Reunification (25 page)

“
You don't need to know
that,” said Kiriah, waving off my question as if it was irrelevant.
“Just know that we are finally going to be moving ahead with the
gene splicing program, now that we know that it works.”

That sounded mightily ominous to I, but I
decided to worry about it later. For now, I had to focus on other,
more urgent things, though I made a mental note to ask Resita what
'gene splicing' was later, assuming I ever saw him again, of
course.

“
Is everyone at the
Foundation dead?” I asked. “All of them?”

“
According to the
reports I've read, most of the Foundation members at their
headquarters at the time were killed by the Lizard-men,” said
Kiriah. “Some, like you and Resita, managed to escape, but they'll
be easy to find because Xacron-Ah has given orders to the J series
robots to search for and arrest them like the criminals they
are.”

“
What about the agents
who were not in there during the attack?” I demanded. “Are they,
too, on the run?”

“
Probably,” said Kiriah,
“but I don't know for sure because we don't have any way of
tracking them. Anyway, I'm not going to blab to you about all of
our secrets, because you're still not a loyal member of
Reunification like I am. Just know that it won't be long now before
the Foundation ceases to be a threat to us or anyone else ever
again.”

She said those words with such cold
contentment that I had to shiver. This woman who spoke so coldly
and yet happily about the deaths of her enemies could not be my
sister. The Kiriah I knew would never have been this happy or this
cold about such evil. As a child, she would burst into tears every
time she even accidentally stepped on an insect. To talk the way
she did about these other living beings made me certain that I was
in some strange dream where nothing made sense.

Nay, not a dream; but a nightmare.

Yet the pain in my legs hurt so badly that
I could not honestly believe this was a dream. This was indeed
real, every moment of it, from the color of Kiriah's blonde hair to
my broken legs. 'Twas a heartbreaking realization, for certain.

“
What next?” I asked. I
did not hide the pain in my voice, for I wished for her to know the
true extent of my pain. “Are ye going to kill me? I heard your two
servants, Arn and Lauz I believe they were called, heavily implying
they would like to do that to Resita and I.”

“
Arn and Lauz are just a
couple of idiots,” said Kiriah. “They know better than to kill my
brother, and I had already given them orders to bring any surviving
Foundation agents like Resita back to us anyway. I imagine they
only implied that because they are brutes who want nothing more
than to beat and kill their enemies.”

“
What charming fellows
ye employ under your service, sister,” I said, rolling mine eyes.
“Indeed, I know of no other individuals more moral than your
employees.”

Kiriah did not respond to that. She folded
her arms behind her back and still did not look at me. Her eyes
seemed to be on the crane outside, which was now turning, as if
someone were operating it (though knowing Xeeonite technology, it
was likely a robot controlling itself). I also heard what might
have been a large drill burrowing through the earth somewhere,
though the sound was muffled and difficult to detect over the
sounds of people shouting outside.

“
I see ye are ignoring
me,” I said. “Very well. Are ye going to tell me where we are, at
the very least? Or are ye going to tell me nothing?”

“
We're in the Dead
Lands,” said Kiriah. She gestured at the crane outside. “It's a
secret dig site, far enough away from the Xeeonite city states that
it is extremely unlikely that anyone will accidentally stumble upon
us. We have a bunch of digging and construction equipment designed
to dig out the area and help us find what we are looking
for.”

“
May I ask what ye are
looking for?” I asked. “Or is that a secret ye aren't allowed to
share with me also?”

“
You don't need to know
that,” said Kiriah. “But I can tell you that it is an integral part
of the ultimate goal of Reunification. Can you guess what that
is?”

I shook my head. “Nay. You speak
cryptically and have revealed nothing to me save that your
organization is far too mysterious and strange for me to
trust.”

“
Fine,” said Kiriah. She
turned around to face me again, though she was not smiling anymore.
“The goal of Reunification is to unite Xeeo and Dela as one world
again. That is what we have been working toward for years … and we
are getting very close to achieving that goal, I must
say.”

“
Ridiculous.” I shook my
head. “Xeeo and Dela have never been one world. 'Tis a silly thing
to say.”

“
Actually, at one point,
they were,” said Kiriah. “Our two worlds were indeed one world in
the past. It was a long time ago, well before the peoples of both
worlds began to keep historical records, but our Founder has
confirmed it. The two worlds were once one … and soon, they will be
one again, as they were meant to be.”

“
Where is your proof
that Xeeo and Dela were once one?” I asked. “'Tis a hard to believe
claim to make without any solid proof.”

“
The proof is all around
us,” said Kiriah. She gestured at the air. “The skyras energy that
permeates both worlds is proof enough that our worlds were
connected; after all, how is it that both worlds have an almost
equal amount of skyras in them? Why are conditions for life similar
enough on both worlds that travelers from Xeeo can go to Dela
without dying and vice versa? It's because the two worlds were once
one, that's why.”

“
Then how did they
split?” I asked. “Explain that, sister. For surely, there must be
some reason for the split, yes?”

“
There is, but you don't
need to know that,” said Kiriah. “That's the kind of information
we're not supposed to share with anyone. Not that it would do you
any good to know it; after all, you are currently not in any
situation to do anything about it.”

“
How will ye reunite
Dela and Xeeo?” I said. “That seems a truly impossible task, one
fit only for the Old Gods.”

“
We have people working
on both Dela and Xeeo to bring about this change,” said Kiriah.
“You think Reunification is limited solely to Xeeo? Of course not.
Our Delanian members are currently working to find what we are
looking for even as we speak.”

“
I suspected as much,” I
said. “Where are these Delanian people ye speak of?”

“
They're in the
Winterlands, searching for Dela's version of what we are looking
for here on Xeeo,” said Kiriah. She then scowled. “At least they
would be, if our operations there weren't currently being disrupted
by a J bot that has been tracking down one of our agents. Kalcan
says they have it under control, but I really am not happy about
what is going on there at all.”

I, on the other hand, was quite happy to
hear that someone else was working against these villains. I did
not know who this robot was, but I hoped to meet him someday. I
still did not like machines very much, but if he was working to
stop these people, then I decided I could make an exception for his
sake.

“
But that's irrelevant
and temporary,” said Kiriah. “Once that situation is under control,
we can begin the process of bringing Dela and Xeeo back together.
Then Reunification's mission will finally be complete, just as the
Founder has been working toward for countless years.”

“
That does not sound
very good to I,” I said. “What if the reunification of our worlds
causes much death and destruction? If the two worlds have been
separated for so long, then I doubt their reunification will be
easy or kind on the inhabitants of either world.”

“
It is a necessary
step,” said Kiriah. She put a hand over her heart. “The separation
of Dela and Xeeo was an unnatural event, one that has done more to
harm both worlds than anything else in history. There may be some
pain and chaos in the initial reunification, but it won't matter in
the long run, because the Founder will make sure that peace and
order are restored.”

“
And how can this
Founder fellow ensure that?” I demanded. “What if the reunification
kills everyone? Have ye considered that?”

“
It won't,” said Kiriah.
“The Founder said the reunification will be better for everyone on
both worlds. A few people might die, but not everyone. There will
be enough people leftover from both worlds to allow us to rebuild a
better society, a society where we can all live in peace as
one.”

“
It sounds to me like
your Founder has his head in the clouds,” I remarked. “In any case,
I cannot support this endeavour, even if ye do, sister. I fear the
possible consequences of this decision, for merging two separate
worlds sounds to me like a deadly thing even if Dela and Xeeo can
be merged at all.”

“
You don't need to
support it,” said Kiriah. “All you need to do is stand out of the
way while we put the final phases of the plan into
action.”

“
Is that why ye broke my
legs?” I said, gesturing at my legs 'neath mine blanket. “So I
would not get in your way?”

“
I am sorry, brother,
but it was necessary in order to ensure you wouldn't try to
escape,” said Kiriah. “But we can heal you, if you would like. If
you would agree to work for Reunification, then we could have our
doctors fix your legs, even make them better than they originally
were. You can then serve alongside me to build a better society
after the reunification of Xeeo and Dela is complete.”

'Twas a tempting offer, to be sure. I knew
not how long my legs had been broken, but I doubted it would do
them any good to remain broken for much longer. It would be better
to have Kiriah's doctors fix them up so I would not suffer any long
term pain or injuries from these broken legs of mine.

On the other hand, I did not want to serve
Reunification, for I still had doubts about their trustworthiness.
There was too much I did not know, which did not even factor the
fact that they had already tried to kill me twice.

Yet if I rejected the offer, I would
certainly die or at least be crippled for life. Not to mention I
would also likely be separated from my sister again, my sister who
I had spent so many years searching for with great urgency.

But I wondered if that was truly a loss,
for Kiriah had already shown herself to be completely different
from the sister I had grown up with and loved. Allying with her
would only reinforce her own changed behavior, and I did not wish
to make Kiriah think that her own behavior was good, right, or
noble.

But the pain … oh, how the pain in mine
legs burned. If Kiriah's doctors could indeed remove the pain in my
legs, then it might be worth it, throwing in my lot with them.

I prayed to the Old Gods for guidance and
wisdom. I asked them to show me what to do, to let me know what the
wisest course of action to take was. And I asked them to hurry,
because I did not have much time in which to make this important
decision.

“
Come on, Rii,” said
Kiriah, tapping her foot impatiently against the tiled floor. “Will
you or won't you stand with us? That is all that I need to
know.”

“
What will happen if I
refuse?” I asked, mostly in an effort to get more time, because I
already had an idea of what they would do to me if I said
no.

“
We will kill you,” said
Kiriah. Then she frowned. “No, wait. Not kill you. Just throw you
in the dungeons of this facility, where you won't be able to
communicate with anyone outside of the base. Of course, this all
depends on what the Elders say. They might just want you dead,
seeing as you know more about us than any non-Reunification member
has any right to.”

“
I face death, then,” I
said, “or imprisonment. Not much of a choice, is it?”

“
That's just the way
Reunification works,” said Kiriah. “If we didn't adopt such
stringent measures against people who rejected our offers, then we
would not have gotten nearly as far as we have.”

“
It is a barbaric
thing,” I responded. “I believe that any organization like yours
that operates in the shadows is not to be trusted.”

“
Is that a rejection,
then?” said Kiriah. She folded her arms over her chest. “Are you
saying you don't want to join?”

My legs burned so horribly that I could
barely think for a moment. 'Twas enough of a sign from the Old Gods
to confirm my decision for me, as much as I wished I did not have
to make it.

“
No,” I said, shaking my
head. “I am merely saying that I do not agree with Reunification's
methods. As for the offer … I accept it.”

Kiriah clapped her hands together in
excitement. She looked so happy about my decision, just like how
she had looked when she was a young girl. It almost made me think
that perhaps things were not going to be so bad now, as Kiriah
would no doubt have her doctors repair my legs right away.

Nonetheless, I could not join in Kiriah's
happiness, because I still had one question that I needed
answering.

“
This is great,” said
Kiriah. “I am so happy that you've decided to work with us. Because
despite everything that's happened, brother, I still would rather
have you on my side than against me.”