wrapping his arms around her. "Yeah! Really! I'll be doing pretty much what I'm doing now... except I'll be focusing on nanomachines only, for the sake of regenerating human tissue."

"So you mean, they'll use this information and stuff to develop technology to help the people in the hospitals?"

"I'd think so," Kim replied. "They might use it for the war effort, too. Either way, I think it's a good cause... I don't see how anyone can abuse nanomachines if they're in the wrong hands."

Elly shrugged. "It's good to see you in such a high position now. And to think you were so worried about your job. Twenty-eight years of age, and you're making more than most doctors at fifty!"

"I know. It's rather thrilling, actually." He winked at his wife. "Who knows. I think this is enough security to start a family."

Elly beamed, reaching up and pulling Kim on top of her. "It's about time, you silly goose. I thought your job had taken over your life."

Kim walked into the large glass building, consciously adjusting his tie. For some reason, almost all of the buildings in the city were made of glass. The capital of Valeria, Kore, had been built in an age of prosperity and enlightenment, in conjunction with Loveh's capital, Briganthia (which Kim recalled was pronounced "Bri-hanthia", which a silent 'g'), and Trewth's capital, Asera. Nowadays, the cities made of glass no longer reflected the sunlight. Three years ago, the war started up and the sky was filled with smoke and dust from the bombs. Under the pressure of air raids, many of the buildings shattered. Not surprisingly, many were abandoned. If one walked around town, one would often see blue shards of glass on the sidewalks underneath the steel skeleton of an old skyscraper hit by explosions in the past. Yet, for some reason, the government refused to move its N.R.C. to a more secure building.

Kim walked up to the receptionist, and was about to introduce itself, when a rather plain-looking man with pale skin and brown feathery hair walked out from one of the back doors. He introduced himself as Health Minister Harfield.

"I am Kim Kasim, Minister," said Kim, extending a hand, which the minister took with a firm shake.

"I would like you to read a contract and sign it. Although, quite frankly, Doctor Kasim, you do not have much of a choice because we are in a state of war."

Kim did not need any convincing though, and after scanning the document quickly, penned his name on the horizontal line with a flourish.

"Can I see my work lab?" Kim asked.

"Certainly. Allow me to take you on a tour. Doctor, you are but the first of a new team of scientists designated to further mankind's knowledge. You'll be a major factor on the outcome of this war. The minister led Kim through a back door, placing his thumbprint on a security panel. He stepped through, then punched in a keypad code to open a set of elevator doors. "Do not worry, Dr. Kasim, I will allow you to access all levels in a moment. That is why we are here."

"How will my work affect the outcome of this war?" I don't see exactly how my contributions, although useful, can determine the outcome."

The elevator rang, and the Minister motioned for Kim to enter first. When they were both inside, the lift descended so quickly that Kim lost his stomach to the roof. He always disliked elevator rides. The sudden jerks and stops, plus the extremely long waits, annoyed him immensely.

"Your task is quite simple: make nanomachines repair or replace damaged human flesh with as little cost as possible. We want to be able to repair all damage by radiation poisoning, bullet wounds, anything like that. If we can do this... or even something close to it... then Valeria will be that much closer to winning this war."

"I will try my best," Kim replied. "It will not be easy, though. Nanomachines have not been known to be able to operate inside someone's body without being rejected as foreign tissue."

The Minister stared into Kim's eyes, smiling in such a disheartening way that the scientist shuddered. "I'm sure, Doctor, that you will find a way to overcome the problem."

They exchanged no further words in the elevator as it descended to the underground laboratories.

The lab was completely empty of workers. The minister turned on the overhead lights. As Kim saw the facility before him, his eyes bugged out in shock. "A Minsing S.I. Spectrometer! Particle accelerators! Full life-support capsules! The technology in here is absolutely amazing!"

"Reserved for only the best, and in a time of dire need. We, the government, will cover everything for you, from nanomachine assemblers to hydrochloric acid to extra toilet paper. If you ask, it's yours."

"It can't be that simple."

"In return, I request that your project team will submit a weekly report as to where the resources are going, how the project is doing, and the progress to our goal. As Project Manager, I hope you will make this possible."

"Project manager?!" Kim yelped, quite unintentionally.

"Of course, Dr. Kasim. You are going to be head of this group."

"Yes sir," Kim stated promptly.

The Minister shifted his feet. "Do you have any more questions?"

"No sir."

"Very well. Let us head back to the surface." He reached into his blazer pocket and withdrew an envelope. "This is your access card, the password to the elevator, and a document about code of conduct and lab safety."

"Lab safety?"

"Don't ask. It's government law."

The conversation on the trip back up dealt mainly with politics: it was about the war, its reasons, and why the project was being initialized. Kim bet that the Minister rarely ever talked about himself.

On the way out to the street, Harfield tapped Kim on the arm. "By the way, Doctor, before I forget, we are having an executive dinner to discuss some of the events centered around Zeboim-Valeria. You, as an important and respected scientist, are invited. Of course, your wife is invited as well. He withdrew two pink invitations wrapped into tubes and placed them in Kim's hand. "The dinner is in a week. Good day, Doctor. I hope I hear some good news from you soon."

Kim nodded, shook Minister Harfield's hand, then continued back to his apartment.

"Do I look too fat in this dress? I knew I shouldn't have bought it."

"You're not fat, Elly," Kim replied. "Your hips are the perfect size."

"Right. I feel like the boat in this thing. A big, blue boat."

"Stick with the white dress."

"But I just bought..."

Kim shrugged. "You should wear whatever you feel good in." He checked the knot on his tie, and, dissatisfied with the result, and tried again.

"I hate formal dinners," Elly complained. "I was horrible with my manners when I was a kid."

"Times sure change, eh?"

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

"I won't answer."

Elly went back into the closet, having decided to rid yourself of the blue dress after all. "Kim, you never had a chance to come with me to work yet," she yelled.

Kim checked his cufflinks. "I know. This new job's more demanding than I thought. Today's Friday. I submitted a report today, so maybe it'll calm down. It's the first week and all."

Elly nodded. "I just want you to understand the life out there ... to show you exactly why you should make these nanomachines work. There are people in the hospital that would live if we get nanomachines to them."

"It's a tough job. Right now, I think we can do irradiate up to five percent of infected tissue. We can also reduce tumors size without PET scan radiation treatments."

"I think it'll be tough getting nanomachines to everyone. The hospital's funding was cut today. We all agreed to accept pay slashes in order to keep the quality of equipment up."

"I can support you no matter what. I'm making the money."

"That's not the point, though." Elly stepped out of the closet, adjusting the dress she wore. The top port was made of lace, showing her shoulders and neck through the white fabric. "We shouldn't even have to be making these sorts of decisions. Before the war, health care was the top concern of the people: it's what they wanted most."

"The cuts might be temporary. I'll write the Minister a letter about it this weekend." Kim checked as watch. "You ready? It's time." He turned toward his wife, who was about to say something, but he cut her off without realizing. "You look absolutely gorgeous," he commented, stepping to her and running his hands down her slender waist.

"Oh, you be quiet. I thought we had to go!"

"Yes, right," Kim stated, forcing his eyes from Elly.

Kim found himself assigned to the same table as two generals of the Valerian army. One of the generals brought his wife; the other one was single. There were also a couple scientists from his lab group at work, and their wives. Before the dinner, Kim did a lot of milling about to establish himself as an upper classman.

"My name is Kim Kasim, Ph.D. It's great to meet you, General Malkut," he said, shaking the man's hand. He was one of the senior generals of the Valerian army, and had long, straight blue hair that reached to the base of his jaw. His youthful face, slim hands, and unmarred features made the veteran look more like twenty-eight rather than his actual thirty-eight. The man, though quite handsome, was unmarried. "This is my wife, Elly Kasim."

Elly held her hand out, and the general took it daintily, placing a kiss on the fingertips. He looked up at her with dashing eyes. "I'm... quite pleased to meet a beautiful lady like you," he said in a way that made Kim slightly envious. But his nervousness was alleviated when the general turned back to Kim and winked. "You're lucky man, Doctor Kasim, to have such a lovely wife."

Kim felt himself flush while Elly grinned from ear to ear. "Thank you, General Malkut," Kim uttered.

"Please, call me Kreruain," he said. "I dislike this formal disguise."

"Then please call me Kim."

"Certainly, Kim. How is the nanomachine research going? Apparently, you are very important to the government's war plans."

Kim chuckled. "Well, I'm working on anti-radiation treatment. Right now, only the surface-oriented nanomachines can do anything; all other mutations must be zapped with PET scans. As you may know, this is a long and involved process. However, the advantage of nanomachines is that they can regenerate injuries such as large gashes and help quicken the healing of bullet wounds."

"It's amazing what the nanomachines are capable of. However, I don't think we should have let this come out only because of the war."

"Nanomachines have been around for thirty years. I joined up biotechnology and was lucky enough to be able to specialize in nanomachines after I received my undergraduate degree. They've only started to be known in the past few years of war."

"I suppose war is unavoidable, the way human beings are," said Kreruain. "All we can do is hope that we find our moment of happiness in this hell of a world."

Kim grinned. "Well said. Me, I have my wife... who's not here right now. Oh, she's at the table over there. We're hoping that this new job will really pull through for us. One day, I would like to have children with her."

"Same here, but with the garbage that Valeria's been facing, it's going to be difficult to raise healthy kids." He stole a long glance at Elly. "The Prime Minister has refused the cease-fire with Trewth. Ideals, he says. I think that's silly... we can't fight for the sake of being just. We're losing because our morale is too low."

The doctor frowned. "But they're deporting people in Trewth to Loveh, and they're being locked in concentration camps. We have to take care of the people."

"We also have to take care of our own people, Kim. The longer we fight, the harder it gets. More and more bombs are tumbling from the sky, and it's getting difficult to protect everyone. Trewth and Loveh no longer care who they kill... as long as they kill someone."

"But it's not like our human dignity isn't bad enough. We should have an obligation to do what's right."

"We have an obligation to survive. Besides, who is to define right, and wrong? Isn't morality different to each person?"

"There are a few universal truths... or, so we think," stated Kim. "For instance, our emotions tell us not to hurt others, but we do it anyway. We delight in causing pain, at times. We seek to destroy each other, at times, just to brag about our own greatness."

Kreruain clapped his hands together. "Kim, that's exactly it. Humans can't define what right and wrong is anymore. We don't know what the true ideals are. We can only follow our emotions, and sometimes, our emotions aren't used to fight for what's good and true. If we can't trust our emotions, then there's one last thing we can trust... and that's our will to survive."

"But isn't the fight waged so we can find and define morality?" Kim asked, exasperated that his point wasn't getting across. "If we can't show compassion for the Loveh and Trewth citizens, then how can we show compassion for ourselves?"

"Do those in power define morality? Well, we won't be in power if we call for a cease-fire. Thus, will you, who wants the war to go on, define morality if we win? Or let the others define morality if we lose?" Kreruain checked his watch, then a well-dressed man in a tuxedo came and tapped him on the shoulder. Kreruain nodded at him, then looked back up at Kim and extended a hand. "Well met, Kim Kasim. I have to be leaving you, but I hope we meet again."

Kim nodded. "Yes, of course," he said dryly, noting that the General never got around to addressing his last statement about compassion. He grasped the General's hand in a formal handshake.

As Kreruain stepped away, the next general, who appeared older than the former, but still likely under forty, nodded to Kim. He was a large man, with wide shoulders and massive arms. He had shaved pale hair and dark tanned skin. "Doctor Kasim, I've heard an awful lot about you."

"I do hope it's good things that you've heard!"

The general nodded. "That you were but the best scientist that Valeria's ever had. My name is General Ken Sigfried. I've been working with the Valerian army for the last twelve years doing urban assault planning. I've been a soldier all my life."

"Impressive. I've only had my Ph.D. for two years now; my thesis was about nanomachines and possible applications. Compared to your credentials, mine seem quite sparse."

"Biotechnology is a very respectable field, doctor," replied General Sigfried. "Especially with the war going on, we have to save as many people as he can."

He nodded. "That's correct. I'm trying my best."

"And for that, all of Valeria is greatly appreciative."

Kim could smell the food from the kitchen and his mouth watered slightly as odors of beef rose to his nostrils. With the chemical warfare outside, it was extremely rare to find quality meat, but from the looks of the dinner's company, the meat was going to be quite real.

"This that real meat that they're making?" asked Kim, letting his thoughts reach his mind. General Sigfried shrugged. "I honestly have no idea."

Elly stepped beside Kim, then sniffed the air for a moment, politely offering her input. "I believe it's real, but nowadays, they make chemical beef aroma, too, so it's hard to tell unless you taste it. I'm sure you know it tastes drastically different."

"Syntho's just not what it could be," said the general. "You'd think fake stuff would be made so you'd actually think you were eating real food."

Elly giggled. "They really failed there, didn't they? Now all it does is reminds us how good the real stuff is and make us curse this world even more."

"I do not like any things are being handled by Valerian, actually," commented Ken, not keeping his voice down, and by not doing so, expressing his right of freedom of speech. "For instance, even though there are moral and ethical reasons for keeping up the war with Trewth, I frankly believe that the economies can handle it. Morale in my regiment is low. Refining it to front war. Luckily, Trewth is about as big headed as old Emperor Sardins from the Reeke civilization. They won't back down against anything... so they're fighting a two-front war with us and Loveh too."

"The government's decided to keep fighting?" Elly inquired. I think that's crazy. They cut the funding to the hospitals recently. I agreed to take a pay cut to keep the resources devoted to where they should be." Elly glanced around casually, searching for Kim, but she couldn't find him. She sipped at her margarita.

"Pay cut? That's horrible. I don't think that should happen. Did you know that, this year, the average life expectancy is dropped from fifty to thirty?"

Elly blue eyes grew wide. "Really? I work in a hospital, and this is news to me."

"I'm not sure to government wants to release it. Morale is already low enough as it is. Minister Harfield and Lady Miang want to hold it back. Myself, being an advocate for democracy, am against the idea."

"What will you do to convince them otherwise?"

Ken opened his mouth, seemingly about to express a long answer, but the bell for dinner rang. He shook Elly's hand and gave her a casual farewell. She sighed inwardly; she was eager to hear the young general's plans. As she turned away, two hands pressed down on her shoulders, and she recognized the familiar motion.

"Are you hungry?" asked Kim.

"Very."

Kim found himself going for second helpings. The food served was some of the best he tasted in a long time, a dramatic change made no less significant by the fact that this was happening at a reception. Receptions were notorious for serving bad food.

"Great food," he commented on his way back when he noticed that he led been the first in the entire room to go for seconds.

General Malkut laughed. "Enjoy it. You live longer that way."

Kim chuckled with the rest of the table. Only Elly remained silent as General Sigfried words floated to her mind.

The average life expectancy has dropped from fifty to thirty.

She stole a glance at Kim, who laughed again at another joke. Kim was twenty-eight. He was almost near the mark. She herself was twenty-eight. Just that morning, Kim brought the subject of starting a family.

What sort of world would the child grow up in? What sort of life would a child of theirs live? What would she learn? How would she learn?

How would she live without a mom and dad?

"Elly? Elly?" she heard, and she managed to snap out from her thoughts. "Could you please pass the butter?"

"Yes. Right away," she said, conscious of being scared at. She lifted the butter tray and handed it to Kim, who took it and continued to eat.

This food was good, and she eventually had a second portion of steak, but the inherently excellent taste was dampened by the poison of her mind.

The presentation portion of the reception was quite boring, as usual. Kim forced himself to keep awake as awards seemingly unrelated to any one single event were presented.

When it finally came down to the discussion of current events, the doctor woke. Both of the generals turned their chairs to face the Assembly in the front of the stage. Lining the back of the room for the cameras and microphones of the free press.

Kim listened to the mundane news, such as business reports and other events. He kept his ears peeled for the issue of health care, which directly affected his wife, as well as the reports on his nanomachines research.

He saw a woman rise. She was a very slender woman, with a full bosom and mysterious purple hair. She was extremely attractive, but also spoke with a tone that commanded authority.

"Greetings everyone. I am Miang Haawa, the First Lady of Valeria. On behalf of the government of Zeboim-Valeria, I will be moderating this portion of the discussions. I'd first like to ask Health Minister Harfield to speak about the current health care issues."

Applause rang out as Miang sat down, and Harfield stood. He cleared his throat and pushed his wire spectacles back onto his large nose. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Annual Minister's Dinner. To start off, I'd like to discuss the nanomachines project that Valeria is initializing. We're calling it the Nanomachines Human Regeneration Project. Here to talk more about it is Doctor Kim Kasim, Ph.D."

There was more applause. Elly turned around suddenly. To her, this was unexpected. But he smiled slightly and withdrew a speech from his tuxedo pocket, walking up to the podium.

As Kim surveyed the people around the tables, his eyes rested the longest on the Prime Minister's wife. Although he found her quite attractive, that wasn't why he was staring so hard...

...It was because he realized that she was staring just as hard right back at him. Before he broke his gaze free, Miang's mouth dropped, she looked away, and then her lips curled in a smug smile.

Kim stood at the podium and delivered his speech. When he wrote the speech, he kept in mind the fact that he was talking to a general audience, and not a room full of professors. He explained generally how nanomachines worked: they were small microscopic machines designed to replicate a biological cell. The current goal of the project, he said, was to find a way to repair human tissue damaged by extreme radiation. Eventually, they would find other methods of creating and implanting entire organs.

When he was done, there was casual applause, but the Prime Minister's wife stood on her feet, showing him a standing ovation. Hesitantly, the others in the room full of Miang's example and before he realized, the entire hall was thundering with the sound of clapping hands. Kim was taken back by the reception; it wasn't even that good of a speech. As the applause died down, Miang rose and stepped around him, reaching for Kim's hand and shaking it furiously. She placed her lips close to his ear. "It's a great honor to meet you, " she whispered. "Sometime, I like to meet you again. " Before she backed away, she let her soft lips move from his ear over to plant a casual peck on his cheek. She gave him a secret wink and stepped away from the podium coyly.

Kim flushed as he stepped down, hoping that no lipstick was on his cheek. This, for sure, was going to be plastered on the tabloids all over town.

"What the heck was that?" Elly asked incredulously when he returned to the table. First, Kim presented a speech that he had said nothing about, and then the Prime Minister's wife gives him a kiss in front of half the nation...

Kim shrugged, grabbing a napkin to wipe this cheek. He wrapped an arm around Elly, as if doing so would wash off the unclean feeling he received from the other woman. "I had no part in that. I don't know why she did that to me. Frankly, it's extremely humiliating."

General Sigfried leaned forward over their table. "Doctor Kasim, what the heck was that?"

Kim shrugged. "I don't know. The Prime Minister's wife must be crazy."

"A mysterious woman, Miang is," commented Kreruain.

"I certainly didn't find it very funny," both Kim and Elly said, at almost the exact same time.

Kim became conscious of the surroundings again when something caught his ear. One of the reporters from a back room was asking a question. "...about the Health Care spending cuts? How will you provide the people with the services they need it when you put no money into the system?"

Minister Harfield replied in a succinct and professional manner to make the reporter seem foolish and naive. "Obviously, we must fund the nanomachines project before it is possible for us to put the new technology to use. Once the project's goals are met, the entire budget will be transferred to the health care system, where we will begin radiation treatment for men, woman, and children. At the moment, the current methods are expensive and have a low success rate. But even the preliminary tests that Doctor Kasim has performed show promising results. Without the funding to the nanomachines project, we have no effective way to treat the radiation poisoning that continues to threaten our lives."

At their table, General Sigfried rose, and Elly knew exactly what he was going to ask; quite frankly, she was glad he was speaking up. "Minister, I beg your pardon, but don't you think that taking the resources from health care should be the last thing to do if the average life expectancy has dropped from age fifty-five to age thirty in the last year alone?"

Quite expectantly, there was a wave of murmurs over the assembly. Kim leaned over to Elly. "What? Is this true? We only have thirty years to..."

Elly placed a finger to lips, wanting to hear the response from the minister.

"General, you have a source?"

"I read it in the government's Annual Health Report..."

" ... which has not been published." The Minister blinked. "The figure in the document shows the actual average life expectancy. There has been no change from last year to this year. I'm afraid, that to you may have to make a mistake in reading the file."

The general shook his head. "No, sir, I am quite aware of what I've read."

"You will be proven wrong when the report is released next week."

"But I know that you will not change the data?"

"How do you know that our data collection has been finished?"

"But you, yourself, said that the average..."

"Thank you, General."

"But..."

"Thank you, General Sigfried. I would like day continue with my report." Harfield continued with his speech, moving past the issue of funding and refusing to answer any further questions. The General, left speechless at his table, crossed his arms and seated himself heavily, grumbling to himself about the government shafting him.

"Is this true with the life expectancy thing?" As Kim, putting on Elly's arm. "Do you know anything?"

Elly shrugged. "I.. I don't..."

It's an outrage," Kim said. "I can't believe that the government would let this happen. General Sigfried, is this life expectancy thing true?"

The general pretended not to listen, but on Kim's insistence, glanced up. "I thought it was true. But apparently the government wants to put it down."

"A lot of children have been dying," input Elly. "It skews the figures somewhat, but still. The highest death rate among age groups are infants to six-year olds."

"But even now," Kim commented, scanning the room, "you don't see many people over thirty in this room."

"I'm thirty-eight, believe it or not," said General Malkut.

"I'm thirty-two," added General Sigfried.

"But everyone else looks so young." Kim paused. "It might be the deaths of children that throw off the figures. But still... children shouldn't be dying." Kim shook his head. There was all the reason he would work harder at his job. "Elly. I still have to go to work with you. Are you showing up on Saturday afternoon?"

"Good fortune."

"Nothing more."

"You disappoint, Miang."

Miang's eyes narrowed, glaring at the monitors that showed her a set floating orbs rotating around the large computer. "You should not speak. The Gazel Ministry came across Judah by 'good fortune'. It was not planned. I found the Contact. The Anti-Type is not far behind." Her lips curled into a tight line. The Gazel Ministry, the first humans on earth, irritated her beyond belief. The twelve old men were alive and well, but at many times, Miang wished they were dead. Her distance from Solaris forbid her from visiting the Gazel Ministry in person, and this forced her to talk to them through a computer network; specifically, the immense SOL-9000 communications system. Each minister addressed her through a floating orb that had a monitor containing their face. Until she had time to disappear and visit Solaris, then the uplink from her room via the SOL-9000 was sufficient.

"Is the Artificial Life Project moving along?"

"As best as I can make it, which the current resources. You are still demanding that I keep the purge going, after all."

"The purge is to single out the unwanted."

"The unneeded."

"The..."

"I know. But if you want an Artificial Contact created before the purge, then I cannot keep fighting the war. Nanomachines are recent to the Zeboim people. However, quite ironically, the Contact himself is a nanomachines researcher. I will be sure to monitor the Project carefully; and thus, the Contact as well. It's killing two birds with one stone."

"We also have our own goals that you must succeed," said one of the voices.

"Only based on your promise to us do we help you," said another.

Miang sighed. "Don't worry. I remember the agreement. Patience. Have patience."

"We've been patient for the last six-thousand years, and still, you bring us no results."

"Look," Miang snapped, beginning to feel exasperated. "I've been waiting for a long time too. I know what I have to do. I want to rest as well." She looked down at her watch. "I have to go." Without waiting for a response, she switched the terminal off and terminated the uplink. She turned on the stool, then went up the stairs that reached from basement of the Valeria Parliament building.

Miang returned to her room. She scanned the large suite as she entered, making sure no one was around, then she removed her suit and shirt and collapsed on the king-sized canopy bed. After a few minutes, the double doors on the wall to the left of the bed opened, and Prime Minister Haawa marched in, obviously frustrated with something. Miang checked her watch. It was almost three in the morning.

"It's something wrong?" she asked, not moving from her position.

The Prime Minister grumbled unintelligible words.

"I missed that."

"I said, it appears that Harfield screwed up tonight. You were there. I wasn't. How are we supposed to explain this one away? The average life expectancy is thirty. But Harfield denied it. All the reports are already printed. I..."

"Calm down, honey. " Miang soothed, still staring up at the mahogany and gold-lined drapery that made up the canopy of the bed. "We should just go with what Harfield said. I was there tonight. Spare a few million and reprint the books. We have a week."

"But that's totally against..."

"No one needs to know."

"You make it sounds so simple. There are thousands of middle men who worked on it ... I'm sure someone will notice."

"I will handle it. On the contrary, Meiji, only about twenty people worked on the printing, proof reading, and data collection. There are the printers too, but if we tell them a mistake was made no one will second-guess us."

"You think of a way around everything, Miang." Haawa opened the curtains on the right side of the bed and slipped between the covers.

Miang did not smile at his little comment. Of course she had to think of ways around everything. The problem of dealing with mankind was that they were only human.

"If it's a boy, then what should we name him?" Kim asked, touching Elly on the nose.

Elly snickered. "We don't even know if I'm carrying yet, silly." She felt radiant tonight. Kim had never been so passionate to her before. In many ways, it calmed her mind; besides the obvious pleasure of the act, it also reassured her that Kim was not discouraged by the horrible conditions of the outside world.

The issue of the life expectancy being only thirty bothered her immensely, but even in the wake of a recent chemical missile striking a military base just three kilometers from the outskirts of Kore, she felt no problems. The civilians around the west end of town, though, were warned to evacuate from the disaster. Over the last week, she had to treat many people for radiation poisoning of the skin from the missile's fallout. Kim came with her on two occasions, and was not only sensitive, but helpful.

More than ever, he wanted a child. And she eagerly agreed with the notion, much to both their delight. His confidence in life was a beacon in her dark mind.

"Still. I don't want to think about this at the last minute. I mean, it's not like this sort of stuff should be left on a 'feel-it-out' basis."

"Oh, I think it should be. The name will come. When we know our child ...our very own!... is to be, the name will come in no time. Not that I don't mind the feel-it-out part anyway..."

She giggled as she felt Kim's touch tickle her skin.

But two weeks later, Elly was staring at that negative result on the pregnancy test. She shook her head sadly. Was it something she was doing wrong? This was supposed to be a natural act, something that humans were born knowing how to do.

Kim was working late this evening, and he would probably be unable to make it home before she turned in for the night.

She tensed, staring at the telephone, wondering if she should make the call. Setting her resolve, Elly reached for the phone and punched in a number. "Hello, Doctor Melcor? I'd like to ask a few questions, but maybe I'll save them for the appointment. You see, my husband and I have been trying for weeks, but so far, there's nothing..."

"It's strange," Kim said to his colleague, Bartholomew. "Look, this latest quarterly report says that twenty-million dollars will be reallocated to health care, but yesterday, my wife said that she had to close down an entire section of the hospital because there aren't enough nurses."

"That's horrible," Bartholomew replied. "Didn't you say that you wanted to speak out against this?"

"Yeah, that's right." Kim sighed. "I think I sort of put it off. I should write the letter, shouldn't I? But one letter's not going to change anything."

"Sure it will. Especially if it's from you. The government said that as soon as we get the bulk of our goals finished, it'll start moving the cash from us to the hospitals. That means smaller paycheck, but at least people will live, right? I wouldn't mind losing a hundred dollars a month if it meant another child in the hospital gets a respiratory machine and lives."

"Same here. Have you already written a letter, Bartholomew?"

"You betcha. I hope you do it soon, Doctor Kim."

"Aren't you afraid of losing your job? If you protest too much, they might want to fire you or something."

Bartholomew shook his head. "Nah. This is a free country. I can do what I want, like speak out and stuff. If I want to write my letter and complain, I will."

Kim nodded, still feeling doubt in his mind. "Yeah, I'll do it tomorrow, I guess."

"Don't put it off too long. They're starting to meet and discuss more and more often, so the sooner, the better. We've progressed a lot in our project, and I think it's about time that we move this money from our research to health care. Save the people. If they won't end the war, the least they could do is to help treat the people who are suffering."

"Thanks, Bartholomew. I'll send the letter tomorrow and hope for the best."

"Morale is certainly low, sir, and the resources we have are diminishing. The three-twenty-fifth and the nintey-ninth are on the verge of starvation."

Prime minister Haawa stared at General Sigfried from above his interlocked fingers in front of his mouth. "I can't stop this war, General Sigfried."

A loud thump on the table make the Prime Minister jump. His hand went from his mouth to the tabletop as he tried to hide his show of weakness. Two chairs down, General Kreruain was standing, both palms pressing on the surface. "Haawa sir, with all due respect, but this is outrageous! What do you mean, 'you can't stop this war'?" His long blue hair floated in front of his face, and he used a hand to move it from his eyes. "Human beings, by nature, are chaotic, but this is a result of self-preservation. I think you should act on the human instinct of survival and make peace with Loveh so that we live longer."

"Loveh is a longtime enemy, General," said the Foreign Affairs Minister from his position.

"Then Trewth."

"Trewth just killed sixty recruits with chemical weapons outside of Kore."

"That wouldn't have happened if we accepted that cease-fire with them five weeks ago when they offered. Since then, we've lost five-thousand men, two warships, nine jets, and over two-hundred mobile armor."

One of the Brigadier Generals rose his loud voice. "Would you care to mention the enemy's losses, General Malkut?"

"I... "

"Allow me, Prime Minister Haawa. In the last five weeks, we've managed to liberate one city, prevent the slaying of ten-thousand mutants by disbanding three concentration camps, captured two nuclear missiles silos, and destroyed forces equivalent to a Valerian battalion division. And this was against Loveh only; Trewth's losses are a bit less, but run along similar lines. General Malkut, as you can see, we are winning this war. Thanks to the progress of the Nanomachines Project, we've managed to regenerate the wounds of soldiers ninety percent faster. Loveh and Trewth both have no clue how we are advancing so steadily."

Kreruain shut his mouth and sat down, drumming his fingers on the table.

"What about the civilians?" General Sigfried leaned back, scratching his short hair and readjusting the tie around his broad neck. "Now that the nanomachines project is done, what will we do to heal the people?"

"No plans are made to cut the nanomachines project," Haawa stated evenly.

"No plans? I thought that once..."

"The nanomachines project, and funding in general, Mister Sigfried, are none of your concern."

The general rose from his seat, gesticulating wildly. "What you mean, none of my concern? I have a daughter in the hospital because of the stupid war, and right now, she's not receiving any treatment! With the nanomachines, she might be able to breathe again! But it's not under my power! It's under yours! I can't do anything. But you can!!"

"Look, General. I'm sorry about your daughter," cited Haawa. "But we need the resources we can get to keep up the war effort. Mister Sigfried, we're so close to our goals. All we need is another month of determination. We still have a few nuclear missiles. We have reason to believe that Trewth has none. If things go well, we will capture Loveh's last nuclear missiles silo. Once they have no chance of retaliation, we will threaten to hit their capital cities."

Kreruain nodded. "And that will prove?"

"They will surrender."

"And if they don't?"

"We launch the missiles, wipe their cities off of the map, storm the disorganized units with their armies, and disarm them. We have begun the mass infusion of our soldiers in order to make them resistant to not only physical attacks, but radiation as well."

Kreruain crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. "This is nice and all, but how long do you think it would take to storm their armies? We'll be fighting a guerilla war. What about other nations? What if they try to pick fights with us in our weakened state? How about Shevat on the tower? Or the Igna barbarians on the north-eastern continent? We need time to rest and recover, but more importantly, we need to find a way to prevent this war from happening again. We have to end this war strong, and that means taking a rest now."

Haawa drew a deep breath before speaking. "General, I understand your views on human nature. We are generally chaotic beings, but there's not much we can do with this human nature other than to live with it. We have to make do with what we have. Humans will always fight for what they love. There's no changing that. All I can do is to end this disaster of humanity in Loveh and Trewth and to hope our children remember this disaster, why it happened, and vow to stop all from coming up again."

Kreruain simply breathed, not reacting to the Prime Minister's speech. Across from him, General Sigfried had an immense frown on his face, still unsatisfied with the proceedings.

"I'm sorry," Haawa sighed, lowering his head, suddenly appearing very tired. "I know it's tough. It's not me who is fighting this war. It's you. But we need to look past our selfish desires and fight for the common goal so we can not only attain peace, but also lasting peace. Valeria will look after Loveh and Trewth, and prevent them from any wrong-doing again."

I wonder who it is with the selfish desires, thought Kreruain bitterly. He glared at the Prime Minister fiercely, and for a second, their eyes met. Haawa averted his gaze as realized that the ice of Kreruain's glare chilled his bones.

Prime Minister Rose. "Let's meet here tomorrow at two. I'm sure we're all tired. Let's go home."

Kreruain was the only one who stayed in his chair as he watched the other ministers and advisers leave. He took full breaths, concentrating on the expanding of the diaphragm.

They were all foolish. Humans were, by nature, self destructive and selfish. Abandon their own desires? Hah, Prime Minster Haawa was as selfish as they came for forcing its rigid idea of peace on the others. But he, Kreruain, would not collapse to the single view of "ever-lasting peace". He would find a way to make people equal... to avoid all conflict between humans.

Only after a long session of thinking, almost an hour after everyone else had departed, did the general rise from his seat and leave the room.

Kim arranged the trays on Elly's cart as she continued daily rounds through the hospital. The Saturday afternoon was clear of pollutants, and the weather report said that the visibility would actually be more than five kilometres.

Still, no one on Valeria spent more than a few hours outside per day. Anything more than a couple of hours landed you in a hospital, just like the one Elly worked in.

He pushed the cart into the room, where Elly was sitting on a stool beside an old woman. "Here are your pills, Mrs. Lexington," she coaxed gently, lifting a glass to the woman's lips. The frail lady nodded and had just enough strength to smile at the nurse before falling asleep again. Elly led Kim out of the room and shut the door quietly behind her. "That was Mrs. Lexington. She was caught in the first radiation fallout and was in the hospital for the last three years. The mere fact that she is alive to tell us how strong she is, mentally."

Kim lifted an eyebrow. "Resisted fallout?"

Elly nodded. "It's quite amazing."

They moved on to the next room, where two patients shared the living space. Elly served for the middle-aged men their meals, and adjusted the bed for one of them. When she was finished, she glanced back at the man and motioned to them. "They used to be in separate rooms, but the nurses couldn't see them in the allocated time, so we had to put them in the same room."

Elly continued her run, addressing a woman with mutated arm tissue, a man with no lungs, a girl who lost all her hair, two children with no legs, a teenager awaiting a liver transplant, and a military officer who had his spine blown out. Kim watched, with a striking combination of interest, fear, and sorrow for the people. The frightening images gave him a new inspiration for the nanomachines project: he would create an entire respiratory system to help those who needed to breathe. Over the past five weeks that he was working as project manager, his team of scientists have already managed to simulate the functions of most major organs in the human body with nanomachines. Although they required periodic "regeneration" with a nanomachine assembler, the artificial lungs were certainly a better alternative than waiting for an organ donor for ten months.

"This next child is Zöe Sigfried," Elly commented. "She's been in here for a long time too. Her mother was killed in one of the chemical bombings and Zöe herself breathed in a lot of gas."

"If I had access to nanomachine assemblers I could probably improve her condition. Which chemical?"

"Thermo-oxide gas. Nasty stuff..."

"... but nothing I haven't corrected already. Elly, I will try to start helping these people. Most doctors don't know how chemicals affect the human body as well as I do. With nanomachines and assemblers, I could probably correct most of the cancers, a lot of the radiation poisoning, and clean out the effects of gassing."

"You'll really help? Oh, that's so nice of you!" Elly embraced her husband around the neck. "You've been coming to work with me a lot. It's not like you already don't have enough to do... and..."

"I want to do my best. My job is to protect people. Even if the government won't give you the money, then I will try to succeed where they fail."

Elly pushed open the door. Seated by the bed was a tall man wearing a Valerian Armed Forces Officer Uniform. He had a hand on the girl's forehead. The other was stroking a teddy bear she gripped in her arms.

"Oh, excuse me," Elly exclaimed.

The man turned his head, blue eyes revealing no life.

"General Sigfried!"

The general nodded. "Please call me Ken. I'm sorry, will I be in your way?"

"No. Don't worry, I'll come back."

Elly was about to step out of the room and close the door behind her when the girl uttered, "Elly is there? Daddy?"

Ken looked up at the auburn-haired woman, who was frozen in her tracks. "Yes, my love, Elly is there." he soothed, patting the eight year-old girl on the cheek.

"Elly always tells me stories. She's kind to do that, especially when so many other people must want her to stay too."

Ken nodded, glancing back and forth between his daughter in the nurse. "If you want her here ..." He motioned to Elly and she tiptoed toward them and sat on the stool on the other side of the bed. Kim stayed by the door, watching the exchange.

Zöe smiled up at Elly, blue eyes glittering with joy. "Elly, this is my dad. His name is Ken, but I call him daddy. Daddy, this is Elly. I hope you two will become friends."

The General blinked away a tear. "I will, Zöe, my daughter. I know Elly, and she is very kind to me."

"Elly's kind to everyone. She sings of a woman with 'eyes of blue' and 'angel wings' in one of her songs. To me, I think she's the real..." Zöe keeled over suddenly, coughing fiercely. Her breathing started to wheeze as she tried to take in air. Elly lifted a cloth to wipe away the blood that flecked the girl's lips away.

"Zöe, I'll give you some of your herbal tea," Elly said, rising to the cart.

Kim watched silently, scanning the room for a respiratory machine or heart monitor, or even a nearby oxygen supply. The girl would be much better off if she had clean air to breathe; sometimes, that was all it took to heal someone. But he couldn't see anything. The sound of the girl's hacking reached his ears again. Kim turned around in concern, watching as Elly prepared the herbal remedy that would supposedly stimulate her condition.

Elly lifted the small mug from her tray, adding an ice cube to the boiling water to cool it slightly. She handed it to the girl, who sipped at it and smiled. Elly returned the soft smile. After the tea, there was nothing else she could do. "Thank you, Elly," the girl said. "Elly always makes it all better. She's so dear to me."

Kim frowned bitterly. Not even a respirator. All Elly would be able to do was pat the girl's hand if she was sick. The slight glimmer of hope that he held in his mind faded away. The government wouldn't even buy her oxygen, let alone an entire assembler.

Zöe took a deep breath, then suddenly broke into a new spasm of coughs, dropping her mug. It spilled its contents all over as it rolled off her body and hit the floor with a sharp shatter. "Elly, Elly, help me!" The girl clutched at her throat as the coughs became quieter and quieter, diminishing eerily against the humming of the fans overhead.

In an instant, Elly lowered the bed and had her mouth over Zöe's, attempting to initiate artificial respiration. Kim bolted upright and stepped outside of the room, and stopped the first person he saw, just as he heard Sigfried's loud cry of agony.

"Nurse! Nurse! A girl's dying in there! She can't breathe! I need oxygen immediately!"

The nurse nodded, pale-faced. She started to peer in the other rooms, as if she did not have any equipment on hand. She barked an order to the receptionist. Kim cringed, but rushed back into Zöe's room, digging through his own bag to see if he had any breathing masks. He noticed that he had a syringe and a vial of respiratory nanomachines, and he was tempted to inject them into her, but the act would be futile without immediate Assembler attention afterward. He stared at the scene, mind growing numb. Sigfried was shouting at his daughter in a frenzied madness, saying that she wasn't supposed to die before her dad and demanding that she live. Elly took another breath and breathed into the girl. Her chest rose, but the air emptied and it remained still.

Kim's mind could hear beeps of the heart monitor speed up to a critical pace. He had to shake his head clear; it was only his imagination. Obviously, the government thought this little eight-year old girl wasn't worth the cost of a heart monitor. The life of a human being was not worth the three-thousand dollars that it took to purchase a respiratory machine. Her life was not worth the thirty-thousand dollars for a nanomachine assembler that would help repair her damaged lung tissue. To the government, their war of ideals was more precious than the lives of human beings.

"Don't die, Zöe! I love you! Don't die!" The general gripped his daughter's hand, rubbing it as if it would revive her. Elly took another laboured breath. Outside, Kim could hear the nurses scambling back and forth, asking for an oxygen mask.

Kim was suddenly shoved out of the way when a nurse stormed into the room, holding a facemask and a small tank of oxygen. Elly stepped back, eyeing Zöe's rolled-back eyes in fear. The new arrival placed the mask on the girl's nose and mouth. She gave no response.

Elly's finger hesitantly went to the child's neck. General Sigfried's tears poured down his cheeks, falling onto the sheets of the bed, into his hands, and onto the limp fingers of his only daughter. Elly pressed her finger against the aorta.

She could feel no pulse.

Elly moved her hand over the eyes, shutting the eyelids of the human who had once expressed such vibrant life.

"No... no... oh... NO!" Ken screamed. "You can't die on me! No! Zöe, Zöe!!! Come back, come back, come BACK!!" And the man's head collapsed on his daughter's lifeless breast, his arms dropping around her cooling body, his shoulders shaking as if he was being stabbed.

The nurse with the meager equipment backed out of the room quietly, without saying a word. Elly sat on the stool, back slumped, watching Ken mourn.

Kim watched with paralyzed eyes. If only they had the proper systems, he thought. If only I had spoken out earlier. If only the government cared...

If only people cared.

He sat at the window, staring outside over the sparkling lights of Zeboim. The city always twinkled through the thick smog that covered the city.

Kim wasn't appreciating the view.

"Elly, why didn't I notice any problems sooner?"

"Kim, you're blaming yourself for something you had no control over," Elly said, arms crossed on the table, chin on her hands.

"No. I'm not blaming myself. It's everyone. All humans."

Elly noticed his pause. He was obviously expecting a response, but she gave him nothing.

"Humans are, by nature, selfish. We're all out to save our own butts. The government wants to wage war for some reason... some personal reason I can't figure out. I didn't speak out louder because I thought my job was more precious to me than some other human's life. It's all selfishness. I could say it's just me. But it's not. It's everyone."

"Isn't that a bit of an overgeneralization?"

Kim directed his gaze at a new point outside of the window. "Maybe," he stated after a long silence.

"I mean, not all people are totally selfish. We have a lot of people doing good deeds out there. Look at Sister Safiah, serving the refugees soup and bread every second day. The volunteers of the Aid Foundation helping those who had their homes bombed."

"Why do they do that sort of stuff?"

Elly shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe they want to make a difference."

"And what does that mean?"

"They want to make change. They want to do things to help others... just like how you're talking about how you could have spoken out."

"I'm still selfish. If I would have spoken, I would have only been fulfilling another selfish desire. I would have only been demanding that 'my way' be fulfilled."

Elly frowned. "Kim, is everything we do, then, selfish? Do the Sisters of Neseene work so they can receive self-gratification, and therefore, it's selfish? Do they act out the Will of Neseene, and therefore, it's selfish?"

Kim nodded. "I think it is."

"What are you complaining about, then?"

"I'm saying all mankind is selfish. If we're born human, we'll be born with selfish desires... to think about yourself before others. To demand that you get your way. To bring corruption into the world. Those who can't control their selfish impulses suppress everyone else. They dominate the world, control the others, and make them succumb to them... and the people don't even know it. Those in power feed the people the idea that selfishness is good. Believe in your own thoughts. Follow your heart, and rebel." Kim shook his head. "I would have been just yielding to their desires if I would have spoken out."

"So what, we do nothing?"

"That's exactly why mankind is evil, and does not deserve to live. If we do something, we lose. If we do nothing, we lose. Zöe's death could have been prevented, if I only knew what I could do."

"You're being too hard on yourself."

"So what if I am! I have to be, to make mankind better! Maybe I should work harder, so everyone has nanomachines. I'll give away my knowledge. Make everyone know about it, and I'll save lives. I'll elimiate hardships of the body, and everyone will be happy." Kim was now standing and pacing the room, hands on his head. "The world's so screwed.... it's so screwed."

"Kim..."

Kim slumped back in his chair and crossed his arms. He lowered his head and shut his eyes, as if he were trying to isolate himself from the world.

Elly started at him for a moment longer, wondering if she would get any sort of reaction from him. But he simply sat there, unmoving from his position. Elly, with a deep sigh that rose from her gut, rose from her table and prepared to go to bed.

Elly felt absolutely sick and she waited in the SkyRange restaurant. After Zöe's death two days ago, her mind would not settle. Both General Sigfried and Kim complained about the government and how it underfunded the hospitals. Kim added that humans were narrow-minded to believe that 'the greater good' was something that could be defined and quantified.

But it wasn't Zöe's death that made her tummy ache. It was the news she intended to give today.

Elly's gaze went to the glass windows that were all around the tower restaurant. From here, she could probably see all of Kore. Even the floor below her was made of glass. However, glass only lined the other perimeter of the circular restaurant; it would probably make anyone who was afraid of heights absolutely sick to visit the restaurant if the entire floor was tiled with glass panes. On the inside, there was solid concrete.

She saw Kim at the elevator door, talking to the waiter. The waiter nodded and pointed in her direction. He headed over toward her, then pulled up a chair and sat across from his wife, face set in a neutral position. Usually, he would smile when he first saw her after a day at work.

But ever since Zöe died, she hadn't seen him smile. Her death changed him drastically. Herself, she was immune to it; once you watch one child die, the rest are all the same. She realised her train of thought and Elly had to force it out of her head. It made her feel dirty and unclean.

"You wanted to meet with me," Kim said evenly. "Why here, and not at home?"

"I don't know. I just didn't feel that home was the same anymore. Kim, you've been distant and sad for the past few days."

"Of course I'm appalled." Kim remarked, even though Elly had not said that he was. "Zöe wouldn't have died if the technology was available. Three weeks ago, she would have had a respirator, like she should have had. She would have received a nanomachine treatment if the government did what it said it would do and put cash back into health care. But the selfish bastards did dick-all."

"Kim..."

"But that's not it. If I wanted them to axe the nanomachine program, all I should have done was ask them to put the cash into hospitals. But it was me who was too selfish to ask. You know what, Elly? Humans... they're inherently evil. Loveh has the mutants... but worse, they execute them in concentration camps. And you know, I'm surprised that I'm not a demon either. I heard somewhere that how you act and what you do affects your outward appearance to others. Human beings turn into mutants because that's how their minds are. Twisted, mutated, evil."

"Kim..."

"The life expectancy's thirty now. Damn it, here I am, fretting only after I have watched a girl die in front of my eyes. Where the hell was I before? You told me that a child died, and I only said, "Hmm", and drank beer in front of the television. I'm scum, like those government officials of Valeria, the executioners of Loveh, and the officers of Trewth. They're all meanaces of humanity. We're tainted. We're imperfect. Zöe died because of chemical bombs falling on the city. They were bombing citizens. Where's our sense of dignity? Of compassion? Of honour? Human beings are the are the only species on this planet that kill out of want. You know what, Elly? I think all humanity should just drop dead."

Elly blinked and looked up at him with blue eyes that started to glisten with moisture. "Even me?"

Kim's mouth opened slightly as concern touched his face. "No, not you. Never you... You're the only thing I have left. The only thing good and pure and right. You show love for children, and help them as much as you can... me, I just sit in my secluded lab all day, doing nothing. I'm not worthy to be married to you. Because you're so much better than I am. You know what? I almost don't want a child, because I would hate to be the little being who would have to grow up in this world and put up with all the garbage that we leave behind."

Elly's hand, hidden under the table, went to her belly.

"But that's another problem, isn't it? There are so many more couples who can't have children... and because of that, their relationship falls apart. Despite what I said, I still want to have children. Maybe, by having a child, I'll remember the few things on this earth that are actually worth fighting for. And I'll keep fighting, with the idea in mind that if it's not for me, then it'll be for you, and our child. We'll make the world safe, for our baby. I think that your mental condition is directly related to the condition of the body. If we can just keep the body healthy and free of deviations and mutations, then the mind will be good. If Zöe didn't have weak lungs from breathing the chemicals, then her mind would have still been here with is. See, Elly, you haven't had any deformities­your healthy body has created a healthy mind... a mind which is kind, gentle, and loving. Not like me... all I can do is complain."

"Kim, I'm not perfect," uttered Elly.

"You're just modest!" He winked, teasing her for the first time after Zöe's death, and looking a bit like the Kim that she knew before. He looked up at her with a wide smile and laughing eyes.

Elly scrunched up her face and placed her face into her hands, feeling the tears of sadness fall into her palms, head shaking with sobbing. She felt Kim's hand on her arm.

"Elly, Elly?"

Elly shook her head, moving her fingers. "Kim, you know about what you said about couples not being able to have children?" She took a thick breath between sniffles. "I'm like them. I was exposed to too much radiation during my work in the hospital."

Kim stared blankly. She wiped at her eyes, doing nothing but smearing her mascara and eye liner over her face.

"Kim, I can't bear children."

Kim did not flinch. He only stared straight ahead, into her eyes, hoping that it was some sort of joke, or that it was just a dream. He could hear his heart beating. His head began to swim. He started to feel dizzy.

But her eyes told the truth.

Kim's mouth opened, his breath coming out in stuttered pants. Elly only gazed back, her lips trembling, her eyes wet with salty tears, and her face as solid as ice.

Kim's hands went to his hair and he pulled on it in frustration, feeling the last link to sanity falling away. "Noooo!!!!! NOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" he screamed up into the air, with absolutely no care of what the rest of the world thought...

For his world was no more.

Elly sat on a park bench outside of the Valerian Parliament building. The grass that used to grow green on the massive front lawn had long since deteriorated into brown and yellow refuse. She inhaled the air again, not caring what it would do to her body. She wore all black, and had a dark veil over her face. She had no real purpose for being here, other than the fact that it was away from work, and away from Kim.

When she had told him the news, he came home looking like only half a man, as if the other half was taken away by a ghost. He kept muttering to himself about the world, humans, and selfish desires. Elly was tempted to think that he had gone insane. He wouldn't talk to her, and he ate and slept like a machine. It appeared that he lived for no reason other than to execute the daily routine of going to work, then coming home and sitting on the chair overlooking the city, staring out into the faint pinpoints of light that could be seen through the smog cover of Kore.

Elly's hand went over her flat tummy, the womb that would never carry a child. Now that she thought of it, she wondered if Kim really loved her at all. It recently seemed he was using her as a tool so he could have his own child. She shook her head. She couldn't believe she was having these thoughts. They were exactly what Kim said would destroy humanity.

"Excuse me, miss, can I help you?" asked a familiar voice.

Elly looked up, not moving her veil. "No, I am fine. Please leave."

The man, who wore a regal military outfit which was blue and white, did not depart. "My name is General Kreruain Malkut. I am concerned for your well-being. You have sat outside for the last hour when you should know that Valerian air is not safe to breathe."

"I don't care," Elly retorted, trying to ignore the fact that she heard the name and the voice before, but couldn't remember exactly who he was.

"I don't want to add you to the statistics of life expectancy, Elly," he stated, using her name to receive a reaction. "You would die, right on the thirty mark. As a soldier to a civilian, I order you to follow me inside. Come on." He held out a hand to her, pleading with his youthful eyes for her to take it. The man looked dashing and gallant with his long, blue hair, flowing cape, and formal uniform.

Elly hesitated, but placed her gloved hand into his. "How did you know who I was?" Elly asked as she was walking alongside him toward the gothic Parliament. The copper roof was green with acid-rain exposure and the stones stained black from fires and chemicals of the past.

"We've met before. You are Ms. Elly Kasim, wife of the respected Kim Kasim."

"You're the young General at the dinner!"

Kreruain chuckled. "Oh, I'm far from young."

"You certainly look young! No matter how old you are, you certainly have a handsome face."

The compliment made the General feel warm inside. He looked at Elly's beautiful eyes through the veil and smiled. "I just take good care of myself. My youthful looks come from my father and my mother."

Elly noted the General's casual manner. He seemed to be quite content with his life. Her mind immediately went back to Kim's comment about those with healthy bodies had healthy minds. "They must look great even now," she said.

"No, that's not very true. They were killed in a bombing raid, mutilated by shrapnel and glass. A painful death, if I say so myself."

Elly stared at a moment, then nodded. She tried to think back to her own parents. Both of them died when she was a child, killed in the pre-war skirmishes before the nuclear warheads were launched. "My parents died when I was a kid."

Kreruain opened the door to Parliament for her like a proper gentleman. "Unfortunate that things like this must happen. The events in our lives, especially in childhood, build our current selves today. When I was young, I was teased a lot by the other kids, but my mental determination told me that I would beat these kinds in each and every way. I worked out a lot, studied hard, and showed them who was the better person when the chances arrived. It was my life as a child that initiated my work ethic, and consequently, made me the person that I am today." He motioned Elly toward the cafeteria of Parliament building in the basement.

"What about physical circumstances... like your body's health?" asked Elly, her mind flashing to her discussion with Kim.

Kreruain had an instant response. "While I think it can make things somewhat depressing, I wouldn't think that it's as influential as your youth. They say that you learn... but you have to feel pain to learn. You shouldn't let physical circumstances hold you back. That's all they are... physical. The mind is all you need." Kreruain and Elly sat together at a table in the corner of the room. "I'm not the person to ask, though. I have not experienced any physical setbacks."

"Can I tell you something?" Elly asked, finding that she trusted this man.

"Certainly."

"I found out yesterday that I can't have children."

Kreruain gave no reply, and waited for her to continue.

"Worse, my husband and I really wanted to start a family together. I think that if we could have, we would be able to see why we have to fight to end this foolish war. I don't want my child to grow up in a world like this. But now, I can't even have a child at all. I feel like dying. I think Kim's dreadfully upset. I don't even think he loves me anymore." Before she knew it, she was crying again and looking into her fidgeting hands. She sniffled loudly as a new wave of despair swept over her once more. She tried to clear her eyes of tears, but only wiped her make-up over her cheeks.

Kreruain reached over the table, gripping her hand in reassurance. He would have loved to be able to walk around the table to wrap Elly in his arms, to rock her gently, to comfort her... but she was a married woman who had just met some stranger. For some reason, General Malkut felt strangely attracted to her.

"I don't know what to do, Kreruain," Elly sobbed. "Kim doesn't really live anymore. He eats, sleeps, and goes to work. He doesn't eat with me anymore, he doesn't sleep in my bed, and he doesn't talk to me. He's like a zombie. Worse, I get the feeling that all he wanted to do was use me. That he just wanted me to bear his children, and that's why he doesn't want me anymore. And now, I don't know if I love him still. Right before Zöe died... we were getting along so well. But then she died, and then there was the news of my sterility, and..."

Kreruain was bold enough to grip her soft hand tightly, and he placed the other one on his own. He said no words, and only kept his ears wide.

"I'm not even sure why I'm telling you this," she sniffled while trying to crack a pathetic smile. "You probably don't really care. I'm just some woman."

No, he thought, you're not just another woman. There's something special about you. "I care," he said aloud. "And I will listen to you."

"Th... thank you," Elly sputtered. She laid her head down on the table, holding his hand against her face, staring off into nothingness. She felt detached from the entire world. But General Malkut's hand was still there. Elly kept a tight grip on his hand as it rested against her cheek. It was the only thing she felt was real; the rest of her life had already dissolved before her very eyes into a void.

Kim trudged down the hallway, looking at the door on the other end. His gaze focused drearily on the one point, his eyes never wandering from their fixed position.

A loud voice and a hand on the shoulder snapped him out of his trance. "Kim. Kim!"

Kim's eyes blinked and snapped open. "Uhh?"

"Kim, this is General Sigfried. I would like a moment with you in private."

Kim nodded drowsily. His head lifted and General Sigfried could see the bags forming under the doctor's eyes. He turned and opened one of the hallway doors that led to his office. Kim slumped over in this large office chair, staring at the general with half-open eyelids.

"Kim, I want to stop this war. What I want to do is to enlist your help. No longer do ordinary methods of protests work against Haawa and his wife.

"I want to start a rebel group. I want to avenge the death of my daughter."

Kim's eyes opened, and suddenly, all signs of lethargy and apathy disappeared. "Rebellion?" he asked, running a hand over his hair. How do you plan to accomplish that?"

"I already have the support of over half of my squadron," he replied. "If we get our access to Parliament and kill the Prime Minister, then one of us can take power and stop the war."

"So where do I come in?"

"I want you to help our soldiers by enhancing them against anything the government's got. But more than that, I want you to be a representative of the government after it's toppled."

Kim stared at the general for second, then, tossed his head back and laughter. "How ever can this happen? I'm not a politician, I'm scientist. And how would I ever keep this a secret? What about my wife? My relationship with the government? Won't people get suspicious?"

"Yes, only if you say anything. We won't need to speak out. We'll do it internally."

"I'd rather be vocal about it and and rally public support instead of sneaking around with plans of terrorism."

Sigfried's eyes flickered in rage, but he calmed himself in the same second when he recalled his company. "Okay, I understand where you are coming from. But what can you change? Will the Government listen to your pleas?"

"Who knows," said Kim. "Perhaps."

"You might just get yourself killed in a crackdown."

"It would be better than dying as a terrorist."

"Very well, Doctor Kasim," the general stated, rising from his seat. "I am merely fighting for the future of Valeria... no, all of Zeboim. My daughter is dead as a result of their actions. My son is at war and he may be dead soon. But I'll fight anyway ... for the sake of my children, and if not just them, then for the sake of all the children of others." Sigfried pushed the chair under the table, then leaned on its back. "I suppose you wouldn't understand as you do not have children yourself."

Kim turned red. Although the general's words seemed to be casual, they ate at his soul. Kim's hands clenched on his lap. "Good day General," the doctor acidly spat.

"You have my number should you change your mind." Ken abruptly turned, stepping outside and shutting the door loudly behind him.

There was a long pause, which Kim used to regain its composure. He couldn't get the General's words out of his mind. His mind burned with anger, and he felt hot with rage and jealousy. Ken had children! And he couldn't have any!

Kim slammed his fist on the table, then tore a book off of his shelf and started to read about reproductive systems and nanomachines. There had to be a way, he thought, gripping the book tightly in his hands. Was he just incapable? He grit his teeth and hit himself on the head with his fist. When he couldn't handle it anymore, he hurled the book across the room and buried his head into his hands, tugging at his hair in his madness.

"You're late, Kim," Elly said as she heard the slam of the door. She did not look up from her dinner. Predictably, she heard absolutely no response. "I made myself dinner. There's a bit left in the fridge. The... Oh!" Elly speech was cut off as Kim grabbed her by the shoulders crushing her against him in such a death grip that she tried to cry out in pain, but couldn't. Kim forced his lips on her roughly, kissing her and rubbing his hands all over her back. They stumbled on the chair, but he kicked it away.

"Kim, I don't think," Elly started, but he kissed her again and ripped at her blouse, tearing the buttons off. He thrust himself against her, grabbing her breast and shoving her pelvis on hers. He swept her up in his arms and carried her to the bedroom, with Elly raising her voice in protest. As he threw her on the mattress, she tried to sit up, but he leaped on top of her, hungrily moving his mouth over her face and body, pinning an arm with one hand, and struggling to remove his clothes with the other. Elly squirmed underneath his grip, but the act was futile, and she succumbed to him and ceased to desist.

As Kim felt his orgasm jolt his body, the dilemmas, the stress, and his frustration with the world shot out of his mind.

Kim's sat at the desk in is bedroom, elbows on the table, hands balled into fists, propping his head up by the brow. Behind him, wrapped in the tangled sheets, Elly slept soundly. A leg and an arm were exposed. Her forehead was damp with sweat.

The doctor looked back to his desk, hands rubbing against his face. A sickening feeling crept upon him, a feeling that had never harassed him before. He tried to keep the tears back, but the eyes were cold with numbness and seemed unable to stop the moisture.

He used Elly. He had used her as a tool to comfort himself. To try to relieve the possibility that he might still be able to have a child.

As she rolled over in her sleep, she muttered a distressed cry. Kim shut his eyes tightly, shaking his fists. He hit them against his temples, recalling his stupidity. How could Elly respect him now? What he had done was along the lines of rape. The way he took her, the way he treated her...

Kim roared in despair and his head fell on the desk. And he bawled. There were bad pieces of news before... Zöe's death, the news of Elly's barrenness... and they left him shocked, mystified, numb, and resentful. But now, he felt nothing but absolute pain that pierced him to the bottom of his soul, and there was not one thing he could room do to make it better. Kim shook his head. The gash would be forever there. There would be no physical marks, but the scars of his mind would never heal.

The doctor just sat there, eyes crime, mindful of melancholy, for nearly an hour. Elly still slept. Outside, the wide windows, the light of the tall Valerian skyscrapers slowly winked out as the citizens left, leaving the city bathed in its cloud of poisonous smog.

More haunting than the deformity of his body was the deformity of his mind. Kim stared at the ceiling, still trying to accept his actions. But it felt horrible to suppress what he just done, or else it would simply happen again. He glanced back at Elly for a moment. Who's fault was it? What it her, for being barren? Valeria, for not protecting her from radiation? Loveh, for starting the war? Trewth, for launching the chemical bombs that poisoned the air? Zöe, for waking him up to the horrors of war? Sigfried, for rubbing it all in? Or himself, for being unable to deal with it all?

... or could be just blamed the entire world in general, as it all had a part in creating this tragedy?

Kim's mind swam and his vision blurred for a moment. No. He had no one to blame but himself.

Did mankind have a chance of all? Could it live for a moment without destroying itself? Or was there a last hope, an angel, something, someone, so good, so perfect, that the world could emulate? Someone free from the physical contamination of the air, the mutations, the deformities? Someone free from the stress of dealing with politics, of trying to accept their own mind, of trying to find confidence in their body? Kim slammed a fist on the desk. The vibrations of the fist caused numerous items to fall. One notelet from the bulletin board drifted to the desk. A pen tipped over. His letter racked toppled, scattering sheets of paper. A vial of silver-green nanomachines rolled around, rattling on the wooden surface. It was impossible. No one like that could ever exist.

He cursed quietly to himself, and started to refile the letters when one of the open log books caught his eye. The title of the entry, dated almost three years ago, was, "The Perfect Cell." His eyes scanned the page. It was something he had written, a letter to the doctor for help on his his Ph.D thesis.

"With the development of almost flawless nanomachines that replicate the function of sells almost exactly, we can be seen to predict when entire tissues, or even organs, it can be made entirely of nanomachines.

"Entire organs can be made if we can extract genetic data from healthy cells and infuse them into the nanomachines. According to the Kay Theory, summarized on page thirty-seven, we should be able to simulate offspring using this technique; by infusing a cell with a selected combination of genes from two donors, the resulting organ would be considered 'offspring' to the brain, and thus be transplanted without rejection by the immune system. In fact, it is possible to make the offspring genetically superior to the average human if the proper gene strands are selected so that the offspring receives the best genes from both parents."

Kim stared at the letter for many minutes, then grabbed a pen and began to jot down notes that popped into his head. Genetic data ... nanomachines ... offspring...

Three years ago, it seemed impossible.

But three years was a long time ago.

Kim's mind blanked of all of his thoughts, his head now dedicated to nothing but biotechnology, the field that he loved. The notes on the paper were generated at a lightning-fast pace. Complex formulas leaked from memory. Chemical reactions and experimental processes were recorded. Possible sources of error, hypothetical results, and notes of theory were scribbled in swift script.

Kim was writing like that straight until morning.

"I.... don't what to think anymore, Kreruain," Elly said. "Ever since that night where he... had me, he's been even more aloof than before. He doesn't come home at night. He doesn't call me, talk to me... I only hear from once a week, if at all." Elly shook her head and rotated her cup of mocha on its saucer. "But the thing is, I don't know if I'm really all that sad about it."

Kreruain looked concerned. "I don't know what I can say to make you feel better. My words would only be empty to you."

She looked up at him, twice shining softly. "Nothing you say to me is empty, Kreruain," she replied. "I adore talking with you. You keep me sane when think I'm going to just fall apart and die."

The general looked down, hoping his flush wasn't too obvious to her. He felt this way every time Elly complimented him. He wished he could sort out all of the emotions in his head; to find out what he truly felt for Elly. She was a friend, nothing more.

But wouldn't he want it to be more?

No. It would be "too weird".

"All I do is talk... I tell you what I feel about things... what I think... that is all."

"And that is exactly what makes you so special. It's rare, nowadays, to find someone who will truly admit what he feels, what he thinks, and tells others about it."

Kreruain felt his insides turn to mush. "Well, the world is so afraid of itself. The people of this planet are afraid of being hurt. Those who are quiet and withdrawn tell themselves that they don't want to offend others ... but they don't want to feel the pain of rejection. They don't know about the happiness that can come if they brave the pain. The outgoing ones are loud and outspoken so that their external actions will distract others from what is inside; they think was is inside is of little value." Kreruain sipped at his mug of coffee. "But just so you know... it's not that easy to quantify people, to sort them into types and mental behaviours and thinking patterns... humans like to believe that the world is simple, ideal ... that you can sum up the meaning of life in some yet-unknown universal sentence. Maybe I'm wrong. But the universe is not that easy to perceive."

"Kim just says, 'humanity sucks'. I don't know if he's changed his mind yet. He hasn't talked me in the last two weeks. I'm worried ... but yet, I'm not. But I feel guilty for not worrying. At the same time though it's lonely in my apartment alone... especially when I have all the memories of our happy times together. In the same apartment, though, I see the horrors painted on the walls."

"Elly, if you want, you can stay at my place for a night if you fear your apartment. I have many spare rooms, and my maid will be sure to tend to your needs."

"I don't want to be a bother," Elly said, even though she was attracted to the idea.

"I invited you. You are certainly not a bother."

"But I feel bad for just accepting your gift and not giving anything in return."

"Elly, believe me when I say that you have already given me so much by simply being my friend."

Elly's face widened into a grin. "Thank you Kreruain... and thank you for the offer... I can't refuse now, can I? I don't think I could have resisted anyway."

Kreruain chuckled.

The nurse swept her hair behind her ears and then polished off the rest of coffee. "Kreruain, do you perceive humanity to be evil?"

The youthful-looking general placed his elbows on the table and rested his chin on folded hands, letting the thought go through his mind. "Elly, perhaps there are elements of mankind that could be changed. I believe, though, that they are inspired by society's influence. For instance, we have a problem of violence. People solve the problems by using war. They bomb places, fight each other... things like that. I heard recently that there was an underground terrorist group in Loveh that is trying to seize power. Obviously, our government is leeching off of this rumour and seeing how they could turn it to their advantage.

"But the problem is, that unless we change the paradigm of society, nothing can be done. And the shift has to be radical, too... it would be almost impossible unless we killed most of the influential politicians and mass media and replaced them with those who have good morals. But that brings up another question. Who has the right morals?"

Elly lifted an eyebrow. "That's amazing. You seem to know so much."

"I only say what I believe... and I believe based on what I observe. But my observations and beliefs are not everyone's observations and beliefs. In other words, what I saw may not directly apply to you. If I follow my heart, then the answers will be found... but only answers that fit me, Kreruain. If you want to find your answers, Elly, you have to follow your heart. I think that's a big problem today. Not enough people are willing to follow their hearts. They want to do what's easy, or what makes them the most money, or what makes other people happy. They aren't willing... "

"...or they're simply unable to," interrupted Elly.

Kreruain nodded.

"I will have to get up tomorrow for work," she reminded him.

"I will have to get up as well. I will get a ride for you to the hospital tomorrow morning. Shall we get going to my place now?"

"Sure. But if you don't mind, I'd like to stop by my apartment to get a few things."

"Certainly, Elly."

Kreruain drove his own car. During peacetime, he used to have a chauffeur, but as conscription became widespread, he lost his chauffeur, his butler, and his cook, and ended up doing everything himself. Not that he felt it was a bad thing, the General said, as it kept him vigilant and busy.

Elly grabbed a few of her own things; toiletries, a few changes of clothes, and her nurse's uniform. Predictably, when she stepped inside her apartment, Kim was nowhere to be seen. The sight of the empty place hurt her heart as she stared upon it, and when she left, it felt as if an immense weight had been lifted off of her shoulders.

The General's house was on the Parkway by the now-contaminated Freedom River. The trees, which used to be lush and green, were now infected and mutated with radiation, creating grotesque outgrowths and knots in ways unimaginable. The mansion itself was beautiful, however. The entire place was fenced, enclosing a yellowing lawn just within the gates. Kreruain left the gates open; apparently the security of the residence was not as important as it used to be. Although the lot was gigantic, the actual house was not exceptionally large, though it was much larger than anything one would find on an ordinary residential street. The stone walls, copper roof and, in sharp triangular piece gave the building a gothic look, similar to the Valerian Parliament.

"Nice place, isn't it?" Kreruain started. "As one of the generals of the Executive Council, this is where I get to live. Seven bedrooms, huge kitchen, beautiful banquet hall. Sometimes I wonder this is really where I live, and if I truly deserve it."

"I'm sure you deserve every inch."

"Not in the government's eyes, if disagreeing measures your level of competence. I don't like this war, but I don't want to begin a rebellion. You wouldn't have heard, because the media is being ordered to be quiet about it, but the Minister of Health had a note taped to his car, demanding that he put money back into the health care system, or else he would suffer. After he read the note, a nearby garbage can exploded. No one was hurt, but the message was quite clear." He turned the key in the front door and pushed it open, motioning for Elly to enter first.

"Thank you. Really, there are terrorist actions right in Valeria?"

"Yes. I say it's tough to fight war with war."

"Do you have any idea of whom may have done it?"

"Done what, provoked the rebellion to start, bomb the garbage can, or lead the terrorists?"

"Any."

"The government provoked it, of course. If they were so pigheaded and called for a cease-fire, maybe more people would be alive right now. The air's so nuked that surprised I'm still alive. Animals barely live, trees just make it by. No wonder some people are pissed. But the terrorism is just going to begin the government's position and it might lead Loveh to launch an effective counterstrike."

"So what you going to do about this?"

"Nothing yet."

"Nothing??"

"Because there's little I can do. I can continue to ask the government to set the cease-fire. But as long as Miang is around, Haawa's not going to move."

"You mean the prime minister's wife?"

"I never really guessed it before, but I think it's all her who controls Haawa."

"Based on what evidence?"

Kreruain shrugged. "I don't know. It's just a feeling. Anyway, it's getting late, and I will show you to your room. I'll be turning in shortly."

"All right. By the way, thank you for letting me stay here and for keeping the company during this hard time."

"The pleasure is all mine."

Miang walked through the hallways, tugging on the loose ribbon that was tied around her neck. She then lifted her portfolio and read the contents of the next weekly meeting.

She sighed. The meetings were getting tedious and boring. She was often dragged around by Haawa, who was constantly asking for help on this matter, for help on that matter, for advice on this...

She wasn't paid enough to bother with it, nor did she care about Haawa or the country. Her mind flashed back to Kim Kasim, the Contact, that she had seen only briefly one month ago. He was a man. It was fun teasing him. Unfortunately, with her preoccupation, she neglected to look for the Anti-Type, who was usually around the Contact by the time they were aged eighteen. Now, that was a man to care about. The ticket to her freedom... the key to destroying the Emperor, who, even now, was starting to lax in his duties of destroying all inferior beings. Even with Solaris' superior technology, he opted to stay out of the Zeboim conflict, even though the Ministry had ordered a purge.

Yet, the Ministry didn't fret over Cain's lack of action like they did to her. She never got to have any fun. She never got to do things the way she wanted to. She was just a tool for the Ministry.

Or so they thought. Miang grinned to herself. One day, one day, they will be gone from my sight, and I will be able to fulfill my goals.

"Miang, I'm glad I found you," she heard a too-familiar voice call. Frankly, she wouldn't have been sad if she never heard the voice again.

Her grin disappeared. "What is it, Meiji?"

"I need some help. I just know that General Sigfried is going to bring up the subject of Health Care. His daughter died, and he's really pissed about it. What should I do with the nanomachines project?"

Did she have enough information to create an Artificial Contact, should the need arrive? Miang asked herself. Maybe they did, maybe they didn't. But the fact remained, as long as Health Care was unfunded, then the weak would die. "Don't give in. Keep the Health Care low." She sighed deeply. She so desperately wanted to get out of here. As she swept her bangs over her head, she saw General Kreruain walk by. He glanced up directly at Miang with his sweeping gaze, not moving them until he passed her.

"Okay, that's a done deal." Haawa wrote more notes in his tablet. "I'm getting more confident in making things work," he started to ramble. "I think I understand your way of thinking. While we have the nanomachines project running, we should keep it funded to get as much as possible out of it. They're constantly building more facilities that can manufacture the Assemblers, and then they can be placed in all of the hospitals when the nanomachine technology is sufficient."

"Right," Miang said, trying to remove the sarcasm from her voice.

"Miang, you're going to be there for the Dinner this evening?"

Miang groaned. "Yes, I'll be there."

"Thanks, Miang. I love you." He gave his wife a quick peck on the cheek, and dashed off to his meeting. Miang sighed and rolled her eyes. Another dinner. She was always showing up at dinner after dinner after dinner. Maybe she should actually take a minute now and call up Kim, and try to convert him over to her side. Invite him for a drink, perhaps, or a night of dancing. She walked off toward her bedroom, staring at the phone nervously, wondering how he would accept her invitation.

When finally made her call, no one answered the phone.

"Kreruain! I'm home!" Elly called out to she let herself in. She didn't think twice about calling the place 'home'. It seemed an unconscious habit, but perhaps the stone building was starting to feel more like her own place. She had stayed for two weeks thus far, and the weekend drew near. She looked forward for a few nights of relaxation with the general; perhaps dinner and a few drinks at the bar.

"Elly!" Kreruain said, stepping into the foyer, still wearing his uniform. "I just arrived home a short while ago. How was work?"

"Horrible. Two children died today. A shopping center was bombed. But the big problem now is that no one knows who planted the shrapnel grenade... if it was the terrorists, or if it was Trewth or Loveh."

"Vicious. We spoke with the Council of Internal Affairs about the terrorist operations. General Sigfried proposed that we move money to health care, away from the Nanomachines Project. Apparently, Kim's been going to work, from what I've heard."

"Did you agree with General Sigfried? He was very hurt by the death of Zöe. I can see why he would lobby for the money for health care."

"I did, as usual, but Haawa refused to let it be. I think I will have a personal talk with him one day."

"I hope you can get something done. The people are growing weary of the war. More people are growing sick. At this rate, all of Zeboim is going to destroy itself."

"How about we take our minds off all that tonight? Elly, which like to go for dinner with me?"

Elly's blue eyes beamed. "I'd love to, Kreruain."

Miang leaned her face on her fist, glancing around the restaurant casually. Another banquet. She wanted to get out of here, to leave and do something human for change. Haawa was on the podium, giving a speech about why the war should continue.

The Ministry was so picky. If Miang had her way, she would simply end the war, captured the remaining weapons, and just release them in an expression of mass destruction. She tired of playing 'behind the scenes'; the waiting game.

She had found the Contact. He could lead her to the way of destroying Cain and the Ministry. She scanned the room again, from under half-closed eyelids.

And much to her surprise, her eyes rested on Kim, who was seated at a distant table next to the door, appearing quite bored with the presentation. In fact, he was sleeping.

Haawa was still speaking. Miang rose. "Excuse me," she told her company, then left without giving any explanations of her departure.

Miang walked nonchalantly through the restaurant, and then stopped when she was next to Kim. She tugged on with his arm, whispering into his ear, "Come on, let's get out of here and do something fun." Miang then pulled on him such a way that if he refused to move, he would fall on off the chair onto his rear. Kim woke quickly enough, jolting upright, and he found itself on its feet, arm in arm with the prime minister's wife, and outside of the restaurant doors before he fully understood what was happening to him.

"M... Miang? What you want from me?" Kim asked groggily.

"A night out," she purred, pulling him closer to her. "I know a great diner just down the block. They have singing and dancing and all that."

"Why me? You're married, Ms. Haawa. Hell, I'm married... yeah, I am... too."

She flashed him an enchanting smile and touched him on the tip of his nose. "Oh, we're just friends, now. I don't think anyone can object to two friends going to a real place to eat."

"But I barely..."

She placed her fingers on his lips. "Shhh, we know each other better than we think." She winked at him.

Kim couldn't help but think that Miang was somewhat evil, but in a magical, charming sort of way. Perhaps it was her sly smile, her velvety voice, her narrow, slanted eyes, or her violet hair, but something about Miang was quite mysterious. He found it enticing. "Umm, right."

"I'm glad you concur." She started to walk toward the elevator, savouring the feeling of having her arm linked with the doctor's.

The soft sound of the piano greeted their ears. The place was classy, yet casual. Although it seemed that there was a strict dress code, the conversation was light and the atmosphere unrestraining. People chattered at the bar set up in the middle of the restaurant. At the front of the place, there was a small stage. A woman on it wearing a slinky black dress sang, in a passionate, jazzy tone, of the midnight angels that would come for her. A tuxedoed man beside her played the grand piano, adding a harmony to her voice, and the other man beside her played the saxophone, accentuating the feeling in her song. Just before the stage was a hardwood dance floor, though Miang didn't know how she would be able to dance to this sort of music.

"For two," Miang told the waiter, who didn't seem to recognize her.

"All right, madame, right this way please."

Kim lean over but the whisper. "Does anyone recognize you?"

"Rarely. My face is never displayed on the news." They were escorted to a nearby table in the middle of the room. The mood of the dimly-lit restaurant was quite well established. Kim received an aura of relaxation, yet mystery, from the area. From the bar, the bartender served drinks to couples seated at his counter.

He exchanged small talk with Miang after ordering, mainly about menial details about his job and his complaints about the war. Miang seemed generally interested in his comments, even when he stated honestly, but not too vehemently, that he hoped that the war would end soon.

"How is your wife?" Miang continued to ask. If she knew the Contact of the past, then the man would be married to...

"Elly and I haven't been getting along well." Kim cleared his throat nervously.

Miang's eyes widened with an appearance of genuine concern, but inwardly, she was trying to squelch her excitement. "What happened?"

They were interrupted, much to Miang's annoyance, by the waiter. He served Kim a tray of steak (syntho, of course), and handed Miang a platter of trout. Miang nodded curtly at him and tried again to pursue her line of conversation, but Kim was fully engrossed in his dinner, wolfing it down as if he hadn't ate in days. She realized that he wouldn't hear her until he was done, and so gradually gave up and picked at the trout.

The clank of the fork hitting an empty plate made Miang look up. "I haven't had a decent meal in a long time," he said, drinking the red wine in his glass.

"Why not?" Miang asked, hoping to direct him to the topic of Elly.

"I've been working so hard lately that I've been just eating fast food and microwave dinners."

"Doesn't Elly cook for you?"

Kim shook his head. "I do most of the cooking in the household. I usually like doing it... though it was more rewarding when they still had real meat. How about you Miang? Do you cook at all?"

Miang had to stifle a groan. Couldn't this man take a hint? She answered his question with a trace of the smile. "Actually, I do cook, just a little bit."

Elly sat at the bar with Kreruain, holding a cocktail in her hand. She loved this place already, and it was her first time here. There was an atmosphere of comfort and relaxation in the restaurant, even if there was somewhat mysterious. She glanced up at the woman who seemed to the piano; after she was done, she bowed and stepped off the stage. The pianist rose and followed the woman.

"I love this place," Elly said. "It's great to take my mind off of real life." She looked up at the stars that decorated the curtain behind the stage; the silver of those stars matched the shining silver of her dress. "Hey, do you think I can do some singing?" Elly asked Kreruain, half-jokingly, although she truly wanted to. She had not done any show-singing since early twenties, but she sung enough to know that she was not bad at it.

Kreruain shrugged. "You sing?"

"Yes!" Elly exclaimed. "Especially that sort of neato-classy jazz-blues stuff to the piano... not sure exactly what the genre's called."

"I play, actually."

"You do? You know 'Fly me to the Moon'?"

Kreruain looked away from her and avoided eye contact, hoping she wouldn't see the smirk on his face. She pulled him on the arm as she rose off her stool.

"You do! You do!! Come and play with me!"

Kreruain blushed and grinned, then let himself be pulled up on stage by the remarkable woman.

Elly decided to skip the introduction to her unsolicited entry, and decide to go directly into the song's vocals. She started, vocals only, taking a deep breath before letting her mouth open.

"'Fly me to the moon, and let me play among the stars...'"

At this point, Kreruain began a jazzy version of the song, adding an upbeat melody to her show.

"'... let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars ... in other words, hold my hand... in other words, darling, kiss me.'"

Her thoughts wandered to when she had first heard the song. It was in a bar, similar to this one, in her third year of medical school. There, she found a handsome young man at the bar, teased him a bit, and danced with him on the floor.

"'Fill my heart with song, and let me live forever more... you are all I long for, all I worship and adore... In other words, please be true... in other words, I love you...!'"

Kreruain finished his short accompaniment, but decided he liked playing enough to start into another piece. As she heard the first few notes, Elly grinned widely. Kreruain knew her better than she thought.

"'Your fingertips, moving gently to my heart...'"

Kim was jolted upright when he heard the song, and stared up at the stage with such bulging eyes that Miang turned around to see what was wrong.

"The force of life goes on and on.... the song remains, like a haunting melody... of angel music held in chains...'"

As Miang's eyes fell on the auburn-haired woman singing on stage, her lips curled into a slight sneer.

"'And I ask you, can we ease the pain, of those who lost... (the force of life goes on)... Can we know the cause of all this sorrow... (tears of loneliness)...'"

Kim's voice came out in a mere whisper. "Elly." It was like the first time he heard her sing... it was mystical ... no, it was more than that... legendary. And the voice hit him harder now than it did almost five years before.

However, the difference today was that he did not seen her in about four weeks... and they were married.

Miang's voice jerked him from his thoughts. "Kim, isn't that your wife singing on stage?"

Kim turned to her and nodded dumbly.

"You seem surprised that she is up there." She looked at them quizzically. "Usually, in a good relationship, the husband and wife know where the other is." Miang mentally laughed at herself at her own advice. Meiji likely had absolutely no idea where she was right now. And she could bloody care less where he went off to. She suspected that he only stayed married to her for convenience: he needed both the support of adviser and a good public reputation. An unmarried Prime Minister never did well in the elections.

Kim nodded again at her, the same dumb look on his face. "Yeah," he sputtered mindlessly.

Miang leaned forward, eyeing Kim seductively. "She certainly has a beautiful voice, and a very beautiful face and body. No wonder General Malkut has his eye on her."

"G-General Malkut?"

Miang leaned back casually, amazed that Kim had not noticed, and played it out casually. "Why yes... that's him playing the piano there."

Elly's voice repeated the chorus another time. "'And I ask you, can we ease the pain... of those who lost...'"

Kim's eyes went to the young, blue-haired figure at the grand piano, adding his tune to Elly's song. It was certainly General Malkut. "Hmm, ever since... I... well, once, I was a bit harsher with Elly than I should have been. I really wanted to have a child with her, but when I found out that she was sterile as a result of all the bombing, then I... lost it, I guess." Kim sighed deeply, and looked into Miang's gorgeous eyes. "We really haven't talked to each other since. That's why I want the bombing to stop. Even though humanity sucks, I want people to stop killing each other, so they can actually live their lives out, in peace, with the freedom to go outside, have fun, not go to war, and have children. I so desperately want to raise a child, but as long as this war goes on, I can't." He paused. "Miang, do you have any children?"

The question caught her off guard. In her six-thousand years, she had never had a person that she truly cared for... truly loved. Her position as guardian­a mouthpiece­did not allow for emotions to get in the way. "No."

"Ever wish you had children?"

Miang felt her barriers, icy cold, melting before Kim. Elly's voice faded, and as the applause from the audience grew, she started into a new solo. Miang opened her mouth. "Yes, I did wish." Maybe, when this was all over, she would be able to live a normal life... after all this deception, trickery, and cruelty. Miang stole another glance at Elly, who lifted her voice in song, looking innocent and beautiful in her shimmering silver dress. Miang envied her... the freedom of choice, the bliss of ignorance. Elly had no idea of her importance to humanity, to Zohar, and to Deus.

Many times, Miang wished she could be the same way.

Kim nodded. "Then you understand how I feel about this war?"

Miang shook her head. "No. I mean, yes. I mean, I can't have children because of different reasons. Kim, I can't convince Haawa to stop the war. We're so close to attaining the peace... a cease-fire would just give them enough time to gather up their forces and strike again. Believe me, I would stop it, for you, if I could. But I can't. We need to push farther... for a permanent peace." Miang wiped at an eye. The Ministry would have paid to see her in this condition. Cain would have chuckled to see her so weak. Miang cursed herself for crumbling so easily, but even as she swore at her inner being, the tears would not cease. Kim was a spectacular person to be able to provoke enough thought to make her feel like this.

"Then you're like everyone else" Kim announced, his voice suddenly bitter. "Unwilling to break molds, to step out, to make a change. Too afraid of what others would think of you. Despite all your 'logic', you don't really know what humans go through... none of the pain and the hardships. You just pretend that you know. Most people are like that. They don't want to do anything for themselves, and just become followers, hoping that someone else would do it for them. I don't want to be like that. Waiter, cheque, please." He looked at Miang. "I have to be leaving. Excuse me."

The waiter placed the bill on the table, and Kim left his credit card. He stared ahead at the Prime Minister's wife, whose lips were quivering in an attempt to say something. She looked both angry and shocked, but most of all, saddened. It made no difference to Kim, though.

When his card was returned, he rose without a word and marched out of the restaurant. Miang simply stared after him, bowing her head, letting her hair cover her face to hide her shame.

As Elly completed her third song, she saw a figure rise in a huff from a table and march out of the restaurant. She recognized him immediately. It was Kim. She hoped he didn't see her with Kreruain and got the wrong idea...

Her eyes went to the table. At the chair was, unmistakably, the Prime Minister's wife; the purple hair was absolutely obvious. She wondered why he was having dinner with her. Apparently, something happened for him to want to rise and leave so quickly. Maybe Elly would be able to grab his attention...

She found herself falling off-beat with the piano, then sped her pace up to be back in time.

After her short recital, where she sang five songs, the people on the floor began to rise and congratulate her. Elly beamed at this; she had not known her singing was quite this good. But she was most surprised when Miang herself stepped up on stage.

"Miss Kasim, your performance was wonderful. I hope, some day, to be able to invite you for tea... and perhaps, to sing for my guests... if you don't mind."

If it was anyone else, Elly would have told them that she didn't do parties... but in front of Miang, she just smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Mrs. Prime Minister."

"Please, call me Miang."

"Okay, Miang."

Elly and Kreruan laughed the entire way home that night.

"Five songs, on the debut night!" Kreruain chuckled as he stepped through the front door. "You're a hit already. And to think, I actually had a chance to play accompaniment for you."

Elly smirked. "You flatter me too much, Kreruain."

"I could flatter you in millions of ways, and it wouldn't encompass your extraordinary qualities, Elly." He lifted her hands up to his lips. She blushed and he smiled; Elly looked so cute when she blushed.

"No, really, Kreruain, stop it!" But inside, she really wondered if she wanted him to. She stepped close to him, and Kreruain wrapped his arms around her waist.

"You are so dear to my heart, Elly," Kreruain whispered into her ear. "I... I..."

He leaned in, and gently pressed his lips to hers. Elly felt herself turn to butter in his arms, and began to give way to his emotions, savouring the soft brush of his mouth against hers. But before anything could go further, she broke free from his grip and turned away, suddenly feeling self-conscious and awkward. "I... I'm sorry, Kreruain, but I can't do this. I still... Today, I saw Kim."

The General withheld a gasp. "But this man, he abandoned you, and I thought that..."

"It's not your fault. Maybe I... I sent you the wrong signals, Kreruain. It's just that, as I was singing, lots of memories came up... when he and I loved each other. And I still..."

General Malkut felt intense envy birth inside him. He longed to be able to hold her in his arms, to be able to love her and say so. But it seemed that she was still attracted to trash who liked to use her and throw her away when she was not functional to him any longer. "But Kim... he said that he didn't want you because you couldn't have children. I don't know why I feel this way toward you. I know it's not right, because you are a married woman. But... but..." Kreruain gulped, trying to squeeze out the words. "I lo..."

"Please, Kreruain," she whispered, facing him. "Don't. I'm... sorry."

Kreruain found himself staring after her, feeling empty inside. He felt betrayed, deceived, misled... but worst of all, he felt hurt. He had never met anyone like Elly, never felt for anyone else what he felt for her... and now, she refused to even let him speak.

Was humanity so close-minded to look at things only one way? To look at life from one angle only, unable to see all the bonuses, the fruits of life? Were humans so shallow as to love based on pure sentimentality? To base it all on the past, and not the future? Why did Elly allow herself to be used? Why did she continue to stay lonely and depressed?

It was the paradigms of society. It was how the world looked at things. People would teach their children to be closed-minded. From there, the children of these children would learn to be closed-minded.

Would there ever be a way, ever, for the cycle to be broken?

He found himself bitterly hating Kim, not only because he was the object of Elly's affection, but also because of the way he mistreated her. He stared at her as she stepped back once, then turned around and dashed out of the door. He shut his eyes tightly, hoping that tears wouldn't overwhelm him.

What would it take for Elly to love him? What did he have to do? He was prepared to change all Mankind for her, to stand tall and shake the heavens, for Elly, his love.

But right now, all he could do was cry.

The assemblers were in working order.

Kim sat back on his chair, staring up at the glass tube in front of him. Before, it was only an idea, but then it grew into a long-term goal. But after his conversation with Miang, he felt that he needed to reach his goal even more.

It had been three weeks since he had last talked to Miang... or Elly, for that matter. Miang's words about her being with Kreruain floated in his mind. He wanted to go there, ask him himself... but he didn't know if he wanted to know the truth. He frowned at the thought of the General with his wife.

But either way, he would dedicate the creation he had in front of him to her.

Kim tilted his mug back and finished his coffee, then tossed the stained cup on the ten others that had piled up on a nearby table. He rose from the chair to add more grinds from a quickly-emptying tin to the machine, and he set it to perk.

The nano-assembler's monitor reported that the generation of the genetically-determined electrical nerve pulse was fifty-two percent complete.

The Last Hope of Mankind would be more than just a hope soon... but a reality.

Elly shook her head. She sat alone in her apartment, staring outside of the window. Over the last three weeks, General Kreruain had called multiple times to contact her, but she had refused to pick up the phone. She felt lonely now, deathly lonely. His company was good when she had it, and now she wished she hadn't refused him so fiercely. She lowered her head onto her folded arms. Only the sound of rain slamming against the window echoed through the room.

Kim hadn't come back either.

She was so foolish to think he wouldd come back to her. Why did she think that? Did he even know she existed anymore? Certainly, he had heard her sing. He could have at least said hello. Did he love her anymore? She could no longer bear his child. But he had to have loved her for more than just that.

She had spent every night for the past ten days thinking like this.

She was tempted to go back to Kreruain's but after the way she had rejected him, she couldn't go back, not as a woman whining and begging to be taken care of. Not that Kreruain would have cared at all, but she couldn't bear to know that she let herself kneel down that easily, that quickly. But where was her pride now?

The phone rang.

Elly groaned, wanting the ringing to disappear from her head. She didn't need it. She didn't want to talk to anyone. The blaring hammered at her temples and shouted in her ears. Much to her relief, the machine picked up after five rings.

"Elly? Are you there?" It was Kreruain. "I wish you would talk to me again. I'm sorry about what I did, but I don't like denying my feelings. I am going to go to war in a week, Elly. They are finally sending me to the front lines to do coordination strikes. You know how people usually have someone in mind, someone to come home to when they're at war? Elly, that someone is you. I have to go prepare at the base now. Bye."

Elly rose, starting to reach for the receiver, but the machine clicked and he was gone by the time she could grasp it and lift it off of the cradle. She lifted it to her ear, hoping to hear his voice, hoping that perhaps he didn't hang up yet, but all she received was a dial tone. The phone slipped from her trembling fingers.

Elly shook her head and flopped back on her couch, gripping one of the pillows tightly. She felt lonely. No, she didn't feel lonely, she felt nothing but despair... deep, dark despair that she alone could not fight. There was nothing she could do to climb out of her pit. All she wanted was someone to comfort her, someone warm who would hold her and pat her hair and tell her that it was all okay.

Elly blinked back tears. No, it wasn't despair.

It was loneliness.

She heard that Kim went to work while she lived at his place. Maybe she could call him, ask for him, to request that he come back...

...because she was lonely.

And she missed him.

Despite all he had done to her, all the shunning and abuse, she still loved him. Despite the fact she could never make his dreams come true, she still loved him.

Elly could hear Kreruain's voice in her head right now, asking if she really wanted to take this inhuman treatment, this cruelty, out of some blind love. But it wasn't just that. It was something else.. Kim had a goal. He was trying to do something to change. The way he walked out on Miang...

She stared at the phone. Her vision swirled as she stared at it, and the image seemed to come closer and closer to her, but she blinked and it was back in its original spot. She inhaled suddenly. She would have to call him. She would have to contact him, if it would even help one bit to alleviate her loneliness.

Elly stumbled off of the couch, falling over the coffee table as she reached for the phone. Her hands were shaking with nervousness. She pawed up the table and grasped the receiver and began punching buttons.

Elly slammed it on the cradle and hung up, the phone beeping in protest. What if he wasn't there? It was silly. He probably didn't want to talk to her. If he really wanted to talk to her, then by now he would have...

Ring.

Elly stared at the receiver and reached for it gingerly with her hands, praying that it was him. Her voice couldn't help but stutter as she spoke. "H-h-hello?"

"Elly?"

"Kim," Elly breathed, suddenly forgetting everything she wanted to tell him.

"Elly, I have something to show you. It's very important. Come down to the National Research Council and I will meet you there. Now."

"Kim?" she asked desperately, but his voice was already gone, and only the dill hiss of static remained.

She paused, mind fighting to decide what she should do, but the choice was made as she dashed out of her apartment, not even bothering to change out of her night clothes.

Kim's brow was curled into a permanent crease as his worries crawled closer and closer to the surface of his brain. The doctor paced the lobby impatiently. Outside, it was raining torrents, drowning the sidewalks of Kore in a stream of oil, dirt, chemicals, and water. The sky was black, and he could only see by the light of one lamp in front of the building. He tried to focus, but he found it difficult.

Kim drank the rest of his coffee, grimacing at the black liquid's putrid taste. He had run out of good grinds hours ago. But even as he finished the drink, he was dismayed that it was gone. He held it above his mouth, hoping to get the last drop as if it would help counteract his lethargy for one more hour... no, even another minute.

The sound of rain was all he could hear; the hammering of the water on glass reverberated in the high empty lobby, rattling and pounding in sheets.

The banging of a door and a quiet shout of his name jolted him awake as his body threatened to fall asleep even as he stood.

"Kim, Kim!!" Elly shouted, and he looked up, seeing her face pressed against the window, her hair and clothes soaked through. He ran to the door and pushed it open for her, letting the violent roar of the wind and water batter his ears before he leaned back to slam it shut.

She was all wet, soaked through so much that her clothing clung to her like a body suit. She had not even changed out of her night clothes, and was wearing a tight tank-top and shorts. Kim couldn't help but stare; her figure was accentuated by the sopping tank top she wore. He forced his eyes away from her. "Come with me," he ordered, moving to the elevator.

They did not say a single word during the long elevator ride. Kim kept his back turned to his wife, trying to avoid her harsh gaze and the temptation to look her over. He kept his face as straight as possible.

They marched through the traditional hallways, past the regular labs, beyond the 'special secret' labs, and entered a door in the middle of a hallway, so plain that it escaped casual notice. The interior of the room broke into the two branches, left and right, both ending in a glass door. Kim immediately turned left, pressing a button on a hand-held device in order to open the door. The room was surrounded with computer equipment, was a metallic red colour, and had dim lighting. The most fascinating spectacle of the room, however, was the tall capsule that stretched from the floor. It was made of glass and was filled with a neon-green fluid that seemed to emanate its own light.

In the capsule, floating in some sort of stasis, was a naked girl. Her tanned body appeared to be about thirteen or fourteen. Elly found herself gasping at the figure. She looked to be perfect in almost every way, from the proportions in her limbs to the shape of her face. The thick hair, which appeared green from the lighting, drifted in wisps about her head.

Even before Kim spoke, she already felt a familiarity... a union... with the girl.

"She is remarkable," Kim started, apparently as astonished as she was.

"Who... who is she?" Elly asked, taking a step forward, reaching a hand toward the capsule. She stopped herself, withdrawing her hand and placing it around her abdomen. She felt a slight chill overcome her body. Kim placed a sweater around her shoulders, and she wrapped it around her lithe body.

"She's made entirely out of nanomachines, with her own genetic code, her own electrical signature, and her own neural impulses... in every way, she is a human being."

"Never mind the technical stuff... Kim, who is she?"

Kim sniffled and wiped at his nose. "She... Elly, she's our daughter."

The words hit Elly like a ten-pound sledge. She stared at the floating body again, then whirled on Kim, her initial reaction that of rage... who was he to take some weird machines, manage to create a completely artificial life form, and then call it their daughter? But as she looked upon his face, his cheeks were streaked with tears as he appreciated his creation. Elly said nothing and turned back to the young child... their child. She stared at her face for a long moment, leaning toward the capsule and pressing her hand on the glass.

"She has my eyes," she finally said.

"And your nose."

Elly pressed her face against the tube, feeling excitement creep up on her. "How did you ever do this, Kim? How did you make her look so much like us? Why is she... how do you know that she's really our child, that..."

"I didn't, Elly. The genetic code did it for me."

"Genetic... code?"

"From you and me. I joined them in a replica of the union between egg and sperm. And from that..."

"She's so beautiful, Kim."

"I wanted to make her perfect in every way. So that, one day, people will look at her and say, 'We have a chance.' That humans won't always be evil... for she was made of human genetics, just like you and me."

"Does she... does she have a name?"

Kim shook his head. "Not yet."

As Elly stared at the tanned skin, she realised that the hair was, in fact, a shimmering green, and that it was not a trick of her eyes. "Her hair is the colour of emeralds."

"It's green because of the chlorophyll-replica agent I put in it. It acts as her food and drink."

"Her hair is absolutely gorgeous. It's thick, like yours. The colour is wonderful. It's awe-inspiring. To know that you... you... created this is overwhelming."

"I did it. And I wanted you to see her, because you helped create her too." Kim stepped beside Elly, admiring his creation... no, she was their daughter.

Elly glanced up at Kim, and it was her turn to cry. "Our very own child... our own child... with perfect skin and emerald hair... can we call her.... Emeralda?"

Kim grasped Elly's face in his hands, and he cried again, not because of Emeralda, but because he was finally looking into his wife's eyes again. He nodded, only once, before crushing her against him tightly, holding her in his arms, feeling nothing like he had ever felt before. And she melted to him, not resisting, but fully giving herself. He drew back, and stared into her glistening eyes, and then inclined his head and placed his lips softly on hers.

They were on the floor, bodies against each other, making passionate love that more electrifying, more satisfying, more meaningful than any other moment they had shared.

And as they engaged in humankind's most holy act, Emeralda floated above, watching over them, a monument to their celebration.

Elly knocked at Kreruain's door. She hadn't heard from him in weeks, and sincerely hoped that he was home. Just three days ago, Miang Haawa, the Prime Minister's wife, proudly made the announcement that a cease-fire with Trewth had been called. The Prime Minister himself, away on a trip to Loveh, could not make the announcement himself. She recalled that Kim looked astonished, at first, but then he lifted his voice in a loud cheer, startling Emeralda. He pumped his fist and stated, "I knew Miang would do it!"

Elly hoped that Kreruain would be called back from the front lines by now. Emeralda was doing well. She was still immature for her appearance, but in a matter of weeks, she had become potty-trained, learned to eat properly, and could understand and speak to basic Zebonese words. She was extremely intelligent, and was a marvelous learner.

As the knock hit the door the third time, Elly held her breath. When the door finally opened, she was staring into the handsome tanned face of General Kreruain.

Without a word, she reached up for him and grabbed him in a tight hug. Kreruain was surprised at this for a moment, but then he relaxed and accepted her enthusiasm.

"I'm so glad you're okay," Elly breathed. "So glad, so glad."

And she was invited inside for tea and biscuits. Kreruain didn't treat her like some sort of object that he wanted to please; he acted as her friend, just like the days of the past. Nothing had changed, despite the way he felt about her.

"Kreruain, I'm back together with Kim. It turns out that... while he was gone, he was creating... out of nanomachines... our daughter."

"Daughter??" Kreruain asked, the biscuit falling out of his mouth.

"He combined our genetic data together and created our daughter, Emeralda. She looks thirteen, but she really acts like an infant... a fast, strong infant at that. But Emmy learns extremely quickly. She can walk, listen to a few words, and she doesn't have to wear diapers anymore."

"Out of nanomachines?? Your daughter?"

"And she's so perfect-looking in every way. Kreruain, you have to meet her! You must!"

Kreruain smiled. "Of course I'd love to," he replied.

"And about..." Elly started. "I'm sorry for refusing you so harshly. And for ignoring you after. You were the one who was sincere with yourself. I wasn't."

"I'll always love you, Elly. But love doesn't have to be romantic or sexual in nature."

"Thank you, Kreruain, oh, thank you. I love you too."

Kreruain grinned from ear to ear, and they hugged each other again, as old friends did.

"I don't believe you have access, sir."

"Of course I do! I am Kim Kasim, the leader of the Government's Nanomachines Project."

"I'm sorry sir, but that project was cancelled yesterday. Your rank no longer has any significance..."

Kim's jaw dropped. "Excuse me, but why wasn't I informed of this earlier..." As he spoke, he heard a soft whispering in the background.

The person on the phone gave a quick order. "Please hold on for a moment." Kim did so, wanting to know what the heck happened to his job.

"Kim."

"Miang!" Kim exclaimed, glad that he was able to get a hold of the person he wanted to speak with. Unfortunately, the initial reason he wanted to call was forgotten as he fired off his new question. "What ever happened with my 'rank' and job?"

"At your request, Kim, I reduced the funding to the Nanomachines Project. We're now installing nanoassemblers and other technologies in civilian hospitals."

"Why the sudden change of heart, Miang?"

"Because I want to apologize for what I said. I don't want you to think I'm some sort of hypocritical, evil witch. The thing about kids, you said? I can't have kids, Kim, just like Elly can't."

Kim was silent.

"But watching you and your determination has taught me something, and it makes me want to change the world for the better." Miang stopped. The Ministry was going to kill her for this one. But, on the other hand, she would also get closer to Kim, the Contact, and manipulate him for her own purposes. Yeah, that was it.

"I'm glad that you did that, even if it means a smaller paycheck for me. I'm glad that you were the one who announced the cease-fire. Did you talk to Haawa about it?"

"Yes, I did. We have a cease-fire, and we cannot test nuclear weapons, step over border-lines, and a bunch of other stuff. I hope it works out. Maybe it'll lead to a peace agreement if everyone plays the cards right."

"Thank you, Miang."

"No, Kim, thank you. I hope we can still be friends. After you walked out of the restaurant in a huff a few weeks back, I was sort of worried."

"Don't be, Miang. By the way, did I tell you, I adopted a child?"

"...You? Adopted a child?" Miang was obviously astonished.

"Yep. Her name is Emeralda, and she has a very unique colour of hair. She's around thirteen, but she acts almost like an infant. I have a feeling that she might have lost her memory in the fighting." Kim had fabricated a tale so that people wouldn't get suspicious about Emeralda and wonder. Elly also followed this tale, and approved it.

"That's.... it's.... wow, con... congratulations."

"Thank you."

"One day, Kim, do you think I could.... you know, see her?"

Kim smiled. "Of course, Miang. One day, Miang, do you think I could go see you?"

Miang gasped slightly. "See... me?"

"Yes, you. Because you're a good person."

"I'd... like that," Miang replied with a breath. "Thank you... Kim." Never did she have anyone be so nice to her. Never did someone offer himself to her like that. She had to shake her head clear her mind because the emotion was so overwhelming. She let her lips curl up into a smile, a soft, relaxed smile.

She almost felt human.

"Oh, Emmy, how was your day at school?" Elly asked as she heard her daughter step inside the front door.

"Some of the kids teased me because I was so big," the girl replied, revealing no emotion in her smooth, musical voice. "But I understand that they're human beings that are afraid of what they don't know. Tomorrow, I hope I can teach them more about myself. "

The nurse left the soup she was preparing in the saucepan and rushed in to the foyer, helping Emeralda hang up her coat and boots. It was the winter season, and close to the end of Emeralda's first semester. When she first came home over a year ago, she could not speak, read, or write, but both Kim and Elly took time off work to help her through. Their daughter learned extremely fast, and managed to pick up most simple Zeboim words without difficulty.

Due to the cease-fire between Trewth, Valeria, and Loveh, the peace over the divided country of Zeboim reigned for the past year. The lack of bombs, chemical and explosive, cleared up the air around Kore somewhat, and one could actually see the sun rise on a few days of the year. However, it was still only a cease-fire, and no permanent peace had been worked out. The cease-fire treaty had been renewed twice already, but not without bloody conflict in between; new combat machines called Galvanized Humanoid Attack Robots were used by Loveh to annihilate the regular forces there were still stationed by Trewth and Valeria. Only a barrage of Eeatu missiles stopped the four robots that struck a Valerian outpost. The gigantic machines were almost fifteen metres tall, could cause devastating amounts of damage, and were piloted by a single human being, which meant less casualties for Loveh.

And since the attack, despite the peace talks, Valeria once again secretly prepared for war. President Haawa told the public that he was afraid that this sort of circumstance would arise if he kept a cease-fire on for too long, and the media stressed stocking up on food and other goods in case of new attacks by Loveh. Kim's project was still low on the funding scale over the past year, but while he had no real rank, he had lost none of his prestige.

Emeralda dashed over to the couch with the energy of a regular ten-year old child. Elly regretted the fact that Emeralda looked lot older than she actually was... she was making it past grade six with very minor problems, but it was not easy for her to look thirteen, have the mentality of an eight-year old, and to have to hang out kids who looked younger than her, but acted older. Emeralda flipped through the channels of absentmindedly as Elly stirred the soup and watched the bread she had made especially for her daughter.

"What do anything to eat, Emeralda?" Elly called out. The channels were still being changed.

"No, Elly, not right now."

If their were a few things that bothered Elly, it was that Kim made too perfect. The girl didn't need to eat, sleep, or exercise. Elly would never be able to treat her skinned knees, watch her appreciate a home-cooked meal, or gaze over her as the angel rested. She also resented the fact that she would never have a little baby of her own. Not that it was Emeralda's fault that she was created that way... it was just that there were things that were still missing.

Elly moved the vegetable soup off of the stove, glancing at the cute macaroni animals that floated on the surface. She had only the weekend left before she had to return to work ... and then she would have to find out what to do with Emeralda while both her parents were gone for the day. She loathed to leave the girl in the hands of a day care; in fact, she didn't trust anyone in general.

Emeralda strolled back into the apartment's small kitchen, glancing around the area. Elly motioned toward the soup. "Want any?"

"Sure Elly," she said, grabbing a seat at the table. "Is Kim going to be home today?"

"Yes, of course he is. However, he might be a bit late. He has letters to write to the Prime Minister."

"Why is Kim so important in this world?"

Elly ladled some of the reddish vegetable soup into Emeralda's bowl. "Why, that is a very well known scientist... he does lot of nanomachine design and implementation. Of course, he's very gifted in the field."

"He created me."

For a moment, Elly wondered if Emeralda called for them both by the first names because she knew she was created. At first, Kim thought of not telling her the truth, but when she was playing with the other kids in the park and fell down a shallow ravine without hurting herself at all, Kim felt she had to know. Of course, she was under strict orders not to reveal the fact to anyone else.

Kim came home late that evening. Elly went to him, giving him a tight embrace as had become the tradition... the one time they had been separated had proved to be too much for either of them. Emmy watched the two with a serious expression on her face, then went back to her construction blocks.

Kim loosened his tie and flopped over on the couch. "Hey, Emmy! How are you?" He ruffled her hair. Her eyes immediately brightened and she leaped up on the cushion beside him. to

"I'm fine! What did you do today, Kim?"

"I did a lot of work with nano-mechanical synthesis," Kim explained, not undaunted to use large words. "That's when nanomachines try to work with metal arms and legs."

"Like the Galva... human attack... Geva... the gears?"

"Uhh, yes," Kim replied. "We still don't know how Loveh runs their gears... I mean, their galvanized humanoid attack robots. There were ten made in total by Loveh. All of them were about fifteen meters tall and equipped with very vicious weapons like lasers and missiles."

"Do they target well?"

"Apparently so. They're targeting systems are so precise that a gear... galvanized humanoid attack robot... can destroy a single floor of a building without harming the other ones."

"How are gears piloted?"

Kim shrugged. "Until we capture one, we are not going to know for sure. some people think that they just work with a simple control stick interface like a flight joke."

"Can a person control it using only their mind? I have heard stories of people controlling machines with the minds if they wear a special helmet."

"Not for gears. Too many mechanical and electrical parts to deal with right now."

Emeralda nodded and went back to her construction toys. Kim switched the television on, turning up the volume for the local newscast.

"And reports of new nuclear weapons being developed by Trewth have been in fact proven true. Will Valeria, under the terms of the Cleanfire Act, break its cease-fire with Trewth? We have the live press conference with General Kreruain Malkut, Foreign Military Relations on the Executive Council."

Kim leaned forward, and Elly ran into the room from the kitchen upon hearing mention of her friend's name.

Kreruain's young face was on the television, displayed against camera flashes and video lights. "It appears that there had have been reports by unknown sources that Trewth has been building new nuclear missiles. Only recently, we found traces of nuclear testing in the far north on the Ignasian desert. Now..."

He was interrupted when the reporters tried to ask him a flurry of questions at once. Kreruain wisely shut his mouth until the flurry ceased.

"At the moment, the Valerian Council of International Affairs is deciding what to do in light of this matter. Valeria cannot afford another two-front war. However, Valeria also cannot afford to be bordered by a nation that tests nuclear weapons with possible intent to use them." Snapping cameras and flashes lit his face. Kreruain looked undaunted in the face of the reporters and the cameras. "We will discuss this matter with the Council and report to the nation of Valeria at a later time. I have nothing else to say."

"But General..."

"Doesn't Valeria have its own Mass Driver nuclear... "

"General, will we see the possibility..."

"General Malkut, could there be..."

Kreruain turned away and walked back behind the curtain from the podium, ignoring all further questions.

"And that is the news from the Valerian Parliament. Apparently, the...."

Kim decreased the volume. "So what do you think of that? This war might not be over yet. And just when they were thinking of negotiating peace."

Elly grimaced. "I'll be working more than full-time again. They managed to step up the quality of the heath care, but that will go down when the Defense gets their big budget boost."

"R&D hasn't received its large share recently," Kim stated. "I might get to work with more than a paper bag. They've been really stingy with the budgets lately, so I haven't been getting a lot to work with... been buying my own tools occasionally too, because the lab's are not good enough."

"Are you saying that war would be..."

Kim grimaced. "No, certainly not. I don't want anything to happen." Unconsciously, he knelt on the ground and wrapped his arms around Emeralda, who squeaked with protest at being interrupted from her games. She eventually relaxed and learned to adapt, manipulating and locking together pieces while Kim's arms were around her shoulders.

"I understand. But I don't know what Kreruain... General Malkut has in mind. He's vehemently opposed to the war effort as well, and..."

"Why don't you ask him yourself? You're still friends with him, right?"

She nodded. He visited them occasionally, as Elly rarely had the opportunity to go out. As she raised her daughter, though, she realised that Emeralda was virtually self-sufficient and would be okay as long as she received emotional attention. However, it was always giving the emotional attention that eluded her. The feeding, bathing, all that other stuff, was simple. But when Emeralda would ask tough questions about life, and humanity, Elly often drew blanks. Thank the world for Kim, who managed to express his views and answer her questions to her satisfaction. However, if she had a concern about Kim, it was that he was often too honest... he would say almost everything that he believed about mankind to Emeralda, and she was afraid that it might make her vengeful and bitter.

She didn't certainly seem to be very vengeful and bitter now, only quiet and reflective.

"Why would war hurt me, Kim? I am nanomachines, and I cannot be hurt."

"Emeralda, you're not invincible. If you are hit by a nuclear weapon, you will die, like everyone else."

"Then why don't we try to prevent Trewth from launching their missiles? Why don't we tell them that we are not bad people?"

Kim sighed, and he released the hug he had on his daughter. "We try, but they are humans. Humans are afraid of what they don't know. Trewth doesn't know us, and are still afraid of us."

"Why?"

"I don't know why. People are really weird. They tend to listen to the first thing that someone tells them, and then they block out everything else that people tell them. Emeralda, before you ever make a judgement, be sure you listen to all sides of the story. Trewth only listens to the views of their leaders. Their leaders don't like Valeria, and they tell their people so they won't like Valeria either."

"You don't like Valeria, Kim."

Elly smiled at this quip.

Kim shrugged. "I don't like many people in Valeria. Human beings in general are mostly closed-minded and unwilling to listen to what is right. This includes people in Valeria, Trewth, and Loveh. I try to be open, but it's tough. I hope you don't come to conclusions without knowing all of the facts, Emeralda. Don't ever assume that you know it all."

"Okay."

"I want to call Kreruain," Elly reported. "But he's not going to be back yet from the office. I want to ask him what he plans to do... and what Prime Minister Haawa plans to do. I hear rumours that the Prime Minister may actually cancel the treaty."

"I don't want another war. I don't want to think of the possibility that Emeralda could be harmed. It was good with no war. The birth rate is rising and the average life expectancy is going up." Kim paused. "But it seems that the destiny of humans is to destroy each other."

Elly shook her head. "Kim, don't say that. You know it's not entirely true. Emeralda will grow up to be cynical and bitter."

"Don't worry about me," the girl said without a thought. "I will think before I come to conclusions, as Kim has told me to do."

Elly nodded her approval. "That'll make you really smart one day, Emeralda... ask the questions before you come to a conclusion."

The faces of the elderly Gazel Ministry stared at Miang from around their places on the conference table. She was in Solaris today as she stood up against their mocking voices and bitter manners. She didn't realise how physically frail they were until she met them in person; this made locating the ideal humans even more important to them.

"Miang."

"Betrayer."

"Our mother has not kept her promise."

Miang frowned at the narrow-minded beings. "Look, I stop the war, and suddenly, I'm some sort of traitor? Look, you don't think I want to get out of here? To become one again? To be a complete being, the guardian and the mother in whole, Deus, in whole? It's been six-thousand years. I'm tired too. But if I would have kept the war going, then the Contact wouldn't have spoken to me ever again."

"I don't quite see your Contact beside you, ready to rid ourselves of Cain."

Miang bit about back a sharp retort, took a deep breath, and began to speak as patiently as possible. "It's going to take time. It won't be easy to explain how I have a huge invisible city in the sky. The man is bitter toward humanity. He wants to find justice, but he's capable of destruction. All I need is a bit of time. No, not another three-hundred years. More like a year, or two. I'm sure you can wait that long. I know Elly. I know Kim. I will be having them eating out of my hands."

"Start the purge again," one of them said, slamming a palm weakly on the table.

"Rid ourselves of weak flesh, and give us the strong bodies."

Miang shook her head. "There's no point right now. I will start it to drive Kim over the edge, to release the potential. But not yet."

"Very well, we will listen to you this time." The Minister crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back. "Go, now."

Miang nodded and turned around abruptly in a huff.

Her 'vacation' was over when she touched down in Kore Parliament again. Haawa was there to welcome her home. She exchanged her pleasant greetings, but left soon after. She had to entice Kim and Elly to the government's place and tell them about a city that supplies Loveh with galvanized humanoid attack robots. She frowned. She would have to come out with a better story than that.

Miang returned to her room that night, lost in deep, intent thought.

"An invitation from first-lady Miang? Whatever for?" Kim looked up at Elly after reading the card.

"She seems to want to hold a formal dinner for the provincial premiers," Elly replied. "She wants me to sing."

Kim shrugged. "It's up to you."

"Where will we leave Emeralda? She's too young to be left alone." She looked over at her young daughter, who was busy manipulating her hands into different shapes and forms. The fingers turned to knife blades, to hammers, and to scissors as she worked them. Watching her morph like that gave Elly the creeps.

"Do think Janet will take her?" Kim suggested.

"I don't trust Janet."

"I don't either. Okay, who do you trust?"

"Uhh, you, Kreruain, me..."

Kim remembered the General, from long ago. He had not spoken to him in months, though Elly contacted him as often as possible. "How about General Malkut, then? He seems to get along well with Emeralda. Do you think he would mind looking out for her?" Kim wanted to go to this party to meet with Miang again.

Elly shook her head. "Oh, but he's so busy and..."

Kim was already rising and making his way for the phone. "I'm entering his number," he announced purposely. "You're going to be talking." He handed the handset to Elly. "It's ringing."

Elly nodded and gripped the handle. "Uhh, hello, Margrette? Is Kreruian there? It's Elly."

Kreruain's maid gave her a warm greeting. "Yes! Yes! Certainly! Master Malkut, Elly is on the phone."

Elly could hear the thumping as Kreruain came down to get the call. "Hello, Elly, what can do for you?"

"Kreruain, do you baby-sit?"

"Only if the child's name is Emeralda."

"You don't even know what the point of the question is."

He chuckled. "I can very well guess. When, Elly? I'd love to look after Emeralda for you."

"Saturday night, from five evening, to about... twelve. We'll leave her at your place, so you don't have to come here."

"Where are you going?"

"Miang wants me to sing."

Kreruain made a 'hmm' sound. "That's interesting."

"Kim's coming too. I really don't know what the significance is, but I can't just say no to Miang."

"Her position and rank make that hard to do."

"Right. But you'll do it?"

"Of course. I adore Emeralda like my child."

"I thank you."

Elly gave her daughter a last hug on the doorstep then leaned back and touched her on the nose. Emeralda was dressed in a formal red dress with ruffles and a bow on the back; she looked very much like a proper girl. "You be good now, okay Emmy?"

"I will, Elly."

Kim hugged next and they exchanged their good-byes. Kreruain watched from the door as they waved and walked to their car for their dinner party.

"Well, Emeralda, I suppose it's now you and me, and Margrette, of course. Anything you want to do?" He started back into his house, motioning for Emeralda to walk in before him.

"Kreruain, you're a general, right? And you know a lot about war, right?

Kreruain nodded slowly. This was the last thing he expected to hear from a girl who was supposed to have the mind of a seven-year old.

"Why do humans fight each other until each other?"

Kreruian took a deep breath. Already, if it felt that Emeralda would be a large load. Why couldn't she just be a lippy little brat who broke things? "Emeralda, let's sit down first. All right, wars fought because people of one country don't like what another country's doing. At first, we talk about the situation and try to solve it, but when talking does not work, sometimes there's no other way than to fight."

"Is fighting right?"

Kreruain winced inwardly. "I don't know if it is or not. Fighting causes a lot of pain. When I fight wars, I have to order people to kill. It must be done, but sometimes I have to deal with the fact that the people I tell to fight die. I usually try to forget about it. Emeralda, have you ever seen anyone die?"

She shook her head. "I have not, but Elly has seen it a lot."

"You may want to ask your mother about how she deals with the pain."

"Okay, Kreruain, I will do that."

"You want anything to eat, Emeralda?"

"No, thank you."

There was a short pause as they tried to think of something to say to each other.

"Emeralda, do you play soccer?" asked the general suddenly.

"Soccer? That is a sport right?"

"Yes. You may have seen it on television before. Do you want to learn to play? I will teach you. Did you know your mother played on the senior team in high school? She was one of the starting halfbacks."

"Really? Maybe I can learn from you and we can all play together some day."

Kreruain nodded. "Yes, maybe."

The banquet hall of the Parliament was beautiful, but Kim honestly expected no less. The large reception hall was filled with people, all dressed in black or green tuxedos or colorful, frilly dresses. There were the premiers, their wives, the their advisers, and some hundred guests and reporters present.

"Kim, I'm going to be nervous," Elly cringed, gripping his shoulder.

"Relax. Let's find Miang and unwind a bit." They paced around the tables for a moment, Elly's arm linked in his. They found her at one of the front tables, and she recognized the couple immediately, smiling widely and waving.

She looked so much like a young teenager by wanting to enjoy herself, Kim thought. Miang probably would have enjoyed the average citizen's life.

He gave her a dry greeting, trying to lace it with a pleasant comment on her outfit, but he felt tongue-tied, and only added it in after. In the end, though, Kim thought it added to the effect, as if he were truly overwhelmed by her beauty. As he stared at her soft, pleasant eyes and low-cut ruffled white gown, though, he had to admit that she was quite good-looking.

"Good evening, Kim," Miang purred as she rose from her seat, accepting the compliment graciously. She shook his hand, then turned to his wife. She placed her hand in Elly's. "It's great to be able to talk to you in person," she started. "I'm quite honoured."

Elly hid a slight blush with a laugh. "No, it's quite a privilege for me to be having dinner with one of the most important woman in the current world, Lady Miang."

"Please, just Miang will do."

Kim broke into the discussion. "Where's President Haawa?"

Miang motioned toward the large table on the stage. Seven men were seated abreast, facing the rest of the hall. "My husband is the one in the centre." She sighed. "He's now too busy to deal with me anymore." As Miang uttered the words, thoughts echoed in her head. Am I losing control over the Prime Minister? Am I losing to this group of immoral humans?

Elly placed a hand on Miang's shoulder. "If he loves you, then he'll always be at your side when his official stuff is over and done with."

Miang nodded, suddenly realizing that she was starting to ache within. She stole a cool glance at Kim. Since when did she become so weak, so susceptible to human emotions? The Ministry was right. She was losing focus. This policy of being nice would never work... she would be corrupted with emotions before she ever convince Kim to come with her.

"... after all, Kim came back to me!"

Miang nodded energetically, pretending she was hanging on every word.

"I should've come back earlier," Kim added, "but I didn't know what to do and how to do it. I was afraid of what you would think."

"The human shortcoming, worrying about what others think." Miang played with one strand of her long purple bangs. "Those who get into power are not withheld by the fact that others think about them... whether it be ill thoughts, or good thoughts. Meiji managed to run for the position despite the fact that he was mocked by peers and laughed at by friends, but I pushed him on and helped him come through." Miang recalled this stage of her life clearly. She was only a municipal governor, but Haawa was nothing but a political analyst. It was during this time preparing for his leadership campaign did she marry him. For his entire life, he was passive and always asked for feedback, but this made him easy to manipulate.

"That's cool," Elly started. "I don't know how well I've been supporting Kim, but I hope I've been doing a good job!"

Kim chuckled. "You've been perfect ... you're warm and cuddly when I need someone to be with."

Elly tried her best to hide a blush, and Miang found herself trying to mask a glare. She had no one to turn to when she was feeling down and ridiculed. Haawa was no comfort at all; he was too much of a mere tool to her. She found her eyes floating to Kim Kasim. She wanted to distract them from this banter.

"Doctor Kasim." Miang addressed Kim by a formal title to prove that she wanted to talk about a serious topic. "How has the Nanomachines Project been going?"

Ken looked up, eager to talk about his field of expertise. "Organ donations are a go... I've done over fifty in the past year, and only three have had complications. I can replace limbs perfectly. I can regenerate those limbs using portable nanomachines assemblers. Right now, I'm working on fine-tuning the electrical pulses from the human brain to morph the nanomachines that are used as limb replacements. The limbs made of nanomachines can change into various shapes like blades and tools, but I can't accurately control them yet."

Elly noticed that although he referred to the knowledge he acquired from creating Emeralda, he wisely left her presence unknown.

Kim played around with his fork, rotating it on the table. "However, the progress has been slowing down as money is being devoted from R&D. Not that I mind, as long as our children are no longer dying from chemical bombs."

Miang nodded. Tough luck, though, the bombs might be falling again soon, she thought.

The Prime Minister called for silence as the lights dimmed. "Before dinner, we will speak of the issue of war. I'd like to call forth the premiers to express their views on the matter."

Kim tried not to fall asleep. Miang turned around eagerly, keeping her ears peeled. Each premier took his turn at speaking, expressing their views about the cease-fire treaty and the war. The responses ranged from an expression for all-out conflict with Trewth to a continuation of the peace talks.

Miang's gaze flicked over Kim. Next time, she'd invite just him, and leave Elly at home. They were whispering to each other, exchanging occasional giggles. The sight disgusted her. When Elly gave Kim a peck on the lips, Miang couldn't help but think that Elly's head would look nice on a stick. She shut her eyes, forcing herself from staring. What the heck are you thinking, Miang? Stop it!

After dinner, Elly started to sing, and Miang sat beside Kim, unconsciously leaning against him as she was lulled by the beautiful voice. But Kim shrugged her off, and continued to stare at his wife, utterly captivated. Miang frowned at Kim in frustration. Once again, she regretted the fact that Elly came. She would have to find a way to separate Kim from his "one true love" to actually distract him.

A war would be a good way to release her anger. The Ministry accused her of being weak, of turning into one of... them. She would go out and prove that she wasn't as puny as they thought her to be. She bit her lower lip, and repeated to herself the desire of conflict, of fighting, and of destruction. She would speak to Haawa tomorrow about it. Trewth and Loveh could not be allowed to get away with their despicable acts. And witnessing the bloodshed might make her feel more in control.

It was late when Kim knocked on General Malkut's door, hoping he was not disturbing the household. Elly stifled a yawn beside him, leaning against his arm.

Margrette opened the door promptly. "Mister Kasim! No, Miss Emeralda and General Malkut are still awake. I find their dedication to the game absolutely amazing."

Kim just nodded, not quite sure what Margrette was talking about, until they found the General and Emeralda under the bright floodlights set up in the backyard. Kreruain, wearing knee and elbow pads, guarded a large net, while Emeralda dribbled a black and white ball on the grass with her feet. She drew back her foot, feigning a kick, but then shot at an open corner as goalie Malkut fell for the fake.

The ball hit the green woven lattice, the sign of a successful goal.

It took a moment before they realized that they had an audience, but Kreruain glanced up, then wiped the sweat off his brow with a towel as he approached the two parents on the sidelines.

"Emeralda learns extremely fast. Either that, or I'm getting old and slow."

"She's amazing what she does," Elly concurred. You're not slow nor old, she's just strong and dedicated."

"I tried to teach her what I knew."

Emeralda ran toward parents with a wide smile on her face, and she embraced Elly around the waist. "Elly, I know how to play soccer now! Kreruain did well in teaching me!"

Elly kissed her daughter's tanned cheek. "Good job! I used to play, a long ago. We should do that someday."

"I will start playing at recess now, is that okay?"

"Do the kids play already?"

"No, but I will ask if they want to."

"That's a good way to start, Emeralda." Elly turned to Kreruain. "How long were you playing for?"

"Almost three hours. Your little girl never tires! She's absolutely amazing."

"Yes, she's really something. I have to thank you, Kreruain, for taking time to care for her."

"It was a pleasure. I would again in a heartbeat."

Kim watched as Emeralda ran back to the ball, kicking it around with her feet. She exchanged a few words with Kreruain, and then he gave her a quick hug. Kim tried his best to keep a frown from forming on his face.

"We'll meet for dinner another time, Kreruain." Elly was saying. "Here's the night's pay... it's not much, and you make much better money elsewhere, but take it, it's the least I can do."

Kreruain pushed her hand away. "I refuse to accept your money. I did this out of my own will. Please, keep your money."

"No, I insist, really."

"Please, don't make me."

"I'm serious, take the money."

"Elly, you can buy me dinner next time we eat."

"Okay, deal."

They laughed together casually, and Emeralda came to Kim for the first time to talk about her night. She spoke mainly about her game and the techniques she'd learned to beat the goalie. Kim absentmindedly glanced up at Kreruain and Elly, who were talking amiably. He sneered, wondering exactly what went on between the two of them. Kim didn't want to lose her again. Being with her at the dinner reminded him how painful it was to be separated. Kim tried to clear his head as Elly came back to his side; there was no need to doubt her or Kreruain's intentions toward her and Emeralda.

"Kim," Elly asked, "shall we head home now?"

"Yes, of course. Thank you, Mr. Malkut. I will talk to again."

Kim tried to squelch the thoughts he had about Emeralda and Elly with Kreruain, but they dominated his mind for the entire trip home.

Miang paced outside of the minister's meeting hall nervously, unable to contain her impatience. Today was the scheduled day when Prime Minister Haawa would decide on war or peace.

Miang had expressed her vote vehemently to him, and desperately hoped that she hadn't deteriorated so much that even Haawa, who yielded to every word she said, every piece of advice she gave, every movement she made with him in bed, would fail to listen to her today.

Miang tugged on her bangs nervously. Why was she starting to have doubts now? She was good enough, right? She still had ability, right?

The Lady of the Nation, feeling helpless for the first time in her life, collapsed on the bench outside the room.

Haawa kept his hand on the cold metal handle of the pistol underneath his jacket. Ever since the war was ceased, he had been hailed as a hero, and he enjoyed this new surge of power. He had started to carry a gun with him to protect themselves from overzealous types such as General Malkut and General Sigfried. He told Miang of this idea, and she seemed to approve.

He listen to the Health Minister Harfield's report, which stated that the resources were sufficient enough to treat civilian casualties even if Trewth bombarded Kore with its chemical missiles.

"With the increase in nano-assemblers, most of the people would be able to survive the chemical spread. Now, we cannot save those caught in the blast radius. Not a chance. But the effects of the bio-weapons will not kill as many as it could."

"Thank you, Minister Harfield," said Haawa smoothly. "Thus, it has been confirmed that we have the resources to deal with our enemies." Haawa scanned the room, sighing visibly when he saw Kreruain's hand shoot into the air.

"What will we ever do with the gears?" he asked.

"The what?"

"I'm sorry, the galvanized humanoid attack robots. I call them gears because it's shorter and a friend of mine has a daughter that calls them that."

Another General rose from his seat. "We have fifty jets that could fly strike missions against them these large targets. Gears are not yet skilled enough to avoid well placed air strikes."

"But at what cost to the countryside and cities the gears march through? How long will it take? How do we know what a well-placed air strike is? We've never done this before, and with the gears having incredible dominance over our current forces, we could end up destroying more of our own men than the enemy's. What about the losses of our planes? How quickly can we build new aircraft and train new pilots?"

Haawa rose his voice. "General Kreruain, we must win any cost against Loveh, even if the means that we lose a bit of countryside."

Kreruain tossed up his arms, exasperated. "Then why don't we take those brand-new Mass Driver nuclear missiles and bomb Loveh to shreds?" He sighed bitterly at his sarcastic remark.

"General Malkut, that is enough." Haawa ordered. "I want no more interference from you in such affairs."

"This is a democratic Cabinet, in which we all get the right to free speech."

Haawa shook his head. Miang was right. He was too nice to its elite group of ministers who only cared for themselves. He would have to be stricter with them and do what is right for the people, and not just for his cabinet. "We must work together, and put personal affairs aside, General Malkut."

The general stood from his desk, turning his eyes from the table, blue hair whirling around his head as he marched for the door.

Haawa lifted his voice. "Sit down, Malkut. That is an order."

Kreruain placed hand in the door knob. He stared the cabinet down, who only stared back, astonished at the boldness of his action. His gaze rested on General Sigfried for a moment. He hoped the young general would join him in his protest. As he turned the doorknob, he heard a large crack, and felt fire enter his back. He pressed a hand against the wound in his flesh and stared in surprise. Only when he saw the blood on his hands did his brain register that a firearm had just been discharged. The General grit his teeth and slid from the door, trying to stay conscious enough to keep pressure on his wound. It was starting to hurt. The wound stung like crazy, and every motion he made would just inflame it more. He cried out loudly in his agony.

Haawa gripped his gun in his right hand. "Does anyone else wish to challenge my authority?" He glanced around at the blank faces. "We will wage war against Trewth and Loveh, and show them the dreadful retribution of Valerian justice."

Miang felt herself nodding off for several microseconds outside of the Meeting Hall, but an intense bang jolted her out of her exhaustion with a start. She realised that it came from the Meeting Hall, and that there was only one person in that room with a gun.

Miang smiled.

"And so, the advance against the Loveh gears was unsuccessful as the tanks and infantry were defeated in close combat..."

Kim hurled the remote at the television set. "Trash. All TRASH!! War was declared yesterday. It'll only be a few hours before we hear the air raid sirens again. Why didn't General Malkut do anything to stop it? He's in charge of the whole Relations thing, isn't he?"

Elly looked up from her newspaper. "Kim, Kreruain was shot for speaking out at the Cabinet Meeting," she said firmly, glaring at the doctor. "He was soon expelled from his position on the Executive Council. The Prime Minister, of all people, fired the gun."

"It's nice of Emeralda to want to visit him at the hopsital," Kim droned. "I hope she doesn't grow too attached to him, though."

Elly frowned. "Why not, Kim?"

"Because the government probably wants him put down, and Emeralda will be in trouble if she is seen associating with him."

"Kreruain's not like that Valerian Rebel Army," retorted the nurse. "He only speaks out, he doesn't bomb or kill."

"To get anything done in the Zeboim age, you have to kill. Humans of this era are born to think like that. If we could only erase all humanity and start anew."

Elly just shrugged, but she knew that his comment was quite drastic and harsh. He was always cynical and bitter, but it had multiplied ten-fold over the last year and a half. And the birth of Emeralda Kasim had only made him more defensive and protective.

"I'm sorry that you were shot, Kreruain," Emeralda said, holding the general's hand.

The man laughed quietly, trying not to shake because it hurt his chest. The bullet had lodged itself in his back and shattered vertebrae and lung tissue. Much of the damage was repaired by nanomachines, but so much damage was done to his spine that the use of his legs were left in doubt.

Emeralda continued. "I would have tried to stop them."

"No, Emeralda, it was sudden and I don't think anyone in the world could have prevented it. I live in a world that I don't know anymore. Everything is falling apart in front of my eyes. Valeria is not as it used to be. People are not as they used to be. It's like some outside interference grabbed the human race and made them all want to fight and kill." Kreruain's gaze grew wide, and he looked at Emeralda with eyes filled with a sudden fear. "Promise me, Emeralda, that you will not blindly follow the will of others, that you will follow your heart and do what you know is right."

"That is tough to promise." Emeralda looked into her hands sadly. "But I do not want to disappoint."

"Okay, I'm sorry. Let's say it another way, though... Emeralda, can you promise that you'll try?"

She nodded, placing her other hand on his cheek. "I promise, Kreruain."

As she drew her hand back, a knock sounded on the door, but it opened before either Emeralda or Kreruain could respond. General Sigfried strode directly to the bed with his long, muscular legs. He was dressed in a battle uniform. "I'll avenge you," Sigfried called. "General. Join my group. We can get our revenge against Haawa. We can set things right."

Kreruain's eyes bulged out of their sockets, and he struggled to sit up, with Emeralda's help. "You're part of that Anti-Valerian Rebel group?"

"I founded it. We're not an anti-Valerian group, we're an anti-war group. When the war stopped, you'll notice that the bombings on the government officers stopped as well. I'm not stupid. Neither are my men... they are part of our own military, in fact."

"Double agent... impressive. Except, you, in your haste, shouldn't blab this all out in an insecure room, especially in the presence of a guest."

He glanced at the young girl with green hair and copper skin. She stared back with emotionless eyes.

"She won't tell, Kreruain. You, I want you as the 'People's General', so we receive the sympathy of the people. That is my goal."

Malkut shook his head.

"Why not?"

"Because your ideals won't do anything. Your actions will do even less. I didn't see you stand up for democracy in the Cabinet Meeting the other day. What happens if we collapse the Haawa dictatorship? Loveh will run us over in our disorganized state. If not Loveh, then some fundamentalist paramilitary group or a fascist party."

"We work not only in Valeria, but also in Loveh and Trewth. We are larger than you think we are."

"Revolution ends in revolution. It's an undying cycle of killing. You can rebel, but someone else will then take you over."

"So what will you have us do?" Sigfried asked, lifting his voice. "Stand back and die? I refuse to believe that."

Kreruain remained silent. He felt an idea rise into his head, a way to end the deadly cycle, caused by the way of thinking of human beings. "Look, I will respect your attempts. And I hope you will succeed. But I will not help you."

"Very well." General Sigfried turned around abruptly and headed for the door. Before he left, he glanced back at Malkut, but Malkut twirled his finger to signal that he turn around and leave.

"What did he want?" Emeralda asked.

"He had a few demands that I did not want to listen to," Kreruain replied. "Do you understand that feeling when you believe in something so strongly that you'll do anything for it?"

He was met with a blank stare. "N... no," she sputtered.

Kreruain let out a deep breath. "Then don't worry about it, because it'll come to you soon enough."

Kim sat in his office, preparing notes for his lab assistants on field application of nanomachines. Now that the war had started again, the soldiers were now marching to foreign lands. His research would set the border between life and death.

It would also mean that the borderline of life and death for Valeria. If he had his way, Valeria would fall, because he hated the government. Haawa, for his ideas. Kreruain, for letting it go out of his hands. Harfield, for his support of the action. Sigfried, for his inaction.

He heard a knock.

"Come in," Kim commanded.

Kim looked up, lifting a stack of papers to present his procedures to the lab assistant, but he met the blue eyes of General Ken Sigfried. Kim's hand dropped slowly to the table. "It's you."

The General nodded. "You'll notice that the actions of accused terrorism have been quiet last year. I told you that I'm true to my word."

"What now, have you began again and you want me to join?"

"No. Not join, per say, though your advice would be nice."

Kim scrunched up his brow. "Advice?"

"I asked Kreruain... I mean, General Malkut to join me. But he accused me of not having any direction, only ideas. So I'd like to present you with my plan of action." He glanced at the doctor for approval. Kim inclined his head.

Sigfried lifted his pentablet and began to read. "First, we recruit as many people as we can. Sympathizers, soldiers, whatever. I already have the support of over five-hundred Valerians with military training, three-hundred Lovehns, and one-hundred Trewthese. I would also like to earn even more connections in the other countries, like Shevat and Elru. Believe it or not, there is a lot of anti-war sentiment outside of Valeria. In other words, Kim, you're not alone.

"Second, I use connections to negotiate deals with Loveh to stop their advances. I will have to use threats of force, for there's no other way. If required to, I will kill any people who don't comply with an anti-war policy."

"That doesn't sound very clean and neat," Kim said.

Sigfried shook his head. "No, it's not. But I have enough connections in foreign countries to execute assassinations. Anyway, those who are willing to comply with an anti-war policy and support democratic procedures will have the backing of my army. I'm already leaning toward two popular and influential men in Loveh as leaders, and a young but aggressive woman in Trewth. Both are your typical politicians who want to run a country... but under this time of war, they won't say a thing, or else the government makes the media suppress it, or worse."

"What about Valeria?" Kim asked. "I hope you're not going to ask me to do it?"

"Valeria is a blank. But I want to kill Miang and Haawa as soon as possible. Neither will negotiate... I've already tried. I'm already spreading rumours about when Parliament is going to be raided. So far, it's set for about a month from now... in fact, it's exactly thirty days from today. My troops are training for close-combat. If there is no one to head the government, I'll do it until we find someone. But I'll have my troops play Praetorian Guard and keep me in check."

"You've already planned the assault?" Kim asked.

Ken nodded. "We have a first-draft plan that will be edited as time goes on. The negotiation with the Loveh leader starts tomorrow, actually."

Kim looked down at his hands and fidgeted. "I've been somewhat of a man of very little action. I adopted Emeralda and she is genetically perfect in every way; I hope, one day, she will be able to influence the world. I see her as the Last Hope of Mankind, the example that people should follow. Somewhat arrogant, now that I think about it."

"Emeralda's your daughter, right?"

"Yes."

"So, you now understand why I fight, don't you? Why it's so important for me to fight the government, to avenge Zöe? You would know how you'd feel if your daughter was killed by the government's lack of action."

Kim nodded, slowly, trying to hide the emotions that were summoned when he tried to think of life without Emeralda. "I want to join you, so I can fight for my daughter and protect her future."

"I'd want you to join, so I can fight for not only my daughter, may God rest her soul, but for your daughter as well."

"I'm a Valerian soldier! Bang! Bang bang! Die, Loveh scum!"

"I don't want to be Loveh, you dog! I'm Valerian too!"

"Your mom was born in Loveh, so you're Loveh, and I will kill you in war!"

Emeralda watched the schoolyard quietly, absorbing the sights and scenes with an unbiased mind. The children were so eager to make war. Why was this? Was it a result of their parents waging war?

Another group of kids, mostly girls, lifted their voices in gossip. "Did you hear, I read that the Anti-war Unity Movement has a nanomachines doctor on their side now!"

Emeralda made no comment, and she hid her face with a scarf against the blowing winds. Even during the war, one could not contain young children inside, and even the kids in the old grades choose to go out. Today was her first day in grade seven; she had been going to grade six for the rest of the semester, but when she finished a science exam in twenty minutes and scored another one-hundred percent, the teachers agreed to transfer to an upper grade, so not only would she be able to learn better, but also so she would be able to hang out with people her own age.

"Is anyone sitting here?" A soft voice asked.

Emeralda turned her head, letting her gaze fall over the newcomer. She had bright brown hair that twinkled silver in the light. It was a thick and fell on her shoulders in slender cascades. The eyes were dark, her skin pale, her frame small. "No," Emeralda replied.

The boys playing war shouted in the background, "Your mom was a Loveh girl! She is a mutant killer!"

The newcomer sat, daintily folding her hands in a lap. She wore pink dress that looked relatively new. She was about to speak, but a female voice interrupted her.

"Hey Emeralda, your dad works with nanomachines. Maybe he's the cop-killer of Valeria!" Emeralda looked up at a girl, who had a mocking scowl on her face. She was leaning forward at the waist, hands on hips, and spoke in a nasal tone. "Your dad doesn't like Valerians! Is he a Loveh spy, who wants to kill mutants?"

Emeralda shut her out of her mind in a calm, unemotional fashion.

"Are you ignoring me now? Little snob? You think you're so much better than us, right? Daddy's a rich scientist and mommy's a pretty nurse, so you get to do whatever you want, right? But your dad kills Valerians. He's an evil man from Loveh."

Another girl chimed in, tossing dirt at Emeralda is face, but she raised her arm to deflect it. "And you have weird green hair! That's so strange! Are you contaminated with radioactive waste? Maybe you're a mutant!"

Emeralda scanned the area, noting that the crowd around her was getting bigger. Some of the boys stopped their war games and came over to see what was going on, but before they could add their insults to the fray, one of teachers on supervision separated the rabble and sent them off in different directions.

And it was, once again, Emeralda and the new girl. The taunting by the boys still sounded in the background. Emeralda felt slightly aggravated by the entire situation. There were not being fair to all sides of the war. There were ignoring the full story. By mocking her, the showed her how little they knew.

"Just pretend they don't exist," said brown-haired girl. "They don't think about anything before they do it. My name is Muriel. What's yours?"

"I am Emeralda," she replied, taking Muriel's small hand and shaking it.

"What grade are you in? You're the new girl in grade seven, right? I saw you in my class today."

Emeralda nodded. "I went to the school but I was in grade six before today. They said I had a learning disability," she added, using the pretend story that Kim and Elly had made up. "I guess I have no disability anymore."

Muriel chuckled, even though Emeralda hadn't meant it as a joke. She smiled up at the green-haired beauty, unable to see her emotions behind to the thick white scarf around her face. "That's good. They said your mom and dad worked as a doctors. Maybe you got some great genes from them."

"I love Kim and Elly very much. They made me the person I am today."

"My dad is on the research team for Valerian Galvanized Humanoid Attack Robots, or gears, as they are now being called by the media." Muriel rose from the bench. "Let's walk, Emeralda."

Emeralda agreed, standing on her legs.

"I want to pilot his first working gear," Muriel said. "So far, he's working on the seventeenth prototype. They think that it might actually work this time."

"My father, Kim, does research for nanomachines. He works on the genetic synchronization, the electrical signals, and regeneration." Emeralda had to resist the urge to lift her hand and show Muriel her ability to morph. She had improved a lot over the last few weeks, and was able to change her hands, arms, legs, and hair in to forms she wanted to. "Did you know that some nanomachines can morph into other shapes?"

"No, I didn't. That's amazing! How does it work? I wonder what it looks like!"

"I will ask Kim if he has a video," Emeralda stated. "But he is rather busy, since he is working for the government."

"Wait, are you talking about Kim Kasim, the doctor?"

Emeralda nodded.

"He's been publicly speaking out against the war. I'm scared for his life. What if the government kills him? Are you afraid?"

"I am not afraid. I know Kim would not die so foolishly. He knows that many people listen to him and that if he's killed, there might be riots and protests. The government can't deal with the bad reputation of suppressing riots and fighting a war at the same time."

"You really know your politics!"

Emeralda shrugged. "I observe, listen, and learn a lot." There was a silence. After a moment, Emeralda asked, "Muriel, do you like soccer?"

"I don't play that much."

"I play. Want to play soccer with me? I'll help you learn!"

Muriel smiled. "I'd like that. Thank you. You're really nice, Emeralda. You're a good person."

"How was the presentation, dear?" asked Elly as Kim stepped in the door. They exchanged kisses.

"I don't know if I did a good job. I think Kreruain hates me now for basically stealing what used to be his position."

"Don't be silly. If someone wants to stop the war, Kreruain's in full support of them. I visited him today in the hospital, and he doesn't really care much about your speeches, though he thinks you might be shot some day. He's going to pull some strings, and try to prevent you from being killed."

"Really? Why'd he decide to do that?"

"I asked him to."

Kim felt his mind grow bitter. "Kreruain would do anything for you, wouldn't he?"

"He's a terrific man. I don't know anyone else who's as selfless as he is."

Kim nodded. "Emeralda spends a lot of time with him too."

"They adore each other. Kreruain's like an older brother to Emmy... way older, but a brother nonetheless."

Or second father, Kim thought.

"She's asleep?"

"For once. She said she can think better and have better control of her body in sleep. It's not really sleep... it's a sort of meditation, like how she is in the regeneration capsule. It's actually sort of refreshing to look over her... I've always wanted to be able to do that with my own child."

"Anything new with her?"

"She came home with a friend named Muriel this afternoon and she stayed for a while before going home. I'm glad that Emeralda is starting to find some friends her age."

Yes, generals in their late thirties were out of a regular range. "I'm going to get lots of sleep. To me, six hours is plenty."

"You had six hours over the last two days. Rest well."

"As long as I work on this anti-war effort, it'll pay off in the future. I started infusing rebel soldiers with the nanomachine enhancers. They're still experimental, but when we lead the strike on Parliament, I want it to be as quick as possible."

"I still can't believe you're doing this. It seems all wrong... you being some sort of rebel. A double-agent, to boot. But still, I wish you luck."

"Thank you, Elly. Good night."

"Snot-hair!"

"Killer-doctor-daddy!"

Muriel heard the taunts as she walked through the halls with Emeralda. They were heading outdoors for recess. She wondered how the girl held such magnificent restraint. It seemed almost as if Emeralda was incapable of expressing negative emotions like hate and revenge.

When they were outside and out of earshot of the other kids, she asked, "Don't you ever get mad when they insult you like that?" After hanging around Emeralda for a week, she had heard enough bad words and phrases to make a construction worker blush.

"I don't care," Emeralda replied in her soft, unassuming voice. "It doesn't bother me." She placed the soccer ball on the grass and began kicking it from foot to foot.

One of the boys playing another game ran purposely into Emeralda, pushing her from behind and sending her face-first into the grass. "Grass hair, so grass face!" Another boy rushed up and took her ball away.

"Go away! Leave her alone!" Muriel cried.

The boy, was about to turn and run, held his ground and stared at petite Muriel. "Look, why are you even friends with that girl? Her father's a rebel who hates Valeria. He kills mutants. He wants to stop the war."

"Just because you don't like the war doesn't mean you're a mutant killer! Emeralda's a nice person! You just won't understand that!"

"I bet her dad will kill her mom because her mom can't have children! And then he'll kill her because she has snot-green hair!"

Muriel fumed. She glanced at Emeralda, who was wiping dirt and grass from her face and hair. Behind the one boy, a group of about ten more boys and girls stood, watching and laughing. Other neutral spectators began to gather, anticipating a fight. "Her hair is the color of emeralds! Look, go away! Leave Emeralda alone!"

"You shouldn't be her friend, Muriel."

"I like Emeralda!"

The crowd laughed at her declaration. One of the girls stepped forward and pushed her. Muriel went stumbling into the arms of the spectator, who shoved her again. She felt a rock strike her body. Sand was tossed at her face, and she shut her eyes against the grains.

"Muriel? Muriel!" Emeralda called, stepping forward and separating the tight ring of people to get to her friend. Someone tossed another rock, but Emeralda reached out with a nimble hand and caught it before it could strike its target. Muriel tried to focus her eyes. Her body was bruised and her face was scratched and dirty. She knelt by her, shielding her from the onslaught of kicked dust, sand, and rocks.

The kids laughed.

Emeralda placed Muriel gently on the ground, cushioning her head, then stood up and faced the boy who started the taunting. "Apologize for what you did, and promise never to do it again," Emeralda demanded in a serious, restricted tone of voice that Muriel had never heard her use before.

"Why should I, snot-hair?"

It happened in a flash. Emeralda drew back her fist, and in an instant, threw it across the boy's jaw. He reeled back suddenly, spittle spraying from his mouth as he spun on the spot exactly once. He collapsed into the arms of a spectator. Those who watched closely swore that Emeralda's hand turned into a hammer, but the strike was so fast that no one was sure.

After delivering the shocking blow, she picked up Muriel easily with two arms, boasting strength well above the average thirteen-year old, and ran from the others.

She did not stop until they were by the trees that were on the border of the school playground. There, she placed Muriel on a park bench. Muriel nodded at Emeralda, reaching out a hand to grip hers.

"Why did you do that, Emmy?"

"I didn't want you to get hurt."

"You shouldn't have to worry about me ... I'm not important."

"You are to me."

Muriel felt her brain deny Emeralda statement, but within, she felt warm. Her lips curled into a smile. "Thank you. You're important to me too, Emmy."

Emeralda didn't know what it was. It was like a switch went off in her head. The taunts did not bother her one bit. It was when she saw the others hurt Muriel. She chewed on her lower lip. Kim had told her to avoid fighting and hurting others. But she had hurt that boy. But if she didn't do anything, Muriel would have continued to be hurt.

What was right?

She would have to ask Kim later.

"Kim, can I visit Kreruain when he comes home from work today? I want to ask questions about the war," asked Emeralda during her daily chores around the house.

Kim restrained his resentment. His name came up every hour in this household! Emeralda loved him. Elly loved him. He was losing its entire family to him. "No. You visit every week. I'm sure he is very busy and cannot have you around."

"Kim, he wanted me to go over there. He invited me. That means I'm not bothering him."

"I said no." Was this man some sort of incubus? He was only human, controlled by sexual desires, human emotions, and human thought. Kreruain was very kind and open to his daughter, and he detested that. Kreruain had no idea how much Emeralda meant to him­and how important she was for the future. "I want to run a few tests on you," Kim added as an afterthought so he can give Emmy a reason.

"Is Elly working late today?"

"I think so ... during the war, she doesn't have regular hours."

"Kim?" Emeralda inquired, trying to get to a new topic.

"Hmm?"

"Is fighting right?"

Kim grimaced. He was about to say no, but then he remembered that he was part of a Resistance Movement that wanted to overthrow Valeria. Although he did no fighting himself, he essentially helped others fight. "I don't know, Emeralda. Usually, it's bad to fight. The best people in the world will try to solve all the problems without fighting."

Emeralda kept her usual straight face, but the options she could have used to save Muriel went running through her head. She could have taken her away without hitting the boys. She could have told a teacher. But instead, she took matters into her own hands.

"I hit a kid at school today," she declared meekly.

Kim, who was just reaching for his coat, paused in mid-action. "You did?"

She nodded timidly.

"What did the teachers say?"

"Nothing. No one told on me."

Kim slipped his arms into the sleeves of his coach, and tossed Emeralda her jacket. "What happened?"

"The kids were making fun of me and..."

"So you hit them?" Kim asked, groaning within. So much for his perfect "Last Hope."

Emeralda shook her head. "I ignored them, but Muriel couldn't stand listening to them insult me. So she spoke up and demanded that they leave me alone. But they started to hit her and throw rocks at her and I do not know what it was inside of me but I couldn't bear to watch it. I didn't want to see it continue. So I punched one of the boys. Then they stopped."

Brute force, it seemed, was the best way to resolve schoolyard problems. More gutsy, and actually worked: the kid who was hit rarely repeated the same mistake again. But in war, Kim thought, the leader of the countries never participated in combat. They did not suffer from the punches. Only the army and citizens suffered. And the leaders were blind to the pain.

"Emeralda, let's go."

Kim checked the monitors as Emeralda floated in the green fluid. Heart rate okay, regeneration okay... a bit low on reserve energy, but that was manageable.

The labs in the N.R.C. were built like a fortress, now that Kim thought about it. All the glass was bulletproof and blastproof. In fact, Kim had the authority to cut everything from the heating to the air circulation if something happened.

He glanced around the lab he had come to know and memorize. He would probably work here all his life. He wouldn't mind it, though, if what he did could benefit all mankind. Perhaps he could develop nanomachines to regenerate the human reproductive organs. He had genetic codes and technical data set out when he assembled Emeralda... perhaps he could cure Elly of her sterility.

"And Emmy would have a baby brother or something." Kim hugged himself at the thought.

His cell phone rang. Kim reached for it. "Hello, Doctor Kasim."

"Hello, this is Kreruain speaking. Kim, is Emeralda with you? She told me she was going to my place after school. She hasn't arrived yet, and I just wanted to check if she was okay..."

"She's fine with me," Kim said, feeling his heart thump quicker. "Look, I'd like you to stay away from her... not to be so close. She goes to your place twice or three times a week. And with our conflicting ideals about the way we should resolve this war, I think Emeralda could get confused. She's only about eleven."

"Eleven. You could have fooled me. With a mind and body like hers..."

"Just what the hell are you talking about?"

"She's a good athlete for a young child," Kreruan snapped back, disgusted at Kim's inference. "Look, I love Emeralda lke a daughter. I'd do almost anything for her... and Elly, too. I don't see why you're getting all worked up over this. It's not like I'm stealing your family away from you. You have Elly. She loves you. There's not a damned thing I can do, right?"

Kim felt his face getting hot. "You were in love with my wife?"

The reply was pinched. "Yes, I used to be. When you deserted her for months, she had no one to turn to, so I decided to keep her company. She was sad when you left her, Kim, or did you realise that? She was a shell of who she was. She needed someone to talk to, someone to hold when things weren't okay..."

"Did you sleep with her?"

"No! No I didn't! I'd never do that unless she let me!"

Kim exploded. "You dirty bastard! Look, Kreruain. Stay away from my wife. And my daughter." Kim hung up and dropped the phone back into his pocket. Only if she let him... he hoped the pervert hadn't touched Emeralda. To be safe, he ran a test, checking for any possible contact. Apparently, she was clean, and Kim let out a sigh of relief.

Kreruain just sat there, paralyzed. The phone dropped out of his hand, hitting the floor with a heavy clunk. He gripped the wheels of his wheelchair, trying to control his anger.

"I can't believe him!" Kreruain rolled his chair over to the kitchen, where his maid Margrette was preparing dinner. "Margrette. Kim basically accused me of being a lecher. He's not going to ever let me see Emeralda or Elly again."

Margrette nodded. "People nowadays are superficial. They're protective and selfish. Kim is probably jealous."

"Jealous. They just want everything to themselves, right?"

"Jealousy is when you own something, and you don't want anything else to have it, Kreruain. You might be the target of jealousy."

"It still sucks. What can I do about it? This entire planet is filled with jealous and selfish people. I'd just prefer it if everyone died, to make people appreciate life and everything that we take for granted. If I could wipe the slate of the earth clean and start over, then this world would be a better place."

"General, that's what everyone says. The problem is, wiping the slate clean isn't exactly an easy task."

Kreruain didn't reply. To him, it didn't matter. As long as he could get his hands on Kim... then he could see Emeralda, and Elly would be his to love. He felt a hole form in his heart as he thought about Elly. She was so sweet to him. He knew no happier time than the two weeks when they were always together. When she left him...

Kreruain shut his eyes against the memory, feeling tears swell inside him. Did anyone else know the pain of loving a woman you could never have? Did anyone know what yo do in such a situation?

The rest of the world wouldn't care about some general's pathetic love for a nurse. No one would want to help him. It was all due to a certain doctor.

Emeralda. She fascinated him. And he loved her as he would love a daughter, if he had one of his own. He would have been the father of the family. He felt capable. It could have been him, Elly, and Emeralda.

But Kim bested him.

How would he ever deal with the pain of losing loved ones, over and over again?

Kreruain wheeled his chair over to the television room. He switched it on, and one of the tele-evangelists preached loudly about asking salvation from God. Another channel was of a different faith that focused on medication to hope for divine intervention. A third channel had some lecture on how the end of the world was near, how God was punishing the sinners for bad deeds.

The General muttered, "It's all garbage." And he shut the T.V. off.

The next day, Kreruain was at work when he was interrupted.

"General Kreruain Malkut."

"What?" he retorted. He looked up from the work on his desk, his brow furrowed with frustration. At his office door stood the elegant Miang.

"I have a task for you."

"If it involves killing millions of civilians with chemical bombs, no thank you. Being shot and paralyzed for life doesn't give me the stomach to bomb innocents."

Miang feigned hurt. "I'm disappointed, General Malkut, is your opinion of us that low?" She stepped away from the door.

Malkut ignored her and followed Miang in his wheelchair.

"I'd think that with your bitterness toward the world, you'd want a shot of revenge," she quipped.

Kreruain's gaze darkened. "What did you hear about me?"

"That Kim won't let you see Emeralda and Elly anymore. I was speaking with him about nanomachines... I guess we got a little sidetracked."

Kreruain grunted. "Elly. She's so dear to my heart. I love her so much. I don't know how she's taking the news... I never knew what sort of feelings she had for me. I don't know the truth."

"Few people are able to express themselves as honestly as you can, General. I wouldn't be able to truthfully admit who I love. Do you want me to push the chair for you, Kreruain?"

He nodded, mumbling thanks. A thought rang through his mind. Miang was married, but she just stated that she wouldn't be able to admit who she loved. "Miang, just what do you think of Kim? Despite his speaking out against the government, you still hang out with him. You kissed him that night when you first met... I thought it was a rather mysterious scene. It's as if you knew each other all your lives."

"Kim and I have a bit of a... history... together," murmured Miang.

Obviously, Kreruain didn't understand the true meaning of her statement. "Do you still love him?"

"I told you, I wouldn't be able to truthfully admit who I love. Besides, do you think that if I sacrificed my position and reputation for him... if I did, I mean... then you'd have a chance at Elly?" Miang tossed a hand up into the air melodramatically. "Why don't you just kill him! Kill them all! All of humanity that ever betrayed you! Clean the world of its evil people! Destroy those greedy doctors and lawyers who steal and marry the beautiful women, have affairs, but sue your pants off the moment you come within ten metres of the wives that they don't deserve to have!"

Kreruain grunted at Miang's sarcastic speech. "People suck. I want to die. Your husband shot me. I'm paralyzed from the waist down. The woman I love doesn't love me back. The daughter I never had isn't allowed to see me anymore. Is it just Kim's fault? I don't think so... why the heck do we have this stupid monogamous relationship idea? Who made that up? If it was okay to marry and love more than one person, maybe Elly would have been mine, too, and we'd all be friends. If Kim weren't raised to be so protective and jealous, Emeralda would have been my friend still... and even though she probably wants to talk to me, 'daddy' won't let her."

"So what are you going to do about it?" Miang asked. "We're here," she added as she pushed Kreruain into an elevator and pushed the button.

Kreruain shook his head sadly. "I have no clue."

The elevator stopped in the lower levels of the military base and the doors slid open, revealing a red, cone-shaped room. Rafters lined the roof and vents could be seen on the high ceiling. Technicians worked at the advanced panels, and lights blinked everywhere. On one wall, there was a tactical map of the entire world.

"This is the...!"

"Precisely. It's the control room for the Mass Driver Nuclear Missiles."

The technicians at the terminals stood up and saluted, and Miang returned the gesture smartly. She glanced at Kreruain, and motioned him to the raised platform in the centre of the room. He rolled up the ramp, stopping next to the command chair.

"In addition to the Mass Drivers, you also have control over a set of cruise missiles, some new anti-gear missiles, and a few turrets. We call this room 'The Judgement of God'. The Command Chair? That's 'God's Throne'. I find it a fitting name because..."

"From here, I could destroy the world," Kreruain finished. "Why me, Miang?"

"I need someone dedicated, disciplined, and sane sitting in the Throne. Someone with a sense of justice. Of goodness and righteousness, who won't misuse these instruments. As you said, Kreruain, 'if it involves killing millions of civilians, I won't do it.' The missiles are safe with you."

Kreruan stared, eyes wide, not quite believing what he was hearing.

"There is a missile pointed at Trewth, and another at Loveh. Although I'd prefer it if you would wait for a signal, you have the authority to fire them at any time. With the anti-war movement spreading, I can't just let the missiles be run over by anyone. General, if I die, and Prime Minister Haawa dies, you're the only one left who can fire this thing.

"My idea is that if the Valerian government is taken over, fire the missiles, hit Trewth and Loveh, and end this war. The power of the Mass Driver will wipe their capital cities, plus a good deal of countryside, right off of the map. You'll have a third missile that can be used if anyone tries a revenge strike. Of course, they don't know how many you have.

"Do you have the guts... no, don't answer that, General. I'm sure you will do the right thing."

Kreruain, now seated in the Throne of God, ran his hand gently over the cherry wood armrests, the smooth, glass panels. A finger touched the keyhole in the arm of the chair. To launch a missile, he would place a key in there and turn. He had suddenly become the most powerful man in the world. "Miang, why did you choose a man against the war, a bitter being who pines for his lost love and a girl who isn't my daughter? I don't feel dedicated and disciplined like you say I am."

Miang winked. "These missiles have the power to end the war. These are the missiles that will end all wars. The Mass Driver is the most potent weapon on earth. It is relatively clean for a nuclear bomb... the half life of the radioactive contents is about three years. It has extreme explosive power. Trewth has developed deadlier, faster, more accurate nuclear and chemical weapons. Loveh has its gears. We? We have the Mass Drivers and Nanomachine enhanced humans. We're all working on our weapons of destruction. Talking solves nothing. We only get things done if we make them hurt.

"You're a prudent, yet righteous man. The ends justify the means. If the war will end, even the cost of fourty-million lives is insignificant. For who knows how many more bioweapons Trewth will launch? How many more gears will dominate cities? When people look back at this, twenty, fifty, one-hundred years from now... they'll ask twice before waging war, wondering if the other side has a Mass Driver, wondering if their will be a deeper crater than the one that filled Briganthia hundreds of years ago."

Kreruain found his respect for Miang growing. "Thank you for the honour, Miang," he replied, still awestruck by his position.

"Despite what they say, you can't be an emotionless bastard to fight a war. Those who win are those driven by passion. I'll leave you here, General Malkut. Doctor Hyuzuki will be able to show you all of the controls. Good day."

She turned and began walking out of the room, and so she didn't see the timid wave that Kreruain gave her on the way out. Doctor Hyuzuki, a tall, well-built Oriental man with greying hair and funky wire-framed glasses, began to instruct him on the workings of the Throne of God.

And Kreruain hung on his every word. When the time came, he wanted to be able to use them correctly.

School was closed.

Two days ago, in the middle of the night, the high-pitched whine of the air raid sirens woke the neighbourhood, but it was only a few minutes before the munitions dump beside Avons Elementary School was hit, turning the warehouse, the school, and the surrounding parkland into black, charred waste.

And so Emeralda and Muriel had no place to go. To pass the time, they both volunteered to work as candy stripers in Elly's hospital, and although Emeralda would have liked to be able to see Elly more often, it was rare that she actually found her on the job.

A new wave of injured soldiers was just flown in, and she had her hands full checking on them, making sure they were satisfied with their meals, had enough medication, the menial stuff. At least Muriel was with her. In three days, most of the soldiers would be discharged due to superior nanomachines treatment.

Today was the start of just another day, it seemed.

But then the air raid sirens roared.

"What the heck is going on?" Muriel shouted above the whine as the P.A. system ordered an immediate evacuation.

Emeralda's voice was free of emotions. "Bombs. Aimed for this area."

"Here? There's nothing here except for..." Her eyes rested on one of the solders, who was being pushed on a stretcher. They were headed for the helicopters on the roof. "They wouldn't bomb a hospital of injured soldiers..."

"They would. Our nanomachine facilities let most soldiers return to war in only three days. That gives us the advantage over Loveh troops, who take weeks to heal. That's what Kim says."

The sirens blared again. Nurses carried people out to the elevators in their arms. People rushed for the stairways. Helpers brought as many nanomachine assembers as they could. The flurry of humans moving was amazing. When Emeralda and Muriel started trampling down the staircase from the fifteenth floor, they found that many of the patients were being guided down in the same direction.

The stairwell was packed with bodies. The smell of sweat due to tension was heavy, and the heat was stifling. Although the movement down went at a steady pace, Muriel's heart seemed about to explode for every second she had to wait for someone below her to move. Emeralda, on the other hand, was neutral, as usual. She wondered how the teenager managed to keep such good discipline.

Soon, they were running from the building. A large fan of people were scattering from the are. The choppers on the roof lifted off, spreading from the hospital and moving into the crowded Kore streets.

And it happened in a flash.

First, the hospital was there. In the next instant, a trail of smoke flew into the wall, and there was an explosion so violent and loud that Emeralda thought she was going to be deaf instantly. She felt herself nudged by warm winds and tossed against a wall, debris showering in her direction. Glass above her shattered. Rocks, sand, and dust rose into the air. A column of black ash trailed up from the hospital. Everywhere on the ground, there was rubble and garbage. Nails and glass cut her arms, and small parts of steel beams flew in her direction, striking the wall above her. One landed on her, crushing her body. Emeralda gasped for breath. She shut her eyes, concentrating her energy into morphing so she could escape. She told her body to turn itself into a fluid so she would be able to escape the metal bar.

When she looked up, she saw Muriel staring at her, totally awestruck. She had apparently hid behind a steel plate that was propped up against the wall. "Emeralda, how did you do... do that?" she asked, apparently panicked, but retaining her sanity as she stared at Emeralda's fascinating shape-shifting.

Emeralda looked confused. "Do what?"

"Make your body turn into water like that."

Emeralda changed the subject. "Muriel, are you all right?"

"I'm fine.... really, I'm fine," she blabbered, resolved to act like her friend and keep her composure. "There... I have... in my arm... glass here and there, a bruise, nothing major. I don't know how many others are okay, though. Let's go over there... wh-where it's... safer!! Safer!!"

"You're bleeding." Emeralda motioned to Muriel's cheek and neck, where her pale complexion was marred by red trails of blood.

"I... I know," she stuttered, holding her breath. She wiped a hand on her dirty face, smearing it. She shut her eyes, then wrapped her arms around Emeralda tightly in a sudden expression of all her fear. "I'm scared, Emeralda, I'm scared, scared scared... I've never been so close to death before... I'm looking around, and all I see are dead bodies. Over there, there... that one's not even a complete human anymore. Before, the war was there, but now, it's so much.... closer... and... and..."

Emeralda held her friend, not certain of how to respond. She couldn't understand what it was that Muriel felt, but she simply kept silent as she gazed over the destruction with a cool mind. Soldiers were starting to move toward the blast site with shields and tools at the ready. The second group was marching in with stretchers to move the bloody, ruined humans from the area. The rubble was piled up all over, and the hospital itself was a black steel skeleton. Even from where Emeralda stood, she saw dismembered bodies and injured people all over. Blood flowed between the stones and the dust, between her feet and into the drains. A piece of flesh was on a steel beam. Half of the time, the soldiers carried people out in garbage pails instead of body bags.

Muriel and Emeralda ran toward the perimeter of the blast area, close to where an open area was marked off by red tape. Behind the makeshift fence, rows and rows of injured, bleeding people lay or sat, tended to by nurses. An auburn-haired, slender woman dashed from an ambulance to the sickbay.

"Elly!!"

"Emeralda?" Oh, thank God you're okay!" Elly ran over and gave her a squeeze. "Muriel, you're okay too! Okay, I have to go help the people. If you can, please... try to help.." She dashed off, with a crew of medics right behind her. The Valerian Police was called in. The Valerian Reserves were called in. As Emmy watched, the Army occasionally made their way toward the sickbay. If they didn't go there, then that meant...

Emeralda slumped down on the ground, leaning against the fence. Muriel watched the site, tears streaming down her dirt-stained cheeks, chest heaving with heavy breaths. Even among the chaotic noises, from the screaming of ambulance sirens, the orders of the soldiers, the wailing from the loved ones, the sobbing of the bystanders, and the shouts of the doctors, Emeralda could single out a voice, singing a soft, peaceful tune.

"And the girl in the dawn, with eyes of blue... and angel wings..."

Elly knelt beside her patients, wiping their dirty bloodied faces with a cloth that had long since turned grey. She would wrap strips of bandage around their bloody limbs, humming and singing to keep them in the world. These were the lucky ones, caught just on the edge of the blast radius, and only suffering injuries such as internal bleeding and broken ribs.

Emeralda gripped the fence, staring at her mother. "I... I want to help," she uttered to Muriel without looking away.

"Why don't you?"

"I don't know what I can do. They're bleeding. They hurt. They cry in pain. I have never bled. I have never been in pain. I don't know what I can do to help them. I don't understand."

"Broken mirror.... a million shades of light..." the words carried on, sending a calm, haunting song through the wind.

"Just do as Elly does. Wash their faces. Hold their hand. And tell them they'll live, even if it's not true." Muriel grit her teeth, and strengthened by her own words, ripped her eyes from the scene and ran inside the fence, grabbing a cloth and a roll of bandages.

Emeralda, though, sat and stared, unable to act. "But I don't know how I can understand their hurt. I am different from Elly... because she seems to know what it is like to die."

"But just you... and... I... can find the answer, and then... we can run to the end... of the world... We can run to the end.... of the world."

"Three hundred more are dead. My wife had to see it happen with her own eyes. Is this what we want to love through, every day? Do we want to live through fear...?"

"Reports of another strike against Valerian forces were confirmed today. The Loveh Gear Regiment overran Saveh's Valley, destroying all Valerian infantry forces."

"Another biological weapons strike in the heart of Kore has claimed the lives of over two-hundred civilians. The attack seemed to have no military purpose..."

"And we, the people, who feel the brunt of war, must speak out! We must let the leaders know who is hurting in this war! If we do not protest, then..."

"A cease-fire will not be signed, for a contract with Loveh was not agreed upon. We will continue our effort for human dignity, to prevent the slaughter of innocent people, to prevent the use of nuclear weapons..."

"I see no results, Miang," the floating orb of the minister roared.

Miang kept her face straight as she stared at the monitor for the uplink. "You yourself have deemed the humans inappropriate for the body of Deus. The purge is continuing as we speak."

"What of the Awakening? The Contact, and the Anti-Type?"

"I have yet to wake the Miang in Elly. I need a closer link to her. Something that will make her click. To come to me. When she is brought before me, the process can begin."

"It has been too long. If you fail, then what?" The orb rotated, revealing a new face.

"You'll sit in your frail bodies for a few more centuries, or maybe you'll die before then."

"You insubordinate...!"

Miang kept her eyes firm. "If I can capture her, we are okay. I am working on that right now. With Kreruain at my beck and call, I may be able to figure something out. 'Emeralda' is an interesting lever, I say. Good day." Miang clicked the button and terminated the uplink.

As usual, she found Kreruain sitting in the Throne of God, talking amiably to the technicians present. Upon her entry, Kreruain spun around in his chair to meet her. "Yes, Lady Miang?"

"I'd like to ask your opinion on a few things, dealing mainly with... Elly." Upon mentioning her name, she saw his eyes twinkle with life for a moment before darkening.

"I know nothing." He turned away.

"I want you to still be friends. It's worrying me to see you cooped up like this."

"I like it here. Besides, Kim won't allow it."

"Would you mind if I invited her over for a private dinner? Just the two of you?"

Kreruain juggled the possibility in his mind, but shook his head. "She'd never go for it. Even so, Kim wouldn't go for it. Maybe if we all had dinner as a large group..."

"Maybe Emeralda could come along," Miang suggested. She grinned. "I played a bit of soccer in my time."

"How'd you know she liked soccer?"

"Kim talks a lot about her."

The invitations were sent, and the arrangements were made, but Elly wouldn't come unless Kim did. Miang wondered what was up with that.. Was Kim filled with such dark jealousy that he wouldn't even let her go out alone, or was it that she couldn't bear to go anywhere without her husband?

Not that Miang minded. She would be able to talk to Kim more, and perhaps use him to attain her goals.

Cain, after all, was still alive, and only one person could do away with him.

The after-dinner conversation was started, and immediately, Miang waved Kim away from the others. "I must monopolize the good doctor," she coyly sang as she led him from the table into the chairs next to the fire in the lounge. They made themselves comfortable in the dim lighting and large chairs.

"Kim, I wish you wouldn't speak out so vehemently against the war," Miang started.

"It's for Emeralda," he replied. "I want a safe place for her when she grows up."

"You adopted her, you said. But is it just coincidence that you and Emeralda and Elly look so similar?"

Kim shrugged.

"I also have these reports from Minister Harfield. About one year ago, there was a significant depletion of the nanomachine resources. The reports said that you manufactured a nervous system, an organ network, and a circulatory system. Where are these things now?"

Kim let out a chuckle. "Are you doubting me, Miang."

She smiled. "Why yes, yes I am!"

Kim's glance went back to the table, where Kreruain, Elly, and Emeralda were talking. He glared for a moment at the blue-haired general before lingering on Emeralda.

"Most kids don't have green hair," Miang added.

"If they've been exposed to..."

"That's not it, Kim." She lowered her voice. "Who is Emeralda, really?"

Kim flinched. He stared at her, trying to read any emotion in her violet eyes. They just stared at him, all-seeing, calm, and patient. Kim gulped, and glanced back at his daughter again. Did he trust her? He looked back at Miang, and her eyes softened, into something almost like... like... compassion. Caring. He nodded, leaned close to her, and spoke into her ear. "She's a nanomachine colony, designed with Elly's and my genetic code," he whispered. "Basically, except for the green hair, she would be a lifelike replica of our actual daughter."

"No way. Your daughter can't possibly be that flawless, no matter..."

"Nanomachines don't age, and so she is about as perfect as she could have been as a baby."

"Kim, that's amazing! Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I didn't want her to be used as a weapon by the government. One day, when the world is in trouble, I want people to be able to look at her, see her perfection, and think, 'Mankind has a chance.' She's not a machine of war."

Miang's face turned serious. "So why'd you just tell me?"

Kim gripped Miang's hand, and she felt her heart leap. "I can feel it in you, that you don't want to sacrifice her to your husband. You're different than the rest of them. You, you wished that you could have children, right? After this war is over... you'll have your chance."

Miang gasped, elation flooding her head. "What? My... my very own... child?"

Kim nodded slowly, smiling at her, still holding her smooth hand.

"If you weren't already married, Kim, I'd choose you as the father."

Kim took the comment in good stride, and grinned even wider at her words. "Thank you, Miang."

Miang, for the first time, felt warm and fuzzy inside. Never had that happened before, but she liked the feeling. The Ministry would scold her for being weak, but she didn't care. She had never had her own child to love and cherish before... and likely would never have one, unless she accepted his offer. "Only after the war? Not before it ends?"

"I can't afford the time or the resources to do it during the war."

Miang recalled the Mass Drivers and their role in the war. "I'll try my best, Kim," Miang uttered, feeling moisture touch her eyes. Thank you... thank you so much."

"I'm surprised that Kim let you see me," Kreruain said. "Miang, over there, is basically handing me favour after favour." He leaned closer to Elly. "I have control of the Mass Driver Missiles."

Elly's eyes widened, perhaps in astonishment, but maybe it was horror. "Really. I sincerely hope you're not planning on using them."

"Only as an ultimatum. Once we knock out their missile defenses, then there's no stopping us from winning. And Valeria will reign in peace."

"We're going to force them to submit?"

"Well, hopefully, it won't be that bad. If we keep the government free of corruption and initiate democratic methods, there shouldn't be any problems. Maybe we can even reunify Zeboim."

"Still, it's just the idea of threats... it's what stirs up these rebellions."

"Yeah, maybe so. But if we are nice to the people, then things are all right. More and more people are recovering from injuries thanks to nanomachines. They pacify the people. If we keep them happy, it's all good. The people don't care how the war ends... just that it does With the way Kim's speaking against the war, Haawa has no chance in the next election. If I had my way, I'd vote Lady Miang into office."

"Lady Miang? Isn't she somewhat cruel, sly, and, well... immoral?"

"Not once you get to know her. There's a really nice person under that slick, sexy exterior."

Miang was floating on air for the rest of that evening. When she entered her masterbedroom, she saw Haawa on the videoterminal with Minister Harfield.

"Yes, I can't believe it escaped our notice," he was saying. "Anyway, I have to go. Bye." He spun around in the chair. "Miang. It's good to see you. I found out where the missing resources you asked about went about a year ago."

"First, I want to ask you about a cease-fire policy again," Miang stated. "Valeria's not going to win against Loveh this time. We waited too long. We should negotiate and end this war. With the Mass Driver missiles, they won't be able to refuse."

Haawa scowled. "Miang, I can't do that. We're not in as bad shape as you think. New missile technology is coming off of the assembly lines every day. Doctor Balthazar has managed to get a prototype gear working. And the nanomachine technology is advancing at a lightning pace."

"But..." she started, realising that Haawa, for once, was not listening to her. A thought crossed her mind. If Emeralda had the genetics of the Contact, would it be possible for her to use the girl to get rid of Cain? Not only would she be able to lure Elly to her side, but she would also be able to use Emeralda and the Contact. But if she betrayed Kim, what about her own child?

Still, the opportunity would be too good to refuse. Perhaps she could let Haawa give the order for his arrest, but she could try to tip them off, appear loyal to Kim, and still have Kim give her a kid.

It was almost too good to be true.

"...and it seems that Kim Kasim took those missing parts... he could have created an entire human being with them. Do you think it's possible?"

Miang shrugged. Apparently, Haawa was quicker than she thought. "Perhaps. Did you ever meet his daughter, Emeralda, and..."

"Yes, I've seen her before. She's totally flawless, perfect. She could have been entirely made out of... oh my God... you don't mean..."

Miang raised a violet eyebrow.

He nodded, slowly. "A whole life form of nanomachines! We need him. With an entire army, we'll win the war in no time! We don't need the Mass Drivers. We'd have an entire unstoppable force of infantry! Imagine! Whole troops immune to bullets! The ability to use instant swords! No food or water needed! We'll be invincible! I'm going to order an operations team to be assembled. They must capture the girl and the doctor."

"What about his wife?"

"She can be sacrificed."

Miang held her breath as she watched Haawa issue orders into his phone.

"Aaron, patch me through the the I.C.U. Agency."

Miang kept her ears peeled. The I.C.U. Agency was a team dedicated to work such as covert operations, spying, and terrorist strikes.

"Unit Fifty-Eight? Okay, that's fine. In two days, at eleven P.M.? Yes, I need two people to be captured. Their names are..."

Miang hung on his every word, recording the details in her mind.

"That's the last of the safety-checks," Kim announced, trying not to be intimidated by the large rows of men who stood in neat rows before him, armed with blue bulletproof vests, dark helmets, and rifles.

Sigfried nodded at Kim and the other scientists. "Thank you very much for your help, Kim. With the nanomachine enhancements, none of the security guards will get through us. We have the entire thing planned out; we know exactly where everyone is going to be at what time. Tomorrow morning, Kim, you might see the end of this war."

Kim grinned. "I always said I'd live to see the day."

General Ken leaned forward and hugged the smaller man, patting him on the back. "Tonight, we storm Parliament. We will kill the Ministers that supported the war effort and assassinate the Prime Minister and his wife."

Kim blinked. "Could... could you do me a special request?" he asked. "I'd like you to spare Miang's life."

"What?"

"Spare her life. For me. She's a good friend to me, and I know that she's a good person inside. The more I talk to her, the more it seems that she didn't get into the national affairs because she wanted to."

Ken's lips pressed together. "Okay, Kim, I'll try. But I won't make promises." He narrowed his eyes. "I'll only do this for you. That woman stole the money from the health care, and so she stole my daughter's life."

"Thank you."

"Kim, you're clear to leave. I want to review the mission outline before we depart at nine o'clock. Take care, my friend."

"You too, Ken."

Miang played with the phone cord impatiently. "Patch me through to Unit Fifty-Eight. I have a change in the mission objectives.... clearance code, 'God only knows'."

The official on the other line clicked away on a keyboard, then said, "It's good. I'm patching you through, First Lady Miang."

"Thank you."

She waited for the response, hoping desperately that they hadn't left yet. Her heart beat madly in her chest. She couldn't let the mission go without her changes, or else it would all be for naught...

"Hello, Lieutenant Ramzaus speaking."

Miang cheered mentally. "I'm here to issue a change in orders. Capture the man, Kim, the girl, Emeralda, and the woman, Elly. Do not kill any of them. As soon as you have reports, call me immediately. As you know, my name is Miang Haawa, the Prime Minister's wife."

"Yes, First Lady."

"Thank you." She snapped her phone shut and checked her watch. It was ten to five. The group was scheduled to be at Kim's at around eleven o'clock that evening. She would have to call him before then. But she would have to make sure she did it early enough so they would be able to escape, but be caught in the end.

Kreruain sat in his chair, staring at the map of Zeboim. Miang said that she would call to give the signal for the strike.

"This is it, boys. The day that the war will end," he announced. "We can start to end this cycle of destructive conflict. We can change the views of the world. And once that begins, we will attain peace. The cost is high, but I want to make sure that humanity rights its wrongs... at any cost."

A few of the technicians applauded at his words. Hyuzuki nodded his approval.

Today is the day, Kreruain thought. Elly, the war will end. And Kim will not be able to hate me. My actions will be able to end the war, and I'll be with you once more.

I love you, Elly.

The moon was bright in the sky, casting an eerie red light over the country of Zeboim. From the distance, a few clouds blew in, casting light drops of rain over the dying vegetation and dried land. The dark waters of the Freedom River swam, carrying the putrid chemicals of the land along with it.

The bells in the Parliament's peace tower chimed the song it did every hour, signalling precisely nine o'clock in the evening.

And the first gunshot was fired.

The phone rang, interrupting Kim's nap. He checked the timepiece. It was ten past nine. He could hear the patters of a light drizzle outside. By now, Operation Storm led by Sigfried would have just been started.

The phone rang again, and he leaned over to pick it up. "Hello?"

"Kim, it's Miang," the woman blurted hysterically. "Haawa's out to get you. He found out about Emeralda and is going to try to capture her. Run, now, and hide her."

"Wait, didn't you say that you wouldn't tell the... Miang, I thought...!"

"Kim, I'm not a part of it. If I was, I wouldn't calling you right now."

Kim glanced outside of the window. "An army truck is pulling up. You're right. Sorry."

"What?? Already? An army truck! Wait, Kim, don't..."

Miang heard the line go dead. She paced her room angrily. The I.C.U. Agency didn't drive army trucks! That meant...

Miang swore loudly and rammed her forehead into the bedpost so violently that she broke the post in two. Blood flowed from the new gash on her scalp. She placed her hands on the wall and pounded her head on it, over and over and over...

"Emmy, Elly, get up. Elly, grab the travel bag. We're going on a journey." Kim leaned over to Elly's ear. "They found Emeralda."

Elly's eyes widened in shock. "Emmy, put on your shoes," she commanded. "Don't argue."

"What's going on? Kim? Elly?"

Kim didn't bother with his coat, and dashed out the apartment, dripping his daughter's arm, who struggled to keep up at his run. Elly followed, slamming the door behind her, gripping the bag in her hand.

Emeralda looked up at them, feeling something in her stomach swell. It made her feel uncomfortable, and she couldn't breathe slowly. They circled the hallways, then reached one of the service elevators.

"In! Quickly!"

Kim was already starting to sweat. Beside him, Elly had a tight grasp on his bicep, blue eyes worn with worry. The elevator went down only three floors to the ground level, but to Kim, it felt like forever. His heart pounded against his chest as the door opened. Kim prayed that there would be no army members on the other side, waiting for them.

There were none. He dashed out of the elevator, taking the back service corridors to the parkade.

"Do you know where we'll bring her?" Elly asked.

"I do."

He skidded to a stop before a door, Emeralda running into his leg. He threw it open and sprinted into the concrete complex of the parking area, inhaling the mixed fumes of gasoline and rain. He went all-out to his car, with Emmy and Elly struggling to keep up. The sounds of rain hitting the pavement outside rumbled in their ears.

"It'll be any moment before they notice," Kim warned. He fished in his pocket for his keys, hands trembling as he tried to insert it into the keyhole. He unlocked the doors, and even before Elly had closed her door, he was backing out of his space.

Kim never drove faster in his life. As he shot out of the parkade ramp, breaking the flexi-glass barrier by the ticket booth, one of the army officers huddled in the downpour pointed to them and leaped into the hum-vee he was leaning against. Elly stole a look behind them as the army scrambled inside, readying their large rifles.

"What's wrong, Kim?" Emeralda asked, hoping the feeling that pierced her insides would disappear. "Tell me what's wrong!" But no one heard her.

"We're going to the N.R.C., Elly," Kim reported. "This is the keycard and the code. As I drive in, open up the front doors and I'll take over from there." He ducked instinctively upon hearing a gunshot go off, then turned a corner quickly, banking the car onto two tires.

His wife nodded. Tears were beginning to flood her eyes. "Kim, where did I go wrong?"

"Elly, it wasn't your fault. It's the fault of those who want to use our daughter as a weapon."

The tires squealed as Kim climbed up on the N.R.C. curb. Elly was out of the car first, stepping outside before it came to a full stop, unlocking the front door to the building, trying to ignore the murky water dripping on her head and the chilling numbness in her fingers. She motioned Emeralda to run through, then Kim charged out of his car without turning it off and ran through the door. Elly stole a glance back. The army's hummer squealed around a corner of the street and made a beeline for their position, splashing a puddle in its way.

Kim executed the security codes as fast as possible, hoping they would be enough to delay the advancing infantry. He tried his best to sit still as the computer executed its retina scan. He punched in the elevator code. Behind him, the government's army placed a blast charge on the glass doors that he had just passed through. The elevator door opened up, and he all but pushed Emeralda and Elly inside before hitting the "close door" button furiously. His heart pounded against his chest wildly, and his face was damp with sweat. Elly wrung her hands nervously, coming her fingers through her hair, squeezing the rain from it. Only Emeralda seemed unmoved, but she occasionally glanced up at the two, holding a hand to her heart, innocently querying what the problem was.

If elevators normally annoyed Kim, this ride was a nightmare.

The bell that signalled the reaching of the bottom floor had never sounded better in his life. He ran out, pulling Emeralda through the empty lab. The other elevator door opened, and a shot was fired just as they turned around a wall, shattering a glass jar. Emeralda recognized this lab as the place where Kim often ran tests on her. Maybe he would be able to explain the piercing in her heart, the continuous thumping in her head, the uncontrollable breathing.

"Emeralda," Kim said softly. "They are coming." He led her quickly down a corridor.

"Who are coming, Kim?" Emeralda replied in her timid voice. "Where are we going?"

Kim didn't respond. At the end of the lab area stood Elly, who held the door open for the two of them. When they were through, she slammed it behind her and locked it.

"Elly, why are we running?" Emmy tried to cry, but it came out only as a muffled sound.

They turned to the left in the red hallway. Kim opened the glass door that led into the lab with the glass capsule. "In here," he motioned. He ran up to the computer terminals, beginning the stasis procedure. "Emeralda, take off your clothes and get into this tube. We've done this before."

Emeralda nodded as she stripped off her shirt and pants, too mystified by his condition to challenge him. Elly stepped inside the room, tossing the travel bag within. Emeralda stepped inside the capsule. Her heart beat rapidly. Her breathing was accelerated. She tried to relax, to tell herself that everything was okay, but something still gnawed at her. What was the feeling? She tried to ignore the world outside of the tube, but it was impossible.

Elly spoke to Kim, and Emeralda could barely hear her words as a clear fluid began splash into the tube from the hoses in the top, falling on her hair and body in torrents. "Here are your clothes. I'll keep guard while you set up the systems."

Emeralda pressed her face against the glass. She couldn't identify the continuous stabbing in her heart, the throbbing in her stomach, or the pounding in her head. With every passing moment, she ached more and more. What was she feeling? Did it have a name? Kim's fingers moved furiously over the control panels. Emmy had never seen him type that fast before. "Kim! Kim!!!" she shouted, but he would not even look up.

Kim entered the next sequence of instructions, with only one thought in his mind: protect his daughter. Once it was done, and Sigfried killed Haawa, he would be able to return to the lab and retrieve her. He wished he had a chance to say good-bye to her. At least he'd be able to apologize.

There was an explosion. Kim moved his fingers faster. He could hear Emeralda cry out in gear, and it took all of his discipline to prevent himself from leaving the computer to comfort her. Just another twelve instructions... twelve more...

Elly cried out as the doors shook from the impact. "Kim! They're coming! Kim!! Kim!!!" She looked up at Emeralda, in the glass tube, slamming the impenetrable walls with her palms, crying words she couldn't hear, face distorted with emotion. Tears came to Elly's eyes. "Kim, Emeralda, I love you both... oh, Kim..."

"Freeze."

Elly looked up. There were five soldiers pointing rifles at her. She was about to lift her voice, but she heard a ringing sound of thunder and felt intense pain hammer through her chest. Blood splattered everywhere. On her hands, in her hair, on her clothes, on the wall, on the floor. She coughed. She clutched her chest. She screamed.

As she slid to the floor, she thought of only two things.

Kim saw his tears hit the control panel and drip between the buttons. He took a deep breath, punched the last emerald-coloured button, and then grabbed the travel bag and dashed out of the room, not even taking a second glance back.

Emeralda tried to keep her eyes open as she saw Kim run. It had happened so quickly. A pulse rang through her head. Her eyes were stinging. Her temples were feeling tingly. It was hard to breathe; it felt like something was crushing her chest. Elly lay on the floor of the lab, motionless, in a pool of her own blood. Kim was gone.

And them something else struck her. It was a nothingness, an emptiness that made her mind cry out. She felt tired, but she wanted to get out and help Elly. She tried to fight the numbness, but her arms and legs were ever so tired.

There was no energy left in her as her mind drifted off, blurring her vision and causing her to lose her grip on reality.

Kim tried to charge down the corridor, but he suddenly felt unable to go on. He didn't see it, but he heard her scream, and knew the truth. He tried to take another step, but his legs faltered, feeling heavier than ever. He collapsed on the ground, crying out, loudly. "Elly!! Elly!! ELLLLLLYYY!!!!!!!! Why did this have to happen to you! Elly, Elly!!!"

Something was pressed against his head. "Hands in the air."

Kim opened his eyes. His face was streaked with tears, and his nose was running, staining his lips and chin. His chest and stomach felt absolutely disgusting.

"Come with me. You're under arrest."

Kim shook his head. He had to keep his daughter safe. He reached into his travel bag.

"Stop it! Don't move!" The barrel was shoved deeper into his scalp.

Kim grinned.

The soldier struck him with the hilt of his pistol. Kim's face smarted from the blow, but he withdrew the item from his bag. "Elly... Emeralda... I won't let them use me..." he whispered as the soldier repeated his orders. He couldn't hear what the man said. Kim turned the gun in his hands and pressed it against his left eye.

He never had a chance to fire.

Miang heard the shots and explosions downstairs. She walked around her room impatiently, trying to ignore the throbbing bruises she had inflicted on herself. If they didn't do anything to Elly, everything would be okay. If they didn't do anything to her, it would be okay. If they...

The phone rang. Miang grabbed at it eagerly, nearly dropping it with clumsy hands. She opened it and pressed the button. Every muscle in her body shook painfully.

"Lady Miang? This is Unit Fifty-Eight. It seems the Army came in from orders of the Prime Minister to get this Elly and Kim. The girl is locked in a capsule. We've tried everything from blast charges to bullets, but nothing breaks the glass."

"And Elly and Kim?" Miang asked, dreading the answer.

"They're dead."

"No!!!!!" Miang shrieked, hurling the phone at the mirror, shattering the glass into a million shards. The wind tossed the drapes lightly, rain softly spilling inside the room, the calmness of the scene contradicting her inner turmoil. She stomped on the ground, hurled a chair against the window, and kicked the clothes chest. She whirled the vase from her dresser, smashed the lamp on the floor, and punched the wall. If something could be broken, it was broken.

She reached for her phone, resisting the temptation to crush it with her hands. If she had to stay alive for a moment longer, with no change of reviving Deus, then she would go insane. Another fifty years of life in this body! Then, centuries more, waiting for the next Elly!

She dialed the number from memory. "Kreruain, prepare the missiles. Kim and Elly are dead. They were killed by Haawa. If nothing goes right this evening, I'm going to at least end this damn war." As she hung up the phone, she tugged at her hair in frustration. Not even a child of her own to pass the time with... not even that...

From the window, a man stepped inside, then suddenly gripped her hand, tugging relentlessly. "Lady Miang!"

Miang whirled on him, breaking his death hold. "WHAT?"

Minister Harfield's voice trembled. "Haawa's dead! The rebels killed him! And so are Hants and Saetome! If we go quickly, we can still reach the evacuation chopper and.... ulp!"

The twin doors to the room flew open as three men dressed in combat gear pointed rifles at them. In the front, behind the clear visor, Miang could see the dark face of General Ken Sigfried. Harfield immediately fell on his knees, blubbering like a fool. She stared at Sigfried coldly, challenging his even demeanor. "Are you going to kill me?"

"Kim asked me not to," Sigfried replied, swinging his rifle onto his back. "Miang, you're coming with me."

"Kim asked you..." she started.

The other soldier withdrew his handcuffs and arrested the prone Harfield.

Miang's gaze darkened. "Kim's dead," she said, trying to keep her voice from breaking. "So is Elly. General, I know you've been waiting for this day." She held up her phone. "With one press of a button, I will launch the Mass Driver missiles and destroy the world. And the war will end. Forever."

Sigfried's eyes flared, and he drew a pistol from his holster in a lightning-fast motion. "Don't you dare!"

"I'll be seeing your daughter soon enough."

"You're not going to see my daughter because you're going straight to hell!!"

Miang stared down the barrel of his gun, and let her lips curl up into a smile. She broke out into hysterical laughter, her cackling growing louder and louder, more and more haunting.

Sigfried pulled the trigger.

Kreruain let the phone slip out of his paralyzed fingers. Elly was dead. Elly was dead. Elly was dead. Elly was dead.

The thought beat in his head, reciting itself over and over again. He clenched his teeth. He wanted to lash out.

Lieutenant Domina stood up, adjusting her headset. "General, General, there have been reports that the Prime Minsister and his wife had been killed!" she shouted in a panic as a loud blast was heard above. "Without their permission, we..."

"Continue with the operation."

"Sir, with due respect, I cannot..."

The General slowly turned his head, gazing lasers into his engineer. His blue hair glittered eerily under the red lights as the explosions shook the Judgement of God. The eyes, cold as glass, appeared to be aged beyond the rest of his body. They were hard and unyielding. "This is the only way to prevent more tragedy. We destroy those who cause it. Domina, continue."

"Sir..."

Domina was silenced with a bullet in her forehead. Kreruain waved the pistol that seemingly appeared from nowhere. He turned to Doctor Hyuzuki and stared at his black eyes. He lifted his voice, addressing the technicians. "Look. I can kill you all, and we'll get nothing done, or we can launch these missiles, and end the war. One is aimed at Trewth. One is aimed at Loveh. Hyuzuki, aim the third one at Valeria. Right here."

"Y....yes, sir."

"You've heard it from me enough. This world is corrupt. Up there, in Parliament, they think they, as rebels, can change things. But human beings are not that simple. We have to start over, to show them what happens when you act human, like I do." The room shook again. He blinked. Tears trickled down his cheeks. He thought of Elly. "Humans will never learn if we keep living as we do. Kim tried. He tried by creating Emeralda, a perfect being. But she is only one in a million, a gemstone in a sea of sand. But shrink the desert, and it's easier to find the beryl. We must destroy those who cause tragedy. And we are part of the cause. We are the cause." He took a deep breath, scanning the room. No one objected to his words. "In a world like this, God doesn't exist." His mind flickered to Elly. The pain of her refusing him. Seeing her go back to Kim. Feeling her touch on his skin, the times that they shared... and knowing he would never feel them again. "So, I must create God with my own hands. I must act as God, the saviour of the human race."

"The missiles are locked," Hyuzuki announced flatly. He wiped at his eyes. "For the world."

"No. For humanity."

The technicians all repeated after him. "For humanity."

Kreruain nodded, the tears tumbling over his skin. He grabbed the yellow key and placed it in the keyhole on the armrest of his chair.

"Fire."

"Who is she?"

"She's that girl we found."

"Wow, she fights really well. Why do you think he gave her up?"

She could hear voices. To her, though, the voices were unfamiliar, and the language foreign. She moved a finger.

"She's moving. Shh."

Now that voice... she recalled it. She moved again, and then opened her eyes, trying to adjust them to the bright light. She blinked and focused on the first face that looked upon her. He had a strong chin, narrow brown eyes, and black hair drawn back in a tight ponytail. There was a light mark under his left eye. The Oriental man sighed, letting his face relax in a smile.

The girl bolted upright and reached out a grubby, dirty hand to touch the face, hesitating, as if physical contact would cause the image to disappear in a mist. But she touched him and let her hand trace the contours of his cheek.

"Kim?" she asked.

Elly Stories

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