Miang strode through the door of Morden's lab, closing it softly after she entered. The man had his back turned to her, instead facing the displays over his computer console. To her right, one of his test subjects squirmed on an examination slab as it was pulled in and out of a small circular scanning chamber.

She ignored the pathetic Lamb and waited, moving to the center of the room and staring at his back. How would he react to her new persona? He certainly had not cared for the woman, but losing a trusted associate might...... annoy him, perhaps take his attemtion away from their work. She could not allow that.

Morden turned from his console, and jumped at the sight of her. "Mya--" He stopped abruptly, and his eyebrows drew together slightly. "You're..... back, I see," he finally said, and walked over to the Lamb on the examination table. He flipped a switch and the machine whirred to a stop.

Miang brushed a stray strand of indigo hair out of her face and smiled mockingly. He seemed to be taking things rather well. "The name is Myaru this time, Morden."

He smirked. "Do you ever think of yourself as anything but 'Miang'?"

"Occasionally."

She watched him press another button and start unstrapping the Lamb. "Everything is going according to plan. Did you have any particular reason for coming here at this time? You know the test results will not be ready for a while yet." His voice tightened a bit. "Surely Myaru knew that."

"No need to be hostile." She ran her fingers through her hair -- It was shoulder length, a little longer than she was used to, more versatile -- and laughed softly at the expression that crossed his face. "You miss her? I thought you had thrown away all of your...... emotions."

"You will be taking her place, won't you? God forbid our 'task' should be delayed."

Two men entered, both dressed in the musty, plain gray and brown smocks the slave labor was given. She stepped aside and watched with little interest as they dragged the body of the Lamb away, toward the door that led to the recycling facility. "Failed?"

Morden shrugged. "He couldn't conduct the power."

Wasn't that the story of his career? He simply could not manage to find useful test subjects. "You don't need me now." She turned toward the door. "I will be conducting my business...... elsewhere for the time being. I only thought it polite to let you know what happened to your assisstant."

"What if it doesn't work?" He called after her. "We don't have the technology to create what you want, 'Miang'. What will you do if it fails?"

She froze, feeling as if she had been submerged in the icy waters she remembered from her birth. Failure. Miang suppressed a shiver. No, she could not fail again. Not again! She had long ago grown tired of life on this misrable planet! How long would she be forced to work if this didn't come through?

"Then I will start again," is all she said before walking out the door. Failure was her greatest fear -- one that was all to real. Ten thousand years...... She wasn't sure she could take it any more. How much longer would she live before being driven insane by the eons of her life, and all the voices and memories she had inherited, whispering in her head?

Whispering......

//I am the Beginning and the End......//

Remembering......

//The First and the Last......//

Dying......

//Become one with me, and know power beyond comprehension......//

Her smile curled into a sneer, and she pushed the memory away. She didn't like to think of how she was born -- remembering so far always brought other memories to surface. Memories that were not her own -- and she couldn't afford such a distraction right now.

//Ariath.// She smoothed her expression and started down the hallway. From Myaru's memories she had pieced together the recent events in that young man's life, and determined that the time was right -- he would be useful now, worth spending time on. And men -- even those created in Morden's nanoreactors -- would always be the same.

A little time, and she would own him. Then, perhaps, the world would see his true potential emerge. What glory, to be standing beside her as she resurrected 'god'....... And if that did not convince him, there were other ways.

Yes, the time was right. She was the Beginning.

And this miserable world would soon feel the presence of its 'god'.