Chlorus entered into the grand meeting hall of Rome. He was invited by the Empress Sporus to join the assembly with the imperial senate, the advisors and the Emperor Nero himself. It was the first time he attended an assembly, he felt nervous and held tight to an amulet he carried, which was tied to his belt. He walked towards Nero, and greeted him with a bow, before he moved to a corner.

“This is an important matter! The great future of the Roman empire!” Nero shouted at the assembly, they had been in the meeting since that morning. Chlorus came in clueless, government matters were not his strength, and war was his greatest fear. As they invited a military general to the meeting, the main reason he got nervous.

“Your majesty! We can’t keep on practicing the century old ways anymore! We should have focused more on health, diplomacy and trades!” A middle aged senator argued.

“Are you out of your mind? Gaius! You’ve been misled by Seneca! New horizons? New Future? How could you risk the sovereignty of the empire on some ideas that were not proven?” Another man debated.

“It is not about Seneca! Galba! It is not feasible to over populate our nation! We must keep a balance to maintain the quality of people’s livelihood!”

“Enough! Enough! All of your arguments really triggers me!” Nero shouted in annoyance.

“It is a sacred practice, we shalt not abandon…” An old fragile voice interrupted their conversation. An old man, covered in a dark cloak, holding a walking staff, slowly stood up from his seat. He was sitting just next to Nero, with another 2 people in the dark cloak of similar style. They were the imperial advisors, the Three Elders.

Everyone stayed in silence, even Nero himself leaned back on his seat and prepared to listen.

“The sacred mission of the Roman people… to assemble and preserve the most valuable physical advantages… and raise our people to the dominant position.” the other elder spoke in the soft voice of an old woman.

“As our grand philosophers had suggested. Plato and Aristotle both agreed, and the method had helped us flourish into who we are today! The strong, the mighty and the glorious nation. That is the fact, the reason, the truth, we had the greatest emperor, your majesty, the emperor Nero! The wellborn, the Eugene!” the third elder raised both of his hands and shouted. With his praises, Nero lightly smirked with pride.

“Therefore, we shalt encourage the strong to breed, and remove the weak from getting populated! We don’t see this as an obstacle to your vision to modernize the empire, senator Gaius.” The Elder added.

Gaius was speechless and traumatized, and Chlorus remembered that he was previously Seneca’s student. He was one of them, he was with Amiran.

"The weak got sick, they died. They go to war, they are killed. Let them die, the weak will get eliminated by nature. We continue to populate the strong. There shall be no such problem as overpopulation! Gaius! No such problem!"

Seeing Gaius lose the argument, Chlorus felt an urgent need to help him out.

“I believe what Senator Gaius meant is not to neglect the importance of other sectors!” Chlorus interrupted. The assembly was shocked, by the military general who voiced out on political issues.

“We continue to breed our population, but that takes time. A woman can only deliver a child after 9 months. We sure can make 9 children from 9 women, but it will still take 9 months for the process. It is not like we can make one child in a month.” Chlorus tried to argue with a lighter tone, attempting to make the atmosphere better for Gaius. He did not want to sound intelligent either, since he might offend the senators.

“Throughout these 9 months, we should work on diplomacy and trade… and culture! Yes, culture! Like, going to the amphitheatre or watching a great chariot race...” Chlorus gazed towards Nero, he purposely mentioned the theater and the race for he knew those were his favourite pass-time activities.

“Surely, you don't want our good strong men to mate with multiple women for the entire 9 months! It will be exhausting!” He then continued his defense whimsically, turning towards Sporus. His words pierced right into her inner fear, her fear of Nero with other men or women other than herself.

The three Elders were silenced, they did not counter his argument, but they slightly nodded. “Time… we agree upon this… that the obstacle is time…” the elder replied.

Since the Elders did not make any counter argument, the whole assembly left in silence.

“Alright then! I miss a good chariot race! That’s all for today! I dismissed the assembly!” Nero called, and they all left the hall. Chlorus slowly exited the hall with his legs still shaking in fear. He sensed something was not right. Sporus, she must have a reason to invite Chlorus.

Now that he has become the center of attention. Only two years after joining Rome, unsure about whether he was extremely lucky or blessed by god and goddesses, he rose to power and gained favor of the people around him.

Suddenly an old fragile hand tapped his shoulder…

“General Chlorus…” an old voice called.

He immediately turned and noticed that the three Elders were standing right behind him. He was shocked as they appeared very sudden, almost without making any sound. The amulet on his belt dropped to the ground while he made the quick turn. One of the Elders noticed it, and he picked it up.

“The lost son of Cilicia, a bright child, you knew time is the obstacle…”

“I… I do not. I am not wise. Please forgive me! The wise ones.” Chlorus bowed and tried to make peace with them. He knew they were very influential, but they were not his ally. They were the reason why Seneca lost Nero’s favor.

“Time… we do not have much time… There must be a way to overcome this obstacle. Don’t you think so? My child?”

“...” Chlorus continued to keep his head low. He was unable to answer their question. He was clueless about what they meant. Probably they meant they were old and were about to reach the end of their lives. But to overcome the obstacle? He was unable to decipher their cryptic words. Maybe he was too afraid to even decipher it.

“Why are you bowing to me, my child? Aren’t you the general?”

Chlorus stood up straight instantly and he saw the faces of the Three Elders clearly. He was stunned. Under their cloak, the three faces were full of wrinkles and spots. Just like any regular elders who were probably over ninety years old. The face full of wisdom and history, time, probably were the only thing they no longer have much.

“Time is precious, yes indeed.” Sporus came with her waiting maids.

“We shall not waste any time, for the best of our emperor.” She continued.

“Forget about Arete of Syracuse. She is unproven to be the Teleios, weak and skinny, I don’t think she fits to be the one carrying the descendant of our great nation.”

“But that’s the order of our Emperor, your highness...” Chlorus was puzzled, was that the reason why Sporus invited him to the meeting? To override the instruction given by Nero.

“Are you sure? General Chlorus? Are you sure you want your Lady Arete to be a baby carrying vessel? For me?” Sporus grinned.

Chlorus did not let his guard down. He knew Sporus was up to no good, but her words were extremely persuasive.

“So let's waste no time! Chlorus! I want you to find the real Teleios.” said Sporus.

“The Teleios who had been approved by the Elders.” she continued.

“The Teleios of Eretria!”

“The beauty!”

“The perfect!”

“The immortal!”