Divine Evolution (2021 Watty Awards Shortlist)

CHAPTER ELEVEN

With Reeva leading her through the Ministry compound, Cyann was given clothing to replace the shift—a long flowing skirt and shapeless top with sleeves long enough to cover her hands, again all in white—and fed a decent meal. And after she'd forcibly calmed herself and managed to get a handle on her wildly swinging emotions, the training came next.

Cyann had always loved learning, but after spending time training with Reeva, she revised her opinion.

The training was both intense and frustrating. It was just the two of them facing each other in a small room with beige walls, no windows, a few chairs, and a small table between. There were no other Chosen but her; the rest were all still in the immersion chambers. Reeva drilled her relentlessly on how to retrieve the data implanted in her brain during her time in the immersion tank, but gave her no opportunity to understand what it meant. Cyann was told to visualize a key opening a lock. This in turn would pull up something called a menu. Then she searched through the subject headings, eventually narrowing her search to the data she needed. Over and over she did this, until her head ached. It was a cumbersome way to think, but until her mind integrated the new memories, Reeva assured her it was the easiest way to get to way she needed. Full integration would take ten to fifteen days. Then, everything would flow to her naturally. Unfortunately, Cyann only had one day to literally get her thoughts in order before they left for the spiral.

With Reeva's guidance, she discovered she knew the language of the people on this distant world, how she was supposed to interact with them, and had a general understanding of their culture and society. However, it was one thing to know it and another to use it. She was supposed to guide these people, but it was hard to think about giving anyone guidance or be any sort of leader when she'd spent her life being insignificant and overlooked.

When she thought about it that way, the whole Chosen process made her angry—which only increased her frustration and made the training more difficult. She'd been ostracized by her village, and she would carry those emotional scars for the rest of her life. But perhaps worse was knowing that those left behind would never change or learn from their mistakes. Their lives were founded on lies, and they would never know the truth of their existence. They were bred to be tools for the Dragoron to use, and that was all they would ever be. If Niko hadn't Chosen her, she'd still be one of them, toiling away until she died and never knowing she could have had more, could have been more. That bothered her more than she could adequately put into words, depressing her.

"I need to stop," Cyann said, head in her hands hours later. "I'm so exhausted, I don't think I can call up the menu anymore."

"We can't stop. You need to master this today," Reeva pushed.

"I know but my head hurts and everything is a blur. If I understand this right, if I need help, I'll be bound to Niko and can ask him. I can reach him through the link forged from the second mark."

"You'll be able to call on his aid, yes, but you can't rely on him entirely. There are situations where you'll need to handle things on your own. Before House Edrigu was stripped of its holdings, he was Primary to hundreds of Chosen on nearly fifty civilized worlds. You may not be his only Chosen for long."

"Fifty worlds?" Cyann echoed faintly. Maybe she wasn't that special after all. "Why so many?"

Reeva's voice drifted off and she shook her head. "Each new world that a House introduces into the Galactic Homogeny increases their prestige, and they become its caretaker. If that world flourishes, so does the House. They control the flow of goods and resources, and wealth can increase exponentially. If the world fails and its people are judged as unsalvageable, the world is shut out of the Galactic Homogeny. In worse case scenarios, the world is destroyed."