Disclaimer: I own nothing except my three OCs, whose backgrounds are heavily influenced by Sylvia Engdahl's novel Enchantress from the Stars.
Chapter 3
Matxin and Zera's simultaneous screams of "What!" scared birds off nearby roofs. As half the market turned to look at them, Syeira pulled her two flabbergasted subordinates in close and hissed, "Was that really necessary?" Zera was still stunned from learning her friend Seth was Augusta Vradica, so it was Matxin who said, "Yes, I think it was! You expect us to keep quiet after learning that the Empress is a thirteen-year-old named Seth? His telepathy broke Zera out of her stupor, and the force of her thoughts made both Syeira and Matxin wince. What the hell are you talking about? How could Seth be the Empress? She sells tea!
Syeira sighed. "Come with me back to the inn and I'll tell you the complete story there, since apparently neither of you thought to research this assignment." Both Zera and Matxin nodded, too curious to protest. On the way back, Syeira hummed happily, irritating the others to no end.
Upon reaching the inn the three agents gathered in their leader's room. Syeira, still humming, took a seat on her bed. Matxin lounged in the room's single chair, and Zera settled cross-legged on the floor. Syeira took a deep breath, and began to explain.
"Upon receiving this mission I went to Records to research this planet, something I would have expected you two to do as well." Zera made a small noise of protest, but held her tongue. Matxin didn't bother. "But the Records are so dull. With a research obsessed genius like you around, why would we need to visit?"
"One does not need to be a genius to do some research in the Records, so you would have no trouble, Matxin. Now if I may continue?"
"Of course. Please excuse my interruption."
"Well, I found the report from the Agent who was here prior to the Armageddon. He described the creation of four test tube children in great detail. Their creation was codenamed Project Eve as Eve was the biblical mother of the human race. The first test tube human was a woman named Lilith, named after the Assyrian demon incorporated into the Bible as Adam's first wife. After Lilith came Cain, Abel, and Seth in that order. They are named after the children of Adam and Eve. When the Red Mars Project was launched, these four were aboard the ship now called the Vampire Moon. They were the ones who discovered the nanomachines and the bacilli aboard the agent's ship. They experimented with both, injecting humans with them. Humans injected with any of the four types of nanomachines died. Those injected with the bacilli lived to become Methuselah, or vampires, whichever term you prefer. The test tube children, on the other hand, lived though the nanomachine injections. Conveniently, there were four test tube humans and four types of nanomachines. Cain received type 01, Abel type 02, Seth type 03, and Lilith type 04. I'll not go over how the Armageddon began, as you should know that from your mission file. What you may not know is how it ended.
"Lilith met with Cain for supposed peace talks, and was murdered. Horrified by their brother's actions, Abel and Seth either killed or attempted to kill Cain. It is not known exactly what happened to him, so as you should have read in your mission file finding him is part of our job here. With the leaders of both sides dead or divided, the war came to an end."
"Now do you understand why I did what I did earlier?"
"I think so," mused Zera. "Seth had the right name and appearance, and the name of her squirrel was too much to be a coincidence, so you tested her reaction to the name Lilith in order to confirm her identity as Crusnik 03, Empress Augusta Vradica. "
"Correct Zera." Syeira smiled. "Once again you have my compliments."
"This is all lovely," said Matxin, "but what do we do now?"
"We don't have to kill her, do we?" Zera was alarmed at the thought of eliminating her friend. While Syeira replied that no, her decision not to kill the empress hadn't changed, Matxin sent Zera a wave of comfort. Thank you, she sent back. Syeira cleared her throat loudly. "If you two are done, I will outline my plan for dealing with this situation." Both of them blushed and stammered, "Yes sir."
"In that case, do either of you know exactly what modifications were made to the nanomachines we were injected with before we came here?" Matxin answered, "Our dependency, or lust for the bacilli has been lowered, our powers, both normal and in Crusnik form have been augmented, and our healing rates will be spectacular?" Zera listened intently. Because she'd been angry with Syeira when the injections took place, she hadn't caught all of the details. "Yes, but that's not all," Syeira said to Matxin. "In my captain's control panel there is a locator device. The nanomachines within all of us can be picked up by it, so when or if we are separated, I can find you. What I suggest is that we return to the ship and retrieve two more locators as well as three communicators and samples of the modified nanomachines. Given a day in the ship's lab, I should be able to make the modified nanomachines compatible with the original types 01, 02, and 03.
"Then we find some way to give the locator nanos to Seth, through a drink, perhaps. Now able to track her, Zera can stay here alone and keep an eye on the Empress, using the communicator to contact Matxin or myself if something goes wrong. Meanwhile, the two of us will travel to the Vatican. As it's the second largest and most powerful organization, we are likely to find a Crusnik there. I suggest that I become a member of the clergy to access their information network, since Matxin would stand out because of his coloring." The copper skinned redhead simply nodded at this, and asked, "So if Zera is here in the Empire watching Seth, and you're a nun, what's left for me to do? And since when do you need an escort?"
"The colors of your hair and skin are similar to Lilith's. If there is a Crusnik at the Vatican, I was hoping you could help me draw them out. If that doesn't work, or we deem the Crusnik harmless, you can return here to assist Zera."
"Sounds like a good plan to me," said the aforementioned trainee. "When will we leave?"
"Just before dawn. It will still be dark out, and the citizens of the Empire will have gone to sleep."
They changed into their Society uniforms for the flight, to avoid tearing up their precious Terran clothes. Besides, the nanofibers in the uniforms would repair themselves automatically. It took the three agents just a few hours to reach the Darklands. Syeira called their ship back down to Earth and immediately disappeared into the lab, leaving Matxin and Zera to gather locators and communicators. Luckily, both devices were small enough to fit in the palm of one's hand, and plain black in color. It would be easy to hide them. As Syeira worked in the lab, Matxin and Zera chatted over a game of cards. He learned that she was an only child from a world new to the Republic and became an agent so that she could help other worlds the same way agents had helped hers. She learned that he came from an old Republic world and everyone in his family had gone into the Society. His mother and father were retired now, and living on their home world Igai. When Zera asked Matxin if he had any siblings, his mood suddenly became dark. Sensing this was a tender subject, but incredibly curious, Zera sent Did I say something wrong?
No. I had an older brother, Evrek, but he was killed working on a Youngling world. I was his trainee at the time.
Oh, Matxin, I'm so sorry.
Don't be. He died doing work he loved. I've accepted that and moved on…it's her who hasn't…
Her?
Suddenly, Matxin was back to his usual, cheerful self. "Never mind that. Now, are you going to play the card in your hand or have I won again?"
"I refuse to accept defeat!"
When Syeira emerged from the lab a few hours later, she found her two comrades laughing wildly over some joke, cards scattered all around them.
AN: This is an edited version of the former chapter four. Please tell me what you think of it!