1.7 Medification

        Troubled by the strange visit from Atlan, Mina made her way down the moonlit street to the Crystal Temple after classes were done for the day, hoping Nulu could share some insights into the latest drama from across the pond. The Crystal Temple was the heart and soul of Lemuria, it was as much Mina's home as it was home to any, a source of healing energy itself, it naturally attracted lost souls in search of warmth and comfort. 

         The Crystal Temple had survived terrible cataclysms, it had been won and lost in countless battles, yet always it had stood strong. It was here where the Lemurian tribes celebrated the Winter Solstice, where they blessed their newborns, travelled through spiritual dimensions and sought guidance from the past. It was where the sick came to heal, where the poor came to eat, where the desolate came for hospitality and where the lost came for enlightenment.

         "I saw a Black Panther just moments before they arrived" Nulu was equally disturbed by the visit. Nulu was the goddess of Healing Waters, one of the original Origians. Wise and intuitive like Mina, she once had brilliant red hair too, now it was luminous, unicorn white. 

         "It's not a coincidence. They arrived with the new comet."

         "Yes." Mina had noticed the coincidence herself, it was troublesome on multiple levels, the visit was out of the blue, nothing had led up to it. 

         "Who knows?" She kept an open mind, as a rule. "Perhaps it really was a genuine inquiry into our medicines at last?"

         "I doubt it" Nulu wasn't so optimistic. "Did you notice Halki making maps? Atalon's making plans."

         "They can make maps all they want but they can't develop the land" Mina assured. "Halios mentioned the idea of doing business with us more than once, my guess is they want to tether us any way they can."

         The goddesses decided to consult higher guidance on the matter. Beside the stone altar was a table of divination tools; a large obsidian goblet of water from the river An, a few ornately bound books, some astronomical instruments and an old wooden box, intricately engraved with symbols and geometric designs, it's finish smooth and worn from hands over time, the silver hardware blackened from age.

         Mina picked up the box and brought it to the kitchen table, placed it in front of Nulu and took a seat beside her. "Would you draw us a tile?"

         Nulu opened the box to reveal the glistening emerald tiles neatly stacked inside. She closed her eyes and hovered her hands over the box for a few moments before pulling one out and laying it on the table. It had an engraved image of an old man holding a staff, a phoenix on either side.

         "The Hierophant..." the goddesses uttered in unison.

         "It's a popular tile these days" Mina remarked. "It's the same tile you pulled last time, isn't it?"

         It wasn't a coincidence, they had both shuffled the tiles, they had both drawn the same tile.

         "It's well suited to your business theory."

         Mina pondered the meaning, searching for a deeper layer. "Do you think it is a positive development?"

         "Positive for whom? It's a good tile for business" Nulu replied. "But let's not be fooled, I don't like the context it's coming up in, in spite of their caring sales pitch. I don't like the coincidences or the Black Panthers."

         A private meeting with Malodon, the god of Transformation usually involved a trip to Gora, the small industrial complex on the southwestern shores of Gorias, an island just a few nautical miles south of Atlan. Late for his meeting, Seton hurried down the stark hallway of the Gora Lab towards Malodon's office at the far end of the Aribu Wing. Malodon was busy, ensconced in his work, carefully documenting the latest experimental results on a tablet when Seton arrived.

         "Your Honor!" The doctor could see some heavy research going on. Tablets were stacked everywhere, boxes of samples were open, the chalk board was full. 

         "Seton!" Malodon welcomed him inside, pleased to see the basket of goodies from Lemuria.

         "How's the new machine working out?"

         "It's not" Malodon replied. "The current can't be channeled without frying the frontal lobe" he broke the news. "I've tried all the settings, I haven't even come close, this thing doesn't work, it kills. Whoever approved it needs an assessment." He wasn't done insinuating. "I'm very disappointed."

         Seton didn't have anything to say, there had to have been a mistake on a lower rung.

         "What's new?" Malodon eyed the basket of now wilted specimens; it didn't look so promising. "Wilted weeds from Lunie Land?"

         "Magic mushrooms" The doctor placed the basket on the table and lifted the cover, relieved to switch to a more positive subject, pointing out the strains. "Serpentiva... Jin's Wort... Psychocyclin…"

         Malodon leaned closer to smell the bouquet. "Ugh!"

         "Apparently they drink it in tea. The Witch says the flowers can be dried" he pointed to a mushroom cap. "They call that a flower, can you believe it?"

         Malodon picked up one of the mushrooms, plump and round it looked good enough to eat if only it didn’t smell so bad, it would be nothing short of a miracle if the plants did have some sort of psychological effects.

         "Do you know how hard it was to convince Atalon to let me try them?" Seton urged.

         "I hear Halios has big ideas for Lemuria."

         "Maybe that helped" Seton had to agree. "The point is I actually have the samples. I'm not going to use them the way the Lunies use them, these are powerless in their natural form. I'm going to blend them with my medications. I'm making something new. Medifications. Who knows, perhaps medification will be useful in creating a new solution for Aquilla!"

         "Medification?" Now Malodon was interested in Seton's creative solution. He dropped the mushroom back into the basket and picked up a strange leafy sprig, aromatic he lifted it to his nose. "I've tried using this before…"

         Losing the Origians in the Great Revolt had left Malodon with a clean slate, a chance to redesign the perfect slave race, one that was fully programmable and easier to control. The Gen II's were the closest he had come to perfecting this race but there were few real beauties, and they were malfunctioning at an unsustainable rate. 

         "Did you get the book?"

         "I'll have it delivered to your office as soon as it's been copied. It needs to be translated.