"My lord Aquarius," I say, kneeling before the FM king.

Aquarius nods and says, "Arise, Princess Delilah. Or should I say…Crown Lily?"

I stand up and say, "Is the DNA sufficient to make the clone?"

Aquarius nods and says, "Yes, adding to the sample Taurus took. Soon we'll have a Layla clone for Cygnus."

"I was thinking perhaps Gemini could use it, if at all," I say.

Aquarius laughs and says, "'If at all', Crown Lily? I can rearrange the clone's EM wave frequency to match whoever needs it…but perhaps you are right on Gemini."

I smile.

He won't know what hits him when I kill him and take the throne of the FM-ians.

"Come, Delilah," Aquarius says, using my real name, "I'll show you the clone."

Aquarius walks to a large dome and says, "Unveil."

The dome turns into glass, revealing a young elementary school child forming in water. Pumps are attached to her body.

"And the DNA of the child brought by Crown?" I say, examining the clone of Layla.

"You are in a cloning mood," Aquarius says, "but he-"

"He, my lord?" I ask.

Aquarius nods and says, "Crown didn't tell you? Then again, FM-ians are prone to keeping major facts from their humans."

Aquarius walks to another dome and says, "Unveil."

This dome has a teenage boy, sleeping in a cage. It seems he is complete.

"Will he be suitable for an FM-ian?" I ask, "It doesn't seem as though you've assigned anyone to this particular human."

"Not yet," Aquarius says, "He is…still being formed. Don't look at him like a human looks at another; look at him like an FM-ian looks at a human."

I notice that his hair is not merely hair, but instead very, very thin wires.

"You mean…" I begin, but Aquarius says, "He is too powerful for one of the king's court to use. We will need to improvise with FM-ians like myself…in other words, the ones who haven't tried to go after Omega-Xis."

I nod and say, "Who do you suppose, then, my lord?"

"Perhaps Aries," Aquarius says, "or else Ursa. Either of them will make good use of Project MCL."

"MCL?" I say.

"Yes," Aquarius says, "my little pet name for him is 'Michael', a human name for when he goes to the human world. I'm sure you understand, Crown Lily."

Aquarius suddenly smirks and says, "Oh, yes. I remembered something. When you meet Layla, if you have a chance to kill her…don't."

My eyes widen as I say, "Excuse me, your majesty?"

"You heard me," the FM-ian of assassination says, "I want to fight Layla myself. If you do have that chance, knock her out and take her here. I'm sure you want to dispose of Omega-Xis, but you've already fought Omega-Xis. I haven't since he began as an apprenticing soldier."

I bow and say, "Of course, my lord. Your wish is my command."