Kyò banged on his bedroom door as per usual. "Thya-ku," she cried, sounding as urgent as she had on the day of the klaxons. "Important meeting with Ahfiamiďiec-xu!"
Thyathyrec jolted awake, his entire body tensing in excitement. The moment he had long awaited for most of three and a half years had finally arrived. "I'm awake!" he cried, hobbling to the lavatory and hurrying to get ready. As much as he had primped himself just for Yrakc, he went into overdrive for their còlithyizin.
"Hurry, hurry!" Kyò hustled him, fixing his uniform as Thyathyrec fumbled with straightening out his hair for the seventeenth time. "You are due as soon as possible!"
After grooming, Thyathyrec obediently got into the chair and let Kyò push him to the awaiting transport to take him to the central campus, where their meeting would take place. He felt like he was balancing on his last nerve, worrying far too much about whether he had put on enough deodorant or if his scars were too visible. Logically, those things shouldn't matter to a billionth of the degree that his job performance would, but he found himself fretting all the same.
"Welcome to Central, L.S. Òlacdhić-can," greeted one of the guards as they arrived. "The còliythizin is in his chambers."
"Thank you, Ųaithić-cy," Thyathyrec replied with a small nod as he proceeded inside with Kyò's assistance.
The last time he had paid a visit to the colony's central command, the palace—as a better descriptor didn't exist—felt massive and extravagant. The extravagance hadn't changed much in three and a half years, but he noticed minor things: the drapery had a layer of dust, some of the display tables had nicks, the carpet had significant wear. Still, what could anyone expect after so much time isolated from the rest of the world?
Thyathyrec's heart threatened to pound out of his chest. He told himself not to worry; what was the worst the còlithyizin could do to him? Unfortunately, he knew what: take away Yrakc. Sweating as they reached the còlithyizin's office, Thyathyrec quickly mopped his brow, stood, and bowed quietly to Kyò before entering.
"Ah, Young Òlacdhić-can," Ahfiamiďiec greeted, standing from his desk. "It's been a while since we last spoke."
"Good morning, Còlithyizin Ahfiamiďiec-xu." Thyathyrec bowed in deference to his elder with a practiced motion. "What is it you wished to see me about?"
Ahfiamiďiec bobbed his head in a casual sort of affirmation. "Just a long overdue check-in, mostly. How is your team holding up?"
The open-ended question... Thyathyrec cursed, not knowing what sort of response best suited the situation. "Good, all things considered. I've been informed that you have been introduced to a live alien creature that we discovered and captured from one week ago."
"Yes, I have heard through Young Paiaďyn-can of your progress. He has been providing regular reports of how much of her language you have deciphered, what tests have been run on her, and how much of her craft has been examined."
Thyathyrec balked. He hadn't expected IЪel to do THIS much of his job for him! "With all due respect, sire, why have you not come to me first for updates, as Paiaďyn-can's superior?"
Ahfiamiďiec smiled as though a grandfather giving his grandchild a talk about something outside his understanding. He turned to look out the window in what Thyathyrec supposed was a power move. "I do want you to serve your post as Lead Scientist, Young Òlacdhić-can. However, I'm quite aware of your disabilities and how they must hinder you in monitoring such a large team, even if the team is smaller than in past years. It is fine to have an intermediary for the grunt work of your position."
He stood silent for a moment, not sure what Ahfiamiďiec was suggesting. "Then what even is my purpose, if I am Lead in name only?"
"I left that up to you, for my own reasons. You could build your own hierarchy of command, and after delegation, you could work on your own projects at your leisure."
Something like what he already did, except for the assigned hierarchy. "Why didn't you tell me I could assign IЪel as Assistant Lead?" Thyathyrec felt his deference slipping away but stopped caring.
"You didn't?"
"I haven't had any guidance since being assigned the position! I don't know what authority I have, and IЪel knows that. He acts like HE'S the Lead instead of me, and even bosses ME around!"
"Do you not know how to exercise your authority?"
Thyathyrec balked. Another test, it seemed, showing how well he could do his job. "In all fairness, sire, no. Half the team respects my title, but the other half know IЪel is Acting Lead. When I contest this, IЪel only backs down if I argue him into a corner. It's demotivating for the entire team to witness such a display."
Ahfiamiďiec nodded as though having expected exactly that, crossing his arms and smiling. "Then he has remarkable initiative. He will suit the Lead Scientist position nicely once you are gone."
"Sire—" Thyathyrec stammered, feeling his heart suddenly sink into his stomach. "You know...? What do you mean by that?"
Here, Ahfiamiďiec raised his eyebrows. "You were infected by the Dhyròc boy, were you not? Your immune system will give out one of these days, and you'll die from even a light cold."
"YOU KNEW THAT, AND STILL FOISTED THIS JOB ON ME?!" Thyathyrec threw deference completely out the window. "Do you have any idea what I've been through??"
"I have been monitoring you through Aliac-cy and other sources, and you do seem to be doing better now, with the alien to study. I imagine you'll get as much out of the alien as you can before you expire, for which we will be highly grateful and enact a memorial for you. Once you have utilised your potential to its maximum, Young Paiaďyn-can can step in to take over, although he won't be quite as efficient in gaining data as you have proven to be."
He felt... Thyathyrec didn't know exactly how he felt. Was Yrakc somehow an elaborate psychological test to get him to break? For what purpose? "What is this about, really?"
"What do you mean, REALLY?" Ahfiamiďiec slowly paced about the room. "Exactly as I said: I gave you the authority to do whatever you want, and you can delegate your team to do everything you don't want, for the rest of your short—but hopefully not TOO much shorter—life. You're our ace, as it were, and I would like you to make the most of the time you have. If you want to study the alien, which you seem to do, then by all means do so. I will even inform Young Paiaďyn-can to cease obstructing your progress."
"He won't stop," Thyathyrec spat. "He wants my job too much to let me keep the title."
"No, he wants MY job."
THAT made Thyathyrec stop short. "You – know this?"
"'Lead Scientist'? What is that to an ambitious young man like Young Paiaďyn-can? He's working his way up the chain, just like I did back in the day. Let him prove his worth, then when my time is up, he can show the colony his value, and they will unanimously elect him. Maybe, unless someone like your friend Cylèythi-su attempts to win over the military to secure their vote."
Thyathyrec couldn't believe it. They were all being played with like tin soldiers! "This is how you govern? By making us fight?"
"I don't mean for you to literally fight, no, but a healthy amount of competition is good for—"
He stabbed the floor with his staff in protest. "Well, here's what IЪel clearly hasn't reported to you: Morale is WAY down. The colony has stopped having children, COMPLETELY. Everyone feels like we're just spinning our wheels until something breaks up the monotony, and even studying 'the alien' has become humdrum since we discovered the upper limit of what she can offer us. We want GUIDANCE, and you have given us NONE."
"Well, making more children is on your lot. I've had nothing to do with that—"
"The reason there haven't been any children since Thiren Òryųrian-ku is we all miss our parents and have been hanging onto the hope that they will return. We want them to be there for our commitment ceremonies, to give us advice, to BE THERE to see OUR children arrive and grow up. *You've* been so wrapped up in exercising your tyranny over us that you've lost sight of what makes us human that you cut us off from the lifeblood of our society—our families."
"I didn't mean..." For the first time in as far as Thyathyrec could remember, Ahfiamiďiec stammered, sounding more like a doddering old fool than a leader. "'Tyranny' wasn't my goal, Young Òlacdhić-can."
"It's what happened, regardless of what you meant. What was the benefit of sending ALL of our parents away? NO ONE came back from the first mission—or the second—but then YOU figured that no one would question it if the third and final mission finally rid the colony of the last threats to your leadership!"
This finally seemed to goad a reaction out of Ahfiamiďiec. "I have done no such thing! The intelligence supports our findings that the third mission should have gone off without a hitch! All your parents are alive on the other side—"
"But what good is that to us? We are drowning over here, and you sent away our lifeboats!"
The còlithyizin straightened his back, hands resting on the chair in front of him. "I suppose you don't realise you are already IN a lifeboat, as you say?"
"Oh? How so?" Thyathyrec would have radiated pure skepticism if he could have.
"While you had been twiddling your thumbs wondering what to do before the alien showed up, *I* have been redirecting key forces to ensure the adjoining precinct attempting to steal our dwindling resources is kept at bay, so your team is free to study the first known alien life to arrive on Elď. I suppose you would've known that if you had spoken with Young Cylèythi-su, but the two of you are on the outs, are you?"
Lyiyn... The soldiers had been fighting THIS hard, and no one told him about it?
And, actually... "Why ARE we at war with the adjoining province, anyway? All of us on the island are under threat of the same problems of isolation from the mainland!"
"They are raiding our facilities for resources."
"And? It seems like we have a win-win situation here if we all just cooperate! They get food and shelter, and we get extra people to maintain the facilities!"
"Might I remind you that this is a SECURE facility?" Ahfiamiďiec didn't ask him so much as scold. "We may yet restore connection with the mainland, so any actions we take now will be held against us later. Even Janaler Òryųrian-dhyi only holds her rank temporarily pending the return of the actual janaler, let alone your friend the rapdhanyndh janaler. What will happen when one of the outsiders you would admit runs off with top secret documents or materials, or sabotages the colony from the inside? We do not have clearance to accept just any old riffraff, just because we're trapped with them on the island."
Thyathyrec raised an eyebrow. "Just like the riffraff *born into* the SECURE facility?"
"Are you really telling me that you renounce your citizenship, on the basis of you didn't have a choice in the matter of being here?"
"I'm telling you that this 'war' wouldn't exist if we shared. Thieves tend to steal because otherwise they'll starve. A fed person isn't as inclined to go through the effort to take our bread."
"Are you not aware of the injuries that Thyiònyicec-cy sustained when he was simply minding his own business, working in the fields? The thieves could have easily made off with part of the harvest undetected, but they CHOSE to injure our own. Similarly, several of our outposts have been burned to the ground WITH their occupants, all of whom are laid up in sick bay in critical condition. I find it hard to believe we could simply raise a white flag and become best friends with these vigilantes."
Thyathyrec's eyes became huge. He hadn't heard about their people being hurt. At the same time, he knew there HAD to be an amiable solution, if only he had the complete facts. "How am I supposed to know without communications from the other teams?" he mumbled, feeling deflated.
"This is another way Young Paiaďyn-can has been proactive; he and the other teams are in regular communication."
No wonder IЪel had held him in such contempt! Thyathyrec would have done the same in exactly the reverse positions. No, Thyathyrec would have rubbed it in IЪel's stupid face, how much responsibility he had been neglecting. Once again, he despised the situation he found himself in.
"It doesn't change the fact that this would be a lot easier without the 3G mission," Thyathyrec complained.
"Well, there's nothing to be done about THAT except wait for them to return, is there."
The two men—young and old—stared each other down for a tense moment that felt like years. Finally, Thyathyrec turned to leave. "If there's nothing else, SIRE, I will return to doing *whatever I damn well want.*"
Ahfiamiďiec had a hint of contempt in his gaze. "When you do, Young Òlacdhić-can, please keep in mind the consequences of that."
Thyathyrec paused. "What sort of 'consequences' would those be."
"I may not be able to touch you once you die, but I can definitely exercise my so-called 'tyranny' over the ones you leave behind, should you decide to step out of line. Your ex, the lovely Ųakydha-sy? The alien? I can have them both relocated to the darkest corners I can find, regardless of what they contribute to the colony. I suppose it will be all the same to you once you're gone, but it doesn't hurt to know ahead of time... or does it?"
Thyathyrec's blood boiled. IЪel had been right—this government was completely corrupt, with no recourse. Now he had to save more than just Yrakc.
