“As someone who has been an underling to a vicious dictator who breaks a lot of things in the past, I can say with experience that breaking things does not get you anywhere!”
Trismit seemed quite chirpy, despite the fact that he was strapped to a chair with little transmitters and checkers stuck all over his body, feeding various vitals into a machine. To his side, Retvik seemed a lot less cheerful and a lot more uncertain, especially since a piece of wood had just flown past his head.
The cause of all this calamity was a simple test result. Kenon had personally been overseeing a vast number of examinations of both Trismit and Retvik over the last couple of weeks. The Void Lord and current High General of the Rethavok was trying to discover… something, and had requested that the two Rethans submit themselves to experimentation in exchange for the freedom of a large number of prisoners. Things had been relatively smooth so far, but this outburst was quite worrying.
As Kenon continued to throw things around, Retvik leaned over to Trismit, tutting.
“Has that advice ever gotten you anywhere?”
“No. Just got me a smack around the head.”
“Hmph. Because he does not appear to be calmi-”
A plastic box found itself bouncing off Retvik’s head, with enough force to both knock his chair backwards and knock Retvik out. The sudden cut-off though caught Kenon’s attention, as he swiftly realized he had done something stupid.
“Uh, ser, you broke Retvik…”
“I gathered, little one…”
Kenon stomped over and lifted up the chair, sitting it straight. Aside from being unconscious, there was no immediate injury or danger to Retvik. Standing directly in front of the sleeping Rethan, Kenon ran two fingers across Retvik’s face, around his nostrils and eyes. This somehow immediately make Retvik wake up.
“What in the name of the actual Light was that?” Retvik sputtered, snapping back to reality. “I will have you know that you are not supposed to throw things at your test subjects!”
“Unless you are testing some sort of throwing or catching device…” Trismit grinned. “Did you enjoy your sleep?”
Retvik tutted, turning his attention back to the Void Lord. “I suppose it would be too much to ask why you are so angry right now?”
Kenon stepped back, vaguely amused by Trismit’s banter. He didn’t answer the question at first and instead began to swish his fingers around, telekinetically tidying up the mess he had made. The two Rethan doctors who had been assisting him had already scarpered, and there was no way he was going to risk letting his test subjects loose so they could clear up.
“The reason behind my anger is quite simple. You are not what I expected you to be.”
“We are not Rethans?” Trismit asked.
“You are Rethans…” Kenon grunted. “But I was hoping that you would be Kiniseon beings, beings created directly by Kinisis herself, that always turn out to be incredibly powerful. The process of creating a Kiniseon being is a highly guarded secret, one that is intrinsic to the deeper knowledge of godhood that I simply do not possess.”
“You are not a god?” Trismit asked. This question though got an irritated glance from the Void Lord.
“I am a god. I proved myself to be a god. Specifically, I am a Void Lord, a being born outside the universe as you understand it. Kinisis on the other hand was born inside a universe and transcended, thus gaining the ability to create new gods… But you two, while being… special, are not what I was looking for…”
Trismit shrugged, but Retvik eyed Kenon cautiously.
“If we are not what you thought we are… then… what are we?”
“You two?” Kenon tutted.
“Yes, us two.”
“Simple. You are mistakes. Attempts at creating Kiniseon beings.”
Retvik almost chortled at the thought, but stifled his amusement, what with him being tied up and having just been knocked out by godly rage. “That cannot be true. If it were, I would have had my stupid magical fire powers since birth.”
“No, it is far more likely that… that…” Kenon paused mid-sentence, suddenly lost in thought. He then abruptly turned around and fished around for a specific piece of apparatus, which he then waved in front of Retvik. The apparatus was some sort of strange, beeping device that flashed in an array of colours.
Once Kenon was satisfied, he began to wave the device in front of Trismit. After a few more seconds of beeping. Kenon shook his head, put the device down and began to untie the two Rethans.
“Um… Care to inform us what that was all about?” Retvik hesitantly asked.
Kenon shook his head some more, but those head shakes turned into a weird nod. “I guess you both deserve to know. It turns out, we are both right and we are both wrong. You are not Kiniseon. But being a Kiniseon requires one to have been a Kiniseon from birth, even if their powers manifest later in life. That does not mean that another deity can influence you and give you abilities.”
Trismit glanced at Retvik, not sure what was going on. “But… I only ever really met you. And I had powers before then.”
“Tell me, little one, did you have a near-death experience just before you obtained your powers?”
“Uh… um… yeah… but… I… I do not… talk about it.”
Kenon snorted, seeming both vaguely amused and vaguely irritated. “You are not Kiniseon beings. You are Arkideteleon beings.”
“What?”
The Void Lord shook his head, sighing. “I have work to do. Beings to speak to. In the mean time, you two will be escorted back to your chambers. You are to remain there until I call for you. Understood?”
Retvik and Trismit both glanced at each other, then nodded. Satisfied, Kenon disappeared, knowing where he had to go next.