Primal / White Lotus

Meanwhile, Jelena Savage was facing a challenge in her office.

On her desk was a letter and painted on the letter was the lifelike image of a beautiful white lily. This was the presence of Primal, the white Lily represented unblemished Al. The claim of Primal was to restore the Al race to what they originally were. It was popularly known among humans and Al that Primal had caused the Crisis but the Coalition Administration and leaders of the Human Alliance knew better.

"What are they asking for?" She asked, turning to her Chief of Staff standing by the side.

"To remove Axel Mason from the position of Keeper" The Chief of Staff a middle-aged man in a suit replied. He had short antennas on both sides of his head only reaching a few inches above his ears.

Jelena slid the letter off the table to the ground and relaxed in her chair. Spinning her chair around she stared at the window behind her table.

"Things are falling apart Xavier" she muttered.

"Perhaps it's time to change strategy" the middle-aged man suggested adjusting his feet on the ground behind her.

"To what? Ruling by fear doesn't work" Jelena turned back around and a sigh escaped her lips as she looked up at her Chief of Staff.

"To be being Jelena Savage" Xavier had a gentle look in his eyes when he said that. He was 56 this year and had been appointed as Jelena's guard and teacher since she was four. He was always fascinated by how her mind worked and how well she did in scenario simulations. He was confident that if she simply followed her heart then she would find a good way to lead the Als.

Jelena raised a brow at Xavier but he stared back at her firmly like he was awaiting an order. "Fine then, let's go learn what we can about this Primal."

"I have to warn you about the incoming storm in seven hours, also, the Keeper has sent a message" Xavier looked down and read from a screen-like device in his hand.

"Axel sent a message?" Jelena was surprised and she turned to Xavier waiting for him to read the message. Until now Axel had always maintained the laws of the Archives, since he had yet to be appointed, he refrained from sharing important information with anyone.

"Relations with humans have completely deteriorated, protests for us to leave the planets have increased and the unrest might spread to the Administration Building" Xavier read from the tablet.

"Huh," Jelena scoffed. And continued out of the office without paying the warning any mind.

Xavier however stood still for a moment. He had a feeling that things were not so simple if Axel saw it necessary to send Jelena a message. He didn't know what Jelena was thinking and he did not want to be presumptuous but he knew that Axel as Keeper was going to be a critical part of her Administration and he would play a very important role in restoring their race back to what it used to be.

****

The only place she could go to get information was of course the Archives where Axel was Keeper.

When the workers saw Jelena Savage walk in with Xavier beside her and a guard following, they all stopped their work and waited for her to pass. Yes, everyone was afraid of her, even calling her the devil because she ruled by fear.

After the Crisis, the Coalition Administration was in chaos, there was no leader for a few short fifty-seven minutes and it was the most chaotic time the Als race had ever seen. Fortunately, there was a protocol in place to assign a new leader who would rule in place of the Administration Council. Jelena Savage was the chosen one. It could be seen that the Administration Council had not expected such a thing to actually happen worse still, they hadn't expected it to happen this early when Jelena was still too young to lead.

When she was appointed leader and given authority in the fifty-eight minute, some among the Al's Coalition had already seized power and begun to oppose her rule. The most effective method to prevent an uprising was what Jelena chose, she went on a killing spree. Of course, she could not truly kill all those who had seized power like Gretel, the Prime Minister, and a few others, as that would have caused an even greater problem; she did however kill all the small fries who those top guns had developed or encouraged to cause trouble.

Following that she suppressed information as much as she could by tricking the former Keeper to leave the Archives and locking him up! It was while being locked up that he met Axel and passed to him the Crystal of Data making him the successor of the Archives. Of course, the old man did this because he knew that Jelena would not allow anyone from the old Administration to remain and his existence would always question the orthodoxy of her rule. Days later after training Axel while being locked up, he passed away peacefully.

It could be said that Jelena had killed him. To everyone in the Als Coalition Building, Jelena was true to the definition of her name, she was a Savage but she betrayed the heritage of her family which was one that advocated for peace.

Thus when she walked into the Archives, the looks she got were either that of fear, or hate, however, even those who feared her, hated her a little too.

But Jelena gave no mind to any of this and continued to the elevator in the middle of the dome. She knew what the consequences would be when she took action to eliminate all threats to her rule. She never once regretted it or reconsidered her actions.

Axel of course got information not Jelena's arrival so he came down from the control room to the smaller Library. Even as Chieftess, she had no authority to get that high or he could justifiably kill her within this dome and no one would raise their voice in criticism.

"Master" Jelena bowed to Axel when she met him.

Although she wouldn't normally do this, within the Archives, anyone who came for information was required to show respect to the guardian of it. Or else, regardless of Axel's wishes, the Data Defenders would strike them down to proclaim the Archives a sacred ground for all the Als.

Axel stared at her impassively. His thoughts had for some reason taken a sharp change since the Prime Minister's visit. There were no emotions in his eyes as he stared intently at Jelena, he had no idea what was going on in her mind. Since the old Keeper died, he had yet to receive his title. Naturally, she had no involvement in granting him that title but the control databox of the Archives fell into her hand when the old Keeper died in captivity.

"Is there something you need?" He asked squinting a little as he glanced at Xavier and gave the older man a respectful bow.

"I need all you have on the terrorist organization called Primal" Jelena replied with a nod. Her tone was more of a command than the request it should have been.

"I can't give you all I have" Axel's expression turned cold.

"Axel" a whisper escaped her lips, Jelena was surprised by Axel's sharp change. She was still a young girl forced into responsibility after all. Seeing Axel standing there and looking at her like that tears welled up in her eyes and she hurriedly turned and walked away to the bathroom.

*Sigh*

Axel glanced down sadly.

"Take her back Sir." He started.

"Perhaps the old Chief made a mistake" he muttered to Xavier and more to himself before turning around and taking the elevator back to the control center. If they wanted information, they could find it themselves.

Inside the bathroom, Jelena sniffed again and opened the tap once more. Putting her palm together she let water run into it while she stared at herself in the mirror for a long time. After about a minute, she leaned down and lifted the water to her face, washing her face with it. Repeating her actions a few times, she turned off the tap and continued to stare at her reflection in the mirror.

"Jelena Savage" she whispered and waved awkwardly at her reflection.

"You cried and he saw you." She continued and then looked down at the ceramic sink.

"God I'm such an idiot" she scolded herself and started to cry all over again.

Her whimpers turned into weeping as a word escaped her lips in overwhelming anguish, "Mom" she called but there was no one there with her to hold her as she sat on the floor and hugged her knees.

Fortunately, she could trust that it was clean because no one really used it. It was just cleaned twice every day but very few were allowed on this floor and they hardly stayed long enough to walk in there. Axel had a restroom on the upper floor where he worked from. At this moment though, that thought did not come to her mind because even if it was frequently used, with the intensity of her pain, she would not have cared.

Yes, Axel had broken her wall of coldness today. They were never close but he was the only one who would talk with her and sit with her. He always smiled at her and she felt flattered each time she saw that infatuation in his eyes when he looked at her. She didn't have feelings for Axel but she treasured the validation of her beauty when he looked at her with those eyes. And when he talked and showered curiosity in her affairs, she felt like he really cared. This was of course an illusion but she enjoyed it. Although she was cold to him, she always felt that Axel would understand why and he would never treat her the same way. Today was something she had never expected and that was why it hit her so hard. Axel was cold to her now too.

For a moment it crossed her mind to let Gretel have her way with him but then she remembered that Gretel never really wanted him dead. Gretel was more likely to hide him in her house and announce to everyone that she killed him while she'd go home to Axel every night for a hug.

All of a sudden she began to hate Gretel and a glint of ruthlessness flashed through her eyes.