Conniveo

Chapter 29: Leverage

Did you really read General Usai's mind? I thought every time you started to read someone's mind, it hurt the person.

No, Eugene. Body language. I'm also communicating with Neshi, and he can pick up emotions of aggression. I only let Usai think I could read his mind, to keep him in check.

You're several degrees of awesome, you know that?

I suppose.

I smiled lightly and tried to focus on the story that the other Professor was telling, but Lady Diella kept interrupting my thoughts with little bits of conversation. She had asked that I sit as close to her as possible so she could communicate easily with me. She felt too tired to project her brain waves far across the room.

"Eugene and his father Javi are not otherworld intruders. They belong to the fifth and final class of Homini: The Faders."

"Sorry, what?" I wasn't sure I heard well. We were Homini too? How was that even-?

"Yes, Eugene. You and your father belong to a virtually extinct race of the Homini. Not lost due to any fault of yours, but due to a major inconvenience you-"

"Neshi, I have warned you. Watch what you say. This little story of yours will get you denervated." The General looked like he was really going to shoot someone.

"Oh, where are my manners, I have not introduced my part of the story. This is the second part, which I would name 'Epsilon-beta'."

Professor Dono Neshi looked intensely at the General. Through all the threats he had received, the man really looked like he did not give a fuck. His hair was bleach white and swept towards the back, with bits of blonde around his temples. He had deep-set eyes, kinda like mine, and when he looked at you, it felt like he was staring into you. His mouth was also curved in a partial smile, like he was mocking everything the General said. He looked much older than the General, but he still sat upright and talked like he wasn't older than thirty.

"Epsilon-beta is a very interesting gene. It appears to hold much more power than Epsilon-alpha, to the point that if both are present in the same amounts, it has a ninety-seven percent probability of manifesting as the primary class ability. Also, if it is 'diluted' in the same way as the Epsilon-alpha genome, it has different manifestations. Epsilon-alpha causes brain-wave emissions. When present on more than thirty chromosomes, the person is likely to be a Psychokine. When present on between twelve and twenty-nine chromosomes, the person is likely to be a Pexian. If there are less than twelve, the person is highly unlikely to manifest any abilities. The same numbers were found to apply to the Epsilon-beta factor. If present in the same numbers as for a Pexian, the individual with this Epsilon-beta typically becomes a Fader, a different variant of body-modifier. The fader's body-modification ability should involve changing their molecular phase affinity. We do not understand how they do this, in the same way we do not fully understand how different Pexians change the responses of pexes when all their brain waves do not seem significantly different or how two Endokines with the same number of Epsilon-beta factors could eventually manifest two different abilities."

"If the Epsilon-beta gene comes from the Endokines, would there not have been enough Faders born to these people?" One of the Security men asked. The General frowned strongly at him. The man seemed to shrink back in fear, but the question was already out.

"The Endokine class is, if you would forgive the generalization, significantly more elitist than the Psychokine. Marriages amongst themselves result in the maintenance of the Epsilon-Beta gene at levels high enough to ensure that all their offspring are Endokines. For a Fader to exist, the interbreeding should typically happen between an Endokine and a Bland. And this almost never happens in our society. I hope you are satisfied with this explanation."