During her recovery, Betta immersed herself in Jadis’s memories, becoming familiar with each one, creating new lists and linking old ones with knowledge she was certain Jadis wasn’t even aware he had. There was some disappointment. Jadis had tried most of the foods and drinks she’d been curious about. Never would she be able to experience certain foods for the first time. Granted, it was Jadis’s taste buds and not her own, and she could see that there were subtle differences on how they experienced the cocoa at their first meeting. For Jadis, the chocolate was far sweeter and there were other tinges of flavor that Betta was not able to perceive. A hint of orange, the blending of two different strains of cocoa beans, the slight hint of sage.
Now she could take each memory, break it down, and explore it clinically, it was obvious that they were both being manipulated by someone.
Betta took a deep breath that came out ragged. Her ribs were healing, but they were still bruised. The pain came when she took breaths too deep, or sat, or moved, or existed. Unfortunately, she needed the breath to shore up her courage. She knocked at the door to Manager Tylen’s compartment, entering at his muted “Come.”
The chamber was dim, though she could make out enclosed shelving that held figurines, a pedestal that featured a lion at the center of velvet carpet. A tiled floor to her right held an old-fashioned kitchen with a marble island complete with a rehydration unit and black stove top that was kept immaculate. Possibly it was there more for show than functionality. A dozen paces ahead of her sat Tylen, a holographic display projected in the area in front of a maroon love seat and full sofa. All doors to the other parts of the chamber were closed.
Tylen, waving a hand, dispersed the images that Betta reminded herself to revisit later. The room brightened to reveal cerulean walls that contrasted the color of the carpet in a way that made Betta mute her disapproval.
He fingered his thin mustache, a fake smile spreading to his lips. “Miss Reganta. I don’t believe we have an appointment. It is also highly irregular to meet in my personal chambers.” His fingers now passed over the edges of his perfectly-fitted black suit, the hint of an old-fashioned white tie poking out at the top of the vest.
Betta studied his dark eyes, the lack of lines on his face, the steadiness of his nimble fingers as they moved. “I thought it would be better for us to speak like this. I’m sorry if I’m disturbing you,” Betta said.
“Not at all. I had been meaning to make myself available. I thought it best to give you enough time to recover. How are you feeling? Would you like to sit?”
The pain in her ribs warned her away from folding her body. She shook her head. “Thank you for the offer, but it helps to stand. I’ll get to the point. Jadis and I… we’ve grown close these last few days. He’s shared quite a bit about his life with me.”
“I haven’t known Jadis to be the sharing type,” Tylen said, skeptically.
“I guess it’s different with me,” Betta persisted.
“Yes. Yes, it is.”
“In all that I’ve learned about Jadis, you’ve been at the center since he arrived in this sector. He was introduced to the black-market by you. And when he lost his contacts, you were right there to give him legitimate associations for his new trade. You were there to give him his new persona. The items he acquired, manufactured, and distributed would have been extremely difficult to get in this sector. Yet somehow you always managed to know someone. And that being after you were ex-communicated from the black-market, the same as Jadis.”
Tylen raised a brow, then sat, leaning back and spreading his arms to either side. “Should I call my lawyer? I have a feeling you are about to accuse me of something dark and insidious. Given your background as an Operator, I assume this is the part right before the feds come bursting through the doors with rifles blazing.”
“I want you to know that I know what you are,” Betta stepped forward, forcing confidence in her stance.
“And what is that?”
“A man that still has ties with the black-market. The man behind Jadis Ter, the real manager of the two power stations and all its dark dealings. Jadis is the Sal’um Pe.” Betta’s lips twisted at the title.
“You understand the title then?”
“Faux lord, pet lord, honorary nobility?”
Tylen shook his head. “Those are Jadis’s words. The final one is closest. They are Human concepts. The world of Drafer royalty is not the same as our historical context. There is also information that Jadis doesn’t have, that he has never questioned.”
“And that is?” Betta asked.
“What else is it you want, Miss Reganta? You obviously came here with something in mind. Are you to have me arrested? Am I to be taken away by the feds?”
“What is it you know about Jadis?” Betta originally wanted to squeeze what information she could about her father from Tylen, but at the mention of secrets about Jadis her heart pounded in her chest.
“Nothing that isn’t well-known among Drafers. What do you know of the War of Concession?”
“When Pilo took over most of the Drafer territory?”
“When Pilo made their first agreements with Drafers not to wipe them out. For Humans, this war is a thing of the past, but Drafers live long lives, very long lives, and many of those that fought in the war are still alive. Take the king. He was a young Drafer male when the war began. The soldiers the king took to war were bonded to his line, becoming brothers on the battlefield. Many of them died, but one survived. He was taken.”
Betta fought her rising annoyance and evened out her tone. “What does any of this have to do with Jadis?”
“When the war ended and concessions were made, in Pilo’s favor, the king requested the return of his little brother. It took many years to track him, or rather, what was left of him.”
The nervous flutter in her stomach warned her away. What she heard next would be difficult for Jadis. There was a reason why he never questioned, why he left a part of his life as a mystery.
“At the threat of losing what concessions they won, Pilo gave over their experimental facility to the Drafers and moved their operation to Alpha. All they left behind was a creature that could not be, a creature that was part Human, part Lyten, part Hyn, and partly Sal’um Pe; a noble brother-in-arms.”
Tylen looked away then and Betta thought she could see wetness welling up beneath his lids.
“How many rejuvenations have you had? You knew him as well?” Betta both asked and accused.
“It’s rude to ask a Human how many rejuvenations. It’s a meaningless question, besides. The body one gets fitted can last centuries if kept well. It’s the brain matter that decays. Eventually, a cybernetic upgrade or an enhancement package helps preserve the mind, but then one begins to question whether one is what one was. Will I still be Richard Tylen if my mind is artificial, or will I be a copy of the consciousness that was Richard Tylen?” His focus was on a place that Betta was not and she quietly kept to herself, contemplating the truths he revealed. It was some time before he returned, a look of surprise on his face when he saw her again. “I was a young man myself when Pilo offered my services to the king. It was a dangerous job and the first ten cycles were pure hazard pay. I was flush with marks before I reached my 30th cycle. I’d fought as a soldier in the war. I’d stood against the Sal’um Pe and lost, but my story isn’t the one you’re after, is it?”
“No. I came here because I want to know about my father. I know—”
Tylen laughed. “Is that all? This is about George. What do you know?”
“What do you mean, what do I know? What do you know?”