Troger tried to smile, but his face hurt too much. "Yeah, they are. I took a blast to the face from a blaster rifle. A damn teammate had the energy setting up too high."
"So, a prince, huh?" Troger asked.
Xairin rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I am."
"Dude, why didn't you tell me, bro? All that time hanging out and practicing, and here I was hanging with Lilith's great-grandson. Dude, I don't know whether to bow or hug you or what?"
"Hugs are fine, and please… Don't bow."
"Is that why you were pushing yourself so hard? Prove yourself because you're like royal blood and shit?" Troger asked curiously while coughing a little.
Xairin shrugged and smirked at the same time. "You got me."
"Prince Thunder?" A woman's voice called out.
Xairin noticed a woman with shoulder-length brown hair by a door off to the side calling his name. He could tell the woman in the white uniform was an Aeonian and turned to Troger. "I'm up. See you around?"
"I hope so," Troger said.
Xairin turned around and did a double thumbs up. "Grats on the team, Trog, see you soon, buddy!"
Xairin turned around and walked inside a small room with a chair that had a built-in metal armrest.
Alice Grimm was preparing her tubes. She turned around with an injection gun, and reversed the flow, to draw, instead of injecting. Seeing the device instantly triggered Xairin's recollection of Yamug's instrument, he used to draw his brother's blood. Xairin could see three collection tubes along the barrel.
"That's new?"
Alice smiled. "Don't worry Prince Thunder, it won't hurt."
Xairin raised his right eyebrow while lowering his left. "I am a nurse practitioner, too, ya know?"
"I know, I have seen your file." She said.
"Now, just extend your arm, I promise, it will be painless."
Xairin extended his arm and watched as the tip of the injection gun had a laser that scanned for the right vein, once it found it, the laser turned to blue, numbing the area. "That's neat," Xairin said, right as she stuck him. He watched the three vials fill up and it was over. Usually, there would be the need for using a laser to heal the area or stop the bleeding, but since Xairin was a vampire, the moment the needle was out, the tiny puncture sealed on its own.
"All done. I will be with you with the results in a few days or less."
"Do you really think we can replicate the silver immunity?" Xairin asked.
Alice twisted the tubes off the top of the injection gun and placed them into a metal box that cooled the samples. The top of the box lit up, showing Xairin's name. "I hope so. If what your grandfather says is true, then we damn sure better figure it out before they do."
Xairin agreed. "Has my Uncle or my mother, tried to turn anyone to see if they're immune? After all, isn't that part of the prophecy in the first place?"
Alice turned around and looked at him. "We have been discussing that and figuring out which thralls are deserving enough of such an honor to be the first to be bitten by your Mother and Uncle... Hopefully, one or both of them have the ability to pass it on by bite. We already know that Sara' produced one that is immune to silver, so I'm hopeful. Either way, we need to figure it out before the Conclave manages to replicate it. Once they do, it will be a matter of time until they exploit it and attempt to overthrow us, and all of humanity for that matter."
"This whole thing just sucks." Xairin blurted.
Alice frowned. "If we had Lilith back, it would make things so much easier, we could just go in and wipe out those bastards from existence."
Xairin looked up at her, he seemed coy. "What if they're not the ones we should be worrying about the most?"
"How do you mean?" She asked while making sure everything was secure.
"We know the Aeon Strain was made, right? What about the race that made it? What if something out there was the reason, they made it?"
"The Aeon Strain as a bioweapon is already being discussed." She said.
"What if it wasn't really a weapon though? Well, sure, in one way, it is, but what if it was a gift to help us fight something, we couldn't win against without it?" He asked.
His question gave her something to consider. "A gift? As in, they gave us a weapon to fight something else?"
Xairin shrugged. "Just throwing that out there. I mean, I get it, we need my great grand, back, but what if there is a much larger picture of perils out in space that we need to also be ready for?"
Alice smiled. "I do like the way you think, Xairin. Already thinking like a council member. You should bring that up at the next meeting."
"Yeah, maybe."
"How soon do you think it will be before you know something?" Xairin asked her.
"A day, maybe two. Arcaidus is helping speed a few things along. He's a lot more up-to-date than our previous research A.I."
_____
The study.
Xairin wasn't ready to attempt visiting Alex's grave just yet. He figured he had some time, so he decided to explore. His eye scans, and handprints, unlocked every door he came to. He was traveling down a chrome-colored hallway, that was once a tunnel dug into the stone. The cuneiform was intact, but it had all been modified. Now, chrome-colored solatex outlined the hallway, and indentions of the markings on the walls had been outlined and fitted into this new design. Nothing was lost, just upgraded as Xairin could see the nano-ants moving like a living stream across the ceiling now. They were adding rounded structures that could fit in the palm of Xairin's hand, spheres, shiny black ones, like mirrors. They were placed every ten feet, in rows clustered together.
"Huh?" Xairin said as he watched with eager curiosity. He had never really paid that much attention to the tiny robots before when street and building upgrades were being made around Bastion City. Now that the Society had their own, Xairin was going to be seeing this fairly often. Now he just wondered what exactly Arcaidus was up to? "Arcaidus?"
"Yes, Xairin?"
"What are all these ten shiny orb-looking-thingies?" Xairin asked while standing there with his hands placed sassy-like on his hips.
"One moment," Arcaidus said.
One row of the ten orbs lit up and began producing purple pixels in mid-air that formed into a handsome sandy-blond-haired man, with a white cloth-looking robe. Arcaidus spoke. "I am installing an improved version of holo-emitters throughout each hallway and each complex." Arcaidus moved around, taking full life in the form of the handsome hologram Xairin was talking to, face to face. "Once all of the upgrades are in place, I can begin writing programs for holographic guards to help defend when needed. I have also upgraded the training rooms and added a few more for private use. Simply call for me, and I will help design what you need should you feel the itch, to practice."
Xairin crossed his arms as he studied the cleanly shaven image. He reached out, with his left pointer finger and poked. Arcaidus had created a completely solid hologram. It felt like he was really poking someone in the chest. Even the cloth, felt like soft cotton. Xairin felt the shoulders. "Wow, this is really mind-blowing, in how real you appear?"
Xairin smiled. "The quality of the simulations were great, but they were confined to a chamber. You can really create holograms that take solid form anywhere now?"
Arcaidus nodded. "For the time being, I am limited to the areas with the holo-emitters, but I do have plans of developing them in all areas. Current plans are to include, holographic guards, and combat support, as well as medical support staff, as well as other ancillary needs."
"Are you going to have enough power to pull all of that off?" Xairin asked.
Arcaidus rubbed his chin, then looked at Xairin. "The nano-ants Micro-ColdFusion capabilities in the abdomens of the small droids, already produce enough energy when they produce synthetic elements to provide extra energy for storage, combine that with the improvements I have already made to our solatex exteriors and interiors, power production is already up beyond what we need currently just in the past eight h
ours. I am currently increasing battery storage throughout each complex, as well. We will have more power than we need. Also, thank you for allowing me to test this section of the hallway's holo-emitters."
"No problem," Xairin replied.
"If you need anything, feel free to ask. Given my capabilities, I am able to be present in numerous locations at once to address the needs of the Society."
"Actually, before you go, I am looking for a library to do some research of my own; there is one on this level, isn't there?" Xairin asked.
"Keep going straight, and it can be located on the second hallway to branch from this one on your right."
"Thank you," Xairin replied. Arcaidus nodded and vanished.
Xairin reached the study right thanks to the directions that Arcaidus had suggested to him. The room was ample sized, having three levels that could easily be reached by a winding staircase. Several couches and desks were provided, along with computer access, for those seeking a more modern approach.
In the room, Afreeti was levitating off the ground in an Indian style seating position. She was in her gargoyle form. Xairin had never seen a gargoyle quite like her before. She was beautiful in a reptilian way. She didn't have horns or spikes like the others he had seen. She had wings, a tail that was curled up, and claws that would give anyone pause for thought in fighting her. What truly set her apart was her coloration. She had beautiful blue shimmering oval-shaped scales that seemed to reflect different colors of light based on the angle of view. To Xairin's surprise, she had her hands held gently in front of her, cupped, facing each other. There was a flame swirling between her palms. A small fireball, giving off heat.
Xairin went about his business looking up books on the name Cthulhu. He hoped that the library would at least have some fiction from H.P Lovecraft here, though in the end, every book he found, had to do with Immortium history. He thought about asking Arcaidus but decided to do this on his own. There was no point in sounding any alarms just yet.
"Well, crap!" He said. He went through row after row. Every book wasn't what he was expecting. It was more historical literature. "Guess I will check the computer then." He mumbled.
He found a computer terminal and looked up the listing of contents found in this specific library. He huffed. "Everything here is all non-fiction and history." He said under his breath.
Afreeti slowly descended to the ground and began shifting back to her human form. She picked up a white robe off the ground and put it on. She pulled the hood back and looked over at Xairin. "Are you okay?"
Xairin looked up. "I guess I was expecting a library to have more than just, well, history?"
Afreeti smiled. "If you want something fictitious, then you may want to download something on a tablet." She looked around. "Everything in each of the libraries across the island is only going to contain our history, legends, and various other literature pertaining to us."
Xairin nodded. "Okay. I will look up something a tablet to read later."
"You like to read?" She asked.
Xairin nodded. "It is one of my passions. I used to love to dive into a good book and get lost for a few hours." He cocked his head. "By the way, that flame thing you were doing. How does that work?" He asked. He had a reason for asking, though he wasn't about to spill that yet. He saw in that vision, that fire killed the Cthulhu."
"Pyrokinesis. Most Beta, Alphas, and Grand Alphas are usually pretty good at it."
Xairin thought for a moment. It made sense to him. Reptiles needed heat, so developing the ability to produce fire, was likely an adaptation from the Aeon Strain to allow Gorgons, Gargoyles, and Naga the ability to survive in colder conditions. "Let me guess, lizards and snakes need heat to survive, right?"
Afreeti shrugged. "We do. In fact, my specific breed of Gargoyle was once thought to be fire spirits, Djinn, to be more specific."
Xairin had never heard that word before. "Djinn?"
Afreeti smiled. "Genies. The original word for a genie was a Djinn."
Xairin was more than curious now. "Please tell me you don't grant wishes?"
Afreeti smiled as she walked around him and leaned against a bookshelf. "Four thousand years ago, the psychic abilities that we possess was viewed as magic. As for the whole Djinn thing, well, people's dreams and desires were, well, simple back then. Gold was everything, people craved power, they craved wealth, love, to be desired, to regain their youth or be beautiful... Honestly, all it took was enthralling some humans and modifying them, to make them younger, stronger, more beautiful, or handsome. Enthrall someone they desired and use our blood to control them and force them to love the person that asked you to do it. We often offered such things, in exchange for, well, whatever we wanted. Often a human would do something for us, and as a code of honor, we owed them three favors in return."
Xairin smirked, "So that's where the whole three wishes thing came from then… Interesting." he looked at her." So how the heck did the wealth thing work?"
Afreeti looked at him with a serious glare. "Atomic Fusion and particle physics, or as we used to call it, a form of transmogrification."
Xairin made a funny face. "Are you saying, like the whole, lead to gold is actually a thing?"
Afreeti nodded. "Lead is easily manipulated at the subatomic level. It literally is like performing psychic surgery, only instead of it being on a living organism, it is deployed on matter itself. Those of us able to manipulate matter can literally control matter at the subatomic level. Literally take electrons, neutrons, and protons, and rearrange them to create new elements. It is honestly how the technology for creating all of the most recent synthetic elements and alloys, along the Nano-ants was developed based on our very understanding of particle physics."
Afreeti shrugged while speaking with her hands, "Particle physics, came naturally to us, and a little over four thousand years ago, what we now know as science, and in this case, particle physics, the primitive man saw it as magic. Hell, even we thought it was magic for the longest time, and the Conclave still clings to old dogmatic and superstitious beliefs."
"Okay, but how does the firework?" He asked.
"Simple, when an atom's vibrations speed up, they produce heat, when the vibrations are slowed, the matter becomes cold. You literally use telekinesis to speed up the electrons circling the atom's nucleus, and then speed up the vibrations."
"Can you teach me this power? I'm sure I can get it down pat, after all, level seven sensitives can develop it, and the level eights, they can develop full control over pyrokinesis. Since I have sensitive genes, It may come easy for me..." Xairin stated.
Afreeti tilted her head while she crossed her arms and stared at him. "You prefer Xairin, right?"
He nodded. "Xairin, um... How to put this delicately… You literally demonstrated the ability to overpower a Grand Alpha with blood lightning, so what you can do, it is tough to tell. However, I'm not exactly sure, developing additional powers this early on would be in your best interests. It can, sometimes, tempt any immortal's blood, to take control, if you're not in control. Get it?"
Xairin huffed. "Damien said something about Dark Temptations being the reason we don't encourage power development in omegas and deltas."
Xairin looked at her with not exactly a desperate look, but one that bordered on being eager. "Please, I promise, I won't ask for anything else, I just would like to learn how to develop pyrokinesis is all."
Afreeti could see how intent he was, and given who he was, she figured he would go about it without someone guiding him. She nodded. "I tell you what, being a reptile, I haven't been basking enough lately, and my vitamin D levels are a little low, so meet me in an hour on the northern part of the island, you can't miss it, it is a beautiful white beach."
"Are you serious?" He asked.
"In an hour, meet me there, before I change my mind."
_____
The beach.
Xairin put on a pair of sun-goggles and left took to the air from the balcony from his
new chamber. He flew up high in the sky and circled the island. He felt a natural pull from the south and north pole's magnetic fields, a perk of being part bat, and found the northern beach easily.
The beach was beautiful, surrounded by lush flowering vegetation, crystal clear waters, and glamorous white sand, glistening as he looked down. Xairin wasn't in his Nosferatu form, simply exposing his wings. His wings had become stronger. Flying was more natural to him now, less physically taxing on his blood.
Xairin noticed Afreeti in a two-piece red bathing suit, laying on the sand near a few logs that had marked the sand. Xairin figured the way it looked from above, Afreeti had dragged them from the forest onto the beach. Six descending flaps, and a graceful glide, he arrived beside her and retracted his wings.
The sand was so warm, that Xairin could feel the heat through his shoes. Even with the sun-goggles, the glare was uncomfortable for Xairin. "I guess being a flying lizard pays off in this heat."
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