the name Poseidon for his firstborn. There was another name that caught Cronus' eye, even though the character was just a minor demigod in the old myths.
The father smiled and said, "Zeus."
XLIV
AHLJAELA
137 Years Before the End
Rovil was jostled against the window as the bus swerved to miss chickens in the road. The tires found traction again in the dirt and it continued up the path into the foothills of the Appenine Mountains.
"I'm tired of that fool," a man behind him said.
"You're tired of everything," his seatmate answered.
"They treat us horribly, they have those robots watching us, and they barely pay a fair wage."
Ahljaela rolled his eyes. Not again, he thought.
"Those robots are doing more than watching you. They're taking your work."
"Yes!" the first man exclaimed. "There's ten fewer of us on this bus. The robots are making the soldiers themselves now. How long before we're all out of work?" His partner had no answer. "Don't believe everything you see on the Matrix. The magistrates and governors don't care about us. The senators and consuls don't. The Caesar most certainly does not care what happens to you or me. As long as our plant slaps together Cyclops quickly, the togas are happy."
Rovil turned around and whispered over the seat cushion, "I would keep your voice down."
Both men looked at him. The angrier of the two scoffed and said, "Tend your own store."
Ahljaela began to face forward, but he stopped. "There are spies for the management and government on this bus. The robots aren't the only reason there are fewer workers at the plant." He turned all the way around and looked at his lap. He listened for some sort of response, but none came.
Rovil exhaled slowly and watched the trees whip past the window. In his mind, he saw Darron. Just four months ago, Darron sat on this same bus, saying the same kinds of things. He even said the word Rovil's mother warned him about: "coalition."
After Ahljaela turned him in, Darron wasn't seen again, but Rovil was paid fifty denars.
He appreciated the money, but he'd rather not have to do that on a regular basis.
XLV
BARAZ
134 Years Before the End
Karin sighed and placed her hands on the table. "Alright. It's time to deal with the tiger in our face." Several Psilons at the long table nodded and seemed to straighten up. "I'm sure you all saw the latest news. Naban has officially surrendered to the Caesar."
There were some groans. A Crius raised his hand a little and asked, "And who will be their puppet praetor?"
Gaia glanced at a Theia and gave a slight nod toward her. All three Theias lowered their heads in the same way and then leaned toward their companions.
Baraz stood and straightened the corner of a piece of paper in front of her. "I don't have to tell you all how difficult this will … continue to be. You are all guilty by association, regardless of how many times I've assured investors, government officials … They can't get past the thought of your siblings fighting for the Caesar and ruling countries like dictators." A Cronus slumped in his chair a bit and Karin nodded. "It's hardest on you, Cronuses, I know." She glanced toward the other two nearby. "It seems as though he's on screen every night, trying to justify another atrocity in Alabor." She shook her head. "I knew him once, but what he is now, …"
"We have too much to offer," a Themis said. "Did the administration truly reject our vaccine just because of the Titans?"
Gaia nodded. "They did. I could see in their faces, they wanted to arrest me, too. I'm Ouranos' sister. The man who made the Cyclops."
A Coeus muttered, "Humans."
Baraz didn't hear him, "Sorry?"
He looked up and then around the table. "I said, 'humans.'" Some of the Psilons nodded. Karin stood stonefaced. "They are shortsighted. Selfish. Judgmental. Gullible. Violent."
A Mnemosyne said, "They treat each other so horribly. Sometimes out of greed because others are poorer. Sometimes … sometimes just because others are different."
Coeus shook his head and allowed his arm to flop onto the tabletop. "It feels pointless now to continue what we've been doing."
Gaia's brow furrowed and she started speaking softly. "You don't have to do anything. You don't have to justify yourself. You don't have to research the next big whatever. You … can simply live your life."
"How?" an Oceanus asked. "I tried. I read, wrote, painted. I absorbed all the art and literature I could within the compound, but I can't leave. And I'm not alone." He looked around the table and caught the approving nods of several other Psilons.
Baraz nodded. "You are all prisoners here. I wish I could change that, but I don't know how to." She was considering each of her words before she spoke them and evaluating how they sounded. That's why she was slow to add, "Yet." She looked up and continued, "I've talked to the government about granting you full citizenship, letting you live off campus … they haven't been agreeable to that."
An Iapetus spoke up, "Prometheus saw the Titan me on screen the other night." He held his lower jaw in his hand and continued, "He asked why I was fighting with soldiers and robots. I was so shocked … I didn't know what to say."
Karin picked up her glass of water and took a small sip. It allowed her to form her sentences just so. "Everyone in this room knows that you are different than the Titans. We all know that you were born with just the basic knowledge and information that BBM implanted within you. Your memories and lives are wholly separate from theirs. Your children don't know this just yet." She looked toward Gaia who urged her on with a smile. "Tell them that they are your brothers. Your sisters. They've … lost their way. You hope they can come home again sometime soon."
"I get the feeling that's more for our feelings than our children's," a Rhea said.
Baraz smiled. "Perhaps." She rubbed her hands for a moment and listened to the sound of her wrinkles rubbing over each other. She twisted her chair from side to side when an old memory entered her mind. "How many of you know the history of Kanda?"
Several of the Psilons just looked at each other. Only a few raised their hands.
Karin said, "Good. You'll like this." She leaned forward with her elbows on the table and touched her fingertips together as she spoke, "About a thousand years ago, the kingdom of Kanda ruled the northern third of Badaria. The queen gave birth to twins, twin sons, and she died in childbirth. Now, the nurses and doctors were so concerned about the queen and trying to save her that they lost track of which son was actually born first. The king was heartbroken, of course, but once all the mourning was finished, they had to decide which child was going to be first in line to the throne. The king, for whatever reason, couldn't choose, so he said, 'I'll decide when I get back from my fishing trip next week.' He went out to sea, a storm came and sank the ship. The king died."
A Phoebe chuckled, "Is this a fable or something?"
Karin shook her head. "No. This actually happened." Several Psilons nodded and Baraz continued, "The king's chief of staff was appointed regent. The ministers were going to decide for themselves which baby to crown, as it were, but the regent said, 'Leave it to me.' For the following decade, the regent tended to the kingdom's affairs and didn't deal with the children at all. When the twins were ten, he sat down with them and laid out the problem. 'In seven years, one of you will be king. But we don't know which one. I have an idea: how about you both be king.' The twins seemed agreeable to the plan. The ministers took some convincing but they decided having co-kings wasn't such a bad idea after all. But something happened."
"Of course," a Hyperion said.
"Supposedly, one of the twins was involved in some sort of riding accident. Don't know which one. Historians aren't even sure that part of the story is true. It might have been made up to explain what happened later." Karin leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs. "One year before
they were to take the throne, or thrones, I guess, one of the twins decided being a co-king wasn't as good as being the sole king. His brother understood and decided to agree to whatever his brother said. So he said he wanted to split the palace down the middle; the other twin went along with it. A bit later, the one said he wanted to rule instead from a city on the west coast. So his twin let him take their seaside palace. And just before they were to be crowned, the brother said he wanted to rule his own Kanda. His twin was worried, but he wanted his brother to be happy. Like the palace, they split the kingdom right down the middle."
"Not good," an Oceanus said.
Baraz nodded. "It took a few decades, but the two kingdoms were invaded repeatedly. Conquered, eventually. Today it only exists as two small slivers of what it used to be. East and West Kanda."
A Cronus leaned forward and opened his mouth to speak. He caught Karin's gaze and he paused. His lips closed and he looked down at his hands. He spoke barely above a whisper, "What do we take from that?"
Baraz looked over at Gaia and then back toward Cronus. "I don't know. I'm not in your positions. I never have been or will be. I don't know how it feels to have …" she gestured with her right hand toward her chest and then moved it away from her body, "a part of you, out there, doing things that disgust you. That color how everyone sees you. I can't imagine." A Mnemosyne was about to speak but Karin continued, "What was it that made
Lords of Kobol - Prelude: Of Gods and Titans Page 31
