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Chapter 2
"When I look at you, I see only a failure. The way you enunciate your 'R's and swing that tail about like a plaything. No! You're a Lohengrin now! I expect you to act like one! Shoulders broad! Eyes focused! Back straight!" The older Hyur laid his hands upon the Miqo'te his wife had taken in, forcing him into an uncomfortably rigid posture. "But Gods willing, we'll make something of you yet. Know this... Everything about you will change. Your name was but the first step in discarding everything that will hold you back - You're Char Lohengrin. Accept that. Abandon whatever delusions you maintain of clinging to your former life. Abandon the one's you considered friends. This is your life now - your very reason for being."
"Congratulations on your recent acquisition, Mister President. I must say, t'was a long time coming. Sir." The slender Elezen female beamed up at the former chairman with genuine happiness at her friend's success in-so-far. "You do me far too much credit, Ashorea. All I had to do was let his own wishes see fruition and play the part of a distraught young man thrown unceremoniously into a cruel world." He took a small notebook from the woman and began reading over the reports he'd requested. "While you've been busy, sir, I've had R&D move ahead with what we discussed pertaining to the crystal you supplied us with... Like you, there's been changes observed."
"You're my son! My heir! My NAME! When I die, you will carry my legacy - Gods as my witness, you'll do so proudly and as I expect you to! This reckless feline manner in which you conduct yourself will not be tolerated. Understand!?" The larger Hyur's backhand came as expected, knocking the much smaller Miqo'te youth off his feet. "Perrrhaps because I -am- a Miqo'te? Perrrhaps because you and I both know I am not what you wanted? Nothing morrrre than a way to appease your ailing wife?" The man drove his boot heel into the boy's face. "You ungrateful shite!" He shouted, plucking the boy up by an ear. "You should be fuckin' grateful that I do this for you! One day, mark me, one day! When you look back, if you live that long, you'll -thank- me for everything I ever did for you."
She moved ahead to open a door and the two continued down a long hallway which grew increasingly colder the further they went. Char's ears perked with curiosity. "Pray tell; What sort of changes?" She opened another set of double doors, and the two emerged into a small enclosure housing several desks surrounding a single table in the center with a device securing a brilliant red crystal in place with multiple scientific implements around it.Â
"If you keep treating him as just a name, he'll never be our son." Milande Lohengrin set a hand upon her husband's chest - the two unaware that Char was lingering just beyond the crack in the door. "He isn't our son. He knows that, and lords it over me with that rebellious nature of his... If I don't break him of it now, he'll -never be- our son." Goenfal grabbed at the bottle he'd been growing ever fonder of, and took another shot. "Not with that outlook." She replied after a moment of silence. He stared at her in a disbelief. "Are you going to start throwing yourself against our family name too?" He reached out to slap her, only to find his wrist clamped tightly in her grasp. "Do not forget whom you married. Dear. I will be shown respect, or I will show you what it looks like."
"When tasked with the creation of artificial crystals, we weren't entirely sure it would be possible... As you know, Ceruleum serves as the Empire's foremost energy source - the processed aetheric essence drained from crystals such as that one become ceruleum after a refining process... However, when we began forcing that energy into several candidates for 'psuedo-crystals' most couldn't maintain the energies and shattered... It was then we stumbled upon the idea of forcing the latent energies into a miniaturized ceruleum container to help regulate the flow of energy evenly. Within the device is housed a sliver from a discarded crystal already used to produce ceruleum and the results are so far showing promise."
"Your mother is sick, Char. The physicians don't think she has much longer. If you've anything to say to her - I would suggest you do so in short term." The Miqo'te had never seen the older man so melancholy before, and his words took him entirely by surprise. He did not long dwell on them, however, as he made his way into Milande's room. "Hey there Kitten... Come over here." Her voice was weak and she was a far cry from the strong and independent woman he'd grown to love. He moved to sit at her bedside, and she ran her fingers through his hair and scratched at the back of his ears as he so loved. "Mother..." He couldn't find the words. "I know Kitten. I know... Death is but a part of life. We return whence we were blessed; This is the cycle. You were always my son. My dear little boy. I'm sorry that I couldn't do more for you - and that I leave you now with so much more left to do." The tears began to fall uncontrollably from his eyes. "But more than a good son, I know you to be a strong one. To endure him, and all he bids, has tempered you in such a way... you could have lashed out, but instead you rose to his challenges. He's proud in a way of you... I only hope that the two of you may one day speak as you and I do now."
"While we won't be able to power a suit of magitek armor or anything of the like nature with this alone - we might be able to apply it to a more dedicated role within the weapons suite; After further tests and a more thorough study into the stability of the energy housed within." She picked up a small, cylindrical black device that looked to be a stripped down version of what the Elezen was talking about - exposed wires dangled idly, and the metallic lining glinted with the dim light of the room. At the center, he could see a faintly glowing crystalline shard. Â "As always, you take my expectations and exceed them by leagues Ashorea." He nodded in satisfaction, looking now to the crystal at the center of the room.
"Watch your tone with me boy. Your mother isn't here to lord her wishes over me anymore. You'll do as I say, and accept it - or mark me - I'll cast you out in the rain just as quickly as we plucked you up." He sneered down at him, reeking of alcohol. "And whence does your name go then? A little late to groom a successor now, isn't it?" The Hyur's nostrils flared in a rage as he reached out to punch the young adult Miqo'te standing in front of him arrogantly. He found himself looking at the ceiling from his back a second later. "You're only ever going to get older - keep that in mind before you go off on a drunken romp, Old Man."
"What of our source? Have you noted any negative changes in the crystal itself?" Char wandered past the tables, knocking over a stack of notes to the chagrin of a researcher who scurried to pluck them all up and put them back in order - cursing under his breath the whole time. "It doesn't seem as... brilliant... as when I first acquired and surrendered it." His tail bounced left and right as he tilted his head. "We toyed with the idea of altering it into a deaspected crystal... Though we funneled only a portion the fiery energies into the shard first, to test another theory... and in-so-far we're pleased with the results; thus while studying the effectiveness of this method we have elected not to finalize the dissipation of energy and allow the crystal time to repopulate itself with elemental energy. To help this process along, we're toying with the idea of infusing aether from other crystals into it."
"Char. Come over here and look outside." Goenfal bid his adopted son to the far corner of his office and the two shared the vision offered through a rain streaked window of a rally taking place in a far off plaza. "Garlemald is preparing for a war... The demand for weapons and mercenaries is growing. To anyone else this sight might be troubling but for you and I - this is the prelude to greatness. Households feel threatened, independent contractors want only the best, and soldiers desire added firepower... The supply and demand exceed all rationale and that is where you and I strike at the heart without so much as lifting a finger."
The Miqo'te turned and offered the woman a satisfied smile. "Together, you and I will take this company to the furthest extremes and beyond. I'm thrilled beyond compare at these infantile steps we're making and find myself in eager anticipation of the next leap forward in this study." His eyes fell upon the researcher standing upright with his stack of papers, setting them tenderly on the desk - the corner of one in particular grabbing his attention with it's visible illustration. He deftly reached out and pulled it from the stack, again sending papers everywhere. The researcher stared daggers at the President before moving to collect his papers again in a fury.Â
Goenfal Lohengrin poured two glasses of scotch from a bottle he'd been saving for some time and handed one to the adult he'd spent so much time molding who accepted it solemnly in silence. The two sipped slowly of the inebriating brown liquid and observed the gathering. "The Eorzean people are weak, but not to be underestimated. The trick to supplying a war is to supply both sides with equal discretion and make them believe you're doing them a favor by stoking the fires of their own beliefs. Turn their ideals into the reason they throw gil hand over foot."
"Ashorea... What are all these? They seem wholly unrelated." He traced a finger over the intricately detailed drawing of the Au Ra anatomy, complete with footnotes regarding the possibility of infusing an individual with aether to the point they themselves might become a weapon and, once expended, a source of ceruleum. The Elezen moved to peer over the paper before frowning. "Something R&D found following the death of the former President. Your father had some very nasty looking secrets... However, following his passing any and all information regarding that particular idea has dried up - likely in accordance with his own wishes. Whatever 'Project DI' was, it's likely only he and the hand selected researchers he had involved know the extents to which it was designed. Though some of it's theorums might be applied to our weapons research... What initially interested us was the multipurpose use of the ae-"Â
"Just as technology evolves, so too must the weapons, and in effect, the soldiers. I envision my legacy in the form of military science, and you as the means in which to make sure it endures the test of time." He set a palm on the Miqo'te's shoulder. "For you are my son. The extension of my life's own teachings. The greatest thing I could possibly build, is your future... and I think that I've done so adequately."
Char held his hand up for silence. "I'm interested in what Goenfal Lohengrin had in mind. Pull on this string while your subordinates continue looking into the crystal. I want to know what 'Project DI' was, and if possible, I want those members involved with it's development sent to me."
