Fragile 5

"I am sorry for shocking you, Nora." Liem tenderly ran his hand over her little calf. "Nora, you are our partner. We will protect you and every one of our children until our last breath. We want to create a better world. But in order to do that, we needed someone strong, intelligent and compassionate. You have met our mothers and sisters and see their attitudes toward men. Their attitudes towards the lower class are even worse," Liem said. "I was resolved to live a life avoiding this lifestyle, because I never believed we could change it. But you came along, and I began to dream again. It seemed possible," Liem said. 

"Liem, Cerez and I were disgusted to the point of physical sickness of women. We ended up leaving home and entered Educational Instruction together, avoiding home. Eventually, we found each other and others like us. We stayed in Education as long as we could, avoiding selections by traveling or training. When we received Liem's personal message that you were psychologically different and that you needed a safe family, we agreed that it was fate." Kadir said, entering the room.

"The amount of control the Matriarchs have over everyone is absolute. From their interfaces, they can terminate lives as easily as sending a message from anywhere in the world. Allurai, Vida and Amrita are all very progressive individuals. But there are far more powerful evil women out there that execute people in the lower class as soon as they get too old to work." Liem continued. 

"They have no problems denying people the right to have a family. Some of them even control the growth of their and our children. They have the lower class under total control. A farm animal has more freedom. We want to change that." Cerez said in a sullen tone.

"It was fate that I was the only delegate with the proper credentials, and fate that my family had the power, hospitals and research facilities that you needed. The more we get to know you, the more we agree. We were all made for each other," Liem finished. He had been hopeless that the world would change. Liem had once aimed to live his life alone. Focused on his career in politics and maybe making a little change for the better. The dreams he had as a young boy of a woman that would take their hands and stand with them as a boy were surprisingly fulfilled by a woman from a different world. "I honestly thought I was going to die alone, Nora. Until I met you, I was hopeless." Liem said. 

Nora could understand them; she studied constantly away from home so she could avoid her family. She, too, wanted to change the world. She never did 'fit in', even among the intellectuals on Earth or the wealthy elite that her family was part of. Billionaires were a scourge on the planet Earth. If she could have eradicated them, she would have easily exchanged her life. Perhaps this was always her fate. She also lived in a world ruled by men. As hard as women were trying on Earth, there was always this pervasive male influence. With the Queen dead when she left, the radicalization of the right, war and climate change, the world that she left behind was worsening. She could empathize with what they were going through in a sense and knew it was not right.

"It is just so hard to explain. I know how advanced medical science is here. It will be discovered that I am different from everyone quickly. That is why I desperately learned so much. I was so panicked." Nora said, as she sniffled. Cerez, Liem and Kadir looked at one another. 

"Nora, I knew you were keeping a secret for your survival. I have kept that information secret. The only reason why I told you is to get rid of the stress you have been carrying so you can live freer of that burden." Liem said. Cerez looked at Liem with a forgiving and knowing look.

 "I cannot fathom how scared you feel day to day. We are here to protect each other," Kadir said as he comforted her. He wrapped his arms around her lovingly.

"I do not know if my world still exists, but it was the opposite of this planet politically. People were just absorbed with themselves so much. They just watched as the powerful polluted the world so much that it started a mass extinction. Wars polluted it. It started to seep into our bodies. We had enough resources to feed and clothe people, but our leaders would just let people die," Nora said. Shock crawled across the men's faces as she explained. This was so far off from what they believed about her. 

"I studied so hard to stay away from home, it was not so hard to begin with. My mother and identical twin sister died. I did not have any proof, but I cannot be sure that my father did not have something to do with that. He is a very powerful man, or was," Nora said sadly. 

"When it was recommended for me to pass through our adult educational programs when I turned nine, my Father showed me attention then. That only brought on the hatred of my new family. My sisters and stepmother were awful to me. When I found host families in other countries that were willing to let me stay, I was allowed to study in other countries, far away from them", Nora explained. Cerez sat down on the bed.

 "We did that too. When my mother had me altered, I was so full of anger that I started instruction in the cold lands. That is where we met," Cerez said. Kadir seemed to be enthralled by the story. Liem had a serious look on his face as he absorbed the full truth. "No wonder you collapsed. If I heard what we said, and I had your circumstances, I would be anxious all the time. So what did you do to avoid going home?" Cerez asked, as her being from a different universe or reality was the same as her being a Northerner. 

"I often found excuses like yours, exchange programs or internships to extend my time away from home." Nora said and paused to sniffle."It was very lonely. I feel all those years of school and whatever brought me here must be fate." Nora lovingly caressed her stomach. Liem looked at her swollen stomach. His child anchored him and quelled his anxiety. 

"It has brought me a family and a chance to make the change I could not have made there, here. I will fully support you with all my power. It is meant to be." Nora smiled, looking up through her slightly swollen eyes. Her spouses looked at her. They had not guessed that they were that similar and how much pain she had gone through. 

"If I had not been encouraged to learn the languages of the Northern peoples and cultural studies, I would have never been assigned to you. It was Kadir and Cerez that encouraged me. I believe in fate too." Liem said warmly.

"Nora, we will be the most loving family. We will be your home and we will never reject you. You are so loved." Kadir said, tightening his embrace gently. It made him very sad that she grew up feeling that much rejection from her father and had lost her mother. That would be very painful for a child. That kind of attachment trauma was abhorrent. 

"They will be too." Cerez said he could suddenly see more than whimsy when she wanted to create a carrier to keep her children close to her. His eyes became moist as he was filled with sympathy. She was truly afraid of being separated from the people she loved. Compared to being altered, the attempted murder, trauma, betrayal and ostracization that Nora suffered was way worse. Cerez felt like he might have wasted his life on hate. 

"I was so scared that I would be shipped off somewhere and be experimented on or dissected if anyone found out. I should have come to you sooner. You entered a Bind with me," Nora said as she sipped on Liotte and felt her anxiety start to ease a little. 

"It was really smart to learn your rights and protect your privacy as soon as possible. I was surprised by you. How did you learn so quickly?" Liem asked. Everyone slowly began to eat off the platter in silence as the tension slipped out of the room. 

"I have an ability to remember everything I read and see. So as we spoke I was able to figure out the language and glyphs from the translation program. I studied after you left and as soon as I was confident enough, I read my rights and the laws to protect myself. And then Northern history to stick to the narrative built around me." Nora explained. 

"You can remember everything? That is a remarkable ability. It is very rare, and they are unable to find a genetic link. They have been wrestling with increasing the intelligence capacity of our species as a whole through editing as much as they have been trying to cure Morrits." Kadir said. After the platter was emptied, they laid their bed together quietly. Some of the resentment in the young men's hearts for their own parents and families eased as they got to know Nora better. An unease was born over her identity and origins, one that would last for their entire lives. A new hope was also ignited for their species. Nora saw them work so relentlessly through the day, and she knew and wanted to help. But she did not have knowledge of this world's economic system. She did have recipes and formulas for products from Earth. She surmised that they could be used to build a powerful empire and a growing family to protect. 

'To really make a change in the world, we are going to have to become powerful. I will not let my son be exploited, or my daughters feel pressured by anyone'. Nora thought to herself. 

"I love you guys. I am so sorry I have been lying to you." Nora said, as she sniffled. Cerez, Liem and Kadir looked at one another.

 "Nora, we know you were keeping the secret for your survival. The only reason why we told you is to get rid of the stress you have been carrying so you can live freer of that burden." Cerez said, giving Liem a forgiving and knowing look. 

"I cannot fathom how scared you feel day to day. We are here to protect each other," Kadir said as he comforted her. He wrapped his arms around her lovingly. Nora sighed sadly and drowsily fell into a restful sleep from the Liotte. Kadir, Cerez and Liem looked at one another exchanging sad and morose faces and got up to allow her to sleep. 

"It seems like she escaped a terrible world, and fell into one with it's own problems. I love her and her origins do not change that." Kadir said. 

"We do not know how much different it is, but it seems like it is similar, but different. The 'Tea', for instance, must have existed there, but Liotte does not." Cerez said. They began to work and ponder silently as she rested. Their new Iced Tea company had quickly become a reality; the cultivation was set into a reality when they were able to source live Pekoe that was grown for ornamental purposes in large quantities. The facility has already been constructed. Staff recruitment was going well, with a lot of promising candidates transferring to their company. There were no issues with finding funding through grants and donations that Nora had received from around the world and their dowries. Production would start with two flavors in the next cycle. Liem was excited and sure that they would start to be successful. 

Liem rolled off the seat to start to prepare their next meal. For the first time in months, he felt like time had slowed. Cerez had fallen asleep after quickly completing his tasks and Kadir was dividing his time between designing his production line and the plans for a larger kitchen in which Nora could practise her food science. Liem's mind itched over how Leilanna had treated them in the hallway. It was frustrating, but it had given him the opportunity to set things in motion. He knew that the two events; the discussion with Nora would have caused her significant stress. He hated that he used Nora as a pawn this afternoon; but Leilanna picked the perfect moment to cause a scene. If Kadir, Cerez and Nora truly knew his motives, he would probably have a bruised and swollen face.

As he predicted, Nora's emotional state caused her to faint. He felt awful; but it was the perfect time to deal a devastating blow to Leilanna. The show that they gave Janel was enough to manipulate one of his Mothers most trusted confidants into speaking to her about her daughter's mental health. If Leilanna inherited the title of Matriarch of the Allari it would be very dangerous to not only their family. However, he learned a dangerous truth as well. He could not blame her for lying about being a Northerner. He betrayed her by manipulating her. How could she possibly trust a man like him? Liem caught his reflection and hated himself. He hung his head in shame.