"My Lord," his voice was a simper, his pale skin almost glowing in the dimness of the office.
Balem Abrasax felt irritation, plain and simple, as he looked away from the current yields of one of his most profitable Agricultural holdings. The pace had slacked- the latest batch of Keepers had killed off a section of the lucrative crop. A fault of machinery. The Splice that had designed it, a Miss Tallon, had failed to take into account the heavy rains needed on the Planet. She would pay for her failure, and the Keepers would be Cycled.
Balem did not have room for incompetence.
And he did not like interruptions. Mr. Night knew this, but the manager of the Jupiter Refinery had obviously had no other option. He was a nervous, simpering thing. Paler than usual, his pawed hands tight against his stomach as he kept his head down in deference. His dark eyes were trained on the floor. Balem was pleased by the cowed appearance and waited for a moment for the rat splice to stew in his nervousness.
"Mr. Night," his voice was a rasp, as it had been for nearly two hundred years, "What possible thing could you think would warrant interrupting my work?"
"Another problem has arisen, my Lord."
Balem felt his jaw lock. He was seldom here in the Jupiter Refinery- most of his work could be accomplished remotely. It was only when it came to errors or reorganization that his personal Entitled Seal was needed in person. When he was here, it always seemed that one thing after another went wrong.
"Oh?"
The rat splice bent back went lower, and his beady, ugly little eyes swiveled back and forth. Balem severely disliked mammal splices. They were not sleek... They often had so little deformities and looked too closely like a human. They were so ugly because of it and their forms were a disgrace. He had long advocated for the further changes to the splice form. Laws were too lenient. Too much similarity and it would bring moral confusion to the masses. Unfortunately, his position as a Primary limited his position in Law. Kalique, as the official Secondary of Houe Abrasax, was the one to handle those affairs... Her care for beauty had made it hard to push his views. Rumors circulated, of course, that there was strife in House Abrasax when it had come to their handling of their newly structured House in the wake of... The change in House Abrasax.
It had been because of those rumors that Balem had held back strong-arming his sister when it came to the smaller things. And it was why he had not removed Mr. Night when he had inherited the Refinery... He had yet to fail House Abrasax in the five-hundred years since his purchase and was loyal to high-profit yields. He was the one exception in his personnel, a left-over... He would not expend wealth uselessly in a sign of weakness. With one expectation. And who would look to that place? No one save me, knew what it was. She trusted only me to know. Her madness had not taken that much from her.
And it only helped that Mr. Night was hidden away in this system's Refinery. Out of sight.
"Yes, My Lord, a machinery error of one of your Harvest Planets. A system failure of the Planetary Core-"
Balem sighed. It is one thing after another.
"Was it the newest acquisition? Miss Tallon has shown once again to be unworthy of my esteem. I believe it is time to let her go to market, she is young enough to be of some profit even if we diminish her mental abilities. Her functional work, of course, will stay ours. Sell the rest."
He had taken a gamble with the owl-splice. Kalique so often claimed that her owl-splice was so intelligent and useful. Balem's own preference for cold-blooded splices and her for avian had long been a jest between them. With Miss Tallon, he had deferred to his sister's like. So far, it seemed that his sister's preference meant little when it came to the more serious side to House Abrasax. He would taunt her with such.
"No, my Lord, it is on one of your older Holdings. Miss Tallon had no hand in this."
Balem felt… Felt his stomach drop. His oldest Holdings- his oldest holdings- Most of his oldest Holdings had been upgraded with Miss Tallon's work because of the promised profits, and because it was giving them an added edge. Except for a handful.
And that one.
"Which planet, Mr. Night?" He struggled for calm. He struggled not to stress his raspy voice.
Mr. Night brought out the report sheeve, brows furrowed, his hand coming to his hip to hold it up.
"Ah. Earth, I believe, My Lord. The third planet of this system."
Balem froze.
Balem a swell of emotion. A mixture of sheer anger and grief.
"What occurred?" he asked, carefully. He noticed his hands were shaking on his desk.
He carefully maneuvered them to his lap. Do not show weakness, Balem. An echo of memory... Her voice, so perfect and calm, telling him of the order of the universe.
"A system malfunction that caused a complete system reset. It is being handled, but I thought it prudent to inform My Lord of what occurred. A solar flare has been cited as the cause of the shut-down and the reset of the antiquated system, My Lord. It is the oldest that is still functioning. I believe it would be prudent to replace it completely. Miss Tallon has stated that she would be ready at your command to implement the new system."
Balem remembered the rage. Balem remembered how it had consumed him when he had toured his inherited Holdings.
He remembered watching his Splices tear apart the wretched system to erase any evidence of what the Earth truly was. And then his steps to destroy anyone who knew. The thought of anything going into that space again- Seeing the shells of her madness...
"Is the system still functioning?"
"Ah… Yes, My Lord, I believe so-"
"Then do not waste my time or my finances."
"Would you like to personally review the report of the incident? It details all connected activity within the Core-"
Balem suppressed a shudder.
"You have wasted enough of my time, Mr. Night. GO!" he exploded, and he did not wince even if his throat burned with the strain. It is my penance, after all.
Mr. Night scurried away like the rat that he was.
And Balem returned his gaze back to the agricultural yields. Even if he spent too many hours simply staring, unseeing.
...
;)