Tobias was wary of this meeting. Flying to Taiwan was a hassle, and he somewhat doubted if this was worth it. He looked out onto the light show and the bustling sounds of cars and people. He thought he might stick around for a few days. Enjoy the place some before going to home base.
Trying to find the positives in his mind, he thought about how much he liked the hotel room Alma chose for the meeting. He was sitting on a soft white couch next to a crackling fireplace with a warm fire brewing and a cut-glass mosaic that the orange light of the flame danced in the reflections of. The carpet matched the same eggshell color as the couch. Tobias thought the stocked bar in the corner of the room was a nice touch as well. Though he'd help himself to it after the meeting, these things required him to keep his head sharp.
Tobias leaned back comfortably into the soft couch cushions and, raising his legs, his legs to rest on the coffee table in front of him. As he laid back, he looked forward to the closed bedroom. The door was shut, but Alma's shape was somewhat visible behind it as she got ready since it was opaque glass. Out of curiosity wondering what the bedroom looked like. This room really was for Alma to spend the night in, Tobias didn’t sleep he had stopped trying years ago.
Tobias was a well-dressed man in an expensive suit and his wrist was adorned with a gold watch. He looked like a 30-something black man of above-average height. His face was smug but rough, and if you'd look in his eyes, you'd be looking at someone who had seen it all. An arrogance oozed off of him in how he carried himself, with how he spread himself out along the couch.
The bedroom door slid open, and Alma walked out. The athletic woman wore a black dress, pearl earrings, black shoes, a scowl, and oversized gold sunglasses that covered her eyes. The Latin woman had a commanding presence despite being relatively short. Still, she had a sense of pride about how she carried herself, and her face radiated with mysterious aggression.
"Zane is on his way. It will only be a few moments before we can begin." She stood at attention while she stated this, saluting Tobias.
Tobias nodded in response, and Alma made her way over to the bar. She went behind it and kneeled, opening something up and pulling out a cigar box.
"How was the flight, Sir?" Alma asked as she was about to help herself to one.
"Productive I was reading up on the applicants you sent me. Very promising recruits, great work." Tobias said as he walked over to the front of the bar.
Alma smiled and lifted her gold sunglasses, revealing her eyes. They were abnormal eyes, she had two pupils and brown irises fused together on each eye. She held a cigar in front of her right eye Alma closed the left eye. Then a bright green jolt of energy blasted out from the right eye. Burning the cigar. She lowered her sunglasses and gave the cigar a puff.
"Why do you do that? Cover your eyes, I mean? I know what you are. You know what I am. Why hide?" Tobias interrogated. It was a slight annoyance that she did this. He knew what was under her glasses and why she was so insistent on hiding it.
Alma slowly blew out a cloud of cigar smoke. She watched it dance in the air for a few seconds, looking back at Tobias, wondering what to say to him.
"Habit. The urge to hide my eyes is a hard habit to break."
Tobias leaned a bit closer to her, his voice gaining intensity.
"Gods don't need to hide themselves, Alma. We shouldn't have to. When the world is ours, are you still going to keep them on?" Tobias questioned, keeping an eyebrow raised while staring back at Alma.
"When we take what's ours, I'll do what I want. That's the point of this, right? Doing what we want?" She snapped, puffing again, blowing out a smoke cloud away from Tobias. Though the glasses covered her face, Tobias knew her well enough to tell she was annoyed.
"Fair," Tobias said, relaxing a bit, though he disagreed. He wasn't going to force her to take it off. It wasn't worth it. Pissing her off wasn't worth it either. He wasn't going to pay any damages for this room.
The two held an uneasy quiet until two knocks boomed from the room door.
"Must be our guest," Tobias said as he stood up and walked over to open the door. Before checking, he checked the door hole. When he confirmed who it was, he opened up.
"Thank you for having me," the guest said as he walked in, his eyes scanning the room.
"Greetings, I am ready to begin the presentation now if you'd like." Zane greeted the two, bowing slightly.
Zane was an extremely tall man, almost seven feet. He loomed over Tobias with a suitcase in hand and dressed in a gray suit. His skin was a pale white, his veins visible to the human eye, his hair was a pale blond color, and his eyes were large and cyan blue.
"Yes, I have all the necessary supplies here." Zane smiled an eerily wide grin.
The smile was unsettling to Tobias, not threatening, just unnerving. What made the smile look so unnerving was Zane's eyes, they looked vacant. As if behind those eyes was something predatory and wrong.
Tobias turned to Alma and cracked a wide grin in response she cringed a little.
"Psychics? Right? Creepy fuckers." Tobias remarked, pointing his thumb over to Zane. Laughing at his own comment, his smile slowly vanished.
"What do you think you have that could possibly help our organization? Why did I take all the time to meet you here." Tobias asked.
Zane opened up the briefcase, and he handed two folders to them. Alma started to open and read hers. Tobias just sat on the counter next to him. Next, he pulled out a computer and sat it on the counter for Alma and Tobias to see.
"Word out is that your organization has been heavily invested in having its members reproduce." Zane smiled, and Tobias sneered in disgust.
"Making babies is fun the old-fashioned way, but I'm unsure someone like Alma is ready to stay sidelined for about two years after going through pregnancy. Not to mention the trials of childbirth and the physical recuperation afterward. No... this is the future, and as the rulers of the future we should have reproductive means of the future." The computer screen changed to show schematics of a cylindrical machine with a glass window.
"I call it the Genesis device. The device uses a proprietary fluid that stimulates the growth of human cells. Growing an embryo to the biological age of a fifteen-year-old within the same 9-month period to create a newborn." Zane began to get more excited with his pitch, his voice getting a little louder as he explained his device.
"Wouldn’t they still be a newborn? We'd still be spending quite some time training and educating a fully grown person with the mind of an infant." Alma criticized.
"That's why you need me."
"What do you mean?" Tobias asked, his interest peaked.
"Psychics have made regrettable decisions with our gene pool." Zane chuckled.
"Incest does tend to do that." Tobias judgmentally commented. Earning him a glare from Alma, he didn't notice.
Zane laughed at the comment and continued his sales pitch.
"Exactly, like many psychics, don't enjoy the plethora of abilities that my ancestors once did. I can't move objects with my mind or manipulate energy. However, I can implant, copy, edit and replicate skills, memories, and personality traits from almost anyone. In some circles, I'm called a Mind Breaker. Through careful study, and much trial and error. I figured out a technique that’s the reverse, Mind Making, not breaking."
"How many times has the process been successful?" Tobias's tone changed from hostile to intrigued, and Alma looked interested aswell.
Zane could see his pitch had worked well. He had them hooked now—time to drive it home. The computer screen changed again to a recording a child, not an ordinary child but one with white reptilian skin, red hair, and predatory red eyes.
"This is Declan, my first successful attempt at creating an augment. He's biologically 10, but I've supplied him with enough knowledge and temperament for him to be a competent research assistant. I've used some of my own DNA in his blueprint. This gave him a very simple but useful ability to levitate small amounts of inorganic mass." Zane said, describing his creation with pride, pausing to make sure the two took in this information.
"Declan is a Chimera, a human-animal hybrid of my own design. I have other genomes planned for production; however, lack of funding makes it hard to procure proper samples."
"How many of these can you make in a year?" Alma asked while she read the folder.
"At my current capabilities, I can create about 5 a year. I created four other human-animal hybrids after Declan. Two were commissioned by a buyer who I cannot disclose to you. They both paid extremely well. Chimeras are useful in many ways. They make excellent soldiers and workers far superior to a baseline human."
"How were you able to create these hybrids? You're the only one who knows how?" Tobias questioned, his focus still on the picture of the strange-looking boy.
"Very experimental technology, it manipulates human DNA adding features from another organism. Claws, Strength, Venom, accelerated healing, and more can be added. If you read the folder, It will explain some of our other products as well." Zane leaned onto the counter, confident that he would walk out with what he wanted from tonight.
"So, what do you want from us? Besides our money." Alma asked.
"I want you to be my partner... My organization is new, barely on its feet. With the Pantheon's backing, I can supply you with powerful children and a powerful military and labor force. If you want to take over. My creations and what I have planned will get you there. In exchange, I want a position on your leadership board and funding for more genesis devices and further endeavors… I understand if you'd need time to talk it over. Safeguarding your organization is smart, but I assure you I am a very powerful asset, and together we will take our rightful places in the hierarchy.” Zane spoke with excitement and conviction.
Alma leaned into Tobias whispering into his ear. Tobias gave a disapproving look to Zane.
“Go ahead,” he said.
“Welcome, to the Pantheon,” Alma said as she grasped Zane’s.
“I look forward to all our endeavors.” Zane smiled.
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