It is only her mother's, Aleska's scream of horror, drawing the attention of her family to see the five-year-old girl surrounded by the buzzing, stinging insects, that draws Jupiter up short. Her delightful dance ends midstep, ends just as she was twirling, her skirts a tangle around her thin legs.

The scream is not something she has ever heard from her mother.

And it made her realize that this is not typical behavior. Realizes that she is in danger of discovering how strange she really is to her family. And she had not realized how much she had been relieved when Grey had begged for anonymity. And Jupiter nearly screams, eyes wide as the bees swarm, protecting her when anyone comes near, sensing her distress and panic. And she is not quite crying, but close, at the panic that is setting deep in her bones. She trembles as Grey, her mother, and Grandfather all scream at her to keep as still as possible.

A man comes forth, thundering through the corn of their neighbor.

He is not terribly tall, but rather stocky. Solid and well built. A little older, but handsome. His brown hair is shorn short and he is dressed in jeans and a dark tee. But what strikes her the most is how he moves. Quick, sure-footed but as light as anything, a with military precision that sparks at her memory, faint and nebulous in the back of her mind. A girl, a teenager by the looks of her tumbles out of the corn next to him. She is blonde and fair and her eyes grow incredibly wide at the sight of Jupiter and her family trying to drag her out of the bees, heedless of stings.

"Stop!" Calls the man, voice a soothing baritone, voice faintly accented, "You're agitating them!"

"My daughter-" her mother's voice is devastated and hysterical.

"Is not being stung. Is that not right, young one?"

Jupiter shakes her head. The colony of sisters, they follow her movements, sweetly humming in her defense. Her family falls back. Hands out, staring at her with something close to fear on his face, the man starts to walk towards them. Despite herself, Jupiter takes a fearful step back, the bees following her. Her mother, Grey, and grandfather Sergi stand behind him, the girl coughs next to them. Then she starts to inch behind the man. He gives her a surprisingly timid smile, hands still out.

"It's alright. They just like you, don't worry, come over here."

Jupiter spots his brand, on his neck, just as he comes a few feet from her. She knows what it is. Could read it precisely, a breeder's mark, a breed type and an owner's brand all in one, layered atop and seamlessly brought together in design. A designation on the skin, ultra common in the Verse. On Entitleds, any mark was beautiful and meant to shimmer with beauty. On anyone else, it was functional, without change, and always visible, lest there be confusion.

Splice.

A flash of memory. Bronze wings glittering out of the corner of Seraphi's eyes as she looked hungrily on the Earth, the last creature she had seen other than her son. He had been a Splice as well. But different... I remember. He had been wrong. Not breed right. It had been curious to Seraphi but for a second. His... His boots. They were the same as this man. Aegis. Miltary, skyjacker designation.

This... This man is Aegis, connected to the Orous government.

Oh... Oh, this is bad.