Microstory 710: Fruit of Restraint

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The resurrected Sacred Savior, Sotiren Zahir demanded he be transported to the nearest nexus so he could reach Ileana Ulaire, who had just been killed in a freak accident involving the Belt of Andrea. The device had malfunctioned while she was trying to use it to pass through a wall, causing her to be trapped inside of it. Of course, her death occurred instantly, but Sotiren was too distraught to listen to reason. He stole two weapons from his personal guardsmen so he could start blasting the walls away. He wasn’t just trying to get her out of it, but also needed some sort of outlet for his rage. As an accident, there was really no one to blame. The inventor likely died thousands of years ago, and even if they hadn’t, no one knew exactly who it was. This was ancient technology, and in all honesty, it shouldn’t have held up even this long. Perhaps one could blame the Lactean irritants for having gifted Ileana with it years ago, but since they were missing, there was no one Zahir could hurt. Had he been offered some focus of his anger, he might have been able to take care of it quickly, and move on. Without one, however, his anger continued, completely unabated by anyone of his followers’ attempts at calming him down. A man like that could destroy a whole world in a matter of days, and no one would be able to stop him, because they all believe in him. In all of enigmatic Anseluka’s wisdom, however, hope was not lost. The next new taikon foretold the achievement of the final Fruit of the Divine Light, which was one of only a few taikon with recognizable analogs in the original list of the last taikon.

A group of scientists was recently commissioned by the Serving Loctener, Luvras Seldasic to create a new breed of angiosperm that would bear the Fruit of Restraint. Technically, they completed their work before the two previous taikon were realized, but both the Book of Light, and the Book of Anseluka allow some latitude when it comes to order. The fruit, which has not gained an official name yet—though those involved are leaning towards either urjaen or hypojs, after its primary creators—acts like a drug, affecting the body and mind in a variety of ways. Unlike the Fruit of Gentleness, the Fruit of Restraint simply physically prevents the consumer from acting on their impulses, rather than causing tranquility. It targets specific areas of the brain, and almost as if it can reads minds, prevents you from carrying out your current most primal desires. It’s capable of becoming an incredibly dangerous weapon. While certain factions in the galaxy are protesting the fruit of restraint’s creation, and call for its destruction, others cry for it to be used as a response to the Thuriamen war bananas. It is as yet unclear what part it will play in the future, if any. For now, only Sotiren Zahir was given a dose of the fruit, and only due to dire circumstances. There is no telling how many lives this act saved. We are just grateful the divine books were written by such wise men who somehow knew this all would happen. Otherwise, no one would have thought to make something like this.