Sunni was being led down a hallway by a young necromantress witch named Bernice. He disliked the way that her black hair kept bouncing about in front of him. He found it distracting, and his current business was too important for distractions.
The Tree of Life Genetics Lab had sent him on this mission to collect information about the smallest branch of the Invisible Trinity. For years the lab had managed to go on in their own peaceful manner, conducting experiments, gathering data, and otherwise being quiet and peaceful in their secretive, communal living. They had always known of the existence of the "Network of Witches", but had never really put much thought into it-that is, until now.
Recently the Order DS had allowed them conduct a few controlled experiments, using their own members' genetics. Apparently, the TLGL was not the only group curious about the scientific source of supernatural powers.
The order DS didn't know about it either. They wouldn't be asking them to conduct such experiments if they already knew the answers.  (The amusement this had caused among the communes had to be carefully kept secret from the ambassadors of the Order.)
However, during research there was one fact that confounded them utterly. They inspected the genes of the Order's members carefully and managed to isolate the gene responsible for supernatural abilities. But upon closer examination, they found that the gene seemed broken, split off, like a piece was missing from it.
They looked through all available genetic samples to see if the other piece could be found in the Order's gene pool, but were unable to find it. So, because it was known that the Network of Witches and the Order came from common ancestors, in blood as well as history, the decision had been made that they must look into the Networks gene pool to see if the missing piece could be found there.
The difficulty was in finding the Network members. Not much was known of them. They made a point of trying to separate themselves from the world around them, and this would make it difficult to find them… or so they thought. When asked for assistance, the Order's ambassador was willing to provide the necessary information.
"The Network of Witches is a lot like a single-celled organism," the ambassador had said. "They live upon the earth, expanding and contracting, sometimes concentrated in one or two main areas and closely knit together, and sometimes spread out thinly, encompassing nearly the entire globe. Generally, they complete a full cycle every seven years.. (The Witches have an infatuation with the numbers five and seven.)
"I haven't been paying close attention to their politics, but from what little knowledge I have, I would estimate that they are now spread out over sixty or seventy percent of the earth, by surface area. Still, it won't be easy to find an appointment for you to talk with anyone in the Network. Most of the witches are hostile to outsiders. Although… I think my colleague, Adam, knows a member of the Network who is both a high-ranked witch, and friendly to the Order. She may be willing to give you a genetic sample to work with."
That was what the ambassador had said, but he obviously did not understand that they needed much more than a sample from one specimen, who was apparently an oddball among her kind. They required several good samples from fairly typical specimens so that they could get a good feel for the overall population.
The TLGL had already encountered this problem before when the Order thought they could expect to see relevant results after giving the Tree only ten genetic samples, when their population was some seven hundred active members, plus the imprisoned traitors and criminals, several dozen invalids on life-support, and a few unusual cases who had to be kept in isolation. And it seemed that the Order had not learned much after their previous error. They obtained the contact information of the witch mentioned to them, and made arrangements to meet her.
Now, Sunni found himself wishing that he had not shown so much interest in the mystery of the missing link, so that he would not have been chosen for this assignment, and he would not be having to put up with Bernice.
At the end of the hallway, Bernie stopped and turned to face him. "Now, be very careful with Shana. She's not always the easiest to get along with, and you don't want to get on her bad side."
Sunni gave Bernice a perplexed frown. "But I thought you two were related. Is she not your…"
"My cousin, yes." She flipped her hair, running a hand through it. So girlish, Sunni thought.
"But just because we share blood doesn't mean we share personalities. We live in two very different worlds."
Figurative language again. The Tree's community didn't typically use figurative language. A scientific community like theirs preferred to say what they meant, and reduce misunderstandings. It was difficult for Sunni to adjust to hearing one thing, and interpreting another. "Do your people not look into behavioral patterns when selecting mates? I realize that most people don't look into genetic consequences in mating, but ignoring such things tends to lead to unsteady partnerships."
Bernice's dark violet eyes widened. "In most parts of the world, people look for much more than similar behaviors in a partner. Your kind are some of the most clinical people I've ever met!"
"I was told that the Network witches were different from the rest of the world, even as we are."
"But we're not like the teil-jeel, either. We rarely mate for things as provincial as love or partnership." Sunni observed that there was a frown on her pretty little face as she spoke. As though she disagreed with the attitudes of her people. "We mate almost exclusively to produce strong, powerful offspring, Witches who can be counted on to contribute much to the Network. We don't really care about the personality of our mates, or the potential personality of our offspring. We figure that we can deal with any oddballs that come up." A hint of a smirk flashed across her mouth. "Until I popped up, that is."
She cast a quick glance at the door behind her. Then she turned back and said, "Be sure that you don't ask Shana any questions like that. She can be pretty touchy." Her face became serious. "Now, remember: Be very careful with your words, don't openly question her, don't tell her anything unless she asks you first, never interrupt her, don't ever contradict or argue with her, and above all, respect her authority."
Bernice opened the door and allowed Sunni to step in to the living room.. It looked like a fairly typical family sitting room, other than having very little furniture. As soon as Sunni stepped through, the door closed behind him, leaving him at the mercy of the room's occupants: Three men placed at random around the room, and one woman seated in a chair facing him.
"Sit down," the woman snapped, indicating the chair across from her.
Sunni obeyed her, taking into account the brittle quality of her voice, the sour look on her face, how she looked at him like he was a distasteful bug found on her plate.
Sunni knew that it was Shana's right to speak first, and he was more than willing to wait for her. In the meantime, he took his opportunity to study his surroundings. One of the men was standing behind Shana's right shoulder, observing Sunni with a bland face, completely devoid of emotion, rather like Sunni's own face. Another of the men was sitting in a windowsill behind and to the left of Shana, and was observing him with the same dry face as his companion. The last one, who Sunni could see out of the corner of his right eye, was reclined on the floor watching them. So I'm on display, Sunni thought.
After a long silence, which might have been uncomfortable were Sunni not so passive, Shana said, "So this is teil-jeel's errand boy." She spoke in a petulant voice, showing obvious dislike for the circumstances. "You're the plainest thing I've seen since the mischief we played on that Amish community a while back."
He ignored the remark and pulled a notebook and pencil out of his briefcase. "My name is Sunni," he said.
"I didn't ask what your name was!" she snapped, leaning forward in her chair, a bit.
Strike one, thought Sunni. 'Don't tell her anything unless she asks you first.' Bernice wasn't kidding. He brought to mind all of the other warnings Bernice had given him, bowed slightly in his chair. "I beg you forgive me, ma'am," he said in a subservient tone.
Her anger cooled and she eased back in her chair, easing her hands on the armrests as though her seat was a royal throne.. The action served to increase her imperious demeanor. Like the goddess, Hera, He thought. And I'd wager that she's at least as vengeful. It definitely won't serve to anger her.
She glanced disdainfully at Sunni as though trying to intimidate him. But it did not succeed. He had been trained to recognize human emotion, but not to respond instinctively. Even if he wanted to, it would be difficult. He had been bred for stiff facial muscles and slow emotional responses. It would take something more impressive than a goddess-like witch's presence just to extract something remotely similar to a grimace from him.
After what she deemed to be an appropriate pause, Shana asked, "So why have you come here, Sunni?" The way she said his name would indicate that she despised it… if not for Sunni's suspicion that much of her behavior was merely an act. He made a note of it in his notebook.
Shana shot a dirty look at the notebook. This time it was probably sincere. He had been told that humans rarely like being studied in an informal setting. "I have come here at the command of my superiors."
When he said nothing more, Shana flared up again. "You know what I meant!"
Sunni opened his mouth to give a retort, but then remembered Bernice's words. Don't argue with her. He closed his mouth again. So we go by meanings, not by words. That makes this a little easier. "We would like your help in an experiment of ours."
"What kind of help? And what kind of experiment?"
"Which question would you like me to answer first?"
"Don't play coy with me!"
Strike two. 'Be careful with your words.' "Very well… uh… how would you like me to address you?"
Shana was still obviously simmering, but she detected the sincerity of his question. "'Ma'am' will do nicely."
"Very well, ma'am. We are doing an experiment in genetics. We believe that you and the Network of Witches may have what we're looking for in your bloodlines."
"And what is that, exactly?"
"The missing link. The other half of the gene strand that gives the members of the Order DS their supernatural power."
At this, Shana's eyes narrowed dangerously and she scrutinized Sunni closely. His temperature rose under the heat of her stare, but he did not fidget or increase his breathing. He cast a glance at the bodyguards in the room.
Bodyguards? Why would she choose to have three male bodyguards, each of good muscle build, against a single man who was obviously weak and untrained in any form of fighting? The two he could see were staring at him with the same bland faces. Completely devoid of emotion.
Finally, Shana spoke. "And what is it you think we can do for you?"
"It's known that the witches and the demi-deities share common ancestors, so it is possible that you may have the other half of the genes in your bloodlines. We would like to have genetic samples for testing and experimentation."
Shana continued to stare at him with those narrow, penetrating eyes, trying to pierce through all masks and look into him. Presently she said, "Do you know how the Network of Witches was founded?"
"No, ma'am."
"We were not always known as the Network of Witches. We were once known as the Union of Warlocks." She leaned back in her chair as she continued. "It was very male dominated. The warlocks ran it almost exclusively, and we witches were left out of every major decision. We were trained, but it was assumed that we had no real potential. They thought we were good for nothing more than scapegoats and carriers of their own bloodlines.
"Still, we witches persevered. We became stronger, we looked out for ourselves, and we raised our daughters to surpass us… and the men who ruled over us. When the warlocks finally acknowledged our prowess, we were overjoyed. We thought that we had finally succeeded in proving our worth to them, and we had hope for our female descendents. But what we didn't know was that the warlocks acknowledged our prowess out of fear, and not out of respect. They felt threatened by us. So in a desperate gambit, they experimented with impregnating human women to see if they could still produce powerful warlocks and sorcerers. And much to our despair, they succeeded. The hybrids were not exceptional, but could be built up over time. So they made the fatal decision: 'All witches must die.'"
Shana was scowling dangerously by this time. It was almost frightening to watch the play of emotions on her face. "It started out as a type of coup.. The order was given secretly among the warlocks to kill every witch who they had close personal relationships with, starting with those closest in age. It came so unexpectedly to us. And so many of them were killed by the that men they had pledged their lives and their honor to! So many of them embraced their husbands in greeting, only to find a knife in their back! Many more of them were used to give their husbands one final ecstasy before being strangled like beasts!" Shana's face went livid as she spat out, "Innocent girls were killed by their own fathers!"
She looked close to tears from the weight of her rage. She took a deep breath in order to bring her anger to a manageable level. "Only a few of them survived long enough to dispatch warnings to their sister witches. Very few of those who had close relations to men in the Union escaped. Most of the survivors were outcasts, or those who saw the potential danger of the experimentations with impregnating human women and went into hiding beforehand. They had to leave their homes and start new lives elsewhere in order to escape the holocaust.
"But it did not end there. For almost thirty years, the Union seemed to go on thinking that their coup had gone successfully, and that even if there were any witches left, there must be too few of them to be any problem. But then we were finally discovered! The Union of Warlocks must have suspected us all along, because after discovering evidence that there may have been survivors, they started the Salem Witch Hunts, and other similar methods to ferret us out and eradicate us. They even used their own powers in order to fool people into thinking that there were witches among them.
"But once again, they underestimated our abilities. We manipulated the human men leading the witch-hunts in order to lead them to incorrect assumptions. We used human women as our scapegoats quite successfully. Those pompous fools took the bait, killing off the little whores and thinking that they were safe again. But then we initiated our own coup against the Union of Warlocks. Again, it was much more successful than the Union's efforts, and we drove them to extinction. After such extensive death tolls, the unsuspecting fools dropped their guard, and we were able to finish them off.
"After our bloody work was finished, we came together and formed the Network of Witches. Ever since then we have made sure that no male warlocks can rise up against us. Whenever one of our sisters gives birth to a male with the gift, his power is immediately stunted, and he is kept only for purposes of superior breeding. By this, we eliminate the last real threat to our existence. We will never die!"
When she had finished, Shana was hot with emotion. Her breathing was heavy, but she seemed exhilarated. She stared at Sunni as though waiting for him to comment.
After an appropriate pause, he said, "It seems like you've had an unfortunate history. You must be hard people to have come through so much."
"We are strong, indeed," she said with pride.
"May we have samples of your genetics then?"
Again, Shana's eyes narrowed.. A repeating habit, Sunni thought. He made another note, including the shape of her eyes, and how that shape accented the expression on her face. He also made other notes about her story, her body language as she told it, and her voice patterns. Anything that may prove useful.
"If we agree to give them to you," Shana asked. "What do you plan to do with them, other than investigate this…" she waved a hand vaguely. "'Missing link' of yours?"
"Well," Sunni said. "With your permission, and the permission of your sisters, we would like to perform our own experiments using artificial breeding. Or, at least, to be able to combine certain chromosomes with others in our stores, and use those in breeding."
"You think we are some type of animals to be bred?" she demanded hotly.
"Of course not, ma'am," he said with as much subservience as he could muster. "That is why we ask to have genetic samples, rather than have you impregnated for our causes. This way, you will not have to debase yourselves so far."
"You don't fool me!" she snapped. "You do it for your own convenience!"
Danger! Don't strike out! Recovery maneuvers! "Caught that, eh?" Sunni said forming a shadow of a smile on his stoic face.
"It's obvious."
"Or maybe you're just too damned perceptive."
Shana gave him a rueful smile at this remark. "Don't try to flatter me."
"Well that puts me in a dilemma. I was told not to argue with you, but I think I have to disagree. You seem worth flattery and charm."
Shana's smile did not go away, but there was suddenly an edge of suspicion to it. "Do you think it's going to get you what you want?"
"If I thought that, I'd have wormed my way through this a while ago."
She turned away from him and made to think. I believe it's worked, Sunni thought. That little trick has made her more comfortable with me. Now I have to use this tool to my advantage.
"It's convenient for both of us…"
"How do you figure?" she cut across him.
He permitted himself a quick moment of resentment, then went on undeterred. "I meant as opposed to having you impregnated, or having one of your stunted males impregnating one of our… breeding mothers." He had been about to use the term that the TLGL uses to refer to them, but remembered that most people considered the word inappropriate in this day and age. And since he was speaking of females, it would not do to anger her now.
"So," said Shana. "How does this… artificial breeding work?"
"We take cells, preferably reproductive cells, and study them carefully to find out what kind of genes they carry. We can pull out chromosomes, and even separate gene strands, fuse them together, and use them to create a completely customized and controlled sperm-egg match."
Here, Sunni paused to let his words take effect. What he said next would buffer his last words slightly, so it was important that he got as much as he could with this phrase while he could.
Once he was satisfied with the light expression of wonder on Shana's face, he went on. "However, that is a very difficult and expensive process. Only a few of the Tree members have the skill or the precision required for the procedure. We prefer other methods. For example, we can create new offspring from genetic samples, and control their breeding.
"Or we can select which specific sperm and egg to use, and then manipulate the formation to create adult genitalia from which sperm and egg may be extracted and used for a repeat of the process, occasionally adding other sex samples, until we have sifted through the genes and reached our desired goal. This is the easiest, quickest, and most efficient method."
When he finished, Shana stared at the floor considering all this carefully. She seemed to be wondering at the implications of his words, intrigued by them. But then, a bitter look crossed her face. She looked up at him and said, "That last method sounds an awful lot like incest."
This put a slight dampen on Sunni's confidence. As I said. Too damned perceptive. "Not really. Whenever we use this method, we get what we want from the fetus, then either stunt and keep it for later experimentation, or we dispose of it after having served its purpose. No fetus grown for this purpose has ever gained consciousness. We see to that carefully. The vast majority don't even have time to take human shape before either being stunted or killed. Such things as morals are of little value to it."
"It sounds," she said slowly and accusingly, "as though you lessen the value of human life."
"That could be argued," he said. "But we have different ways of thinking. We have our own definitions for human life. And we don't view every life we create as being a mere genetic experiment. Each time we pull a life form out of a tank or womb, we know that we have played God, and that we must be very careful in our thinking, that we do nothing to incur His wrath. Most of our experiments are given into a family-cell to be taken care of. They grow up with food, family, love, education, friends, and everything else valued by both humanity and the Tree of Life Genetics Lab."
Shana took in and accepted his words, then asked, "And what of any offspring you make with our genetics?"
"Provided you gave us permission to do so, we would extend to it, every service and accommodation we would extend to our own offspring. Or, if you so requested, we could create a customized witch out any of the genetics the Network provides for us, and return it to you as one of your own. At a reasonable price, of course. Prices do vary depending on what you order and what you want to add to the process of customization."
Again, Shana looked at the floor and considered his words carefully. Sunni waited patiently for her response, confidant that he had won her over. Still, for good measure he added, "Of course, if you were to agree to help us in our research, it would only be proper for us to provide you with compensation. Our experiments are very costly, and we rely too heavily on subsistence to offer you money, but perhaps a free sample of our experimentation would suffice?"
Shana's eyes burned brightly at the offer. Presently she said, "I can't speak for all of my sisters, and it will require a council, but I would be willing to submit my own genetics to the Tree's research… for reasonable compensation."
"Excellent! Then we will receive word when a decision has been reached?"
"Well, there's not much else we could bloody do, now is there?" In spite of the biting quality of her words, Sunni observed that Shana was giving him a devilish smile. He interpreted this to be her own kind of sarcastic humor.
And I rather like it.

Outside in the hallway, Bernice was waiting for him. "How did it go?" she asked. Her light, energizing presence was a wash of relief after the heavy, oppressive atmosphere of her cousin.
A sincere, though still forced, smile spread across Sunni's face. "I think we're going to work well together."
Bernice raised her dark eyebrows. She smiled skeptically at him in a face of casual beauty as she said, "Well, that's surprising. She rarely takes to anyone."
"She didn't take to me, either," Sunni said. "I just think we'll work well together."
"And how do you think your piers will view this? Will they hail you as a hero or a genius?"
He sighed at her mundane thinking. "At the TLGL, we don't rate people for individual accomplishments. We don't even bother with such concepts as, 'who gets credit.' Whenever a breakthrough is made, it is the Lab's breakthrough. Any success I make is my superiors' success, is my sons' success, is my daughter and wife's success, is our neighbor's success, is our maid's success, is God's success. 'This, so that no man may boast.'"
"And that's how it will be?"
"I will return and congratulate the Lab on a job well done."
"So I guess it works for you."
"Oh, indeed it does. Each person works hard for the accomplishment and strengthening of the community. All for the good of the entire organism."