Symbiosis - The Archon

2543 (25-4th-6) New Calendar - Prima Centurai

The ambassadors filled the room, and the Archon suppressed a shudder. Animals dressed as men, he thought with a sneer as they slithered and padded their ways to their chairs or perches, or splashed in their tanks, thrusting their mouths into translation tubes. They disgusted him. He plastered a smile onto his face.

“Ambassadors,” he said, his voice oily. “Welcome! I trust you are all in good health?”

There was a general murmur from the translative speakers mounted about the table. The Archon felt his skin crawl.

“Excellent,” he lied. “Well then: to business, shall we? Although, I’m afraid the subject of this meeting perplexes me somewhat.”

There was an angry chirrup from a drofor to his right, and the Archon just stopped himself from rolling his eyes.

“It perplexes you?” the drofor spat, the cold computerised voice from the speaker betraying no hint of the creature’s obvious emotion. The Archon was rather proud of that; he’d installed that voice himself. “With respect, how can it possibly perplex you? It’s been five years, Archon! Five years, and only three successful Symbiotes! Why haven’t you been the one to call this meeting?”

“Because I feel that this is not a cause for such alarm,” the Archon answered calmly.

There was a general uproar at that, and he waited for a few moments before continuing.

“Ambassadors!” he said. “Please! I understand the worry, but I do feel you’re all over-reacting. The Forum is aware of the situation. We share your concerns. But, two of those three Symbiotes were produced last year. We may have more this year, who knows? We think it’s simply a matter of tragic incompatibility, nothing more. It will most likely sort itself out.”

“But you have know way of knowing that,” a fennar chimed in further down the table. Its fins moved lazily in the water, and the Archon looked pointedly away from them, at its lidless eyes. He felt sick. “For all you know there’s a deeper problem here, and it’s one that needs sorting.”

“I’m afraid I disagree,” the Archon answered simply, and felt a smug thrill of satisfaction as the slight mutter of animal noise increased with irritation at his attitude.

“Well, we don’t,” the fennar answered back. “And apparently, neither do the other races represented here, or we wouldn’t be having this meeting. Now, it’s obvious that we all rely on the Symbioses more than you humans, Archon, but you aren’t entirely needless of them. Frankly, I can’t understand your attitude at all.”

“Have you even started conducting an investigation into this?” the drofor asked, wings vibrating slightly in its anger. The Archon almost snarled at their impudence, but controlled himself.

“Of course,” he said. “But so far the data is inconclusive. Now, really, Ambassadors, I can’t offer you anything more than this. Surely you can all see this?”

The animalistic sounds continued, but no one spoke out. The Archon risked a glance at the terahl representative, crouched over the table at the far end like some sort of overgrown mantis, its four-jointed fingers steepled beneath its pointed chin. Could they read minds? He’d never really been sure; they were said to only feel psionic energies, but did that mean they could tell what people were thinking? Or when someone was lying? The creature showed no sign of suspicion. The Archon looked away.

Eventually, the meeting broke up, and they left in a flurry of wings, fur and bubbles. The Archon sat in the empty room, shuddering in repulsion before standing and stretching out his limbs. Aliens! Animals feigning intelligence! They simply leeched off humanity, parasites of human advancement and values. Why had the Forum ever seen fit to continue any allegiance with them? The Symbiotes weren’t bad, of course; quite useful in fact. And if humanity only ever had to deal with Symbiotes there would probably be no problem, but the wretched creatures insisted on having ‘pure’ representatives in the Forum, as long as the Archon himself was Chair…

The illumination changed in the room, and the Archon smiled. A cloud of light hovered in front of his desk a foot off the floor, golden and twinkling. It seethed in place, roiling until it formed the rough image of a face in the air, and it wore a smile.

“The final nitrovium has been diverted to you,” the Archon said quietly. “And I have the final results of the fennar experiments for particle selection. Not long now, hopefully.”

The face seemed to nod, and two beams of light shot out and hit the Archon’s forehead. He felt the usual odd prickling sensation inside his skull, and smiled. Such an effective way to communicate, all meaning instantly conveyed. This was true advancement.

What information is left now?

“Very little. Only three stages remain, then it’s just for me to combine all the data and actually make the weapon.”

How long?

“With luck and harder work, three weeks for the last of the data. More likely a month and a half, EST of course.”

Of course. The Archon winced slightly at the almost imperceptible sneer. Very well. You have done well, Archon. What is this glitch?

“Ah.” The Archon paused. “We’re not sure yet. But I’m looking into it. These things never last more than a few weeks after they’re noticed, though. I’ll find it.”

Is there any way our designs could be known?

“No. I’ve taken the utmost care,” the Archon said firmly. “We’re safe.”

Excellent. Then I shall take my leave of you. Is the new data ready for me now?

“Yes,” the Archon answered, smiling. He turned to a palm screen on the desk and depressed it, and a quirky little mechanism rose up. He switched it on, and a thin beam of light hit the ceiling from it. The cloud shifted and placed itself over the beam, which bent, and was absorbed into the cloud. The light pulsed brighter, and then faded back to its original glow. The Archon sighed. True advancement.

It is done. I shall return next ‘week’.

The cloud dispersed at blinding speed, and seeped out of the windows. The illumination returned to its usual neutral glow, and the Archon turned back to his holo-screen. Time to find this glitch…