Festive Weekend

It all started around Wednesday. I was going through some of the Midian City Medical Center's older files from its mainland affiliates. As the hospital is now run by Ashagi, the majority of World Union medical records transferred to the facility would need to be send back to the mainland. It's amongst these miscellaneous files that I noticed one on Tanner.

The description matched, list of symptoms and mental problems. It may have been brought to the hospital after a visit, but what struck me was the date. His birthday was on Friday, the day before my wedding. Of course I wanted to do something nice for the little redhead. He's since being a respected medic in his own right, though he's still learning to deal with his fears and emotions. As Ayr put it in a text to the pack, Tanner does a lot around the Den, but hardly gets the thanks he deserves.

Party time!

We threw Tanner a rather late night surprise fling in the den. Fauna, Gage, Brekka, newly returned Mitka, and little Arwen to lure her uncle to the Den. He had a few surprises for us as well.

Spots! Tanner turned Bengal on us!

Okay, the spots were tattooed and the tail was dyed.

But it was in honor of his hybrid mother.

Everyone ate and drank and had a good amount for fun before the night was up. A constant question was raised with me however...."Are you nervous at all?"

How to answer that? I'm nervous sure that things go well and without a hitch, but am I really calm about the whole thing? Marriage is a commitment to dedicate one's loyalty to their would be spouse. The signal to the world that "Yes! This is my mate!" My doubts and fears about just who Adagio is and what she's capable of do scare me...but not enough to keep me from making that proclamation for all to hear.

And then came the day of reckoning.

Our wedding day.

And...Release!

I forget how free I am sometimes. I'm not running for my life from soldiers looking to enslave me. I have an education, even pending certification backed by one of the largest corporations in the world. I get paid an impressive salary, both as head researcher and as an administrator in the hospital. I live well. I eat well.

I am owned, but that is for public appearances. I didn't see the harm in a collar until this Sunday evening when I met with a client and his pet. I think I've met her before, but the collared feline hybrid seemed happy and content with her owner. I don't doubt that he treats her well. The man was clearly concerned for her health during the procedure, but there were times he spoke of her as a thing rather than a person.

Ya think he'd notice he was paying a hybrid to do this stuff...

Simple things like petting her head, saying coaxing words of praise when she did good, and signaling for her to stand in certain places made me wonder if I was working on a dog or a woman. Granted, I view hybrids as humans just as much as as any normal human I meet. I was all human when I was born; ears and a tail doesn't change that. I don't get that from Adagio, and part of me is happy about it.

More proof of my freedom, and more to the point Midian's freedom, came at the hands of a late night dance protest on the steps of the former MPD building yesterday. I came upon it by mistake oddly enough. I didn't follow it fully, but there was a lot of  screams and chants to the tune of "Down with the UAC! Down with City Hall!"

It's beyond me how the Patriarch and Midian Royal family side with the UAC, but I was more interested in dancing. Yes, I said dancing.

And you weren't high or drunk...

That's the scary part.

There was a boom box blaring tunes of revolution and not taking crap from the government, but at times, I was dancing entirely to a tune of my own. I felt amazingly relaxed after a few minutes of singing and dancing along with coworkers and friends. Even got a few dance partners as the night shifted to morning.

There was a bit of heated debate about the role the monarchy played in allegedly siding with the UAC and bringing them into the city to attack and kill the Judges. politics aren't any of my business. Some were for the protest and yelled along. other watched from the side, scratching their heads at how the hell dancing was going to kick the UAC out of the city-state.

I woke up refreshed this morning after I went to bed, my heels still hurt a tad though. but my mood's improved greatly. A lot of stress and worry I had building was let out that night. Be it Ayr's acceptance to be my witness for the wedding or simple letting it loose for once for a while in the middle of the street.

Love thy Father. Fear thy Spouse

What do you do when the person you love is the person you now fear most?

Seriously, there's no manual for that.

If you love a person, surely it means you feel safe with them...

...you can trust them, right?

I'm not even sure anymore. This relationship, be it marriage in some eyes and a union in others, is starting to stress me out. I'm not sure who it is I call my wife anymore...with all the surprises and whatnot. Normally a shock in the relationship would be cheating, wanting a divorce, committing a crime on the side - normal things!

But this is nothing close to a normal relationship. She's a telepath with good intentions or so she says. She's very confident in the World Union's government. And worse still, she's not just favoring the UAC, she's friends with them. To what extent is what I find myself asking. How close is she to the UAC for her to be so sure that I'd be safe within its totalitarian walls?

Now I'm afraid to tell her anything for fear it might reach the UAC's ears. But that's not fair. She's always kept secrets from me just as I keep secrets from her. Our work forbids such outward release of sensitive material. Even within this journal...I don't reveal much of what goes on in Ashagi or the hospital. I maintain different loyalties to a lot of conflicting organizations. This doubt stemmed from a discussion with Adagio about where to raise our boy. We agreed Midian is no place safe for a child, but the thought of raising him in a society where anything non-human, including his mothers, would be viewed as worth less than a worm - I couldn't do it.

That's when Adagio made her views of the World Union a bit more clear, and I sided with the free views of Midian City...or city state. We have a Patriarch or King now, to keep the UAC from legally taking over. He's not exactly throwing his royal weight around, but how well do I know this man that I defend?

How well do I know the Patriarch of Midian?

New Year, New Identity, New Worries?

My visit to Japan, more specifically to Tokyo and nearby cities was hectic at best. The Japanese celebrate the holidays of Christmas and New Years Day differently, but it's still beautiful. I got to wear traditional clothing, enjoy glorious spreads of food, and present my new drugs to the company heads.

It wasn't all rosy though...

Yeah. I was required to undergo several aptitude tests to assure the company leaders that I was capable of the position I was given. With no official education past high school or so and a possible backlash from making me an orphan for no fucking reason, the corporates had plenty of making up to do. They also wanted to make sure they had plenty to turn on me in case I acted on those revenge urges of mine. My entire life was analyzed; blood and tissue samples were taken; the specs on my eyes and right arm were were scoped out; and I'm sure half those physicals were uncalled for.

Human rights be damned.

Sprout a genetically induced tail and ears in a lab,

and suddenly they spring a former hybrid experiment analysis clause on ya.

You KNOW they made that up.

Of course they did. They want fresh dirt. Outing the fact that I'm a hybrid is old news, so they need something deeper. I can trust that the black market drug creation won't be used against me...at least unless the company wants to be taken down by the World Union with me. I do have to watch my back more closely than ever though. Not to protect against enemies of Ashagi, but from Ashagi itself.

I did learn about myself and my parents however. I now have names to match to the faces I struggled so hard to remember and keep in my broken memories.

Marion and Ashley Dubois, ages 35 and 38.