TFS: Burnt Earth

CONNOR – 15 years ago

“What happens on strike three?” Molly presses.

“Extermination.”

“Phelan said Solathairs can’t be killed,” she contends.

“They can, but not by us. Not by anyone except Shane...or Sheelin.”

“Sheelin just absorbs their asses. No fucking doubts there. Fuck, she’s glorious,” she swoons. “What does Shane do?”

“He burns out their power.”

“Wouldn’t that make them human again?”

“No.” I shake my head. “Once they transition, all they are is the energy of their element. Their physical form is just a memory of what they used to be. They’re pure energy. Without the energy, they don’t exist.”

She blows out a low whistle. “That’d definitely fuck them all the way off.”

“Have you met him?”

“Only the once when he told Tyler to convert me.”

“Yeah,” I affirm. “He’s the boss of everything.”

“Other rules?”

“No mass conversions are permitted.”

“Like the Sentry?”

“No unauthorized mass conversions are permitted,” I clarify.

“They’re afraid of someone building an army.”

“Bullseye.”

“Has anyone ever done that?”

“There are some who try. They’re exterminated. Most of them anyway. There’s a rebel group in Buenos Aires, but the situation seems to be contained for now. The Tribunal lets it continue since it’s sort of healthy to have some competition, and they don’t feel they’re a threat. If they were, they’d be eliminated.”

“Not all threats are eliminated.” She fakes a cough. “KrazyPants Kristoph.”

“Apparently not.”

“They want total control.”

“They need total control,” I contend. “Can you imagine what a world would be like run by factions of Solathairs. There wouldn’t be a world left. We’d all starve to death.”

“Or worse, be led by people like KrazyPants, turning everyone into leftovers.”

“Hat trick bullseye. You’re on point.”

“Okay,” she agrees. “No public displays of power and no groups. What else?”

“No evidence.”

“No evidence?”

“They have to clean up their own messes. If they feed on humans, they have to do it in a calculated fashion. Nothing that can tie back to them.”

“If?”

“Yep, if. They don’t all feed on humans. Some do it in other ways. Like, this one group in the Amazon, they can convert animal energy. Some use donated blood. That’s a popular venue.”

“How do they use donated blood?”

“The human essence lingers in the blood when it’s taken. They extract the energy they need from the blood.”

“Doesn’t it fuck with the blood?”

“No, because when they give the blood back to someone else it mixes with their own blood. Sorts itself out.”

“So, if ever we were to go grocery shopping, a hospital would be an ideal store?”

My brow slams down. “Midnight snacking will get you exterminated.”

She rolls her eyes. “Solathairs can feed without making more Sumairs or killing?”

“Yep.”

“Then why are they allowed to?”

“Because humans are food to them,” I state.

She shrugs. “Same as them being food for us.”

This is the part I’m having the hardest time getting her to understand. “But we were humans.”

“We were, yes, but we aren’t anymore. While I don’t like the idea, I understand it. I accept it. It’s just the way it is.”

Guess I’m due to preach humanity to her again, though it’s sincerely like talking to a brick wall…or Sheelin. “There’s obviously another way.”

“Human life doesn’t have the same value. You could have the same argument with a vegan, who thinks it’s horrible to eat a cow. Same concept.”

I take a giant breath. I’m not praying for patience. I’m not an idiot. That shit invites more problems. You know, so you earn your patience.

She throws me a bone. “Okay, if Solathairs can syphon energy from human blood, why can’t we syphon the energy we need from Solathairs?”

“Solathairs don’t bleed, Molly,” I explain. “They’re pure energy.” It really isn’t about the blood at all, more the essence in that blood. Blood is only the carrier.

“What if we just licked them?” she suggests. “Like a lollipop.”

My brow furrow deepens. That thing’s rivalling Mariana Trench now.

“Any more rules?” she deflects.

“Another is they aren’t allowed to stay in one place too long.”

“Because they don’t age, and that’d get complicated to explain,” she theorizes.

“Yep, and if they convert someone into a Sumair, they’re responsible for their creation.”

“No shit?” Her eyes widen. “You break it, you bought it?”

“If they turn someone into a Sumair, it’s their responsibility to make sure they stay out of trouble.”

“If they make a Sumair, what happens if the Sumair starts killing Solathairs in transition?”

“Extermination.”

“So, in reality, unless they figure out some way to feed their creation, they’ll both die.”

“Pretty much,” I confirm. “That’s why most of them just kill them and get it over with.”

“But how would the Tribunal even know they’re feeding on the fledglings?” It’s a legitimate question, albeit a totally self-serving one. She’s looking for an in to sneak snacks. One track mind, this girl.

“They tag them all. They know where they are at all times, hence the brand. It’s also a tracking device.”

“Yeah, the people leaving here are full-fledged Solathairs,” she volleys. “I’m talking about the ones in transition, pre-brand.”

“No idea. They come in transitional, and they leave completely changed.”

“Right, they practically force them to complete their transition here.”

“I guess.”

“What if they transition on Earth?”

“Some do,” I report.

“How do we know where they are? We’d need to know in order to bring them here.” Fuck, she’s still trying to pry something out of me, without directly asking how to find the fuckers so she can sneak snacks.

“The Scholars.”

“So, the Tribunal knows a Solathair is in transition, thanks to the Scholars, but what if they didn’t know, or if the Scholars kept it from them?”

“It’s possible they keep stuff hidden,” I hedge. “That wouldn’t mean the Tribunal doesn’t know about them though. It just means they’d have to go looking instead of having the location handed to them.”

“How would they know?”

“They create them, Molly.”

“They aren’t just born into existence. Solathairs are created?”

I level two grimace, and she tips her head to the side, surveying me. That Senate decision forum was not a good time. “They know where the Solathair will be since they plant the life seed in that person.”

“What the hell is a life seed?”

“All new Solathairs come from the Tribunal leaders. They like…” Fuck, we’ve reached level three grimace now. The lips are pulled back, the teeth are showing, and my throat is bobbing the shit out of my Adam’s apple while I swallow down bile. “They condense their energy and give it to people.”

“They shack up with a woman, get her pregnant, and a Solathair baby is born? Did no one ever have ‘the talk’ with you, Connor?”

“I know where babies come from, Molly. That’s not how it happens with Solathairs.”

“Then how does it happen?”

“I told you. They like...plant the seed inside the baby. The baby is born.”

“Wouldn’t that little bit of energy do to the kid what it does to us? Wouldn’t it just make a Sumair?”

“The seed is basically a landing stone. The hard coating dissolves over time. Fuses with the baby. Voilà Solathair.”

“What you’re telling me is they essentially use humans as incubators. Is there a nursery here somewhere?”

I swipe my hand over my face. Fuck, I know where this question is headed. She thinks landing stones are fucking delicious. She’s wondering what a fresh stone with human meat tastes like. Would it be like veal or lamb? “No, they leave them with their family until it’s time for them to transition, then we scout them.”

“For a group so set on control, I’m surprised they don’t want to raise them. If they did, maybe they wouldn’t have such a low success rate of worthy inductees.”

“Maybe you should suggest that,” I remark, “but can you imagine any of us raising a bunch of babies in a place like this?”

“The idea is preposterous,” she admits. “I’d eat the shit out of all those fuckers before they reached toddler size.”

Fuck. I have no words to even begin responding to that.

“What about our rules?”

“We only have one rule,” I declare. “We follow orders.”