Monarch of the Zodiacs: Fotia

Chapter 2: Genuas

Testing lasted for a few days. On the final day, the baby was awakened from the anesthesia, the scientists dialing into the office of the Queen. "Your majesty, the report is complete and the specimen is ready for your authorization."

The scientists arrive at her office and pass on the physical report of the child. They waited patiently as she quickly scanned through the thick pages. "The human will be under the palace's care starting today. Deliver the child to the nursery as soon as possible."

"Yes, my queen."

Caretakers stormed the nursery, some organizing clothing, and supplies, others stocking meals, while the baby lay in the crib. They only touched the baby when they knew it was time for feeding and diaper changes; they maintained a strict schedule: feedings at 06:00, 08:00, 11:00, 15:00, 19:00, and so on, changing at exactly one hour after each feeding, and educational stimulations in between. Reports were made weekly on the child's behavior, mannerisms, health, and more. Once a month the Queen is given a summary of these details, and status updates as needed. Nothing too much as she was a very busy woman. 

One night, when the Queen's paperwork and duties were slightly lighter than usual, she steps into the nursery for the first time, alone. Her hands folded behind her back, her black high-heels clacking as she walked across the vast room of the nursery, she stares at the human specimen. The baby was sound asleep, swaddled in a white cloth that was designed to hush a child, simulating a human's warm embrace. She stares for a while, her face emotionless and calculating.

"Your name is Genuas," she announces loudly to the infant. "According to the reports, your status is defined as exemplary in comparison to the rest of your species. Despite you being a homo sapien, you have qualities very similar to that of our Aqari race. Those qualities include a sign of intelligence computed when we electronically scanned your cerebrum. You are merely an experiment, however. You, humans, have many errors in your DNA to even come close to the superiority of the Aqari. We have greater technological advances and a better civilization compared to where your ancestry originated. Our interest in you is solely in the name of research. The combination of your ancestry is extremely rare; an offspring of the Ram and Lion people are nearly impossible due to their extensive, historical rivalry. Therefore, I have decided that you will be accepted into this palace and undergo training, trials, and further testing. Should you be no longer of use to us based on the policies set in place, you will be discarded immediately."

Genuas yawns and blinks his eyes open. He gazes at her and smiles. For a split second, Queen Gwendalynne's eyes flickered something other than cold indifference. For a moment, her eyes indicated something the Aqari are never known to possess--something close as possible to love an extraterrestrial being could feel.

The emotion passed just as quickly as it had come, and didn't phase her one bit. She turns, her hands still folded behind her back, and her heels clack back towards the entrance of the nursery. Without a glance back, she closes the door. She walks down the steps, goes through gray hallways and bland corridors until she is back at her office. A panel opens in the wall that revealed a numeric pad, where she inputs a series of long numbers. A light on the pad turns green, and a bigger panel opens. She walks through it into a dark room. Upon her entrance, lights turned on, revealing a perfectly-white room. The only item in the room was a big, tube-like contraption. She stops in the middle of the room in which a square section on the floor started glowing, and a beam of light encased her entire body from her feet to the very top of her head. The light vanished, and she was completely disrobed. She enters the tube-like contraption, faces forward, and a glass-door rises to cover the entrance. A clear fluid starts filling up as the glass fully closes. The fluid fills the tube entirely, engulfing Queen Gwendalynne's body. She simply closes her eyes, no bubbles coming from the nose or mouth. The lights turn off, and in the pitch-black darkness, the Queen sleeps.