Apple Seed

A notification.

Roman stopped what he was doing and looked at the corner of the holographic screen in front of him. There was a small, red dot glowing softly, adding a crimson tinge to the muted blue lighting illuminating the dark room, bar the dim lamp in the corner. Lowering his stylus slightly, Roman wondered if it would be prudent to ignore it for a few minutes. He was almost done with his work, and it was a bit annoying to be interrupted this close to finishing. Then again, suppose it was an emergency? He could very well be letting people die for the sake of finishing paperwork a minute or two earlier. He should probably-

“You really should answer that. It’s not good to leave the governors-general waiting.”

Turning his head slightly, Roman saw an exact copy of himself (bar a pair of purple eyes and a dark trench coat) walk out of the shadows towards him.

“King,” he began, sitting up slightly straighter in his seat. “You know I DO in fact know how to do my job,” he answered, in a voice exactly the same as the man who’d spoken to him.

King let out a chuckle. “Of course sir! I am simply exercising my duty as the first imperator,” he explained, speaking with a received pronunciation that was almost certainly exaggerated.

“You certainly enjoy throwing your title around, don’t you?” Roman muttered, shaking his head slightly and turning back to the screen, proceeding to click on the red notification. Immediately, virtual reports were replaced by an image of a middle-aged, balding man in an unflattering gray suit. He looked extremely anxious, and had visible patches under his arms.

“Well that’s not a governor-general…” King muttered disapprovingly.

“Ahh! Your Excellency, at last!” the man said with an Israeli accent. “We ha-have an emergency!”

“Governor Peres,” Roman stated flatly. “What?”

“Who?” King asked, staring at Peres with raised eyebrows. “Oh! The governor of Israel, correct?” Roman gave him a small nod.

“I’m sorry sir, I know I should contact you through Miss Hussain, but the CRF has attacked Fort Tsai! We suspect they’re after the links due to be disposed of there!”

“Again?” Roman replied, more exasperated than inquisitive.

“This is the THIRD time in three months!” King gasped, his tone mocking and condescending rather than genuinely upset. “I’m starting to think you’re not up for the task of governor…” Roman let out “hmm” in agreement.

“I-I-I understand, Second Imper-First! I meant First Imperator!” Peres spluttered, his face turning even redder at King’s sharp glare. “I promise that we… that we are taking steps to ensure that this won’t ha-!”

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“Alright alright,” Roman interrupted, glancing at King, who rolled his eyes, but kept his mouth shut as Roman turned his attention back to the sweating governor before him. “Are the CRF still there?”

“Y-Yes! My latest updates tell me that… uhhh…” Peres quickly swiped his pudgy fingers across a tablet at his desk. “That the-they are on the verge of breaking into the storage area.”

“Alright, thank you. I’ll send one of the imperators ASAP,” Roman reassured, already raising his stylus as Peres burst into a nervous grin.

“Oh thank you, Supreme Governor! Trust me, I’ll-!”

Roman closed the window.

“I see you’re still prone to carelessness, Excellency. What if he had more to say?”

“What else is there to say? We just need to send someone over. They can ask for more information if need be.”

“And pray tell, which of us will you be sending this time?”

Roman tilted his head slightly in thought, leaning against the arm of his chair, before straightening his back, as if suddenly noticing something.

“Henry,” he said.

There was a brief moment of silence. Then, a groan came from behind the two twins, accompanied by the shuffling of feet.

“Sorry, Ro… didn’t wasn’t eavesdropping or anything,” Henry said, once again revealing a young man who looked to be Roman’s mirror image in all but mannerisms, eye and hair colour. He stepped into the soft glow, hunched over slightly and his eyes heavily lidded, as if he was on the verge of falling asleep. Compared to the arrogant, affected poshness of King and Roman’s emotionless, flat tone, Henry spoke with a low, slothful, irritating drawl. He somehow gave the impression that he actually was putting in an effort to look as apathetic and bored as possible.

“Henry,” Roman repeated. “I’m sending you out. I’m assuming that you’ve already overheard everything you need to know.”

In response, Henry let out an exaggerated “Huuuuh?”, drawing out the vowels in a way that made King cringe slightly. “Awww come on, Roman! I thought I was gonna be free this week!”

“You were free last week,” King stated plainly. “And the week before that. And the week before that. And the-”

“Yeah yeah yeah alright! Tell Peres he don’t gotta worry,” Henry said, rolling his eyes. “Why did I have to get the overpowered imperium…” he grumbled, mostly to himself.

“You must remember, Henry...” King began, as he started pacing back and forth. “...that as the fifth imperator, it is your duty to make a public presence and remind the citizens of the Commonwealth the power we have over them! For their own-”

“He’s going.”

“-good?” King turned back just in time to see Henry vanish in a flash of blue pixels, sticking his tongue out whilst doing so. “Bah!” he said, shaking his head. “The nerve of him sometimes!”

“If he’d stayed to listen to you monologue, he’d probably miss the CRF completely,” Roman continued, having returned to the last of his paperwork at this point. “You love the sound of your own voice too much.”

King huffed in response. “Someone needs to remind us WHO we are and WHY we fight.” Looking over Roman’s shoulder, King scanned the report he was reading. Apparently an update on the recent advancements in Southern Thailand. “How’s work coming along?” King asked, only for Roman to suddenly place his stylus on his desk.

“Finished,” was his simple reply.

“Hmm. You’re quite good at this sort of office work…” King noted, silently impressed. Roman looked up at him, and gave his brother a small, dry smirk. It was the most noteworthy expression he’d made the entire time.  

“Makes sense. After all, I’ve ninety eight years of experience.”