The Urimine Effect Page 8

in my city, but I've never heard of this Meregal database you're talking about."

  The official's eyes glazed over, "Where do you live?"

  "I live in Mentas, the city of my human father, and the city where I was left by my family, or whoever left me to the orphanage."

  "Are you aware that King Pen left for the city of Mentas with his wife very near the end of her pregnancy?"

  "Who's King Pen? I thought King Leo was the leading official here in the city?" Yin asked.

  The official wasn't listening, she had pulled back into the customs booth and was dialing in a number on a communicator. The driver was watching Yin steadily. Yin's paws swiped at her skirt nervously.

  The black feline stepped around, through a door in the booth, and came toward the car. The car door hissed as it opened and she sat down on the seat next to Yin.

  "My name is Menny by the way, nice to meet you Yin."

  "Why were you making that phone call?"

  Menny pulled the door closed. "Take us to headquarters please."

  "Sure thing boss." The driver said, pulling back onto the main road.

  Menny was wearing a dark blue uniform, not unlike an ancient human police uniform, with short sleeves and a one piece skirt that stopped about a foot and a half down her back legs.

  "I wanted to make sure you were the one they'd left behind in Mentas, and the others at headquarters wanted me to bring you in. You'll be let free afterwards, no matter what, but if our analysis proves you are King Pen's daughter, you might even leave with the king himself."

  "Is he a bad person though? Why would he leave his own daughter in a human settlement without telling anyone?"

  Menny shrugged, "Who knows? He is a good Meregal though. Everyone who knows him says he has more right to rule than king Leo."

  "Is he more qualified then?" Yin asked.

  "No," Menny said, "His heart is pure, even if his policies are not financially minded."

  "So he's a do gooder who ruled until King Leo took the throne because of financial reasons? When did this happen? Does it have something to do with King Leo's fundraising campaign?"

  "King Leo leads his political sphere with an iron fist, he's made it his duty to resupply the royal funds until King Pen becomes financially sound with his policies. Otherwise, yes, King Leo came to power just a few months ago. I suppose it is no wonder you haven't heard of this, the city of Jasper usually keeps to itself."

  "It sounds like politics work differently here than the rest of the world."

  "The Meregal species as a whole works its hardest to keep itself balanced against corruption. We've built an inclusive Utopia, if you believe in that kind of thing."

  "We're here." The cab driver said, pulling up in front of a large white building with blue awnings over the windows and doors. Yin grabbed her bag and pushed the car door open.

  "Thanks driver," Menny said, stepping out of the opposite side of the car, "Jasper City Security will pay for your services."

  "Much obliged Ma'am." He pushed a button on his arm rest, and the doors closed.

  "Yin," Menny said over the sound of the retreating hover taxi, "When we go inside, you will be asked questions about your past, important details of people and experiences, and you will be given a DNA scan to verify the validity of your lineage and your synthcard. Do you understand?"

  Yin nodded her head, "I understand."

  "Good," Menny opened the front door of the building and gestured for Yin to take the lead, "On the right here is the secretary of security, one of the many voluntary members of the J.C.S., or Jasper City Security, whichever way you want it. And, through this corridor straight ahead is the detainment cells, which we will not be visiting now, but if you want to, we can come back once the verification is complete."

  "Why do you lock people up?" Yin asked.

  "To help them understand." Menny flashed an ID badge at the secretary and began walking down a corridor to the left of the entrance.

  "I thought most people already understand, why would they have to come here?"

  Menny stopped at the end of the hall, in front of a blue door. "Some Meregals in our city cannot comprehend the difference between right and wrong, and so we educate them on the importance of doing right."

  "That sounds awfully suspicious to me." Yin said.

  "Why? Have the people of Mentas made the concept of change into a bad thing?"

  "I'm not sure, it's just, when most people think about change, they call it a bad thing when it is forced on others, even for their own benefit. They even make Utopia seem impossible, and it is shunned because no one is willing to recognize that it will not happen without change."

  Menny's ear perked up in an ironic way, "That seems contradictory, don't you think?"

  "I guess so."

  "Utopia is more than just an idea, it is a process by which lives are shaped. Without those who are willing to change, Utopia will always be nothing more than a dream. It takes real people with real desire to create a true Utopia." Menny shrugged, "I guess things aren't honestly perfect here, but the Meregal's are a good species." She turned and swiped her ID badge over a panel next to the door, and pushed once the light turned green. "This is the briefing room. You will sit in that chair, and you will be asked questions by several Security authorities who will be seated over there." She pointed to a chair behind a desk in the middle of the room, and another much larger, ornate table across the room.

  "Will you be staying for the interview?" Yin asked.

  Menny removed her paw from the door handle conspicuously, "I have to return to my post at the customs booth."

  "Are you coming back any time soon?"

  Menny smiled, "Maybe, no matter what, I'll come check up on you if that's what you'd like."

  "I would like that." Yin smiled brightly.

  "Well, until better times."

  "Until better times!" Menny left through the open door and closed it behind her with a click. Yin moved toward the chair in the center of the room, sat down behind the desk, and waited.

  It wasn't long until she heard the shuffling of feet from a hallway off behind the larger table, and sat up when several older Meregals took their respective places. An older brown striped Meregal whispered into the ear of a chocolate colored female who's eyes would flicker between Yin's face and some distant thought. The others at the table seemed to be making notes on glass screens implanted into the desk, writing their first impressions of her. The old striped Meregal moved back from the female, who turned to address Yin.

  "We've heard you live in Mentas and are not currently registered in our system. Is that so?"

  Yin shuffled in her seat, "I don't know about your system, but I do live in Mentas."

  "When were you born."

  "I think my synthcard should tell you that."

  "Can I see the synthcard?" She held her hand out to one of the other Meregals who placed the plastic card in her hand.

  "You were born on the eleventh of the third month in the year three-thousand and seventeen. Correct?" The chocolate colored Meregal asked, swiping the card across the screen on her desk.

  "I'm not sure, I was left at the orphanage after my birth. No one really knew when I'd been born." Yin said.

  "No one indeed." The female tapped out a few commands on her computer, and the hologram of a light brown Meregal filled the space between Yin and the others.

  "King Pen, is this the daughter you left in the city of Mentas?"

  The hologram seemed to study something on his side of the communication before responding, "I'm not sure. She has Tren's eyes."

  A few Meregals at the table began to whisper amongst themselves. The chocolate colored female simply nodded her head, "That is fine." She said. "We will inform you once the DNA test is complete." She moved to cut the communication.

  "Wait." King Pen said. "I want to speak to her alone."

  There was the bustle of exchanged impressions from the Meregals on the council.

  The female bow
ed her head, "I understand." She motioned for the others at the table to leave the room, closing the door behind her once they'd left.

  The hologram studied Yin more closely, looking deeply into the features on her face. "My wife had died, did you know that?"

  Yin shook her head.

  "She gave her life to birth five Meregal children, but only one of them lived."

  Yin stared hard at the floor.

  "A female, a queen amongst her kind. One of the few born to be a leader. Do you know why I left her?"

  Yin shook her head again.

  "To learn. To bring her to the world and let it teach her. There is more to life than I can provide, and I knew of no other way to teach her except by letting her go."

  "You must have loved her very much." Yin said.

  "Yes, she became everything to me once I returned home. I obsessed." King Pen drifted away in his thoughts until the door opened once again, letting the other Meregals back inside.

  "Yin," The chocolate Meregal said, "We will commence with the DNA test." She motioned for the old, striped Meregal to approach her in the center of the room. "He will scan a small clipping of hair from your foreleg and we will decide your lineage from there."

  The older Meregal clipped a small sensor onto her leg and waited until a small beep split the air. Yin lowered her paw when he was done.

  "The readings are coming up positive, the DNA test verifies that she is King Pen's daughter." The old Meregal spoke this to the others at the table.

  "Very well. I will be there shortly to pick her up." King Pen said. He pressed a button and the hologram shut off.

  "Yin, I hope this isn't a major inconvenience for you. If you were just coming to visit, you