In truth, Hesabeth’s Primordial Bias had been one of the biggest hindrances to her interpersonal relationships with people all her life. Hesabeth had always gotten what she wanted from others. And even when it looked like she didn’t get what she wanted, there would always be a silver lining at the end of the tunnel that would lead her to something even bigger and better. Anyone who tried to harm Hesabeth always ended up dead, and anyone Hesabeth wanted to kill would never see the light of day again. Anyone who felt anger towards Hesabeth would suddenly realise just how amazing Hesabeth was without he needing to do anything, and no form of animosity could be directed towards her at all! Hesabeth couldn’t deny that this was a good thing, and she enjoyed the fact that the peasants around her could recognise her greatness. But at the same time, it was exhausting to never feel this animosity from others. It was tiring to always have your needs met and your whims accepted without any challenge, and the mere fact that Hesabeth could never have any opposition only made her life more boring.
So Hesabeth couldn’t believe she had found someone who could not only oppose her, but was also powerful enough to stand his ground even when facing the potential wrath of the entire Primordial Expanse! Hesabeth had someone who she felt could understand her and give her the companionship she had been looking for. Hesabeth felt her lips tugging up into a smile, and she had to struggle to make sure Jason didn’t notice it. Jason was still staring down at her with those deep, dark eyes, and Hesabeth felt her heart racing the longer she looked into Jason’s eyes. There was no need for Hesabeth to question this feeling in her heart anymore. Hesabeth was more than a hundred percent sure of what she was feeling, and she knew that for the first time in her life, she was attracted to someone.
Hesabeth walked forward and placed her fan on Jason’s chest while staring up at him, and she whispered to him with narrowed eyes.
"You owe me, Jason Marc. Don’t you dare forget that."
Jason was surprised when he heard what Hesabeth said, but he was even more surprised when Hesabeth suddenly turned and looked up into the sky as the storm clouds that had been gathering began to clear away to reveal a clear blue sky. Hesabeth then spoke in a wistful tone.
"Oh my, we have such brilliant weather today. It’s so wonderful that I can’t help but pay full attention while admiring it. It would be quite a shame if some Black Enigma were to somehow disappear whilst I was so distracted..."
Jason immediately understood what Hesabeth was trying to do, and Jason couldn’t hide the shock he felt, since this was the last thing he ever expected Hesabeth to do! Was she serious right now? She was just going to pretend that she had never seen him? Jason didn’t know why, but at that moment, he felt a strange amusement bubble up from deep inside his heart, and he couldn’t stop his lips from splitting into a thankful grin. All this time, Jason had always seen Hesabeth as a greedy and selfish person who only looked out for herself and never considered other people. But right now, Jason felt like he was seeing Hesabeth for the first time all over again, and he felt a sense of gratitude towards her for what she was doing.
Jason gave a signal to Stella, and the Avaran warrior walked forward and put her hand on his shoulder. Jason looked back at Hesabeth, and he saw that she was still admiring the sky with a curious look on her face, and Jason’s eyes softened before he activated his Arcane Art and fell into the shadows with Stella. Hesabeth finally looked back down, and she let out a small huff as she noticed that Jason was gone, and the guard standing beside Hesabeth spoke up.
"Your Majesty, are we really just going to allow them leave? That man is a Black Enigma so..."
"Hmm? What are you talking about? I was staring at the beautiful sky, so I didn’t notice anything. Was there a Black Enigma here?"
Hesabeth turned to the side and fixed the guard with a completely innocent look, and the guard swallowed in dread. The guard had never felt more intimidated in his life than at that moment, and the guard decided that it would be best not to say anything that would draw his queen’s anger. The guard looked down and shook his head.
"I apologise, your majesty. I wasn’t paying attention, so I didn’t notice anything either."
Hesabeth let out a small sigh in annoyance, and she clicked her tongue and frowned as she tapped her fan on the guard’s shoulder!
"You need to pay more attention to your surroundings."
The guard nodded.
"Yes, your Majesty. Forgive me."
"Very well, I shall overlook your shortcoming just this once. Ensure it does not happen again. Now, I hear that Jason Marc has begun making his way to Riyad, so prepare the carriage. We must make haste to capture him as soon as possible."
Hesabeth turned around and began to walk back to the carriage as she said this, and the guard let out a breath that he had been holding in before he shouted for the other guards to get ready to move out!
....
[The World of The Machina]
[The Cybertronic Gene Laboratory]
The Machina Cybertronic Gene Laboratory was the largest and most important institution within the world of Machina. Unlike most other races that relied on sexual or asexual intercourse in order to pass on their genes, the Machina were a race of people who believed that their mortal bodies were useless compared to the benefits that they gained from adding augmentations and replacing their flesh with machines. And with this belief came the need for a way to ensure that their race did not go extinct due to a lack of sexual intercourse between their people. And that was how the Gene Laboratory was founded. The Gene lab served as the single largest storage unit for all Genes within the Machina race, as well as the Cybertronic Incubator where scientists carried out artificial insemination in order to nurture the next generation of Machina.
It was also in this Gene lab that the Machina scientists carried out the Cybertronic Augmentations that allow Machina soldiers to replace their body parts with machines. The process for this procedure was a well-guarded secret amongst the Machina scientists, and access to the Gene lab was restricted only to the highest ranking members of the Machina army, to ensure that no one could leak the secrets of the Machina.
Currently, a Machina General was quickly making his way through the halls of the Gene Lab with an anxious look on his face. As he moved, various scientists quickly moved out of his way with curious expressions on their faces, and they all wondered what could make a General look so anxious. Right now, all the scientists in the Machina army were working overtime since they were carrying out one of their most important cybertronic Augmentations to date. The Machina scientists had carried out many augmentations in the past, and they had perfected the art so well that it would only take one or two scientists to carry out an augmentation on a low-ranking soldier all on their own. But as the power level of a soldier increases, the difficulty of an augmentation and the need for assistance become more obvious. It takes only about three scientists to carry out an augmentation that would increase an A rank to an S rank. But in order to increase an S Rank to an SS Rank, you needed more than ten scientists working at the same time.