Director Kakuzawa frowned slightly as he read through the reports that Arakawa had given to him. "You are absolutely positive of this?"

"Yes sir, the tests have confirmed it," said Arakawa. She adjusted her glasses and began flipping through her own notes. "The first thing I did when you gave me those blood samples of both Lucy and Persephone was to compare their DNA. They have more than seven of thirteen alleles in common, but not through their mitochondria. There is no doubt that Lucy and Persephone are half sisters through the same father."

"This seems far too unlikely a coincidence to be correct," growled Kakuzawa. "Although, given the fact that they were raised in the same city, and are close to the same age it would make sense, especially given the fact that their unusual features would make them easier to locate. Inform my agents that I want their father located immediately."

"I already took that initiative, since I felt it was important to know from what source they developed diclonism." Arakawa handed the Director another file that had several photos to accompany it. "One of the sources some of your Vassals were able to tap into were the police files for cases where DNA evidence was collected. We got a hit almost immediately."

Kakuzawa did not recognize the face in the mug shot, but the name was immediately familiar. "Kimoro Asuko? The serial murder-rapist; he was their father?" Kakuzawa looked at the mug-shot again. "He does bare a resemblance to Lucy and Persephone."

Arakawa shuddered. She had read the police files that detailed the nature of his crimes and the very thought of what this man had done to all those young ladies made her skin crawl. "He left five of his victims alive. It is probably best to assume that two of them became pregnant as a result and abandoned their newborns shortly after birth."

"Yes, it is a pity that he was murdered in prison by his fellow inmates; he could have taught us much about how diclonism came about." Kakuzawa looked at another picture from the file. I was clearly a CAT scan of Asuko's head and what it showed greatly interested Kakuzawa. "His pineal gland is enlarged."

"Yes sir. Whatever environmental conditions initially caused diclonism to be reawakened in the human genome he was certainly exposed to them. It can be certain this happened after he was conceived as he seems to have the roots of diclonism, but it isn't fully developed. It would appear that what may have started as little more than an unusual form of cancer with him formed itself into a full genetic mutation with his offspring." What Arakawa was too afraid to show him were the reports from the neurologists and behavioral experts who speculated that his enlarged Pineal gland acted more like a brain tumor; causing all sorts of emotional instability as well as impaired decision making ability.

"So our two random queens were not as random as we originally thought." Kakuzawa set the files back on his desk and fixed Arakawa with a hard stare. "Now, your handlers indicated that you have something else for me; something of great importance. What is it, Arakawa?"

Arakawa steeled herself against the wrongness of what she was about to do. She knew that this was going to have dire consequences for mankind, but the fear of death at the hands of Kakuzawa had driven her to carry out his orders to the best of her abilities. She took a deep breath and pulled a small sealed vial out of her coat pocket. It appeared to be full of nothing more than a pale blue liquid, but its contents were much more complicated and much more sinister. "Your virus is extracted, and successfully synthesized." She quickly dropped the vial into Kakuzawa's awaiting hands.

Kakuzawa held the virus up to his window so that he could see the sun sparkling through the vials contents. It had only been two months since Arakawa had been appointed Chief of Research and it was clear that the gambit on the part of Kakuzawa in putting her in this position had paid off. "At long last…Pandora's Box!" Kakuzawa set the vial on his desk and fixed his gaze on Arakawa. "Is this the only sample of the virus?"

Arakawa closed her eyes and shook he head. "No, we have another twenty under production and can grow more of it at any time. It was extracted from a combination of cells from the queen's Pineal gland and the DNA from one of her eggs. As long a she is alive and does not hit menopause we can re-extract the virus at any time. We were also able to destabilize the virus's coding just enough so that it can be replicated in any biological nutrient base. You can grow it in a Petri dish as easily as you can grow it in successive generations of mosquitoes, mice, or any other life form until it reaches its intended target; a human being. It can also be transmitted along any nutrient source; blood, urine, saliva, eating infected plant or animal tissue…whatever vectors a normal illness can travel along, the diclonius virus can follow as well as long as it is in an organic based nutrient source. It won't survive in ordinary water and current studies indicate that it will most likely not be able to become airborne."

"Having had to destabilize its genetic coding to grow it artificially, will it still produce diclonism?"

Arakawa swallowed nervously. She felt dirtier than she ever had in her life, yet compelled to see this to the end. "We won't know until a person infected with it bares a child."

Kakuzawa nodded and pressed a button on his desk. Arakawa's handlers reentered his office and stood at attention. "Take Arakawa back to her quarters. She has earned some time off to relax." As the handlers flanked his Chief of Research and escorted her out of his office, Kakuzawa leaned back in his enormous chair and sat with his hands pressed together like a praying mantis. He needed a group of test subjects to find out just how viable this virus was. He stared at that little vial for almost an hour before he came to a decision on whom to test it on.

…

As soon as Arakawa was released back into her quarters she immediately stripped off her clothing and got into the shower.

It was a much larger dwelling than she had ever lived in. She would have never been able to afford an apartment of this size as a researcher for Kakuzawa's younger son. The Director had been as good as his word and had rewarded Arakawa with quite a number of luxury accommodations for her successes. An enormous flat screen plasma television hung on one wall and a large fish tank full of living corals and brightly colored marine fishes sparkled behind a wet bar that was kept stocked with a wide assortment of fine wines. In fact, the only thing Arakawa's apartment was missing was a computer with access to the research lab's network (a precautionary measure, as it had been explained to Arakawa).

But none of this mattered to Arakawa at the moment. She simply climbed into the shower and sat on the tiled floor with her arms curled about her shins, letting the water continue to spray over her long after the hot water heater was depleted. She sat that way, staring at the floor and pondering the possible consequences of what she had done.

…

The night security guards were becoming quite complacent in their jobs at the research lab. It was roughly two in the morning and the only guard on duty was bored out of his wits. He sat alone in the control room, not even bothering to look up at the security monitors that he was supposed to keep an eye on. He merely nursed a cup of coffee that had gone cold hours ago and tried to stay awake for the rest of his shift. One of the previous guards had left a newspaper behind and the current guard silently cursed him for doing the crossword puzzle in ink.

The guard yawned and stretched and shook his head in a desperate attempt to keep himself awake. If he had been watching his monitors he would have noticed the Director making his way into the cafeteria where most of the staff came for their meals. He would have also noticed the Director exiting the cafeteria with a very satisfied look on his face.

-:-:-

Lucy sat alone on the long stone stairway that led up from the ocean to Kaede House. It was nearing sunset and she enjoyed watching the ocean from these steps. She didn't know why she found comfort in being in this place; after all she had gone through the very painful experience of bearing her soul to Kohta in almost this exact spot, but she always felt at peace when she watched the sunset from these steps.

Lucy's mind was in inner turmoil over Kohta. Ever since that night when she had told Yuka of their past history he had expressed a desire to become closer to her. Yuka was for the most part ignoring Kohta's attention towards Lucy, and Lucy suspected that she had given up on Kohta entirely. It helped her and Yuka tremendously when they realized that they had no valid reason to be so jealous of one another, but that was not what was causing Lucy confusion.

A scraping sound on the steps above her alerted Lucy that someone was nearby. She looked up to see Yuka standing behind her with a very worried expression on her face. Relieved that she had another young woman he own age to talk to Lucy scooted to one edge of the step and patted the stone next to her. Yuka accepted the invitation and sat down.

"Kohta got worried when you didn't come back for dinner," said Yuka. "Mayu is getting worried about you too. She says you haven't been yourself for the past couple of weeks."

"But you weren't worried about me, were you?" asked Lucy wryly. Yuka smiled and turned away. For the past two months the gap that had separated Lucy and Yuka had been steadily closing. It hadn't been easy though. There was a great deal of jealousy and mistrust to overcome, but overcome they did, and Lucy actually found herself looking forward to the time she spent with Yuka.

"Yes, I suppose I was worried about you too," said Yuka, putting a false strain into her voice. "Seriously though, what's bothering you Lucy?"

Lucy took a deep breath and tried hard to find the best words to describe how she was feeling. "I'm afraid, Yuka," she said at last. "I'm afraid of the way Kohta and I feel about each other."

Yuka seemed to understand. "You certainly have been pushing him away the closer he tries to get to you. I just don't understand why."

"I don't understand it either," said a familiar voice behind Yuka and Lucy. They both turned to see a very worried looking Kohta making his way down the steps. He sat himself down next to Lucy and gazed at the sun sinking below the horizon over the sea. "I thought I might find you here," Kohta said after a few moments. "It always seems to be on these stone steps that we meet and our lives are changed forever."

Yuka began to rise to her feet with a sad expression on her face. "You two need some privacy. I'll meet you back at the…" Yuka was unable to stand as Lucy reached out and seized her upper arm. It was not for the first time that Yuka had been surprised by the strength that this young woman possessed.

"You don't need to leave Yuka. It might be best if you heard this as well." As Yuka sat back down Lucy turned to face Kohta. "Kohta, do you remember what I told you here, that night when I finally confessed what I had done to you? Do you remember what I said I was capable of?"

Lucy's words echoed in Kohta's mind like a dark wind. 'If I had just five years, I could make the majority of children who're born are our kind. But if the world becomes like that, you also won't be alive.' Kohta nodded in understanding. "You're afraid of what will happen if we get too close, if we were to have children."

Lucy nodded and rested her head on her knees. "Any children I bare will be like me, and they will be able to spread diclonism across the earth as fast as the most infectious disease. At times, I wonder if it had been better if I had been killed by the soldiers sent from that research lab; but it would still be terribly unfair for me to die just to ensure that the diclonius gene ends with me. I have not used my vectors to infect any humans ever since I came back to your home, but I cannot answer for any children I might bare. Any offspring I have will be as big a threat to mankind as I am, and I would only be able to control them for so long. I have no desire to leave any children as a legacy of what I am."

Kohta rested his elbows on his knees and looked at the ground. "It doesn't have to be that way, Lucy. We could adopt. I mean, if you don't want any children of your own there are other…"

"Kohta, you still don't understand," said Lucy as she rose to her feet. "This is the hardest thing I've ever had to do, the hardest decision I have ever had to make. Kohta…you and I…just weren't meant to be."

Yuka just stared at Lucy in shock. "Lucy…I…don't know what to say."

"You don't need to say anything Yuka," said Lucy. "I so desperately needed to know someone cared when I was younger, and Kohta showed me that someone did. It will be good for me to know that someone out there cares for me." Lucy began making her way down the steps. She paused after a few feet and turned to face Yuka and Kohta. "You two really do have something special together. I really do wish you the best of happiness." And with that she turned and began walking back down the steps.

She didn't get far though. Before Kohta could even open his mouth to protest Yuka raced down the stairs and placed herself between Lucy and her destination. Yuka pulled Lucy into a tight embrace and refused to let go. "Don't leave us, Lucy," said Yuka desperately. "I know that we haven't always been friends, or even really on good terms with each other, but I have come to depend on you as much as Kohta, Mayu and Nana have!"

Lucy could not help but smile at this. Certainly Mayu saw Lucy as family, but Nana still refused to believe that Lucy had truly changed. "Yuka, you and Kohta don't need me in the way. I'll just be a…"

"Don't say such things!" cried Yuka as she squeezed Lucy even tighter. "You won't be a burden, or a nuisance, or a distraction. When Nyu disappeared, I actually found myself feeling sad; I had come to like her and I missed her. If you leave, Lucy, I'll feel sad about that as well. We're your family Lucy! Kaede House is your home; you can't just walk out on all of us!"

"Ok, I'll stay Yuka," gasped Lucy. "But on one condition."

"What condition?"

"That you let go of me right now," wheezed Lucy. "I can't breathe with you squeezing me so tight, Yuka!"

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" cried Yuka as she released Lucy. Kohta made his way down the steps to join them as well.

Lucy could tell that Kohta was hurt, but the expression on his face confused her. "You know, I had been wondering myself for some time exactly how I felt about you," Kohta said slowly. "You always seemed to be so sad, so lost, and it always prompted me to try to comfort you. I always knew I loved you, but I suppose I wasn't truly in love with you though."

Lucy smiled weakly and placed one hand on Kohta's chest. "I was a substitute for Kanae. Nana, Mayu, myself; we were all there to help you overcome your guilt for telling your sister that you hated her just before I…"

Kohta nodded in understanding. She didn't need to finish her sentence. "Come on you two, Nana and Mayu will be worried about us."

-:-:-

"So you both just agreed that you couldn't be together," said Judith Anderson. "That doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I thought you two were nuts about each other?"

"I thought we were too," said Kohta. "But Lucy knew what the risks would have been if we had gotten together. It just took me a little longer to see it."

"So how soon did you know you were going to marry your cousin?" asked Jim. He raised one eyebrow. "Are you sure you're from Japan and not from Alabama or Mississippi?"

Kohta glared at him for a moment. "The customs in Japan are not the same as they are here. In Japan it is not common to marry one's cousin, but it also isn't nearly as taboo as it is here. But it was less than a month after that incident that I proposed to Yuka. We agreed to get married three months later…"

-:-:-

"Yuka, are you sure you're not going to change your mind about this?" Kohta placed the telephone back on the receiver as Yuka hurried past him carrying Nana and Mayu's dresses.

"I'm not going to change my mind Kohta. I just think that Western style weddings are so romantic; with the gowns and the cake and the reception party…"

"Yeah, well, you've managed to upset the majority of your family by not having a traditional Japanese wedding." Kohta wiggled one finger in his ear and scrunched up his face in pain. "I don't know that I'll ever be able to hear out of this ear properly, not after that screaming fit your mother just threw."

"Well it's not my mother's wedding is it? Ah Lucy! Here, I need you Nana and Mayu to try these on. We need to see if they fit and if they need to be adjusted at all."

Lucy had just entered the common room carrying what looked like several intricate white picket fences wrapped in greenery. Several of them seemed to hover in the air of their own accord. As far as Kohta could tell this was the first time she had used her vectors since she had come home. "Sure thing, Yuka," she groaned. "Just give me a minute to set these with the others."

As Lucy carried the railings to one of the spare bedrooms that they were using to store everything, Kohta could not help but feel a little sympathetic towards Lucy's plight. "She looks exhausted," he remarked.

Yuka's face drooped. Lucy had been running herself ragged trying to help Yuka get this thing planned. "She's been helping out a lot. Nana and Mayu have been pitching in too, but they can't run errands and pick up items the same way Lucy can. Weddings are time consuming to plan."

"Especially if you're planning one on the fly," said Lucy as she returned to gather the brides-maids dresses. "I have no objections to the style of wedding you chose, Yuka; but couldn't you have given yourself more time to plan it? Two months is too a short window to organize something this big." She quickly gathered the dresses and hurried off to distribute them to Nana and Mayu.

Yuka and Kohta continued to seal thank-you letters into envelopes until a shriek of delight erupted from the hallway. They both looked up to see Nana rushing down the hall in her new dress with Mayu and Lucy close in tow.

"How does this look on me Yuka?!" squealed Nana. "I've never worn something this pretty before! Do I look pretty in it Yuka, do I?!" Nana spun around in a circle so that they could see all sides of her.

Yuka smiled indulgently and patted Nana on the head. "You look very pretty in this dress, Nana."

Mayu stepped behind Nana and poked her in the back of the head. "It certainly looks a lot better with her arms reattached. They both popped off when she was reaching for her zipper."

"Hmph, you meanie!" Nana stuck her tongue out and blew a raspberry at Mayu.

Kohta couldn't help but smile at the antics of these two friends. "Hey, you two aren't going to keep fighting like this after Yuka and I move to Tokyo are you?" he asked, mock seriously.

"Of course not," said Nana with a wide smile. She quickly dropped the smile and looked rather glum. "Are you sure that you and Yuka can't stay here with us? Why do you have to move to Tokyo anyways?"

"Because that's where the robotics company who agreed to hire me is located. It's not like we're never going to see each other again." Kohta smiled reassuringly and ruffled Nana's hair between her horns. "We're still all going to be a family Nana. Tokyo is just a train ride away so we'll come and visit often."

"Or maybe I can come and live with you and Yuka?" exclaimed Nana, perking up noticeably. "I don't take up much room and I'm really useful to have around now that I know how to cook and clean!"

"It's not that Nana," said Kohta with a small sigh. "It's just that Yuka and I are going to need some…alone time, with just the two of us."

"Why do you need alone time?" asked Nana curiously.

Yuka turned rather red. "I think maybe you and I should have a little talk later tonight Nana. Don't worry," she added, noting the apprehension on Nana's face. "It's an important discussion that every mother needs to have with their daughters when they turn about your age." Yuka turned even redder and sank down into her seat. "Though I didn't expect I would have to give it this early in life."

"I think the real root of Nana's separation anxiety," said Lucy slowly, "isn't so much that you are leaving, as much as it is Nana being left here under my supervision."

Nana glowered and looked at the floor. "I don't see why Miss Lucy is going to be the one taking care of us. I'd almost rather take my chances at an orphanage."

"No you wouldn't," said Lucy sternly. "Trust me Nana, I grew up in an orphanage and the children there would demonstrate a level of cruelty towards you that you could not possibly imagine."

"Living with a bunch of cruel children my own age couldn't be any worse than living with someone who is such a grouch all the time."

"Yeah, well, getting stuck babysitting an immature brat for who knows how long is going to be no picnic for me either!"

Nana and Lucy both dropped into defensive stances and stood glaring at each other. Quickly Yuka injected herself between them. "Alright, knock it off you two. Kohta and I are moving to Tokyo , and either you two are going to learn to get along or you're going to be completely miserable. It's time to work out your differences."

Kohta quickly rushed into the kitchen and returned moments later with a spatula which he handed to Mayu. "Mayu, I'm putting Lucy in charge of Kaede House, but I'm putting you in charge of discipline. If Lucy and Nana keep fighting you have my permission to beat both of them with this."

Lucy just stared in shock at Kohta as Yuka tried to suppress a giggle but ended up giving a rather unladylike snort through her nose.

Yuka's giggling quickly turned in to sobs as she burst into tears and hugged the three girls in turn. "Oh, you three have no idea how much I'm going to miss this when we're gone!"

Lucy patted Yuka's shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry Yuka I'll take good care of them. Remind me to also thank your mother for getting me that start-up loan to reopen the Inn."

"So you really intend to reopen this place for business?" asked Kohta as he looked about the walls. "This place just seems kind of…primitive."

"That's the kind of image I'm going to give it," said Lucy. She looked around with a satisfied smile on her face. "A quaint, rustic retreat where visitors can be assured of peace, quiet, and the atmosphere of bygone days. Trust me Kohta; you aren't going to recognize this place once it is reopened." Lucy patted Mayu on the head. "And of course I'll have Mayu and Nana to help me run it."

Nana gave a small sigh. "I wish Nyu would come back, I miss her. She was very sweet all the time. Miss Lucy is just way too serious. Honestly, you never laugh and I think I've only ever seen you cry once."

Lucy decided to pretend she didn't hear that. "Don't worry about us at all Kohta. I have big plans for this place. And I promise that nothing will happen to Nana and Mayu. I'll see to it…"

-:-:-

Nine Months Later

Director Kakuzawa stood outside the windows of the maternity ward that had been built in his research center. He was glad that he had the foresight to have his own private obstetrician facility as it had proven to be immensely useful in his upcoming project. He had offered free obstetric care to his full time staff as an employee benefit, and considering that most of them knew that the facility was researching the potential difficulties of reproduction they were only too happy to accept the free care.

And the offer had paid off for Director Kakuzawa. It had been discovered four months after he had spiked a batch of lettuce in the cafeteria with the diclonius virus that at least eight of his staff were pregnant with diclonius offspring. Three of them were women who actually worked at the facility and the rest were men who had given the contents of Pandora's Box to their spouses at home. Kakuzawa had felt a perverse sense of pleasure in watching his research staff's frantic attempts to find out exactly how these eight staff members who had never been near a diclonius could be pregnant with one.

There were also a number of Kakuzawa's staff who had unexplained miscarriages, but Kakuzawa could not concern himself with their troubles. All that mattered to him was that his artificial virus had its intended effect.

Kakuzawa looked at the man slumped over in the chair next to him. He was nothing more than a simple janitor, but he held the great distinction in Kakuzawa's eyes of being the first father of an artificial diclonius. The man, one Hikaru Komakoto, rested his elbows on his knees and supported his head with his hands. His face was a mask of distress.

"I don't see how this could have happened," Hikaru sobbed. "I've never been inside a diclonius's cell; I've never been closer than twenty meters to one. How could I have been exposed to the diclonius gene?"

Kakuzawa placed a hand on Hikaru's shoulder in an apparent gesture of comfort. "There may be conditions that cause diclonism to appear randomly, or they may have found a way other than their vectors to spread their filthy, defective genes. But, Hikaru, your daughter may be able to tell us why diclonism is appearing randomly in people who have never been exposed to their vectors."

Hikaru looked at the Director in disbelief. "You're asking me to sacrifice my daughter in the name of science. How can you ask me such a thing? Why can't we have a chance of being a family?!"

Kakuzawa gently shook his head. "When you were first hired you were shown the videos of the few incidents of diclonius killing their handlers. Years before my own son was killed trying to capture an escaped diclonius he was witness to an incident where a four year old silpelit butchered her own parents and killed three police officers who came to investigate the murders. You know that these creatures are emotionally unstable, and that their parents are often their first victims. You and your wife have had two children successfully together before this unfortunate tragedy. Do you really want to risk the chance of this unstable child of yours killing your wife and children?"

Hikaru shut his eyes and shook his head violently. "No, I can't run the risk to my family. Please, just find out what can be done to prevent others from suffering this same horrible tragedy!"

Kakuzawa gripped Hikaru's shoulder. "Rest assured, Hikaru, your sacrifice will not have been in vain."

…

Director Kakuzawa joined his twelve chosen Vassals in a conference room deep underneath his research facility. These were the twelve men he had chosen to govern his world when he had reshaped it. These twelve men knew of his true plans, and their own blind greed and ambition had led them to throw their full support behind him.

As he entered the room with Chief Arakawa close behind the men rose as one and bowed. "We welcome His Majesty and are honored by his presence."

Arakawa felt sick as she watched these men return to their seats. She had been brought along to give her reports firsthand to Kakuzawa's Vassals, and she had been told point blank that if there was any doubt to her ability to keep the Director's secrets she would not leave this room alive.

As Kakuzawa took his seat one of his Vassals eyed Arakawa suspiciously. "Your Majesty is it wise to have this outsider whose motives are unknown made privy to our meetings. She may not be as trustworthy as you claim."

"Arakawa's life is in my hand," Kakuzawa declared firmly. "She is not permitted any contact with the outside world and her every action, her every word, is monitored closely. She is here to give her report in person because it is thanks to her that Pandora's Box is a success."

There was immediate murmuring around the table as the Vassals began discussing this turn of events. "Does His Majesty mean that we are finally able to produce a silpelit without having a queen infect the host directly?"

Kakuzawa grinned and nodded at Arakawa, "your report please."

Arakawa gulped and began reading through her notes. "Nine months ago I was able to artificially replicate the diclonius virus by extracting DNA for the unfertilized egg cell of a queen as well as by replicating the hormones secreted by her pineal gland. After destabilizing the genetic code of the virus just enough to grow it in an outside nutrient source and blending the hormones of her pineal gland I was able to successfully create a virus that causes diclonism and can be grown in an artificial environment.

"Shortly after the virus was replicated His Majesty secretly introduced the virus to some of his staff members and it was discovered through routine ultrasounds that a number of staff members or their wives were pregnant with diclonius offspring. The first of these offspring was born two days ago and the father willingly surrendered her to us. She was euthanized and after a thorough autopsy of the infant it was discovered that she indeed had the horns and enlarged pineal gland of a diclonius, but that she was born without a developing uterus or ovaries, indicating that this offspring bore all the trademarks of a common, infertile diclonius silpelit. As soon as the other staff members begin giving birth similar tests will determine if the results were the same."

"Thank you Arakawa, that will be all for now." Arakawa stepped back away from Kakuzawa's chair as he addressed his vassals. "Gentlemen, now that we can be assured that our artificial virus is viable and that it produces the desired effects, I believe it may be time to take the next step in our plans. It is time to open Pandora's Box!"

"With all due respect Director, I don't think that is such a good idea." Arakawa looked around the table nervously as Kakuzawa's Vassals began muttering to each other and glaring at her. "I mean, we still don't know all the full effects of this artificial virus. To really understand it we would need to monitor an entire isolated population of these artificial silpelits for a full generation to see what the full effects are."

Kakuzawa rose from his seat and backhanded Arakawa across the face, knocking her to the floor. "You are forgetting your place, Arakawa," he snarled. "Your job is to create what we tell you to create, not to lecture us on the ethics of what we are doing. Being merely human and a woman at that, what we are doing here is beyond your understanding."

Arakawa slowly rose to her feet and wiped a trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth. Kakuzawa returned to his chair and resumed his discussion with his Vassals. "Gentlemen, how are we going to open the Box to the world?"

Arakawa listened in growing horror as the Vassals began rattling off suggestions for introducing the virus to the world populace: infecting arthropod parasites such as mosquitoes, ticks, and tsetse flies in third world countries; introducing it to livestock as hormone treatments through various dummy companies created for that purpose; introducing it to plant crops in the form of organic pesticides; infecting populations of those very same crop pests and releasing them; selling it as vitamin supplements; hiding it in vaccines; releasing entire populations of oceanic plankton carrying it so that the world's fish market would soon be teaming with the virus…Arakawa felt more and more nauseous as she listened to these men rattle off plans that would change the course of human evolution.

It took almost an hour of brainstorming before all the ideas for spreading the contents of Pandora's Box were laid out on the table. No idea was rejected as any source of possible transmittal would do.

"Now gentlemen, we come to a slightly trickier part of our operation." Kakuzawa pressed his fingertips together and rested his elbows on the table. "We can extract unfertilized eggs from our queen at any time, but we still do not have the level of technology to grow a living fetus to full term in an artificial womb. We need to repopulate the earth with full reproductive kings and queens once the silpelit army cleanses the earth for us, but we need a source of surrogate wombs to do so. This means rounding up women from the existing human population and keeping them here at the facility. Any suggestions as to where we can find a ready source of young women that will not be missed?"

"It would appear that you have at least one standing right behind you, Your Majesty."

Arakawa backed into the wall and slid down it into a sitting position. Kakuzawa could not help but chuckle as her skin turned as pale as her lab coat. "Yes, Arakawa would be useful in this regard as well, and certainly pregnancy will not hinder her ability as a researcher."

"If I might make another suggestion, Your Majesty," another of his Vassals ventured, "The underground black-market trade of young women as sex slaves is a market where young women are a disposable commodity. Often their families give them up for dead and in many of our third world neighbors parents may sell their daughters just to keep their farms running. We could tap into this market and screen for only the healthiest women, and no one will ever be the wiser if the subjects disappear, never to be seen again."

"An excellent suggestion," said Kakuzawa. "I want aggressive screening done on all candidates for heath concerns. If they have any disease which could be possibly transmitted to their surrogate embryo, do not use them. Return them to the market and if their buyers will not take them back, dispose of them quietly." Kakuzawa looked around at his Vassals. "We also need a ready source of sperm that can be used to fertilize our queen's eggs. I already have your donations, but the few of us will not be able to provide enough genetic diversity to form a stable gene pool. I want you to find potential donors in each of your territories. You must pick only the smartest, strongest, and healthiest specimens to provide the future base for the diclonius population. With the advances in gene manipulation we have made here as well as aggressive screening in hereditary diseases in our embryos we can repopulate this world with near-perfect disease-free reproducers that will ensure a race of super beings that will survive in any conditions. Gentlemen, you have your assignments…see to them."

Kakuzawa remained seated as his Vassals filed out of the conference room. "Arakawa, I have a new assignment for you."

"Y-Yes sir?" Arakawa squeaked.

"We still do not know the full implications of a diclonius queen mating with a regular human. You are going to be studying the effects. I want our wombs divided into two test groups; one carrying embryos fertilized by fathers not carrying the virus, and one group carrying embryos fertilized by fathers who were previously infected by the virus. You will be handling this assignment personally. I want you to supervise the extraction of eggs from our queen as well as the distribution of the virus among the sperm samples, their fertilization, and their insertion into their surrogate wombs." Kakuzawa rose from his seat and stood over Arakawa who was still sitting on the floor shaking. "Do not fail me Arakawa. And it would be wise for you to learn your place. You are being given a great privilege in carrying the first of my new queens to term. It would be wise of you did not do anything that might place you in the same standing as the surrogate wombs that will be arriving as soon as we can procure them." And with that Kakuzawa left the conference room and left Arakawa to stew in her own overwhelming guilt.

…

Deep in the bowels of the research center, Arakawa watched as the surgeons began preparing to operate on Persephone for the latest extraction of her eggs. She stood next to the queen and shook her head as the surgeons began laying out their instruments in neat rows next to an operating table set up in her cell. "It looks like you and I are in the same position," she murmured to the queen. "We are stuck being merely servants for a madman. You and I have done things for him that no one else could do, and yet he treats us as machinery." Arakawa sighed and shook her head. "Sometimes I actually envy your half-sister. She was in your position too before she was released by an old colleague of mine." Arakawa stared off into space for a moment. "I can't help but wonder if Lucy found a way to be happy in the outside world. I wonder what she is up to out there."

As the surgeons placed a gas mask over Persephone's face to knock her out before the surgery, her mind was racing with only two thoughts. 'Half-sister…Lucy?'