“How long are you going to wear that face?” Donna asked.
“As long as I choose,” the man snapped back, stepping past her.
The young woman really was getting uppity these days. He’d have to say something to the others. It was one thing to be ambitious and covet future powers, but Donna also needed to learn patience and respect— just as they all had.
Nonetheless, as soon as he stepped past her into the building’s foyer, he headed straight for the mirror that hung just inside. It was blackened and warped after having been consecrated in fire and smoke to Tezcatlipoca, but that marred surface held a power that was of immense use to the god’s servants in their transformations. Distorted, Rufus Callaway’s image looked back at the man one last time as he summoned a prayer and drew on the power of skin-changing.
An uncomfortable, crawling feeling ran over his body, one he never got used to. Then came the sensation of being stretched and kneaded, as though he were dough in some capable baker’s hands. But once it was all over, the stocky, weathered face was gone from the mirror. A younger face looked back, one with black hair and eyes born of pure Mediterranean heritage, paired with a taller and more muscled body. His clothes hadn’t changed and now stretched oddly at the new fit, but he didn’t care.
Being a ghost was certainly useful, and he’d long since learned to enjoy the privileges and movement his anonymity allowed him. But no matter how many times he performed the shape-shifting magic, no matter how many different guises he went through, it was always a relief to return to his own face and body. It felt comfortable . . . like coming home. That, and Porfirio Aldaya just liked the way he looked.
He gave his reflection in the darkened mirror one last, fond look before he turned around and headed deeper inside the building, off to see what his master had planned for him next.
AGE OF X GLOSSARY
Arcadia—Post-Decline country formed by part of the southern and southeastern former United States. It possesses moderate technology and a religion-centric government. There’s a lot of tension between it and the RUNA, both because of current border disputes and Arcadia feeling as though it was abandoned after the Decline.
Age of Decline—Official name for the fifty years between ephistopheles and the discovery of its vaccine.
Age of Renewal—Official name for the period of time following the discovery of the Mephistopheles vaccine and the rapid rebuilding of Gemman society that followed.
Age of X—Tongue-in-cheek political term for the RUNA’s next age, its “unknown age” to come.
Annexed Lands—New territory recently conquered by the RUNA, usually undergoing unrest as they adopt Gemman policies and uniform culture.
Cain—A hereditary set of genetic defects created from Mephistopheles. It often involves damaged skin and hair, poor fertility, and asthma. It usually only shows up in those without mixed genetic backgrounds, like the patricians or those from the provinces.
Castal, castals—Slang term for those who belong to the castes.
Castes—Slang term for patrician groups, those who clung to their ethnic heritage and were exempted from genetic mandates after the Decline because of financial contributions to the early government. Patricians identify with a particular culture (Irish, Egyptian, etc.) and select for features associated with that
culture. Many patricians still live off of that early wealth and have established aristocratic mini-societies on special regions
allocated to them, called land grants.
Church of Humanity—A “secular religion.” The only religion officially endorsed by the government. Although it has temples and priests, there is no deity involved. It is meant to encourage decent, humanitarian ways of living, which are synced up with the RUNA’s laws and philosophies.
Consul—One of two leaders of the RUNA’s senate. Consuls are elected from currently serving senators by other senators. A very powerful position.
Contraceptive Implants—Mandatory devices all Gemman women get upon puberty and are required to keep until they’re twenty- years-old.
Decline—Name for the years immediately following Mephistopheles’ devastation.
Division of Sect and Cult Investigation—The sub-department within Internal Security that the servitors work out of. Sometimes called SCI.
Eastern Alliance—Called EA. The RUNA’s sister country, formed from parts of former China and Russia. It shared many genetic policies with the RUNA, including population swapping, but has a looser stance on religion. It nearly matches the RUNA in technology and order. Its primary language is Mandarin, followed secondarily by Russian.
Ego—A small handheld device that functions much like a smart phone and then some. It controls communications and is synced to the media stream, as well as the owner’s identity chip. Unless a special code is entered, egos will not function if they’re too far away from the owner’s chip.
Gemman, Gemmans—The term for citizens of the RUNA. It comes from the country’s motto, Gemma mundi, which means “jewel of the world.”
Genetic Mandates—A set of laws that the RUNA employed to create a diverse population resistant to Mephistopheles. Part of this included forcibly swapping parts of the population with others from the EA. For much of the RUNA’s history, citizens were not allowed to reproduce with those who wouldn’t produce genetically diverse offspring. Later, the law was amended to allow freedom of reproduction but with monetary penalties to those who didn’t reproduce optimally. In the current day RUNA, there are no penalties, but those who still seek genetically diverse mates receive stipends from the government.
Genetic Resistance—A numeric score, from 1-10, that identifies how resistant an individual is to Mephistopheles and Cain. The more mixed the person’s background is, the higher their score tends to be. Most plebeians now have 8-10. Patricians average around 5.
Identity Chips—A small chip in the left hand of each Gemman citizen. The chip is keyed to the person’s DNA and an entry in the National Registry, which contains all of their basic information. Chip readers scattered throughout the country regulate who enters secure areas and also help locate criminals and outsiders.
Internal Security—The ministry within the RUNA that handles threats and security inside the country’s borders. The Division of Sect and Cult Investigation, which the servitors work out of, is part of it.
Land Grants—Exclusive regions of the country that patrician groups are allowed to live on. Most are in the middle of the country. Although the land grants have a caste’s cultural slant, Gemman loyalty is still strongly enforced, and borders are kept open to Gemman officials.
Media Stream—The RUNA’s equivalent of the Internet, containing access to the country’s data, resources, and entertainment channels (there is no separate television service). The Media Stream is a public resource, accessible to all citizens through egos and home screens. Called “the stream” for short.
Mephistopheles—Common name for a virus released into the world in the early twenty-first century that killed half of the earth’s population. Those of diverse genetic backgrounds have greater resistance to it and the hereditary disease it created, Cain. A vaccine created in the RUNA fifty years after the virus’s release has mostly wiped it out.