[Fox III] [Demonia Prison] General Fox sat in the chair next to his son’s cradles holding the sleeping Malice while his brother, Mischief, lay in his own cradle watching his father. The three had settled into a pleasant routine and Fox didn’t want it to end, but he knew the two weeks were almost over. Malice was trying to gnaw on his father’s finger in his sleep, Fox knew this meant Malice would be hungry when he woke up, but Fox had learned much over the last two weeks and had his bottle sitting on the table ready. Mischief was being quiet, his arms reaching out trying to explore the world, but his eyes were always so alert, watching everything that was happening. Fox had begun experimenting several days ago to determine just how alert and aware Mischief was. He began by mixing the formula for the bottles while Mischief watched, and then offering the infant the wrong bottle. Mischief had never been fooled once, he always knew if it was the wrong bottle and would refuse it. Fox then tried switching their blankets and Mischief would become fussy until the correct blanket was returned. Fox was amazed that the two infant boys could show so much individual personality so young. Malice yawned and started to wiggle in his father’s arms, he was waking and would be hungry. Fox had the bottle ready and the boy fed greedily. The infant only took ten minutes to finish off the bottle and Fox was about to give Mischief his turn when the door to the cell opened and two Tarlocks stepped into the room, the Lady Tempest followed. One of the Tarlocks stayed near Lady Tempest and the other approached carrying a Tanto; the short, but deadly blade of the Samurai. The Tarlock carried the blade across his hands and stopped several feet from the General. The General pulled Malice into a tight embrace and held his hand up in a gesture for the Tarlock to stop. “Not in front of the boys, I’ll go peacefully,” the General pleaded. “I won’t resist, just not here, don’t make them see this.” For a brief moment the General felt as if he were in two places at once. He looked down at Mischief, the infant’s face was covered in sweat. Lady Tempest saw it as well and understood, even if the General was still trying to figure it out. Mischief had felt the danger and was trying to jump his father to safety. Lady Tempest nearly cried at that point, the bonding between the General and his sons was complete. The double vision ended and Fox looked at the odd expression on his son’s face, he would swear that Mischief was trying to say he was sorry that he couldn’t save his father, then Mischief and Malice both disappeared. Fox looked through the doorway to his room, both infants were laying quietly on the bed. Lady Tempest also looked through the door at the remarkable infants. “He felt danger and tried to save all three of you,” said Lady Tempest. “Not being able to do so, he made a decision, a hard one but correct, and moved his brother to safety.” “There was no need to frighten them,” said Fox. “I will go quietly; they do not need to see their father executed in front of them.” Fox was growing angry. “I am not here to execute you, General,” the Lady Tempest put the infants out of her mind for the moment and turned to finish her task with the General. “Then why would you frighten them like that?” asked the General. “You are their mother, yet I’ve not seen you in here caring for their needs.” “General, you are trying to compare me to a mammalian species,” said Lady Tempest. “I am not, the males of our species care for the children, each Hatching Mother will give birth to millions, it is our responsibility to ensure each one has been given the genetic disposition to carry out their place in our society.” “Why did you bring that blade in here if I am not to be executed?” asked Fox. “You may yet be executed, General,” said Lady Tempest. “You must answer for the murder of the crew of the Daraian medical relief ship, the Sandpiper.” “The blade?” the General persisted. “Your House has paid for mercy under the Law of Respite,” answered the Tarlock holding the Tanto. “We are fulfilling our end of the bargain by providing you with the means to receive mercy, take it.” The Tarlock held the blade out to the General. “You took advantage of Captain Reox?” the General accused. “Of course we did,” answered Lady Tempest. “He approached us with the deal, you should have taught him not to try to make deals with Demonians.” The General held his hands up to reject the blade, “I will not commit Seppuku.” “As you wish, the terms of the agreement to offer mercy have been fulfilled, take the blade away, Flare,” The Tarlock left the room with the Tanto. “How much did Captain Reox pay you?” asked Fox. “The Imperial Treasury,” Lady Tempest smiled. General Fox was furious and it showed on his face, “You are very wealthy now,” said the General. “No, General,” Lady Tempest held her hand out, “Char, the books.” The second Tarlock still in the room laid two thin blue books in her hand. The General recognized them, they were bank account books from the Bank of Kitsune. “For all you have learned, General,” said Lady Tempest. “You know nothing of Demonians. The sum of the treasury has been split equally into two accounts, one in Malice’s name, and one in Mischief’s name. They will legally be able to begin withdrawing money from the accounts once they turn thirteen, I trust you will safeguard these books for them until then.” The Lady Tempest handed the bank books to the boy’s father. Fox’s anger evaporated and he felt the deepest shame, it was what he should have done himself and hadn’t thought to do. The idea of a Kitsune father giving his sons an inheritance was too alien of a concept for a Kitsune. The sons and daughters of a Kitsune House had to seize the House and it’s treasury from any siblings when the Lord of the House passed away. “I apologize, my lady,” said Fox. “I think I better understand the role of the Hatching Mothers now, but what will happen if I do not pass the tests you plan for me or if I am found guilty and executed?” “I will remove the books from the body before I roll your corpse into a lava pool,” the Lady Tempest grinned evilly, “and then I will give them to the Tarlock I assign to care for the boys.” “You are a terrifying woman, my lady,” said the General. The Lady Tempest and the remaining Tarlock returned to the doorway and paused for a moment. “Bring your sons and report to the Temple archives, General,” said Lady Tempest and then turned, leaving the door open, and walked out into the tunnel. “What?” General Fox rushed to the door and looked out, but Lady Tempest and the Tarlock were already gone. “Where is that?” The General asked the empty tunnel. General Fox retrieved his sons and stepped through the open door, then turned and looked back at the room he had spent the last two weeks with his sons. He would miss this room, despite the lack of sleep and the screaming infants, this had been the most peaceful time of his life. He followed the tunnel the direction Lady Tempest had gone until he reached an open iron door, there were Demonians walking in the tunnels beyond the door. Fox stepped through the door and waited, the Demonians didn’t even bother to glance at him. “Well, which way?” Fox asked his infant sons. Malice tried biting his fathers arm. Fox was holding Malice in his left. “Okay, left it is.” The General followed the tunnel until it reached a four way intersection and stood wondering which way he should go next. The temperature in the tunnel was warm but tolerable and the air breathable. Why would they bother making the atmosphere breathable just for me? Fox stood in the middle of the intersection trying to figure out what to do next. He tried asking several of the passing Demonians for directions, they would say something in Demonian he wouldn’t understand and then continue on. Fox didn’t speak enough Demonian to understand and apparently not all Demonians spoke the Imperial standard language of Kitsune. Malice was getting fussy and kept trying to bite his fathers arm. Fox tried bouncing him a bit but the infant just got crankier. He was trying to shift the two infants in his arms when a group of seven young Demonians, no more than 14 or 15 years old stopped and watched him. Fox tried to smile pleasantly but Malice was starting to cry and kick, he was thinking about returning to the room when two of the young Demonians approached him. The first young Demonian was larger and might be a male, and the other behind him was smaller, Fox thought it might be a female but determining Demonian gender, especially with the younger ones is difficult. The Demonians’ gender wasn’t conveniently located on the outside like mammals, they were reptilian and externally they all looked the same to the General. The young male Demonian spoke to the General but he couldn’t understand what the Demonian boy was saying. Fox was trying to give Malice his pacifier and calm the infant. The Demonian boy spoke again and then stepped forward and snatched the pacifier out of his hand before he could try to give it to Malice again. The young female Demonian stayed behind the boy but spoke up before Fox could protest. “Emerald,” the Demonian girl pointed at herself. “You, wrong, bad, come.” Fox shook his head, “I’m sorry, I can’t come with you, I have to be somewhere.” The other five boys spread out around the General, their eyes were flashing red, the way Demonians eyes did when they were angry. Fox didn’t need any trouble and wasn’t sure what had got this young group so upset. “Emerald, law,” said the female. “You, come, bad.” The Demonian boys closed in around the General, their tails were low to the ground and Fox knew the danger of that. These Demonians were very upset about something. Well, he had no idea which way to go, so one direction was as good as the next. “Okay, lead the way,” the General nodded and tried smiling to diffuse the situation. The female stepped back and turned, facing one of the tunnels, the first male that had tried speaking to him took a position in front of her and the other boys fell into column behind them with the General and his sons in the middle. The General recognized this immediately. He had been a soldier since he was four years old and knew a marching formation when he saw one. This was not a random group of Demonians, this group had drilled together for years to achieve the unison of movement they were displaying. The General followed the group while Malice continued to wiggle and cry, he was getting upset about something, but Mischief seemed perfectly content. Apparently he didn’t sense any danger from this group. They followed the tunnels and made several turns until they reached and arched doorway and entered. Fox knew what the room was, it was a Hatching Chamber, though a much smaller one than the first one he had seen, there were a dozen cradles in the room but they all were empty. The group stopped at one of the cradles and the boys spread out around the cradle, the female approached Fox and held her hands out for Malice. Fox took a step back but the girl followed him, her arms still out for Malice. “Bad, give, law,” said the girl. Fox looked at Mischief, he was still just as content and wasn’t displaying any signs of agitation. Mischief wasn’t sensing danger, he just gurgled happily. “Are you sure, son?” Mischief’s eyes locked on his fathers. Those eyes, so alert, so aware. Fox was sure there had never been an infant like Mischief before. “If you say so,” and the General held the crying Malice out to the girl. The girl took Malice and laid him in the cradle and took a place at the head of the cradle, Fox tried to follow but one of the boys stopped him and pointed at a circled carved on the ground at the foot of the cradle. Fox had seen the ornate carvings on the walls and floors all through the tunnels, he understood that they weren’t decorations, each carving must mean something. The boys were also standing inside circles around the cradle. The female began barking commands and the boys began examining Malice, each boy examining Malice in a different way. Fox understood, this was a medical exam, these children were examining his son. The third boy looked into his son’s mouth, and said something Fox assumed must be his report. The boy finished but instead of continuing around the circle of boys, the first boy examined Malice again, then the exam picked up again at the fourth boy and finished once each boy had performed his examination. The female barked a series of commands and the boys pressed buttons on the side of the cradle he hadn’t known were there. Drawers and control panels opened and the boys pulled a variety of medical instruments from the drawers. “Now just hold on there...” Fox began. “I suggest you do not interfere, General,” a voice interrupted. Fox spun around, a Tarlock was standing behind him. “What’s going on?” “That is a Hatching Lounge and the female at the head of the cradle is a Hatching Mother,” said the Tarlock. “She would not have stopped you unless she or one of her Lounge had detected something wrong with your son.” “They are only children,” Fox exclaimed. “I assure you, General,” said the Tarlock. “Each one of them has their first medical degree, they were bred for this and have been training since they broke their shells.” “These children are doctors?” General Fox wasn’t sure what to make of this. “The female is a Pediatrician, the first boy and leader of the group is a Trauma Surgeon, the second boy is an Epidemiologist, the third is a Neonatologist, the fourth is a Geneticist, the fifth a Pediatric Intensivist, and the sixth a Pediatric Psychiatrist.” “How is this possible, you’re just...” the General stopped, realizing what he was about to say. “Filthy lizards,” said the Tarlock. “Is that what you were about to say?” “I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean that.” “Yes you did, General,” Lady Tempest stepped into the chamber. “I am ashamed,” said Fox. “We do not expect you to shed thousands of years of bigotry in two weeks,” said Lady Tempest. “Only to recognize that it exists, you will spend the rest of your life trying to shed your bigotry.” Fox looked back at the child doctors examining his son. Lady Tempest said something in Demonian and they began applying some type of medicine to Malice’s mouth. “There was a scientist several years ago on Kitsune that theorized the Demonians were capable of genetic memories,” said Fox. “He was discredited for heresy.” “As I said General,” explained the Tarlock. “They were genetically bred for this, but having the genetic knowledge does not mean they have the maturity or understanding to use it, it takes years of training to bring it out in them. They are not yet permitted to administer medication or perform surgery without their adult counterpart being present, if that makes you feel better.” “What is wrong with my son?” “You got the pacifiers mixed up and were giving Malice his brother’s pacifier, it caused sores inside his mouth.” Fox sighed. “That explains the biting. Are all Tarlocks doctors?” “No, only the Hatching Lounges are, most of us are nurses, nutritionists, hygienists, and other medical support professions.” Lady Tempest walked over to the cradle and inspected the application of the medicine to Malice. “The girl tried to tell me something, I didn’t understand what she was saying,” said Fox. “She was trying to tell you that you had made a mistake and that Demonian Law states that if a Hatching Mother wants to examine a child, you have to comply.” “I understand,” said Fox. “She has also given you a citation for a level one neglect offense, you will have to attend an eight hour parenting course.” “I will attend gladly,” said Fox. “Was this the test?” “No, Emerald and her Lounge accidently found you and took over, they are just that good.” “Why did you send me out here alone?” “I intended you to discover something,” said Lady Tempest. “Not all my plans work out the way I want them to. Your sons will stay here with this Lounge, they need vaccinations and Emerald will take care of it.” “Where are we going?” “You will see, come along Fox,” said Tempest. “That’s the first time you’ve called me by my name,” said Fox. “Are you starting to like me?” “Don’t make me have Flare throw you in a lava pool,” said Tempest. Fox looked at the large Demonian Tarlock that was following them and wasn’t sure if she was joking. “Yes, my lady.”