It was with no little trepidation that Hyuga found himself, early on the morning of the Emperor's New Year, standing in a waiting room ten levels higher than he had ever explored in the palace at Arabot. No area in Etrenank was more secure. When Solaris opened its arms to the sky the city, or at least those levels occupied by the Second and First class citizens, would gaze down upon the earth, and the sky would be filled with the sparkling expanse of the Ignis Ocean on a clear day.

Arabot was at the apex of those arms, above the city, dwelling closer to heaven as only the Emperor and his subordinates could possibly hope to do. It would be shielded, should the arms close, and the citizens would be the first to go. Appropriate, for a place like this. He should have felt the cold anger he'd nurtured as he watched his family die as the result of such careless regard, but he could only feel the spiteful twisting of his stomach as he cast his eyes around the waiting room again.

It was furnished sparsely, with a few metal chairs and plants on glass tables at every corner. There was no reception desk, but he heard the whir of cameras in their hiding places behind sheets of one-way glass - yes, he knew the tricks of security well, having broken through quite a few systems just like it during his Element days. People thought the Elements were dispatched to destroy enemies on the outside, but it was a dismal reality that the greatest threats to Solaris lay within.

Hyuga bowed his head, resisting the urge to fidget from foot to foot. His hair drifted forward to offer an illusion of warmth, cut to his chin, straight and neat. He'd thought more than once of letting it grow, but it would not meet regulation that way.

Regulation, it was always regulations. The military had more rules than the slave blocks, and more persistent re-education. He wondered if that was why he'd been called to this place. They knew of his indiscretions of the past. They could not ignore the loss of so many shipments from the surface, the loss of two Elements, the destruction of--

The door hissed open and Hyuga's head snapped up, set his glasses askew. He pushed them back up with a hand that trembled only slightly, imperceptibly, and held his body rigidly at attention.

The man who stepped out radiated calm, if not serenity, and he was easily recognizable from old vids and a few apperances in the plaza, though the uniform and lab coat he wore now were a far cry from the formality of those occassions. His arms hung still at his sides and his steps, graceful and slow, stopped only a few feet from the door.

Krelian. But would it be 'Lord,' or 'Minister,' or simply 'sir?' Hyuga could not bring himself to speak first without knowing the proper form of address. Wasn't he in enough trouble, without offending the most important man in the country? If he'd only known - but there had been no reason for him to suspect this was who he would meet. Even Elements weren't important enough to merit the attention of this man.

"Hyuga Ricdeau, Element." There was no inflection in Krelian's voice when he spoke. "Class three identification, correct?"

"Yes. Sir," he said. It was as neutral as he could manage. "Five-eight-four-nine-two." He reached into his pocket and grasped his card with a little difficulty, offering it to the other man. It was waved away, and the Minister turned to the door.

"This way."

He hesitated a second before hurrying forward as told, without any of the precision his training had hammered into him. The card was stuffed into another pocket with a minimum of fumbling, not that it mattered - the Minister never turned, never spoke. If one could judge by the back of a person's head, it would seem he'd already forgotten he had company.

The corridor was like every other in Solaris, walling him in with white metal plates, a white tile floor, and bright overhead lights hidden by some convention of the architecture. There were seams at uneven intervals in the wall plates, the modern equivilent of arrow-slits, or secret passages, that only opened from the inside. Cameras still clicked and whirred, out of sight, at staggered intervals.

They took one turn in a walk that seemed to stretch into eternity, pausing once for Krelian to press his hand to an identification pad and open a security door. Hyuga couldn't calculate how deep into the labyrinth of the palace they had walked, but the door seemed both a gateway into something great, almost exciting, and also a knell of doom as it closed. Few passed those doors, or so he'd heard. Many never returned. Stories like that weren't just superstition in Solaris.

Their journey ended at an unremarkable door at the end of a short corridor. His navigational sense insisted they were at the center of the palace complex, but when they entered, the laboratory that met his eyes was depressingly normal at first glance. Metal tables, containment chambers, and nanoreactors were all standard fare in Solarian laboratories at every level. All were unoccupied, and if he had to pinpoint one unusual thing about the place, it would be the lack of eyes peering at him from the depth of those chambers. Every moment of idleness was money, his professor had said, and funding was too hard to come by to be wasted.

His wandering eyes returned to the Minister and he realized with a sinking feeling in his stomach that he'd been watched. Careless of him to miss that. He straightened to attention.

"You are in line for a promotion at the end of this month," Krelian began without preamble, hands folded behind his back. "I also understand that you have been commissioned by the Gebler Research and Development team for two alpha-class gear projects."

"... Yes, sir," Hyuga said again, daring to flick his gaze aside to look at the Minister. His expression gave no indication of his feelings on the matter. It was like looking at a porcelain mask.

"You have made several interesting discoveries since Element Blanche's departure." The Minister paused for a breath, then turned to the nearest console to open a file. "Your thesis on the miniaturization of electrical and heat-processing units was recommended to me by a collegue."

He recognized his report on the screen and could do nothing but stare, mouth slightly open, knowing he was being observed and unable to care for the moment. Were the Minister a friend, Hyuga would congratulate him on a job well done, if he meant to unnerve.

The Element organization, and he and Kahr in particular, had suffered a blow in prestige when their other two members went missing three years before. The question of how, exactly, one manages to lose two high-ranking military officers came up often, and Hyuga was lucky to see his report published at all. It was dismissed before it ever reached the Research department.

Was it the treason or the content that had drawn the Minister's attention? He mentioned a collegue. Who on earth might have read his paper and been on speaking terms with Krelian?

He felt the Minister's gaze keenly, and tried to catch a glimpse of him in his peripheral vision. He knew the motion was noted. "I..." He grasped for the appropriate words, and for once they escaped him. Krelian had not asked any questions, but he seemed to be waiting for a response. "I intended to submit my report to the Research department, but it was dismissed at the second tier by the Finance Committee. In their words, it 'reaches too high for our limited resources to succeed.' Sir."

He could think of only one reason for the Minister to contact him personally about this, and he finally understood what Miang meant by 'butterflies in his stomach.' If this was what he suspected... if...

"I would have to agree with them. Gebler's research department does not have the resources or the funds for the projects you propose."

"Sir...?" He took a calculated risk, abandoning the strict correctness of his stance to glance at the Minister, search his eyes for some hint to what he intended. Surely this was not a man to waste his time stating facts they both knew already.

"At ease, Element." Krelian returned his look intently, with eyes a shade of blue very peculiar for the Gazel class. "I'm interested in the possibilities presented in your reserach paper, and your record tells me you have extensive experience in this branch of engineering. Are you interested in pursuing this?"

"Yes, sir," Hyuga answered a bit too quickly. He clamped his lips together and hoped he did not look as wide-eyed and hopeful as he felt. Gear and combat development was interesting, but not as fascinating as a good experiment could be. "My involvement in the Gebler project will be limited. I am sure it will leave me more than enough time to pursue this project."

"Certainly." Krelian deactivated the console with an elegant sweep of his hand and left Hyuga standing there to watch him approach a more extensive array at the back of the room. "That project has been postponed," he said over his shoulder. "It will not interfere with your work here at all."

He stared, watching the snap of the Minister's fingers over the keyboard. There had been no word of a postponement as of that morning. Anything was possible, of course, anything could have happened. It might have been this man's whim. He'd taken the time to see Hyuga personally, and such an honor was unheard of for one of his rank. Element or not, he would always be a Lamb in their eyes.

The Minister glanced back expectantly. "I need you to rest your hand here," he said, indicating a scanning panel on the console.

"O-of course." Hyuga hurried forward. Idiot. He held his hand stiffly against the panel until the scan was completed, trying not to let his hand shake and give him away. It was unnerving to stand so close to Krelian, under that sharp scrutiny. When he snuck a glance up, however, Krelian's attention was on the screen.

The stark illumination of the display confirmed what he'd only gotten a glimpse of before. It wasn't just the Minister's eyes that were darker; the pigment of his skin, even his hair, was a shade too dark. The shape of his eyes betrayed him.

The smarter Lambs in the work blocks, those who managed to gain favor and jobs that required them to journey to the Second Class level, had tried on occasion to pass themselves off as higher class citizens and escape. Slaves with pale coloring were especially suited for the deception, but the Gazel had their mark, as every race did. Krelian did not have it.

Hyuga held his breath, studying Krelian's face for something to confirm his suspicion. Maybe he was wrong - he was no expert on the racial characteristics of the Gazel, and who was he to complain if the Minister did not fit the template? They said he was five hundred years old, after all, and perhaps the Gazel of that era were different.

Krelian's eyes cut down to look at him, and Hyuga froze. "Do you have a question, Hyuga?"

He jerked his eyes down. "No sir." The familiar use of his name stung.

"I see."

Staring down at the console, he saw Krelian tap a key, and heard the hum of a printer. Then the Minister's hand slid from the console, and he turned so they faced each other - or would if Hyuga were not determined to keep his eyes on the floor. It was sheer idiocy to stare like that. He was lucky the other man didn't seem offended, though one never knew with that stiff, unchanging expression.

The pause stretched just long enough for Hyuga to begin breathing again before the Minister spoke, and the weight of his gaze was almost palpable. "Speak up. I have no use for an assistant who cannot speak his mind."

Assistant? That made him look up again, and he knew his eyes were wide, and his face beginning to flush. "I am sorry sir. I thought-" It didn't occur to him to lie until it was too late. "-you were Gazel."

The Minister's head tilted slightly to the side and his idle gaze sharpened, until Hyuga felt as if his skin had been cut away so Krelian could examine everything going on underneath. It occurred to him that such a fate wasn't entirely out of the question right now, and he suppressed a shudder.

"You're very observant." Krelian's expression softened, and his eyebrows lifted - the beignning of a smile, though it didn't go any farther. He pointed behind him, but Hyuga couldn't bring himself to follow the gesture. "You are to take these printouts down the hall to the first door on the right. They will manage your equipment assignments and provide you with the proper security clearance. After that you will be introduced to your new associates." It was fascinating how the Minister's eyes showed so much up close despite his dispassionate mask, the way they locked on a target and didn't let go. "They may give you a hard time, but they respect rank. Use it, if you must."

There were questions on the tip of Hyuga's tongue, and he tried to swallow all but the ones that related to his job. He had no desire to make that hint of a smile turn cold. "What will I be working on, and with whom, sir?"

Krelian looked away long enough to close the files on screen, and it felt as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. "Theta team has been assigned to your project. You will attempt to refine the Aerod system for more effective use in battle. If you succeed, there is another, more important project awaiting you."

Hyuga blinked at his dismissive tone. The Aerod system, isn't that... "I am sorry, sir." He bowed his head slightly, unsure if he was trying to show respect any longer, or just trying to hide. It was difficult to look up again. "Should that not be under the supervision of Gebler's research department?"

"Gebler's reserachers failed to produce satisfactory results." A pale eyebrow lifted. "It seemed a fortunate opportunity."

It seemed he was as much an experiment as the project he'd been assigned to. He hoped it would prove successful. "I understand, sir." Hyuga steeled himself against the Minister's gaze and gathered the printouts. "Thank you." He received no response other than a slow, measured nod, and took that as his cue to leave.

Uncomfortable as the Minister's attention was, he felt reluctant to leave it behind, and his mind scrambled for a question to ask. He was lucky to have gained such attention, so lucky in light of recent events, his heritage, Etrenank's ridiculous bureaucracy. It was almost surreal. Perhaps he would wake up and realize it had all been a dream, and life would make sense again.

Something the Minister mentioned earlier made him pause, hand stilling the moment before it touched the door panel. "May I ask one more question, sir?"

Krelian glanced away from his readouts, hand pausing on the keyboard. "Yes?"

"You said I was in line for a promotion. I was not aware there was a rank beyond Element." Gebler command was above everyone, but as far as Hyuga was aware, there had been no openings, and no scandals that might inspire a resignation. Certainly there was no room for a Lamb on the board, if one asked the rest of the staff. "What should I expect?"

The Minister raised his eyebrows with the same hint of smile he offered before, haloed by the light of the holo display. "Heaven."

...Heaven?

Chilled, Hyuga saluted and left the laboratory on unsteady legs. That was not the most reassuring response Krelian could have given. Perhaps it was meant to be like that.

Time would answer his questions, if the Minister would not.

This little story is very dependant on Hyuga's timeline. He became a Guardian Angel at twenty, which is when this story takes place. At some point in his career in Solaris he also worked on the Aerod system and several gears, including Wyvern and Alkanshel, which were the two 'alpha-class gears' I mentioned in the story. They were named, at first, until it occurred to me that it didn't matter.

I've wanted to write a scene between these two forever. It's obvious in the game that they knew each other well, even though they didn't interact much onscreen. Fun.