The Dark Imbalance by Sean Williams, Shane Dix

enormous chamber, his eyes eventually finding their way back to Roche. When he spoke, they remained upon her, but his words were directed to everyone present.
    “Who will begin?” he said.
    “I will.” The voice came from the far side of the chamber. Another male, but younger, and fair complexioned. “Each of the many nations in the council was drawn here under a different pretext, none seemingly more convincing than any other. We hope to find one that predominates, for that one might contain a shred of truth. By what name do you refer to the enemy, Morgan Roche?”
    “At first,” she said, speaking slowly and clearly, addressing her reply equally between her questioner, Murnane, and the Heresiarch, “we thought they were Wunderkind created by the Sol Apotheosis Movement. They had a base in this system, a couple of thousand years ago—”
    “We are familiar with their history,” the speaker interrupted. “So, have you ascertained another name for them now?”
    “No,” said Roche. “I’m afraid not.”
    “We are told that you have one of the enemy aboard your ship.”
    “Yes, we do.”
    “And what does he have to say on the matter?”
    Roche shook her head. “Nothing.”
    Another voice spoke, this time a woman to Roche’s left: “But he does have a name?”
    “Yes,” said Roche. “His name is Adoni Cane.”
    “A name of your choosing?” said the woman.
    “No, it’s what he called himself when we first met. I’ve never had cause to doubt him. Later it produced a match in Dato Bloc’s historical records, confirming a link to the Sol Apotheosis Movement.”
    “Which later turned out to be spurious?”
    Roche nodded.
    “How do you account for that?”
     the Box cautioned.
    She frowned, fighting her automatic urge to answer with the truth. The AT had faked the historical data in order to mislead the COE and other neighboring governments—and also to throw any of the “enemy” off the trail. If the enemy knew how close the High Humans behind the Crescend and the Box were getting—even if it wasn’t very close at all—it might work to their advantage.
    The fact that it still might, in the midst of the Interim Emergency Pristine Council, gave her cause to reconsider.
    “Would you like the question repeated?” said Murnane.
    “No, that’s okay,” she said. “I guess I can’t account for the discrepancy. Maybe the data was deliberately corrupted by the enemy in order to throw us off the trail.”
     enthused the Box.
    “That is certainly a possibility,” said Murnane, coming forward. “There is a risk of infiltration and perversion at every level. I fear we have not yet seen the full extent of the enemy’s abilities or motivations. Until we do, we must assume the worst— even of ourselves.”
    “Has Adoni Cane ever revealed any detail regarding his origins?” The speaker, another woman, was very close and directly behind Roche.
    She turned toward the voice, but was unsure which of the many faces looking back at her had asked the question. “He seems to have no knowledge of his origins,” she said, addressing them all. “He doesn’t know where he came from or why he’s here.”
    “You’re saying he has no memory?” This time Roche saw who had spoken: a young girl, tall and thin, with flaxen hair brushing the shoulders of her blue robe.
    “Everything since his awakening is clear,” said Roche. “But nothing before then.”
    “And you are convinced he is telling the truth?”
    She hesitated, remembering her most recent conversation with Cane. “I trust him as much as I can,” she said. “Under the circumstances.”
    “Because he claims to be one of the enemy?”
    “Yes. That is, he talks about them as if they are his siblings; he shares certain characteristics with them.”
    “What characteristics, precisely?”
    “Well, his genetic profile is profoundly abnormal,” she said.
    “And his body is patently modified in