Aaron Quinn's Story

The Black Hand was escorted next to the confinement cell that contained the boy, Aaron Quinn. The room like Dayson's was bare of furnishings, and the child was relegated to sleeping on the floor - when allowed to sleep at all.

The force-field over the doorway came down as The Black Hand and a pair of confessors entered the room.

At the appearance of the confessors the boy of about ten years of age scrambled to his feet. Though the children hadn't been subjected to the same levels of brutality as Dayson had, the bruises on the boys skin and the collar around his neck made it evident that the children hadn't gone unscathed.

"I won't say it, I won't!" Aaron yelled at the confessors.

The collar immediately gave the child a painful shock, but the Black Hand raised her hand to cease any further discipline of the child.

"That won't be necessary," she said. "Leave us."

"By your command," they parroted. "May his merciful shadow fall upon you."

"Do you know who I am?" The Black Hand asked?

"No," Aaron replied behind suspicious eyes.

For a week now Aaron had seen none save for the confessors and their purple robes, but this woman wore crimson.

The Black Hand reached up and lowered her cowl. "My name is Kianna McGregor," she said. "I'm here because I wanted to meet you, and to take you back to Langara with me," she explained.

The suspicion didn't leave Aaron's eyes as he kept to the wall and away from the woman.

"Is it because of what I can do?" he asked.

Kianna smiled and shook her head. "No," she told him. She knelt down on the floor, gesturing for the boy to sit with her.

Aaron remained suspicious, wary of some trick or another from the confessors but he finally approached carefully and sat down across from her.

"Then why?" Aaron asked.

"This place, these people," Kianna explained, "they fear what they do not understand, and they do not understand you. Do you understand?" she asked.

"They're afraid of what I can do," Aaron replied.

Kianna smiled again. "Yes, but I don't believe we need to be afraid, do we?" she asked. "I want to take you back to Langara with me, to take you away from all of this. There's a place where you can learn to control what you can do, and to show others that you aren't something to be feared. You are a very special child."

"I won't have to stay here anymore?" Aaron asked.

Kianna shook her head. "You will live on Langara, with others like you." She stood up and offered the boy a hand up. "I think you will like it there."

The gentle demeanor of the woman was a stark contrast to the treatment the boy had received at the hands of the confessors and after a moment of hesitation he let her help him up.

"Then it's settled. I'll have you transferred to Langara today. But first I have some other matters to take care of." She raised her cowl once more.

Aaron moved after her with a start, not wanting to be left alone in the cell once again. "Wait!" he called, but the force field had already closed behind her and his words were cut off.

Kianna was lounging languidly atop Mollem's throne within the Imperial Palace as she awaited the arrival of the Divine Shadow. Beside her stood a boy who couldn't have been more than ten years of age with sandy blonde hair and a look of apprehension about his apparent audience with the Divine Shadow. Kianna had requested this audience personally but had been vague on the details.

Nearby was a man kneeling between a pair of imperial guards with a black sack shoved over his head so that he couldn't see where he was. Both shoeless and shirtless, the man's bared chest revealed the telltale signs of the abuse he had suffered at the hands of his Aschen captors. Most of his upper torso was a mottling of blue and purple bruises and abrasions.

"What did he do?" Aaron asked Kianna uncomfortably.

He liked Kianna well enough, and she had built a growing sense of trust between them, but part of him still wished to return home back to Isiria. Kianna had told him there was nothing to return to, nothing for him there, but it was still home all the same. Everything in this place was alien and different.

"He was caught supplying weapons to insurgent groups in Isiria," Kianna explained. "They were terrorists that fired on unarmed civilians simply for their loyalty to the Aschen Empire. Thirteen people died - two of them were just children."

She stood up and gestured for Aaron to join her and with one hand on his back to guide him, she led him to the kneeling man.

Crouching down she pulled the sack from the man's head who was gagged and his face adorned with bruises and abrasions from the treatment he had endured before Kianna had him brought here to Langara.

"Sometimes Aaron," Kianna explained. "We need to do unpleasant things to protect the people of this Empire. If we didn't, if we allowed anarchy to spread then more would die. Do you understand?"

She smiled lightly when Aaron nodded his head slightly in acknowledgement.

"It gets easier. Now come, the Divine Shadow will be arriving soon."

She stood once more and again gestured for Aaron to join her in standing and waiting for Mollem's arrival.

"When can I see my parents?" Aaron asked.

Kianna looked to Aaron with a mask of sympathy before she shook her head.

"We sent word to your parents over a week ago," Kianna lied fluidly. She let her words linger a moment in hesitation before she continued. "It would seem that it was your parents who turned you over to the confessors. They were afraid of what you can do."

She had left enough hints in the past as to sow doubts in the child's mind, but only now confirming his building suspicions. The ease at which Kianna's lies came to her betrayed no hint of the truth - that Kianna had Aaron's parents both executed to ensure they would not come looking for the child.

She smiled then, comfortingly. "But that's why we're here. You're going to show everyone that you don't need to be feared. That you can do great things for the people of the Aschen Empire," she told him. "There's nothing for you on Arastel anymore, but here you can have anything you want. I have a son of my own you know. His name is Darius. You could even be a brother to him if you wanted."

The door finally opened to reveal the Divine Shadow, slowly and surely he stepped towards Kianna and the young boy.

He said nothing, simply waited.

The boy bowed stiffly, seemingly uncertain how to react to the Divine Shadow. "Mr. Divine Shadow, Sir," he said awkwardly. Having only been a recent arrival to Langara, the boy was still learning the proper protocols and gestures it would seem.

Kianna nodded for Aaron to go do his thing while she moved to stand beside the Divine Shadow.

"Do you trust me?" she asked him curiously. An odd question perhaps. "No matter what I might say or do," she emphasized. "Do you trust me."

Much of the Special Projects Division was founded on a principle of lies, as was much of her interactions and involvement with foreign entities. For Kianna, lies came more readily than truth, but it did leave the question of whether or not her words to Mollem were anymore truthful than the lies she spun to everyone else in the known galaxy.

It was plain to see that Mollem had gone to great lengths to keep her from harm, but that didn't strictly equate to him trusting her. With his divine confessors lurking around her special projects division, and reporting her activities to Mollem, it was becoming a question of concern for the woman. She needed to know that he trusted her and not the words she spoke - no matter how intricate her web of lies might become.

Meanwhile Aaron had come to stand before the prisoner, seemingly uncomfortable with the whole matter. He was young yet though, and there was potential to mold him into something more than the awkward child he portrayed. The boy was dangerous though, and was perhaps at least part of why Kianna made the inquiry she had made to Mollem. The demonstration of Aaron's capabilities would hopefully appease Mollem as to the progress of the Special Projects Division, and settle the matter of funding - at least for the six months that she had requested. By then she would have enough results to keep even the Quorum placated.

The Divine Shadow, Mollem McGregor leaned back only slightly in his seat, allowing his hand to come to his chin in thought. "You haven't given me reason not to trust you." He said eying the boy suspiciously.

"I've read the files the Confessor Cabal compiled on this boy, he's capable yet unstable. I am going to great lengths to keep this particular project from cancellation. So I hope you can provide results." Mollem added, while he watched the boy approach the prisoner.

"If I didn't trust you Kianna, we wouldn't be having this conversation, nor would I entrust you with the direction of this Empire or my life for that matter, there are many among the Confessor Cabal that are both loyal and capable, and yet here you stand, as per our original agreement. The Answer is clear."

"Our agreement?" she asked with amusement. "I should hope it's more than that," she chided lightly.

When Aaron glanced back towards her and the Divine Shadow she gave the child a nod of encouragement.

Aaron turned back to the prisoner once more and when their eyes met his pupils dilated until the irises of his eyes had gone black, and the prisoner's own pupils responded in the same manner.

'You were beaten by the rebels when they uncovered you were a double agent, but you're safe now. You were assigned to find the suppliers that were arming the rebel groups.'

False memories followed the psychic suggestion of Mollem giving the man his assignment personally.

A moment later the prisoners eye color returned and he was blinking in confusion. The resilient defiance was gone as he prostrated himself. "I worship his Shadow," he murmured. "I have done as you asked."

Kianna paid little mind to the prisoner spewing information into the rebel groups as she simply signaled for the man's captors to see to the matter, and to take the Isirian captive with them. Her personal presence was hardly required to go arrest a handful of weapons dealers.

"His skills are unrefined yet, but there appears to be little risk of permanent brain damage. It is far less intrusive than other methods of mind trawling, and far more subtle. When done careful, there is little trace left behind."

The Aschen's capability to reprogram a brain were useful on prisoners, but there were times when a more subtle touch were useful - times when you didn't want the victim knowing what they were being subjected to, or when you didn't want to run the risk of turning the victim into a vegetable.

Mollem nodded, visibly impressed by the man's sudden shift in behavior.

"Impressive, but how do we control this? How do we keep this from being used against us?" He asked, bringing his curious gaze over to Kianna.

"Are these abilities psionic? Can they be stopped by the standard run of the mill psionic inhibitor? I am not going to authorize a project that I don't know will work, or could spell catastrophe if it fails."

"I want him to stay here," Kianna explained.

She kept her voice low, and though it was clear to Aaron that they were discussing him - her exact words were uncertain.

"If he comes to view us as family, he will not betray us," Kianna promised. "But if you have doubts, the boy has shown no capacity to overcome the psionic inhibitors."

Mollem growled.

"I'll be taking a leap of faith with this boy. This is a risk you're taking, a risk that could threaten this entire Empire."

Mollem's face darkened.

"I will trust you, but if this backfires, you'll leave me no choice but to have the boy terminated."

"I won't be any trouble, Sir," Aaron spoke up. Mollem had the boy on edge, but he showed nerve in speaking up. "I'm not dangerous," he added. "I know everyone says I am, but I'm not. Kianna says I can help find rebels for you and stop the fighting. I want to help."

"You see?" Kianna asked Mollem.

Children were adaptable, and impressionable. It was her belief that this one could be taught the same values instilled in Aschen children. He was older than was strictly ideal, but his willingness to aid the Empire was promising for the boys future - and his continued existence.

And should she be mistaken... she would terminate the child herself.

"Get to know him," she told Mollem before she moved off to leave him to whatever matters he needed to tend to today - and apparently the matter of Aaron as well who seemed less than comfortable at being left with the Divine Shadow.

Mollem made a face as Kianna turned to leave, throwing the hood over his head and sliding a silver band around his head. This silver band was a psionic inhibitor, not to keep the Boy from exerting his psionic powers, but to keep him out of Mollem's head.

The band sat snugly on Mollem's head as the man looked at the boy. "You remind me of my son." He said, thumbing his chin some. "Perhaps... there is some promise in you." He said, looking to his Confessors, which were standing in corners of the room.

He sank deeper into his chair as he contemplated the boy's abilities. False memories, psionic mind control abilities. A wide grin played on the man's face.

"Perhaps your abilities may play another role, imparting skills on individuals rather than training them, knowledge of foreign languages." The ideas began to flit through the Emperor's head.

"Boundless rewards await those who serve this Empire without question."

Aaron happened upon the gathering in the throne room quite by accident. With free run of the palace, and most of the people that lived in the palace paying him no mind, he often wandered too and fro when restless for something to do. The normally vacant throne room was filled with people today and he hesitated.

It looked like important business of some nature or another and he froze awkwardly.

He intended to simply slip away quietly so as to not disturb whatever business Kianna and Mollem were seeing to, but Kianna caught sight of him past Gabby. The slight nod from her confused Aaron as he moved into the room and approached her quietly. He was unsure of the intent behind her nod, but as no correction was offered he gained more confidence with his approach.

Kianna moved a hand around Aaron's shoulders as he joined her.

"My son, Aaron," she added. "And my husband," she continued with a nod to the Divine Shadow.

"Uhh... hi," Aaron mumbled awkwardly as if he was still unsure what his place in all of this was.

Mollem frowned from behind the hood and he offered up a scowl. "You lack discipline. Your sarcasm will only beget death and suffering." He said through a stern voice, before rising from his throne, the pair of Confessors moving up towards Gabby as she tried to distance herself from them.

"If you intend to leave this world alive, you will change how you speak to me." The Divine Shadow spat before he rose from his throne. But then he was immediately silenced as Kianna moved up towards Gabby, it was then Mollem slowly lowered himself back into his throne

"Indeed you are a guest of the Empire, a guest of the Divine Shadow." One of the Confessors spoke, before he moved to back up at Mollem's hand gesture.

Though as Kianna removed her cowl, so did Mollem remove his, to reveal a human face.

"I will strive to keep issues from happening at your bar, but I want something in return. I want issues with Aschen Patrons to go through the proper authority, the Aschen Consulate."

Norrington had pretty much stopped anything, just silently observing. His only real movements were with his eyes, shifting from looking at Gabby when she spoke, across to the Black Hand. Kianna McGregor, a last name he had heard a few times, her husband, probably thanks to him or his family, and their son. Well, that was pretty blatant.

But it was Mollem's actions that caught his attention most. First rising, damn near threatening, but when Kianna approached? Patience. Alright, negotiations seemed to be moving along smoothly so far. One of his paws shifted across the floor, toes wriggling a little on the ground. So far everything seemed to be going pretty well.

Gabrielle fought the urge to step towards Norrington, determined to give off the appearance that she wasn’t a coward. The fact that she felt intimidated in more ways than one was beginning to wear on her, but it wasn’t bad enough for her to start acting rashly… yet. As long as she could remain level-headed, she wouldn’t do anything that she would immediately regret. The thought of her sister waiting at home for her to come back was also incentive to keep a handle on her mouth. The more she thought about her sarcasm, the more Gabby realized she missed hanging out with Logan. He taught her a lot of things and picked up on almost all of his bad attributes to the dismay of her parents. Tayrn always tried to make Remy see that Logan was a bad influence, but her concerns often fell on deaf ears. Then, after Logan saved Renée and Gabby a couple of times, their mother shut up and just dealt with the bad habits. Then Logan disappeared and the two siblings were left to their own devices. Around that time, she went off to her modeling gig and her sister went off to do her own thing. The first time they had met back up in all those years was when Renée had jumped in front of the bullets meant for Gabrielle. Pushing away her thoughts, she narrowed her eyes towards the hooded figure that made it clear that she felt Gabrielle was being disrespectful.

Great, this is going so fantastically thus far…

Crossing her arms against her chest as the feminine cloaked figure moved closer to her location, Gabby realized that was stupid because it meant she wouldn’t be able to defend herself if possible. With that thought, she dropped her hands down to her side loosely, preparing for anything that might come her way. She was incredibly paranoid and all of the security in the room wasn’t making her feel any better. Inhaling deeply before releasing it, she hoped she was giving off a calm demeanor despite how nervous she truly felt. The woman’s words made her feel like she was in school again, being spoken to like a child just like her teachers used to do. Biting hard on her bottom lip to keep from saying something sarcastic, she instead glanced briefly towards Norrington before returning her attention towards the unknown female. When the woman who soon identified herself as Kianna McGregor lowered the cowl that had kept her appearance hidden, Gabby was glad to see that she at least appeared to be of human nature. Well, that was a plus, right?

“…McGregor…” She said nothing more than that last name, piecing together everything that had been said thus far. She was somehow related to the guy from the bar and Gabrielle began to wonder if this was even going to be a fair talk or if they were biased because of family ties. As if things couldn’t get any worse… Maybe not worse, but strange, for sure.

Her gaze soon shifted beyond the woman towards a child that had appeared out of nowhere, though intelligence indicated he obviously came through the door behind her. Watching him quietly, she followed his movement until he stepped beside Kianna. Arching a brow when he was introduced as Aaron, Gabby couldn’t help but groan when it was revealed that not only was the kid her son, but the Divine Shadow was her husband. Yeah, keeping it all in the family, for sure. This sucked. Just nodding towards the kid, Gabby wondered if they brought him in on purpose to mess with her or something.

Her attention moved back towards the Divine Shadow and shrugged at his words. She never claimed to have discipline and couldn’t help how she reacted when nervous. It was her defense mechanism. The pair of Confessors moved towards her and she narrowed her eyes once again, snapping them towards Mollem. So, now they were threatening her just based on her sarcastic response. Did they even plan on giving her a fair time here or was this all an act? She wasn’t about to change anything about her, especially how she spoke. It probably didn’t help that whenever an authority figure told her to do something, she automatically wanted to do the opposite. She would just blame that on Logan too. Keeping silent, she tapped her fingers against her thigh, mentally noting that he when he removed his cowl, he too appeared to be human. Her right hand slid into the pocket of her metallic blue jacket, immediately twirling the playing cards around her fingers. This kept her calm enough to stop her from immediately smarting off at his offer. Like hell she was going to be doing that.

“Uhh… what? If I have an issue with an Aschen patron, I’ll deal with it on my own, just like I would with any other person causing trouble in my bar. I’m definitely not reporting it or taking the time to go through the Aschen Consulate. I will not treat them any differently than I treat anyone else.” She decided to keep from commenting about his threat to kill her if she didn’t speak to him how he desired. This was stupid.