The Urimine Effect

by Matthew Fortuna

are allowed to leave again if you wish. I hope you know, however, you will be sorely missed." The chocolate Meregal motioned for the others to leave, and filed out the door behind them.

  Yin sat in silence, confused and unsure about what this turn of events meant for her. She had a job back home she needed to return to, and Marcus would be expecting her home soon. She made herself comfortable as she waited for King Pen, her father, to arrive. He seemed nice enough, she thought, but maybe he's the kind of person to live on appearance. For whatever reason, he may just be a face instead of the person he appeared to be on the screen.

  The door clicked behind her, and she turned. King Pen stood in the doorway, two others walking on all fours behind him. Yin stared at him and waited for him to speak, his eyes glued to her own in some distant place.

  "Your name is Yin." He said at last.

  "Yes." Yin said.

  "Your mother gave you that name before she died."

  Yins thoughts swam, "I owe her a lot. My name has been my saving grace many times in my life."

  "I know. She loved you very much."

  "How do you know that?"

  King Pen looked down at her, "I read your file just now."

  Yin shook her head, "I didn't know other people were allowed to read my files."

  He shrugged, "I am the king, and you are my daughter whom I lost in the city of Mentas. I am allowed access to your city's records."

  Yin pondered on this a while, "What else does it say about me?" She asked.

  "Just enough to convince me you won't burn my house down and steal everything on the premises."

  "Okay."

  King Pen laughed, and waved for Yin to follow him out of the room.

  "We'll be taking my car back to our home. I hope you don't mind if I drive us?" He said.

  "Not at all. Why though, may I ask, do you have so many security guards if you drive yourself?"

  "I like to drive, but my friends here, Sarah and Laren, think it's best if they follow anyway."

  The male guard, who must have been Laren, turned and nodded his head, "We don't want you running into trouble, even if it's highly unlikely."

  "Well, I thank you for your support." King Pen then turned to Yin, "They both volunteer you know. As my guards. I still don't know why they do it, but they get free lodging and food. Not to mention a lot of attention from powerful Meregals in the city." He stopped and opened the door out to the front of the building, "Do you like ice-cream?"

  Yin wasn't paying attention to King Pen when he addressed her. She'd seen the twisted face of a young Meregal in one of the cells down the hall, staring into her eyes with the look of pleading fear. She turned away before she thought about it any more.

  "What did you say?" She asked.

  "I was curious to know if you like ice-cream. The humans have had a fond interest in it for some time, and I've come to enjoy it over the years." He looked at her, puzzled by her vacant expression.

  "I've never had any ice-cream for myself, my father never let me have any."

  "Your father?" King Pen asked, "Your file neglected to mention you had a father in Mentas."

  "He was a human, looking for someone to fall in love with, and there I was, a Meregal no one would ever know about, sitting in an orphanage." Yin shook her head to clear her thoughts, "But he's gone now. He left me just yesterday."

  King Pen let the door close behind him and walked around an expensive, two seater hovercraft. "Well, I'm sure we'll have time to talk about this later, I hope I've not upset you with my questions." He opened his car door and took a seat.

  Yin shook her head, and did the same. "No, your questions are fine. Where are we going?"

  "Home," He said, "If you'll have me as your new father."

  "I don't know," Yin said, "I have a job back home, and a robot. I need to resolve my life back in Mentas."

  King Pen sighed, "Yin, if there's anything I know, you'll be happy here. We can figure out a solution to your work situation, and your robot will be shipped here to Jasper by tomorrow."

  "Thank you King Pen." Yin said.

  "Would it be alright if you called me father?" King Pen asked.

  Yin smiled, "I think I can get used to that."

  King Pen started the car and pulled on to the main road leading into the heart of the city. The skyscrapers were quick to tower above the small, luxurious hover car as it sped between them, Meregals on either side of the street stopping to turn and watch the cars pass by. The car pulled into an empty space in front of a building, taller than the others, in the center of the city, and dressed with curving obsidian that curled around the various windows and doors on the outside of the building.

  "We're here." King Pen said, stepping out and motioning for a schofur.

  "Do you own all of this?" Yin asked.

  "No," King Pen answered, "This is the heart of the city where the royalty reside. We are situated on the second fifth of the building, from the top. King Leo resides just above, and the other ruling Meregals live below. Personally, I used to own the top fifth, but since King Leo has come to power, I have been placed below him until he is confident I can take his place again."

  "It sounds like you still have a lot of power here in the city though." Yin said, "How many Meregals live in the tower?"

  "Hush." King Pen hands the keys to the schofur and asks him to park his vehicle.

  "Of course." The schofur says, taking a seat behind the wheel of the car. Yin got out the other side and closed her door.

  "Yin," King Pen says, "To answer your question, there are seven elected officials in the tower, the total number of sectors within the city being five, they rule over them as follows. King Leo, while he is in power, has the final say in the governing of all five. Whereas the five others which are below myself and King Leo in status, each govern a single district from this building."

  "What do you govern?" Yin asked.

  "I over see three of the districts myself, and the other two are specifically governed between their respected representatives and King Leo himself."

  "That sounds rather complicated if you ask me." Yin countered.

  "Well," King Pen said, "Walk with me and I will explain." He motions to the door and Yin follows him through, taking in the entrance hall outlaid in gold leaf and deep marble. A help desk, like those found in a hotel, resided on the right side of the hall where a secretary sat at a computer terminal, busily typing away.

  "Through here." King Pen says. They walked into an elevator and King Pen pressed the button for the seventeenth floor.

  "Let me begin by saying thus," He began, "Jasper is an experiment in Meregal politics."

  "Why?" Yin interjects.

  "I'm getting there." King Pen says, "Jasper's structure has been designed to run as efficiently and, how shall I say, lovingly as possible." Yin only looks on in confusion. "I'll explain: we wish only for the happiness of the individual to outlive that of the city itself, but we began with the hope of finding the perfect balance between the two. One day, we hope to implement what we have learned in every Meregal city in the world."

  "Were we not a perfect people when we came to Earth?" Yin asked.

  King Pen shook his head, "I'm not sure." The elevator opened and King Pen padded out into another hallway. "My personal study is here on your right, the third door from the end, if you ever want to find me during the day, I will usually be there. As for your room, you will be situated on the next floor up, which is where we will be headed soon."

  "Why are we on this floor?" Yin asked. She stepped out of the elevator behind him.

  King Pen shrugged, "I thought it would be nice to sit down and talk with you about your life in Mentas." He tread across the carpeted floor on two legs and opened a door down the hall. "Will you join me in the dining room for some ice-cream?"

  Yin smiled and nodded her head, following closely behind.

  The dining room was a simple affair, with a single glass table and two chairs at it's center. Yin looked aroun
d in surprise when she realized there weren't any windows in the room, leaving the lighting to a single ornate chandelier hanging from the ceiling above.

  "I don't eat many other places in the tower." King Pen explains, "I like the solitude this room brings when I have heavy questions to answer. Here have a seat." He gestured to the chair closest to the entrance and took his own on the other side.

  "Why haven't you remarried?" Yin asked, sitting down in the chair.

  King Pen paused, "I've never loved someone the way I did Tren. I couldn't face the thought of betraying her, even in death." He looked away.

  "That doesn't mean you shouldn't be happy anyway."

  He shrugged, "I can find happiness wherever I want, Tren was simply too perfect. Not that I wouldn't, but I can't." He paused again, "Anyway, I'm much too busy with the city to remarry."

  "You seem a little off balance over the issue." Yin said.

  King Pen listed to the side in his chair, "Yes, and no. One is the formal excuse, the other, is something more personal. It's like saying you're going on a walk to enjoy the sunshine when you're really going to clear your head."

  "I understand."

  A door at the back of the room opened, allowing a white and brown striped Meregal through with a tray.

  "Here you are sir, and madam." He said, placing a bowl filled with a scoop of light green paste with chocolate flecks in front of each.

  "Thank you." King Pen said, dismissing the servant with a wave.

  "This is called mint chocolate chip ice-cream. Have you ever heard of it?" He asked. When Yin shook her head, he continued. "It's quite interesting, I think. The flavor comes from a combination of cow