January 20, 801 WG
"What do you want, Holiday?"
The question was voiced with annoyance but contained a tinge of wariness. The speaker was a woman dressed in a pale blue dress of simple design. The top part hugged her torso, softly outlining her gentle feminine curves, then flowed out at the hips and gracefully descended to her toes. The sleeves were long but split at the shoulders with only three ribbons binding them to her upper arms in three places while leaving the sleeve to hang loose at the elbow, exposing her forearms. Her long pale blonde hair was tied up in a high, partial bun held in place by long hairpins of silver. A silver choker with white diamonds graced her delicate throat. She held up a matching silver fan, unfurled to hide her lower face from the unwanted visitor. Her crimson eyes, however, glared over the lace tipped ends of the fan.
She was a vision to rival even the infamous Boa Hancock. However, while the Pirate Empress drove men to do whatever she ordered by instilling feelings of sexual desire within them, this woman could obtain equal results through awe and fear. She was one of simple elegance and calm authority. A snow queen that knew her place on the throne was hers by right of birth and she conveyed it in the way she stood, in the way she spoke and in the way she moved. One did not disobey her lightly. Few could not even contemplate such a thought.
"So suspicious, My Lady," replied the man. He was plainer in appearance, the common brown hair, invaded by the gray of age, was only a couple inches long. Brown eyes sparkled in amusement as he smiled. He wore a long white lab coat over a suit of dark gray. He was not perturbed by her attitude; a lesser man would have been falling over himself babbling apologies for disturbing her tranquility.
"I simply came to ask a boon of you, Lady Marlene," he continued.
"You wish to continue Rocklin's work." It was a statement not a question.
"Perceptive as always," said Holiday with a small bow. "Yes, I wish to restart Rocklin's experiment. I do plan to not be so foolishly wasteful so as not to end up with another... ahem… Dragon."
Marlene snapped her fan shut revealing a delicate chin and pale lips pressed together in a disapproving frown. "I cannot allow you to continue it," she said, her manner calm but serious. "There would be no greater disaster than for Roses to battle one another. The world was nearly lost once before to such a conflict, I cannot condone any action that would invite such destruction again."
Holiday frowned. "The end products would all be Marines, My Lady. Why would you suspect them of fighting one another when they will be facing the enemies of the World Government as a team?"
Marlene narrowed her eyes and replied, "It is for that reason that I cannot allow it. Even should your Roses stay true it would not change the outcome. There will still be a battle between Roses."
Holiday raised an eyebrow. "Surely you are not suggesting that whelp is one? He has shown not a trace of the power this project was promised to provide its recipients. I would have thought that if he had such abilities it would have shown itself by now. The conflict two years ago should have brought it to the fore."
"Yet he continues to survive what he should not. This is not mere luck."
Holiday narrowed his eyes. "You read too much into his luck."
Marlene's smile was both beautiful and frightening, and it turned his insides to ice with its frigidness. "Never forget, Holiday, the power of the Rose is to alter fate and there are many ways this can be achieved. Good fortune is simply the most passive way it expresses itself."
(Notes)
Unlike "Fire Storm" the Intro doesn't name the time zone, since this is a continuation. Instead it reveals two characters that are important to the overall arc of the Chronicles but don't appear within the story itself.
Marlene came into existence during the writing of the rough draft "Make Me Forget" but this is her first appearance in the timeline.
Holiday has been repurposed for this story just as Helgram was for "Fire Storm". Briar is not in this story so Holiday is definitely the head scientist working the back angle.