The room was dimly lighted by a few candles in random corners, with contorted shadows as the only decoration. It did not seem like the best possible choice of venue for a meeting high on tension and filled with importance. Yet none of those present raised any objections. Seated in two rows at opposite ends of the room with their backs against the wall, each one was silent and motionless. All carried marks of the war which had torn their world apart, not in terms of battle scars but in the form of long, thin lines…wrinkles and creases, each etched with heart-felt emotion. How long they sat there no one knew, for no one was keeping time, until finally a woman cleared her throat.

Immediately there was a change of atmosphere. Those on the opposite end of the room twitched instantaneously, as if expecting her to lunge at them. Those seated near her merely looked away, giving one the impression that they were looking down upon the rest who feared her. She rose slowly, as if trying not to startle a small creature into running away, and stood in her place. “We came here today to discuss matters of peace, so let us not delay our discussion any longer.”

Her voice grew louder as she continued, “Before this war began we were all one people, a population, all the same. Then came the Age of Science and Research…and the urge to find a way for humans-”

With the mention of this word a current ran through her audience. Murmurs, both angry and skeptical were heard in the room.

“-to become more adaptable to any situation. Finding what they thought to be the solution, the incorporated it into the genes of a few volunteers. In time, this small number began to grow and was accepted by the rest to be a new species of humanity…known as moeans. Our ‘ability’ began to set us apart, the way we could change our shape and the power to liquefy ourselves. The war,” she paused and breathed out slowly, “was our fault. This much we admit.”

The room was now filled with commotion. The humans reacted angrily and triumphantly, and a voice was heard over the rest, “You should have admitted it sooner…you monsters!!” The moeans gritted their teeth at the insult, but were held back by the woman who acted as their representative.

“But many of the initial acts were done based on a genetic fluke, which gave us an urge for violence and unspeakably horrible deeds. This fluke has since been rectified and will no longer plague any of us. Now all that is left is for us to reconcile, and to become one people again. We need not segregate ourselves as we have done for so long, let us once again become the global community that our ancestors strived so hard for.”

The human representative raised his arms to calm his people down before speaking. “We have agreed to your proposal,” he reached for a document of which they had each been given a copy, “as is stated here, to solve this problem by using an age old method…of joining our people through marriage. We have chosen three representatives from our people as asked and they will be sent to the place you mentioned tomorrow. We have also done our best to erase whatever memories of the war which they may carry, though I’m afraid that we might not have been all that successful. From here on, it is up to you to prove that you are truly making an effort.”

The woman nodded. “Very well.”