An Unexpected Call

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An Unexpected Call
Date of Cutscene: 13 September 2022
Location: Over Kían's estate, Kyshán
Synopsis: Further instructions from the Avian Powers that Be.
Cast of Characters: Kian

    The call, when it came, was of course routed through the kirát directly to Kían via mindport.  It didn't matter than Kían himself was a good three kilometers straight up, simply enjoying himself.

    As it turned out, it was a good thing he was about three kilometers straight up, since by the time he got control of himself, he was only two kilometers up.  {M-my princess Ría!  Forgive me for not being at home to take your call properly!  I-I-I was just out for a little flight, I can come right back and—}


    {That won't be necessary, Avatar of Kiáre,} Ría q'San 'sent through the artifice of advanced telepathic technology and delicately ignoring Kían's mental wince at the title, {This is only a call seeking… clarification.  Is it true that you have proven the basis of our origin legend?}


    Kían swallowed hard.  {I-I-I-I wouldn't call it proven, my princess,} he hedged, immediately taking refuge in scientific hairsplitting, {more that there appears to be evidence to support the idea that our people are a created race built upon a sibling species to the Terrans that disappeared from their planet tens of thousands of years ago.  I would not call it proven.  More of an area that requires more research.}


    There was the mental equivalent of a smile.  {Ever cautious, Avatar of Kiáre.  That's why so many of our people believe you are Avatar.}


    The Viceroy of Kyshán couldn't see it, but she could feel Kían's blink-blink-blink of surprise.  {With respect, my princess, I don't follow.  Because I don't want it, people believe it's true?}


    And conversely, though Kían couldn't see it, he could feel her amused smile.  {Of course.  You resist authority, so there is a feeling you can be trusted with it.  And this is something we have verified from multiple sources—do you think we haven't spoken with your family, your friends, your lovers?}


    Kían could only imagine Raká's head exploding at getting a message from the Imperium.  Raká was an incredibly conventional example of a citizen of the Imperium, a believer in the Gods in more than just a lip-service way, and almost as worshipful of the Imperial family.  Kían could easily imagine a call from the Viceroy of Kyshán as being delayed because someone had to wake Raká up from a dead faint.  Raká could only accept Kían's relationship with Gar and Terry, and his own 'demotion' to tavárik rather than tenár because he had to.  He would never gainsay the word of a Rhyták t'Kiáre, no matter the personal cost.  He believed.  {Does it really make no difference that I don't want it?} he asked with more desperation than hope.


    {If I disclaimed my Imperial heritage, would it make any difference to whether or not I am q'San t'Akiár?  I am who and what I am, Avatar of Kiáre.  And so are you.}


    Kían couldn't help himself.  {Even if I don't want it?}


    {I think I told you before, Avatar of Kiáre, that I would rather be off somewhere painting than being Viceroy of Kyshán?}


    {So you did, my princess,} Kían replied with a wince.


    There was no smugness in Ría q'San's mental tone.  {So you understand me.  The last time we spoke, I said you needed to learn the ways of Earth.  Now it is much more important.  You need to learn the why of Earth, how it is that our ancestors were chosen, and who did the choosing.}


    Kían swallowed hard.  {That is… a very large request.}


    {It is.  But it's not beyond the reach of a godling.}


    Kían swallowed even harder.