《Unipsi, lovely entity》 chapter 1c: enemy Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 1c: enemy The sound of the internal communicator starts echoing in the metal room. The commander room wasn¡¯t some fancy stuff, but it was definitely bigger then a normal crew member room. It was fully customizable but the commander didn¡¯t care about useless things such as interior design. The result was a mostly empty room, so empty that sounds could echo in it. What is it this time? I was suppose do sleep for at least 2 more hours. The commander was not really happy to be awakened after staying up late helping her crew fixing a ¡°small¡± issue with the weapons systems. ¡°I thought I made myself clear yesterday to not wake me up so I could at least sleep 4 hours.¡± an apologetic female voice imminently responds, it was the vice commander Morea. ¡°I¡¯m sorry commander Lis, but the local border patrol unit is contacting us, It¡¯s a high priority request, almost at the level of an SOS signal¡­¡± Morea was promptly interrupted by the commander ¡°give me 2 minutes and I¡¯m there¡±. What the hell could be happening now?. Scilla Lis was the commander of the best scavenger squad of the Hakavor corporation and she was a badass commander. She became a soldier following her gramparents family traditions like most Leans do. Soon after, the Droxi extermination war started and it brought her the chance to elevate her rank. In the 4 years of war she moved from soldier to spaceship captain. Such impressive growth didn¡¯t pass undetected and soon after the war the Hakavor¡¯s heir was asking for her services. Dhalia Hakavor made a proposal that one simply cannot refuse. Dhalia wanted Lis as her new commander for a special spaceship, the L.F. Sheridan. The Sheridan was a special spaceship, closer to a battleship than to a normal explorer ship. With a length of almost 500m, width of 100m and max height of 90m, it was massive. The shape was kinda off as well. A standard tetrahedral shape, usually used only for ship that are not meant to access a planet atmosphere, covered with tons of thrusters to allow planetary descent. The massive ship was everything a commander could ever dream of. The Sheridan was basically a flying self-sufficient city, for a reason. It was built to be the ideal scavenger spacecraft, perfect for all occasion and fully equipped for long journeys necessary for alien artefact searching. The new job put Lis in charge of around 300 leans lives, it gave her honour, prestige and obviously tons of money. However those weren¡¯t the real reasons that brought Lis to accept the position even if she says the opposite. Once Lis arrived on the main deck, Morea did her usual greeting and pointed at the main screen at the commander position. Lis responded with a small hand gesture and then she sat on her commander chair. The communication immediately started. ¡°Commander Scilla Lis of the L.F.Sheridan, what¡¯s the emergency?¡± on the screen another lean, her reddish skin was visibly wet probably due to recent stress. ¡°Commander Lis sorry if I have to cut all the formalities but I think we have an emergency. My ship and another have the task to patrol this system, however the other one is no longer responding. Half an hour ago we detected what we thought was a meteorite entering and inhabited planet by non technological advanced creatures. It was not a problem until the object completely changed trajectory, like a 120¡ã change. So following the law the first patrol unit moved toward the theoretical impact point for investigation, now they are not responding to our calls.¡± She is shaking like crazy, probably she has a friend or a loved one on the other ship. She looks young, probably never been at war, I can understand why she is so agitated she doesn¡¯t look like a soldier, more like a police officer. After a brief moment Lis starts to speak back while indicating Morea to prepare, her guts was telling her that problems were coming. ¡°Captain¡­??¡± ¡°Disa Oxali, commander Lis.¡± ¡°ok, first of all calm down. Now, did the object leave some electromagnetic trace?, did you detect the impact on the planet or not?¡± ¡°there were no traces so at first we thought it was a meteorite. Then the supposed meteorite turned 120¡ã backward. No impact detected. That¡¯s why we moved to the spaceship theory ¡° This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°ok, we will help you out and investigate.¡± ¡°thanks commander.¡± Best day ever, 2 hours of sleep, an emergency call from a border patrol and a possible unknown alien life form on a damn fucking ship on a planet with native intelligent life. The only missing thing to the party is my mum asking when I will marry. ¡°Morea sends some probes to the last know position and call everybody, we may have to fight¡± Morea immediately started the combat protocol, and launched the probes. She knew that the commander had one of her guts feeling moment but she was hoping it was a false alarm. After 5 minutes the probes where in position and unfortunately a Lean SOS signal starts beeping on all the comm-stations. Strange sound and tons of gunshot could be heard through the comm station while an almost crying voice was screaming for help. ¡°this is¡­. (Interference)¡­ Oxali, patrol unit 1.22 we are under heavy fire,¡­ (interference)...unknown robots are shooting at us. We have¡­(interference)..., please!! someone answer this fucking signal!¡± Oxali..., sisters or probably wives, their voices are too different. Fuck we have to move fast I don¡¯t think patrol units are equipped with heavy weapons. Lis was about answer when the signal stopped. ¡°Morea, situation!¡± ¡°Commander, we were able to catch the signal with the probes, but something just shot them down. No more information commander.¡± ¡°Everyone! Get in position, we are going down and destroy those fuckers!. Morea thrusters full power toward the last signal location. Lets bring them hell!¡± the massive ship started it¡¯s acceleration. All the Leans inside were running to reach their combat position while the non-combatant one were simply rushing to their space suit, just in case. The Sheridan was armed with the best Lean¡¯s technology, so fusion missiles, heavy rail-guns and standard torpedoes. It also contained a small army, 12 close combat fighters, 24 tanks, 32 armed walkers and a couple of utility vehicles. About the moment the ship starts it¡¯s deceleration to enter the atmosphere the SOS was finally detected again. Oxali was still alive. ¡°the robot are going away, they are retreating. Don¡¯t know why...¡± ¡°Oxali, commander Lis, we are coming in with the other patrol, hang in there¡± A sign of relief from both the Oxali, and then a signal appeared on the radar. It was a spaceship escaping the zone, even if you are sneaky you can¡¯t prevent the atmosphere from burning while entering or exiting it. ¡°all scanner on that thing now, I want a video feed and weapons analysis¡± The video feed soon appeared on Lis¡¯s command terminal. It was a small greyish vessels with no marks on it. Its shape was strange almost like a U with a really thick bottom as connector, probably the cockpit. No one had ever seen such a ship, expect Lis. She was one of the few who ever worked with the Esterian, their commercial ally during the Droxi war. It¡¯s not a commercial nor cargo ship but it¡¯s similar to theirs and it was a huge problem. Fuck, it¡¯s an Esterian ship. But why are those monsters attacking us. We have ongoing massive space trade with them, what the fuck is happening. I don¡¯t think they would attack us just for fun, and with a really small ship. Is it a scout?. Fuck I don¡¯t know, better follow it and see if it lands somewhere else. ¡°Lets follow the ship and don¡¯t shoot. Disa go rescue the patrol, we take care of them¡± then the weapons command officer start speaking. ¡°commander!, huge problems. That small things has some fusion missiles slot and some unknown weapons that look like a rail-gun on steroids. I don¡¯t think we can engage without some serious damage¡± Fuck my life. Why, why does it have to go this way! If we fight we will probably die here, but we can¡¯t just let them escape. Maybe I can speak to them. If their system are connected they should recognize me. Morea was confused by the commander silence, but the commander was going to confuse her even more. ¡°that is an Esterian ship. I don¡¯t know what they are trying to do but I think there could have been a misunderstanding¡± Silence, shock and confusion spread fast on the main deck. Esterian where no joke, if they had become enemy a new war was about to start, a war that they will probably lose. Esterians were Humans that followed the last Terran tyrant in the outer systems and reappeared after centuries of silence. Nowadays they are extremely secretive, to the point that it¡¯s not known if they are really Humans or just posing as them. Nobody has ever seen an Esterian outside their black power suit, but their story follows correctly the Terran¡¯s one. They appeared during the Droxi war and exchanged their biological weapons, used to exterminate the Droxi, for large quantity of food and harsh environment agricultural machinery. For the next 12 years after the war they didn¡¯t do much, just popping somewhere, scans some planets and disappear in the void. Their strangeness and total disregard of others laws was let slide due to their pure technological superiority. From unknown to trade extremely powerful biological weapon for food is something to be scared of. If I follow my guts that had never betrayed me up until know, I think I can talk to them and even gain us something. Maybe not much, but it¡¯s way better than risk my life and all my women to destroy a possible scout ship. The Esterian vessel moved without hesitation, probably knowing that it was being tracked, toward the planet¡¯s biggest moon. It entered its atmosphere with the usual flames. It was time to go down and see those Esterians. chapter 2c: contact Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 2c: contact The Sheridan was landing around the last known position of the Esterian''s ship, however their spacecraft was nowhere to be found. ¡°commander the scanner are going blind again, a high power jamming signal is preventing them from working. It¡¯s must be the Esterian''s ship trying to keep its position hidden.¡± Maybe it¡¯s not a standard scout, what is the point of jamming signals?. Why trying to hide when you know you can do whatever you want? The more I think about it, the more suspicious I become. ¡°pass to manual scanning and be ready to switch to mechanical system. If the Esterians launch an EMP we must be ready. Those who feel brave enough may follow me, we will try to reach them and capture them. Not too many volunteers, we can¡¯t start a war over a possible misunderstanding¡± ¡°commander I don¡¯t think it¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°stop Morea. I know what I¡¯m doing¡± nope. I don¡¯t, I just don¡¯t want to die without trying a peaceful approach, it worked so far. ¡°we will try to reach the centre of the jamming signal and see if we can talk us out of this shit. For what I experienced Esterians are not stupid. If they can avoid a fight they will.¡± Soon after Lis was going out with 20 other Leans. 2 heavy tanks with 6 Leans each, 4 battle walkers and the remaining geared up with heavy power armour taking a ride on the walkers. It was a "small" squad but powerful enough to fight off a ship crew, maybe even an Esterian one. Under Lis command the squad started their march toward the possible ship. It took them 20 minute of pure stress to finally reach something. It was no esterian spaceship but an alien ancient structure. Strange patterns covered the walls of the entrance leading to an underground complex. The door was opened with force by something but it was not an explosive. Why the fuck, did I choose to follow my gut? Why the hell did I even come here. I could have stayed in the army but no, being a scavenger is obviously better. Going in unknown structure full of alien unknown tech, doing unknown things. Yeah great idea. hopefully they already killed everything inside. ¡°everybody set up a perimeter with the tanks, me, the walkers and the other will go in. If we don¡¯t come back in 4 hour we are dead. Get the fuck out of here and call for backups, understood?¡± the mood was heavy but Leans are no pussies. Dying is part of life, if one must die do it with honour and dignity, die fighting until even your last tooth is gone in a pool of blood. What was left of the initial squad started to move toward the darkness of the alien structure. A long staircase leading deep underground in absolute silence. The heavy walker steps echoed though out the alien facility. After 5 minute that seems eternal, the stairs ended leading to an opening with some dim light coming from it. The underground structure was divided in 2 side, one left and one right, with and empty space in the middle. The side were also multi-levelled and with the sides open, so one could see from side to side and from level to level. It looked like some fancy storage, probably built for automated flying drones. People could only move using two platforms. One was already at the bottom, they were on the other one. No railing, so better watch out from falling. The structure was about 50m deep so a fall would be deadly or extremely painful. The one on the bottom must be theirs, now I just have to find a way to use this one. Looking at the structure I think this platform can also move back and forward horizontally. Maybe if we move a bit before going down we could find something useful, or at least a position to put a sniper to look at the lower levels. It¡¯s not like they have another way out. Her thought process was brutally interrupted by a massive explosion followed by something that sounded like a machine dying in pain, if you suppose that machines can feel pain. Then an exclamation, maybe a battle cry echoed in the structure, it was a kinda deep voice. ¡°Succhiami il cazzo robot di merda!¡± (suck my dick robot pieces of shit!) I suppose that''s one of the Esterian speaking in it¡¯s own language, such a strange combination of sound. But his sound confirm his position, they probably don¡¯t know that we have been following them even here. ¡°let¡¯s try to be sneaky, we get on the platform and we try to move in order to have line of sight on the Esterians. Then you all stay there while I try to contact them. If things go south you shoot.¡± Lis and this team weren¡¯t new to alien ruins, however this was the first one that was sort of working so it was a completely new world for them. Lis started hitting buttoms on the only things that look like a command panel for the platform. After some push that, touch this and scratch your sweaty face only to realise you have a full helmet, the elevator start moving forward emitting a screeching noise. Fuck, kiss goodbye to our surprise effect. This think must be old as fuck, but it¡¯s still working. I want one, maybe we will be able to take it with us?. While moving the floor of the platform turned completely transparent like glass, through it Lis and the team saw a small creature in the lowest level. A completely black humanoid figure followed by 4 massive walkers and 8 flying armed drones, all of them were staring at the platform from underneath. No doubt know, that is an Esterian. I have never seen such machines, those things look like war machines. Guess I¡¯ll die today if my words don¡¯t work. After reaching the end of the structure, the squad left the elevator taking position. They could see 2 of the Esterian walkers, but the rest had gone deeper inside the structure and there was no way to hit them if not frontally. While positioning her squad Lis saw a small pyramid shaped engraved object, that looked a lot like an alien artefact, so she grabbed it. Well time to go down and see. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. With no hesitation she hopped back on the elevator trying to make it go down toward the robot. The machine started moving in the right direction, each second bringing Lis closer to the Esterian''s walkers left out on guard. She reached the robot that stared at here, well she thought so. Can really tell if they are looking at you with their sensors. ¡°may I go in mister robot?¡± she said looking at one of the walker. No response from the machine, so she took a step to immediately have guns pointed at her. Maybe if I step back and put down my weapons I could be allowed in? She tried so and this time without the weapons, the 2 massive walkers didn¡¯t react. So those are defence robot. Probably the same that shot at the patrol, but why?. Maybe they weren¡¯t the first to open fire? Immense in her mind, Lis kept on going forward through a massive corridor full of broken drones. Must be the ruin defence system, those don¡¯t look Esterian at all. Bullet holes, but no cartridges case. Probably electromagnetic weapons, not good. A bit later she reached a room with a big door and finally the Esterians were in front of her. Well not Esterians, there was only one. So he is alone and he was not a he but a she. The black power armour with hexagonal patterns covered everything but you could guess without to much thinking the sex of the person underneath. She is not looking at me, just focusing on the door, probably she wants to go in. maybe I can speak. Maybe her drone and walkers won¡¯t shoot. ¡°hi there Esterian¡± A female kinda deep and a bit robotic voice responded immediately. ¡°I didn¡¯t shoot first, so get out¡± ¡°You see I¡¯m technically in charge of what happened so I would like a more extensive explanation.¡± ¡°I think not. I didn¡¯t shoot first, so begone cock sucker I have nothing for you¡± The small Esterian was just 180cm compared to the 230cm of Lis but it was clearly a concentrate of hatred. This fucking little shit, if those thing wouldn''t kill me in an instant I would have already beat the shit out of her. ¡°I won¡¯t dishonour my family in such a way¡± she replied but the small Esterian was not in the mood for talking. ¡°I give you 10 second and then I will blow you up¡±, Lis just couldn''t help herself and replied with ¡°that¡¯s what she said!¡± the esterian snapped back, turned around as fast as possible pulling out her submachine gun. This movement showed the door command that seems to be missing a pyramid object. ¡°wait wait wait!! I have this¡± as she said so, Lis pulled out of her suit pocket the object. She stopped, this is my chance. ¡°I have this, can we speak a bit and then I will give it to you?¡± ¡°how about I shoot you and take it anyway?¡± ¡°you won¡¯t do that. I¡¯m a high raked official of the Lean federation and my death would mean war between our people. Also you are illegally scavenging in our domain so you are committing a crime if a Lean did not authorize you. If I may add I already worked with your kind and I know that you don¡¯t want unnecessary fight. I have a squad of people outside ready to rush in and make a mess.¡± please tell me she believed it. The Esterian positioning expressed her doubt even if her body was completely covered. Yes, it worked, now first some questioning about the accident and then I can try to make her work for me. ¡°how about you give me the key, I don¡¯t kill you and if I feel like I will answer your questions¡± does she think I¡¯m stupid, without the key she can¡¯t enter right? and she won''t kill me to take it, hopefully. ¡°how about you answer my question about the accident and then I give you the key?¡± ¡°don¡¯t need that, don¡¯t need you. It just reduce my time on this useless moon.¡± Fuck, that¡¯s no good. I have to find a way. ¡°then what about working for me? I fake to capture you so everybody is happy and then we can use your knowledge and my massive crew to look for new ruins¡± the esterian was all but pleased with such a question. ¡°I won¡¯t work for a cock sucker, I won¡¯t work with a cock sucker neither and I definitely won¡¯t pose as a prisoner for your little puppet theatre. I¡¯m no prostitute that sells herself for money.¡± ¡°fuck you dickhead I¡¯m not a bitch! Stop saying that!¡± ¡°that¡¯s what a sucker would say¡± ¡°then no key, go suck some cock like you usually do maybe they will open the door for you!¡± the Esterian emitted a strange laugh. It was a maniac laugh that could freeze your blood. Fuck, am I going to die like this? Then the Esterian stopped her sinister laugh. ¡°you are funny, you need balls of steel to even dare to speak to my kind yet you try to even joke and insult me. I like braveness or is it pure madness? So what you want to know¡± it worked, how the fuck did it work, how the fuck am I alive. ¡°so I would like to know what happened on the planet¡± ¡°nothing much. Go down, open ruins, look for things and a bunch of women in armour show up. Robot stopped them, they think they are after their life and start shooting. Robot fire back with orders to injury and not kill otherwise none would be alive.¡± ¡°well they point weapons at you...¡± ¡°they can¡¯t speak, what should they do? write you a sign?¡± ¡°make sense. Now to the work part, i have a massive ship with an entire crew, we can use your knowledge about the ruins and you can use our numbers. Then we split 50-50. how about it?¡± ¡°no. we split only physical object 50-50 I take all digital information. You provide me with all your information about the ancient alien in you territory and I still keep my autonomy we will be peers. You pledge to never try to inquire my existence or try to obtain information about Esterians.¡± ¡°I can do that but I need my boss, Dhalia Hakavor, to confirm. We can start with a temporary contract and then go to my home planet to meet Dhalia?¡± ¡°ok, give me the key¡± Fucking hell, I just have to keep her and all her power is ours. Maybe she is not that bad. Little did she know that it was just the start of a long series of trouble. chapter 3c: Idra Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 3c: Idra After about 2 hours Lis comeback walking toward the platform, her squad could finally let out a sign of relief, but right behind her a black figure was following. The Esterian was walking with the boss for some strange reason and the two seems to be talking to each other. ¡°I forgot to present myself, I¡¯m Scilla Lis, commander of the L.F Sheridan, may I know your name?¡± ¡°they call me Idra 511 Weeping Sky, before you ask Weeping Sky is not my surname, just a title¡± ¡°you sure have really strange title in the Esterian domain¡± ¡°it¡¯s not a political nor military title, just a title that I have¡± Ok that¡¯s strange but it¡¯s not as if the rest is normal. Now the real challenge is to please the Oxalis so they think we arrested her and keep her under control during the flight back home. If she goes nut during the space jump we are dead. ¡°So you are gonna follow me around till you meet my boss?¡± ¡°I suppose.¡± ¡°woman of few words?¡± No comeback? Really, I guess she doesn¡¯t want to chat. Now that I can take a closer look, her armour is a bit off. A thick black adherent layer with hexagonal patterns cover all of her body. It would enhance her figure if tons of extra armour and gadget weren¡¯t built on it. Not gonna lie I kinda want to see what is underneath. The armour seems light but really tough I wonder what it¡¯s made of. Her helmet looks terrifying. No eyes hole or smooth circular parts, is all hard angles and sharp edges. It doesn¡¯t look like it''s attached to the suit, more like it¡¯s part of the suit. How does she get in and out of it? Can¡¯t see any hinges. The rest of her body is covered in extra armour plate that change shape as she moves, clever solution. But I don¡¯t really see the point of the left shoulder cloak and the smaller one that covers her butt and her groin dropping down to her knees. ¡°what you looking at?¡± ¡°nothing just observing your weapons, why did you carry 3 of them?¡± ¡°why not. You should have one for every eventuality¡± So that is why she has a pistol, a sub-machine-gun and a rifle. All bull-pup but they are not short at all. Probably the armour reduce their recoil. Both the SMG and the rifle looks like electromagnetic weapons. Can¡¯t see a cartridge ejection port. The pistol is a mystery, the base shape looks like an ancient pirate one-shot pistol, but why?. Such a shape is extremely inefficient for everything. They reached the rest of the squad while followed by the little army of robots. They were all astonished, they had never seen an Esterian if not in photo and not so armed. ¡°well, I will tell you all later, know let¡¯s move out so the rest of us don¡¯t think we are dead¡± The journey back to the ship was all but pleasant. All the other Leans were highly alerted by the Esterian presence. Lis reassurances fall on deaf ears, they were too intimidated and the disappearance of the robots army scared them even more. She probably sent them back to her ship, is she going to ask me if she could bring it in my Sheridan or is she just going to send it away?. Back in the ship the new crew member was not met with happy faces. Form most of the crew, Idra was an enemy that attacked their people. Lis intention was to explain the situation once they reach the main deck, but things were going to escalate quickly. Looking at her again, she is really small. I could probably put her in my room, I have a spare bed. I know we are the biggest species around but her figure seems kinda fragile. It¡¯s been some time since a met some humans but I don¡¯t remember seeing such slim figures, 180cm when inside the suit, without it she is probably so small that I can fit her in a suitcase, maybe if I ask...nope, definitely not a good idea. Idra saw the gazing Lis once again, as if she could tell somehow that someone was staring at her. ¡°what are you looking at tits giant?!¡± ¡°tits what?¡± ¡°you heard me walking airbag, can you dive underwater with those or the Archimedes force is to strong for you?. ¡± This little fucker is really trying to drive me crazy. But I have to resist. Her collaboration could have a huge impact on all Leans. ¡°what you angry for? I just stated the truth.¡± Before Lis could replay, Morea had jumped in the conversation putting herself in front of the Esterian. ¡°who the fuck you think you are!?, just by looking at the situation someone can guess that the commander is helping you!. So you better be grateful to her¡± obviously it didn¡¯t sit well with the proud Esterian. ¡°I don¡¯t recognize your structural profile in my database, so shut you sewer Droxi¡¯s slave¡± Leans had a really terrible past with the Droxi, so such insult was probably one of the worst you could use to a Lean. ¡°I¡¯ll break you fucking skull...¡± in a fraction of second Idra punched Morea in the chest. The sound of the punch, the Esterian power suit adjusting its mobile parts emitting visible pressured gas and mechanical sound. Morea¡¯s armour shattered under the pure force as her body was sent flying back a couple of meters. ¡°like I just said, I don¡¯t remember to ever authorize you to even address me. But we can solve it¡± she moved her hand a little forward letting it fall like a branch of a weeping tree. ¡°kiss my hand like a true knight and I will accept your will to speak to me¡± strangely enough, the kissing hand procedure was fairly common to pacify an Esterian. However the as well proud Lean Morea would never do such thing, never bow before a non Lean, and she was also to busy vomiting the hell out of her body. The others crew member rushed to rescue their friend while others put themselves in between ready for a fist fight. ¡°what are you waiting, a written invite? Are you too busy vomiting out you guts. Such low¡­.¡± Idra couldn''t finish that Lis took her with a smooth move, makes her lose her balance and then grabs her waist, like in a formal dance. She then proceed opening her helmet and kissed her hand with a proud smile. You had what you wanted so stop messing with my crew. Idra was taken aback by the gesture for a moment she couldn''t look straight at Lis, then she cleared her throat. That¡¯s unexpected, I thought Esterian were like machine with no emotion, did I embarrassed her? If so I should mark this day as a massive success and use this opportunity. ¡°such bold move, for such a bold person. I will let this slide due to such indecent behaviour, but I will not tolerate other misbehaves. I¡¯m no friend of yours, we just have a contract to honour nothing more. If you want to speak to me show respect.¡± ¡°ja ja ja, now stop nagging and sit on that damn chair¡± Lis pointed at an isolated chair, away from everything that she could touch and break. It was time for an explanation. While Morea was being moved to the medical bay, Lis started her explanation. ¡°now, I will say this only once. We have a new ally. This Esterian here is Idra. She will be with us probably for a long time. I see your concerns, let me finish. She technically didn¡¯t attack the patrol unit. She is a scavenger, so she was there for some ruins. The patrol interacted with her robot that stops people from going near her if they are armed. I have experienced this first hand. If you don¡¯t drop your weapons and try to go further they shoot you. And that is exactly what happened. However Idra instructed them not to kill. Me and the team that went out could confirm that if they wanted to kill there would be no more patrol unit to rescue. Speaking with her I found out that we could work together to improve our success rate. For now we have a temporary contract, we are going home to have Hakavor¡¯s final decision. I¡¯m not suggesting to live peacefully and all friendly with her. The contract puts her as my peer so I will try to find a way to make her see you all as comrades, but for now it¡¯s what it¡¯s. I know I¡¯m asking a lot. She just attacked Morea and this won¡¯t be let unpunished as the contract says¡­¡± ¡°wait, so those being are your crew, all of them?. Fuck!¡± Apparently something wasn¡¯t clear in Idra¡¯s mind. Maybe she thought that only the man with me where my crew. So I can punish her for her own impulsivity. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°like I was saying I will find a way to make your collaboration possible. Esterian usually don¡¯t break contract so rest assure that this event won''t repeat, right IDRA?¡± ¡°how could I know she was one of yours, she stood in my face, she is fortunate that I decided not to kill her¡± ¡°as you can see, we have a long way to go.¡± the crew members started laughing loudly and the mood started to set down. ¡°I suggest to not interact with her and let me handle all the things she does. So now if excuse me I will contact the Oxalis to put an end to all of this.¡± It took an hour for Lis to convince the Oxalis from the patrol unit that everything was ok and they had arrested the Esterian. ¡°now that you have finished speaking with the underling¡± ¡°they are not my underlings, but my colleagues, sort of.¡± ¡°whatever, just start this ship, I¡¯m tired of waiting¡± At your orders your majesty, I will make her pay for all of this. Idra was still there on the chair, her intense glare toward Lis was almost visible. She was waiting to depart. ¡°don¡¯t you need to bring your ship with you?¡± ¡°no need for that. It will follow us without issues¡± ¡°if you say so, don¡¯t come crying later that you lost your ship in the emptiness of space.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t and I don¡¯t cry. If I ever would have to cry I won¡¯t come to you I would just sit in my ship trying to fix myself.¡± So I do remember correctly. Esterians don¡¯t want feelings and emotion influence their life and if they ever emerge they try to fix them. So embarrassing her was like hitting the jackpot. While distracted by the new entity on her ship, her crew had already started to move the ship that had already left the planet¡¯s moon. ¡°pilot, trace the jump route, destination Icar 3¡ã¡± the pilot started working and soon after the ship was entering the interdimensional space. ¡°so Scilla, my supreme commander, how long do I have to wait on this flying tin can?¡± Lis took a deep breath, remember she is trying to pick a fight because she is crazy and bored. If you stay calm hopefully she won¡¯t create more problems. ¡°Sheridan is a really fast ship so around 20 days. Are you impressed?¡± a smirk of victory on her face. ¡°what! 20 days!. I could move faster trying to swim in space. And if you don¡¯t remember it¡¯s empty you can¡¯t swim in it!.¡± ¡°don¡¯t lie to me about jumps speed, you think you can do better with your plastic horseshoe shaped ship?¡± ¡°it¡¯s not made of plastic and this closer to a U that a fucking horseshoe.¡± irritate her gives me such a sweet aftertaste that I can¡¯t stop. ¡°U are thinner than yours ship, so its a horseshoe¡± ¡°well al least my horseshoe run faster that this tuna can with thruster. 20 days, I could reach your planet in 4 days¡± 20 light years in 4 days? Such stupid lie. Sheridan is one of the faster ship around and can go up to 1 light year per day. To just make it in 4 days her ship must go at 5 ly/day that''s just impossible. You can have all the tech you want but you need just too much energy for such jump. ¡°next time find a more convincing lie, 4 days. Ha, ha, haha. Even kids won''t believe it¡± Idra snorted and was clearly angry. She moved threateningly a little forward Lis, then stopped tuned around probably to rethink and so on until she decide to sit on the floor. I knew it, Esterians don¡¯t break contracts or promises, so she probably wanted to kill me or show me her ship but she can¡¯t. Oh god I want to laugh in her face so bad. She obviously deserve all of this, she hit Morea so bad that she is now in the medical bay. ¡°fuck you won this one Scilla, but it¡¯s not over¡± ¡°it¡¯s commander Lis even for you, I won¡¯t let it slide¡± ¡°like hell I will call you commander. I have no superior. I¡¯m free from all civilization bullshit, yours included¡± ¡°then you are also free to sleep around on the floor¡± ¡°nope, you have to at least give me a bed, a toilet, food, water and oxygen. That¡¯s what the contract says¡± ¡°but you already broke the contract by hitting my vice.¡± ¡°how was I supposed to know? You didn¡¯t tell me. Fuck it. Best I can do is commander Scilla, take of leave." ¡°close enough. ¡° ¡°So can you please forgive me supreme commander of the flying tuna can Scilla?¡± I can feel your laughing in that fucking helmet of your. I want to break her so much. ¡°follow me before I eject you out, you will stay in my room. We don¡¯t have extra room for you that are not prison cells.¡± ¡°I guess I have to accept, I hope you don¡¯t snore or I will hit you in your sleep¡± ¡°thrust me, you are the one who should watch your back.¡± after that they walked in silence until they reach the commander cabin. ¡°be my guest, I guess. Don¡¯t do as if you were at home, I don¡¯t want you staff around¡± ¡°fear not my lady, I have no possession other than my armour and the weapons with me, even If a would I can¡¯t trash you empty room.¡± ¡°I¡¯m no lady of yours, I¡¯m a Femari and if you will excuse myself I would like to change¡± Femari are a third sex present in the Lean species. For non disclosed reasons Leans had always had problem in giving birth to male child. The decline of the male population was driving the Leans to extinction until they reach their now home planet Leanira 2¡ã. On their new home a native virus called F3S changed their DNA creating a new sex, the Femari. Basically a female creature with also male reproductive organs and a little smaller. Generally speaking Leans biology is the opposite of the human¡¯s one. Female leans are stronger, bigger but less intelligent than the way smaller and fragile male. The reason of such difference is unknown since Lean¡¯s history is mostly unknown to outsiders. Femaris are the new half of the total Lean population while males are around 1 each 100.000 leans. Femaris are a bit weaker than normal females but a lot more intelligent. Due to their cleverness femaris are usually in some sort of power position. Also due to their nature femaris are considered females because they are closed to the standard female entity. Nowadays the F3S is no longer around in its pure form so Leans no longer evolve super fast to new environment. ¡°oh, so you are one of those. Knowing so I hope we have separated beds right.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t touch you even if you pay me and yes different beds¡± Lis pointed out a corner of the square room. On the two side the walls had a recess with the beds built-in. The bed on the side with the door to the corridor was Lis¡¯s bed, the one on the other side Idra¡¯s one. No blanked on the bed, just a pillow and a mattress built-in the floor. On the side in front of Idra¡¯s bed there was a wall of closets to put all kind of stuff. The side in front of Lis¡¯s bed had two more doors, one leading to the private bathroom and the other to Lis¡¯s private office. ¡°I want a blanket¡± ¡°we don¡¯t use them, the temperature outside if always set to allow a comfortable sleep with no covers. Plus you probably will stay all the time inside your suit, so you don¡¯t need a blanket¡± ¡°I want one, I don¡¯t care about your logic, I want my blanket¡± ¡°and I don¡¯t care about your blanket neither, now if you want to watch me changing you are welcome, otherwise turn away. Idra was not happy, she wants a blanket and she will have one, but her angry thoughts were soon replaced by embarrassment. ¡°what are you doing!!¡± ¡°changing I told you¡± ¡°you can¡¯t change in front of me! Go use the bathroom¡± ¡°don¡¯t wanna. You see, being a dickhead works both way. So if you want respect, you have to give me some too¡± Idra was shocked, nobody has ever spoken to her like that, well she spoke with only 11 people others than her sisters but even so it was new and enraging. She wanted to be angry but Scilla was right, she was being a pain in the ass all this time even if she was the one that accepted the temporary contract. She wanted to think of a comeback but her mind focused on Scilla¡¯s body. 230cm of blood red hairless skin. Probably 110kg or more of muscle and a couple of bullet scars on the abs. Her skin was thick from all her training and previous missions. Dark purple underwear enclosed a nicely defined ass and a massive breast. Well in human prospective everything was massive, but her breast was probably bigger then the average Lean. No bulge from her dick, but it was no surprise, Leans penis retract inside their body. On her shoulders the classic metallic scale like formation that, in her case, looked like a dragon claw with the 3 finger looking up and 1 down. As predictable with red skin comes red eye and red hair. Leans have no body hairs. Her haircut was short, it¡¯s common for those who stays a lot in space. Putting on and off the space suit, especially the helmet is way easier and faster with short hair. Lastly her focus shifted toward Lis mouth. Her cheeks cut by what appear to be a long scar but it¡¯s just how leans are. The scar looking thing are their openable cheeks closed with a triangular patter of small skin tentacles. When open all the Lean teeth become exposed leading to a not so good to watch moment. On one hand she wanted to look more, Leans keeps their chastity until marriage but they are not prude at all, so Scilla wouldn''t mind. On the other hand she, as an Esterian, was all expect open to show her skin and was just to embarrassed to even look at her. ¡°I.. I.. I will try to be less aggressive ok?¡± said Idra while turning and laying on her bed. ¡°how¡­ however I would like to have a blanket. I.. I know it¡¯s unnecessary but I need one. Commander Lis can I have one?¡± what the hell just happened? A please would probably kill her but what the fuck. Did she hit her head somewhere while laying in bed? ¡°ok, We will go grab you one after I show you around the ship and you apologise to Morea. You will be there for 20 days so better start to change your attitude a little¡±. chapter 4c: room-mate Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 4c: room-mate Lis had just finished changing that Idra popped behind her, making no sound and scaring the hell out of her body. ¡°fucking hell, could you not?¡± ¡°could I not what?¡± Idra seems genuinely confused by Lis''s request, she probably doesn¡¯t understand that people don¡¯t like to be scared or that she scared her. ¡°never mind, follow me again, I will show you around the ship¡± ¡°when are we going to pick up my blanket?¡± ¡°after you have apologise to Morea but before we go to sleep¡± ¡°I already told you I didn¡¯t know she was you friend¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care. You have been too impulsive. If you do the same during in life or death situations it will be a mess. I won¡¯t! lose everybody for you stupidity, do you get it?¡± ¡°I guess I don¡¯t. Never worked with someone, always alone....sort of. Changing subject can I also have some night lights?¡± night lights, really? We are in the fucking space and the little princess needs some night lights, where the fuck does she think I can get them? ¡°I don¡¯t think that will be possible¡± ¡°why not? Is there a power supply problem?¡± Lis was confused, why should a pair of night lights cause a power problem. ¡°eeeh, no, we just don¡¯t have night lights on a spaceship full of adult soldier and scientist. Only kids are scared of the dark¡± Idra took the bait perfectly, she is too proud to admit to be scared of the darkness. Or maybe she had some other problem or quirk. ¡°I¡¯m not scared of the darkness at all, I just like to have lights hanging in my cabin so I can think of them as distant stars. I thought everybody had them.¡± ¡°well we don¡¯t¡± The two continued walking, Lis proceeding toward the canteen and Idra following her. Every time they pass someone in the corridors they stared at the alien figure but they were to scared to say something. Idra was quiet. Not the usually I¡¯m thinking of something quietness but she was immersed in a sad silence. I guess she didn¡¯t like the lack of night lights. Well al least she is not speaking, maybe I should disappoint her more often so she doesn¡¯t speak and make some mess. In a 500m ship, a small walk can take a couple of minute, especially if you have to change multiple floor, so after 7 minutes they reached the canteen. Lis¡¯s plan was to feed her, make her apologise, take the blanket and then finally sleep. ¡°here is where you get you food. You don¡¯t have to pay for it. Just take a dish and silverware from the dispenser and then move on to the food stall to choose and pick your food¡± ¡°I don¡¯t get it. How do you choose your food? You can¡¯t redefine what nutrient your body is lacking simply become you want others nutrients.¡± ¡°now I¡¯m the one who isn¡¯t understanding. You just go to the stall and pick the food you want to eat. If you want meat you take meat, if you want vegetable you take them instead. What is this thing about nutrients?¡± ¡°in my spaceship I just have a robot, I go in front of it, it scans me and gives me some mush with all the things my body needs to stay alive. I don¡¯t choose, I just eat¡± I thought a life of repressed emotion was sad, but this is on another level of sadness. ¡°well you will find out about the joy of eating real food, made by real people with real ingredient, just mimic what I do.¡± As Lis said so she moved toward the dish dispenser, took a dish, her silverware and moved to the food stall. The stall was a large box with different sealed containers for different food. Gravity distortion field generator were common and amazing technology but when there is now power you get no gravity force. Also they don¡¯t stop the effect of acceleration apparent forces so if you don¡¯t want to make a mess every time you accelerate, it¡¯s better to use sealed containers. Lis, as most Leans, loves to eat meat, they don¡¯t care about the type of meat, if they can eat it they will. Today was the day of Lilboom steak, a common animal from the Lean domain. Lis filled up her dish with it and added some Nulu and Bulbuna, other common Leans plant, on the side. Then she looked back to see what Idra was doing. The little, compared to a Lean, girl was cursing in her language, she was capable to reach one of the Lilboom steak but in doing so, she dropped her silverware. She was just to short to reach for the steak without climbing a little in the stall. After than she decide to dispose of the silverware but the hole in the machine for cleaning them was to high as well. She was about to jump with her dish in hand that would have made a disaster on the floor when Lis grabbed her. ¡°what the hell, you were going to make a mess of the floor¡± ¡°it¡¯s not my fault if everything is out of reach¡± ¡°you can ask for help, I would have helped you. Give me you dish, I will fill it for you¡± ¡°the contract impose me to not damage your ship, otherwise I would have been able to reach it¡± However the disappointed Idra, gave her plate to Lis that proceed to fill it too before giving it back. ¡°Here, see it was not that hard¡± ¡°it¡¯s not hard for you and your 230cm of height. It¡¯s for me and my small stature. But thanks, I guess.¡± Idra was no longer so aggressive. A thanks, that¡¯s new, but why is she no longer aggressive. I don¡¯t think she calmed down so what is her problem now? ¡°why the long face. So is there a problem with your food?¡± ¡°no, my scanner says that it¡¯s edible. How do you suppose what my mood is? You can¡¯t see my face¡± ¡°just my looking at your usual super aggressive way of doing things. So what is the problem?¡± ¡°nothing. I was just thinking about the past. It happens some time.¡± So it was nothing important. Just some old memories. They both sat down on one table. Everybody around was peeking to see what would happen, no one had ever seen an Esterian without the helmet. When Idra started to eat she cut all her food in small pieces using the silverware. Then she skewer the food on the knife and moved it closer to her helmet. The front part moved creating an opening big enough to let the food in. The open helmet revealed her reddish almost perfectly symmetrical lips and a not so pale pink skin. Her skin was in fact of a bit darker beige like light tanned skin. Feeling the glares she stopped and looked around. Then in a different tone of voice, higher and clearer then the one used until now and with an extremely heavy accent. She said. ¡°what!? never seen someone eating in you life? Get a hold on yourself I know I¡¯m beautiful but those lips aren¡¯t for you¡± Guess she is back to normal mode. Then she proceed eating, her lips opening the bare minimum so her teeth weren''t visible. Well that confirmed her humanity or at least her mouth is human shaped. ¡°you don¡¯t have to worry about them, they are just curious. You know Esterians don¡¯t really like to show what is under their armour so they took the opportunity.¡± ¡°were you curious too?¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°can¡¯t deny it. Does it matter?¡± ¡°not really. I¡­ just wanted to know.¡± ¡°what happened, your voice is different and now you have an accent¡± ¡°this is my voice, before I was using Natrix to translate. Can¡¯t use it when the suit is open for obvious reasons.¡± ¡°who is Natrix? By the way this new not deep and low voice suit you, I like it.¡± ¡°thanks, I guess. Can¡¯t really change it so you get what you get. Natrix is my support AI.¡± that¡¯s new as well. So they use AI even to change their own voice so they don¡¯t have to speak in other languages. ¡°I see your eating fast. Are you liking the food?¡± ¡°yes, it¡¯s totally different from my mush.¡± ¡°I will take that as a compliment to my crew¡± Idra stopped responding to other small question or phrases. Food with a taste must have hit the right spot. Well I should probably let her eat in peace and then restart the ship short guide. I want to sleep so bad. After eating it was time to go see Morea. Lis plan was to force Idra to apologise somehow, but she didn¡¯t aspect the Esterian purely logical behaviour. When they reach Morea¡¯s room at the medical bay, Lis entered first followed by Idra. ¡°How are you doing my fiend?¡± Morea wasn¡¯t dying, the armour saved her life but didn¡¯t stop her to be bedridden. She had to stay in there for at least 10 days. ¡°I can go on, but why did you bring that thing with you?¡± Morea said pointing at Idra. ¡°I¡¯m here to make her apologise¡± said Scilla and before Morea could reply, Idra stepped in. ¡°I won¡¯t apologise. It won¡¯t change my judgement error. So Morea, tell me what will make us even.¡± Lis was taken aback by Idra¡¯s rational behaviour. So she let them go on to see where it was going. ¡°I want to hit you in the face once I¡¯m no longer under treatment.¡± ¡°I think it is a reasonable request. However I can¡¯t exit the suit. Would you be satisfied if you hit me while inside my suit?¡± ¡°you hit me while I was in armour so it¡¯s fine¡± ¡°ok. I will remember our promise. Now I would like to take responsibility for my action. In order to honour my contract would you let me treat your injury.¡± ¡°don¡¯t even think about it¡± Wait a second. She is offering to cure her. Esterians are known for their advanced biological knowledge. Maybe it will really help Morea out, but I won¡¯t impose on her choices. ¡°let me finish please. I don¡¯t have a lot of specific medication that works on Leans with me. They are on my ship. However I have some light omni-cure with me. For most female Esterians it is a painkiller for menstrual pains, for other just a helping hand when they are sick. I won¡¯t cure you in instant but it will speed up your recovery process.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t trust your medicine nor you. What is this omni-cure that you love so much?¡± ¡°Basically some nano-bots made of organic matter so they dissolve in you blood after a couple of hours. While they are working they increase your natural regenerative capability¡± ¡°I still don¡¯t trust you. So..¡± without much thinking Idra opened her helmet to reveal her mouth. Took out of one of the many armour pockets a small tube filled with pills. She then took one and drank some water from a nearby water tap. ¡°I will stay here for 2 hours with my helmet open. You can see if it has side effect on my body¡± Never seen her so determinate. This ¡°I don¡¯t want to break a promise, and I will always keep my word and take my responsibilities¡± works wonders After 2 hours, while Lis kept on talking to Morea, Idra moved closer to the bed. ¡°see, I¡¯m fine. Now do you want a pill?¡± ¡°fuck it, give me one. If I die avenge me commander Lis¡± as she said so she took one of the Esterian strange pill. ¡°I will come every day with the commander to bring you a new pill and the necessary extra food to rebuilt your body. Have a good night and rest well Morea.¡± after that Idra left the room and waited for Lis to come so they could go on with the ship tour and get her blanket. Lis showed her the gym, the internal plant farm to always have some food, a relax zone and so on, but Idra wasn¡¯t interested. ¡°can you bring me to the hangar and the storage?¡± ¡°that is what a spy would say, a really bad and stupid spy¡± ¡°oh, you think I need to spy your inferior technology? I¡¯m no toy maker I have no need for you space knowledge¡± ¡°then you have no need to see the hangar nor our storage¡± ¡°wait! We can talk about this.¡± ¡°I think not. Why do you want to go in?¡± ¡°I, I don¡¯t want to tell you¡± ¡°then you won¡¯t go in. End of the discussion you highness¡± Lis phrase was full of sarcasm, I guess she won¡¯t get this joke. ¡°Esterian have no nobility ra¡­(ranks) ooh I get it, sarcasm you were teasing me¡± ¡°I¡¯m so proud of you. Those days kids grow so fast, one day savaging around the other learning sarcasm¡± ¡°i¡¯m not a kid, I¡¯m twenty.... Fuck! sarcasm again!. Now that you teased me can I gone in?¡± ¡°it is still a no. I can¡¯t trust you, not after just one day¡± ¡°so if you trust me you would let me in the hangar right¡± ¡°I suppose so..¡± ¡°ok, I¡¯ll be good so one day you will trust me. Speaking of something else do you perhaps have books I can read?¡± ¡°I will get you a restricted data pad, now walk faster, we are going to take you blanket and then to sleep¡± ¡°sure¡± The strange duo moved to the storage where Idra could finally have her blanket. They had mostly thermal blanket but also a couple of normal one. Idra chose the uglier that look strait out of a hospital bed. Even her taste in things is fucked up but at this point I should stop event bothering about it. Lis also got her a data pad with only non restricted books on it and then proceed to go back to her room. ¡°finally, time to sleep¡± Lis couldn''t wait longer, she wanted to sleep and probably wake up realizing it was all a bad dream, but she knew it was not. Well at least an Esterian cooperation contract is way better than a space fight with an Esterian, and an escalation that could lead to a new war after only 12 years of peace. ¡°well, use the toilet, don¡¯t worry there are no cameras, I don¡¯t spy on myself. Then go to your bed and sleep¡± both of them prepared to go to bed, and as predictable Idra didn¡¯t take off her suit. Lis waited for Idra to be in bed and then turned off the light. Just a couple of minute later ¡°Scilla, are you sleeping?¡± what the fuck does she want now. ¡°if you can¡¯t sleep I won¡¯t sing you a lullaby¡± ¡°it¡¯s not that. Can you say good night to me?¡± ¡°another of you quirks? Why do I have to? Can¡¯t you ask Natrix? I suppose it was the one saying you good night on your ship¡± ¡°you are right about Natrix. But it¡¯s not the same without its body if I can call it a body. So if you say me good night and also promise me a contract change, I will tell you a bit about me or my people. I know that Esterian information are useful to you¡± fuck she is right and at the same time I don¡¯t really want to interact with her, it feels like a trap. All her peers that I met were emotionless unless they where actively manipulate someone, if she is behaving like this it¡¯s probably to trick me. ¡°speak, what is the change that you want¡± ¡°absolute honesty from now on. I won¡¯t betray you, but I don¡¯t want to be betrayed either. So if you are dissatisfied with what I do, say so upfront.¡± ¡°will you do the same with me?¡± ¡°I already do. Just before I didn¡¯t want to tell why I wanted to go in the hanger so I didn¡¯t. I don¡¯t care about feelings¡± ¡°doesn¡¯t sound to unreasonable. And the other request was good night. Every night I suppose.¡± ¡°yes, after all kind of conversations are over and I¡¯m the one who will say it first, then you reply¡± ¡°ok, so where are my informations?¡± ¡°long ago, I was on a far away planet. I did my usual job, but someone saw me. It was a little humanoid creature with fur all over it¡¯s body. I never knew what it was, I just applied my laws. I followed the creature to its town. Apparently their city was in a medieval like era. The kid ran in and I stopped outside. Soon after the city was on fire, people dying at every corner. The smell of the burning flesh and their sweet agonizing screams. Someone tried to run away. I had a lot of fun that day. I wonder how their society had reacted to such event.¡± Wait a moment, she just admitted to have killed an entire city of people just because she was seen. What does she mean by ¡°their sweet screams¡± is she some sort of sadist? She is not going to do the same to us right? ¡°why did you set the city on fire?¡± ¡°good night Scilla¡± ¡°wait I have questions¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care. Respect our contract¡± fuck she played me! ¡°good night Idra¡± soon tiredness kicked in and Lis start to sleep dreaming of finally reaching home but also of the disturbed scene narrated by Idra. Idra was dreaming to, but she dreamt of massacres. Her body and mind were craving for blood, pain and suffering as the monster she is should be. chapter 5c: friendship Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 5c: friendship The following morning Lis woke up as usual, but her room had changed. In the corner of her view there was a covered black entity. So it was not a dream. Idra was sleeping like a log in her bed. She was facing the wall so her back was toward Lis. The fact that she was all curled up made her look even smaller in the massive bed. I guess, I should wake her up, but first bathroom time. After using the toilet Lis approach the sleeping creature. The suit blocked all sounds from going out. ¡°hey, it¡¯s morning wake up¡± and then she touched her a little. Idra moved a bit and reply ¡°Natrix, let me sleep.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not you maid robot, wake up or I''ll drag you out of it.¡± Something triggered Idra that jumped out of the bed to then recognize that it was not her ship. ¡°oh, yes you are not it. Are you going to be my babysitter all day long?¡± ¡°yes, so get ready. I have work to do on the main deck¡± ¡°yes, yes. Let me pee and I¡¯m ready¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care what you do in the bathroom just don¡¯t use it for too long.¡± ¡°stop nagging me. I¡¯m not you daughter¡± ¡°of course you aren¡¯t I would have never risen such spoiled and misbehaved kid.¡± Wait, why did she froze immediately, why isn¡¯t she going in?. Idra was standing in front of the open toilet door. Her silence was really creepy, but then a heavy comeback. ¡°if I had a mother like you I would have turned gay just to be imprisoned and ruin your reputation.¡± Homosexuality was a really destructive topic in Leans society. When they were dying it was illegal. Everybody had to work to save the species, no exceptions. Homosexuals were seen as a mortal sickness that could infect the youngers so those who unfortunately ¡°had such sickness¡± were terminated. Nowadays Leans put a lot of importance into having children and so do their society. Until the end of the war and the extermination of their mortal enemy, the Droxis, homosexuality was still a crime. For a lot of them it¡¯s still a crime, but newer generations, specially those without right to vote think otherwise. To keep them at bay the new Liin decided to remove the death penalty for them but there is a really long way to go. Let¡¯s say that if you ever kill your kid because the kid turned out homosexual there is no investigations, they will just mark it as accident. Lis was part of the military, working for the most conservative and powerful Lean¡¯s corporation, such insult was not something she could let go. You crossed the line stupid bitch! She grabbed with force Idra¡¯s shoulder and started to turn her around but then she fought back. A light punch form the power suit pushed Lis away giving Idra enough time to extract and point her pistol to Lis¡¯s face. Her helmet opened and her voice was furious. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare speak about my family! You know nothing! You are nothing! So shut up! You are not better than me. You think I crossed the line, but you are the one that insulted my family first. You are the one who is wrong, and the one who has everything to lose. I have nothing that is worth fighting for expect my family so I will defend them. Now tell me why shouldn''t I kill you. Dimmelo cazzo!(Tell me!)¡± Idra was right, she had just responded to an offence, Lis was the one that started everything. The one who teased her and let things escalate. For the first time after the war, Lis was really scared. The expression, the posture, everything was telling her that Idra was after her life. If she messed up now she, and probably her crew, will reach Icar 3¡ã in a body bag. Fuck I just wanted to scare her, to impose as the commander. I didn¡¯t mean to do this. I guess the best way is to apologise. Maybe she will let it go. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Idra. I didn¡¯t know that you family was a taboo. I thought¡­¡± ¡°you thought wrong!. I don¡¯t want to hear your excuses, I want a reason not to skin you alive right now!¡± If Lean¡¯s could pee, she would have peed herself. There is something in the Esterians that makes them particularity scary. Everyone who sees them angry can¡¯t think lucidly. Their existence generate a primordial fear as if the body couldn''t identify them as living creature. To some extend it is the same fear or unpleasant feeling that humans have when looking at autonomous machines. Your instinct can¡¯t detect basic emotions and movement so it goes crazy. Idra was making the same effect but stronger. ¡°I was angry!. I was angry at you because you fought back. I wanted to tease you so after some time you would stop fight back and get under my control. I wanted to scare you. I¡­¡± ¡°Enough!¡± It¡¯s over¡­ it¡¯s¡­is it suppose to take so long to die? Lis thought it was the end of her existence but apparently the Esterian didn¡¯t agree. Idra putted away her gun and stare at Lis who closed her eyes in fear, she laughed a bit and then. ¡°that¡¯s what I wanted to hear. Real and honest thoughts. However the fact that you even thought of controlling me is exhilarating. You have no idea how hard it is to control my urges to not murder you all and use your bowels to decorate this ship.¡± ¡°ha, haha I knew you were not going to kill me, I was just resting my eyes¡± However her trembling body gave her away. She was so scared that she couldn''t stand up. ¡°don¡¯t force yourself. Just admit you were scared and if you could you would have peed yourself. You know I told you that story yesterday, but I didn¡¯t specify a thing. While the city was burning I captured those that tried to escape. There was this couple, mother and daughter. I took the kid and set her on fire. I let the mother free. She jumped into the fire to save her child, it was useless but their screams were so beautiful that I recorded them. Do you want to hear them? Maybe if you do you will understand that there is no way to control me, you can be with me o against me.¡± she is madness itself. I fucked up. I can¡¯t bring this thing to Icar. If someone looked at her wrong she would impale them. ¡°so¡­ why don¡¯t we put all of this shit behind? Let¡¯s start anew as friends, honest and trustworthy friends. What do you say?¡± Idra extended her right arm toward Lis to help her stand up. Lis accepted the help. Well maybe not. Maybe if we find a way there is some possibility to live peacefully. ¡°I would appreciate it. I¡¯m sorry. Mine was a really dick move. I won¡¯t ask for forgiveness what I did was too wrong to be forgiven. If it was my family to be discredited I would have probably done the same¡± ¡°see, we can find a common ground between us. You don¡¯t insult my family nor the Founder and I don¡¯t¡­¡± Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Idra winked at Lis to tell her to say what she didn¡¯t want to hear or discuss. ¡°I suppose I don¡¯t want my family to be disrespected neither. If I may add I don¡¯t want you to joke about those sickos. If I only I could kill them all¡± ¡°fair enough, and I will forgive you. There is no point in hating each outer while in the end we are not so different. You learned your lesson and that¡¯s enough. We are both really proud people from really proud species, sometime we need somebody to keep us in check. So peace and friendship?¡± Once again Idra was the one to reach out for Lis. ¡°Yes, thanks friend. Now if you don¡¯t mind let¡¯s get going I have work to do¡± ¡°give me a bit, I still need to pee¡± Lis was waiting outside, sat on her bed. Her mind was immersed in all kind of thoughts. I can see why she was angry. If it was me I would probably tried to smash the skull of the offender. I have no idea if her family is alive or not, but considering that she has always worked alone they are probably dead. If my sister would have been dead and someone would even dare to insult her I would probably try to kill even their family. I should apologise again. Yesterday she was the dickhead, today the roles are the opposite. Fuck I feel like shit, she is even trying to befriend me after what I have done. She decided to start a new conversation to then use it to apologise again. ¡°how is it, I mean peeing.¡± ¡°it¡¯s satisfying. When your bladder is full you have a strange sensation that can become a light pain. You feel heavier and when you release it, all of that goes away. So I would probably say that I like to pee.¡± ¡°that¡¯s is a strange thing to say¡± ¡°not as strange as asking how it feels to pee¡± the both laughed a bit and then Lis continues. ¡°well I was curious, my species don¡¯t have a bladder but everybody else seems to have one.¡± ¡°I could ask you the same thing. How is it to pee from your anus¡± ¡°technically we don¡¯t pee from it. Water and food are processed in a slimy substance and then we eject it. But I probably would say the same. While inside you can feel the slime moving with you and slowing you down.¡± ¡°see we are not that different. Well my organic waste don¡¯t have perfume added in it but it¡¯s not that different.¡± As Idra said so she got out of the bathroom and took her data pad. ¡°well let¡¯s go, I will follow you¡± ¡°before we go, I reflected a little bit, I have to apologise again. I suppose your family is dead. If mine was too and someone insulted them I don¡¯t think I would ever be able to stop like you did.¡± she then kneel down toward Idra. ¡°I ask again for you forgiveness, I have¡­¡± ¡°get up. I can sense you guiltiness, I can feel and see your regret I don¡¯t need more. From now on just consider us equal.¡± ¡°I will do it¡± the girls then proceed to walk toward the main deck, but Lis had other questions, this time about the Founder. ¡°the Founder that you said before, is he the same that the Humans call the worst tyrant ever existed and don¡¯t even pronounce his names?¡± ¡°yes, why did you ask?¡± ¡°to make sure and also because I¡¯m curious once again.¡± ¡°didn¡¯t you agreed to not try to get Esterians information?¡± ¡°yes, so I won¡¯t force you nor ask for details. However I want to know if he was really the monster that Humans says. Because I think he wasn¡¯t. I don¡¯t know much but by looking at the shared history I can tell that he did what was necessary to fix the Humans and prepare them for space. Do you agree with me Idra?¡± ¡°he was a genius. All Humans space knowledge was acquired thanks to him. But as many geniuses he was born in the wrong time. Most think of him as a monster without compassion but he wasn¡¯t. He was always ready to go in first, as a true leader, to protect us. I won¡¯t tell you more, it¡¯s...¡± ¡°you have told me enough. I just wanted to confirm my doubt, not extort you information. From now on I want to be friend and friend trust each other and count on each other when it¡¯s needed. If you ever want to tell me more, I¡¯m here but I will be here even if you don¡¯t¡± Lis smiled at Idra, it was the first sign of a newborn friendship which results no-one could have predicted. The two friend reached the main deck. Lis as the commander started her routine work. Looking for problems with the ship and finding solutions. Meanwhile Idra was reading books on her data-pad. There were no sensible books on it. Nothing that a non Lean should know about. Idra was totally absorbed by the pad that she didn¡¯t even notice that she stool a water bottle from the desk near her. I wonder what she is reading with such focus. She didn¡¯t even sense that the crewmember beside her is trying to get back her bottle of water. Less then an hour before lunch time, Idra move from her position to Lis¡¯s commander position. ¡°Do you have the second volume of ¡®the extermination war¡¯ by Kiria Vloval?¡± she then pointed at her pad to show what she was referring too. In normal conditions it was a common request but the book was and historical text book, not a novel. ¡°do you know that what you just read isn¡¯t a novel but the record of an historical event happened 12 years ago?¡± ¡°oh. Was there a war? I thought it was a fun book, especially because she also spoke about my kind for a bit. Then when will you make a sequel? Like a second extermination war?¡± ¡°are you gone insane? You want a war to then read it in a book?¡± ¡°well it may be insensible from your prospective, but there will be new wars to fight. I just wanted to know if a new war was about to start so I could prepare for a sequel¡± ¡°some time you logic and cynicism frighten me. But how could somebody like you, who knows a lot of things, don¡¯t know about that war?¡± ¡°it¡¯s a long story. A story that a can¡¯t narrate to others, at least not now. But to sum it up, I lived in a remote place. So I know almost nothing about currently political conditions.¡± ¡°I guess I will point you to some books so you can read it yourself, and maybe I will teach you a little¡± At such words, Idra jumped super close to Lis face, all exited, like a kid who sees a playground. ¡°will you really teach me!? I can even ask questions? Can I also have a notebook and maybe a pen, a physical one?¡± I, I don¡¯t understand. Is this some sort of act to trick me again like the good night contract? Maybe I should ask first¡± ¡°are you trying to make a new contract with me to get information?¡± ¡°would you mind if i whisper it in you ear?¡± ¡°no, go on¡± Idra moved closer and opened the mouth zone of the helmet. Her lips almost in contact with Lis¡¯s ear. Her voice was soft with a little tone of embarrassment. ¡°I had no school, no-one ever taught me anything. I never had a notebook nor a pen. I never had a school test nor a desk. I learned everything using a computer. Don¡¯t get me wrong, my family was amazing but some really destructive problems stopped me to have such basic things. I could hear stories about it, but never had a school like experience. I¡¯m just happy, you won¡¯t take back your words right?¡± then she close her helmet and moved back to stand in front of Lis. So she is just happy. This is the first happy Esterian ever seen in history and it¡¯s happening in front of my own eyes. How could I take back my words now. Also if she has more knowledge the risk of her making a mess lowers so a win-win situation. ¡°don¡¯t worry my friend. I won¡¯t take it back. We will have a lot of time before reaching Icar 3¡ã. I will be able to teach you only some basic things but I will try¡± Idra nodded back and returned to her seat with a some what joyful aura. But she was the only one seeing it. To the rest of the crew it looked like a back and forth conversation between two conflicting creatures. Lis knew how Esterians works and knew that she is considered a friend, Idra¡¯s normal tones and posture doesn¡¯t scare her any longer. However to external eyes that peaceful conversation looked like a verbal heavy fight with indirect impositions and commands. chapter 6c: books Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 6c: books Around noon or what they decide it was noon Lis stood up from her position and moved toward Idra. She was reading again completely absorbed by her book. If you put yourself close enough you could even hear her humming something, obviously whatever she was signing sounded creepy and chilling to everybody else expect Lis. When she is reading she is so calm and relaxed. It¡¯s hard to think that such small creature possess a small army of robots and just this morning was ready to peel me alive. However I¡¯m probably the only one that can think so. Her humming would probably sound threatening and creepy as if she was plotting to kill you. She moved even closer to peek what she was reading with such happy mood. ¡®screaming whispers¡¯ by unknown. How did she get access to it. I thought I restricted it. Well I probably forgot, not that someone other than me has ever read it. I made the digital copy from this unknown physical book that I founded in a remote and dismissed book-store. It¡¯s a strange and macabre book, but somehow I like it. Lis loved that book. It was a refreshing story with no good ending and no heroes. Just physically bland humanoid creatures that exist with their own limit and errors. It was a brutal story with some black and white images like a light novel. If you are able to image what is written you will probably have nightmare for months. ¡®screaming whispers¡¯ follow princess Iris of an ancient mystical empire. One day a man appeared and helped her discover an innate power that only she and the mad man had. The cryptic man drove her into a world of madness and untold horrors. To increase her power she had to discover her sad reality, piece by piece. In her family no-one cared about her. Her people hated her guts for being the last dark magician, a creature of misfortune and despair. Her empire committed atrocities every day to feed the useless nobility and so on. One day she started earning whispers, from within the castle walls. Scared she asked the man, but his only reply was that the time has come. He did his job, now it was Iris time to help their kind survive some unknown enemy. The rest of the book is a continuos stream of brutal and terrifying events, most done by Iris herself. The book end with an old Iris on her throne which is dripping in blood and made out of carved bones. The last party of holy heroes screaming desperately while rotting in front of her throne. Nobody could save them, not even the gods that they worshipped. The world was left alone, it was finally free by the worst enemy of all creatures. Gods. But right at the ends, when all was finally silent. Whispers start coming from underneath her skin that was no longer old. They started screaming louder and louder Iris name, elevating her as their only queen. Their immortal queen reborn in blood and total despair. ¡°hey, it¡¯s time to have lunch¡± Idra didn¡¯t flick, too much interested in the book. So Lis took the pad from her hands that followed trying to take it back like a kid with a toy. ¡°it¡¯s time to eat. You can read the rest after we eat and have gone to take a look at Morea¡± ¡°we may have a problem, this night we need to talk¡± ¡°what, a problem for a book? This is not how friendship works¡± ¡°it¡¯s not because you are stopping me from reading, I know that if someone doesn¡¯t stop me I will keep on reading till I am almost dead. It¡¯s the book. But I can¡¯t tell you here¡± well whatever, I guess she didn''t like it or she is just strange. Afterward Idra stood up as well and followed Lis, first to the canteen and then at the medical bay. While at the canteen Idra asked Lis to get extra food for Morea. She pointed at some specific food because using Idra¡¯s words ¡°Morea need specific nutrients to replenish the one consumed by the omni-cure that I gave her. If she doesn¡¯t get them she won¡¯t heal¡±. After the food stop they reached the medical bay where an almost totally cured Morea was waiting for them. When they entered, Morea immediately started a conversation with Idra. ¡°what did you gave me? Your omni-cure, I want to know how you made it¡± ¡°Even if i tell you now, you won¡¯t be able to produce it. If i take this ship as the best Lean¡¯s technology then you lack medical knowledge to produce the omni-cure.¡± ¡°well we can make new machines, and then¡­¡± ¡°machines are not the only lacking things. For now I can¡¯t tell you much. Now let me start a basic check-up.¡± ¡°i¡¯m a field doctor myself, don¡¯t need your check-up, I¡¯m almost fine, another day of rest and I will be ok.¡± ¡°No you won¡¯t, omni-cure ¡®consumes¡¯ you own body but can regenerate it. You lack basic elements like iron and sugar. So now eat this, if not you will not be ready in 2 days¡± saying so Idra putted the plate full of food in front of Morea. ¡°you eat this, than take another pill. Tomorrow you will be completely healed but we will bring you more food for the last nutritions resupply. After tomorrow you will be discharged.¡± ¡°thanks. Even if I¡¯m here because of you.¡± ¡°I have made a mistake so I¡¯m fixing it¡± ¡°are you sure that you can¡¯t tell me how this cure works? I could save a lot of lives with it¡± ¡°I can tell you, then you will built it and then you will kill all your patients with it¡± ¡°what?!? I will never kill those who need my help, I¡¯m a doctor¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know about that, however your species lack the knowledge to make them works. Machine with no purpose, or just unable to recognise the damage tissues will bring more harm than help¡± ¡°so you are saying that you would teach me if I find a way to make them work? And how can I do it?¡± ¡°the base of the omni-cure is a small insect like robot that send information to a bigger processing unit. Start by making the robot and the command unit with all your medical knowledge. Then make them small. When you make them as big as a cell then i will help you out to make them dissolve in blood.¡± ¡°that¡¯s a lot of things to do. I kinda understand why you said we can¡¯t make it. But if its need an external process unit where is yours?¡± ¡°it¡¯s classified information.¡± ¡°I get it, you told me enough. How the hell did your people become so much advanced in such short time?¡± ¡°you don¡¯t want to know. Also I can¡¯t tell you neither due to Esterian¡¯s laws.¡± ¡°understandable. Guess you are not that bad. I don¡¯t want to slap you any-more¡± ¡°you can¡¯t take back your words. We made a decision to became even so you will slap me¡± ¡°but with your cure I¡¯m already satisfied, I don¡¯t feel the need to hurt you any longer¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care. You have to respect your word. Now if you will and even if you will not I excuse myself. I want to analyse the door closing system.¡± Saying so Idra moved away and put herself close to the nearest watertight door to observe its basic principles. Morea¡¯s and Lis''s words to start a new conversation were completely ignored. She did what she had come to do, no more reason to stay expect that Lis still had her data-pad. Soon after Lis got out as well and she took Idra back to the main deck giving back the pad. She tried to explain to Idra how conversations works but she didn¡¯t care. She was not reading but she wasn¡¯t interested in what Lis had to say neither. Sometimes it¡¯s really hard to understand what she wants. She can make long conversation and then 10 minutes later she doesn¡¯t even reply. But by looking at her she is probably thinking of something, hopefully nothing that will harm by crew. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. The rest of the day had gone without problems, now it was night-time and Lis was impatient to hear what Idra wanted to talk about. Lis was sit on her bed waiting for Idra to finish her business in the bathroom. Maybe she forgot what she wanted to talk about. Unfortunately she did not, she was just taking her time. When finally Idra got out of the bathroom she sat next to Lis and took her data-pad. ¡°this book, ¡®screaming whispers¡¯ do you know anything about it? Like the author, the time it was written or the existence of a physical copy. Was there anything strange about it? Like people not remembering it?¡± Why is she so obsessed with this book and what are those strange questions. It¡¯s creeping me out. ¡°I¡¯m the one that founded and bought the physical copy, I found it interesting and¡­¡± ¡°did the seller remember to have it? Did it had a price on it like all other books?¡± ¡°I¡­ I¡­¡± Lis was starting to feel uneasy. She was remembering when she bought it. The old seller and the unknown price. ¡°no, it didn¡¯t have a price. The old woman running the book-store didn¡¯t even remembered having it. she just sold it to me for 10 UC (unified credit).¡± ¡°have you ever seen the old woman again?¡± ¡°I got there 2 years later and there was her grand daughter taking care of everything, she told me she died of age in her sleep 2 years¡­ earlier¡­¡± Lis was staring to connecting all the strange dots left behind by that book. ¡°what the fuck. It¡¯s just a book, there are no supernatural shit¡­ right?¡± ¡°you are right, there are not supernatural shit. It¡¯s all science but how advance is it?¡± ¡°what you mean advance science, it¡¯s just a book¡± ¡°do you have the physical copy?¡± ¡°yes, I can let you take a look¡± Lis liked that book so she brought it with her on her ship. It was inside a small drawer in her cabin. She took it and give it to Idra. Lis could tell that she was astonished by the book itself. ¡°it¡¯s the same. The same fucking book and the same fucking author. So it¡¯s no normal book¡± ¡°Do you mind filling me in Idra?¡± ¡°when I was little I live in a big house with my family. One day I was exploring the massive house and found an abandoned warehouse. It was old and filled with useless junk, but I found a book. ¡®silent whispers¡¯ by unknown authors. it¡¯s almost the same book¡± Idra continued with the book summary. In ¡®Silent whispers¡¯ the princess Iris is is the latest princess of an ancient and mystical empire. The book never specify her species nor gave details about all humanoids creature that are in the book, it¡¯s the same as Lis¡¯s book. However Idra¡¯s story took a different route. The princess met an old wise man who offered his help to increase her power. Iris was the last dark magician and was feared for being such creature. The wise man told her to look around herself. The more she knew the stronger her power would become. Soon she started to see her empire problems and decided that she had an obligation to fix all those problems. The wise man had nothing more to teach her and left. Rationality soon left the table. All peaceful ways were met with refusal. She had to do something even if it meant violence and blood because the enemy was coming. With force and power she put an end to everything that was not needed. It took her all her life to correct all the empire, all its problems and its people. In the end an old Iris is sitting on her throne while the last enemies of the empire are rotting for their sins. A new free era was starting, and era of freedom without external interference. ¡°see, it¡¯s the same book but this is probably Iris prospective while the other is the enemy one.¡± ¡°ok, but even if you say so, and the strange coincidence about the seller, it¡¯s all a mass of random events.¡± ¡°that¡¯s the point, it would have been random if the second book was not in my possession when I was little. Esterians live isolated in the outer region of the civilized space. We come back only 16 years ago to assist your kind. How could a book so similar with the same author be in two different planet if there was never a connection between us. Also just by looking at this book it has at least 50 years. Our first contact, as said, was 16 years ago.¡± ¡°fuck it¡¯s so absurd that it make sense. However I didn¡¯t see your book. You could be just trying to scare me for fun, I guess¡± ¡°is it funny to scare people? Never-mind, I¡¯m not joking. I have my copy on my ship, that as you could tell is following us, once we land we could see if my memory isn¡¯t pulling tricks on me¡± I knew it, her ship is following us. But we may have bigger problem ahead that her ship illegally following us. Her reasoning is correct. A pair of books about the same character, with a really similar story that could be easily seen as two side of the same coin. More importantly those books seems to be older then the first contact and commercial trade from our species. How is¡­ ¡°I think those books are artefact of unknown origins. Would you mind helping me a bit. I will open the first space. Then we both read our the first line¡± ¡°are you gone mental. Are you thinking it¡¯s going to change languages base on the reader?¡± ¡°not the reader, but the user that is a bit different. If it goes as planned you won¡¯t be able to read it¡± Idra opened the book and as she predicted Lis was unable to read even a single letter. The strange Esterian alphabet was all over the pages, not a single word with Leans letter as it was when she read it the first time. ¡°What the fuck! How is it possible?. I could swear it was written in Leanir (Lean¡¯s language)¡± Lis took the book from Idra hands, out of misbelieving but doing so changed the letters of all the book to appear as her native languages. ¡°this prove my theory. Now I have more questions than answers. Why are there two similar books in different positions. For what I know the previous alien specie didn¡¯t live in peace and it didn''t happened 50 years ago for sure. Then why make a book that changes by the user. If yours it the only species what is the point, you should have a shared language like our UL (unified language) that we use. Also how does this book, that we are supposing is older the our civilizations, change using our new languages. Is it reading our mind to adapt? If so, how?¡± it¡¯s been two fucking days, why is all problems with her. I just thought it was a peculiar book. Not a whatever my ass artefact of I don¡¯t fucking know. Lis was getting more and more agitated, she wasn¡¯t like Idra, a soldier can get scared especially if she doesn¡¯t know anything. Idra on the other hand was completely fine. Emotion repression or whatever Esterians have is definitely working to repress a primordial anxiety that the unknown usually generate in living creatures. ¡°do, do you think¡­ it¡¯s harmful?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, I can¡¯t trust you completely to tell you how it went on my end with my book but I suppose it¡¯s not. My intuition is telling me that those books are trying to reconnect together or they are trying to connect us, the owners. I¡¯m pretty sure that if you give it away, soon after it will be back like mine did. Maybe it¡¯s not the case, but I tried to share mine with my sisters. I wanted to put it in the common library but for some strange reason all my sister thought that it should have belonged to me only. That it was my treasure for my adventures and that they cannot take such precious item from me. I knew it was mine, but I didn¡¯t mind sharing.¡± Lis was holding back her tears, she had to look strong and not scared at all. Some unknown book was after her and apparently even an Esterian was unable to stop it. However even in her conditions she could feel that by looking at the calm and collected Idra a bit of the anxiety disappearing. It was as if Idra presence could bring peace to her mind. ¡°I think we should bring the book together and see what happens. It may be a new start for some unknown adventure.¡± ¡°or it can be the start for our first and last adventure together. I¡¯m not that comfortable with it. You know totally unknown stuff.¡± ¡°oh come on, you are a scavenger like me. Unknown and discovery are what keep us going. You can¡¯t be scared of an inanimate object that apparently is capable of mind control¡± ¡°you make it sound like it¡¯s all fun and game. I guess you really have no fears¡± ¡°it¡¯s not right. I do get scared some times. But not by this books. The unknown doesn¡¯t scare me. To be honest it¡¯s the opposite. I love discovering things. But we are not all equal, however let me phase it in a different way. You can die bravely exploring the unknown hoping to make some discoveries that will elevate your people, or you can sit shitting you pants and trembling in fear waiting for an end. The universe is way bigger than us and it¡¯s full of monsters. I will die fighting them off not running from them.¡± ¡°well having such inspiring figure beside me helps a bit. I guess we should go to bed. We can¡¯t do anything until we reach Icar 3¡ã and put the books together¡± ¡°you are right. Good night Scilla¡± as she said so Idra moved to her bed and got in. Lis waited for her and then. ¡°good night Idra¡± so she turned off the light. It was not going to be a peaceful night for Lis. All the book shit was a bit too much for her. She was a scavenger but up until now their unknown consisted in ancient ruins with rusty defence robots, not a thinking book that probably is after some mysterious shit. chapter 7c: traitors Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 7c: traitors Days went by without major events except a new force demonstration by Idra. When Morea was dismissed Idra forced her to keep her words and to hit her back. Both with power amour on obviously. Morea struck with all her force but Idra¡¯s armour didn¡¯t even dent. The event that was meant to show Idra taking responsibility became known for showing how much stronger she is. 8 days of almost total peace were really pleasant for Lis that could focus on her job and also teach something to Idra after dinner. Lis was looking at Idra, she was sitting on the cabin¡¯s floor writing things on her data-pad and drawing on some paper with her blue ink pen. When Lis gave her that pen with some paper to use it on, she was extremely happy. That time Lis also discovered that Idra didn¡¯t know how to write. She really never had a pen. All she had were computers and keyboards. So the first thing that Lis taught her was obviously how to write with a pen. The mere speed that she need to understand new task is astonishing. 8 days ago she didn¡¯t even know how to hold the pen, now she is writing in both Unified Language alphabet than the Leanir alphabet. She just need to see 1 time how things are done and she basically learned them. Each night she become smarter and smarter. I don¡¯t know if its her or her AI but I suppose it the former that is just an unstoppable learning monster. If all Esterians are like her I can easily understand how the become so advanced in such short time. It was the 10th day of their journey to Icar 3¡ã and a new problem emerged. Idra was drawing some strange looking flower on a paper sheet then she flipped to look at Lis right in the eyes. Well probably right in the eyes. ¡°we have a problem, a big one¡± ¡°what? Have you lost your blanket?¡± ¡°no my blanket is fine, it¡¯s on my bed. The problem is that there are traitors on your ship Scilla¡± Traitors. That word shocked Lis that immediately demanded an explanation. Traitors are a big deal on a scavenger ship that usually carry classified informations, and Lis in particular hate traitors. ¡°you have proof?¡± ¡°yes and no. the one I have won¡¯t be accepted and I can¡¯t provide it to you. I know we still have some trust issue between us, however I think this can be a big opportunity. I have a plan but you will obviously have to trust me.¡± ¡°what kind of traitor? And what do you have in mind?¡± ¡°the kind of traitors that works together to sell informations. My images don¡¯t show much, but it looks like a summary of all our activities. That isn¡¯t suspicious by itself but other times I have seen Xoraxtas names on the same data-pad and others unknown names, I suppose filthy non-voters on Icar 3¡ã. I¡¯m 97% sure about my findings so I want to help you out.¡± fucking scum bags!. Stealing informations on my ship to sell them to fucking homos and our enemy that helped the Droxi. If it¡¯s true the will have to pray to even reach Icar alive. ¡°supposing it is all correct, I won¡¯t ask you how you got those informations, what is your plan?¡± ¡°I¡¯m always with you and they know. However I can play the sick card. Even in my power suit there is something I can¡¯t escape. My menstruation pains. Esterians are Humans so like Humans we have a fertility cycle that in our case it¡¯s really painful. Leans don¡¯t have it so no medic will be dispatched because I¡¯m the one who know better what I should do to reduce my pain. Then while the news spread I sneak out and go to the hangar. I see that they stay in there often. On my signal you rush in and start asking questions. They will panic and if they try to delete their files I jump in.¡± ¡°it¡¯s a mad plan, what if they are innocent? but I guess they aren¡¯t otherwise you would not be saying so. However there is a small problem. How can you get in the hangar? If I add you to the authorize people the will suspect something isn¡¯t right.¡± ¡°no need, I can enter without problems¡± ¡°since when?¡± ¡°since the first day. Didn¡¯t you find in strange that I can enter your room without any identification? I didn¡¯t go in only because I didn¡¯t want to betray you.¡± ¡°fuck you are right, I never added you. I appreciate your will to not betray me even if you could.¡± ¡°told you. I¡¯m a woman of word.¡± ¡°I get it, but how can you go in?¡± ¡°can¡¯t tell you...¡± ¡°let me guess, restricted information. Will there be a day when you will tell me anything?¡± ¡°yeah, it will be the day our species become ally or the day you marry me¡± Lis hesitated for a bit. Idra don¡¯t make jokes because she just don¡¯t understand how they work, so is she really saying that I can marry her?. I should be completely crazy to do such thing. ¡°then it will be a long time¡± ¡°not necessarily, as said there is always a second option¡± ¡°yeah, I¡¯m not that desperate¡± ¡°me neither but who knows¡± Idra then laughed and Lis did the same. The two now looked like some old friend teasing each other. ¡°let¡¯s go with your plan. I will be ready for your signal. I will trust you that you will take the pad of their hands¡± ¡°your trust will be reward with 2 fucking traitors and all their data for sure¡± the 12th day was the day. At morning Idra faked some painful menstruation so she was left alone in the cabin. In less then an hour all main deck and more knew that she was sick. It was time to start the operation. Unknown to others, Idra had always been wearing the most advanced armour ever produce by Esterians. The Armatura-Modulare-Spettro-111 or AMS111 was a rare prototype armour that is neurally connected with the user. The AMS111 was know to burn the nervous system of the user so it was never produced in series. However Idra was no common Esterian. She was ¡°adjusted¡± to be able to use the AMS111 that provides her with incredible benefits. The AMS111 boost your strength, it protect you even from small spaceship weapons, it is able to stop your falling, its able to change colour to adapt, it can also go completely invisible. AMS111 has a lot of other feature specifically built in for Idra, the M (modular) is there for a reason. For Idra¡¯s operation 3 function had to work perfectly. 1¡ã the possibility to generate micro channels from inside the suit to the surface. Microchannels were needed to allow a direct path between Idra¡¯s skin and an electronic object that needs to be controlled. 2¡ã the silent movement had to work to erase all her sound. The AMS111 is a really quiet suit but with the right tech you can erase you sound by generating a counter wave to cancel the first one. 3¡ã the cloaking device. By using extreme amount of energy and calculations it generate a distortion electromagnetic field that curve all electromagnetic waves. The field bend the waves to then put them back as if the was no obstacle, it was the best solution that Esterian have found to provide selective cloaking. It was also a really precise field so you could modify it to keep see outside by not bending non-visible electromagnetic waves such as infrared. --cloaking activated-- cloaked she moved to the door. She just has to touch the command to make it open. --hangar safest route establish-- such a pain in the ass. What I¡¯m doing just for a creature that isn¡¯t scared of me. I could just abduct her but I¡¯m sure that it won¡¯t generate the wanted outcome. This I the best way. --hangar reached-- --establishing video feed-- From the first moment that she walked on the ship, Idra placed some micro spy bots around capable of moving. It was them who found out about the traitors. As she did before, she putted her hand on the door commands to hack in it and open the door for her. Nobody was watching so nobody knew she was in. --Releasing holographic projectors-- Idra then moved to an unused corner to switch to passive cloaking and bland without using too much energy from her suit. How all she had to do is waiting for the traitors to arrive, call idra and wait for her. Then jump on them and take all their information. --cloaking deactivated-- If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. --passive cloaking activated-- Like the brutal murderer she is, she was waiting, but each minute she was getting angrier. Her pray wasn¡¯t coming and the worst part was that she couldn¡¯t eviscerate them and play with their organs. Fortunately for the traitor they entered the hangar about 2 hours later so Idra informed Lis. --Natrix support system shutting down. All functions transferred to main computational unit 511. All system under your control master 511. Have a good hunt 511-- Lis, Morea and 3 other Leans, the one she trusted the most, where ready behind the hangar door. It was show time. ¡°follow my order. We go in, point our weapons and surround the 2 traitors, we need to keep them alive and prevent them to delete any information.¡± all her squad responder together. ¡°yes commander Lis, on your signal¡± The hangar door opened. ¡°now!, go in!¡± they rushed in, weapons drawn pointed toward the traitors. ¡°don¡¯t move!!¡± Yelled Lis. The 2 traitors were speaking together, one had a pad in hand, they were obviously scared by the screaming and armed Lis. The one with the pad in hand started to move and hand toward it. In a fraction of seconds 5 Idra¡¯s popped out of nowhere in front of them surrounding the two. They were taken aback for enough time to stop them from deleting anything. ¡°Idra don¡¯t kill them!¡± Immediately, in just a bunch of seconds, all 5 idra¡¯s started to attack the traitors with their bare fist. Obviously only one was physical. A punch hit in the middle of the torso the first traitor that took a couple of step backward. Immediately Idra span on herself to hit with a kick the other one that let go of the pad. Idra span again to catch the falling pad and to give a side kick to the first Lean to make her fall as well. Lis and her squad jumped on them and captured them. ¡°Don¡¯t move! fucking traitors!¡± The hologram disappeared and Idra was standing there. She was staring at the pad. Then she gave it to Lis. ¡°I was right. Read it for yourself. When you are done and if you want, you can bring me all the other electronics, I will hack into them as well¡± it took just a pair of minutes to read enough to incriminate the two. Unauthorized report and activity summary. Idra was right. There were contact for Xoraxtas and some idiot on Icar 3¡ã. fortunately for Lis there are no known ways to communicate while using a jump drive, so information was carried to each system by special intelligence ship that spend their all existence carrying information around. The huge information delay was also the reason why all known domains are relatively small. ¡°Scilla, I will go back to our cabin. I suppose you have a lot to discuss. Contact me if you need me¡± With this I suppose I earned her trust. I can also ask for a reward. She won¡¯t say no to sharing basic personal informations with me. One step closer. --Natrix support system online-- ¡°thanks Idra!¡± Idra didn¡¯t really care about the traitors, she just wanted to help Lis taking care of them. Every possible information that she had revealed was useless, so even if they didn¡¯t capture them it was not her problem. Strangely enough she was somewhat happy. Usually she torture her enemies to satisfy her thirst for blood and pain but this time she helped Lis. The thanks was enough to stop her from making a massacre. She waited the rest of the day in the cabin trying to draw a flower. It was a Wiipsca from her home planet. A breathtaking flower full of thorns that opens only after a heavy rain. Its smells is weak but also hypnotic. It was a special flower for Idra because it grew in the swamp right outside her window. She loved watching it attracting unaware creature to their death gasping for air while sinking in the mud. Idra tried over and over again to draw it, but her new learned skill with the pen and the extremely complex geometry stopped her from coming even close to the real Wiipsca appearance. Then after a lot of time, Lis was finally back. ¡°welcome back Scilla, how did it go?¡± ¡°thanks for your help. It¡¯s going somewhere but I will need your help tomorrow with the other devices and another interrogation¡± ¡°sure, however I want a reward at least for what I did today¡± and here I was thinking that she did all of this just for gaining my trust ¡°isn¡¯t my trust enough?¡± ¡°yes and no. I would like to further improve our friendship and also have an extra pillow and blanket¡± ¡°why an extra pillow and a second blanket, the one you have aren¡¯t good any-more?¡± ¡°nope, they are fine. I just want a second of both to play with. I actually like pillows and blankets. They are soft and squishy¡± ¡°ok, doesn¡¯t seem to unreasonable. Then what do you mean by improving our friendship?¡± ¡°I want to know basic informations, like you home planet, your full name if you have one, your age and things like that. Things a friend should know right?¡± ¡°fair enough, but you will have to tell me some too¡± ¡°then what is you age? How was your home?¡± ¡°i¡¯m 41 born on Icar 3¡ã and I guess it was a fine place. We didn¡¯t have a big house but after I started working for the Hakavors I could move my family to a better city and to a better place. How about you?¡± ¡°I suppose telling my age won¡¯t kill me. I¡¯m 26 years old. I lived in a big house I guess¡± ¡°holy shit, you are like a kid¡± ¡°i¡¯m not a kid! Humans grow faster. Leans live for about 160 years so I¡¯m basically your age.¡± ¡°well that explain why you know nothing of the world. 12 years of peace plus 7 of war, even if it was not technically all war. You basically were 7 when the Droxi extermination war started.¡± ¡°is it bad if I¡¯m young?¡± ¡°not really. I was just reflecting a bit about how you behave. Now it makes a lot more sense¡± then Lis laughed a bit to be interrupted by Idra. ¡°shut up! Its not like you are a wise old woman with a long ass marriage and tons of kids.¡± ¡°in fact I¡¯m not, I don¡¯t really care about marriage at all, but I¡¯m still wiser than you¡± --lie detected-- ¡°doesn¡¯t seems so¡± ¡°are you saying I¡¯m not wiser you puny kid?¡± ¡°i¡¯m speaking about your interest in marriage, you are lying about it¡± ¡°it¡¯s none of you business¡± ¡°We are friend, you should be able to speak about it with me? ¡°I don¡¯t want to, it¡¯s personal¡± ¡°how about I tell you something personal too and we both swear to keep it a secret until death?¡± Why is she so stubborn about it?. Why does she care?. Well I know she will never say a word about it. So if I receive information as well. ¡°then go on Idra. What is your proposal?¡± ¡°you tell me why you want to marry but don¡¯t and I''ll tell you why I¡¯m called Idra 511 Weeping Sky¡± ¡°ok, but you go first¡± ¡°Weeping Sky is the name of my home planet. Its a beautiful planet if you love strong winds and heavy rains. Every time it rains there is also wind so I looks like the sky is crying because there is rain and the sound of the wind between the trees. Then the Idra 511 is technically my code name. I¡¯m the 511 prototype of the Idra series. But I can¡¯t tell you more. At least not now¡± a risky move for me, but she will eventually know the truth once she is I my clutches. Fucking hell, she is a robot. I knew it!. ¡°I knew it, you are a machine!¡± ¡°no I¡¯m not! The hell did you understand. I¡¯m a human experiment you idiot¡± ¡°oh, that makes more sense. Robot don¡¯t need to eat¡± ¡°you really wanted to believe I was a machine didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°yep I¡¯m guilt of that. Well your title make more sense now but why do you have a title that is the name of you planet? And more importantly if you are 511 are there 510 more Idras around?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t tell you any of that. You don¡¯t have to worry about it and now it¡¯s you turn to say the truth¡± I guess she told me a lot. Knowing that she basically is a living experiment for hell knows what reason, is kinda scary and sad. I don¡¯t think I would be happy to always be remembered that I¡¯m a living test subject. Well it¡¯s my time now. ¡°I¡¯m almost sterile. That is my problem. Leans are not really fertile by nature, after the war I found out that I¡¯m not really capable of having kids nor making them. My only hope is to have them with a female human that are basically extra fertile and compensate for my lack. I don¡¯t want to make my sister worry and I don¡¯t want to force a partner in an almost certain childless marriage. That is why i accepted this job. Being far way from home, higher death risk than in war, no communication. I suppose i just wanted to run away...¡± Lis words were heavy and sad. A family is basically a must in a Lean life. Living without kids and without creating a family isn¡¯t something a conservative and old school creature like Lis could do. The more she thought about it the sadder she became until Idra sat beside her and leant on her shoulder. ¡°Idra, what are you doing?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. In those days I read a book. In it the main character was comforted in this way so I¡¯m mimicking it. Is it working?¡± Being cheered up by an emotionless Esterian. That will be a funny story to tell. ¡°I suppose. It just strange and comical¡± ¡°your face when you look at the mirror is comical. My acting skills recreating affective moments are perfect¡± Sarcasm. In 12 days she even learned it. Well one day she will probably go around making dad jokes. ¡°thanks¡± I won¡¯t let you go away fearless Scilla. This is only the beginning. While Lis calmed down, Idra¡¯s mind was focused on her next move. She now discovered a new possibility to keep Scilla with her. She just have to find the right timing. From the very beginning she become obsessed with Scilla. Even other Esterian have to hold back their intestine to not shit themselves every time they met her, but Scilla was different. She approached her from the start and now she is gradually becoming more and more friendlier. It was a life time opportunity to finally have a friend and maybe even more. A family that has left her alone long ago. chapter 8c: Icar Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 8c: Icar The next day Lis woke up before Idra. As usual she stared at the sleeping Esterian for a couple of minutes. She didn¡¯t know why she kept on doing so every day but nobody gets hurt so there is no issue with her actions. Then as usual she prepared and then she woke up Idra by touching her a little. It the only way to awake her without screaming in her ears. ¡°mmh, it¡¯s already morning?¡± ¡°yes, but I was thinking of leaving you alone from now on¡± ¡°yeah yeah, whatever let me sleep a bit more¡± Understanding that Idra was basically still asleep, Lis decide to shake her a bit. ¡°what, why are you shaking me!¡± ¡°I told you that I will leave you alone. You don¡¯t need to follow me around any-more¡± ¡°really? No more babysitting?¡± ¡°you were right yesterday, so I guess I can trust you¡± ¡°oh, thanks. But I will probably keep following you around. I don¡¯t have a lot to do.¡± ¡°well not this morning. I¡¯m going to the interrogate the traitors a little more. You would have nothing to do for at least 5 hours. Then if you don¡¯t mind come to the prison cells and help me out with the confiscated electronics and maybe more¡± ¡°sure. I will prepare myself and come to you in 5 hours.¡± ¡°thanks, see you later Idra¡± Then Lis left the room. Idra was still in her bed covered with her double blanket and in between her two pillows. She was staring at the closed door and thinking about what to do. Trust earned, plan going as calculated. Now what do I do for 5 hours?, I guess I will just execute some armour maintenance. Leans interrogations are not really peaceful especially if you are a traitor and there is proof of your misdeeds. In the 5 hours before meeting with Idra, Lis tried without success to make the traitors speak. She was not really into beating the shit out of them. Can¡¯t keep a bleeding fucker alive for 8 days without medications and she had no intention on wasting some on them. When Idra arrive at the cells, Lis asked her to hack into the traitors confiscated electronics devices. Then it was time to just use her frightening presence. ¡°so, what¡¯s my job? Do I have just to make them talk?¡± asked Idra. ¡°well that is the objective of an interrogation, however I would prefer if you don¡¯t injure them too much, don¡¯t want to waste medicines on them.¡± ¡°yeah, I can do that. However my services will cost you¡± ¡°what are you? A prostitute?¡± ¡°shut up! You will have to play at least 1 match of space-chess against me this evening¡± ¡°you could have phrased it in a really different way but I¡¯m in, only if they talk of course¡± ¡°better go start preparing for our match¡± Then Idra moved inside the cell. Lis and others guards on the other side of the one way mirror. In the cell, one of the two traitors, she was on a chair chained to it and also to the table. The instant when Idra entered the room, the traitor started to shake a little. Idra started walking around the traitor with an ominous presence. ¡°so, traitor Lira, guess what I want to hear¡± ¡°I.. I.. I.. I don¡¯t know. Look...looking for other comm devices?¡± then with a dash Idra moved face to face, just a few centimetres between their skulls. ¡°WRONG! Try again. But this time we add a little extra¡± She grabbed Lira¡¯s face with her left hand. Her left gauntlet opened a little and from within a multitude of small machinery popped out, like in a Swiss knife. Lis had seen those instruments, they are small probes and testers that Idra usually use to determinate if she can eat or not something. That cluster of machines wasn¡¯t meant to kill or harm others, however it could be used in such way. ¡°every time you get the wrong answer, I will cut one of you little tentacles that run all along you cheeks. Then one by one I''ll make you eat them all until you have no more cheeks to close and all your teeth are exposed.¡± Lira was even more scared but she was determined to endure. In her mind Lis was too soft to let Idra do as she pleased. However she was wrong. ¡°I.. I.. I! Have nothing to say you bit.. (bitch!)¡± Lira couldn¡¯t finish that the cluster of machine pierced one tentacle, the closer to her lips, and pulled it out. A small blade leant on it, ready to cut. ¡°you think I¡¯m playing? You think I¡¯m joking? You think Scilla is gonna save you? Well you must be really stupid.¡± then she cut the tentacle. A scream of pain echoed through the prison. Blood flowing down from the fresh cut. Then Idra pierced the same tentacle on the other cheek. ¡°now, what do I want to hear?¡± Lira was in pain, bleeding, scared and trembling all at once. Lis was not coming, she was really alone with the monster. All rationality left her mind, a brutal butcher was in front of her. No way out. So she started crying and sobbing, trembling like if she was exposed to freezing temperatures. ¡°I will tell all you want¡­ sob, please!!please please please don¡¯t kill me! I don¡¯t what to¡­¡± good job Idra, time to go in and squeeze all her informations. However Idra didn¡¯t thought so. A second scream of pain and another tentacle gone. Lis and her crew rush in, in their mind Idra wasn''t going to stop. In just the 17 seconds need to move from one side and the other of the mirror, 2 more screams of pain echoed in the prison. Lis was the first to get in and immediately separated the two, she was ready to yell at Idra for ignoring her commands but she noticed Lira¡¯s face. She was no longer bleeding, where there should have been the two tentacles now there was a red burned tissue. Idra follower Lis orders so to stop the bleeding she cauterized the two wounds. ¡°all yours Scilla.¡± then she turned toward Lira that literally shitted her pants, or in a more accurate way filled her pants with slimy excrements. ¡°you better obey my friend, or maybe I will come in your cell at night to finish the job¡± then she returned to her cabin, as if the torture she had just done had no impact on her psyche at all. Finally the 20 days journey was ending. The Sheridan stopped the jump drive and was finally inside Icar''s planetary system. Lis and Idra were on the main deck. On the main screen a projection of the planet. A reddish floating ball that looked like a bigger mars. Icar 3¡ã was a really peaceful planet in comparison to Leanira 2¡ã the home world of the Lean species. Almost of the same dimension as Terran¡¯s Terra (our Earth) with only 1,1g of gravity acceleration. Icar atmosphere is heavier than Terra and there is a lot more oxygen. The planet is 82 % water but of the total water 15,3% is fresh water thanks to some unique algae common on the planet. Icar 3¡ã is known for making 1/2 off all leans food, and considering that the Lean¡¯s domain is composed of 4 planet it is a lot. Icar 3¡ã is also the home of the biggest Lean¡¯s corporation, the Hakavor¡¯s heavy industries. Started as an agricultural machine factory they evolved in the biggest producer of Lean¡¯s spaceship and the biggest private army. Icar 3¡ã is one of the 4 planet inside the Lean¡¯s Planetary Federation or Lean¡¯s federation (LF). The federation assembly whose head is the Liin, a Lean that must have been elected by half+1 member of the assembly or to be born with a mark that makes the creature more intelligent, rule over all the planets. During non emergency times the assembly work as a republic. The member of the assembly are really different one another. To be a member you must be a plant governor, or a CEO of a massive company, or an important scientist, or military high general, or an Ittiro who is someone who greatly helped all Leans with their discovery or inventions, or a Lineic warden a Lean whose life is completely dedicated to historical recording. Hakavor¡¯s Head and Dhalia, the heir, were by definition part of the assembly. Dhalia in particular, after the war, assassinated the previous Liin for military incompetence that brought the death of many soldiers. Dhalia proposes the army general chief during the Droxi war as the new Liin. Those event brought to power Serafia Csuicha, the actual Liin, a revolutionary Liin and at the same time one of the most bloodthirsty Liin ever elected. Lis was a member of the assembly as well because she was an Ittira (female version of Ittiro). She was one of the few Ittira that were alive and for a good reason. Those positions are usually male dominant because they are usually more intelligent and discover more scientific stuff. However she was elected as Ittira thanks to her work during the war that started the commercial route with the Esterians and also allowed the purchases of the biological weapon used to win the extermination war. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Just 5 minute after the jump an incoming transmission started beeping on the main comm station. Lis press a button and started the conversation. ¡°Commander Scilla Lis of the L.F Sheridan, I require a route to Hakavor headquarters.¡± The government space station for traffic regulation responded quickly. They were used to Hakavor¡¯s ships request and prioritize them. The traffic officer Mira Dragva was on good terms with Lis because they served together during the war as Morea did. ¡°You are back soon Lis, did something happen?¡± Mira¡¯s faces was calm with a friendly smile and a small scar on her upper left lip. ¡°Yes. We are currently transporting an Esterian that is¡­¡± Mira jumped at the idea of an Esterian, especially one that is been transported. ¡°how the fuck!! what happened!, are you ok!¡± Well that is a typical reaction to an Esterian. ¡°i¡¯m fine my friend, we found some common ground and we are now cooperating toward a common objective.¡± Meanwhile Morea was contacting the HQ to report the Esterian presence and require military escort. ¡°She is not that terrifying, wanna see her?¡± ¡°hell no!, I don¡¯t want to have nightmares for the rest of my life. I have no fucking idea how you are able to be close to them¡± Mira wasn¡¯t wrong at all. Usually Esterian cause a powerful reaction in those who look at them. They are scary and machine like creature. No eyes, no visible breathing movement, never leave their suit. Speak like beast, don¡¯t follow law, hit to death kids that look at them in the wrong way. The list of reason to stay the fuck away from an Esterian was really long. If your conscious self couldn¡¯t find a reason to stay away from them, subconsciousness usually does. Their mere appearance cause a primordial and innate fear that grow stronger the closer you are to them, or so it¡¯s said. Neither Lis nor Morea for some reason felt than strange fear any longer, but the rest of the crew could feel it so much that they started eating at a different hour than them. ¡°I don¡¯t find it that hard. Maybe I¡¯m special¡± ¡°yeah, special like a kid who hit hard his head falling from a chair. I won¡¯t take more of your time. All scans clear. Proceed toward your destination. I sent you your navigation route.¡± ¡°if one of those day you come down, let¡¯s meet¡± ¡°not if you are with the monster¡± ¡°she is no monster, see ya Mira¡± ¡°see ya psycho!¡± Mira smiled and close the call. The Sheridan proceed toward the HQ, Dhalia Hakavor, the heir of the corporation was preparing to meet Lis and most importantly Idra the Esterian guest. The ship landed without problems at the biggest platform, around 5 km from the HQ. As they disembark a luxurious car was waiting for Lis and Idra. An Hakavor¡¯s bodyguard got out of the car and started to speak. ¡°Good morning Commander Lis, good morning Esterian Idra. It¡¯s a plea¡­¡± ¡°Scilla do you use that spot?¡± Idra looking at Lis pointed at a field around the landing pad. It was unused because it was to close to the Sheridan landing pad. ¡°I suppose we don¡¯t, why?¡± ¡°to place my spaceship obviously¡± as she said so the base alarm goes off. On top of the Sheridan external hull a ship start to materialize. It was the U shaped Esterian ship. It was 45 meters long ship of a greyish colour. Things that looked like thrusters on the sides pointing down. On the back of all the 3 main parts there where bigger thruster emitting a purple cone shaped light. Her ship was attached to us all this fucking time, and it was even invisible. How the fuck was it possible. Scanner should have seen it. ¡°Natrix, land on this grass field. They don¡¯t use it.¡± As Idra¡¯s command was heard a loud metallic scream came from the ship. It was so loud that you could feel your bones shaking. It was its sound and saying it could freeze your blood was an understatement. The bodyguard dropped down scared as this was probably her first time seeing an Esterian ship. Other strange sound were emitted while the ship moved from the position toward the grass field. While moving a red scanner passed on Lis and the car. Then it just landed as if nothing happened. Seeing it from such short distance made the ship looks like something totally different. U shape is the faster way to describe it, however the ship is composed of two identical part long 45 meters. In between there is a different part that connects the other two. The one in the middle is 30 meter long and its probably the cockpit. Once landed the ship was 9 meters tall and 21 meters wide. There is no visible entrance but considering the Esterian army robot the ship must have a small cargo bay. For a spaceship enthusiast like Lis it was a godlike vision. A totally new ship so close to her face. But it was no time to drool over a ship. She called the HQ to specify the false alarm and than it was just the Esterian friendly ship. ¡°You like it?¡± said Idra toward Lis. ¡°I would have liked it even more if you had told me that it was coming here¡± ¡°but I told you that my ship was following us¡± ¡°following is a thing, yours were attached to us¡± ¡°following, attached same thing. You ask once who was Natrix. Well this is Natrix¡± and she pointed at her ship. ¡°to be more correct, this is Natrix Demone Urlante or in your language screaming demon. It¡¯s my ship and I don¡¯t want to boast about it but there are only a few of her kind. She is all a scavenger needs, not like your big tuna can¡± ¡°I have to admit, your horseshoe is really cute¡± ¡°I want to argue back, but I think your bodyguard is having a heart attack or some shit like that¡± ¡°she is fine don¡¯t worry...¡± Lis looked at the trembling girl on the ground. Maybe she is not that fine. Well I can just put her in the car myself. Lis then moved toward the girl and picked her up while she was crying and begging for her life. She then put her in the car, she looked for the driver but she had lost consciousness from the fear. ¡°I guess I will drive. Hop in the side seat while I move the driver in the back¡± ¡°am I that scary?¡± ¡°just when you are angry, but to normal people your presence alone can be a little too much to handle¡± ¡°it¡¯s not my fault!¡± ¡°i¡¯m not saying it is. Just get in the car. I will drive us to the HQ. Hopefully you won¡¯t make other faint while we get there¡± 5 km are a shot distance if you drive like a speed maniac. Lis was to infatuated with the space extremely high velocities that she couldn¡¯t hold herself. Idra wasn¡¯t having any problem with the high speed neither, so Lis totally forgot about her passengers that arrived at the HQ scared as fuck and covered in vomit. They reach the HQ main entrance. 8 armed guard were waiting for them. They were a bit confuse when Lis got out of the driving seat and then they become wary when Idra got out of the passenger seat. They didn¡¯t start to tremble in fear, they didn¡¯t saw Natrix moving, but they were visibly restless due to Idra¡¯s presence. They got in and had to go trough a scanner before going in the elevator. The hall was full of soldiers and the receptionist was there waiting for the two to hand over their weapons. Lis was used to it, but Idra wasn¡¯t at all. Esterian never let go of their weapons. The receptionist tried to speak up intimidated by her presence. ¡°ex¡­ excuse me miss, you...you should hand...hand over your weapons as a s..s..safety measure¡± Idra looked back, it was no longer in her ¡°friendly¡± mode. ¡°watch you language creature before I carve your eyes out.¡± That¡¯s it the Idra I remember. I wonder why she is so hostile with others. Lis started to explain that Esterian don¡¯t let go of their weapons but Idra wasn¡¯t wasting time. She moved toward the elevator command, the guard pointed their weapons. Then she touched the commands and the elevator started moving. ¡°I¡¯m not your enemy. Your system already recognize me as a friend.¡± then her voice became angrier and hoarse. ¡°now put your weapon down before I make you eat them¡± Lis jumped in. ¡°don¡¯t worry. She won¡¯t make a mess. Just don¡¯t get to close to her. This is fine and normal when working with Esterians¡± All the soldier inside the building had never seen an Esterian and like almost everyone knew nothing about them. How they impose themselves on others, how aggressive they are. Then the elevator reach the ground floor and the two got in. ¡°which floor are we going Scilla?¡± ¡°17¡± Idra pressed the button and then Lis started to lecture Idra. After all she was going to meet her boss. ¡°can you be less hostile with my boss? I want to keep my job.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t eat her, there is no smoker nearby to add some flavour to such tasteless meat.¡± ¡°wait, have you ever eaten a person?¡± Idra¡¯s voice change a bit. ¡°nah, It¡¯s just a way of saying, for sure it is¡± ¡°kinda specific¡± ¡°I may have tasted some strange flesh during my explorations¡± ¡°stop, I don¡¯t want to hear any longer¡± ¡°you are the one who asked¡± ¡°yeah and I made a mistake¡± chapter 9c: Dhalia Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 9c: Dhalia A pair of guard accompanied Lis and Idra in front of Dhalia office. One of them was particularly distressed by Idra¡¯s presence, but they were both trained professional soldier so they were trying their best to show no discomfort. Then one spook up to announce their entrance. The rectangular, way too big, office was a corner office. 2 sides with windows and two without. The natural light was filtered by the immaculate massive darkish windows. A big wooden table in the middle and after that, at the edge of the office, a big desk made of some dark alloy. On the side, a more comfortable location, like a small living room in office. A pair of couches, an armchair and a coffee table. It was a beautiful office well organized with no useless luxurious things to show but the object inside were all of prime quality and probably handmade. Dhalia Hakavor, Heir of the Hakavor corporation was sitting on the armchair. She was wearing a white rigid dress with black and blue decorations. It wasn¡¯t a revealing dress nor an excessive one. Perfect to not irritate an Esterian. As expected her skin was red but she had purple eyes, a rarity among the Leans that are usually all red. Her voice was calm and firm, like a leader. ¡°guards, you are dismissed. Commander Lis will eventually be my bodyguard for the time being¡± the 2 guard obeyed their lady and left the room. ¡°it¡¯s a pleasure to see you back Lis, and I can see that you brought back some unexpected company¡± Lis couldn¡¯t answer fast enough that Idra was already being a dickhead. ¡°cut you crap. I¡¯m not here for your games. We have a contract to make¡± Lis instinctively jumped and tried to cover Idra¡¯s mouth that obviously wasn¡¯t possible. ¡°I''m sorry boss, she tend to speak without filters¡± ¡°I speak my mind, I don¡¯t hide behind words and useless junk put on display in an office. I don¡¯t need to show how big my dick is, mine is always the bigger one¡± for a moment Lis forgot why she was there, she was so used to her strange and teasing conversation with Idra that she just had gone with the flow. ¡°I thought you were a woman. Oh boy, those days humans are really built different¡± ¡°fuck off lizard under steroids, your kind couldn¡¯t decide if they wanted a man or a woman and made you.¡± ¡°at least I have a real dick not a metaphorical one like you. What is the next step? An imaginary spouse and an invisible kid?¡± Dhalia was there looking at them, then she cleared her throat to attract attention and said. ¡°girl!, can I have you attention back. I think we are going off road with this conversation. May we restart it?¡± Lis was the first to reply as a good worker ¡°sorry chief, I just got carried away by her sharp tongue¡± Please, Idra stop it. We have to be serious now. However Idra¡¯s plan was different. She had no interest in Dhalia, all she wanted was her contract. ¡°sure why not, Scilla you may sit on that couch, I will sit soon.¡± as she said so Idra started to walk around the office looking at everything that was on display. ¡°So Miss Idra 511 Weeping Sky, I was informed¡­¡± ¡°Idra. Call me Idra.¡± ¡°sure, Miss Idra, I was saying¡± ¡°drop the miss¡± ¡°Idra, please let her speak¡± said Lis. ¡°thanks, I was informed that you and my subordinate decided to start working together but considering you nature as Esterian Lis didn¡¯t felt like writing a definitive contract, I¡¯m I right?¡± ¡°stop asking what you already know.¡± Lis looked at Idra with furious eyes. ¡°so, well I have a couple of questions. First, who are you? If a search you up in the database of the authorized Esterian people to wander around provided by your kind there is this¡± As Dhalia said so, she was writing Idra¡¯s full name on a data-pad and then she showed the result. A technical sheet completely classified, not even a picture in armour like all others authorized people. There was only the name. ¡°so, who are you? Why are there no informations about you? What even is the point of giving us such empty sheet?¡± ¡°can¡¯t you guess it? Well I can¡¯t tell you neither so you are free to conjecture about it and tell me what you think¡± Lis was confuse because she apparently know a lot more then what even her boss knew. Wait a second, I know her age, home planet, why she is called idra and all that shit. The fact that she is a scavenger. Why hiding it if it¡¯s your job? ¡°what I thinks is that you have some sort of high rank, like an Ittiro for us so yours informations are all classified but you are free to do what you want¡± ¡°if you say so, I won¡¯t correct you anyway¡± ¡°so can we trust you Idra?¡± ¡°boss I can guarantee for that. She helped us capture a pair of traitor on the ship. I will tell you all the details later but she had no reason to help us. She however require a couple of rewards from me. A blanket, a pillow and at least one match against each other at space-chess. I suppose she helped without others intentions¡± ¡°was she also one of your gut feeling?¡± ¡°yes chief¡± ¡°so the first problem is resolved. Now on the next one. What exactly do you want? Esterian technology is way better then ours, my squad has nothing to offer to a capable machine like creature such as yourself¡± ¡°you got I wrong, I¡¯m not after something, but someone. I want your squad. I¡¯m way ahead of your civilization but I¡¯m alone. I want your squad to have a bigger but slower ship and a crew at my command.¡± Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Idra, the crew is mine. You are just¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m your friend Scilla. I know that it¡¯s your crew but if we help each other then our objective and commands will be the same so it will be as if the crew is working for me¡± ¡°fair enough¡± ¡°so all you want is manpower?¡± ¡°yes¡± ¡°can¡¯t you use robot for that?¡± ¡°can you stop speaking with you ass because I¡¯m hearing only shitty questions from you¡± ¡°IDRA!¡± ¡°what!?, it¡¯s true. She is just asking question that even a brain-dead mosquito wouldn¡¯t ask. If I could use machine I would. As I said I¡¯m alone and I don¡¯t have resources to built 300 humanoid machine. Specially thinking machines.¡± that was a total lie. I have no need for you, nor you species. I just want Scilla. But I can¡¯t abduct her. I¡¯m doing all this shit just to casually bring her to my home planet and then she will be mine forever. Dhalia was trying her best to stay polite and calm, however due to her innate perception she started to wonder why Idra¡¯s behaviour change so much when speaking to Lis. Maybe she could use Lis to pacify her guest. ¡°understandable. So all you need is a crew. We can make one from scratch just to accommodate your needs¡± Fuck, did she understand that I¡¯m not after manpower itself? ¡°using Scilla crew will be enough¡± Lis was in the middle of all of this, unable to understand what was happening and waiting for an end. ¡°then I can move Lis on another ship and left you with Morea. She will be a good enough vice commander.¡± ¡°no. if you take her out there is no guarantee that the crew will cooperate.¡± ¡°they will still follow Morea¡¯s order so I don¡¯t see the problem¡± ¡°Scilla is needed. It¡¯s her crew and her ship. She now best how to use all of that¡± Try me fucking lizard, try taking what is mine and I will be sure to keep you alive while all your world burns and despair. ¡°fair enough. Lis are you sure you want to work with her?¡± Dhalia was not stupid, it was clear that Idra wanted to work only with Scilla and nobody else. But it was fine. Looking at them she could tell that they had become friends. Idra objective was related to Lis but she didn¡¯t want to force her. Esterian are not known for their patience and for not using force to take what they want. If Idra wanted something from Lis it was nothing that could be taken by force. The first thing that came in her mind was a friend indeed. That explain why she behave differently with her, why she tease her and what she asked as a reward for helping. ¡°yes chief, I was the one that took her in in the first place. Not working with her would be a stupid move.¡± ¡°working with your new powerful friend, I get it even if I feel a bit left out. I will allow it also because it will be beneficial to our company and our species. If you bring back more artefact and ancient tech I can even put in more founds¡± Lis was a totally unaware of Idra real intention, at least Dhalia understood why she behave differently and that she wanted to be with Lis. ¡°thanks chief. I will bring everything I will find¡± ¡°so now we just have to finalize the contract and all the small details¡± It took 4 hours to reach a good point with ideas, rules and so on for the contract. Dhalia was trying to get as much as she could while Idra was extremely stubborn and almost physically aggressive. In the end the contract was not really different from the temporary one, the biggest add were a needed meeting with the Liin due to Idra¡¯s political and military influence, and the possibility to ask her for help non related to scavenging. ¡°now that the base is written, how about we go eat together¡± asked Dhalia. Even if she was Hakavor¡¯s heir she still was a good friend of Lis and the eating with subordinate generate a better impression. ¡°sure, we can also discuss about Idra¡¯s place for the time being. It will take around 1 week for the Liin to reach us and I can¡¯t let her sleep in the ship¡± ¡°sure, one of our building will be perfect I think¡­¡± Idra interrupted the two. ¡°I will stay at Scilla¡¯s place¡± ¡°what!?!¡± they both said together but with different tones. ¡°Were you distracted?, I said that I¡¯m staying at your place¡± ¡°I heard you, I¡¯m saying what the fuck. Who told you that?¡± ¡°I thought it was implicit, you live in Hakavor¡¯s territory anyway, so what¡¯s the problem¡± ¡°the problem is my family.¡± ¡°that¡¯s their problem, not mine nor yours Scilla¡± ¡°it¡¯s my problem. You can¡¯t auto-invite¡­¡± ¡°how about a challenge. If I win I stay at your place. I¡¯m sure you will have extra room for my small body. If a lose I will follow Dhalia¡¯s instructions and go to where she says¡± ¡°your suit will help you too much¡± ¡°how about a shooting competition where I use Lean¡¯s weapons. Also if we sleep at separate places how can we investigate the two books?¡± ¡°what books?¡± Dhalia didn¡¯t know about the books and Lis had no intention on telling her, at least not for now. ¡°nothing in particular, she is just obsessed with some Lean¡¯s book and she wants to see the physical copy that I possess. I guess let¡¯s do the shooting competition.¡± Something is telling me that she will end up at my house. At the HQ outdoor shooting range there was quite a commotion. An Esterian was going to use their weapons and show her capabilities. An occasion that can¡¯t be missed and must be recorded. Dhalia decided to explain the rules herself. ¡°so you will use the same sniper rifle. The target will register all the hits. 1 point for each target, 2 if you hit a vital spot marked in red. After the first of you goes the other and then we will compare the scores. You will have 18 bullet. One per target. The farthest target is at 500m. All clear?¡± ¡°just one¡± said Idra ¡°can you show me how this rifle work? I never used a chemical operated rifle.¡± ¡°sure¡± Then Dhalia took a rifle and shot the closest target. It was a good hit but not a vital shoot. The loud bang of the rifle startled Idra that was looking closely trying to understand how a bolt action rifle work. ¡°so all you have to do is pull back the bolt after shooting?¡± ¡°yeah, and this is the magazine release and¡­¡± After Dhalia finished her explanation it was time for the duel. Scilla was worried but not to much. It was Idra¡¯s first time with a non electromagnetic weapon and Lis herself was a good shooter. She decided to go first, she laid down on the ground ready to shoot. Then one after the other she shot the targets, starting by the closest and then moving on to the farthest. In the end she scored 32/36 point. She missed the vital point on the last 4. An outstanding score, considering all the time that she didn¡¯t practise at the shooting range she was still the best non sniper at using a sniper rifle. Now it was time for Idra. She didn¡¯t lie down. She sit with her knees up creating a V with her body. The left arm covered with her cloak was positioned on top of the knee creating a surface to rest the rifle. Her armour reassessed itself, probably for recoil compensation. A really strange technique, then a series of really close shoot one after the other. Every shoot made the suit expel a bit of gas from the shoulder. She stopped only to reload. At the end 36/36, all head shot, all in the right eye. It was astonishing and depressing at the same time if you are a trained sniper and see someone who never used a gun being better than you. FUCK! ¡°I guess I won¡± ¡°you cheated, your AI helped you¡± ¡°you have an AI too in your suit and Natrix didn¡¯t help, I shoot better than him.¡± Well I tried. No way out I have to bring her home. Scilla was a bit dense when it comes to people. She was able to understand if someone was tricking her but was mostly unable to detect the other party interest in her. She didn¡¯t see herself as special even if she was. So in her mind there was no way someone could want something from her. So she had no idea that Idra was trying all she could to get closer to her, maybe not only as a friend. chapter 10c: house Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 10c: house Unfortunately for Lis a bet is a bet and now she had to take in Idra for the week. She had no problems with the request itself. Her house is big enough to accommodate many guests, it was inside an Hakavor¡¯s district so best safety available around. Lis problem was her family. She lived with her parents and little sister, well its the other way around, they live with her. She is fine with Idra¡¯s presence but it¡¯s unknown if her family is the same as her. The other problem was Idra herself. She is not going to be a dickhead with my parents and my sister right? She is calmer when I¡¯m with her will the same apply to my family? Hopefully yes, then I hope they won¡¯t be the dickheads instead. I¡¯m the one letting them live there. They are weakling that couldn¡¯t keep up. Lis lived inside one of the many small skyscraper that are the base of Leans cities. This tower usually about 100m tall are everywhere. Leans prefer cities with a lot of vegetation and to do so they live vertically in order to surround the buildings with parks and trees. Usually all buildings also have a private common garden, most of them also had a garden on the rooftop but it was connected only to the apartment below. Lis lived at the 19-20th floors of one of those skyscraper, the highest floors. The last two floors of the building were for her and her alone. However she had no use for all that space and nobody to look over it when she was away so she let her family in. Hers was a peculiar case. Usually non-voters like her parents are not allowed in such prestigious part of the city. She was in some love and hate relationship with them. She hated theirs idea, especially the one against wars and discriminations, but they were her parents anyway. On the other hand she had a perfect relationship with her little sister and was really proud of her, she is a doctor specialized in genetic diseases, probably the hardest and most prestigious specialization that a Lean doctor could choose. Now they were in from of the elevator to Lis house. It was time to go up. ¡°Idra¡± ¡°yes Scilla?¡± ¡°don¡¯t be an asshole with them¡± ¡°they are your family, I won¡¯t do anything that will give you a reason to kick me out¡± ¡°promise me that you won¡¯t hurt them¡± ¡°I swear on my honour that I won¡¯t damage your family nor your house¡± ¡°thanks, then let¡¯s go in¡± So she live in a skyscraper. This is interesting. It¡¯s my second time inside one. If one could look inside Idra¡¯s armour he would be able to see an exited creature. Before today Idra had never been inside a skyscraper. Esterians have no need for such structures. Their population is low and spread on way to many planets. To add more a lot of building were mostly underground due to extreme atmospherical conditions. It was rare for an Esterian to even see a skyscraper. The elevator arrived at the 19th floor. One massive door was the way to get in the house. Then Lis opened the door. ¡°I¡¯m HOME!¡± she screamed. Soon some heavy footsteps could be heard coming toward them. Then a Lean popped out of a corridor running. ¡°Scilla! My puppy you are back!¡± then she jumped and hugged Lis. Scilla''s body was covering the small Idra behind. Scilla tensed up, she was not really pleased by the hug. ¡°mum, contain yourself, we have a guest¡± ¡°where?¡± then Lis moved to show the Esterian. ¡°hi¡± The woman screamed and fell on her back. She was afraid. ¡°there is a monster Scilla! A monster behind you!¡± she screamed again and pointed at Idra. Fuck, I guess it won¡¯t be easy. It¡¯s not my fault if every-fucking-body is scared of me. Maybe I should control her mind. If I release some stuff I should be able to correct her perception of me. But I suppose Scilla will find it out. If you scream for a monster and then calm down and accept its presence is a bit strange isn¡¯t it? ¡°mum calm down, she is my guest. We work together¡± The woman was in shock and probably in disbelieve. Idra wasn''t saying anything. She knew that whatever she could say will create more problems to Scilla. ¡°how can you do this to me! To us! Bring a monster, a mass murderer in our house! I let you join the military because it was your desire, but this!¡± ¡°shut up! This is my house, my home, my rules!. If you don¡¯t like it go get yours! Oh right you can¡¯t cause you are a fucking incompetent!¡± the woman start crying and ran away from the entrance to who knows where. ¡°Scilla, I¡¯m sorry I broke our promise. But I didn¡¯t mean to hurt her ¡®mind¡¯ I just said hi I..¡± ¡°it¡¯s fine Idra. It is not your fault. This is my house and my choices, I rule over them. If she doesn¡¯t like it she could get the fuck out¡± ¡°I¡¯m still sorry, I still think it¡¯s kinda my fault and she didn¡¯t really say anything incorrect.¡± ¡°your species sold us weapons, you didn¡¯t even use them. How can you be a murderer for such things?¡± ¡°you should have guessed by now that I have killed way more people than you, and I¡¯m not even a soldier¡± ¡°I know. You told me some really fuck up shit about how you basically had torture an entire city of primitive creatures, however she was referring to the Droxi war. You were 7 when that started and 14 when it finished. You had none of than blood on your hands¡± ¡°but I¡¯m still a so called monster¡± ¡°a needed monster is really a monster?¡± The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°do you think I¡¯m needed?¡± ¡°yes¡± She said that I¡¯m needed!! I¡¯m needed! She needs me! Let¡¯s fucking gooo!! Idra was surprised by Lis response. She didn¡¯t expect that. Her plan was working, sort of. ¡°follow me, I will show you around so you don¡¯t get lost¡± ¡°sure¡± As she did with her ship, Lis showed her house to Idra. It was a massive apartment on two floors. The 19th was composed of several sleeping room all with a complete bathroom, there were a couple of living rooms, 3 kitchen connected to 3 different dining room. 2 libraries, a common giant bathroom and so on. After all it was a massive building and in contrast to the floors below where there are multiple apartment, she had all the 6200m2 area per floor just for her. Lis didn¡¯t live on the 19th floor, she prefers the smaller 20th that is mostly a garden in the sky with some photovoltaic panels. Most of the 20th floor was dedicated to plants, a half indoor half outdoor pool and all the things that are needed to make a self sufficient floor. ¡°this will be your room, mine is at the end of the corridor, past the open library¡± ¡°thanks for the tour Scilla¡± ¡°go in, I have shit to fix¡± Idra¡¯s room was massive as well. But she didn¡¯t understand. Up until now she was too focused on the ¡°you are needed¡± part that she didn¡¯t really looked around. To her it didn¡¯t look like a room but as a small house inside another. Also everything was massive for her size. A Lean king size bed was big enough to accommodate 5 Idras. She could fit inside a pillow case. Idra¡¯s had always lived in really confined spaces. The years going around with Natrix didn¡¯t help at all. All her live in the ship was contained in a 6m2 room but she like it, it was comfy. ¡°are you sure all of this is just for me? Can¡¯t I sleep in your room? Like inside a pillow¡± ¡°shut up, you are not a kid and try to appreciate having some space once in a while. Can¡¯t have all this air in space¡± ¡°you are right, but I don¡¯t need all this space.¡± ¡°didn¡¯t you say you lived in a big house?¡± ¡°big, but not unless. We didn¡¯t waste space. Rooms were big enough for us, you could fit 5 people in this¡± ¡°well I don¡¯t have smaller room on this floor, if you want you can get you a tent to sleep in¡± ¡°really?!¡± ¡°no, it was a joke¡± ¡°you meany¡± ¡°shut up and go in. told you I have things to do¡± ¡°can I come to your room later when you have finished you business?¡± ¡°I will think about it¡± then Lis left Idra and walked back toward the 19th floor. Defining parental role inside a Lean¡¯s family can be quite tricky. If the couple is compose of male and female the definition works as normal dad for the male and mum for the female. The same goes if one is male and the other a femari. However if there is a femari and a female or both femari an ambiguity problem occur. Lean¡¯s language define only two sexes and femaris are considered female, but calling both parents mum doesn¡¯t work well. So there are two solutions, the ancient one define that the parent who gave birth was the mum and the other the dad. The new way define one of the parents, usually the one that had given birth to more kids, as mum and the other as pama. Lis case was one with both femari parents. Both her and her sister came from the same creature that they call mum. Needless to say that the relationship between Lis and her mother Kalina was not the best. Kalina is a ¡°creative¡±, someone who isn¡¯t really scientifically useful. Someone could say that her job as a liberal writer is important, but not inside Lean society. Everybody who isn¡¯t a soldier or a scientist isn¡¯t useful, in fact if you are not in one of those groups you can¡¯t vote. Lis''s pama Liwa, was basically the same, a useless bartender. However Liwa ideas were more tolerable so their bond wasn¡¯t so bad. Kalina was the real problem, a total progressive idiot that couldn¡¯t understand the foundation of Lean society and biology. Scilla hatred toward her mum was more then understandable. During the war, Kalina basically lost her job, nobody cared about bar stories written on paper. Liwa was having a hard time due to customers shortage and her little sister Wiola was still studying to become a doctor. Scilla was basically the only income of the family and she did her best. She provided them with everything, she risked her life every day fighting and then when she turned home she was backstabbed. Kalina wasn¡¯t happy about the extermination war in the first place, she believed that reason could be used against enslaver, when Leans started to use biological weapons she freaked out. Then at the end of the war, when her daughter was elected as ittra due to her massive help in acquiring the biological weapon that exterminate an entire species, she lost her shit for good. To this day Scilla hates her mum but she doesn¡¯t kick her out because at least her has to be a real Lean, not a slacker. Kalina on the other hand was an incorrigible idiot that live in her own world of fantasies, so she keeps on trying to ¡°convert¡± Lis, to bring her back. Lis decided to go back, to explain to her mum how things are going to be. She didn¡¯t care about what she thought of it. Sincerely speaking Idra¡¯s collaboration was way above her mum feelings. The value that Idra is already providing is way more that all her mum had done until now. When she will meet with the Liin their collaboration will become public and this will shake both internal and external politics. Now Lis was in front of her mother''s room door. ¡°mum open the fucking door or I will use my authority to bust in¡± Kalina, reluctantly opened the door. ¡°what you want, come back to hurt me again?¡± ¡°come back to tell you to shut the fuck up for the entire week. I don¡¯t fucking care about you. Idra will stay here, so don¡¯t try to pull some shit of yours. If you damage our contract you will be incriminated for you action ¡®against all Leans¡¯ and you know what that means¡± ¡°how can you do this to your own mother? I brought you into this world I...¡± Lis replay was full of anger and scorn. ¡°shut up! you stopped being my mother when you backstabbed me. When you tried to separate my sister from me. When you tried to take away all I had worker for. Be aware that nobody will come looking for you if you die in a so called accident¡±. Then before Kalina could speak back, Lis pushed her with force in the room making her fall on the ground. ¡°maybe you should stay confined for a bit, to cool down¡± then she closed the door and blocked it. It was her house so she had absolute control over it. Kalina started banging on the door screaming to be freed but Lis didn¡¯t care. When her pama returns she will free her wife otherwise she will stay in there. Meanwhile Idra was having a moment for herself. She had a not so strange tradition, breath on every planet that she set foot on. This tradition applied only if no environmental hazards were found. Icar 3¡ã was a safe a to breath in planet so she was making her preparations to inhale the air without exposing her figure. She let air flow in the room and then she force closed the door. All windows closed and all the room scanned looking for possible unwanted observers. Then she removed her helmet. A black goo like substance retracted inside the hexagonal pattern of the suit letting the helmet detach. The mirror on the wardrobe was reflecting her figure. An almost perfectly symmetrical creature. Long light brown hair with a bit of red glares almost like thin copper threads were curled up on her head. Long hair in space are a mess and there is only a way to keep them, sticking them to your own head with some hair clips or similar object. From the side of her head some long pointy ears popped out of the mass of hair. Those elf ears were all but human like. The could even rotate to hear better like a dog or a cat can do. Her skin slightly tanned combine perfectly with the hair. Her eyes of a bright yellow that seems to reflect the light and beneath them a graceful nose with a bit of freckles. She then opened her mouth to inhale all she could. Hers canines stood out like wildfire in a forest. All her teeth were more pointy but those looked more like fangs from a viper, in fact you could say that they were indeed venomous to some extend. It was a sublime sight. So beautiful to enchant you forever and block you from thinking of anyone else, but at the same time, her frightening smile, her sharp look of constant disgust was dreadful. If her beauty enchant you then her creepy smile will hunt you in your dreams until death. She was by no mean human any-more. --movement detected-- --Scilla Lis is coming upstairs-- --suggestion: put on armour to avoid discovering-- chapter 11c: instants Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 11c: instants Lis was finally back on her floor. She was heading toward her room when she thought about Idra. She was a trouble maker so it was better to take a quick peek and see what she was doing. She didn¡¯t knock on the door. She wasn¡¯t really used to do so. It was her house so she could go where ever she wanted and when ever she wanted. ¡°Idra, I¡¯m coming in¡± entering the room she saw something out of the ordinary but expected. ¡°what are you doing inside the pillow case?¡± ¡°I was testing if I could fit in it¡± ¡°it seem that you can¡¯t.¡± ¡°give me a second, I can get in, I know I can, just push in the legs, I...coil¡­ up a bit, and voil¨¤ I¡¯m in¡± Idra was able to fit in the case, she entered head first so in her mind she was going to be able to walk around. In reality once coiled up her butt was still outside with her feet and there was no room for movement. Lis was a respectable woman but she couldn''t stop herself glaring at Idra¡¯s perfectly shaped butt. If I stare for too long she would get suspicious, maybe I should pass it off as a friendly tease. Then she moved in and slapped her butt. ¡°this is showing. Told you, too fat to fit in¡± ¡°I¡¯m not fat!, I¡¯m actually underweight. It¡¯s the armour that makes me bigger¡± ¡°yes, yes the armour, that¡¯s what everybody says all the times¡± ¡°shut up. You can¡¯t even fit in that thick head of yours¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to stick my head in a pillow case. By the way I was going in my room. I will come back to you in like 4 hours so we can eat together¡± ¡°ok. However do you mind if a call here a drone to get my copy of the book? I¡¯m asking you first so you can tell the HQ that it¡¯s all ok and they don¡¯t freak out¡± ¡°ok, give me a minute¡± Then Lis exited the room and started a call with Dhalia to inform her. Idra was peeking at her all the time from her door waiting for an answer. After some minutes. ¡°All good, call it¡± --remote call submitted-- --ship commands granted-- --Interference system activated-- --releasing scout drones-- --interrupting interference emission-- The ship at the HQ, that was invisible again, emitted a series of loud bangs and ejected some spherical object in the sky. The Leans were ready to track them however all their system started going nuts due to the interference resulting in no tracking at all. Neither to say Dhalia wasn¡¯t really pleased to have unknown object flying around her domains. But such is life, can always have what you want especially with an unpredictable Esterian. A small drone that looked like a ball full of cameras attached to some strange thrusters arrive at Lis¡¯s house. Then the drone landed and the ball opened revealing the book. It was a white hard covered book. The cover looked like some sort of extremely white skin, almost human like stitched on the cover. I definitely was really stranger compared to the one that Lis had. Yes, hers was pitch black but not made out of human skin. Then Idra hand it out to Lis. ¡°read it. Then we will try some experiment and see what happens.¡± ¡°ok, see you later¡± ¡°why? I¡¯m coming with you¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to read in it my room, I would like my privacy¡± ¡°I won¡¯t disturb you. I will just look around¡± ¡°how about no?¡± ¡°I will let you on my ship before we leave this planet, but you had to keep it a secret from everybody else even your chief¡± fuck, that¡¯s an offer I can¡¯t refuse. Even if I can¡¯t tell anybody I just can¡¯t resist. Her voice tells me she is not joking but at the same time it tells me that if a say even a word about that I will see then I won¡¯t see any longer. nobody has ever seen the inside of an Esterian ship, nobody was ever offered a tour on one. She knew that revealing even a single bit of that information means death, probably a brutal and painful one, but she didn¡¯t care. She was a spaceship maniac, her passion for spacecraft was to big to not exchange her privacy for the unknown hyper technological ship. ¡°ok, I¡¯m in. but you have to swear too that you won¡¯t take those words back¡± ¡°if you want I can bring Natrix here so you could look inside it, but I suppose he will damage your roof garden¡± Lis was a bit sad because she didn¡¯t wanted her garden destroyed but was also impatient and wanted to see the ship. ¡°yeah, you are right. By the way why did you call you ship with different pronouns? Some times he, other it and also some time you use she?¡± ¡°oh, it¡¯s relate to my language. Esterians speaks using the Estir language that define every noun as male or female. So base on the noun I use female or male pronouns, but then sometimes I remember that you also have a neutral in the unified language so I use it. For example if I say my ship it is a female but if I use the full name Natrix screaming demon, screaming demon is male so I get confused trying to translate.¡± Lis was a bit anxious to let Idra in her room for a pair of reasons. At first she didn¡¯t want her to find out about her massive collection of spacecraft scale models, and the other was a bit more personal. Leans that can vote in both the federation assembly or the planet assembly act like they are superiors being of moral and mind, but its not really true. Almost all of them go around criticizing the non voters way of living. A more animal style of living free from all morality and responsibilities. One of those responsibilities was reproduction. For a voter the concept of pre-marriage intercourse or excessive intimacy was a sin, however even the perfect voters couldn¡¯t escape the grasp of self-pleasure. Most voters go around stigmatizing such beastly way of living but then they needed and wanted porn made by such low life to satisfy themselves. Lis was no exception. She abhorred such live, especially the non virgin at marriage part, however she was all but a saint. She used to masturbated daily and she also had a kink for asses, hers included, until she had to share her room with Idra. She had other plan to accomplish alone in those 4 hours. Those 20 days were even harder for her due to Idra¡¯s presence. Her eye-catching ass was always in her view and that damn piece of cloth that was meant to conceal Idra¡¯s suit ass line was only making Lis more excited. Lis was not really sure to be able to suppress her urges any longer, especially with such a friendlier and oblivious Idra around. Please, find something else to do. I don¡¯t want your company constantly. But hers priority were going to change drastically. Lis opened her door. Her room was massive and full of object. Shelves over shelves to display her massive collection of scale models that usually are enough to made all non space enthusiast run away. But Idra stayed. ¡°so this is my room, you have seen it so now you can go¡± ¡°is that an LF Cielra from the Csuicha¡¯s fleet during the war?¡± Lis was astonished, it was a rare model manually printed with only 128 copies. Hers was the number 11. Knowledge of such ship is extremely rare and exciting. They soon started talking about spaceships moving from a model to the other. Idra was somehow knowledges in that field but she didn¡¯t know a lot of details that Lis knew. In instants Lis sexual frustration was washed away by pure passion and happiness. Idra was not an expert but she was really smart, she was able to follow all her conversation, reply to it and even start discussing of possible problem and solution of different ships architectures. They were both having fun just by talking to each other and sharing their own view. Lis hadn¡¯t be that happy since the day she became an Ittira. Then the fun ended. Lis¡¯ alarm sounded, it was time to eat. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. She is amazing! I fucking love her!. Will she accept if I ask her to help me cook something instead of buying some? Only a way to find out¡­ ¡°Idra, it¡¯s time to eat, initially I wanted to order some food, but now I want to cook. Would you like to help me?¡± ¡°yes, I will be more than happy to give you a hand but I never cooked in my life. Can I still help?¡± ¡°of course you can¡± Let¡¯s go!! She is happy with me. This is a win. Speaking about spaceship was funny, I learned a lot. Hopefully we will have more of this conversations. I like them. Something clicked in Lis¡¯s head. Idra was already seeing Lis as a friend but only now Lis realised that Idra is not so different from her, she had passions too, she was not a machine, she just behave as one. In lis''s mind Idra was finally a friend but there was also something else. The 4 non stop hours of conversations started to generate a new view of Idra, not as a friend any-more. Idra was extremely smart, a fast learner, a bright and happy creature if she wanted and she was also human. A human from the most powerful domain known. A human capable to give her a family. Idra was also coming from some high rank or at least a good position because apparently she was totally free to do what she wanted. Her brain was telling her that Idra could be a partner, an opportunity that shouldn¡¯t be missed. But it was too soon, hey had to speak a bit more and then maybe they could start something, if Idra wanted obviously. Idra was following Lis like a puppy, she was really happy. Her plan for getting closer to Scilla was working and she knew it. It was only a question of time before she would be able to take her away only for herself. However as her friendship was deepening, something else was starting to form inside Idra¡¯s mind. It was the same feeling that was forming inside Lis. An urge to want more than friendship, that was new and unexpected. For Idra this feeling was totally unknown. In her entire life only 11 people, 12 with Scilla, ever spoke with her without being scared. Lis was the first one not be afraid of her that she met once leaving her home 8 years ago. It was the only one that reminder her of her sisters, the only one she could joke with, be angry with, be alive and not a machine. This feeling of intellectual freedom and physical support was unknown to her but also addicting. This feeling that was growing stronger was the reason for the low Esterian population. They all wanted it. They all wanted a partner to be real, to be a monster with for all their life. This lent to an initial drastic population decline. However the result was a society base on extremely productive, smart, sympathetic and profound people that are hard to come by in normal circumstances. People who doesn¡¯t surrender, people who work hard for their objective and people who can support each other. This was the foundation of the Esterian domain and the base of the Founder teachings. Idra was too young and out of touch to recognize such feeling immediately but she was going to do so with the needed time. ¡°so, what are we cooking?¡± ¡°you? Nothing¡± ¡°what, but you said I could help¡± ¡°help indeed. You will peel some vegetables¡± ¡°but I can do more¡± ¡°like what? Do you know how to use a knife¡± ¡°yes I do¡± ¡°then show me¡± Lis then putted a cutting board on the kitchen table in front of Idra. Then she putted a knife and a Bulbuna on the board. Bulbuna are shaped like a dodecahedron encased in a bigger one but with empty sides. Only the inside light orange part is edible while the external structure is basically soft wood, like a tomato branch. ¡°go on, cut it into pieces¡± ¡°this is child play, I have cut more complex object¡± ¡°sure, less talk more cutting¡± Idra was lying, she never used a knife for cutting things. She had absolutely 0 manual skill. But she wanted to appear more prepared. So she goes, a full force cut in the middle that smashed the vegetable in half making a mess all over the counter. ¡°I know how to use I knife she said, I cut way more complex things she said¡± ¡°such up! It was my first time. I never used I knife¡± ¡°how is that possible? A grown ass adult that had never used a knife? How the fuck do you know how to shoot so well but not how to use I knife?¡± ¡°nobody taught me! I had nobody around. I learned how to shoot because I had to hunt in order to survive. Beast on Weeping sky are no fluffy rolling balls, they are fucking huge with eyes everywhere, hooked tentacles and some even shoot tungsten spikes out of their body. You have to fucking learn to shoot right and fast to compete¡± ¡°couldn''t your family teach you even if you were an experiment?¡± ¡°no they couldn¡¯t!. I have no dad!, my mum can¡¯t move! and my sisters are all dead!. Who the fuck could have taught me!? My imaginary friend!?¡± ¡°sorry I didn¡¯t meant to bring up you family. You told me it was a sensible argument¡± ¡°nah it¡¯s fine. I wanted to talk about them. One of those day a can tell you more If you want, but you will have to spend time with me¡± ¡°I would love to know more about them¡± then their conversation started drifting from topic to topic, it was a normal conversation you would expect to hear between long time friends. It was natural with no ulterior motives. They kept on preparing stuff for dinner until something alerted Idra. --unknown entities detected-- --suggestion: take defensive position-- The suit detected 2 organic being on the other side of the main door. Idra had no normal family so she thought that Lis lived only with her mum, after all she never spoke about her pama and never specified that her sister was alive. With a twitch she pulled her SMG from the side and pointed it at the still closed door. ¡°there are enemy behind the door, can I engage?¡± Lis jumped in grabbing the SMG and trying to pull it down. ¡°STOP! They are my family¡± As she said so the door opened and 2 Leans entered the apartment. Both shouted. ¡°I¡¯m home!¡± Lis reaction was just in time to avoid a catastrophe. Idra pulled down the gun just in time, a second later and she would have shot. ¡°fucking hell!¡± screamed the oldest of the 2 Leans. ¡°what is happening Scilla!¡± then she ran toward the two believing that the black figure was an intruder. ¡°STOP! Its ok pama. She is a guest. She didn¡¯t know you were coming and tried to protect me¡± ¡°I.. I.. understand. At least¡­ she seems¡­ a good girl¡­ sorry I can¡¯t¡± then she ran away. She was unable to keep eye-to-helmet contact with Idra. Too scared of the Esterian. The other figure on the other hand was intimidated but not too much. ¡°hi¡­ I¡¯m Wiola, Scilla¡¯s little sister¡± then Idra twitched toward Scilla ¡°Your sister is alive, why didn¡¯t you told me so. I could have, i don¡¯t know... prepare a gift for her or something¡± ¡°I forgot, can¡¯t I forget to tell you something?¡± Wiola was a smart and funny kid, this was the perfect moment to make a joke. Maybe this way all the tension would ease away. She was intimidated by Idra but she thought that maybe she could be like Scilla and have no fear too, maybe she just needed to know her better. So in a sobbing voice she said ¡°how can you forget about me?? I thought you love your little sister? Was it all a fake, didn¡¯t you like being my sister?¡± ¡°what?! No, Wiola I just had a lot of things in mind..¡± ¡°so I was not in your mind at all?¡± ¡°stop it! Don''t embarrass me in front of¡­¡± Then Idra genuine laugh attract all the attention. She was almost rolling on the floor. ¡°you are a fucking comic duo, I like your sis Scilla. Scilla¡¯s sis Wiola right? I¡¯m Idra¡± ¡°it¡¯s a pleasure to meet an Esterian and to have you..¡± ¡°don¡¯t be formal with me. I¡¯m not one of those stiff ass ambassadors. Me and your big sis have started a working collaboration because we are friend¡± ¡°friend? Not for long I suppose. Did she show you her nerdy spaceship models collection?¡± ¡°yes why?¡± ¡°you didn¡¯t run away, really?¡± then Wiola looked that Scilla. ¡°sis, she is a keeper. If she didn¡¯t run when she saw you collection I don¡¯t know that could scare her¡± ¡°I just told you not to say anything unnecessary¡± the Idra popped in ¡°what is a keeper?¡± ¡°see you are teaching her bad words¡± ¡°is it bad thou?¡± ¡°Scilla when will you tell me what a keeper is?¡± ¡°Idra this is not the moment, I have to scold this little trouble maker¡± ¡°I will tell you instead¡­¡± ¡°don¡¯t you dare¡± Scilla started to run toward Wiola that as predicted decide to run away while finishing her explanation. ¡°its someone to marry!¡± and then she ran away with all her might. Her running was cut short, Scilla was way more physically trained and she was caught just 10 meters after. This is going to be a long week. chapter 12c: prophecy Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 12c: prophecy It has been a long day so after dinner Scilla decide to go to bed and relax a bit before sleeping. Idra followed her, but when she reached her room she stopped and said good night to Scilla. ¡°I thought you were coming to my room?¡± ¡°not really. I will be going. I have a lot to process from today and I prefer to be alone while processing data¡± ¡°sure, then good night Idra¡± ¡°good night Scilla¡± It was strange. Did something happened? She is always glued to my butt but now she wants to be alone. Did I do something wrong? Was she just faking being happy but in reality my hobby scared her? Maybe meeting my sister was the problem. I don¡¯t know¡­ Scilla was still standing in front of Idra¡¯s door. She was having a hard time thinking about all possible things that may have been a problem for Idra then Idra popped out of her room. ¡°I know what you are thinking. There were no problems. I really just need some time to think, to process the contract and my new course of action from now on. I was happy today, never been this happy in years. I like your collection of scale models, not a massive fan of spaceships, I prefer weapons, but I like them, I hope you will teach me more about them. Night Scilla¡± then Idra closed the door again. How the fuck did she know¡­ well fuck it, don¡¯t even bother to try any more. Scilla lied down on her bed. The white covered book in hands and a cup of a relaxing infusion on her bedside table. It was time to read a bit of that damn book to see how different it was. She started reading. The book, as predicted, was written in Leanir. It was adapting to be read without losing information. Page after page the book started to reveal its secrets. It was the same story as Idra said, but this one had a different point of view. In contrast to ¡®screaming whispers¡¯, ¡®silent whispers¡¯ at first sight is less grotesque but it was only hide away using euphemism. Underneath it was way worse. Extreme cruelty, torture and pain. Scilla felt uncomfortable just by imaging who could have written such things but then it got worst. In this book there are some original extras and those were really problematic. In this book Iris tortured a pair of noblemen. Torture was not new, the problem was how it was executed. It was the same as Idra¡¯s interrogation of the traitors. The same way of moving, the same focus on cutting the cheeks and then burning the fresh cut to stop the bleeding. What the fuck. Did she know, is she imitating the book or is this wicked thing foreseeing the future. It is the same way of torture, are more of those even going to happen? But how. She kept on reading the book all night long. Only 2 other part caught hers attention, they were never depicted in ¡®screaming whispers¡¯. Those two scenes were incredibly detailed. The first one was a noble dance party. Iris arrived late and explained some work she had done. She then brought in the heads of hundreds of men and women that were preparing a revolt. All brutally killed, while she was explaining why she killed them she was happy and dancing around. If this is true I have to keep Idra away from any dance event, but I don¡¯t think I will have to do anything. Leans don¡¯t really make balls to celebrate things and I won¡¯t be bringing her for obvious reasons anyway. I don¡¯t think she would even go to one if she could, never heard of a dancing Esterinan. So maybe it was just a fluke or Idra was pranking me and imitated the book. The last one scene was a bit different. In both books before hearing the whispers Iris had to go through some shit. In ¡®silent whispers¡¯ Iris is impaled by a pike but the wound doesn¡¯t kill her thanks to her powers. After her recovery she started to hear the whispers. I don¡¯t want to find out about this one. I don¡¯t think you can penetrate Idra¡¯s armour with a pike. But this 2 scenes plus the torture one are the only event that are different and big enough to be considered important or relevant. Are all of those things going to happen? If so how can I stop them and are the whispers even real. Are Idra and Iris the same? In those books Iris is way different from Idra. She isn¡¯t stubborn nor extremely loyal as Idra. Iris doesn¡¯t keep her promises it¡¯s quite the opposite she keeps lying to everyone and she had never had an ally beside her. The wise dude always disappear and he is there to guide her not to be beside her like I am. I suppose its all a coincidence. Nothing make sense and considering that Idra had read ¡®silent whispers¡¯ as well she could easily mimic its events. However Scilla didn¡¯t know that those books were now a prophecy, written in ancient time and damage by it. Their content was almost unreadable making it look like a fantasy story rather then a series of instructions, they were a warning and a solution. The white one state how the problem manifest, the black one was supposed to explain how to stop the problem. They were created to stop the return of the Whispers, a power older than all known lifeform and banished long before humans were even a thing. Entire species had gone extinct trying to stop the Whispers¡¯ users. Creature driven by madness and pain, blinded by their suffering they destroyed even their own kind. Pure luck saved the universe from them, an artefact left by unknown was discovered. That strange object sealed the Whispers away in the depth of the Unipsi or so they thought. All old species agreed that such destructive power should never be free again. They had no idea where it came from nor they discovered how it worked. To such advanced creature the Whispers were still magic. The Whispers were a hideous weapon that must be forgotten. All their traces were sealed inside billions of machines. They had only one order, prevent the Whispers to come back. Scattered everywhere in the space they should work forever and track possible users but it didn¡¯t go well. In them they should had enough knowledge to help the new species identify a Whispers¡¯ holder. All electronics bow before the Whispers¡¯ holder, all creature instinctively fear them and when they use their power you could hear the Whispers all around them. However time had damaged the two books that now were unable to tell their knowledge as they should. They became just a cryptic tale but they knew, they had to stop the Whispers at all cost. So far they were able to reach the same person, Scilla. They just need her to kill Idra before it is too late. Scilla¡¯s night was not pleasant. Nightmare after nightmare kept her agitated an anxious. She kept on thinking about the book, and why are the Whispers seen as a strange power when they basically do nothing in both books. Something wasn¡¯t right, she knew it. The best way to find out was leaving both books to Idra and see if her smart brain is able to get some information. The next morning she was up early, a thunderstorm was approaching, she moved to Idra¡¯s room to wake her up but to her surprise the room was empty. What the fuck? Where is she? She checked all corner, all the closets, everything but there were no traces except the not made bed. She started looking in all rooms, one after the other and then she saw her. Outside in the rain, looking up in the sky. Thunders echoed through the city and lighting sparked in the sky. ¡°IDRA! The fuck are you doing!?¡± Idra turned around to reply, she looked different. She looked lost as if she was absorbed in her own thoughts. ¡°I¡¯m waiting¡± a thunderbolt struck the lightning rod, a flash of blinding light followed by deafening thunders. ¡°GET IN IDIOT!¡± A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°I¡¯m fine, I¡¯m recharging¡± as Idra said so she tossed and object in the sky, it flew higher then the lightning rod. then tens of lightning struck the object. It shined like a sun during a hot summer day. A small cable connecting it to Idra¡¯s armour started to glow as well. Idra was motionless for a bit, then she retrieve the flying object and walked toward Scilla as if nothing happened. ¡°are you ok? Nothing burned right?¡± ¡°why should I be burned? I just recharged the suit.¡± ¡°you recharge consuming lightnings? Is it safe?¡± ¡°safe? Sort of. Not my favourite way to charge the suit but it is ok. I won¡¯t kill me don¡¯t worry¡± ¡°fucking hell if I worry. Next time tell me and I bringing you to the HQ for rechange¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t want to wake you up, you looked tired, that is also a reason why I let you slept alone¡± ¡°you can be considerate about not waking me up, but can understand that you will worry me to death if you jump in a thunderstorm?¡± Idra¡¯s voice and posture became timid, she looked as a child that is being lectured after doing some stupid shit. ¡°I.. I didn¡¯t think it was a big deal. I used lightning recharge multiple times so I¡­¡± ¡°you thought wrong, keep it in mind from now on to not do or at least ask before doing something that can put you in danger¡± ¡°ok, but lightning charge didn¡¯t put me¡­ ¡°no buts little girl!, one more and I will punish you¡± Scilla was going in sister full protection mode while Idra was incapable to understand what was happening. Never been punished in her life, sort of. She always followed her orders and never put herself in danger so she wasn¡¯t really getting what was happening. ¡°what you mean by punish?¡± ¡°I mean things like no snack for the day, no video games or going out. Things like that¡± ¡°video games? What is a video game?¡± ¡°are you telling me you never played one?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, I don¡¯t know what they are how can I know if a have played one¡± ¡°I will have to teach you a lot of things. But before that lets have some breakfast¡± The rest of the day passed without mayor problems. Scilla parents avoided even showing up thanks to Idra¡¯s terrifying presence while Wiola became more and more curious about her. They spoke for a couple of hours then Scilla and Wiola prepared lunch for the three of them. ¡°so big sis, what do you thing of Idra?¡± ¡°what do you mean Wiola?¡± ¡°I mean, she is really smart, and she is different.¡± ¡°define that different, I don¡¯t want to create any misunderstanding between us¡± ¡°she asked about my job, what I studied and so on. She was really paying attention then she started asking questions. I spoke about the genetic research that I¡¯m doing and she was keeping up. At some point I was already speaking in details as if she was one of my co-researcher. Genetic expression regulation, environmental hazard and mutations probability. She understood all and then reply with really interesting opinions that could even work. Never thought you will bring home a geneticist. If you could let her work with me it would be amazing. Maybe with her help we could find a way to make more males.¡± ¡°she signed a contract, after that I don¡¯t know what she will do. However I have to say, she is no geneticist. She never studied¡± ¡°what you mean she never studied?¡± ¡°I mean that she never been in school nor homeschooled. She learned how to use a pen while coming here¡± Wiola face changed from a happy face to a concerned one, she was staring to feel scared. Idra demonstrated knowledge that goes beyond most researcher yet she never had gone to school. How could she know so much, how could she reply with possible solutions and why didn¡¯t she ask about the F3S virus like everybody does? Does she know something that they don¡¯t? ¡°don¡¯t worry Wiola, she isn¡¯t evil, for now¡± ¡°her alignment is not the problem. How can she know so much if she wasn¡¯t schooled?¡± ¡°I suppose it¡¯s the AI in the suit.¡± ¡°have you ever spoke to it? Do you really believe that she has all that information on her or her ship and just ask the AI? She is too far to connect to her information network so she must have a copy or something else.¡± Wiola is being paranoid as always. If you are connected to a machine you should know a bit of everything and considering her species being the most advanced¡­. Wait a minute. If she know everything why even bothering asking and speaking, and why does she ask for the meaning of words. Now that I recall it, she knew nothing about the spacecraft that she spoke about. She can¡¯t just understanding the things as we speak and making hypothesis right. I must ask her. ¡°I will ask her this evening. We have some work to do so I will take the opportunity to find out.¡± The day had come to an end and now Scilla was taking Idra to her room. Time to look into that books and asking about her knowledge. Once inside Scilla pulled out both books and then started speaking. ¡°so I read it last night. I have to say, this book is mess up. You didn¡¯t tell me about the 3 extra scenes but I...¡± ¡°wait what extra scenes?¡± ¡°the torture one, the ball one and the impale one?¡± ¡°I never read of such scenes. So not only the language is able to change but also the information¡± Scilla was petrified by Idra¡¯s word. If she didn¡¯t read it, then how could she mimic it? ¡°wait wait wait! If¡­ if.. you didn¡¯t read it then how is it possible that you have done the same things¡± ¡°what do you mean? Explain it a bit I¡¯m not following. Is the book predicting some of my actions?¡± ¡°yes, sort of. There is a torture scene where Iris torture 2 noblemen and it was the same as the one you did on the traitors, you behaved in a really similar way. I thought you were mimicking this thing trying to scare me doing a really fuck up joke.¡± ¡°I¡­ I never did such thing. So the book is foreseeing the future, my future. Or at least its what you believe right?¡± ¡°well yeah, it was basically the same, just swap with a sci-fi look of things.¡± ¡°give me the books¡± Scilla was going to do such, but before she could pass the books they emitted a flash of purplish light and dropped on the ground. Scilla was taken aback but Idra was in combat mode. SMG in hands pointing at the books. The books opened on their own, immediately Idra shot a series of burst but none reached the books. A purple and glue almost gas like entity surrounded the books dissolving incoming bullets. Then they spoke. A creepy broken voice like an old man that was dying. ¡°Don¡¯t¡­ Scilla¡­ Kill the lying monster. Kill her... save all, can¡¯t¡­ touch¡­ you beast¡± ¡°SHUT UP!¡± shouted Idra. ¡°it is lying to you. Destroy it Scilla before it does something we can¡¯t know!¡± ¡°Iris¡­. You wicked¡­. Being. We won¡¯t¡­ you destroy¡­ the world.¡± Scilla was still shocked and processing what was happening. Both entity were shouting at her. The only one that could do something. ¡°Who the fuck are you calling Iris!? I¡¯m Idra.¡± ¡°monster¡­ as all Fermi¡­.you Iris Fermi¡­. Are no exception¡­ you want to rule¡­ alone¡­. With force¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care about ruling. Scilla destroy it!¡± Then Scilla snapped out of her confusion and start speaking, against Idra. The name Fermi was enough to convince her not to kill Idra, but to question her. ¡°what do they mean by Iris Fermi. Is that your name. Have you lied to me¡± ¡°yes¡­ she lied¡­ she¡­ evil¡­ ¡° ¡°shut the fuck up book!. I¡¯m not speaking to you. Did you lie to me¡± Fuck fuck fuck!. Fucking books. What the hell do they want. Why are they getting in my way. If i tell her will she takes the books side?. I can kill them but what then? ¡°I didn¡¯t lie! I never told you all the story¡± ¡°then what is the story. Tell me.!¡± Scilla was angry really angry, but even so she didn¡¯t want to side with the books. She was sure that there was a good reason. After all Fermi was the surname of the Esterian¡¯s Founder. ¡°I¡¯m technically the Founder granddaughter. More like a clone to be correct. It¡¯s a long story but in short I didn¡¯t want to scare you. With such name there are a lot of problems that follows so I¡­¡± chapter 13c: trust Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 13c: trust ¡°I¡¯m technically the Founder granddaughter. More like a clone to be correct. It¡¯s a long story but in short I didn¡¯t want to scare you. With such name there are a lot of problems that follows so I¡­¡± ¡°what problems!? Why didn¡¯t you tell me!¡± ¡°how could I! Now destroys the books!¡± ¡°don¡¯t¡­ let her¡­ she won¡¯t¡­ tell you¡­ you...are...replaceable¡± ¡°you told me nothing!, you keep on lying to me¡± ¡°wake the FUCK! Up Scilla! You can¡¯t trust those books. We thought they could control minds. YOU! Have to break free!¡± ¡°I¡¯m not controlled for fuck sake! But they have a point. If a stop them you won¡¯t tell me anything! You always trick me!¡± ¡°You are giving me no choice Scilla. Why can¡¯t you be like everybody else. Don¡¯t ask questions and wait. Have I ever betrayed you?¡± ¡°no you haven¡¯t! But that is not the fucking point¡­¡± Idra needed a solution. If the books stay in then Scilla could reach the truth, if they are gone from the equation she could have some margin to work with. So Idra dropped her SMG to pull out the pistol on her side. As the pistol was leaving the holster it opened. The frontal part divided in 4 revealing an almost empty space with just a small bluish cylinder in the middle. The bluish rod started emitting some strange glowing particles. Those particles were shaped like cubes and disappeared after toughing the ground. Holy fuck and energy weapon! Scilla dodged jumping on the ground trying to go the farther she could. Then the high pitch sound and the room filling with blue light. She had no time to stood up that Idra was on her back pressing the gun to her head. She could see the particles dropping down but not the weapons pressed on the back of her skull. She heard the helmet opening. The books were silent. Idra¡¯s voice was furious. ¡°look! This is you fault! We could have lived peacefully but no. You had to know. You had to ask questions. Why can¡¯t you trust me for who I am?¡± ¡°Idra we can talk about this¡­¡± Idra then punched Scilla¡¯s head a bit. Her voice now sound like a maniac. ¡°but we are talking about it aren¡¯t we?¡± Scilla tried to speak but her action was meat with another light punches. ¡°it was a rhetoric question. Now tell me what did you achieve knowing my name?¡± ¡°I fuck up Idra...¡± yet another punch ¡°I know you fuck up sweetie but that was not my question. What did I ask you?¡± ¡°Idra I know you are angry but...¡± another punch, this time there is also a quick sting. Idra injected Scilla with something to make her lose consciousness and it worked really fast. After some time Scilla woke up and she soon realised that she was in Idra¡¯s rooms tied to the bed with some improvised ropes. Her arms tied together and behind her back. Legs tied up as well. She was able to see that she was no longer wearing socks and her feet were exposed. Then under her armpit more rope to keep her fixed in position and even more locked her to the bed. There was no way out. The ropes were weak but they were far too many to break free with only her strength. ¡°wakey wakey sweetie, did you sleep well while I tied you like a pig ready to be roasted?¡± Idra was at the end of the bed looking down on Scilla. Her smile was terrifying. The machines on her left glove were ready to do some torturing. ¡°Idra, please we can talk about this, you don¡¯t have to¡­¡± Idra jumped on her and slapped her face. ¡°wrong, I have to. I will make you feel the same, you will feel what it means to never be trusted¡± ¡°but I trust you I¡­¡± another slap. ¡°if you have trusted me we won¡¯t be in this situation. But fear not I have found a way to use even this moment¡± Then she touched near her right elbow, from her forearm onward the suit detached revealing her hand. Smooth skin, slander body hair and no visible imperfection. Her nails were short and on the middle finger a flat dark blue ring with a small green gem in the middle. ¡°In order to keep you alive I will slap you every time you lie to me and I know it will be a lot. You should be honoured to be touched by my bare hand. Now why did you hesitated with the books?¡± ¡°Idra I didn¡¯t hesitate, I was¡± --lie detected-- 1¡ãslap. ¡°try again, why did you hesitated?¡± ¡°Idra please, this is not necessary I was¡­¡± 2¡ãslap. ¡°try again before I carve your eyes out. This time tell me the truth¡± ¡°I freaked out. You are unpredictable and I wanted easy answers¡± ¡°see, this time no slap. Good girl. Now do you remember that we thought that the books may be artefacts capable of mind reading?¡± ¡°yes I remember¡± ¡°then why did you trusted and object that could have been made to kill you?¡± ¡°I thought it may have a point you know I¡± --lie detected-- 3¡ãslap. ¡°tell me the truth. I know you are lying. Again.¡± ¡°I never believed them I just wanted to use them¡± saying so Scilla prepared to receive a new slap but nothing. Idra¡¯s slap were not that painful. Her skin was soft and she wasn¡¯t protected by her suit so she couldn¡¯t go full power. She was damaging herself too but by looking at how fast Idra¡¯s hand returned from red to white it was clear that she took something to self-heal. ¡°then why did you want to use them¡± ¡°to discover more about you kind¡± --lie detected-- 4¡ãslap. Scilla¡¯s face was starting to become even more red that usual and the metal ring plus idra¡¯s nails were leaving a lot of scratches. ¡°nope, wrong answer. What are you trying to hide?¡± ¡°I wanted to have more knowledge about your weapons so I was¡­¡± --lie detected-- 5¡ãslap. ¡°you give me no choice. You keep on lying so I will beat you a bit¡± then Idra started slapping Scilla¡¯s face without stopping. By looking at the perfect state of Idra¡¯s hand Scilla hypnotized that she took an omni-cure before starting. She knew that she would have to use some force to make Scilla speak. The slapping was going on non stop and Scilla was finally starting to feel pain. Her face was full of cuts and bleeding. Idra was going easy on her on purpose, she didn¡¯t want to break her teeth or anything like that. She just wanted to make her feel some pain. Then after around 300 slaps she stopped. She extracted a small bottle from her suit¡¯s backpack. A transparent liquid was inside of it. She poured a bit on a piece of cloth and the press it on Scillas fresh cuts. An excruciating pain filled Scilla¡¯s body. It was definitely not alcohol to clean her wounds. It was so painful that she even shed a tear. In that moment Idra twitched forward, her helmet opened and she licked the tear. ¡°Can¡¯t waste such tasteful droplet. I can make you shed more if you don¡¯t stop lying. But maybe instead of you I could make your sister feel the same pain¡­¡± ¡°NO! LEAVE HER OUT OF THIS!¡± ¡°the moment your family is taken in the equation you are like everybody else. Protective and finally ready for answering. So as I said before, what did you wanted to use the book for?¡± Scilla was conflicted and in intense pain. She could no longer force herself to lie to keep her face, it was time to tell everything and let the shame come forward. But she had to, if not her sister would probably be tortured and killed. ¡°Fuck. I wanted to use them to learn more about you...¡± ¡°oh, things are getting spicy. Go on.¡± ¡°I never trusted them, how could I. But with you unable to touch them and conflicted I thought I could get some information. I learned your name after all, so I¡­¡± ¡°why did you want to learn more about me? Can¡¯t you be like all the others and don¡¯t ask shit?¡± there it was, the question she didn¡¯t wanted to answer. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°I..i.. need to know, for my curiosity and not only for that. Yesterday when we spoke in my room, I realised that maybe we¡­ we could have more¡­.¡± ¡°define that more, specify what that we means¡± ¡°I¡¯m saying that maybe¡­ maybe I don¡¯t see you only as a friend or I don¡¯t want to only be friend¡­¡± She interrupted but Idra didn¡¯t say anything. ¡°I.. I never felt so connected to somebody in all my life. So I became greedy overnight, I wanted to know more and more to see if I could have a chance¡­¡± Idra was staring at her, probably. Then as if she knew. ¡°there is more to it isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°I thought I could lose you. If you follow the books story then you would become crazy like the protagonist so I was scared and needed a way to stop it. I¡­ I already think of you as mine¡­ I know¡­ I¡¯m despicable. Considering so I was just afraid that you could follow the books story and leave me¡­¡± Scilla was sobbing, she confessed all. In her mind it was over, not only the possibility of having more but also their friendship and eventually even the contract. She fuck up completely, or so she thought. Idra moved from on top of her to her side where she laid down. ¡°how does it feel? Being forced to tell all your secrets, all your plans?¡± ¡°it suck.¡± ¡°I know, now you had a taste of your own medicine¡± ¡°so¡­ what is going to happen now?¡± ¡°about what? You being trapped, your face or your secret being exposed?¡± ¡°can¡¯t we forget about what I said?¡± ¡°nah, that is the fun part. You see we had the same secret or as I prefer to call it, the same objective. I don¡¯t need you ship, nor your crew. Objectively speaking working with you is only a pain in the ass. I did all of this just to gain your trust. Then after some time I was going to bring you to my planet and never let you escape. The moment you talked to me, the irreverence, the confidence and the bluntness that you had shown me made me wanted to seize you. I wanted to have you only for me, to keep having somebody to talk to¡­¡± ¡°you really did all of this just to have me?¡± ¡°yeah. I¡¯m the same girl that set a city on fire because she was seen. You are the 12th person, expect my family, that had talked to me without being afraid. You are also the only interesting one. I just thought that if we are together we could keep having fun forever.¡± ¡°oohh that sweet..¡± ¡°shut up! I can still gag you with one of your dirty socks¡± ¡°sorry, I didn¡¯t thought you wanted to say more.¡± ¡°I wanted to tell you the truth, that¡¯s all.¡± ¡°so what now? Are we dating? Do you have a new objective?¡± Idra stood up and as per usual she moved her arm to her backpack. The vial containing the omni-cure popped out and she putted one capsule inside Scilla¡¯s mouth. ¡°shallow it, it will fix your face.¡± ¡°bleah, it taste horrible what the fuck!¡± ¡°never said it was a good, it has to work nothing more. Now about that dating thing you need to give me some time¡± ¡°I¡¯m not following, didn¡¯t you said you wanted me. I love you Iris Fermi. Don¡¯t you love me back? Isn¡¯t wanting someone forever love?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. But the time I need is to research the meaning of the word. I don¡¯t know that it imply, after that I can give you and answer.¡± ¡°what you mean what it imply? Dating is dating what is so hard to understand?¡± ¡°the hard part is that I don¡¯t know what that means. What do you do when you are dating? What is a date? I don¡¯t know¡± ¡°how could you not. You always say really inappropriate stuff how could you not know?¡± ¡°I just know that they are insults, that all. All knowledge regarding sexual matters were forbidden. I just know that if I wanted to know more I should have asked my spouse about it. That¡¯s it. Don¡¯t know what a date is, don¡¯t know what a kiss is, don¡¯t know how kid are made, don¡¯t know how a dick is shaped, I was not even allowed to study how my own organs are. I just saw a picture of the internal structure and that¡¯s all.¡± ¡°what the fuck. How can you be so knowledge about spaceships and genetics but not reproduction and how the fuck were you suppose to find a spouse if you don¡¯t even know that a date is? Furthermore you always say torture related stuff how is it possible that you haven¡¯t seen a naked body while dismembering it?¡± ¡°I told you I couldn''t read such stuff. All the other knowledge I just read about it in books. I don¡¯t really know how I was suppose to get married without knowing how to reach marriage. For the torture part I like to rip their eyes out, cut their skin and wear it. I don¡¯t look at the rest of the body before I set it on fire.¡± ¡°you are a fucking weirdo, a really smart one, but still a weirdo¡± ¡°it¡¯s not like you are much different¡± ¡°touch¨¦. It¡¯s kinda strange but also comforting how fast we fight, how hard we fight but also how peace soon follow. Kinda like a married couple¡± ¡°maybe, I don¡¯t know how a married couple behave but I like our relationship. We have a beautiful harmony I suppose it¡¯s such harmony that keeps us close and comfortable. I guess we are elevating each other to another level of consciousness.¡± ¡°so are we dating sharp tongue smart ass?¡± ¡°I suppose so tits giant muscle brain¡± then they both laughed and Scilla noticed that her face was no longer in pain. ¡°your medicine worked. Can I ask you something Idra?¡± ¡°it depends, what is it?¡± ¡°the ring that you are wearing on your middle finger, what does it mean to you?¡± ¡°why did you suppose it has a meaning?¡± ¡°Because everything you do is calculated. You admitted it just before¡± ¡°you are right it¡¯s calculated. It was a gift, from my sister 484. she wanted to be a jeweller. She made it herself. She was my favourite sister and the one that lived the longer.¡± ¡°if I can, what happened to her and also to all your sisters?¡± ¡°they died. Most were already dead before I was born, I only met around 50 of them. Prototype don¡¯t really last long and my sister were the proof of such saying. No Idra has ever surpassed 25 years. They all started to decay really fast to the point where I was given a choice. Help them executing their will and putting them out of their misery or wait for their natural painful death. I have killed 28 of them with my hands.¡± Idra paused, she was thinking, probably nothing good so Scilla interrupted her monologue. ¡°you did the right thing. Nobody want to die in pain, al least they were able to die with a smile¡± a really sad voice replied. ¡°yeah¡­ at least there was no pain.¡± ¡°if all of you usually are dead before 25 years old, how come that you are 26?¡± ¡°it the reason I¡¯m a scavenger. An artefact was implanted in my body and works as a core for my own being. I¡¯m looking for a new one to use and make a new sister. Back home I have all the ingredients to make new sisters but what is the point in making them if they die at 25? so I¡¯m looking for the same solution that is keeping me alive¡± ¡°I will help you, the contract we could use it to¡­¡± ¡°The contract is there exactly for helping me. You will follow my lead anyway so I will guide us to possible location of a new artefact. We will found a lot of other alien tech so the contract won¡¯t be broken. We all gain from it¡± ¡°well in any case don¡¯t hold back just ask me if I can do something for you¡± ¡°will you stop being a dickhead and finally trust me?¡± ¡°well how could I not trust my new acquired girlfriend?¡± ¡°don¡¯t call me that in public, also don¡¯t ever call me Iris nor Fermi.¡± ¡°why? no wait don¡¯t tell me. I just said that I will trust you and so I will. If you want to tell me something fell free to do so but I will try to respect you decisions from now on.¡± ¡°thanks, that means a lot. I hope you will keep you words, also because I placed a bomb on your neck¡± ¡°WHAT!?¡± ¡°yep, you heard correctly. I placed a small bomb on you neck. It won¡¯t come off easily but don¡¯t try it. If you detach it you will die.¡± ¡°what the fuck, how can¡­¡± ¡°how can I what?¡± ¡°never mind looking at my previous action I can see why you did this¡± ¡°good girl. Fear not it will only kill you if you try to reveal unnecessary information such as our newly acquired relationship.¡± ¡°I get it, I get it.¡± They said still, resting on the bed for a half an hour. Scilla then asked to be freed from the ropes. ¡°Idra when will you free me?¡± ¡°mmh, I don¡¯t know. You are so beautiful while trapped why should I release you?.¡± ¡°can you at least remove the ropes that are keeping me from rolling around. I would like to lie on my side¡± a big smile appeared on Idra¡¯s face. ¡°what¡¯s that smile¡­ Idra answer me, shy are you smiling?¡­ what are you planning you little¡­¡± Idra released Scilla by cutting the ropes that were locking her to the bed frame but then she pushed her to make her roll and lie down on her belly. She then moved on top of her. ¡°Idra, get off! What do¡­¡± She had no time to finish her sentence that Idra was tickling her feet. Scilla started struggling while laughing and trying to speak. ¡°IDRA!¡­ Stop¡­. Stop it!...I surrender¡­ please¡± She played with her feet for a bit then she moved closer to her head. She lied down on Scilla¡¯s back and then the unexpected. A bit of mechanical sounds, it was Idra¡¯s helmet remodelling and opening. Soon Scilla was feeling hot air flowing on her neck. Idra was breathing closer and closer to her skin. Then she sniffed her neck. It was strange but also arousing for Scilla. She didn¡¯t knew what was happening and confused Idra¡¯s action for a flirt of some kind. ¡°Idra, what are you doing. We just started our relationship how can you be doing something like this, especially when you told me you know nothing related to intimacy between partners.¡± At such words Idra pulled herself immediately back. She was confused and a lot. ¡°what do you mean? I¡¯m sniffing you¡± ¡°exactly you are sniffing and breathing on my neck¡± ¡°where else were I suppose to smell your scent from? I can¡¯t show you my face and I need a hormone dense location.¡± wait, what the fuck is she talking about ¡°sorry, I think I misunderstood your action. What were you doing?¡± ¡°I was inhaling your hormones and chemical biomarker to determine your health status. Nowadays most humans have lost such ability but almost all Esterians have it. So we sniff each other to prevent health problems. That also one of the reasons why we are so good in medical fields. We literally sniff problems, and if we are competent enough we can even understand the problem. Like we could know if it¡¯s a bacterial infection, a virus, a tumour and so on thanks to the chemical markers we inhale. This way we can also find a cure faster than normal. What did you think I was doing?¡± ¡°nothing, I was just surprised that¡¯s all¡­. Eh eh I was just trying to find a way to make you stop, yep definitely that. I for sure didn¡¯t misunderstood you action for some flirt or similar.¡± Scilla was redder then her usual, she was extremely embarrassed. She was now remembering reading something about the hormone detection ability of humans when she was younger. Idra was basically conducting a medical check on her and she thought of something completely different. How fucking embarrassing. Saying something so stupid. She was obviously not going for anything sexual. First of all she doesn¡¯t know how to flirt, second of all she comes from the most conservative people of all. Probably an Esterian flirt is showing you their neck or their face as far as I know. Then while dying inside Idra started laughing. ¡°you are really funny. I appreciate that you didn¡¯t try to lie to me. You already know that you can¡¯t do that.¡± ¡°your appreciation won¡¯t remove my embarrassment. How could I be so stupid¡± Then Idra started cutting Scillas ropes. It was time to free her. ¡°everybody makes errors. The good news is that you are perfectly healthy.¡± ¡°at least that. By the way, are you still going to let me see your ship?¡± ¡°yep, I also thought of a solution. If you clear your 4 VTOL landing platform I should be able to make Natrix land on them.¡± ¡°I will do it as soon as possible. Will you also let me take a peek at your energy pistol? It¡¯ so fascinating. Did you made it? Do all Esterians have one? Do¡­¡± ¡°Scilla stop. To much questions. We will take our time, with our relationship and our conversations. As I told¡­¡± ¡°sorry, sorry. Not ready. I know. I just got to exited. If it happens again just tell me no again. When I talk about¡­¡± ¡°when you talk about what you like you can¡¯t resist. I know and I like it.¡± chapter 14c: plan Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 14c: plan After their fight Scilla left the room to go back to hers, Idra stayed in her bed. She was preparing to make some research on that thing called dating. She also wanted to acquire other informations. Her plan was simple, first find a computer connected to the open network. Hack in it to propagate and extend her surveillance capability. Then start reading and search the concept of dating in all known cultures. After that look for drawing supply and find a way to acquire them. A lot of common thing were never part of Idra¡¯s live so like a kid she was discovering the beauty of the outside world. She liked drawing, it was something she never did and she wanted to continue. She also needed to find some thugs so kill. She wanted to make a show at the meeting with the Lean¡¯s Liin. After all she had a reputation to keep and a message to send. After some time Scilla had checked and fixed her room. The books were completely disintegrated and the carpet had a hole in it, but the rest was fine. Such precision was possible only with extremely advanced weapons. Then in the exact moment that she opened the door to go back she found Idra. ¡°can I come in?¡± ¡°yeah, sure I was coming to check on you but ok¡± idra entered the room then she turned around. ¡°Can I use your computer?¡± ¡°what do you want to do?¡± ¡°you told me about video games, I want to play them¡± she won¡¯t refuse. If all goes to plan she will leave me there playing while she go downstairs to grab some food and see her sister. I can tell that she wants to see her to make sure I didn¡¯t hurt her. While she do so I will infiltrate into the net. Then everything will be easily prepared for our collaboration announcement. ¡°did your computers looked like mine?¡± ¡°yeah, a bit bigger and probably more powerful.¡± ¡°then you should know how to use one right?¡± ¡°yep, one hand on the keyboard and the other on the mouse, then after laughing the program you plug in the neural main connector. After setting it¡­¡± ¡°Nope, you were going so well. You just stop at the mouse part, I don¡¯t even know what the fuck is a neural connector¡± ¡°easy questions. It¡¯s a tube with a high band port at the end. You connect it to the port on you suit to allow data transmission up to 4,5 ExaByte/second. Just make sure to have the same connector standard and its all good.¡± ¡°I.. I wasn¡¯t trying to know about it, but I accept the information. Considering that you like killing things, would you like to play a war game? Like an FPS?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, but if I can kill virtual stuff I¡¯m in.¡± ¡°ok, give me one second. Let¡¯s see what I have installed¡­ does ¡®assedio arcobello 11¡¯ sound good?¡± ¡°I suppose so, what do i do?¡± ¡°first some training then you go 5v5 in a map with no re-spawn until the round changes. After max 5 round won you and your team win the match. You also alternate between attach and defence.¡± Scilla then booted up the game and proceed to let Idra play the tutorial. The young girl was initially confused, especially because she had to adapt and lock the headset to her helmet. But then she started to understand how the game worked and her machine like brain started to kick in. The strongest game AI was being predicted by Idra merely using sound and logic. It was time to put her in a pvp match. She is incredible. I guess I should record the screen and the game input to prove that ¡®I¡¯ was not cheating. If she does the same against some Leans I¡¯m sure everybody would think of a cheater that somehow was able to bypass the anti-cheat. ¡°so.. now I¡¯m against real people right. Do I win something if a beat all of them?¡± ¡°not really, but if you do specific matches you can gain a rank on a score board.¡± ¡°do you like ranks?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really care, I don¡¯t have much time to play so I mostly play casuals like you are going to do¡± then the matchmaking found a lobby and hell was about to rain on those poor people. Idra was brutal, she was unstoppable and almost always ready. The only way to stop her were incredibly coordinated squad pushes. If she didn¡¯t have enough time to kill all of them then she died, but it was a rare occasion. Most matched ended with flawless victory and no death from Idra. ¡°Idra, look at me for a moment.¡± ¡°yes?¡± ¡°this button here active the microphone. Use it to speak with your teammate. I will let you play ranked games¡± ¡°really? Was I good?¡± ¡°yep, probably too much.¡± Idra tilted her head a bit. ¡°how can you be too much good? There is usually a best possible result in a task, why should you not want to achieve it?¡± ¡°it¡¯s a long thought process but to make it easy basically you are so good that people would think you are not human and machines are not allowed to play.¡± ¡°then why I¡¯m allowed to play?¡± ¡°what you mean? You are a human" ¡°nah never mind. Are human experiment allowed to play?¡± ¡°as far as I know yes¡± ¡°then I¡¯m fine.¡± ¡°well, you should keep playing, I will go downstairs a bit to grab some food. I will be back soon, maybe.¡± ¡°the match is starting so ok, bye¡± Told you. It¡¯s not so hard to predict such simple and imminent future. It was time to execute her plan. The match starting was a lie. A quick movement of hand and she plugged her suit in the computer port. ¡°time to have some fun. Natrix, spread like a disease. I want you in every pc you can connect to. Prioritize governmental computers¡± --Infection started-- --Tower security breached-- --Civilian house within 3km breached-- --Local police station system breached-- ¡°prioritize the police system, I want all public security cameras under my control¡± --City security department reached. Access denied. Required supplemental computational power-- ¡°infect all civilian devices. I will help you with my bots. Conceal our traces.¡± --Civilians devices infected, loading brute force transmission pattern. Estimated time before exposure 23,198084 seconds-- ¡°just need a 0,97. give me complete control¡± --transfer all function to main calculation device. 511 ready to compute, good hunt 511-- Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Idra¡¯s operation went completely undetected, she was built to be a walking quantum supercomputer, hacking in some state informatics system was not a problem. She could have gone in slow and safe but what the point on doing so when you can force your way in and nobody notice it anyway. Now all public and regular computer were under Idra¡¯s control. All infected and transmitting data. Her so called bots are a really useful things coming from the depth of the Unipsi. Esterians were the only one to know that the universe was not ¡®alone¡¯. As old theories says its more like a multiverse were there are copies of itself where events went differently. However the Founder discovered something beyond that and a bit alarming. Multiverses are not alone. There are more multiverses with different laws that coexist in a bigger space that he define as Unipsi. Here the fun part starts, the Unipsi is incoherent and multiverses can be connected and moved around generating intersections and effects each other. How did he reach such conclusion by simply discovering impossible materials, the one that are the base of the Idra program. Smaller material that were so small that entire machines were as small as electrons. Entire civilization could live on a rock based around this material. This new entire physic allowed the founder to built machine that could be controlled and were as big as electrons. Those were a part of the bots that Idra carried inside her body. If you can literally control charges that you can turn on and of whatever electric device you want. At least this is how the story goes. Most of what the Founder discovered were indeed true but he never knew why nor how all of that come into contact with the ¡®standard¡¯ universe. Further more the bots weren¡¯t really made, he just found them and then his creation founded the origin of such things, the artefact inside Idra. All of them were unaware of what that was and how dangerous it was. The previous species that dominated the human space sectors called them Whispers and they were all annihilated by them or their consequences. They spent so many millennia trying to uncover the Whispers secret to never reach a conclusion. --all systems under total control. Shall we attack the Hakavor¡¯s HQ?-- ¡°there is no need to do so. We just need a bunch of information, and some cameras. Nothing more. Don¡¯t really want to make a mess of their society. Now let¡¯s see. Search for a couple of things. First the worst punishment by Lean¡¯s laws and the related crimes, then we will look for a target and decide what to do with it. Oh, also look for a place were I can go and buy some coloured pencils, look up what dating means and how it works. I go back to play some matches¡± Natrix started to work really fast, it had a lot of power at his disposal and he was using it all. Natrix was not really a sentient AI but it was really close to it. He was able to define implicit objective and follows them. In this case he was going to make a classification of all crime that could be punished by Idra in a way that she could satisfy her sadistic vein. Then he was going to identify and track possible target. After completing the mission it was time to move on less important objective like pencils and the dating concepts. After 10 minute in which Idra was massacring everybody she could find online it was time for his report. --511 objective completed, report ready to be read-- ¡°go on, tell me what can we kill¡± --not much out of nowhere but a lot if we do some searching. Lean¡¯s laws are on the punish the criminal side like ours however they require a lot of proof to kill for most of the crimes. There are 4 cases in which it¡¯s easier to be allowed to kill. 2 of the 4 require a lot of work. The more complex to define is an accusation of ¡°crimes against all Leans¡± basically everything could go in this category but we have to prove that the creature committed a crime that actively damage al least 68,3% of all the Leans that have right to vote. Such crime could be anything but it¡¯s basically impossible that a car thief become a crime against all. Looking at their history almost all of the criminal that as gone against all Leans were activist for homosexual rights or anti-racism leaders plus some incompetent idiot. Judging by their new politics view I hardly believe we could be able to kill someone legally with an accusation of ¡°crimes against all Leans¡±-- ¡°good to know. I don¡¯t want to waste time, I don¡¯t have it. What is the other slow option? Just to know¡± --Leans believe that memory must never be altered. So all substance that could lead to memory loss and such are banned. If you are found trying to drug someone, even if you do nothing afterward, you can be killed if proven obviously.-- ¡°we have drugs, we even have alcohol on the ship, we could use it to falsely incriminate somebody¡­ but we will keep this possibility for a different occasion. Then the fast solutions are?¡± --an easy one that require no proff other than the criminal itself is sex changing. Leans, at least the one that rule their society, are all or almost all against sex transitioning. They try to keep their roots so a couple should be always fertile and trying to have at least 1 kid. There is no tech that could change your DNA and swap entirely your sex. So if you ¡°change¡± sex you basically become a creature in between that is not a male, a female or a femari. Leans decided to see such creature as aberration that must be purged. All Leans are allowed to kill them on sight but then they have to prove that they had changed sex which is pretty easy. We could do the same but things can get complicated-- ¡°complicated? how so?¡± --well those creature usually are not alone. There are criminals medic that operate the sex change, those who support them but didn¡¯t swap and so on. The one that gave support will be imprisoned but not killed. The surgeon should be killed for their actions but their capability are unfortunately recognize as a sight of intelligence so we can¡¯t kill them neither-- ¡°what a pain in the ass. What is the last option?¡± --even with all the limitation I suggest looking for sex changer transgressors. It would be the...-- ¡°what is the fourth option Natrix¡± --511 I don¡¯t think it is necessary-- ¡°mine is an order¡± --the last option is hunting down paedophile and child indoctrinators.-- Those words triggered Idra. All Esterians, Idra included, considered children as a sacred gift to be taken care. In Esterian society children are extremely protected by laws and by people themselves. They are their future and no harm should ever be done to them. No crime done against a child will ever be left unpunished. Idra was a monster in all her aspects, she harmed everybody with no discrimination but in her own hypocrisy she couldn''t stand a child abuser. She was a mass murderer and a psycho torturer but she would never sexually abuse a minor nor an adult but that is a different story. Knowing that someone dared to do such action made her blood boiling. She had decided who her targets were going to be. ¡°leave me out again from something like this and you will no longer exist Natrix¡± --i understand. I thought it was not the best course of action considering your...-- ¡°there is no discussion to make. Start the tracking. Found them all, I will kill those close enough and pass all the incriminating information to the Hakavors. I¡¯m sure they would go have a feast with them. Track down all those brainwasher idiot too. There will be blood and scream at our meeting. Nobody will be left unpunished. I swear it in the name of the Founder¡± --511 I still have the information about...-- ¡°don¡¯t care. We have more important matter to accomplish. I¡¯m going to get Scilla. I need a distraction to drop of the stealth walkers and put them in position.¡± Then Idra left the PC running and left the room tracing Scilla¡¯s location using her own security system. She still was in Wiola¡¯s room the floor below. Heavy knock on the door then Idra¡¯s voice. ¡°Scilla! Can you open the door, I need your help¡± Scilla stopped speaking with Wiola and moved. ¡°yes, what do you need?¡± ¡°Hi Wiola. I need you to inform the HQ that I¡¯m moving Natrix here.¡± ¡°what? Why now? I didn¡¯t move the VTOL away...¡± ¡°then move it, I need something on the ship and a don¡¯t want to scare the fuck out all your friends¡± ¡°colleagues not friend.¡± ¡°same shit, can you do it as fast as possible?¡± why is she so pressing, is she running out of evilness? ¡°Wiola give me a second and I will be back¡± then she walked away to contact the HQ. ¡°don¡¯t worry sis, Idra can keep me company and she will let me take a look at the ship right?¡± ¡°you can only see the exterior, nothing more.¡± ¡°yes man. Can I call you sis too?¡± ¡°No. I¡¯m Idra. That¡¯s all¡± ¡°uff, you are no fun girl. I thought we were friends¡± ¡°never said I was funny or that we were friends. I¡¯m your sister friend, I need more time to define what you are¡± ¡°yeah, yeah I got it. I¡¯m just an extra that is walking around¡± ¡°not really, you are Scilla¡¯s little sister. You are above everybody else but I don¡¯t know enough to define you as friend¡± ¡°then know me! Look around this is my room. You are smart right, you can understand by object right¡± Wiola room was full of nerdy stuff, apparently she likes sci-fi books and RPG core-books but there were also genetics books scattered around. A room that screamed fresh graduated student or something like that. Idra was looking around, she was immersed in pure silence. Her armour didn¡¯t emit a bit of noise. It was surreal, so surreal that Wiola was starting to feel uncomfortable. She knew that Idra was not her enemy but she couldn¡¯t let her guard down. ¡°nerd. Like Scilla but you like books so it gives you a less nerdy vibe¡± ¡°oh come on, I¡¯m not at the same level as big sis.¡± ¡°doesn¡¯t seems so. You looks less nerdy because your things are less voluminous¡± Then Scilla was back before Wiola¡¯s reply, reporting the HQ ok to take off. Natrix, the now silent ship turned it¡¯s systems on. Light started flashing around the thrusters and soon their purplish colour returned. The annoying acute noise coming from them was a clear indicator of what was about to happen, or that¡¯s what almost everybody would say. --Photon interference field activated-- In a fraction of seconds the ship was incorporated in a cube completely black that appear out of nowhere. Light is just a wave, sort of, if you hit it with the same wave but with opposite wave phase you destroy it. That that was exactly what the ship was doing, kinda. It was concealing the releasing of something. --releasing stealth android-- --releasing completed successfully-- --calculating root to minimize noise perception-- --taking off-- The black cube disappeared and the ship started it¡¯s frightening cry. Nothing was left on the ground or so you would think. Stealth android are equipped with a worst version of the AMS-111 cloaking device. They emit sound and their connection to the main core can be cut to stop them, but it was not going to be a problem. Idra was the core and she had control of everything. Only a ¡°casual nuclear explosion¡± could interfere with her plan, and those are definitely unique event to come by. Time to hunt down some bitches. There will be blood, screams and pain over more and more pain until everybody will know to never mess with me. chapter 15c: depth Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 15c: depth Natrix was landing on the roof garden. Scilla and Wiola were outside looking at the landing process. The thrusters¡¯ wind was blowing on their faces. It was way hotter than the rest of the atmosphere however that strange, almost supernatural screeching sound coming from them, was enough to freeze their blood. Then all stopped. Scilla was stunned by its beauty while Wiola was terrified. She was seeing this massive metal object totally alien to her. Natrix had no visible guns, probably retracted inside the hull, no access doors, no windows. It looked like a bunch of metal sheet welded together that somehow was capable of space flight. It was a weapon of destruction, the opposite of what she believed in as a medic. ¡°Idra, how do we get in?¡± ¡°before I take you in, I suggest you to bring back your little sister. She doesn¡¯t look fine. If she goes too close to the wrong thing she could hurt herself.¡± ¡°give me a second I will be back¡± Then Scilla moved to Wiola and walked her back inside the house. Once she was back Idra extended her hand. ¡°grab it. You won¡¯t be able to see so this is the only way¡± Scilla grabbed the hand then as happened at the HQ the ship emitted an interference field. This time it was smaller, just enough to cover the main body of the ship. The entrance was somewhere in the front of if. Metallic noises started ringing in Scilla¡¯s ears. Then out of nowhere light, she was inside a small room that looked like an airlock. It was dark, just some emergency red light at ground level. ¡°is it always this dark?¡± ¡°yes, I can turn in up if you want. But I don¡¯t see why I should illuminate an airlock.¡± On the other side of the airlock the real ship. The first room at ¡°ground level¡± was a massive hangar that was basically long the entire section of the ship. The almost rectangular hangar had 4 small airlocks for humans in the corners, so the 2 in the back would lead you right next to the main thrusters. Then on the front there was also a bigger airlock to move in and out the objects inside. Scilla was sure that Natrix ¡°face¡± was opening entirely to let big objects go in and out. Along the side there was some step-ladders that lead to some hatches which looked like emergency passages. In the back a staircase to go on the upper level. All the sides and the celling were full of cables, some were even hanging out lose to go somewhere inside the walls. Near the back of the cargo bay there were some small doors probably leading to the others ship¡¯s sections. It was really strange and chaotic. The hangar was around 4 meters tall. It was a place full of crates and other containers. It looked like Idra had already done some successfully expeditions. ¡°follow me I will bring you to the living quarters.¡± Idra moved easily through all her stuff while Scilla had to squeeze a bit to pass. This feel surreal. Everywhere I look it seems so old, even older than the first satellite ever made, but I also know that it¡¯s the most advanced shit out there. Then there is this strange smell in the air. Metal and burned rubber but also an unknown scent. It¡¯s not a bad one neither a good one. I can¡¯t tell what it is but I¡¯m sure she didn¡¯t put perfume on the ship ventilation system for me. Once they reached the staircase Idra stopped before walking up. ¡°the ship is a bit of a mess. I don¡¯t really get guests, to be fair you are the first one. I will show you around but my ship is unusual so...¡± then she walked up. A short narrow corridor was leading to an open space that worked as a connector. The connector was small and filled with just cables. There was enough space to move around and it was obvious that it was just an intersection to somewhere else. On their back some holes like a capsule hotel that lead inside the walls of the corridor they just walk in. Those were 4 single unit room for the ship. A crawl only space that now was filled with some ship supply. A pair of step-ladders lead to an upper cabin inside the ceiling. The room had 5 more doors. Idra decide to show them all. The closes to the beds lead to the toilets. Nothing fancy but not so bad considering that everything is just the bare minimum to survive. Then the door next to it was for the canteen. A small place with a table built in the wall. Cables everywhere and the table was occupied by what looked like lab machine. On the other side a machine that Idra explained was the mush machine. Then in the remaining corner, inside all the cable a cocoon made with a blanked and a small pillow. So she sleeps here sometime and what is this smell? It¡¯s the same scent that was inside the hangar but stronger. It¡¯s not that bad when its not mixed with metal and burned rubber. ¡°next that door would be the cockpit, but I can¡¯t show it to you, sorry¡± ¡°don¡¯t worry about it. I¡¯m grateful that I was even allowed on your ship¡± ¡°however I could show you the storage for all my supply, my armoury laboratory and my bedroom¡± then Idra moved in what she said was the armoury, Scilla followed her inside. The room was way bigger and full of unknown machines. Then Idra stepped on a platform and from the ceiling a series of mechanical arms reached for her armour. Piece by piece they were removing all the external protective plates. She was left with her hexagonal skin-tight black suit that could be considered revealing. Don¡¯t open you mouth and drool, don¡¯t drool¡­ Scilla contain yourself. She is completely covered. Think of something not exiting like dead bird, a grandma dancing naked¡­ ¡°everything alright Scilla? You look a bit off.¡± ¡°yes, yes I¡¯m fine. I¡¯m just exited to see your armour builder that¡¯s all.¡± ¡°I knew you would like it. It¡¯s capable to remove all my armour, clean, repair and store it for when I need. This way I can always change my suit based on the mission. Usually I remove all, took off the inner layer as well and put on some ¡®normal¡¯ clothes but as per usual I can¡¯t do that for now¡± Then Idra also put away her 3 guns. 3 of the armoury¡¯s walls where full of shelves, each one overflowing with stuff. There were weapons of any kind, from small pistol to massive heavy anti-matter sniper rifles. The same could have been said about the armour plates. Hundred of them in different shapes, resistances and colours. It was an arsenal to allow a perfect gear for every possible eventuality. But it was not all. On the last side there were a lot of strange machines, mostly unknown but some of them looked like a centrifuge for some biology stuff. After removing all her armour Idra rubbed her hands along all her body as if she was boasting about it to Scilla but it was not her intention. Scilla resist her temptations, she isn¡¯t doing what you think. ¡°do you like my armour? You see to make it works I need several layers. First you need special underwear that has a touch connection port. Then you put on the input transmission suit that looks a lot like a wetsuit but with arms and legs cut in half. Then there is the suit itself that is the one I¡¯m wearing. It is the real first protective layer and is based around hexagonal modules so it can be adapted. The black gluey substance is an additional protective and sealing layer. It can change colour and shape isn¡¯t it amazing. As far as I know it can be used even for corporeal waste disposal systems but I didn¡¯t want an eating tentacle up my ass all the time. Then you put on the extra layer to become as sturdy as a tank and finally the insignias. It¡¯s a long but beautiful process isn¡¯t it?¡± Scilla however was absorbed by something else, she was visualizing the so called waste disposal tentacle doing some inappropriate action to Idra¡¯s body. ¡°Scilla are you there?¡± ¡°Yes, yes sorry I just zone out for a bit. Never thought you had to make so many step just to get in a suit. Lean¡¯s tech is totally different you just get in and that¡¯s it. Also you lab is amazing it¡¯s like a dream becoming true.¡± ¡°About the power suit we started like that too but such suits basically moves thanks to an AI or by reading your constrained movement and then execute them. Such system has too much delay and you can¡¯t really feel through it as if it was your normal body. About my lab thanks, one day I will show you in details¡± ¡°wait a moment you can feel object with your suit accurately? Not just a generic reaction pressure from some emulating device?¡± ¡°yeah, I can feel almost everything: touch, humidity, heat, wind and so on. I can also block those feeling otherwise I couldn''t tank a shoot.¡± ¡°the fuck! That¡¯s amazing¡± ¡°I know¡­ now let me guide you to my room. It¡¯s big enough for both of us but you are a bit too big to stand in it. then Idra left the armoury grabbing, probably subconsciously, Scilla by her hand and climbed up the short step-ladder to her room. While doing so her butt was right in front of Scilla¡¯s face. After all she walked Scilla right in front of the stairs. Fucking hell, if I didn¡¯t knew her I would immediately think that she is doing it on purpose. How could I keep it down if every-fucking-time you put your ass in front of my face. After Idra, she took the ladder too and reach a bedroom. It was not possible for her to walk inside it. It span the entire space above the capsule rooms so it was fairly big in comparison to the others. Big enough for the 2 of them. The room was symmetrical and right next to the doors, built in the walls, there were a pair of desks with drawers one per side. Both of them were full of object. The one closer to Idra had some scientific lab machinery while the other had something that looked like clothes of some kind. In front of the bed an empty space like a small living room covered with a blanked and some pillows placed down as if they where furniture. Then the rest of the room narrowed down with the wall enclosing the extra sized bed. In front of the bed some shelves full of object as well and some small dressers. On the sided and ceiling there were some shining star like object, those famous night lights of hers. In the middle the big bed was basically a massive mattress with tens of blanks and pillows on top of it. Scilla attention focused on the nearby desk where she saw a couple of vials inserted in some kind of spinning machine. She move a bit forward to be immediately scolded. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°don¡¯t touch it!¡± Scilla jumped back and looked at Idra surprised. ¡°sorry, but it¡¯s a dangerous experiment you can¡¯t touch it. Let me move it out¡± ¡°what is it?¡± ¡°I will tell you the truth because I can always make your head go boom. It¡¯s an experiment about something that is in my blood¡± Scilla was a bit confuse but she was also intrigued. ¡°so you have some lack of nutrient or an illness?¡± ¡°nope, do you remember the pain from the liquid I used to torture you?¡± ¡°how the fuck could I forget? It was so painful that I would fucking prefer to get shot multiple time that going through that again.¡± ¡°well I extracted that from my blood. Don¡¯t worry it¡¯s a metabolism waste or for now I suppose it¡¯s. No eventual blood disease or shit like that from it, even if I have never had such kind of disease in the first place. Back to the substance I still don¡¯t know what it is but it¡¯s probably the worst poison ever discovered. It comes in two types, the weak one I used on you and a stronger one. I don¡¯t know how to cure it but if you want I can show you the effect of the strongest one.¡± ¡°sure, maybe I can help being your thoughts resonance chamber.¡± ¡°thanks I suppose it would help, maybe I could even find a solution¡± ¡°do you want to use this molecule as a weapon?¡± ¡°not really. I just want to find a cure just in case. I want to help and I know I can. We are the one that made the first omni-cure. Maybe this things could even help us solve some problems if I learn how to control it.¡± Then Idra took the experiment and left the room, probably to move it in the lab. The ship was totally silent so they kept on speaking. Her voice was becoming sadder and sadder the more she spoke but Scilla didn¡¯t notice it at first. ¡°wow, so you are not completely evil¡± ¡°evilness is relative, especially to us. Most Esterian are guided by their scientific nature. We study, we discover, we built. Sometimes we have to do what has to be done. What if to cure a mortal illness all you have to do is kill 10 infected. You could stay still waiting for your end, you could try to find a solution but the virus doesn¡¯t wait for you. Or you can remove those creature. It¡¯s not the best solution for all, but it¡¯s the most efficient¡± ¡°never-mind that sounded like a real villain doing a monologue¡± Then Idra reappeared at the room entrance she didn¡¯t reply to Scilla¡¯s last words. I suppose she is not really in the mood for stupid jokes and small teases. Idra then laid down on the bed and incited Scilla to lay down as well but first she had to remove her shoes. The bed was really soft and soon something hit Scilla¡¯s nose. It was that strange smell from the rest of the ship but here it was stronger. So this is the source of it. Here it¡¯s sweeter but not like a flower more like a tea with a bit of honey added in. it¡¯s hard to describe but it¡¯s good, not really intrusive or concealing for something else. Maybe I should ask what it is, at least it will distract her for whatever depressing things she is imagining now. ¡°idra can I ask you what this sweet scent is?¡± ¡°uh?? what scent?¡± ¡°don¡¯t know, but here it¡¯s stronger, is it the mattress that is made of some scented material?¡± then Idra jumped on Scilla and put her hands on top Scilla¡¯s nose and partially mouth. ¡°you pervert! You sly and lustful being! How dare you!¡± Scilla¡¯s voice was muffled by Idra¡¯s hands ¡°what the hell, I just asked what did I do? You are the lustful one that is flirting with me putting around perfume¡± ¡°that is not perfume it¡¯s my body smell you moron! I sleep here! it¡¯s obviously stronger¡± Saying that Idra was embarrassed was an understatement but then, while Scilla was enjoying Idra¡¯s panic due to embarrassment, something clicked in her brain. ¡°would you describe my scent as sweet, is it always pleasant for you?¡± ¡°well yeah, it¡¯s like the smell of a really good tea with something sweeter mixed in it. Not to sweet not to strong. I would say it¡¯s basically the perfect ambient perfume. Why? Does it make some difference?¡± Idra then jumped back and took a data-pad that was on the side of the bed. She didn¡¯t really touched things on it, but windows and programs popped up, worked for a bit and then close. Then she stopped on a file with some 3D chemical structure of some molecules. ¡°I knew it! You are genetically resistant to Esterians fear devices¡± She was going to lie a bit, but the truth was not so distorted. Esterian are a mixed species between Humans and Morfians an ancient species precursor of humanity. The Morfians were capable to produce chemical component to modify how their were percived. They could emit all kind of molecules and some were even capable to make the target hallucinating and die. Esterians were less capable but they could have the same ability. Everybody that could leave the Esterian territory knew how to emit molecules in order to make everybody else fear them, but Scilla was immune to the most common molecules used. Scilla¡¯s genetic coded removed some receptors so she was physically unable to feel fear from such elements. Idra Human disguise would be destroyed if she said something about it, but a little lie won¡¯t hurt. ¡°fear what?¡± ¡°fear devices. We have part of our suit dedicated to emit defined molecules that modify how we are being perceived by other organic creatures. This molecules are scentless so nobody notice up until now. But you change everything.¡± ¡°how? Because you smell different for me?¡± ¡°well I¡¯m not suppose to have such amazing scent as you described it, especially because I use scentless detergent. That can be possible only if you smell things in a different way. That would explain why you only feared me psychologistically and not also physically.¡± ¡°but I smell everything else fine. It¡¯s not like I perceive smells totally different from others Leans. How does that work with your theory?¡± ¡°you all can¡¯t feel shit. Esterians and some Humans can sniff with absolute precision but almost all humanoids have lost such capability so nobody of you can detect the non dominant scents.¡± ¡°I suppose it make sense, after all you are the one that can detect illness by sniffing peoples. The best I can do is understand if you have shit yourself¡± Idra was gazing at the data-pad. Files were opening and closing at inhuman speed. She was composing a new file, about the scent effect, the Leans possible resistance and so on. Then Scilla interrupted her by touching one of Idra¡¯s hands that was holding the pad. ¡°I have to ask you, even if you don¡¯t answer back. Why do you want to be feared?¡± Idra placed the pad beside her on the bed, then she curled up her legs and enclose them with her arms. She placed her head on the knees and looked at Scilla that was laying down beside her. ¡°Who knows. Maybe it¡¯s to keep others away, maybe it¡¯s our solution or maybe we are just crazy¡± ¡°madness... an easy way out for a tricky question¡± ¡°don¡¯t try to outsmart me with your fancy words girl¡± ¡°I¡¯m not pulling trick on you, but it¡¯s hard to believe that your kind is gone crazy. You all work too efficiently, too coordinated and in ways that are far outside our comprehension. A bunch of psychos won¡¯t be able to achieve so much¡± ¡°you are right. Psychos won¡¯t be able to compete with us. But what are we now? What do we stand for? And more importantly what is my purpose.¡± Idra emitted a long sigh then she spoke again. This time she opened her helmet to let her real voice flow out, to let her expressions speak as well as her words. ¡°I have been built for a reason, I was created from necessity and despair. Born in darkness to be light.¡± ¡°Idra I...¡± ¡°I¡¯m young yet I have seen so much that could fill thousands of lives. I have seen madness, I have witness insane desperation and its insane solutions. I have been hope, I have been strength, I have been a guide. They needed me and they still believe they do. I have done so many things yet they name their child after me. I have destroyed so much yet they praise me, they build statue of my heroic actions¡­¡± Scilla perceived that something wasn¡¯t right. She stood and hugged Idra. It was not the first time that she touched her armour but this time it was different. The usually perfectly ambient temperature suit was now cold. It was hard as a diamond and it was reacting. The black fluid was moving along the suit pushing Scilla away. ¡°I know that you are thinking. You are not a monster. And you will always have a purpose¡± ¡°what could that be?¡± ¡°are you sure you are the smartest Esterian around? It¡¯s obviously me. You will have to win the biggest price of all history¡± A big smile on Scilla¡¯s face, she was trying to lift the mood and it worked. Idra burst out with laughter, happy laughter. ¡°that¡¯s the stupidest shit I ever hear, why would you be the best thing ever?¡± ¡°what?!? are you saying I¡¯m not? You ungrateful kid that need a blanked to sleep¡± ¡°shut up space fanatic¡± ¡°at least I don¡¯t have my mum milk on my mouth¡± Idra laughs again. ¡°thanks Scilla. Sometime things can get out of hand¡­¡± ¡°I will always be here for you, or there in my house don¡¯t really know¡± then a long yawn. ¡°I suppose the omni-cure side effects are kicking in only now. You should take I nap, my bed is really comfy¡± ¡°yeah it¡¯s soft as hell, you won¡¯t mind if I sleep a bit right?¡± another yawn. That was definitely the side effect of the cure. ¡°I told you. Go on I will wake you up after some time.¡± ¡°will¡­ will you sleep beside me?¡± Scilla was slowing loosing consciousness. It was becoming harder and harder to stay awake. ¡°nah, I will be working. I will be back after you have rested a bit¡± ¡°wait¡­ Idra...don¡¯t¡­ ¡­ go¡­¡± now she was asleep. ¡°sleep well¡­ my treasure¡± Idra''s reply was unheard then She left the room. She had some experiment to do. chapter 16c: emotions Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 16c: emotions Time passed and Scilla was having a really good nap, probably the best she ever had until she had a nightmare. A vision of something so vivid and so impactful that she couldn¡¯t just define it as a dream. Inside her mind she was approaching a cliff at dusk. The sun setting down in a blood red sky. A figure was standing at the edge of the cliff. Below some distant lights that looked like a city, but not a Lean one. Without doubts it was Idra. She approached it, and when she was close enough the figure spoke and she couldn¡¯t move any longer. ¡°why did you come here?¡± ¡°what a stupid question. I¡¯m here for you, I will always be here¡± ¡°what are you looking for¡± ¡°I just told you, I¡¯m looking for you¡± ¡°that¡¯s not it. You didn¡¯t told me. What are you looking for in me¡± ¡°well a lot of things... I...¡± ¡°what if I have none? What if I¡¯m not? Will you come for me if I was lost?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t get it, you are speaking nonsense but yes I will always come for you¡± Then the figure turned around. The sun casting strange moving shadows upon the body made impossible to see her face, but there were a pair of yellow glowing eyes looking at her. That moment made her woke up to see the same figure, flickering at the end of the bed. The armoured humanoid with yellow glowing eyes and no face was staring at her. She screamed and finally come back to reality. She was in Idra¡¯s bed and she was covered with two blanked. One started around her waist and enclosed her legs and the other started around her shoulders and covered the entire body. She crawled up and as she supposed Idra was not beside her. Looking in the connector she saw that the armoury door was open. She moved down quietly and looked inside. Idra was in the laboratory surrounded by monitors, she was looking at something but she couldn''t see. ¡°what are you doing?¡± ¡°just in time, I was going to give you 4.21 more minutes but you woke up by yourself. Well I¡¯m analysing some experiments about the metabolic waste that I told you before.¡± ¡°can I really see it?¡± ¡°why should you not. Maybe you will have some idea¡± However the only thing that was going to fill Scilla¡¯s mind was going to be regret. Idra turned the main monitor toward Scilla and it was the worst things she ever saw and heard. A humanoid creature was being beaten, she could easily recognize Idra¡¯s armour. After some beating Idra poured the unknown substance in the creature mouth. In instants the creature started screaming and convulsing on the ground. The creature was drooling a black foamy fluid that was obviously not saliva any more. The grass around started rotting a bit to then grow extremely fast in chaotic shapes and decay all in seconds. The creature was agonizing in pain while his skin was rotting to then burst out, his body was changing like a super fast uncontrolled tumour. Limbs were appearing out of nowhere to then decay and turn in a black boiling sludge. Some of the flesh was melting exposing the bones that soon started growing out of control and then shattered by themselves. It was the worst thing Scilla had ever seen in her life and she was sure that there was probably nothing worst out there. She couldn¡¯t keep looking at it so she turned around, but just the screams and the sound of the bone reconstructing and breaking for unknown reason was enough for her. It was a mix of forced extreme growth and almost instantaneous rotting. She was about to throw up but Idra appeared in front of her and pushed her hands on Scilla¡¯s body. One was on the heart the other on the stomach. A tingling sensation move throughout her body and then she was completely fine. ¡°I suppose it was a bit too much for you. I have warned you.¡± The horrible reaction to the substance was not all. She was also a bit scared of Idra. She was the one that recorded such footage and she just stood there looking at the creature agonizing. She didn¡¯t have to use a complete creature, a sample of cells would be enough yet she didn¡¯t choose that way. She decided that torturing an innocent creature was better. That was not science, that had not scientific value, it was just a torture with no purpose. I can understand killing those who see you and are not ready for space. But that!. How could you even define that as necessary? There is nobody that could consider that a correct action. She knew what that things does to creature yet she wanted to see the pain. She could have tested it on plant but no. Seeing a creature decomposing to an ooze of whatever that shit is¡­ I¡­ ¡°idra promise me...¡± ¡°what?¡± ¡°promise me that you won¡¯t use that thing on an animal ever again¡± ¡°but if I don¡¯t how do I get¡­¡± ¡°PROMISE ME!! you will never use it again on animals, any kind of animals. Creature in a primitive society, monkeys, dog, not even on an insect. Please¡± ¡°what are you so scared of?¡± ¡°I¡¯m scared of you! Iris¡± That few words hit her like a truck. She wasn¡¯t new to be feared, but that was different. Scilla overcome the chemical fear then the phycological one. But now she was going back. She was going to fear her as a person, fear her for that she is. ¡°I¡¯m scared you could lose control, you could lose sight of your objective and destroy what is the closer to you¡­ that is not science, that is not the right way of¡± ¡°I won¡¯t use it any-more. I will test it on plant, bacteria or isolated single cells. I don¡¯t want to scare you away. I don¡¯t want you to leave me, I want you to be proud of me¡± ¡°wait, wait, wait I never said I would leave you. It¡¯s just that¡­¡± ¡°I also did something to you while you were sleeping, maybe I should tell you. So al least I would know if you will stay even after that.¡± What the fuck. The fuck had she done to me, is that the reason for the nightmare? ¡°after you fall asleep I covered your body. Your temperature is higher than mine and you would have felt cold while sleeping. So I covered you with my blankets to make you reach and optimal sleeping temperature. I followed the instruction so the legs have to be put inside a second blanked. I...i.. lift up your body but my hand slipped and¡­ and my pinky¡­ my pinky... touched your left gluteus¡­ I¡¯m sorry Scilla¡­ I didn¡¯t want to¡± That was the stupidest shit she could ever say. She was comparing useless torturing falsely define as experiment to a small touch happened while trying to make her sleep in the best condition possible. That was Idra, a creature what could be the cutest thing ever existed and the worst murdered at the same time. A living paradox that could be a monster with no remorse and a child scared for a bad grade at school. Scilla couldn¡¯t contain herself and hugged Idra while laughing. ¡°you are a fucking ball of cuteness and horrors. How could I get mad at you for trying to make me sleep more comfortable. I wouldn¡¯t even say that your action classify as touching my butt and I won¡¯t even mind if you actually did touch it.¡± ¡°but¡­ but I did.. that is unacceptable we are...¡± ¡°shut it. You did nothing wrong. Skin contact inside a Lean family is even more extended. We are used to sleep together and lay on each other. You have no idea how may time I have touched Wiola¡¯s body or she has touched mine. Also I keep on hugging you so I touch you too. I don¡¯t see the problem.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care if you are the one that is all touchy touchy but I can¡¯t do those impure things¡± ¡°tell me Idra, are we dating? Do you have romantic feelings for me? You don¡¯t seems so sure about it.¡± ¡°I searched that up but I¡¯m a bit confused about.. well about all. Dating, loving and so on. So can you explain your view of them so I can make a decision?¡± ¡°mmh, let¡¯s see. If you like spending time with someone and you love them you should start dating each other. That means that you spend time together, you go out exploring the world, go shopping, do hobbies together and so on. In my opinion, that is on the conservative side, while dating we can basically hug, hold hands, kiss and be a bit touchy but nothing more. All the other stuff is reserved for after the marriage. For what is love I can just tell you how I feel, after all it¡¯s not universally defined. I have always found other creature plain or at least not interesting enough. Then you appeared and initially I fucking hated you and your bossy attitude. Then with time I started to understand why you behave in such ways and then once you saw my collection I understood. I liked you. Your spontaneity and brutality. Your intelligence and lack of social knowledge. I wanted to know more and more. So much to become obsessed with you and think only of you. That is what I believe is love.. sort of¡± ¡°then I suppose I love you back. I want to mark you with my scent and never let you out of my reach. But I can¡¯t go at your speed. I can¡¯t keep up. As you said I lack knowledge and it¡¯s all happening so fast for me. It should be even faster for you that live so long¡± ¡°I know that you are the one, that is what my gut is telling me¡± ¡°I never heard your gut speaking. Does it speak out of my hearing frequency range?¡± Scilla laughed again, that was what she was talking about. One of the many reason to love Idra, her ingenuity and endless curiosity. ¡°why are you laughing you nasty giant?¡± ¡°I was describing what we call a gut feeling. Something like a 6th sense, a thing that you just know¡± ¡°sorry I don¡¯t think that I¡¯m understanding. We have more than 6 senses so how does it work? Is it like a AI that speaks in your mind and tells you the result of something?¡± ¡°close enough. It¡¯s like if your body detects something that your conscious self doesn¡¯t detect and tells you in a strange way like a feeling of being observed or something like that.¡± ¡°I think I get it, it works like a reflex but for events in general or it make subconscious predictions right?¡± Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°yep you could say so¡± ¡°si cazzo (fuck yes). So back to the date thing. I suppose we could date, after all I want to spend more time with you. But I can¡¯t just throw away what and who I am. So I will need time before I could hug you, hold your hand and¡­ and¡­ k...kiss you. Are you fine with it?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine with everything. I don¡¯t care how much time you will need I will be here for you¡± ¡°thanks and about being here for me¡­ do you think I could go buy some coloured pencils?¡± ¡°yeah sure, let¡¯s go together so you could better understand what a date is like. I also have to buy a present for Wiola, her birthday is after tomorrow so the day before the meeting with the Liin.¡± ¡°WHAT?!? why didn¡¯t you told me before that your sister''s birthday was coming up.¡± ¡°because it¡¯s not important, you just met her.¡± Idra broke free from Scilla¡¯s hug and hit Scilla¡¯s head lightly. ¡°it¡¯s important. Birthday are important. I will give her a gift too¡± ¡°you don¡¯t have to, she will be fine¡± ¡°shut up, I have decided so you won¡¯t stop me. Also when is your birthday? Wiola¡¯s is now in the summer is yours close by?¡± ¡°not really, I was born in mid autumn. What about you?¡± ¡°mid spring but I stopped celebrating around 8 years ago when I left home.¡± ¡°then this year you will be back on celebrating.¡± Regulating time in space is a bit of a mess. All planet have different revolution periods and different rotation times. After the Humans were finally free from tyrant Fermi and reached the space era, all the known nations decided to make a unified time. This strange time used as reference their own galaxy and it was all based around age approximation and time distortions. It was basically used only for transmission purposes and official matters to define exactly when something happened. On all planet there is a different time and divisions but basically for simplicity all domains decided to use the Human reference. A variable length day / fixed number of month / years from colonization. Days where still measured in hours based on the interplanetary measurement system, an advanced and shared version of the human international measurement system. All intelligent creature, before meeting each other, had reached the same conclusion. Create a measurement system around physic constant. After their first contact they just had to agree upon what constants had to be used. So everybody measure the hour in the same way but the number of hours per day may change from planet to planet. They all agreed to use the 12 Human mouth names that had no meaning as standard. They decided that each mouth must have the same number of days and all excesses are added to February. The seasons are matched with the planet revolution period. So when the planet is colder it¡¯s winter and so on. So December is cold for everybody and so on. After 12 mouth there is a new years. The year from each planet is base upon the initial colonization. So 43/05/54 means the 43 day of may of the 54 year after the initial colony. To keep track of birthday there was another calendar referred to their home planet where the species originated from, just to remove eventual confusion where people with the same biological age could have different age on paper due to the planet slower revolution time. Dates in the human year 2441 are a bit messy. The minimum is having 2 calendars. The planet one and the species one. Then if you want to look at extra civilization news you also have to add in the galaxy calendar and most also use the Human standard calendar due to the impact that they had on the known space. So this way, referred to Human years Scilla was born in 30/10/2400, Wiola in 15/07/2410 and Idra was born in 20/05/2415. ¡°so are you coming back out with me?¡± ¡°nope, I have work to do. You know the way to get in so just reverse it and get out. Once you leave the airlock just walk straight and you will be fine¡± ¡°will you stay here even tonight?¡± ¡°yeah, sorry. Come and knock on the hull tomorrow when we will go shopping. I will be ready¡± ¡°sure¡± Then Scilla left the spaceship. Those have been really stressful and strange hours. Now¡­ eat and then call the HQ. We can¡¯t keep her trapped here but we can¡¯t let her go around with just me. I don¡¯t think I¡¯m capable enough to stop her if she goes on a rampage. We will see tomorrow. However that tomorrow didn¡¯t come really fast. At night some strange sound were coming from the roof garden. It was obviously Idra doing something at night. The fuck is she doing. It¡¯s 3:14 why isn¡¯t she sleeping. Attracted by the sound Scilla moved toward the ship. It was completely off but she could hear some deep and low bangs coming from the ship or around it. She looked around with a torch but there was nothing. She moved closer to one of the external part. Muffled noises coming from inside that sounded like steps, then right behind her a heavy deep bang. She flipped surprised to see a massive construct. Around her height but way bulkier. At first it looked like a walker but it had no weapon on it. ¡°fuck! What the fucking fuck are you?¡± ¡°che? (what?)¡± it was Idra¡¯s voice. ¡°wait idra?¡± ¡°who else? A Human with steroids?¡± ¡°well the fuck. Are you speaking with one of you robot?¡± ¡°I¡¯m inside of it stupid. It¡¯s an engineer repair suit. I was doing some external maintenance.¡± ¡°why is it so big, you are almost as big as me¡± ¡°it¡¯s full of instrumentation. Welders, screwdrivers, connectors, magnetic boots and so on. It¡¯s a repair lab on suit compatible with the AMS-111 armour that I use.¡± ¡°well you scared the shit out of me. Can¡¯t you do your maintenance tomorrow? I thought you were doing some strange shit out here. Also why the hell aren¡¯t you sleeping? It¡¯s 3:23 now¡± ¡°oh, I woke you up... sorry. I didn¡¯t want sleep and my experiments are all running so I decided to manually check everything to spend some time¡± ¡°go to bed, you will have plenty of time to exhaust you batteries tomorrow¡± ¡°but I¡¯m not sleepy, I don¡¯t want to sleep¡± ¡°why aren¡¯t you and why don¡¯t you want to sleep?¡± ¡°I¡¯m selectively deleting all signal that could make me feel tired¡± ¡°why are you doing that, and you didn¡¯t answer to why you don¡¯t want to sleep¡± ¡°well¡­ I¡­ I.. so you see¡­¡± ¡°Idra tell me whatever it¡¯s¡± ¡°well there is your scent on my bed, I don¡¯t want lose it¡± How cute of here, a bit strange and embarrassing but adorable. I¡¯m sure she won¡¯t agree but let¡¯s try. ¡°if you want I can come over more often so you will still have my scent around or we could share a bed so you can have the source nearby all the time¡± ¡°really!?¡± ¡°what?! No I mean sure. You just have to guide me in the ship but sure. All I have to do I sleep so I don¡¯t really see the problem.¡± ¡°can I sleep in your bed the night after this?¡± ¡°I¡­ well yeah. I said so. But are you conformable with being in the same bed. You know you had your ¡®I don¡¯t touch things¡¯ so¡­¡± ¡°yep I¡¯m fine. I can block the suit so I can¡¯t roll around as I usually do, then place a blanket and some pillow between us so no touch¡± ¡°yeah¡­ sure that will do¡± Well not that bad, not bad at all. The sleep together was just to exaggerate so she would be more likely to accept the first request. I can go in her ship again and she will also share a bed. With the needed time I could try to reduce the number of obstacles between us. So it¡¯s a good start.. I think¡­ don¡¯t really know how Esterian works when it comes to relationships. Now I also know why she seems dead while sleeping she use her suit to block her in position. I wonder why, rolling around in bed isn¡¯t really dangerous. Scilla was about to go back when Idra called for her ¡°eehh...mmh do you have some time to spare? Not much. Just a bit¡± ¡°I guess I could, why you ask?¡± ¡°I want to try something, just give me a minute to remove the armour kit¡± ¡°I won¡¯t give you more than 10 minutes so you better be fast¡± ¡°Sissignora!! (yes sir!!)¡± Then idra ran inside her ship and in just 3 minute she was back in her usual armour all excited with a little box in her hands. ¡°come follow me to the edge of the garden¡± Glass railing prevented to just casually drop of the roof. Wind flowing from the side and the astonishing night view of the city below made the moment breathtaking. Idra placed Scilla beside her so that the wind would first hit her amour then Scilla. Then she opened the box. Two strangely bioluminescent flowers were inside it. They were perfectly preserved as if they were just harvested. Blue pointy petals and small greenish leaves surrounding and shielding the entire stem. ¡°are those naturally blue?¡± ¡°yeah, aren¡¯t they beautiful?¡± Idra toke one and gave it to Scilla. The flower was emitting even more light now that it was touched. ¡°it¡¯s gorgeous, is this plant what you wanted me to see?¡± ¡°yeah, I wanted to give at least a flower to you. Darkness with tiny background lights is the best condition to admire them. Just stretch your arm and look at it. Then make the heavier neural calculation you could. Think of something that stimulates you¡± Is this like a love things that Esterians do? Don¡¯t think so but let¡¯s see. What should I think about? I guess about her? It took just a second of thoughts to make the flower shine like a star. Now it was going to bloom at any moment. Idra was doing the same. ¡°when it¡¯s opens inhale the glowing pollen.¡± ¡°what? Is this a drug?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a junky! you do it!¡± Then the flower bloomed in all it¡¯s might. Shining even brighter and emitting some strange glowing pollen that were immediately lifted up in the sky by the wind. Idra opened her helmet and inhale that shiny dust with her mouth. In an act of trust Scilla followed inhaling the pollen with also her nose. A strange sweet aroma was filling her body as if she had just eaten some air but sweet and fluffy, like a less dense cotton candy. It also made her feel a strange satisfying sensation. ¡°what the fuck was that?¡± ¡°food, sort of. It taste better if you inhale even with the nose but I can¡¯t for now.¡± the flower was now dying in their hands, as if it did its job. ¡°is this a drug of some kind?¡± ¡°not really. It¡¯s a drug if you are addicted to sugar. All it does is basically eating up electrical charges from your body while you think. Well it¡¯s not really eating ions that is not how electricity works but you get it right?¡± ¡°you explained why it opens but what about the satisfaction and the warming feeling that gives you?¡± ¡°it doesn¡¯t do anything like that. You felt warmed and satisfied because you basically eat pure sugar and it must have triggered some memory in your brain. Maybe you remembered when you were little and you have gone somewhere with Wiola. Or maybe you just liked doing something with me. I don¡¯t really know but I can assure you that it has no side effect and that it¡¯s no drug. We used to produce sugar with it¡± ¡°well I¡­ never mind¡­ but it was fun. I guess it just brought me back in time and relieved some of my stress. Thanks¡± Idra looked Scilla in the eyes and smiled with her mouth shut. It was not the usually maniac smile, but a soft one. She was happy. ¡°I just wanted to share something with you. I guess I should go to bed. Ah don¡¯t eat the flower. Well it¡¯s edible but it taste like unripe watermelon¡± Then Idra left to go inside her ship while Scilla stood there looking down to the city light. That had just been an incredible experience and she wished that one day they could do that again but without Idra¡¯s suit. I wonder how she would look without the armour. There with the light of the flower illuminating her face and the wind moving her hair around. Maybe she has long hair. I would really like that. She stayed there a bit longer then she moved back to her room. It was time to sleep again, but this time with a massive happy smile on her face and her heart racing. chapter 17c: gift Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 17c: gift The next day, not too much after noon, Scilla was knocking on Natrix hull. Heavy metallic sound echoed through the ship. Soon Idra was at the entrance ready to go on their ¡°date¡±. Both were wearing their power armour, Scilla to eventually be able to stop Idra and well Idra to protect herself. Idra was also carrying a rectangular object with some balls at the edges. When they reached the base of the skyscraper they saw a pair of military armoured personnel carrier. Idra stopped and looked at them for a bit, before being brought back to reality. ¡°Idra?? are you ok in there?¡± ¡°...yeah. I just remembered something¡± Does she hate APCs? They are not the most gorgeous vehicle around but they give us safety. What could be wrong with them. One APC was for them and the other for the security squad. On their APC a little surprise, Morea was sitting on one side. ¡°hi there commander¡± ¡°hi Morea, let me guess. They wanted at least one soldier with us and you were the only one that was not shitting herself?¡± ¡°how could you know? Almost as if you were there in the barracks my friend¡± Morea¡¯s voice was full of sarcasm but also respect for her friend and commander. She was somehow surviving Idra¡¯s presence but she definitely couldn¡¯t live with her even for a brief moment. ¡°why didn¡¯t you greet me too?¡± said Idra. ¡°because I had no ready joke for you. So where are we going? I was just told that I have to be a guard for you two¡± ¡°yeah, about that I don¡¯t know. Scilla made the plan¡± Morea looked at Scilla that had just sat on the opposite side. ¡°we are going shopping. She wants to buy some pencils and a gift for Wiola¡¯s birthday. I have to buy one as well so a trip to the shopping mall should work for both of us¡± ¡°wait a minute. I¡¯m working all day because you wanted to go shopping?¡± ¡°yeah¡± said Idra. ¡°that is so fucking unbelievable¡± Scilla replied properly. ¡°not my fault that they want someone even closer than the normal guards. And also did you really think that I could keep her stuck in my house all the time?¡± ¡°on one hand you are right. I¡¯m an extra. On the other you kept her at bay for all the return trip. I suppose you could have kept her in even longer. She does and goes basically everywhere you go so.¡± ¡°exactly, so it¡¯s better this way than her following me and sneaking around because I¡¯m going out alone to buy a gift¡± then Idra intrude in the conversation. ¡°can¡¯t you buy something for you as well? This way you don¡¯t waste time. I can buy stuff for you if you want¡± ¡°don¡¯t make me laugh, how could you even pay for things?¡± ¡°I will try and see once we arrive at this so called shopping mall¡± then the conversation shifted. ¡°so how did your family react commander?¡± ¡°it was¡­ well as you would expect probably.¡± ¡°so Wiola didn¡¯t spoke to you ever since you came home I guess¡± ¡°oh no, strangely enough she is mostly fine with Idra. Can¡¯t say the same for pama and Kalina. You should have seen that dickhead face¡± ¡°well can¡¯t fix a useless idiot like her¡± Idra jumped in again. ¡°insulting mothers is not a good thing even if they are useless or they are yours¡± ¡°what do you know about mothers? Do you even have one¡± said Morea in an unfriendly tone. She was more comfortable with the cold and evil Idra, not this ¡°tamed¡± version of her. Too friendly to be real, this act must be a trap for something. ¡°well I¡¯m human do you think we grow on trees? Have you ever fucking studied in you life or you were to busy sucking your pama¡¯s cock?¡± Morea was immediately triggered by her insults. In contrast to Scilla, her family was really caring and she loved them dearly. She couldn¡¯t tolerate insults toward them. She stood up to at least try to hit her with a fist. ¡°Stop it! No fight girls!¡± yelled Scilla but it was too slow. Idra¡¯s suit microchannels opened and emitted tons of molecules in such confined space. Fear and pure terror immediately filled Morea¡¯s mind. She dropped on the APC floor screaming in terror. The gas was making her hallucinating. ¡°IDRA! Stop immediately. I know she was the one that started but please. You will meet more hothead in your life. You can¡¯t just beat them all for a pair of words. I know that you use that phrase just to make her assault you and retaliate. IDRA!¡± then the gas dissipated. Morea was coming back from her horrors and Idra crouched down to get closer to her face. Then in a really menacing voice she said ¡°I¡¯m no friend of yours. The contract bounds me. Scilla¡¯s good heart saved you from an entire day of terror and screams. You better kiss her feet... now¡± ¡°Morea don¡¯t. Idra she doesn¡¯t have to do such things. Your¡­¡± Idra¡¯s voice was even angrier and deeper. ¡°she will! or she goes back on the floor¡± ¡°she won¡¯t. She is my soldier not yours. This kind of decisions are mine and mine only¡± Idra¡¯s armour twitched, the plates moved a little and some gas was emitted as if it was letting go of some steam. Then Idra sat down on the corner of the APC, arms crossed. She was obviously pissed. I hope she doesn¡¯t hold a grudge. I don¡¯t really want to know what her revenge could be. Looking at the bright side I guess I don¡¯t have to fear that someone could think that we have a deeper link. The rest of the trip was fine even if Scilla spent her time reassuring Morea. She was definitely shocked by whatever she saw and from that moment on she never crossed eyes with Idra. She didn¡¯t even had enough courage to look at her. At the mall entrance the trio reunited with 8 soldiers from the other APC. Now with Idra and Scilla in the middle they started to move between people and their curious looks. ¡°lead the way Scilla. Where do I buy my coloured pencils?¡± ¡°let¡¯s look to a stationery store. The true mall experience is just walking in and looking at stuff. You see something that you like on showcase and then you go in the shop. Easy right?¡± ¡°I suppose so. As far as I know we had those things too, but I never been in one.¡± ¡°you have never done a lot of common things¡± ¡°I suppose so¡± The mall was massive, the biggest of all Icar 3¡ã, after all they were at the planet capital. The structure was full of intersections and felt more like a walk only city. Shaped like a local flower the structure span over 3 level and had more than 1000 shops. It was so massive to even has both a metro and a train station to make it even more connected to the city. The scale of the building was enormous even for Leans¡¯ standards. In the ¡°tiny¡± Esterian scale it felt more like a place for giant that for normal creatures. Walking in Idra was constantly looking around without saying a word. She looked at things but didn¡¯t really found them interesting. Until she spotted a dress. ¡°hey what is that?¡± Idra pointed with her finger to a cloth shop. A female mannequin was wearing a black floral dress with a long skirt. Is was a branded expensive dress with a lot of trimming that would move in the wind like the things that she calls insignias. ¡°you like feminine dresses?¡± ¡°I¡¯m a woman, should I not?¡± ¡°just thought you would value efficiency and comfort over design and fashion.¡± ¡°I usually do consider comfort over design, that is why I wear dresses. Mine are a bit different but they are comfortable, cosy and stylish. Also most Esterian like long and floating things so we have a lot of cloaks, insignias, capes, coats, long raincoats and so on.¡± ¡°oh, guess I learned¡­.¡± then Idra moved closer to the window and looked at the mannequin. ¡°but yours are different. They look similar... from afar¡­ well I¡¯m a bit disappointed¡± ¡°if you want a dress we can look for more, there are tons of clothing shops¡± ¡°nah, I¡¯m fine. But do you think they sell lab coat?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so¡± ¡°even more disappointed¡± what is the connection between dresses and lab coat? then they started walking again and Scilla felt the need to clarify why she doesn¡¯t wear dresses. ¡°well not many of us wear dress. A pair of trousers and a shirt are more than enough. We move a lot and practicality is usually preferred. Plus I don¡¯t really like to look that effeminate. You know I¡¯m a mass of muscle that walks I like to show my strength off like most of us¡± ¡°yeah I can see why you don¡¯t like those, still you are basically walking around naked¡± ¡°what? I have underwear underneath. What else should I wear?¡± ¡°well I usually wear more. For the lower half I start with pants, then tights, then a pair of trousers with a big aeration gap around the thigh. There is a string of cloth that keeps them together. The on top I place a long skirt that reach the shoes and finally the insignias, usually that goes all around the waist. For the upper part a bra, then a long sleeves shirt and a long sleeves top that doesn¡¯t cover the belly for aeration as well. The top¡¯s sleeves end with a ring for the middle finger that makes them even more stylish. Then we place the leaves poncho like insignias, the arms cloaks, the back cape and the long gloves to conceal the hands. O and I usually cover my head and face too. Now that I think about it I wear a lot of leaf like clothes¡± ¡°what the fuck. That¡¯s is like 6 layer of things. Why? Just why the hell do you walk around with so much stuff? Don¡¯t you overheat? Isn¡¯t in impractical?¡± The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°heat is not really a problem. Most of our planet are cold and we can use breathable fabrics so it¡¯s not really a problem. Tiring well a bit. My cloth are usually in a range from 4 to 8 kilos. But you get used to them¡± ¡°get use to them? That is probably 1/10 of your normal mass, how much do you weight without armour?¡± that was a delicate question for females of most species but not for the blunt Leans and the cold pragmatic Esterians. ¡°well I¡¯m 48kg so with cloth I¡­¡± ¡°48!! do you even eat? I¡¯m like 115 kg. You are half me when dresses like crazy. Remember me to never fall onto you or I will reduce you to a tin foil.¡± ¡°yeah, yeah big and heavy giant. Shut up you are the one that eat too much. You are a fucking walking closet. It would be strange if you didn¡¯t weight a ton and with the suit I can still win¡± ¡°suit doesn¡¯t count, I¡¯m bigger than you!¡± Then she hugged Idra and lift her up laughing. Definitely not the best things to keep a low profile but the best action in a really crowded place to show that Esterian are not all evilness and cruelty. Idra opened a proximity encrypted communication channel with Scilla to whisper her message. ¡°smarter than I thought. But now put me down before I eviscerate you¡± ¡°yeah yeah, I just wanted show my affection without causing problem. One day we will be able to do the same without suits on¡± then she released Idra that continued walking forward. ¡°that day I will hit you in the head for being to affectionate in public¡± then the communication was interrupted. Scilla was a bit too happy to notice an alarming peculiarity. Idra just bypassed all her armour protection and established a radio communication between them in less than a second. That is no easy achievement considering that Idra wears a Zbja Kosma Armour B6, one of the best all purpose power suit made by the Hakavor corporation. No ZKA B6 has ever been hacked into up until now. Time passes until Idra attention got caught by a shop. It was a game shop for nerds. Big shop windows full of recent released scale models, new tabletop games and RPG core-books. It was what she was looking for. Wiola was a tabletop RPG fan so that was the best place so far to look for something she could like. She also had a second reason. That¡¯s the shop. In her room she had a lot of books with ¡°Dongioni discordanti¡± written on it. I should get her something related. Then I should look for a spaceship scale model. Maybe one that is not in Scilla¡¯s collection. She will love to teach me about it. Upon their entering the only shop clerk was almost paralyse by fear. Most creature had only seen Esterians as ambassadors in news¡¯ videos or photos. Seeing a living one is rare and having to interact with them is even rarer, considering that it is said that they don¡¯t speak with those they deem inferior. Idra¡¯s AMS-111 and the 3 visible weapons didn¡¯t make the things easier, quite the opposite. They walked in and Scilla, started looking around for a present for Wiola. She had the same Idea as Idra, after all she was the one who introduced Wiola to tabletop games and alike. Games were cheap and most needs just a manual and something to write information on. They were the best solution to keep yourself entertained when you are poor and there is a war. Scilla was totally fine with Idra so she forgot how impactful could her presence be in close proximity. Idra was going straight to the clerk. She knew nothing about games so she needed informations and the ¡°Lean shaped terminal¡± was exactly what she was looking for. Poor shop clerk was having the worst day of her life. Idra was now in front of the cash register, the clerk¡¯s legs were shaking behind it but you couldn¡¯t see them. ¡°che figata, avete degli androidi(whoa cool you have androids)¡± ¡°what?¡± ¡°oh..eeh you have androids as clerks that¡¯s cool¡± ¡°what android, that a living creature¡± ¡°what? Living? Really this thing is living?¡± the poor shop clerk responded with a timid and scared greeting. ¡°Go...good¡­.good af...good afternoon s...s¡­¡± ¡°definitely organic, bots aren¡¯t afraid of me¡­.¡± ¡°that''s what you say but I still have to see your interaction with an AI, don¡¯t worry girl she doesn¡¯t bite¡± ¡°of course I don¡¯t, that¡¯s disgusting. Do you know how filthy organic matter is?¡± then Idra looked at the small label on the clerk suit to read her name. ¡°so clerk Yurena I¡¯m looking for stuff and you will assist me.¡± Yurena was trying her best to stay calm and gradually she relaxed due to Idra¡¯s and Scilla¡¯s back and forth teasing. ¡°I¡¯m looking for a gift. It¡¯s for her sister and I saw this books called ¡®dongioni discordanti¡¯ in her room so do you have something related?¡± ¡°we...well I..i.. there¡­ there was¡­ a ¡­¡± Scilla moved to the cash register to help Yurena. ¡°relax girl. Deep breaths and then try again. She is peaceful. The weapons are just mandatory by theirs laws. We are looking for a gift for my sister that loves RPGs. Money are not really a problem for us¡± then Idra added ¡°the girl seems quiet young and between 25 and 35. Doesn¡¯t seems to have preferences but I suppose the dongioni things it the one she likes the most.¡± less scared but non really comfortable Yurena started showing the new releases of ¡°dongioni discordanti¡±, from books to basic merchandise. ¡°A...About a month ago¡­ there was a new release¡­ it¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s a new setting with additional rules¡­ eemh they¡­ they added¡­. new enemies¡­.some may be...in...inspired by emh Esterians¡­¡± ¡°I want it!¡± immediately interrupted Idra. ¡°so fast, did the knowledge of having enemies based on your kind attract you?¡± ¡°fuck yeah. Girl, are there limited edition or something about it?¡± ¡°Idra you don¡¯t have to buy Wiola an expensive gift with my money, I introduced her to RPG because we were poor.¡± ¡°who said that I¡¯m using your money? I should be able to pay for this.¡± ¡°so you have money with you. Good to know¡± ¡°of course I have money. Also if I couldn¡¯t use them I can still pay in useless relics or ship fuel¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think they will accept such currency¡± ¡°why not?¡± ¡°too much valuable for a shop of this kind¡± Yurena, seeing that the two were lost in their conversation, tried to attract their attention clearing her throat. Still scared, but the longer they stayed the longer she had to sustain that fear. ¡°my bad girl, so you have limited editions?¡± ¡°yes miss, we have: the book limited edition which is basically better paper and cover, the edition with a pre-made campaign with some maps, and finally the edition with the campaign plus some miniatures to paint. If you want to spend I would buy the one with the campaign¡± ¡°give me the one with the miniatures and everything need to paint them, from colours to brushes.¡± ¡°I will be immediately back with all you the items.¡± then Yurena walked away in the back of the store to take out the requested items. ¡°Idra, that would be at least 400 UC are you sure?¡± ¡°why should I not? Plus you are the one that is going to pay for the paint stuff.¡± ¡°what? No, well, I get it. A combined present right?¡± ¡°yep. So she could have all without spending too much. We will tell Wiola that it was affordable with our money combined¡± ¡°it¡¯s not a question of money spent itself, you should have understand by now that I have lots of money. Wiola and I grew up poor so we don¡¯t really like expensive stuff even if we have money, do you get it now?¡± ¡°then we will tell her that they gave it to us for free because we were scaring the hell out of everybody and they wanted us to leave¡± ¡°that¡¯s even worst. I will do the speaking when we give her the gift¡± then Yurena was back with a massive package and some smaller one. Scilla spoke first to help the poor girl ¡°Yurena would you mind doing separated receipts?¡± ¡°sure, it won¡¯t be a problem so what do I scan first?¡± then Scilla proceed to pay for her stuff but when it was Idra¡¯s turn she had more to add. ¡°girl, add that scale model of the ¡®Liin Fleet Carrier Supernova Veil Cygnus¡¯ or LFC-SVC. Just to be clear the metal limited version with number 15 out of 115. And, as before, I need all the things to paint it.¡± ¡°what? why are you buying that?¡± ¡°I saw you where looking at it so I decided to buy it¡± ¡°I don¡¯t need a gift and it¡¯s fucking expensive¡± ¡°who told you it was for you?¡± ¡°is it for Wiola then?¡± ¡°what if it¡¯s for me?¡± ¡°kinda hard to believe that you are going to spend 3299 UC on a scale model of a ship that you seems to know pretty well¡± ¡°then believe in what you want, but I¡¯m buying it¡± As Yurena proceed to scan all the items Idra dropped her strange object on the ground. A metallic sound was immediately followed by some word of unknown meaning to most of the presents --Drone da trasporto personale operativo in attesa di ordini (personal transport drone operative and ready for orders)-- ¡°Stammi vicino coso (stay close by thing)¡± then the little object spin on itself and emitted a brief tone with an integrated buzzer. It was clearly a feedback system to notice organic being of the correct reception of orders. ¡°Miss¡­ the total would be 3989¡­ mmh¡­¡± Idra ignored the clerk and placed her hand on the cash register. Immediately after the items were paid and the a receipt was printing out of the machine. ¡°told you I had all the money that I need¡± Then she grabbed all her stuff and started to stack them on top of the rectangular drone. Now that it was on the ground the object extended from a rectangle of 15*30 cm to a 30*60 cm structure with tubes in between, that thing now looked a lot like a moving metal pallet. After placing the items she attached them with some elastic ropes and she was ready to go. ¡°time to move on right?¡± ¡°if you don¡¯t want to buy anything else I suppose so¡± ¡°nah, I¡¯m fine let¡¯s¡­¡± --crime detected-- ¡°Idra? Are you¡­¡± ¡°what will you do if someone was committing a crime but you could stop them?¡± ¡°lead the way to this fucker, what is she doing¡± then Scilla moved her hand signalling a problem to the soldier squad that immediately regrouped. ¡°just 3 store forward, left corned near the entrance. Someone is at the phone plotting an assault toward a voter¡¯s daughter. If you go in she will probably run. I can stop her at the exit¡± ¡°then let¡¯s get moving. Do you have an image of the suspect?¡± ¡°sure, coming on your armour feed¡± They moved fast, Scilla entered the shop and immediately saw the figure. The same girl that was in Idra¡¯s photo from what looks like a security camera. How she got it was not the problem now. ¡°HAKAVOR¡¯S LAW ENFORCER! GET ON THE GROUND!¡± yelled as she grabbed her pistol. The girl run immediately toward the second exit as predicted. Scilla following and then just as she passed the shop door, a black arm jumped out of the side punching her back into Scilla¡¯s body. Idra caught the falling phone while Scilla pushed the criminal on the ground and restrained her. ¡°Good job Idra¡± ¡°thanks Sheriff Lis, here is the phone. She was in contact with more idiots like her. I have tracked their position.¡± ¡°I will call the HQ, they will take care of them really well, if you know what I mean¡± Curious people soon arrived and saw that amazing scene. A rare collaboration with amazing result. That even was definitely going on the news that night. It was the first time in all know public history that an Esterian has helped someone out of it¡¯s own volition and with no reward. They left the criminal with 2 soldier waiting for the police to take her in custody while they moved on with their shopping. They looked around a lot of shops, to finally reach their destination. A stationery shop. They go in and as aspected same scared reaction. Idra started looking around amazed by the variety and quantity of supplies. ¡°so did you decided what you want to buy?¡± ¡°well I.. I see a lot of things¡­ what is the difference between them? I see this chalk things that look funny but what are they for?¡± ¡°they are usually used to write on blackboards, like in schools when you are teaching kids¡± ¡°oh. And what¡¯s a blackboard?¡± ¡°it is basically a big slate block, so it¡¯s a black surface to write on¡± ¡°can I have one?¡± ¡°not on the ship, so let¡¯s look for you pencils.¡± after a bit of looking Scilla passed some items to Idra. ¡°here, let¡¯s buy this for now. A set of 96 coloured pencils, then what is you favourite colour?¡± ¡°it¡¯s in the green visible radiation spectrum why?¡± ¡°then take this too, 2 packs of 32 different shades of green. Do you see your favourite colour between them?¡± ¡°yes¡± ¡°good, lastly a pack of orange pencils, some paper to draw on and some basic supply¡± ¡°why the orange one?¡± ¡°cause it¡¯s my favourite colour¡± ¡°oh¡­¡± That was the end of their long journey across the shopping mall and they were now heading home. It was time for Wiola¡¯s birthday and to prepare for the following day. The meeting with the Liin was going to be an historical even. chapter 18c: birthday Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 18c: birthday Back at Scilla¡¯s place, Idra carried all her items into Natrix, while Scilla packed the gifts for Wiola. Wiola was still working so there was no urgency. Then they met back in the house. ¡°so when will your sister be back?¡± ¡°don¡¯t know. Usually around 19, so in about 30 minutes.¡± ¡°cool, and¡­ well when will we give her the gifts?¡± ¡°first we let her relax. Then we eat and then it will be time for the gifts¡± ¡°got that. So will you call me when it¡¯s time for the gifts?¡± ¡°why should I? You are eating with us¡± Idra tilted her head slightly. ¡° wait¡­ what?¡± ¡°you eat with us. Why should you not?¡± ¡°well your parents shit themselves if they get to close. Your mother¡­¡± ¡°not mother, nor mum. Call her Kalina or with an insult¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think it would be appropriate she still gave¡­¡± ¡°she did nothing for me. So don¡¯t make me angry in such¡­¡± ¡°It was not my intention. I didn¡¯t fully understood how broken your bond is. I will not interfere now that I know¡± ¡°thanks¡± ¡°back on track I was saying that I never really spoke with Kalina but your pama Liwa just run away even if she sees just a piece of my insignias. I don¡¯t think they would appreciate my presence¡± ¡°who cares, Wiola will love to have you at the table so you will be there.¡± ¡°well if you insist so much I guess I could do you the favour to show up¡± ¡°shut up, you were definitely happy when I told you to be there. Your suit won¡¯t block your emotions¡± ¡°I have no fucking clue on how you can read me so well.¡± ¡°I can do it because it¡¯s you¡± ¡°sure as if I would believe so¡± ¡°one day you will. We eat at 20:30 so be ready for that time¡± ¡°hay hay commander¡± ¡°get moving miss fear¡± a shared laugh echoed through the nearby rooms. A clear sign of connection deepening through events and a sign of happiness. A happiness with no intentions, with no controls nor alterations. Idra disappear somewhere while waiting for dinner, she wanted to be part of the surprise. Scilla did almost all the work to set up the ¡°party¡± and then Wiola finally came home, a bit later than usual. Scilla was waiting for her at the door. ¡°I¡¯m Hom¡­.(home)¡± As soon as she set foot inside Scilla grabbed her and pulled her closer. Then she hugged her tightly and lifted her up in the air. ¡°happy birthday sis!¡± Wiola screamed for a second to then immediately reply in a happy tone. ¡°fucking hell you are gonna make me die younger¡± ¡°shut up, you are 31, there are tens of years of jump scares ahead for you¡± a long stare and massive smiles were interrupted by Wiola¡¯s grumbling belly. ¡°guess you are hungry. How was your day?¡± ¡°same shit. Just more traffic to come home. I don¡¯t mind being carried but a big solider like you should at least princess carry me around¡± ¡°you are not a kid any more. Well change and get relaxed. I bought a bit of food for the occasion¡± then she let go of her sister. ¡°really? From which restaurant?¡± ¡°Morashvara¡¯s horde cuisine¡± ¡°LET¡¯S FUCKING GOO!!¡± then she ran off toward her room. Morashvara¡¯s horde cuisine was both Scilla¡¯s and Wiola¡¯s favourite restaurant. It was not really pricey but it basically had a waiting list for some delicacies. Morashavara were originally one of the families that had enough of the Droxi idiocies and decided to look for a new home among the stars. They become specialised in combat and defence of the colonists. Their way of eating become famous overtime and it¡¯s now well known among Leans for being extremely creative and base around really strong flavours. The particular restaurant that they like was directly operated by descendants of said clan. A meal worthy of such name require a long preparation or a lot of money. Around 30 minutes later all the ordered food arrived and the entirety of the Lis family met up at the biggest table in the house. A wasteful long table for 18 people made out of hardened glass with coloured quartz crystals inside composing a forest. 10 kg of foods were disposed on one side while the other was left empty. ¡°Woah! Fucking hell sis you must bought the entire restaurant stock of food¡± ¡°what¡¯s the point of money if I don¡¯t spend it on you¡± ¡°well you could buy¡­ well it¡¯s not like you need anything. So you are right but why did you place 5 plates of the table?¡± ¡°can¡¯t you guess?¡± Wiola¡¯s face filled with joy while Liwa and Kalina started to shake a bit. They were about to complain when out of one of the many hallways Idra appeared. ¡°20:30 as you said Scilla. Happy birthday Wiola. I hope you don¡¯t mind¡­¡± ¡°of course I don¡¯t! I have a lot of questions¡­ you see I started looking for an implementation of your solutions with our genetic¡­¡± ¡°slow down birthday girl. Lets sit and you can ask all the question you want.¡± Scilla¡¯s place was obviously at the head of the table. Wiola was on her right followed by Liwa and Kalina. Idra was the only one on the left side, right beside Scilla. In most societies your place at the table is an expression of power and Lean¡¯s tables were no exceptions. The closer you are to the head the more important you are. Scilla¡¯s parent were definitely intimidated by Idra but at the same time they couldn''t miss their child birthday. The table was full of massive plates filled with meat to the brim. Some side dishes made with vegetables and massive jugs instead of glasses. ¡°Idra would you like some cefalas juice?¡± ¡°I saw a liquid that looked like tea, can I have that?¡± ¡°sure, lastfa tea is a bit on the bitter and acid side. Are you..¡± ¡°that will be perfect!¡± Scilla served Idra to then move to Wiola and so on. She was obviously going in order of importance following Lean¡¯s traditions. Then after all was ready to be eaten it was time the celebration initial toast. They lift their jugs, put them close together and ¡°cheers!¡±--¡°salute!¡± And finally it was time to eat. Idra had finally understood that she doesn¡¯t need to pre-cut all her food so she started eating with them. She probed every single thing in her plate before eating and she did the same with the lastfa tea. ¡°you were saying that you may have new ideas for your research¡± said Scilla ¡°oh, yeah I was forgetting. The food is just so good. So Idra hear me out a bit. I was thinking that there may be a way to improve our fertility and male situations. Maybe if we extract and purify the F3S virus we could try to re-apply it on ourself. Maybe this time and with your help we...¡± ¡°the F3S won¡¯t do any good, just fuck you up even more¡± ¡°why?¡± ¡°because it¡¯s an evolution acceleration virus not a miracle walking around. Without males your species is still working. It¡¯s highly improbable that it will increase the male rate. Quite the opposite.¡± ¡°well there goes one of my ideas down the drain¡± ¡°biology is not easy but I suppose I can help you a bit¡± then from the integrated backpack Idra pulled out a rolled printed piece of paper. ¡°here, I did this for you. I can¡¯t reveal you much but this should increase your male population to 1:99500. Better than nothing¡± Wiola was drooling, shaking and happily crying. In her hands a small piece of paper containing Esterian¡¯s medical knowledge and also a possibility to improve males population. It was probably one of the best gift she could ever receive and so she immediately rushed toward Idra. She hugged her. Idra¡¯s suit didn¡¯t really liked it and the black goo formed some spike to prevent further movements. ¡°this is the best gift I could have received today! Thank! Thanks! I...¡± ¡°I¡­ I¡­ that is not the gift I planned for you. It was for the hospitality that I received from you. It¡¯s not that important¡± ¡°ARE YOU FUCKING JOKING!?!?. it¡¯s not important! This thing could make me an Ittira if it works and could help me out with making even more progresses¡­ I don¡¯t have words for how...i¡­¡± ¡°then just stop hugging me. It¡¯s making me nervous¡± Wiola immediately released Idra from her tight grab ¡°oh, sorry it was¡­ sorry¡­¡± then she looked and Scilla. She was totally surprise by the even but didn¡¯t really show it ¡°you knew it didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°not really¡­ I just knew she was working on something. that¡¯s it¡± please don¡¯t say anything. Just let her believe Idra stared at Scilla and made a small evil and happy smile. Lie. She lied to her to keep her happy. How she owns me a favour and also a grudge but that will come really soon. Wiola had gone back to her spot speaking with Scilla, so it was time for the next move. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°Liwa right? How is it being a bartender?¡± the femari was surprise and intimidated, she wanted to reply but words where not coming out. ¡°w...we...well¡­.it¡­.¡± ¡°chill I won¡¯t eat you. You probably don¡¯t even taste good. I just wanted to know. You must have some stories. Some totally psycho coming in the store and so on. I want to hear them¡± Idra was not changing the air composition so the only fear left was mainly psychological. ¡°oh¡­ well I have a few... stories that I can tell. Are¡­. Are you sure you want¡­ to hear me?¡± ¡°yeah, I¡¯m the one that asked. So what funny stories do you have?¡± fear doesn¡¯t disappear in seconds but their guess was insisting. She was being friendly and it was a special occasion. She is the one that asked so after some thoughts Liwa stated narrating the last story that happen at the bar. Scilla was not convinced by such odd behaviour and indeed she was right to be concerned. Looking over she could definitely understand what was happening. Pama Liwa was absorbed in her story telling. Kalina probably doesn¡¯t ask much about her job. It is too boring for Wiola who doesn¡¯t care. Idra ¡°just happen¡± to be interested in, and now Kalina is isolated at the table. Smart girl. If Liwa is busy talking to her, Kalina can¡¯t speak with anybody. Liwa is in between her and Wiola. She is too scare and obtuse to speak with Idra and she won¡¯t even dare to attract my attention. I guess she is supporting me and probably gaining information on how we behave. Still I wonder how she learned to be so deductive and manipulative. Time passed and it was now the moment for the dessert and the gifts. Wiola loves cefalas fruits which, to human reference, are a blue fruit with a green porous inside. Taste like orange mixed with a watermelon. Taking in consideration her love for said fruit, Scilla bought a cake based around it with some big pieces on top like they were strawberries on a fruit cake. Scilla, as before, divided the cake and as soon as they were about to eat, a black flash flowed in front of her eyes. The cefalas piece disappeared from her slice and reappeared into Idra¡¯s mouth that was now chewing like a fat happy raccoon. Revenge! ¡°you did not¡± ¡°oh yes I did. Disappointed right¡± ¡°why? It was an innocent slice, it did nothing to you¡± ¡°revenge. Usually I pay back with interest but we are friend so.¡± ¡°I guess you hold grudges?¡± ¡°yep, I never forget, I never forgive. The longest toke me 640 days to be repaid¡± ¡°well it¡¯s about 2 years I thought it was going to be worst¡± ¡°it was worst for her. I impaled that idiot and made a tree out of her bones¡± as aspected Liwa was shocked, Wiola was a bit confused, Scilla was totally fine but Kalina was furious. She had been mistreated from the moment that Idra appeared and now she admitted to have done such atrocities. ¡°how could you do that?! Don¡¯t you feel anything!?¡± ¡°KALINA! Shut the fuck up¡± However Idra reply hit differently. It was calm as if she knew. She knew way to well ¡°wait Scilla. This is such a joyful occasion. We can¡¯t let such questions damper our party. So no. I feel nothing for those who oppose me. They all die eventually. We live only because nothing killed us up until now. Your daughters knew it way too well so they try to make the difference while alive. What difference are you making? You can¡¯t even say that they are your daughters because none recognise you as their mother¡± A death silence freeze the room. It was an overwhelming victory but Kalina had to reply to get defeated again. ¡°I¡¯m not scared of you. You are a monster and I would prefer to be forgotten than remembered as such¡± ¡°I may be a monster yet my people come begging me for help. They know that I will help them and that I¡¯m there for them. Nobody will ever look for you, not even your wife. I never heard your name if not followed by insults. If they want someone they speak together but never involve you. A mother that can¡¯t even hear out her own child is no mother. Only a failure. The only good thing you could ever achieve is indeed fading from their memories.¡± On surface those words were not so dreadful but for Leans that define memory and parenthood as sacred and as a reason to live, such words were devastating. As aspected Kalina started crying to be interrupted by Scilla¡¯s deafening laugh. ¡°oh man that was amazing. Cheer up kalina, you always says that words can hurt so better not be hurt. Well I suppose we can move on to the gifts, even if I would consider this event the best one. Idra would you mind going to take ours? They are in my room¡± Not long after she was back with all their gifts. Now even the dump Kalina could understand that Idra was trying to remove her even more from Wiola¡¯s life. Like divorced parents on bad terms, the richest try to win over the kid with money. Gifts so big that an almost unemployed girl could only dream of. She not only knew Wiola¡¯s tastes better but she could provide knowledge beyond all frontiers. There was no room for victory if not their blood link, and so she tried. ¡°Wiola, my kid. You don¡¯t prefer this faceless creature company over mine right?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t resent you as much as big Sis does but I don¡¯t see why I should love you unconditionally. Idra is right, have you never done anything for me other than stealing the money Sis worked for?¡± ¡°I used that money for giving you a better school I did¡­¡± ¡°shut you sewer! And indoctrination bullshit school for brain dead people is no school. You failed us, you failed me and I¡¯m sure that at this point even pama is fed up with your bullshit. Our federation is not perfect but it¡¯s far beyond the capabilities that dickheads like you could ever achieve even if combined. Oh and don¡¯t call yourself my mother cause you have never been one.¡± ¡°you have known her for less than a week how could you prefer her?¡± ¡°because she appreciate who I am and what I am working for. I would rather have her as my mother than you¡± It¡¯s not that I didn¡¯t predict this. Every year their fights get worse and worse, but I still hoped they could contain themselves in front of a guest. Well it¡¯s her special day and Idra doesn¡¯t seems to mind so I will let them fight to their heart content. Being nominated Idra decided to join the confrontation. However she had other plans in mind. ¡°I appreciate that you think so highly of me Wiola, but I can¡¯t be your mother nor a substitutive for one.¡± ¡°why not?¡± ¡°well I could start by saying that I¡¯m younger than you.¡± ¡°really? How much younger?¡± ¡°like 5 years younger. At best I could be your adoptive little sister. BUT! Don¡¯t interrupt me when I¡¯m speaking. All I can do is help you out while I¡¯m here, but that¡¯s it. I will be flying in deep space in probably 6 days or less. How could I even hope to have a place in your heart?¡± ¡°than what should I do? Live on as if nothing ever happened?¡± ¡°I have no idea of what happened but for starts you could try playing with your pama, she would love to spend time with you¡± ¡°what? No she doesn¡¯t right pama?¡± she turned away looking at Liwa death in the eyes, waiting for a reply that took time to be expressed. ¡°I don¡¯t know much kiddo but¡­ well if games make you happy we can play together.¡± ¡°you are missing a part Liwa¡± said Idra. ¡°oh¡­ how do you know? Doesn¡¯t matter¡­. Well I used to tell you stories when you were little. I did the same with Scilla. But well you know. It¡¯s not like we were rich so¡­ I invented them, well most of them.¡± ¡°so that¡¯s why your stories had like 40 chapters¡± ¡°yeah. I just invented them for you and each time added more, following your questions and desires. When Scilla started liking rpg stuff I hoped that one day we could do something together. But then she grew up, the war broke out and all became too difficult. I took all the jobs I could and lost sight of what was important. Can you give me a second chance?¡± What the fuck. How did she knew? Was she planning all this from the beginning? Wiola hugged Liwa that in the meanwhile dropped on her knees. She believed to be a failure as well as Kalina, she was not there when she was need. She didn¡¯t notice her wife trying to ruin her kid. ¡°I never hated you pama. I...[¡­]¡± Scilla took Idra aside. She wanted to know and wanted to thanks her. If Wiola and Liwa could get closer her sister would not suffer too much from being apart for long period of time. ¡°how did you know? Was this your plan all along?¡± ¡°I just analysed Liwa¡¯s behaviour. She is scared of me but she still tried to stop me believing that you were in danger. She can win her fears for her kids and doesn¡¯t interrupt Wiola when she is having fun. As fas as I can tell she believe that she failed you as well and probably thinks that you joined the army because she couldn''t bring in enough money. She thinks that there is no way you could ever see her as your pama I suppose. But she will always try to protect you.¡± ¡°don¡¯t tell me this bullshit from a shitty movie, I want to know how you did it¡± ¡°I just demonstrated you how. Intuition and analysis. But no it was never my plan, neither is getting closer to Wiola. Initially it was just a by-product of needed actions then I decided to use it to improve our bond. Also you like nerdy stuff too and Kalina is an idiot. So I just thought that it must have come from someone. You hardly have any friend and so does your sister, so I must have come from your pama.¡± ¡°haa¡­ I suppose you have my gratitude even if you had a second objective¡± ¡°no problem, we are friend after all.¡± That rounded up their evening of fight and reconciliation. It was now time to go to bed and unfortunately Scilla¡¯s plan to take Idra with her failed. Wiola wanted to sleep with Big sis and so she did. Idra retired in her ship. She walked into the closed door that she didn¡¯t show to Scilla. There a new corridor, on one side the medical bay. On the other the control stations for guns, scanners and so on. Then at the end a black door. Beyond that the real cockpit. A two pilot configuration with extremely tight seats and way too much bottoms. A small walking passage on both sides and a small indentation with a removable see trough panel for personal belongings. There she grabbed the only thing in it. A 3D printed 4 legs walker of Esterian origin. It only had 3 legs, the other was broken and placed beside. She petted it gently to then put it back in. She smiled and then walked away. Scilla was having yet another nightmare. Similar to the previous one that happened inside Natrix. It was so vivid that she couldn¡¯t tell if it was real. Logic says that it must have been fake but her brain didn¡¯t. She was walking on a path of fresh green moss. Around her 10 cm of water flowing everywhere as if she was walking inside a wide creek. Trees and moss popped out of the ice cold water that was totally clean. Then a small island of moss with some bushes and tees. A small figure, a child in a black suit enclosing all her body. On the face a gas mask lager than the kid skull. A dark grey mist was coming out of the filters ascending toward the sky. The kid was facing backward looking down and the base of a tree busy doing something unknown. Scilla moved forward to then ask the kid. ¡°hey kid? What are you doing?¡± But that scared the kid that tossed in the air whatever she was playing with, to then run as fast as she could. A creature that looked like an oversize rat had been skinned. Now it had cables and explosive sewed onto it. No time to run that the explosion hit her. She woke up still in the dream. Now confined to a hospital bed. 2 creature in front of her. They where Idras. One with 478 the other with 484 written on the suit. They were massive compared to Idra. Taller and more robust but the suit was similar. 478 took the lead. She moved to the bed. ¡°486 take it easy. The suit protected you. Do you get it now?¡± ¡°what am I getting?¡± 484 intrude in the conversation ¡°she must be disoriented, I suppose we can take some more time¡± ¡°time my ass. 511 is the one that cause the explosion. Now you see why we should imprison her right 486?¡± ¡°she is just a kid. How can we imprison her. We should take care of her not isolate her away¡± ¡°484! THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM?!? she almost killed one of us. She is not suitable to live outside nor in our community. What 8 years old skins animals alive to transform them into bombs? What fucking kid in the Founder name use a mass fabricator to build a flamethrower?¡± ¡°she is a genius and we can make her work. With time she will learn how to speak, how to feel empathy and will understand the animals around her. She just think differently. If¡­¡± ¡°THERE IS NO FUCKING IF!!. she is an aberration that should never see the sunlight again. What will she do if she find out how to build a spaceship? How many people will she kill if she lands on a different planet?¡± Then while the two are arguing Scilla¡¯s gaze is attached to a corner. The Idra that she saw before with the helmet open, yellow eyes but not face. The eyes were growing more and more suching her in. She was lost in them and come back to reality. She was back in her room but immediately something was wrong. Idra was in there illuminated by the moons¡¯ light. She was about to scream but Idra move faster and closed her mouth. ¡°what the fuck Scilla? Your sister is sleeping beside you¡± she whispered then she hinted with her head at the sleeping creature. ¡°the fuck are you doing in my room in the middle of the night you pervert creep¡± ¡°creep? Me? I was just looking at you sleeping while I waited¡± ¡°yeah, that¡¯s exactly what a fucking creep does. What¡­¡± ¡°did you had a nightmare?¡± ¡°is it obvious?¡± ¡°yeah. At first it was going fine but then you started moving around sweating¡± ¡°how long have you been there?¡± ¡°about 1 hour¡± ¡°why?¡± ¡°well I wanted to tell you something, but you were sleeping so I waited. Didn¡¯t thought that it was creepy. I use to stare at my sisters too¡± ¡°well it¡¯s creepy as fuck. So what do you want to tell me?¡± Only now, in the dim night light, Scilla notice an object in Idra¡¯s hands. It was a cheap toy replica of a heavy walkers in the Sheridan, one that she saw during their first contact. ¡°I wanted to say thanks you. Today it was fun. I had a lot of fun especially during the date. A learn a lot and I can see why people like to go to dates. So¡­ well just that¡­ o and I was almost forgot. This is for you¡± then Idra offered the plastic toy. ¡°I had a lot of fun too. But what is this? When did you buy it?¡± ¡°when you were peeing¡± ¡°I can¡¯t pee, I have no bladder¡± ¡°then when I was peeing¡± ¡°you didn¡¯t pee, I doubt you would do it in a public restroom anyway and also if you were peeing how could you buy it?¡± ¡°just shut up and take it¡± ¡°sure, do I have to treasure it? Or I can bring it around with me?¡± ¡°well¡­ emh.. do as you please¡­¡± why is she playing with her hands? She usually doesn¡¯t do that. Should I ask? Maybe there is something that she wants to tell me but she is unsure ¡°you know you can tell me everything right?¡± ¡°yeah...i know¡­ ¡­ it¡¯s just hard to say¡± ¡°take your time¡± Then Idra moved closer to the door. It was as if she was ready to run away, but she stopped. ¡°tomorrow¡­ you will see a lot of thing. You will find out a bit more about¡­ well about me. Just don¡¯t jump to conclusions¡­ can you do that for me?¡± ¡°you don¡¯t have to ask for something that easy. Have faith it me¡± ¡°I have a lot, I just don¡¯t know if that will ever be enough¡­ good night Scilla¡± Then she left immediately. Without hearing the reply. ¡°good night Idra¡±. chapter 19c: meeting Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 19c: meeting Rain. Heavy rain from the approaching thunderstorm marked the start of their day. Scilla was looking at the weather forecast but things were not going to get better. The city is covered with lighting rod but those will not stop the heavy rain and the wind. However the weather was not the only problem. Idra was nowhere to be found. She usually appear before Scilla wakes up yet she still didn¡¯t. She must be in her ship. I should at least try. Unconcerned of the storm she reached for Natrix, but the ship was silent. She nocked on the hull multiple time but all seemed death. Then she yelled to overcome the thunders noise. ¡°Idra. I know you are in there. Don¡¯t know what the problem is but we can talk about it. Let me in¡± --Access denied-- Replied a robotic voice. It must have been Natrix even if she thought it was going to sound more human. Actually it didn¡¯t sound like Idra¡¯s translated voice at all. It sounded more like an old voice synthesizer, but how could she know that it was the real Natrix. ¡°Natrix, let me in. I have to speak with her¡± --Access denied-- then she kicked the ship ¡°stupid machine good for nothing. At least tell her that the meeting with the Liin is suppose to happen at 13 at the HQ, you know the skyscraper where we met Dhalia¡± --Message delivered successfully-- No hope to get inside. I guess she must be worry for whatever is going to happen. But what could it be? Scilla waited in vain. When she had no more time she left to get ready for the meeting. At the HQ people had already gathered in mass. The Liin visit was an important event for most citizen and so despite the rain and being unable to attend they still gathered all around the Hakavor¡¯s complex to peek on their Liin. Their meeting was not something that required the federation assembly yet it was an important event that could go down in history. What started as a small talk become a slightly bigger event to which some assembly members are going to attend as witnesses. For similar reason the only Esterian¡¯s ambassador decided to attend as well. Scilla already advised that Idra won¡¯t even speak to them and that more guest will only make her angrier but she was ignored. Scilla also pointed out the futility of keeping the Liin¡¯s bodyguards but she was once again ignored. The Esterian¡¯s ambassador was the first to invite himself and in their mind they thought they could do the same, to a certain extend. All 10 Leans witnesses arrived together with the ambassador. For a total of 11 uninvited people. Between them: the head of the Hakavor, Allium Hakavor who is Dhalia¡¯s grandmother, a couple of Lineic wardens, and the rest were basically male Ittiri. At 12:00 the Liin¡¯s transport ship arrived. First, 8 of Liin¡¯s personal guards, then the Liin in all her magnificence and then 8 more guards. 228 cm of total whiteness, she was an extremely rare albino Lean. Her guards covering her from the rain as she slowly walked toward the building. Her face was slander with a long horizontal scar cutting all her forehead. It was a leftover of the extermination war. The Liin armour redesigned only for her was built around sharp angles to increase bullet deviation. It was painted with a mix of red and grey the colour of her people and the colour of the material themselves. Heavy as all their armour but radiating a feeling of protection, of authority achieved through straggles and inhuman strength. Before becoming the Liin, Serafia Csuicha was the general chief of the Lean¡¯s army. A chief hard to forget, she was there with her women fighting and calculating their next move. She become especially known after the ¡°bloodbath of Simuri¡± when she stayed behind to allow the extraction of wounded soldiers from the front HQ. She survived alone against an army for 35:39 hours before reinforcement arrived. Once the cavalry was there she had overcome the entire army now scattered in panic. Those who got there define the view as a hell of only blood and carnage. There are some photos taken in the moment. The most known was taken at dusk, the sun setting behind some buildings. Everything is red. Puddles of blood on the ground, Droxi¡¯s viscus all over buildings and streets. The Liin standing looking over the camera totally soaked in blood and with some organic tissues stuck to the armour. It was a sublime vision for Leans and a horrifying view for everybody else. The meeting room was similar to Dhalia¡¯s office but bigger. It had 2 sides with windows capable to block unwanted external eyes and 2 side with normal walls. Inside a platform with a pair of steps so it was higher than the rest of the room. Then an electronic board, which is basically a big touchscreen computer, and a desk to allow easier explanations. On said platform they added 2 of the best armchairs they could find. One for the Liin and one for their guest. In front of this structure 2 long tables with electrical plugs of any kind and enough chairs for all the attendants, after all it was a meeting room. On the side a small ¡°built in living room¡± a low coffee table with couches and additional armchairs. A pair of tables, some classic office supplies such as a water dispenser. Liin Csuicha sat on her armchair and called to her side both Scilla and Dhalia. In contrast to what people could think all of them served in the army and had the pleasure to be friend before being their title. On the electronic board all videos from the security drones looking at Natrix. Even the smaller information could provide benefits in their soon to be done ¡°friendly meeting¡±. The 16 guards positioned themselves all around the room, ready to defend their Liin. Then Scilla whispered to both Csuicha and Dhalia. ¡°I say this again. She won¡¯t like seeing so many people especially the one armed. I can¡¯t guarantee for her behaviour¡± ¡°I know Lis you already told us so¡± replied the Liin ¡°doesn¡¯t seems so¡±. Time passed and Natrix was still at Scilla¡¯s house platform. Both Hakavor¡¯s drones and the government one were looking at it, waiting for its departure. At 12:40 Natrix lift off the platform. The storm was hitting with all its might. Lighting kept on dropping down, some hit the ship that was totally unfazed. It was as if even the sky was trying to warn them of the imminent events. Immediately all scanners were pointed on it ready to track its route. In contrast to their expectation Natrix, instead of moving toward the HQ, moved in the opposite direction toward the city outskirts. She was going so fast in atmosphere that they couldn¡¯t keep up. All the people already in the HQ meeting room were looking at the scene astonished but only few could understand the real implications. Liin Csuicha was worried, the ship probably had done at least a 20g almost instant acceleration, something like that is not a joke for the ship nor for the pilot. Whatever Scilla brought in was not going to be an easy prey not even for her. Then the ship disappeared even from the scanners. Panic spread immediately, the thunderstorm blocked direct satellite view and high altitude drones. VTOL were sent out immediately but before they could reach the last position in the old industrial district the ship reappeared. Now it was going back toward the meeting point slowly due to a little extra weight hanging underneath it. The board was showing the different view of the ship that was carrying a cargo container. A long metal chain ending with a massive electromagnet linked the container to the ship 10 meters above it. On the metal flying box they could see 4 humanoid figure. Metal androids with strange changing colours disturbed by the raining falling on them. Is this stupid box the reason she didn¡¯t answer this morning? Don¡¯t think so, she must have prepared it before somehow. If I have to guess her android can move undetected as she did on the Sheridan, still I¡¯m a bit upset. I would have kept the secret. The container was clearly something that was prepared but what was it? Then the army initialized a call with the meeting room. They were not the only one that were worried. ¡°My Liin, the recording shows unknown elements. The container is not one of ours, no production marks on it. It¡¯s shielded against electromagnetic scans. The machines on top appear to be androids of some kind and are armed. We don¡¯t know how she got them out there we are sorry¡­¡± ¡°enough excuses. Lis you know her best. What is she doing¡± Scilla was absorbed in her mind so she didn¡¯t hear the Liin call. ¡°LIS! What is she doing?¡± ¡°oh, sorry Liin Csuicha. As far as I can tell she is bringing a gift. Don¡¯t know if it¡¯s for you or¡­¡± ¡°a gift?¡± ¡°probably. Apparently she likes them or something like that. It¡¯s not really that easy to follow her logic¡± ¡°what about the droids? Where did she get the container from?¡± ¡°the big box probably is one of hers or she built one. She moved toward the old industrial zone so she had plenty of metal to take and re-use¡­¡± ¡°is she capable of building a container with no industry around?¡± ¡°no idea. I know nothing of the droids. I know that she has flying drones and heavy walkers but nothing more.¡± ¡°so in conclusion you don¡¯t think it¡¯s a threat?¡± ¡°not for me, but I can¡¯t tell for everybody else in here. As I stated before she doesn¡¯t like people and I¡¯m sure she won¡¯t be pleased to see so many. The container? Probably a gift of some kind, maybe it¡¯s full of rocks that she found interesting or mutilated corpses. Who knows. It won¡¯t kill us, but can¡¯t say that she won¡¯t.¡± ¡°that is enough, you already express your concerns¡± ¡°yeah, and as before none were taken in consideration. What happen to the ¡®I know her better¡¯ hah? She will follow her contract with me and that¡¯s it.¡± at 13:00 Natrix was there, floating above the landing zone. It dropped the container right beside it and then slowly lower itself. She is late, she is never late. If you tell her 13:00 she appears at 13:00:00 so why the extra time? What is she planning? Was this the faith she wanted from me? I¡¯m not gonna get angry for some delay or because she didn¡¯t speak with me about her ideas. Then the landing. As soon as it stooped a square of darkness embraced the ship and slowly something appeared at the front. None could hear a quiet Whisper coming from the darkness in such raging storm. First 2 humanoid armed robots, the same as the one that are now patrolling around the container. Then 4 heavy walkers followed by 6 flying drones that scattered around scanning the few nearby people. Finally under all the rain she appeared. There in her 180 cm dark suit. The hexagonal pattern less visible than usual and that looked more alive. The goo twitched under the rain and re-arrange along the extra armour plates. On her insignias written vertically the number 511 in a dark green and in a font that made the numbers look as if they were bleeding their colour. The waist insignia was replaced by a bigger one that covered the legs entirely and was more like a pointy long skirt. On the upper part she had the same insignia on the left shoulder and an additional one on her back that was basically a half poncho only for the back. On her head 3 prisms made of a dark crystal ending with a tetrahedral tip, the black goo was partially connected to them. The middle structure was bigger than the other 2 by its side. They resembled a crown of some kind. Pistol and SMG on her sides, an unknown rifle on her right shoulder. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. She took her time to reach the meeting room. The walker were too heavy to use the elevator so she left them at the entrance. Once she arrived she stopped on the other side of the entrance. Time to shine Then all electronics in the building, connecting to it, transmitting to it or even pointing at it stopped working. She was in all informatics systems around the HQ and inside it. This action made all soldiers and guards panic. They tried to get back their security systems but there was no hope. Then on all screens, right in the middle a strange word. IDRA All Liin¡¯s guards had gathered around her scared of possible unknown action coming from Idra. ¡°put the weapons down guards. You will only make things harder for me¡± ¡°sorry our Liin¡± then the door bust open and on the other side 3 Idra, a couple of flying drones and 2 androids. Oh boy she is gonna make a show then finally she spoke, through the room audio system, while her and her copies walked slowly inside the room. ¡°I see a lot of people. Lots of new faces that I never saw before. How... irritating!¡± the Liin replied from her position on the platform¡¯s armchair. ¡°they all come to see you in such memorable event, as witnesses for our talk and our future¡± ¡°cut me out from your bullshit, creature. I¡¯m not here for pretty games.¡± Then 2 out of the 3 Idras jumped on the tables, walking on top of them and looking at each uninvited guest. The last one was walking in circle around the Liin shielded by her guards. ¡°I thought you were both braver and smarter. Guards, against me? Really?¡± ¡°as you can¡¯t go around weaponless, I can¡¯t let my guards leave my side. now¡­¡± ¡°nah nah nah miss, we play at my pace not yours.¡± The Idras on the tables climbed down and one moved toward the Esterian ambassador. The poor dude was shaking. ¡°let me guess, you believed we sent you a friend?¡± ¡°No...I...I¡­ I¡¯m¡­¡± What is she doing? Is she threatening her own companion if he could be call so. ¡°relax mister¡­ relax. I¡¯m not here for you, quite the opposite. You are doing a splendid job here.¡± guess not, is she her superior? Then the man bowed like a knight and stayed as such. ¡°I don¡¯t deserve such high words from you¡± ¡°flatteries. How nostalgic¡± ¡°mine are no flatteries, I¡¯m stating the truth. You inspired me to become an ambassador for our people. Also you saved my nephew from a painful death burnt alive. I can¡¯t dare to stand as your peer¡± He is a fan of hers? Then who the fuck is she? ¡°the little blonde kid, like 4 years old in the burning house in Livira¡± ¡°you remember her¡­ I¡± the man started crying, probably, and bowed down even lower as if he was about to kiss her feet. Then all Idras disappeared at the same time. One appeared beside Scilla. This was real, the voice was coming from her. ¡°Stand ambassador. It¡¯s an order.¡± The man stood immediately as Idra moved closer to him. Then she put a hand on his shoulder. ¡°I need no admiration, but it¡¯s good to know that she is doing fine. Now back to business¡± Then she moved the other hand in front of him. The ambassador immediately grabbed the hand and the goo on Idra suit expand a bit making a connection. ¡°ottimo lavoro (good job)¡± ¡°fiero di non averla delusa (proud for not disappointing you)¡± then the hand shake stopped and the man took a chair and moved to a corner of the room waiting further instructions. I can¡¯t tell if it was programmed or not. But that hand shake seems suspicious. The Liin tried to take the lead again. ¡°I suppose it was natural to prioritize your kind, now shall we¡­¡± ¡°what did I told you?. I¡¯m the one that define how things goes¡± The guards were irritated, after all she was totally disrespectful toward their ¡°queen¡±. One of them clung to her weapon. That was a mistake. It all happen in instant. The sound of the armour moving and then the bang on the floor. The armour moved by itself and lied on the ground. Metallic noises coming from it, the soldier inside was trying to force it to move but with no success. ¡°You better be thankful, as far as I know Scilla would probably define you as allies so I can¡¯t kill you. This is why I told you that guards are useless. If I wanted to kill you I would have done it already. None can win against Idra.¡± Csuicha, as well as all the present, understood the true power balance in the room. If you let her too close your technology has no way out. Which isn¡¯t much in an archaic situation but now almost all armours and weapons work thanks to electronic components. She couldn¡¯t help herself and laugh, better start to be friendlier. ¡°so what do you suggest miss Weeping Sky right?¡± ¡°hm, let¡¯s see¡­ how about you take the broom out of your ass and come to the comfy area?¡± Then she sat on one of the couches on the sided of the room. She then patted the space beside her. ¡°Scilla do you mind joining me?¡± ¡°not at all. In the meanwhile can you unlock my phone?¡± ¡°why?¡± ¡°to call Wiola, I¡¯m sure people are already shitting themselves due to your hacking thing. She is surely worrying to death.¡± ¡°oh, yeah sure¡± Saying so Scilla phone unlocked, no more IDRA all over it. So she sat beside her and message Wiola. Then the Liin arrived and sat on the couch opposite to hers. It was obvious as the storm in the sky that Idra cared only for Scilla. She was about to speak but Idra was faster. ¡°Dhalia get your ass over here too. This shit is your fault.¡± the guards were unsure but the Liin followed Idra¡¯s request. ¡°now we are talking. So speak freely creature¡± Csuicha was not happy at all. But for now she had no solution. ¡°As you can tell I¡¯m the Liin Serafia Csuicha leading all Leans toward a better future and I suppose it could pass through you as well¡± ¡°you suppose correctly but what is a Liin?¡± What? She doesn¡¯t know? She agreed to a meeting without knowing? ¡°oh, emh, I¡¯m basically the head of the Lean federation. Liin is just the technical name but if it¡¯s easier for you I¡¯m basically the queen of the Leans, sort of.¡± ¡°oh, and so you go my Liin Csuicha?¡± ¡°usually yes. But I will make an exception for you.¡± ¡°how gracious act for a mere scavenger, well I¡¯m Idra 511 Weeping Sky. Idra for friends.¡± ¡°I suppose there is more to you than just a scavenger. Your ambassador seemed to treat you with extreme respect¡± ¡°it¡¯s true. But what am I exactly?. Inside the Esterian¡¯s Tech-Union or ETU we live almost like you do. Technocracies rule the planets while the Union of them rules above all. I have no standard place in those. I¡¯m a remnant of the Founder and technically I possess the entirety of the Weeping Sky solar system¡± Nobody ever heard of such rank, nor had an idea of what I could be. But she let out really juicy information. First of all the Esterian¡¯s domain is basically a community of technocracies. That explains why they are so advanced. Her case however must be different because apparently Weeping Sky can be bought. So Scilla asked mostly out of her own curiosity. ¡°when we met you said that you have no ranks such as queens and alikes but you are a monarch?¡± ¡°haha nah girl. Weeping Sky is a special case. It¡¯s under direct authority of a remnant.¡± ¡°and so what is a remnant?¡± ¡°me¡± ¡°I¡¯m not stupid I got it the first time you said it. I don¡¯t know what you do¡± ¡°oh, mmh we solve problems. Clear now?¡± ¡°not really, what do you mean by we?¡± ¡°it means that there were more remnants, yet now we are few. Nixie 112, Likho 52 and baubas 98. I have said enough for you to understand¡± Connecting all the dots, it was obvious that she was way more important than what one could believe. Those remnants of the Founder must have a lot of power. They are probably special forces use to fix extreme problems, or maybe they are called when they can¡¯t decide. Hard to tell maybe they are like an external force called to be impartial when problems arise. Or so almost all the participants thought. All expect the ambassador that knew the truth and Scilla. So she is indeed linked to the Founder. If they know how to build people I would think that she is probably a female version of the founder or maybe he had a kid and she is a clone of said kid. That would explain a lot. But I¡¯m not sure if she is the only one or the same goes for the other remnants. Maybe they are modified clones. All the data says that she has a high rank that is outside from all the conventional roles. Still why 511 Idras but so few of the others. Why 511 Idras? What is their purpose, their original one. Why were they built or grown. Even with all this mystery I can¡¯t stop liking her, this uncertainty only pulls me closer. Then Idra stood up. She moved around looking for a bottle of water and a pair of glasses. They were already been prepared on the ¡°designated conversation site¡± so she just took those and walked back. With her probes she scanned everything just in case. Then she poured water in the 2 glasses that she took, and hand over one to Scilla. ¡°thirsty?¡± ¡°not really but why not¡± Then she opened her helmet to reveal her mouth. It was the first time seeing the skin of an Esterian for most of them. Now their misconception that Esterian are still humans was consolidated. Then the Liin spoke again trying to start the conversation again. ¡°I see you and commander Lis are really good friend, am I right?¡± ¡°indeed we are. She was also my first for a lot of things¡± That phrase could be easily misunderstood and indeed it was. Scilla totally surprise split the water and started coughing. All the others were shocked, they thought of a possibility but soon it was took away from their hands. ¡°Scilla you ok?¡± as she patted her on the back ¡°fucking (cough) hell Idra. You know what you just said?¡± ¡°yep, I said that you have been the first to do a lot of things with me. Did I miss something?¡± ¡°yes! you missed the part where you say it was nothing sexual¡± ¡°why should there be anything sexual? You are the first non Esterian that I let live, the first to whom I speak peacefully, the first to even get close to my ship. And the list goes on, didn¡¯t want to state all so I cut the phrase. Where does the sexual implication come from? Would you mind telling me?¡± it was crystal clear that she had not idea at all of how misleading her phrase was, but her short conversation cleared all suspicious. ¡°not now, I will explain it later¡± Csuicha cleared her throat. ¡°well¡­ set...set aside your relationship¡± ¡°we are friend not that hard to understand¡± ¡°well set that aside shall we speak about our interests and why this meeting in the first place. We shall know each other better than just strangers¡± chapter 20c: remnant Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 20c: remnant ¡°well set that aside shall we speak about our interests and why this meeting in the first place. We shall know each other better than just strangers¡± said Liin Csuicha. ¡°what a pain in the ass. Would it kill you to be more direct you dumb cunt?¡± reply Idra. Obviously she wanted to instigate the Liin. ¡°Idra?!¡± replied Scilla. She was still trying to get a polite discussion out of that mess. ¡°I will take that as permission to do as I please¡± ¡°you have taken enough cocks to know how you should take this one too¡± The Liin¡¯s guards were getting angry but they couldn¡¯t react. Their armour were stuck in place. ¡°then I will go right to the point. Your people have massive influence over the current balance of nations. You accepted the contract with the Hakavors that by definition are under my rule. In said contract there is a small part that says that if you want you could do more jobs for us. I want to expand that part¡­¡± Idra interrupted with a long sigh, she stretched and then lied her head down on Scilla¡¯s lap. Her legs were comfortable especially because Scilla was just wearing her formal uniform. Idra than moved to face the celling and started playing with her glass, throwing it up in the air and caching it back without breaking it. ¡°what are you doing?¡± continued Csuicha. ¡°relaxing and killing time¡± ¡°am I comfortable?¡± intruded Scilla. ¡°yep.¡± ¡°never mind. So I was saying¡­¡± tried again Csuicha. A long yawn interrupted her again. ¡°Scilla I¡¯m bored. When are we going home?¡± ¡°when you finish speaking with the Liin¡± ¡°ok.¡± then she looked at the Liin. ¡°conversation over. So Scilla are we going now?¡± All the room was staring at her. It was obvious that Idra had absolutely no intention to even consider Csuicha speech. Such strong rejection was a problem even for Scilla. Why is she making it so complicated. If she only cares about me then it will make me look as if I¡¯m challenging the Liin authority. This is no a problem if it stays inside this walls, but if it gets out, the opposition will try to bring down Serafia and fucking hell if we need her in power. What can I do?¡­ wait maybe¡­ ¡°will you take her seriously if I reward you?¡± Those few words revived Idra from her boredom. She was now back sitting next to her. ¡°so if I talk with her you will own me a favour? One more to the one you already own me?¡± ¡°well the one with Wiola is a smaller one isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°I agree, so this one is a big favour right?¡± ¡°well I¡­¡± ¡°say it¡± ¡°ok, it¡¯s a big favour so would you¡­¡± Idra¡¯s ominous laugh filled the room. She accepted the proposal. Then she stare at the Liin. Her voice was different, it was filled with joy, a creepy joy. ¡°maybe we started with the wrong foot. You wanted to know me, then look at the screen¡± On the screen a top view image of what looked like a pair of cottages inside a forest. The image was being taken with an IR (infrared) camera and it had an overlay full of censored data. Probably it was a drone view flying in high atmosphere. Then the camera switched to a thermal one for an instant to then move again to a third one. This last camera was showing blurred outline of humanoid creatures inside the 2 distant buildings. Then a male voice. ¡°Sef1 we have aerial view. Confirmed 26 hostile entities in the complex.¡± Then the camera zoom out and now 8 small dots appeared in the surrounding forest. They were marked as Sef1 to Sef8. ¡°fuck, they are a lot. Arca3 can you get in their communication? Reinforcement time?¡± ¡°Reinforcement estimated deploy time 2 hours 21 minutes. They won¡¯t show up in time Sef1. We are working on the comu¡­¡± the audio cut and then a female voice, different from Idra¡¯s, spoke. ¡°Hi hi the cavalry is here. Remnant Nixie 112 taking over the commander position. Your mission has be modified. Your are now assigned as support to remnant Idra 511.¡± In one of the corners of the screen a small live feed of a creature speaking. Totally covered by the suit but drastically different from Idra¡¯s suit. That was Nixie 112 or so was written on the screen. Then a second but totally distorted video popped up below it. It was marked as Idra 511. The small video looked like an old CRT TV without signal. Then a series of breath and machine sounds heavily disturbed. ¡°Idra is saying hi¡± added Nixie. then Arca3 replied to Nixie. ¡°Remnant it¡¯s a pleasure to have you with us. We are at your orders.¡± On the video a new dot appeared. It was distant in the forest, but fast. Marked as Idra it was moving in such dense forest at 58 km/h, an inhuman speed on a street even more inhuman in a forest. On the aerial view a series of dotted line appears. Patterns to followed. Then back to Nixie. ¡°Sef1 to Sef4 move to designed position AE9.8 then get ready with the rocket launcher.¡± ¡°roger¡± ¡°Sef 5 to Sef8 go down the hill and get on the other side. Get ready to shoot down fleeing hostile entities running toward sector JU3.1¡± ¡°on the move remnant¡± Idra was getting closer and closer. Then enemy communication got hacked by Idra. A woman was yelling angry and anxious at someone, probably her buddy in crime. ¡°what the fuck did you had in your fucking mind you useless dickhead. We need a new plant immediately¡± than the man replied. ¡°what you mean a new plan. They should have just a couple of soldier out there. We are 26, we can kill them with some casualties¡± then a slap. ¡°you don¡¯t fucking get it. Why the hell did you had to shot at the kid. You doomed us all¡± ¡°it¡¯s just a death kid. What could be the problem. We will be able to go for a bigger assault before they could react¡± A second slap, or maybe it was a punch. The woman, that seems to be the head of the group, was now terrified and hysterical. ¡°there will be no fucking assault. We won¡¯t survive this night.¡± The aerial view zoomed on the further way house. Only 5 men guarding it. Idra was almost there. ¡°you still didn¡¯t get it? She is coming. I know she is and when she reaches us there won¡¯t be any mercy¡± Then the view immediately moved to Idra¡¯s helmet. She appeared out of the forest, right in front of one of the guards. Her left arm impaled the guy in the stomach. Blood flowing out of his armour as she lifted the dying man coughing blood. Most of his face was covered by military gears but not his mouth dripping copious amount of blood on her arm. Meanwhile with the right arm she pulled her gun. A strange automatic pistol built to make almost no sound. She fired exactly 4 shot while lifting the man. 2 toward the guards outside and 2 through the window. All bullets were oriented to pass through the small gaps in their helmets and kill them. Then she stared at the one on her arm as he desperately grabbed her trying to call for help until his very last moment. Back to Nixie. ¡°5 down. Rocket squad get ready, 85 seconds. Team ambush for you its 117 seconds. Enemy routes on your HUDs¡± Then again the conversation from the hostile creatures. Now it was the man replying. ¡°what the fuck are you saying. There are no more Idras, they are all dead.¡± The woman was crying and sobbing. She knew that it was over. ¡°there is a new one you fucking idiot. And she is a damn monster¡± ¡°we will be fine. Let me call the outer guards¡± and that was the moment that started the panic. Nobody from the outer guards picked up the call. Nobody could. But his call was redirected, to Idra. The man was just hearing an extremely distorted dying man coughing blood and gasping for air. It was the guard that she impaled just before. The same sound was transmitted to all the available speaker spreading panic instantly. Letting the enemy hear their dying comrades was Idras¡¯ signature. Most rushed out in panic, a new Idra was after them. A group tried to reach for their transport vehicle but at the exact moment they opened its door the rocket from Sef3 hit causing a massive explosion. Then Sef1-4 opened fire to the one left alive from the blast. Electromagnetic weapons shredded through their armour, their burning escape vehicle and their walls. It was a hell of bullets meant to reduce every single one of them to pieces. On the other side running for their life other men rushed toward the forest but Sef5-8 were ready and ambushed them. Screams of agony echoed through out the valley as bullets pierced their organs cutting bronchi, throats, muscles and arteries. Idra rushed in that bullet storm to get inside the house. A pair of legs was thrown from a window immediately after. Then when all was almost over and the Sef squad was closing in, the final communication. The video was showing Sef1 camera what was staring at a window on the upper floor of the building. It was the woman again. She was begging. ¡°please, please, please it was him not me! I was forced! I didn¡¯t want to! Please! I can give you informations. NO! STAY AWAY FROM ME! PL...¡± Then the window was covered in blood. On the other side Idra. She was staring at the soldiers and just stood there with her black bloody suit. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Then Nixie spoke again. Her voice was pure happiness. ¡°good men. Get your asses back at base I¡¯m gonna make you cookies¡± ¡°urra! Are you the one making them?¡± ¡°yep which one would you like? Does chocolate chips with chocolate filling sound good?¡± ¡°you are amazing Remant Nixie¡± ¡°haha, thanks, they will be the reward for coming back all safe and sound. Idra want to join us for the mission success celebration?¡± No sound coming from her. Then she broke the window and jumped out. The black goo was moving all around tossing away the blood and cleaning the suit. She had some strange mechanical extensions at her legs. The she finally spoke in a calm and cold voice. ¡°silence¡± As she said so she immediately ran off toward the forest disappearing. She disappeared even from the radars. Nixie let out a sigh. ¡°maybe she will join us next time. Don¡¯t take it personally folks, she...(redacted)....¡± ¡°we know Remnant Nixie¡± replied Sef1 ¡°we or at least I¡­¡± ¡°we captain, we¡­¡± replied Sef3. ¡°well we just hope that one day she could...(redacted).... We took Idras for granted for way to long. It¡¯s time to show them that we can stand by ourself, or at least together with the others remnants.¡± Then the video stopped. Disbelieve. The video just seen was the first footage from an Esterian device but that was not the important part. It was directly taken from a military operation and shown clearly several things: her strength, her ruthlessness, her people coordination and most importantly her rank. The video showed clearly what kind of problems she solves and how important she is. Csuicha was now starting to understand how dangerous she really is. Her strength was not brute force but thinking. Perfect prediction, fast hacking and movement. She was unstoppable. Electronics bend to her will and the world follows her commands. There is no way to stop her if you get her angry. Probably every single thing she did so far was calculated to get them where she wanted and indeed it was, almost. On the other hand, totally unaffected by Idra¡¯s video, Scilla was already thinking about how to use this new acquied information for her gain. She may be less powerful than our Liin but look at that. She knew before engaging how people were going to behave, as if she could see the future. Her calculations were perfect and with them she led Sef to victory with not even a scratch on their armour. If she does the same for us then nobody from my squad will ever be hurt or at least the number of causalities will drop. She is just fucking amazing. Plus she punished those fuckers that shot a kid. I would have done the same. Then Idra spoke. Her voice was enough to freeze them in position. Now even the slowest thinker in the room had caught up to how threatening her mere existence was. ¡°I suppose you got it now?¡± ¡°I would say that I¡¯m indeed impressed by your capabilities¡± ¡°now that you know me¡­ what is the colour of the Liin¡¯s eyes?¡± That felt different. Idra changed topic in the middle of her sentence. Something wasn¡¯t right. Then the ambassador spoke. ¡°white, almost as her skin¡± ¡°do you all agree?¡± replied Idra. It was not a thing that has really anything to be discussed. Serafia had indeed white eyes, as all albino Leans does. So why was she so interested. Then once most agreed on the colour a sudden movement. She was in front of the Liin, one foot on the floor the other on the couch, her hand flow in a flash right beside the Liin head. Csuicha was able to extract her pocket knife and pointed it at Idra¡¯s throat even if it was a bit pointless considering the armour. ¡°good reflex but you were not my target¡± Then she pulled back and sat again. Scilla was about to say something that Idra opened her hand revealing 3 small self-sealing empty tubes. She was looking at them. Csuicha was strangely concerned more for the vials then from what just happened. ¡°Scilla, do you see anything in them?¡± ¡°was I suppose to see something?¡± ¡°mmh whatever I will run some tests later on the ship.¡± --anomaly detected-- ¡°keep track of it. Inject suppressor¡± Then she put the vials away in her small backpack. Those that were present as witnessed were still incredulous and so Scilla spoke to break the silence. ¡°never thought you where the melee type¡± ¡°cause I¡¯m not. It just happened that I wanted to play a bit with my...prey!.¡± as she said so she jumped toward Scilla. Face to face, her goo moved through all the armour and was now on her hands converting her fingers in long sharp claws. ¡°are you afraid of me?¡± Scilla however putted her harm under Idra¡¯s armpit and lifted her up like a cat. ¡°afraid? I¡¯m exited, I¡¯m euphoric to the idea of having you. Together we could do so many things. Our operations will drastically improve¡­ you could do so much for us and especially for me that I¡¯m starting to believe that I¡¯m in a coma. This is just too good to be real¡± Idra let out a second ominous laugh that gradually changed to a happy and joyful one. Then she launch herself toward Scilla grabbing onto her, to then move like a monkey on her shoulders. She put her legs across Scilla¡¯s torso to fix herself in position. Her groin on Scilla¡¯s neck and as soon as she was in position she started patting and playing with Scilla¡¯s hair. I must stay calm, she is just playing around. ¡°you are gargantuan, so this is how it feels to be a mountain¡± the celling was high enough for her to almost stand on Scilla¡¯s shoulders so she was able to play around pretty easily. She was in fact constantly moving like a hyperactive kid. In particular she liked to bend over Scilla¡¯s head to be able to stare at her upside-down. ¡°you learned a new word¡± ¡°yes, you like it¡± ¡°maybe a bit to refined for your standards¡± ¡°what standards?¡± ¡°exactly¡± A moment of silence both from them and from all the presents. Idra was totally different. Hard to believe that there was the same person inside that black suit of hers. Normal people couldn¡¯t even get close to her while Scilla can lift her up like a cat as if nothing is happening. Then Idra spoke again. ¡°what a pain. Your friends don¡¯t seem to appreciate me that much. I even prepare a gift for them¡± ¡°they are just a bunch of grumpy politicians, you have to be patient with them¡± ¡°what if I don¡¯t? I¡¯m free, I¡¯m strong, I have power. I could peel their faces off and use their tits to make a flesh pillow¡± Scilla was going for a risky move, taking the lead and side with her to satisfy Idra¡¯s curiosity and thirst for suffering. Few misspoken words could end in a mess but that was the only way. ¡°well if you are patient you can calculate more and manipulate them more. So you can optimize your gain, be it information or don¡¯t know, something you may need I guess.¡± ¡°fair point. Would you mind moving closer to the windows?¡± ¡°let me guess, showing off your gift?¡± ¡°yep¡± then Scilla stood up and moved with Idra on her shoulders toward the window that faced the landing zone. ¡°so what is inside the loot box?¡± ¡°haha, it¡¯s a beautiful gift. Unfortunately I had just a couple of days so it¡¯s not much but I tried.¡± ¡°they are not shiny rocks, leaves or chunks of wood right?¡± ¡°Fuck! I should have gone for the coloured leaves¡± ¡°Idra, I¡¯m joking¡­¡± ¡°then fuck you this time.¡± ¡°so what is inside?¡± ¡°a problem and I will let you take a decision. I looked for something I could do for your kind and I found those.¡± Then she moved Scilla¡¯s head to face the screen. All the present stare at it as the Idra symbol faded to let space for a live streaming of the inside of the container. Inside at least 10 Leans beaten up but still alive. ¡°those are the worst criminal around. Your laws kill them too, I just gathered them¡± Then the camera inside the container started moving around, stopping for each creature. Paedophiles, all of them. On screen all the needed information to evaluate the case: names, crimes done, victims, evidence of child abuse of any kind, chat between them with their victories. It was a horrible show of sickness, one so awful to scar you forever if you look at it for too long. Scilla¡¯s blood was boiling, her rage was beyond any limit. She had a soft spot for kids, after all she wanted at least one. Knowing that someone was still alive after ruining such innocent lives was not at option. However it was a spiky situation. Between the captured Leans one was a daughter of a member of the federation assembly. Secondly letting an external entity enforce the law as she pleased was not a good sign of power. People started speaking between them, they needed a solution, but all their words were just noise for the only one that had the power to change events. Then Scilla shouted. ¡°SILENCE!!¡± Her cheeks were opening, she was sending a clear sign to not oppose her. Her yell was so powerful to shake even the windows and the bones of the attendants. Idra dismounted from her shoulders and place herself in front of her. Once she landed her suit¡¯s goo spiked a bit but return immediately to normal. --anomaly detected-- ¡°fucking fix it!¡± ¡°those fucking piece of shit touched a kid! there is nothing to discuss!¡± said Scilla angrily. Idra then replied satisfied from her answer. ¡°I agree my friend. Child abuser should die in absolute pain. Just tell me how much pain should they receive?¡± as she said so the screen changed again. Now it was divided in 2. On the left part, a simulation of a flamethrower on humanoid creature. Effective and painful. ¡°this is the first option, but I have prepared more¡± Then on the right there was a Petri dish filled with something that looked like skin. Then a strange liquid was poured onto it. Immediately it started to deform reacting in pain. It was the metabolic waste that she already used on Scilla but more powerful. ¡°lastly I have this¡± Then she pulled out from her pocket a small auto-injector with a black fluid in it. It was the powerful metabolic waste. The one she promised to never use again. Her suit spiked again. --anomaly detected-- --anomaly isolated-- ¡°I didn¡¯t use it, but if you want it¡¯s all yours. Just tell me what to do Scilla.¡± However Scilla still had a heart, she couldn¡¯t use that damn injector. ¡°flames are not enough. Don¡¯t use the injector neither. The ban also applies to me¡± Idra retracted her hand and putted away the fluid. ¡°you did the right choice. I don¡¯t like hypocrites. Let them suffer¡± Then just a bit of nebulized fluid was injected inside the container and then it burst open. The Leans inside rushed out gasping for air, some started couching blood, other started peeling naturally. On some a necrosis process started on others their blood vessels started breaking. It was terrible, screams of agonizing pain echoed in all the complex and beyond it. Some guards tried to get near but the androids shot at their feet. The heavy walkers rushed out to grab the security guards and moved them away. Too close and they would get caught in some left over particles. During all this Scilla was staring at her decision unfolding before her eyes. They must suffer, I don¡¯t care if the worlds sees this, we must punish those bastartds. The attendants and in particular the few that could move were starting to fear for their safety, so they were mentally preparing for being attacked. Almost coincidentally as the Liin stood up Idra started laughing ominously looking out of the window, but something wasn¡¯t right. Her suit was spiking again and way too much. --core anomaly detected-- --artefact unstable-- --unknown reaction from the artefact-- ¡°shut down suit power supply. Redirect body surplus to suit systems¡± --brain division weakening-- Idra¡¯s suit was spiking even more without control. Its surface looked like an extremely noisy signal. Something wasn¡¯t right. On the room main screen a series of ID, position and crimes appeared. It was building itself piece by piece but it was showing more and more glitches as it progressed. Scilla moved to Idra, she understood that she was not going well. ¡°Idra what is happening, how can I help you?¡± ¡°I have to get out. I have to get out immediately!¡± Then Idra tried to run toward the door, but it was too late. On the screen a new criminal was identified, it was an Ittiro present in the room, near the door. --bbrain dddviisionn weaaakknnning (brain division weakening)-- --iiisolationn fffailled (isolation failed)-- --shutshutshutttinng ddownn (shutting down)-- --enemy detected-- chapter 21c: release Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 21c: release --enemy detected-- No delay, Idra rotated on herself so fast to appear as a black undefined mass. Then a sudden stop and an explosion of blood. One of the attendant, the Ittiro Samiri Haergo was no longer there. Something hit him with so much force that his upper half was reduced to a stew. Small pieces of his body flew around scattering blood everywhere. Idra was behind what was left. Her posture was the same as the one in the just seen video but her figure was changing. The suit was adapting while still spiking from times to times. Those nearby without a gas mask started hallucinating and dropped in fear. Fortunately for them they won¡¯t be part of what was coming. --unknown disturb detected. Connection network damaged. Machine control failed. I¡¯m on my own. Armed entities ahead. No hostile marker. Disarm entities-- Her hacking wasn¡¯t working properly. Something was disturbing it, but she had bigger problem. The Liin¡¯s guards and the Liin herself were now free from her influence. The droids were disconnected and the ambassador was not a combatant so she couldn¡¯t count on him. She had an idea why those creature were picking up their weapons, but they were not enemies. Time to disarm some creatures. She dashed toward the Liin, her suit extending to increase the impact area of her fist. She wanted to knock her down, but Dhalia with the little courage she had left before the gas could took over her brain jumped it taking the hit. The loud bang of the black goo impacting Dhalia¡¯s shoulder followed by her body being launched across the room stated clearly Idra¡¯s intentions.. There was no way to fix this mess so Scilla had to act as well. The Liin¡¯s life was the priority. ¡°THIS WAY!¡± yelled opening the door while extracting her pistol to provide suppression fire. That is not her, something is not working. But now I can¡¯t do anything to help her. The guards started shooting while escorting out Liin Csuicha, bullet everywhere but it was almost useless. Idra kept jumping around at inhuman speed, so fast that their brain were having a hard time following her around the room. Then the first strike. Idra got close to one of the guards, her punch right in the torso immediately followed why the sound of the armour breaking. --entity disarmed. 15 more. 1 unmarked armed entity, investigation required-- Once she took down the first she pulled out her SMG and fired back. That small thing hit hard but none were lethal. She was not after their life. Her aim was outstanding, no bullets were missing her targets. One after the other her projectiles shattered their armour and hit the soldiers inside. She was going after the legs¡¯ and arms¡¯ muscles. She took down 3 soldiers with her. But the others had time to leave the room and lock it. Now locked in she took her time scanning the people left inside and immobilize the guards. She needed data to define her following actions. --Clear. Clear. Clear¡­ all clear. Ally safe. Armed species Leans. Planet Icar 3¡ã. Commercial partners. Unknown activation order. Possible mission purge of outlaws. Local resistance high. Theory: criminals tricked citizen to defend them. Do not kill innocents. Resume hunt for outlaws.-- Meanwhile on the other side of the door Scilla took command of the others guards. ¡°You 3 with the Liin go down the stairs and get the fuck out. We will keep her busy¡± ¡°Lis I believe in you. Don¡¯t let my guards die in vain¡± ¡°I won¡¯t lose anybody¡± Yeah, keep the moral high. We are fucked it¡¯s only a question on how long it will takes to get screwed. 11 people against a super soldier that probably can predict the future. Not the best but they were in a close quarters scenario so at least they could use the surrounding at their advantage. She is obviously after us, if she wanted to run she had could have slam Natrix into the building and just get away. So the best we can do is block off the staircase and defend as long as we can. She shoot back but she wasn¡¯t trying to kill. I suppose she wants information of some kind. If we place a barricade just after the door on the left we could use the office for flanking her once she is on us. Better than nothing. ¡°you 6 with me, take out all the shit you can from the nearby offices and block this corridor. You 4 take down the wall from the common zone to the office so you can go in there and block the door. You will shot her from the glass windows on the side. Then someone get me a fucking weapon¡± ¡°yes commander!¡±said one of the guards. Even if not in the Leans¡¯ army Scilla had the highest rank being an Ittira and also more experience being a veteran. On of the guard gave Scilla her own assault rifle. They immediately started working, they had no idea how much time they had but for sure it was not going to be enough. ¡°from now on you 6 are the Ling squad while the 4 in the office are the Lof squad. I won¡¯t promise anything but don¡¯t try to be a hero. We stand together and fight together. Lone wolfs die alone. Soldiers never dies.¡± ¡°understood commander¡± They only had 5 minutes but those were enough to at least have a minimal cover. An explosion shook the floor. Idra blew up the door. Now smoke and debris filled the other end of the corridor. Then the dark figure slowly moved to the centre of the hallway. --armed entities on the other side. Deliver pacifying message.-- The office speaker started ringing. Then a confused and distorted message. It was an emulation of an unknown voice but definitely not Idra¡¯s voice. ¡°surrender (distorted sounds) take your life (distorted sounds) outlaws¡± I¡¯m not falling for your tricks. We can¡¯t surrender not now, not here. ¡°OPEN FIRE!¡± shouted Scilla. If they surrender she will probably catch up with the Liin. That was not an option. One after the other all the Ling squad started shooting toward Idra that strangely instead of charging she withdrew inside the meeting room. ¡°reduce the suppressive fire, save ammo! Save ammo! Ling 1 and 2 alternate shooting, 3 to 6 focus on the door. Lof stay alert.¡± Then out of nowhere Idra jumped back in the hallway, this time with her rifle in hand. The strange gun had some lateral covering that opened. Small blue spark started jumping from the gun to the suit. An extremely loud and acute sound scattered the windows around and then the shot. Whatever she shot from that gun was out the ordinary. It pass through their barricade and all the building as well, leaving behind a massive melted hole. Then Idra swapped back to the SMG and repeated the message. ¡°surrender.¡± What the fucking fuck was that. If that shit hit us we are gone fore good. That shit vaporized the surfaces that it hit. But she didn¡¯t kill us. That prove that she doesn¡¯t want to do so. So lets waste some more of her time. --proposal denied. Engage targets-- Now she charged. Inhuman speed followed by her goo extending and intercepting the incoming projectiles. Then once she reached the half of the corridor, she tossed some kind of grenade toward the barricade. If flew right in the hole she made with the rifle. ¡°Grenade!¡± then a loud bright explosion with little to no impact on the surrounding, Scilla was blinded while the polarized filters of the other solders helmets stopped most of the light. The explosive released a cloud of gas mixed with burning reflective particles to stop possible electronics system to detected her presence. They were ready for a melee fight but Idra had other plans. She knew about all theirs position and so she jumped in the office on the side, SMG in hand. Just a few shots and then one of the Lof soldiers was sent flying toward the group. The woman hit Scilla knocking her on the ground. Then Idra immaterially followed using the Lof soldier as jump platform to beat the shit out of all the Ling squad. --entities disarmed successfully. Detected movement-- Idra looked back to see and half blinded and bleeding Scilla tossing around the unconscious soldier and standing up. The impact with the 500kg soldier was not a pleasant one but she was still able to stand. The tentacles on her cheeks were now retracted and her pupils narrowed. Her body was all tense and ready to fight. That was the real nature of a Lean. A natural predator that could achieve massive strength for short period of time. ¡°sorry girl but I can¡¯t let you pass. Even if it¡¯s the last thing I do¡± --unmarked entity is unaffected by neurochemical stimulation. Protecting unknown entity. Willing to talk. Initiate communication-- This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Idra moved closer with her intimidating predatory posture and then speak emulating Scilla¡¯s voice but distorting it. ¡°surrender and provide identification¡± ¡°Commander Scilla Lis, but I won¡¯t surrender. Not to the likings of yours. The sane you won¡¯t forgave me if a gave up now¡± ¡°define the sane version¡± I doubt she would ever kill me. There is still a bit for Idra in there. Lets try with a little surprise. ¡°it¡¯s exactly like you, but more lovely and smart. Oh and she is mine¡± Her words indeed surprised Idra. A relationship with an alien. How? More importantly she was confuse by the fact that she detected no lies in her words. That was the moment, Scilla dashed forward going for a quick punch trying to disarm her but It was useless. The punch was blocked but a series of tentacles created by the suit goo that adsorbed all her kinetic energy. She was so close to hit, but that damn suit is just too much. A hard hitting kick from the side broke her arm and smashed her against the staircase door. Idra moved closer and grabber Scilla by her head. She was about to do something but then she dropped Scilla that lost consciousness. --Memory error. Neural disconnection. Sensing system reboot. Scanning area. Friendly entity injured-- Idra looked at her feet and saw Scilla. She had no idea who that was or how she was injured but now she was marked as ally. Her scans revealed nothing around expect moving soldiers coming up and some going down. So she reached totally different conclusion. --hostile territory. Friendly critically injured. Possible mission extraction injured ally. Defend injured from brainwashed previous companions. Unable to contact orbital support. Call ship. Extraction on rooftop.-- then she moved, she blew up the closed door and took Scilla. Natrix and all her tech were now working and so she called them all. The droids rushed toward her and followed her to the roof while the one at the landing zone embarked on the ship. As soon as she reached the roof Natrix was there opening to let her and the droids in. Idra rushed in carrying Scilla to the medical bay and attached her to the medical chair. An autonomous machine that heals the creature sat on it. Then she was going toward the cockpit but she dropped down. --error. Artefact anomaly detected. Prioritizing host survival. -- \|/configuring engineer\|/ Scilla woke up attached to the medical chair inside an unknown room. Where the fuck am I? This looks a lot like Idra¡¯s ship but she didn¡¯t say a thing about this place. Is this a medical machine? It seems so, my arm is completely fine. How much time has passed? What is happening outside? And how the fuck did I get out of this thing? The medical chair looked a lot like a dentist chair with extra machines all around you. It was meant for ¡°light¡± injuries that don¡¯t need surgery and can be healed with specialized nano-machines. Basically an omni-cure under steroids that needs extra machinery to be applied and can¡¯t be reduce into a pill. Her right arm, the one that was broken, was inserted in several cylindrical machines linked to bigger machines. She moved around with the left part of her body that was mostly free looking for a release mechanism. Then she spotted a screen on a mechanical arm that she could turn to look at. I suppose this things is my body¡­ there are a lot of thing that are now in green¡­ were they broken part that are now fixed? Or some other problems. Well who care. This things is all green so I suppose I¡¯m fine. Is green the ¡®yes¡¯ colour for all species? Being able to read Estir would have helped a lot¡­. Oh, big green button on screen. It will kill me or release me, hopefully the last one. Then she pressed the screen and the machines retracted. She stood up as a strange feeling filled her body. She felt good, it was a total regeneration. Her muscles felt more powerful and stronger, her body more elastic and her brain faster. 2 doors on the same side. I guess that is the exit so lets get moving. She walked toward the closest door that scanned her but then it opened. She was now in a new corridor. Doors all around but then she saw Idra on the ground near the furthest door. Fucking hell. She rushed toward the unconscious creature. Even with all she had been through from when she met Idra, Scilla¡¯s guts were still telling her that said girl was her future. Idra¡¯s position clearly indicate that she didn¡¯t plan to take a nap in the middle of the corridor. She was probably walking toward the door as her body weakened and collapsed. The goo that usually covers the suit and is rigid was now malleable as an extremely viscous liquid. It was dripping from her suit but still attached to it. The fuck is this. Is it like off? No power to stay rigid? Well it¡¯s not reacting so better for me. Let¡¯s place her in a bed. Can¡¯t put her in her room so the cocoon in the canteen will be fine. If I found something to make it more comfortable it will be better but it¡¯s not my priority. Now which way do I go? Her question was soon answered by the identification system that allowed her only to go back in the medical bay or in the opposite direction from where Idra lost consciousness. Going back she appear in the ship intersection and so she proceed to place down Idra in her improvised bed inside the cable in the kitchen. She looked around for a pillow or something to add in order to make the place a bit more comfortable. Her objective was a success and she found a quilt inside one of the spare small bedrooms. This will be enough. Now maybe if I reach the exit I could try to call outside. Just to inform them that I have the situation under control. Kinda. I don¡¯t really want to leave I don¡¯t even know if I can do so. Scilla walked to the only airlock she knew and extract her phone. It screen was damaged but it survived the battle and that was good enough. It was sufficiently charged to go on for at least one more day but the signal reception was awful. She leant against the door and called Csuicha¡¯s phone. Immediately she picked up. ¡°Scilla fucking hell you are alive! Are you ok. Is she keeping you hostage?¡± ¡°nope, I¡¯m fine. Quite the opposite, she healed me. How many people has she killed? How much time has passed?¡± ¡°You lost your battle about 4 hours ago. Strangely enough the only corpse is the Ittiro that she hit first. The others are injured but not dead. We have take the ambassador under custody but the only thing he said so far is that she was solving our problems applying their law as we requested.¡± ¡°he is lying for sure Liin. Maybe it was all done under their laws but I¡¯m sure I requested her nothing of such entity. I don¡¯t know how I could describe it. I just know she saw not in control. Something must have disturbed her and that was the reaction.¡± ¡°well I don¡¯t care. We need to meet. This event will help us greatly. It¡¯s way better than a friendship statement.¡± ¡°what do you mean Liin? This is a fucking mess. People have died in front of the public eyes and there were explosions.¡± ¡°don¡¯t worry we have all under control. However there are things that I can only say face to face. So do you think you can leave the ship?¡± ¡°probably. But I won¡¯t do it¡± ¡°what?!? why not?¡± ¡°I need time to fix some smaller issue. I will tell you later. Wait for me. Over¡± then Scilla hung up. Back in the ship kitchen Scilla was staring at the unconscious Idra. She was moving a bit while sleeping but then a sunned movement. She was back to reality and the first thing she said was ¡°Scilla! Where...¡± ¡°Hi hi, I¡¯m here¡± First thing she thinks about is me. That¡¯s cute. Idra turned immediately toward she sound source. ¡°I¡¯m not hallucinating right?¡± ¡°nope. I¡¯m here and totally fine¡± ¡°Porca troia (holy shit / swine prostitute) a was scared as hell. Are you really ok? Why are we on my ship? What happened? Why don¡¯t I remember anything?¡± ¡°calm down one question at the time. Moreover how are you?¡± Idra was going to stand up ¡°I¡¯m fine so¡­¡± but then she lost her balance completely falling back in her cocoon between the kitchen cables. She was ill, the worst she ever felt in her life. All her body was in pain. Her eyes were burning, she felt extremely cold, weak, tired and for the first time after so long she felt alone. Natrix was gone. The program she built in her own brain to keep her company and limit her, was no longer there. That mass of code has been with her for 9 long years. No backup, no way to bring back the same machine, the same imaginary friend that kept her Human for so long. Alone she was just a machine made mostly of meat. Now nothing could stop her from running loose. I¡¯m alone, no more limits yet I don¡¯t feel happy. I don¡¯t feel anything expect pain from such inefficient body. I must know what is happening. I must know what happened to me. ¡°Scilla can you explain me what you know?¡± ¡°sure, what is the last thing that you remember?¡± ¡°around the moment I tried to run out of the room¡± ¡°well then you made a ¡®360¡ã no scope¡¯ and pulverized a member of the meeting who was also an Ittiro. Then you have gone nut or almost nut and basically beat the shit out of everybody and tried to make us surrender while we tried to let the Liin escape. Last thing I remember you charged out barricade and beat me unconscious. Yet you were responding to me, like I tried to discuss with you to gain time and you listened to me.¡± ¡°fuck. Sorry I didn¡¯t mean to¡­¡± ¡°let me finish girl. I woke up in your infirmary and you were outside on the floor. You can imagine the rest¡± ¡°double fuck. So how is it going outside?¡± ¡°no idea. I contacted the Liin from the only airlock that I know but I never left. I didn¡¯t want to leave you alone and I still don¡¯t know if I could come back so I waited¡± still immobile Idra let out a long sigh. ¡°you thought right¡­. Now you can come and go as you pleased.¡± From an outside prospective this must look as if I¡¯m keeping her hostage here. It¡¯s better if a let her go. I guess this is a farewell. Who the fuck would won¡¯t to stay with a creature that almost killed you? I suppose all I gained is a useless scale model of a space ship. ¡°go to your kind. They must be panicking. Go there and calm them.¡± ¡°that is what I will do but not before I know that I can leave you alone.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine, I just said it¡± ¡°no you are not. I don¡¯t know if you are trying to be badass or whatever but if you are sick you can always rely on me. I will be here for you.¡± ¡°please go. Get some fresh air and rethink about it. I will wait for your answer for a week. Then I will leave.¡± ¡°you are not going to get rid of me so easily. See you soon¡± As she said so Scilla left the room and eventually the ship. Idra stayed there. She was to weak and fell asleep again. chapter 22c: occultist Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 22c: occultist I wonder if the ship will conceal my disembark. Well I¡¯m about to find out. Scilla was in the airlock, ready to exit it. She had no idea of what was waiting on the other side but as she could aspect there were tens of soldiers both from Hakavor and the army, ready for whatever could come from the ship. Additionally the sky was filled with VTOLs and small spacecrafts just in case. As the airlock opened the ship emitted its usual light interference field concealing Scilla but more importantly keeping the airlock location a secret. As soon as the square of darkness disappeared Scilla was surrounded by all the soldiers that immediately recognise her. One in particular rushed toward Scilla. ¡°fucking hell you are alive commander¡± shouted happily Morea going in for a hug. ¡°it takes more than a small skirmish to kill me¡± ¡°SMALL!?! you got hit by a full armour that flew toward you while you were not wearing one. Most people would have died. How the fuck are you completely fine?¡± ¡°long story short Esterian medicine do crazy shit and I¡¯m way more robust than what I believed I was. Now let¡¯s get going, I suppose you are not only here to know how I¡¯m keeping up¡± ¡°Yes commander, we will guard you to the Liin position.¡± Along with Morea and a pair of guards she embarked on one of the many VTOLs and immediately she was leaving the HQ. The VTOL brought Scilla to one of the several safe zones built in case of emergency to protect the Liin. Those are highly militarized zones that offers the best possible defence at the cost of less comfort and luxuries. Here she was guided to an underground room. Inside just the Liin and Dhalia with her broken arm. ¡°you are finally here Scilla¡± immediately started the Liin. ¡°well I don¡¯t really have a reason to deny your meeting request. Also how is your arm doing Dhal?¡± ¡°that bitch fucked me up really good¡± ¡°hey your language¡± commented Csuicha. ¡°fucking hell my arm is broken in 7 different locations. It will take at least a month to get back to normal.¡± ¡°be thankful that she Injected you with her bio-glue so we didn¡¯t have to operate you¡± Scilla was confused. ¡°who was injected with what?¡± ¡°Dhal had some strange material injected into her, that after the bones were broken is now trying to patch them up. Basically she will heal without problems however we must know why. The same substance is also in all the injured soldier and stopped them from dying due to blood loss. Ideas why she did that?¡± ¡°because she is crazy Csuicha! She is fucking nut. We can¡¯t control her, I tried and this is what I got back¡± yelled Dhalia pointing at her arm. ¡°stop complaining kid. Your broken arm is going to play in our favour¡± our favour, what does she mean. ¡°Csuicha what do you mean play in our favour? What are you planning?¡± ¡°Scilla, my friend. I have planned a lot and I have reached the conclusion that we need to tie Idra to us¡± ¡°Tie her down¡­ have you fallen down the stairs?¡± ¡°I¡¯m totally sane Scilla. We are going to form a permanent bond and not only that. We are going to use every single thing she had gave us intentionally or not. You see your little friend, happened to have gathered and killed basically only people highly involved with progressive stuff like sex changing and so on. I don¡¯t know if she did that on purpose but this is a golden egg to take back the rights that I gave them in order to keep them quiet. With what happened and the database that Idra gave us we could purge a lot of trash and set an example.¡± ¡°The linking part is absolute trash but the second half is brilliant. So are we covering the incident up saying that extremist infiltrate the compound?¡± ¡°what no! That will make us Hakavors look weak. Csuicha you are not planning that right?¡± ¡°calm down Dhal, of course not. We are going to say that the Ittiro that was killed had become an extremist and tried to attack me after he saw his friend being lawfully killed and his name popping up on the criminal screen. We will keep the list secret and use it as a base to harass those inferior creatures. We will be able to execute periodical patrol and home inspection just by saying that they are related to someone on the list. It will be amazing. Next time you meet Idra thanks her¡± ¡°well that¡¯s way better plan but we still don¡¯t know what she injected me with¡± added Dhalia. ¡°Scilla, this is up to you, ideas?¡± said Csuicha. ¡°while fighting it was clear that she had no real intention to kill us. I suppose something triggered her guard mode or some shit like that. So she found herself in an unknown place and reacted disarming us. As far as I know Esterian laws are extremely punitive even worst than ours. So that was probably a normal engage with armed people. She had no reason to kill so she kept the captured alive in her own way.¡± ¡°So you don¡¯t think it¡¯s a harmful substance?¡± replied Dhalia, a bit worried. ¡°probably not. But I can¡¯t say for certain. Now Serafia, what is this story about tying her to us? We already have a cooperation contract what else can we get?¡± The two femari had a smirk on their faces while they both stared back at Scilla. Then the Liin spoke. ¡°we could get her¡± What the fuck is this bullshit. Let¡¯s hope I misunderstood. ¡°the hell are you talking about, get her? You know we can¡¯t imprison her.¡± ¡°don¡¯t play around it. I want you to join her hand in marriage, a political marriage for the greater good.¡± They don¡¯t know. Better play is safe as they would think. ¡°FUCK NO! You can¡¯t do me this. I would fucking follow you in all our battles but you know I don¡¯t play around with my relationships.¡± then Dhalia intrude. ¡°oh please, we all saw how she behaves only toward you. When we put down the contract she was so strict about only working with you. She like you idiot.¡± ¡°no she doesn¡¯t you fucking moron. She is clingy because she wants my body¡­.¡± ¡°Exactly she wants to fuck you!¡± shouted Dhalia. ¡°no you damn cunt I didn¡¯t mean in that way. Apparently I have some genetic mutation or some shit that isn¡¯t really liked by her scanners and she wants to understand why. Did you really both think that she would even consider a relationship with me? The most prude and xenophobic species known going out with a just met alien? You should both go get your brain checked¡± ¡°Scilla I know I¡¯m asking you a lot. But you are an Ittira, one of the few in history. You are in a position of power not just a random girl walking by. Also you are single and you have a little fertility problem right? You left the army because too many wanted you but you couldn¡¯t bring yourself, or the other, to a potential childless life. Now you have a massive opportunity, she is Human and we all know that Humans can reproduce with basically all complex species.¡± ¡°it¡¯s still a no. Go find someone else and prey that Idra won¡¯t kill her. I¡¯m out of this shit¡± Saying so Scilla stood up and started walking away to get back, at least to her own house, but Csuicha spoke again. ¡°Scilla you know we don¡¯t have anybody else. You are the only option¡± ¡°I don¡¯t give a shit.¡± The room filled with silence as Scilla was walking away but once again Csuicha spoke. Her voice was cold almost ominous even toward her friends. ¡°She is an occultist!, she is a fucking occultist.¡± Limited minds define as occult what they can¡¯t understand or can¡¯t detect due to physical limitation. If you are an N-dimensions creature usually you can¡¯t detect all 2N-dimensions of a second creature but just the N-dimensions that defines you. That factor 2 remains undefined but still can interact with the world generating complex phenomena. All this is only possible because the universe is not as it appears. The Esterians call it Unipsi, a sum of infinite universes infinitely different from each other. If you can link 2 different universes then what is impossible become possible. Occultist are just one of the many form for those universal links to manifest. Some can summon negative masses that annihilate with the ¡°standard¡± one, other can reverse the thermodynamics laws cooling down objects while generating energy. There is no end to the possibility yet there are so few occultist around in such vast space. Humans, Esterians, Leans and Xoraxtas rule over a 50 light years square space yet most had no idea that occultist exist, not even the occultist themselves know what they are. To Lean knowledge so far there was only one occultist, Serafia Csuicha. This knowledge is restricted only to the Liin and her 2 friends Dhalia and Scilla. A new occultist, probably one that isn¡¯t aware of it is way to important to be let go. ¡°WHAT?!? NO! She is not!¡± ¡°Scilla she must be one. Who the fuck would even ask for my eyes colour or try to catch something in the air that nobody see?¡± ¡°you are mistaking! That must have been some sensor error or¡­¡± Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°SCILLA!¡± shouted the Csuicha. ¡°she is one. I know, I could feel something coming from her but I wasn¡¯t sure what the hell it was. Then when she asked for my eyes colour she confirmed it all. She could see my power overflowing. When it¡¯s overflowing I see my eyes of a red colour and a strange mist is all around my head. What she did can¡¯t be just a coincidence.¡± no¡­ she can¡¯t be. If she is an occultist then the books were right. She will become a monster without control or some shit like that. But also that would explain why she lost control. Maybe their power interact somehow and well¡­. Fuck. What do I do now. ¡°give¡­ give me some time to think. I will go home and tomorrow I will speak with Idra again. I will try to understand what she knows and then, only then I will decide¡± ¡°that¡¯s enough for me. Have a safe trip home friend¡± concluded Csuicha as Scilla left the room. Once at home Scilla started to feel all the fatigue of the day. That was a long day. In a zombie like state she spent some time with Wiola and Liwa that were worried sick after the incident new spread around like wildfire. Then believing that she could finally rest she went to sleep to once again find herself in some weird as fuck dreams. Once again she was approaching a cliff. The strange creature was waiting at the summit of it. But this time she was able to get by her side. ¡°what the fuck are you? You are not Idra or some of her shit pulling trick on me right?¡± the dark figure started shifting and glitching as an old TV with a weak signal. Then finally the creature true form. A naked floating vaguely humanoid creature was there before her eyes. That beast was 3 meter tall with an androgyne figure disfigured by tentacles, wings and intramuscular mouths. It was horrible but yet that entity felt humans or at least it was a humanoid at some point in time. The monster had 5 fingers but the pinkies were now second thumb on the opposite side. It¡¯s finger nails were claws of unknown substance of a purple and grey colour. On the head a third eye vertical in the middle of the forehead and the yellow eyes themselves had a pupil full of spikes. Popping out of the hair 3 massive horns made of unknown crystal but with the same shape of the one that Idra had at the meeting. Long ears that exceeded the skull ending with spiky crystal structures. Arms and legs seems normal but looking closely they were made by tentacles braid together around a solid metallic structure that looked like a bone. On the lower back a massive tail with spikes on it. On the upper back a pair of wings big enough to surround the creature like a bat. Those wings had the main structure made of metal but the membrane was still organic. It was not a pleasure for the eyes, quite the opposite. ¡°what the fuck are you?¡± ¡°a child of a never-ending star¡± ¡°yeah yeah poetic and all the shit you want, you could just stayed silent. Now what the hell do you want from me? You have shown me things, probably from Idra¡¯s past. Why and how?¡± but the creature didn¡¯t reply. On the opposite the monster lift its arm and a strange ball appeared on it. That object was twitching and shaking emitting a continuous series of Whispers so loud that the ground was vibrating. The creature moved its finger closer to the sphere that once again emitted even louder Whispers. Now the surrounding changed. The cliff was now at the edge of a valley full of cities and surrounded by mountains. Massive ships were moving in the sky. Unknown shapes from unknown species. ¡°long waited for flesh to born. Stone of inner secrets. Sculpture of sublime definition and undefined margins.¡± Then the creature touched the floating sphere. The petrifying sound of the Whispers spread around. All that was seen started decaying consumed by the Whispers. That things was eating away everything. People, cities, spaceships, mountains even the moons and the stars. Now in total darkness Scilla could only see the creature eyes glowing and emitting a yellow light that was reflecting on the sphere. Then light. A representation of Idra was standing in the light. The creature pressed again the sphere but nothing. In the distance a strange light was pulsing. She felt an unpleasent attraction toward it, then the creature spoke again. ¡°Iris¡± as the creature said her name the dream vanished and Scilla woke up. It was morning and strangely enough it didn¡¯t felt like a nightmare but more like a communication with something or someone lost long ago. This shit is driving me crazy. Don¡¯t need a genius to understand that it is probably the artefact inside Idra trying to communicate but why with me? Did it said that it was waiting for Idra to be born? But why such horrendous appearance? And why did it have to be so cryptic is it broken somehow? Well I should go and see how Idra is doing and tell her all about this shit and the secret meeting. Maybe she knows more than I do. Well probably she does. With some difficulties mostly posed by her sister worries, Scilla was able to get back to Natrix. The ship strangely enough welcomed her and let her in. Scilla and only Scilla for the first time saw the passage toward the airlock. The totality of the ship¡¯s hull moves in order to reveal the entrance. A strange and not really efficient technique meant to keep out outsiders? But who the fuck would approach an Esterian ship? Once inside she walked up in the living area but something wasn¡¯t right. Near the ladder toward Idra¡¯s room Scilla spotted Idra¡¯s helmet on the ground. ¡°Idra are you up there? Your helmet¡­¡± Idra¡¯s reply was odd, her voice was definitely one of a sick person yet it was energetic. ¡°why are you back? After all the things that I have done to you?¡± ¡°are you sick? I¡¯m coming up¡± ¡°NO! Stay the fuck down!¡± ¡°ok, don¡¯t need to get angry. So what is happening? You know you can tell me anything right?¡± ¡°what is happening is that I don¡¯t know what to do. Why the fuck are you back here?¡± ¡°isn¡¯t it obvious? I¡¯m here for you. So now you can get down here and talk with me or I get up there. Choose.¡± What the hell is happening with her? This is way too emotional for Idra. ¡°if¡­ if you come up here is no way back. You will have to accept all the consequences of your actions and mine as well. I will only bring harm to you, I can only harm. I was built for it. I..¡± ¡°shut the fuck up! I¡¯m coming up¡± Let¡¯s hope I¡¯m on the winning side of this gamble. All this just because I like her a bit. Stupid biology. Scilla slowly climbed the ladder and to her surprise she not only won her gamble she won the jackpot for life. Laying down on her bed there was Idra outside of her suit. Idra covered herself with all sort of fluffy and soft stuff she could find from pillows to blankets. From massive quilts to bed sheets. Her head was the only thing that was not covered and it was more than enough. Long slightly wavy and fluffy hair of a copper like colour were all around the bed. Her slightly tanned skin was without any imperfection and combined with her few freckles made an astonishing beautiful base of perfect colour gradients. This amazing figure was in perfect contrast with her bright yellow eyes staring right back into Scilla¡¯s soul. Long pointy ears like a fantasy elf added to her almost perfectly symmetrical face provoke an overwhelming sublime feeling. A combination of beauty beyond imagination and a death gaze capable to freeze your blood. Then a timid more relaxed high pitch voice perfectly match to her body snap Scilla back to reality. ¡°S..Surprise¡­.¡± a small smile that clearly showed her viper like fangs and pointy teeth. Scilla just had no words, she was there totally silent and immobile. Her brain was still processing how a creature could be so perfect in all her proportions that Idra spoke again. ¡°you¡­ you are not¡­ not angry right?¡± First the only important thing. Don¡¯t let your dick think for you Scilla. ¡°mmh, Are you. No emmh can you.. we... have kids.. if well.. we.. you know¡­¡± ¡°are you asking if I can reproduce alike a human? Yes, fun fact we are even more fertile than¡­¡± That was enough for Scilla. In that moment she really didn¡¯t care about being lied. In her brain she had already understood that Idra did what she had to do and most importantly she understood that showing her face was a massive step forward for both of them. Idra was reciprocating Scilla¡¯s blind trust in her showing her species secret and hers as well. Scilla rushed to Idra with the intention to hug her. She was happy but on the other hand Idra didn¡¯t really understood so. ¡°you would not beat a sick person right!¡± exclaimed Idra a bit too slowly trying to retract into a defensive position, but she had no time. She was already being hugged by Scilla that started caressing her head. ¡°who the fuck would even dare to touch you? Have someone ever beaten you?¡± ¡°no but I thought you were angry so I¡­¡± ¡°shut up. I will never hurt you¡± ¡°you are not angry at me?¡± ¡°why should I be?¡± ¡°because I lied to you even if I ask complete honesty from you¡± ¡°it¡¯s fine. I¡¯m not so stupid to not understand why you did it.¡± ¡°but still¡­¡± ¡°no buts. Just shut up and accept my kindness¡± ¡°¡­ I already told you that you were the first person that hugged me after so long. Now you are also the first non Esterian that saw my face. Last time someone saw my face it was a couple of friends 4 years ago. So today only 3 creatures know it¡± ¡°what about your sisters?¡± ¡°well they are all dead so can¡¯t really say that a corpse knows my face. Still most of them never saw it anyway. I was put inside the suit when I was 4 and I didn¡¯t really left it while they were alive¡± ¡°what?! That is inhuman even for¡­¡± ¡°it¡¯s fine. I was too dangerous even to be beside them. I suppose you are curious about me, about the Esterians. Am I right?¡± ¡°yep totally right. But I also have informations for you, that you probably already know but whatever. Didn¡¯t really predict to be let in your comfort zone¡± ¡°yeah, I didn¡¯t plan for it neither but well after some calculations I concluded that it was the best thing to do. Also the neck bomb is fake so I don¡¯t really know anything. I didn¡¯t want to spy on you. So I trust you will still tell me anything.¡± ¡°of course I will. I¡­ well I¡¯m out of words to describe how happy I am now.¡± ¡°well then let me take on that happiness and kindness of yours. Can you let me lie down¡­¡± Idra¡¯s face got redder, a lot redder. As red as a ruby and so were her ears. Scilla, after the blood rush to her dick has come to an end, was finally starting to realize that Idra was really sick. She was indeed shaking a lot and her body was unnaturally hot, even hotter than hers. Then Idra continued her phrase turning away as much as she could from Scilla¡¯s face. She was not only sick but embarrassed. ¡°c..c..can you¡­ be¡­ my h..h..heater? I...i mean if you w...want I..¡± ¡°I will do whatever it take to help you out. What do I have to do? Get under the covers with you?¡± ¡°if..if you want¡­ but can you take out your dirty c..clothes¡­ I¡­¡± ¡°sure I will undress and put on a blanket so I will be covered as well and you won¡¯t feel uncomfortable.¡± ¡°thanks. You already know me too well¡± Scilla rushed out of the room with one of the unused blanket on the bed. She immediately went in and out of the bathroom and in just 30 second she was back. She was far too exited to waste time in such trivial matters. She was now approaching the bed. Idra was still on the left side facing the wall. ¡°don¡¯t¡­ don¡¯t get strange I...ideas. Get behind me and...and¡­ get closer¡­.so I..i can absorb your.. heat.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t do anything, not to a sick girl that is yet to become my wife¡± As soon as the word wife was said Idra¡¯s ears twitched and stiffen up. She was definitely interested in said word. ¡°I...i¡­i still didn¡¯t¡­ didn¡¯t said anything about marriage¡­ we still have¡­ have to¡­ d..d..date for¡­¡± ¡°we will take our time. What is important is that I love you and I believe you feel the same. Take your time. I have at least 110 more Human years so in the mean while I will admire your beauty¡± Idra couldn¡¯t get more redder so she just replied even more embarrassed. ¡°thanks¡­ am.. I really that beautiful?¡± ¡°are you fucking kidding me? On a scale to 0 to 10 you are probably around 14 or 15¡­ nah maybe 16¡­ you are objectively beautiful¡­ I know of an old artistic Human movement that was looking to depict the sublime intrinsic in nature. Well you are that sublime. You are like crystal clear river in a forest at fall during the sunset. The is just a lack of words to describe you.¡± Idra chuckled a bit while pushing herself into Scillas body. ¡°thanks again¡­ you are too kind with me¡­ but I like it¡­ I missed being complimented by someone with value.¡± Idra¡¯s voice was getting weaker, a yawn after the other she was slowly falling asleep. ¡°Fuck...I will¡­ tell¡­ ¡­ you all¡­ ¡­ give me¡­ one¡­. ¡­. hour¡­. ¡­ ¡­ of¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­¡± and then she felt a sleep beside Scilla. I guess I will stay here and heat her up with my body. Fuck this is the best day of my life. How can she be so beautiful? She is even into me. Our kids will¡­ no no wait it¡¯s a bit to early for that¡­ well maybe not to early if I just fantasise a bit waiting for her. She smells so good¡­ will she be angry if I touch her ears¡­ NO! I must resist¡­ fuck I should have come here running so maybe I would have been a bit tired and I could have tried to sleep as well... chapter 23c: past Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 23c: past Idra was already sleeping deeply while Scilla was there beside her, totally covered with one blanket. Her excitement was finally fading bringing back her lucidity and curiosity. She was staring at the sleeping beauty, memorizing every single detail she could. Her initial score of only 16 out of 10 was an understatement. Idra¡¯s beauty was not only subjective checking all Scillas preference but also objective, it was a form that spoke directly to your brain. For starters she was symmetrical, her colours followed perfect tonality combinations and contrast. Her appearance were just mesmerizing. Find her unattractive is borderline impossible, finding her repulsive unimaginable. Maybe it was due to her unknown DNA or maybe it was due to her universal reproductive abilities, who knows. Best decision ever, my guts never fails me. Fortunately I kept my arms inside the blanked cause I don¡¯t know if I could be able to stay still like this. Fuck¡­. She smells so good. I know it¡¯s... well her natural scent but it¡¯s so fucking good¡­ wait am i a pervert?, have I become one? No no no¡­ I¡¯m just complimenting her. Then a small light coming from Idra¡¯s neck captured her attention. She moved around a bit and finally saw a strange structure, similar to a collar or a choker but that was clearly neither of those, around Idra¡¯s neck. At first glance the object was clearly black and made of some fabric but looking closely some purple and blue threads appeared and disappeared as if that thing was alive. Rarely it also emitted a small pulse of white light for a fraction of second. It was odd and definitely not of a similar design to idra¡¯s sister¡¯s ring. It also had no clear way to remove it. What the hell is this? Should I touch it? Is it a common accessory? Don¡¯t think so, she doesn¡¯t wear anything else expect her ring so¡­ I guess I will ask her once she wakes up. Scilla¡¯s mind was running wild with possibilities and theories but then she was distracted by a brief and soft mumble combined with some small movement. How cute!!! and her ears twitched too, like a cat. I want to touch them so fucking bad¡­. This is a torture. She is so close, so defenceless yet I can¡¯t have her. I can¡¯t even hug her just in case she wakes up and gets mad. Then the light reduced to only a minimal amount, barely enough to distinguish the objects¡¯ shape. I guess it¡¯s bed time. Does the ship also sleep with her? Damn it, so many things to ask. After fighting with her inner self for an hour and a few minutes of silence, Idra started waking up. Lights immediately back up on full power. She stretched under the covers to then pull herself up. Now sat in bed with her legs under the mountain of blankets she let off a long yawn. Her teeth were shining and intimidating. Then she opened her eyes. A lifeless gaze moved around scanning the room. Then they eyes meet. Idra blinked twice and decide to get back under the covers. She turned her back toward Scilla and feeling the air gap due to Scillas bigger body, she pulled the covers. After a bit she realise that her beloved blankets were stuck somehow. She turns and stare back at Scilla that in all this didn¡¯t flinch. Idra stretched her arm and with one finger poked Scillas cheeks a couple of times, then she jumped back shouting. ¡°Che cazzo! ¨¨ vera! (what the fuck! She is real!)¡± ¡°what?¡± Idra pulled herself as far as possible, pushing her back against the wall that enclosed the bed. Now she was completely visible in all her form. Her legs were covered with a pair of trousers taken from a way to big tracksuit. They were baggy and visibly thick. On top of those starting from her hips she was wearing a strange heavy skirt built divided in layers. It was as if someone took a normal skirt and cut triangular shapes every 45¡ã leaving 4 main triangular pieces covering front, back and the sides. That strange thing basically covered everything until Idra¡¯s knees and then opened up. Idra¡¯s torso was covered with the rest of the baggy and massive tracksuit which sleeves covered her hands entirely. In a similar way her torso was covered with a heavy half cloak that exceeded her waist divided in 4 allowing the arms to get out easily. That was a peculiar selection of clothing that were all dark coloured with some details in blue or purple. In their singularity they still looked comfy and warm, exactly what a sick person needs. Now that she had lost her covering Scilla could see how small Idra really was. Only 174 cm, 6 cm less without the suit, way thinner and with pointy joints bulging out of her cloths. Now Scilla could definitely believe why Idra weighted so little but her contemplation was cut short when a bare foot impacted her face. It was one of the weakest kick she ever revived. Wiola¡¯s light kicks while sleeping had more power than that. Then a second kick. ¡°how the fuck did you get it!? I¡¯m going to blow your¡­¡± Idra phrase was cut shot as well as Scilla grabbed her foot and pulled her in effortlessly. Then she jumped on top of her blocking all idra¡¯s limbs. The squishy Esterian struggled in vain with all her strength. ¡°IDRA! It¡¯s me clam down¡± ¡°I know it¡¯s you! You fucking moron how the hell did you get in? you useless cunt good for nothing piece of¡­¡± She is not lucid! Scilla thought quickly and decide to apply an old traditional remedy for confusion, a head butt right in the middle of the forehead. Oddly enough that worked, somehow. ¡°aah my head¡­¡± ¡°do you remember now?¡± ¡°I.. yes I do¡­ but why did I forgot?¡± Idra relaxed but she was still pinned on her bed. Her voice was shifting toward a serious tone. ¡°my head It¡¯s a mess. Fuck¡­ I¡¯m sorry Scilla¡­ I...i¡­ please don¡¯t hurt me too much¡± ¡°mmh hurt you? Why should I do so?¡± ¡°well I attacked you¡­ I kicked you in the face. I must have hurt, so an eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth no?¡± saying so she closed her eyes and turned her head away getting ready for some kind of punch or slap, but Scilla did nothing. ¡°I will never hurt you, I already told you so. I will hit you only if it¡¯s needed to bring you back just like a few second ago. Also your kicks were weak as fuck, for a moment I thought you wanted me to look at them but miscalculated the space needed.¡± ¡°what?!? I¡¯m not that shameless and I¡¯m not weak¡± She tried to wiggle out of Scilla''s grasp to soon realise that there was no way out. She struggled and struggled but moan after moan she only got breathless and red from all her useless tries. ¡°have you struggled long enough to give up or you want to continue¡± ¡°give¡­ give me a¡­ minute and¡­ I¡¯ll get free¡± Idra caught her breath a little and tried again but Scilla was just too heavy for an almost muscle less creature. After a bit she stopped and started mumbling something quietly. Scilla moved her head closer to hear and that''s when Idra ¡°attacked¡±. With a sudden movement Idra pushed up her head and licked Scillas left cheek. Scilla had never even imagined something like that so she jumped back. Her surprise was more than enough for Idra to squeeze out and break free. She was now sitting in front of Scilla all proud with a smug smile on her face. ¡°told you I was not weak. I broke free from you¡± ¡°you cheated! Otherwise you¡­¡± ¡°bla bla bla big giant girl sad cause she lost. hahaha¡± this little uncontrollable cute demon. Let me think¡­ embarrassment that will be my comeback ¡°ok, I may have lost the battle but I won the war¡± ¡°wait what? I¡¯m free. How could you have won the war?¡± ¡°I made the super pure and proud Idra lick my cheek, so it¡¯s a win for me¡± Now she was the one with a smug smile on her face, while Idra couldn''t keep up hers. Realizing what she instinctively had done she blushed and turned around to grab one of the many blanket to then cover herself. ¡°ooh come on, I was teasing you¡­ I don¡¯t care about you being more ¡®expressive¡¯. Leans¡­¡± ¡°but I care!. I¡¯m not a Lean. I have standards to keep. I can¡¯t just do as I please, letting my instinct run loose¡± ¡°Idra I don¡¯t give a shit about your kind standards. Were you happy, are you happy when you can play around?¡± Idra replied was quite, timid but most importantly cute. ¡°yes¡­¡± ¡°then it¡¯s fine. I enjoyed it and a had fun teasing you even more¡± The reassuring words from Scilla were enough to calm Idra that put her head out of the blanket. Her tone was still a bit sad. ¡°it¡¯s ok if I¡¯m weak?¡± ¡°yep, I will be our strength and you will be our brain. We stick together to achieve more that what we could get alone.¡± ¡°mmh where did you learn to speak like that?¡± ¡°Leader speaking for idiots chapter 5¡± ¡°stop joking. I suppose you are a commander for a series of good reasons¡± ¡°ooh so sweet thanks¡± while speaking Scilla pushed Idra down gently forcing her to lie in bed. Then she covered Idra back. ¡°you are still sick, touching you I can still tell that you have a fever. So stay put for a bit longer ok? I will keep you company¡± Idra chuckled and replied turning face to face. ¡°thanks doctor Lis.¡± ¡°don¡¯t get cocky Idra¡± ¡°Iris. When¡­ when it¡¯s just us¡­ you.. you can call me Iris. It¡¯s my real name so¡­ if you want obviously¡± ¡°of course I want, Iris¡± ¡°so maybe I should explain a bit so¡­¡± ¡°Iris, I¡¯m curious by nature but you don¡¯t have to tell me anything I¡¯m fine the way we are¡± Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°well I¡¯m not fine, I want to tell you what I am, what I have done, ¡­.what I had to do¡­¡± ¡°if you insist, but it won¡¯t change my view of you. You are mine and mine only from now on¡± Now that I think about it, I must keep her physical aspect a secret. Nobody will ever resist her beauty. I don¡¯t want to fight for her when I can just keep shut and win easily. ¡°as you would say I¡¯m quite young. I was built in 20/05/2415 as part of the remnant program Idra even if it was shutting down.¡± ¡°what? why?¡± ¡°well they are all shutting down, mostly because remnants are no longer needed. Our people are finally stable so there is no more need of new remnants. Additionally the Idra program was never really working. More than 450 Idras before me yet none have gone beyond 25 years old.¡± ¡°but if the other remnants have such small numbers compare to yours that would mean that they can live longer right? Why not copying them?¡± ¡°because we couldn''t. Nixie, Likho and Baubas are different. They only had one purpose. Nixie to speak, Likho to sneak and Baubas to fight.¡± ¡°then yours is to think right?¡± ¡°right but also wrong, Idras were meant to be protectors. But we lost such purpose long ago.¡± ¡°protectors of what?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really know. They removed most of the data about what we were suppose to guard before I was born. I only know that one of the many things I was suppose to guard was the HBE, but I don¡¯t even know where it is.¡± ¡°wait wait wait¡­. HBE you mean the Founder weapon? The one that he used to conquer Terra? That HBE?¡± ¡°do you know of something else with that name?¡± ¡°well no¡­ I just thought it was lost somehow. It was never used again right?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. I told you, don¡¯t even know where it is now. They removed all before I came into play¡± ¡°well maybe it¡¯s better this way.¡± Scilla was probably right. It¡¯s better to know nothing about it. The HBE it¡¯s known to be the most effective weapon ever built and used. Classified as a catastrophic weapon of planetary scale destruction almost nothing is known about it. It first appeared in 2044 on Terra and it was used by the Founder only once as a demonstration of force. While his army of robots started conquering the world an international coalition, born from absolute despair, tried to put an end to his work. On the first of November 2044 the HBE was activated on the north coast of Africa where the coalition was preparing for an invasion toward the newly conquered Europe. Of the 4 million soldiers and 231 million civilian located on the coast and desert of the continent none survived. It didn¡¯t matter who they were, where they were, what they were doing, nor how young they were. All humans life just stopped in a massive area without any sign that could tell that something was coming, they just stopped living. Nothing else died, no radiations, no gases, no bullet, nothing, just dead humans everywhere. With the HBE, the Founder made it clear that he had no intention to stop, that he didn¡¯t care about humans. You could only be with him or against him. At the time humanity could only surrender, there is no spices that would have done differently. It was life or extinction. In the Founder¡¯s greater plan, The HBE use was only the start of a long series of atrocities that scarred humanity probably for eternity. Even with all he had done not all humans saw or keep seeing him as a tyrant. Especially between scholars, old and new, his actions are becoming more and more understandable. At the time humanity was falling apart and science was loosing against stupidity and feelings. The world was collapsing, economy was in constant crisis, people were getting poorer, wars were a constant threat, food and energy were becoming rarer day after day. Force was the only way to save humanity. His method was far from perfect yet even if only scholar will admit it, the Founder saved humanity from dying in a nuclear global war. However to this day nobody can say for certain to understand the Founder. His action were always shrouded in mystery. He ¡°saved¡± humanity yet he run away from them. He had the most powerful weapon known but never used it. ¡°maybe you are right Scilla, maybe it¡¯s better this way. But what do you think the HBE is?¡± ¡°Iris I¡¯m not a scientist, I¡¯m a stupid soldier. How the fuck should I know?¡± ¡°soldiers aren¡¯t stupid by definition, indoctrinated soldiers are but you are not one of them. So let your mind run loose and tell me what do you imagine when thinking about the HBE.¡± Iris¡¯ ways were devious but effective. She was not actively trying to hide herself changing subject but she couldn¡¯t resist. Exactly as it happened in Scilla¡¯s room the first time that Iris set her foot in, now they were speaking their mind. They were just speculating imagining things and what they would have done if they were the Founder or what they would do with such weapon. It was a long harmless conversation between 2 creature that had absolutely no idea of how terrifying the HBE truly is, but none could blame them. Nobody truly understand how deeply sick and twisted the roots of the HBE expands. Maybe that is why they removed all traces of it. Maybe the Idras before knew something that was better to be buried away than risk it to reach the wrong person. Their long conversation was interrupted by a loud grumble. It was Iris¡¯ belly calling for food. ¡°do you think I can play with your food machine and make something that isn¡¯t a mush of... things?¡± ¡°well I suppose you could. Just wait for me to get down and I will¡­¡± ¡°you are not getting down. Sick people should rest¡± ¡°I¡¯m not really sick. It¡¯s just the artefact having a tantrum. I won¡¯t get worse I can only get better¡± ¡°ahhh fine.¡± Scilla get out of bed and moved down in the ship connector waiting for Iris to come. ¡°so¡­ I¡¯m gonna get down, but I don¡¯t think I have the strength to climb down the ladder covered with a blanket so¡­ you will grab my legs and help me. Ok?¡± ¡°sure I¡¯m waiting¡± Then Iris crawled backward putting her feet out while pressing herself on the ground. She didn¡¯t have to wait much before the massive Scilla grabbed her legs and helped her down. Once arrived Iris grabbed Scillas hand and started walking slowly toward her storage. ¡°I can¡¯t let you go around naked with a blanket on¡± ¡°I¡¯m not naked, I¡¯m wearing underwear.¡± ¡°naked for me¡± Once inside the storage Iris started looking around for a specific box until she found it. Upon opening Scilla could saw that the crate was full of clothes. Then inside that mass of fabric Iris pulled out a lab coat or something similar to one. It was of a strange green colour with an easy way to open and close it. The fabric was soft yet rigid when hit with force, like water. ¡°it¡¯s a bit small for you but today is your lucky day. This is for a 200cm humanoid so it will fit you somehow.¡± ¡°is it a medical coat? Like one you put on patients?¡± ¡°no, it¡¯s a fire, cut and pierce proof lab vest made with a regenerative adaptive polymer and micro repairing machines for labs operators. It¡¯s one of the best vest for lab security that is not a full suit. Just in case, better be safe than sorry.¡± mmh she is thinking of my safety and my looking at the same time. Didn¡¯t thought she was caring type, thought she like solitude so I suppose she was more like a grumpy bear. ¡°thanks. I suppose you should well turn around because I¡¯m going to get ¡®naked¡¯ to wear this¡± Iris twitched a bit, blushed and left the room waiting her on the other side. Once in the kitchen Scilla was staring at the food machine. She was wondering how that thing could work but Iris came in her help. ¡°let me play with it a bit.¡± She putted her hand on it and for the first time Scilla assisted to ¡°real¡± magic. Iris¡¯s blood vessels in her had pulsed of a strange grey, almost black light. That pulse wave moved toward the object and disappeared. Now the machine was entirely working in common language. What the fuck? So that is how she hacks into things, she just touches them. I have to ask, is she really an occultist or maybe the artefact itself? But is this the best time to ask¡­ maybe just a bit. ¡°how the fuck did you do that?¡± ¡°oh, emh¡­ it¡¯s how Idras work. We were all built with machines in our bodies. My sister could do the same¡­¡± ¡°can I ask you more about it but later?¡± ¡°sure but why not now?¡± ¡°well I may have to ask some really in depth questions and I think it would be better to do so in a more relaxing environment and without distractions.¡± ¡°makes sense¡± Then Scilla focused on the now translated machine. That thing was a damn chef made at robot. It had a button called survival balanced ration but it was able to do way more than just that. The hell this thing is amazing. Why does she eats only mush. She could roast things, boil them, smoke them and so on. She could have made everything she wanted as long as she tells the machine what to do. Don¡¯t tell me that she just have no idea what to cook so she just eat for survive. The only thing missing are pre-made recipes, it even has a per species food warnings. ¡°Iris, sweetheart¡­ do you know that this thing can cook more than just mush?¡± she turned around to see Iris in the corner of the 6-seater table built in the wall. She was curled up on the continuous seating covering even her head with the blanket. She must still feel cold, but at least she is not shivering. ¡°yep¡± ¡°then why did you not use it to cook something better?¡± ¡°cause I don¡¯t know any recipes nor I know how to cook anything. I can use my probes to know what I can eat. At best I know how to boil things.¡± ¡°well wait for a bit and I will serve you something...good I think¡­ maybe good¡± Scilla was scrolling through all the ingredient she had at her disposal. She was definitely not aspecting so much diversity nor so little known elements. More precisely the machine had nothing that even vaguely resembled anything she had ever eaten. The cooking robot however was amazing. It provider her with all kind of knowledge, what could be eaten by who, type of cooking, time for cooking, nutritional values and beneficial effects base on cooking process. She definitely wanted one on the Sheridan as well. In the end she settled for a ¡®bistecca di crostaceo dragone di Goba (stake of dragon crustacean from Goba)¡¯ with a ¡®insalata di muschio Tarsk (Tarsk moss salad)¡¯ and a ¡®fittone arrostito di Memnora con formaggio di Arpac e un pizzico di spore Doos (roasted Memnora taproot with cheese of Arpac and a bit of Doos spores)¡¯. Scilla had absolutely no idea of what taste any of that had, but they were available options so why not requesting them from the machine. She also requested some herbal tea made with ¡®Wersara Opiur¡¯ that apparently was some kind of strange flower that swims around like a jellyfish. She still made it into a tea because according to the cooking robot that thing is suppose to heat up the drinker and reduce fever effects on the body. Once the machine finished it opened up revealing 2 plates almost identical with added massive cup of tea. Oh! this looks way better than what I aspected, no it looks great. A white fishy steak perfectly roasted, a strange looking reddish tube shaped salad and a big purple sliced root covered with melted cheese with yellow dots. Well the tea seems fine too, after all it¡¯s just a bag inside boiled water that is turning green, well it won¡¯t kill me so let¡¯s hope it¡¯s good. With the 2 trays in hand she walked toward the table to place them down. She was going to sit on the opposite side of the table but Iris moved, patting the sit next to her. ¡°can¡­ can you please get beside me?¡± ¡°if you ask so kindly how can I refuse¡± and so she sat beside Iris, that while curled up started eating slowly. Scilla did the same starting with the steak. Holy fuck this shit is amazing. It¡¯s so sweat and fresh.. it¡¯s amazing. Let¡¯s try the rest. This moss¡­ Iris is eating it happily so let¡¯s give it a go¡­ nope¡­ definitely not. Maybe she is not that reliable with food. This moss is so damn bitter and when you bite it explodes releasing a viscous liquid that tasted like a bland radish mixed with a carrot. Definitely not my taste. So lets see this purple root¡­ well this is not that bad. It¡¯s like a hard but strangely juicy mushroom if that makes any-sense. The cheese is, well it taste like something you would put in some bread with some meat. Then this little yellow dots must be the spores. As soon as Scillas tongue touched the mass of spores she split them out. They tasted like rusted metal. Definitely terrible. She immediately jugged down the tea to remove that nasty flavour and it worked. Overall not so bad, but how the fuck can she eat those spores? ¡°Iris if you don¡¯t like something you don¡¯t have to eat it.¡± But Iris didn¡¯t flinch a single time while eating. Thou at some point she spoke. ¡°thanks Scilla¡± ¡°you don¡¯t have to thank me, I¡¯m eating as well and if you want I could prepare food for you again¡± ¡°thanks¡­¡± Iris stopped eating leaving the place half full and leaned onto Scilla¡¯s side with the tea cup warming her hands. She was sipping from time to time. ¡°¡­ thanks for everything. The food, coming back to me, letting me see your family and being around them, having faith in me, trusting me¡­¡± ¡°stop it. You have helped me out as well and you are going to do so in the future. There is not need for¡­¡± ¡°there is. We should not take for guaranteed what we have. I never thought I would ever meet someone I could trust like I¡¯m doing now. Not after all my sisters have died, not after reaching 26 years old. Not after losing all that was precious to me.¡± Scilla extended her arm around Iris to pull her closer and while caressing her side a little she replied. ¡°ok, then I accept you gratitude. I will do my best¡± ¡°I...know¡­you...will...¡± saying so Iris fell asleep again in Scillas arms. chapter 24c: pair Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 24c: pair Now that Iris was sleeping again Scilla could finally ¡°relax¡±, she was trying her best to stay cool while Iris opened up to her. Knowing that Iris decided to relay on her was a dream becoming reality. Those were real and massive progress in their relationship. Conversation that will deposit in their brains permanently and will be used to brag about how their relation began. Scilla packed Iris up in her blanked to then pick her up. ¡°I like when you run out of battery like this. You give me a reason to pick you up. Fortunately you can¡¯t hear me now. So let¡¯s get moving¡± She looked at Iris¡¯s dish to see that she basically ate half of everything except the moss that was totally gone. I guess she loved the disgusting red moss. She basically ate all of it. Maybe it tasted differently because we are from different species¡­ wait I does make sense. she eats our food and it was normal. She described the same tastes as the one that I felt¡­ so¡­ maybe it¡¯s all just a habit so you have to get into eating moss. I will find out later. Scilla princess carried Iris out of the kitchen to then realise that she had a small problem ahead. The ladder. Iris was indeed light as a feather for Scillas standards. She could easily toss her up in her room but obviously that was not an option. Balancing her while I try to push her up won¡¯t work, and I don¡¯t have a rod and a rope to block her and prevent bending. ¡°how the fuck I¡¯m I suppose to bring her up? Is there no way to do so?¡± her words spoken out loud activated something and Natrix replied. --gravitational pull available-- ¡°eeh emh active gravitational pull?¡± --reversing forces-- it was an almost instantaneous change. The gravity force pulling Scilla on the ground inverted. Now a low gravity pull was moving her upward toward the ceiling of the ship. Once she reached the door a second change and now a gentle force was pushing her inside the room. --gravitational pull completed-- ¡°what the fuck was that!?!¡± I just floated around pushed by the ship AI. How the hell did it do it? This ship is too small to have a gravity distortion generator on it, but I can clearly sense a difference in forces as soon as I step into the ship. Did they miniaturize one? Or it¡¯s a totally different technology? Whatever it¡¯s I suppose that is the key to her being immune to high acceleration forces while flying around. Aahh more things to ask about. Then Scilla moved to the bed and placed Iris down. ¡°eeh opl¨¤, now some covering¡­ a pillow there one here and voil¨¤. Perfect position to sleep.. maybe¡± Scilla tried her best to provide Iris with a comfortable sleeping position but initially she was not too sure about her choices. She placed Iris on her side facing the wall and placed object all around her because as far as she knows Iris likes confined places. As she was thinking to remove some Iris moved in her sleeps adjusting to her bed with a smile on her face. So I was just thinking too much. ¡°I¡¯ll be right back Iris. Just going down to clean the dishes¡±. No reply at all but that¡¯s the usually answer to all questions from a sleeping person. Back in the kitchen she didn¡¯t have much to do. She moved the dishes with all unconsumed food back into the machine and everything else was going to be done by the machine itself. ¡°well that was easy. I definitely want one of those robot in my life¡± With nothing more to do and a sleeping Iris, Scilla allowed herself in bed again, but this time she kept her distance. As soon as she laid down the light went off. So it¡¯s not related only to Iris, but it¡¯s also considering if I¡¯m moving around. Feels strange to be spied on by the ship all the time. Wait the hell is this?? On the ceiling she was now seeing a lot more stars shining around. Iris probably added more but looking at them it was clearly a star chart seen from some unknown planet, probably Weeping Sky. Scilla was not tired but soon sleep overcome her senses. A new ¡°dream¡± was awaiting. She ¡°woke up¡± in a room. It was massive yet totally empty. Walls made of metal, probably steel. Beds built it said walls and really high celling with a series of dots. It was the same but more realistic version of the star chart inside Iris''s bedroom. Nothing much around. A big massive door behind her and several corridors opening up leading somewhere. ¡°why can¡¯t I just sleep peacefully once in my life?. Come on artefact monster get out and do what you have to¡± But nothing changed. Just the sound of the ventilation system and the metal expanding and contracting. ¡°at least tell me which corridor should I pick¡± but again nothing at all. So Scilla chose the right corridor and walked in. she had to walk a lot, finding closed doors from time to time and some stairs. After what she felt eternal she finally reached a room. This was a massive spherical room and strangely enough it was on the surface. Glass walls all around and a lot more personality. Blankets and lights placed around to make figures and places to stay warmer. In front of the biggest window a massive soft pillow bigger than a king size bed was lying on the floor with a creature on top. It was clearly Idra 511 but smaller, probably younger. She was staring out of the window into what was a really clear and beautiful swamp after a heavy storm leaving the sky. Strange flowers were all over the swamp. They kinda resembled the one that Iris used to draw. Maybe that was the Wiipsca. Scilla sat beside the staring Iris and started speaking. ¡°do you like flowers?¡± the creature finally turned around. Stared a bit and then nodded. ¡°it¡¯s a Wiipsca right? It¡¯s beautiful¡± A second reply but this time Iris rubbed her head against Scilla¡¯s side. Odd behaviour from her but not so odd for animals in general. Then with a sudden movement Idra grabbed Scillas head and redirect her view to a distant flower. It was opening slowly and it was amazing. The geometry of that plant was astonishing and surreal, but more surreal was what was going to happen. Soon after the opening a massive creature emerged from the distant trees. It was as big as a bull but covered with an exoskeleton like a crustacean. The creature move closer to the flower and at some point it was clear that the creature was not thinking properly. It walked in the swamp water that was getting deeper and deeper until it was too deep. That poor beast was now back to reality but unable to move and brake free from the mud that was adsorbing it. Horrific and agonizing screams echoed in the room that slowly died down as the creature lost it¡¯s strength to fight and drowned. It was a brutal yet honest work of nature. Predator and pray. Surely be killed by a plant is rare but it¡¯s what it¡¯s on an alien planet. She is replying so who am I this time? Looking down at her hands the illusion broke and she could see that they were covered with a similar black armour as the one that Iris usually wear. So I¡¯m another Idra. If all the alone stories were correct I suppose I¡¯m 484, the only one that stayed with her. But the dream had other plans. All started to fade as she dropped through the floor landing on her back in a different room. This was was definitely a laboratory of some kind. A lot of machines around and in the end a workbench where the young Iris was working on something. ¡°so what are you doing?¡± Iris looked back and immediately turned to her creation. A bit more working and then she left the position grabbing Scilla hand. Now in a shooting range Iris showed what she was doing. A strange tubular structure was in her hands. It was a prototype with a button and a digital counter so it was definitely a bomb. Iris tossed it to Scilla and waited for it to be launched. A clear launch soon followed by the¡­ scream. The grenade started ¡°screaming¡± extremely loudly, it was a high pitch and sinister sound for just 1 second then a massive pull toward the grenade. It attached everything metallic in the room to then release a massive explosion. What the fuck was that. An attraction grenade? ¡°how did you¡­¡± But the dream broke and Scilla woke up. Something woke her up, something coming from her left hand. Scilla turned to see Iris covered with all she could find, like a turtle, playing with her hand. Iris was moving the fingers around, pulling them, rubbing her fingernail into the skin veining across the palm. ¡°what are you doing?¡± ¡°having fun¡± ¡°what kind of fun is my hand providing?¡± ¡°funny information. You hand is big, your red skin is harder than mine and more rough. You have a lot of muscles and strength but little flexibility. We are both predators but our hunt styles are different. Your species goes all in with brute force to break down the enemy while we prefer to manipulate our prey or poison it.¡± ¡°you can learn a lot from a hand¡± ¡°only with the right computation capabilities¡± Iris was still shamelessly playing with Scilla¡¯s hand. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°all good and fun but isn¡¯t it awkward to play with someone else hand, without permission, while they are asleep, get caught and still keep playing?¡± Iris jumped back immediately. ¡°it¡­ it was not my intention¡­ I didn¡¯t mean¡­¡± ¡°well I can forgive you with a small payback.¡± ¡°what¡­ what is it?¡± ¡°let me touch your ears¡± ¡°what?!? no they are personal¡± ¡°oh come on, you licked my face isn¡¯t that personal as well?¡± ¡°but you told me that it was fine¡­ if¡­ if we apply¡­ the same logic.. playing with your hand should have been fine as well¡± ¡°uff you got me. Well games over. I will be clear. From the moment I saw them I wanted to touch them. So can I touch your ears?¡± ¡°mmh how about you flip on your left side facing me, let your arm out and open your hand?¡± ¡°like this?¡± Scilla followed Iris instruction and once she opened her hand Iris moved closer placing her head onto scilla hand, staring back at her. ¡°is this ok? I¡¯m facing you and my ear is placed on top of your hand so you should feel it right?¡± Scilla blushed getting even more red that her usual colour. She was getting exited feeling Iris hot and wet breath flowing on her wrist while having her head in her hand. To avoid possible problems she rotate a bit more toward Iris to cross her legs in order to stop something that could poke out of her body. ¡°thanks¡­. Didn¡¯t thought you would oblige to my request¡­ your¡­ ear is¡­ better than what I imaged.¡± ¡°well that was not a complex request¡­ just¡­ well don¡¯t tell about it to anyone¡­ it¡¯s embarrassing¡± ¡°Iris I will never tell anybody about any of this or our relationship. Those are our private moments that are only between us and only for us to remember.¡± ¡°you are the jealous type¡± ¡°NO!.. well maybe¡­ but I.. this is no jealousy it¡¯s setting a limit. Our personal life is only our and nobody else should know or have a say into it¡± ¡°yeah¡­ well I may be a tiny bit jealous. But just a bit.. you know the usual stuff¡­ like dissolving in acid everybody that dares to not respect you.¡± ¡°well I kinda figured it out just after a few hours that you don¡¯t joke around¡± ¡°eheh, still I also gained from this moment¡± ¡°what did you get out of it?¡± ¡°more images of you but, more importantly, I could get closer. Your smell plus your heart beat felt through your hands tells me a lot. You walked into it like a kid taking a candy from a doctor to get distracted¡± oh fuck.. does she know that I¡¯m exited? ¡°well your distraction worked really well, so what does the doctor says?¡± ¡°that you are perfectly healthy. Your heart is beating really fast but so are mine. I suppose it¡¯s a normal reaction when you are in contact with the person you like. Still the only problem is maybe an increase in hormones that are flowing all around your body. I can also detect a trail of hormones coming from somewhere that is not your hand but I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m allowed to follow it¡± holy fuck there is a trail¡­ I can¡¯t let her follow it. ¡°well you should not follow that trail and what do you mean by hearts?¡± ¡°oh I have 2 hearts. One pump after the other to increase blood flow and reduce energy consumption and muscle stress. It¡¯s not specific to me, all Esterian has 2. we compensate smaller lungs with increase efficiency in capturing oxygen. But as a Idra I have an additional organ as well. It¡¯s an internal sack for machine storage.¡± ¡°is this Esterian anatomy class for dummies?¡± ¡°if you want to?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know if I will understand much but I would just say that double the hearts double the love right¡± Iris got immediately embarrassed and while covering herself she punched Scilla¡¯s arm a bit, her punches were even lighter than her kicks. ¡°oh come on, I was joking. I know you like to explain things so let me ask a question. In what world are Esterian a predator? You are extremely soft and fragile how the hell could you hunt with such body?¡± ¡°do you remember the fear device implanted in the suit?¡± ¡°yes??¡± ¡°well I lied. We are the device. We took from the Morfian, the species we are hybridized with, the capability to produce a multitude of substance in our body. Most of us can just produce hormones and pheromones to become more attractive to their panther. That¡¯s is why you detect a pleasant smell inside the ship. I¡¯m not doing that on purpose. It¡¯s just how I smell. Esterians are allowed outside if they have evolved this capability to produce also dangerous molecules such us the one that usually spreads fear in our enemies.¡± ¡°well that is really cool. But still fear is only momentary and doesn¡¯t compensate for your weak body¡± Iris uncovered herself to show and point at her teeth briefly. ¡°most of our chemical components come from the lungs but some can be mixed with saliva and injected into the prey. Our bite can easily penetrate your flesh and then we can poison the prey by splitting on the wound. All is left is to wait for it do die. We are immune to our own poison¡± ¡°that¡¯s scary. You never bit me right?¡± Iris withdraw a little and pulled her covers closer as if she wanted to vanish into them. ¡°you.. you bit me? Why? I¡¯m going to die as well?¡± ¡°what?!? no I didn¡¯t inject you. It.. it was a small bite. I...i¡­ it¡¯s the cheek lick fault! I got curious.. so I took a taste, before while you were sleeping¡­ I didn¡¯t want to eat you¡­ just know your taste¡± ¡°of course you can¡¯t eat me, that¡¯s the bare minimum¡± ¡°well it¡¯s not like I hurt you. You said I could do what I liked and I like to taste things. It also helps with medical checks¡± ¡°well at least you should tell me. Just in case you woke me up and scare me.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t bite you again. I promise as a remnant of the Founder to never bite you again without warning or consent¡± ¡°you better keep your words or I¡¯ll make you eat your machine sack.¡± ¡°don¡¯t worry about it and my machine sack is not really accessible¡± ¡°is it somewhere deep in your body?¡± ¡°well it¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s¡­ wait¡­¡± The strange choker around Iris neck emitted a green pulse of light while iris tried to finish her phrase. She was confuse, she couldn¡¯t remember the location nor she could remember seeing it during a body scan. She was now speaking to herself, analysing the problem. ¡°my sisters had theirs connected to their lungs or their digestive system. As the technology allowed smaller machines they built smaller sisters. I¡¯m the smallest one but there was no tech gap between me and the precious one. So how the hell am I so small and where the fuck is my sack seeing that I¡¯m the strongest ever built I should have more machines. Why could I not remember? Is this fucking choker blocking even this information? If so why? it¡¯s not sex related¡± Iris jumped out of the covers to soon stop at the room ladder to go down. She was stumbling keeping a hand on her head. She moved to fast and too much. ¡°Scilla can you do me a favour and carry me to my medical machine?¡± ¡°sure¡± as requested Scilla helped her down the ladder and carried her to the machine. Instead of the medical chair she asked to be put inside a long cylindrical machine. Once inside it Iris commanded it to work and so the scan begun. But a precise scan needed time. ¡°well it will require some time, especially because I¡¯m wearing a lot of clothes that interfere with the machine. Thanks I guess, now I will know more¡± fuck.. I¡¯m not a genius but I¡¯m sure she took more scans of this kind. So if she doesn¡¯t remember a machine sack then she doesn¡¯t have one. But she has even better powers as her sisters. So she really is an occultist, one that is probably developing. No. no no. it must be the artefact bending reality some how. She probably know something. ¡°Iris, eh, you see the thing that I wanted to talk about while eating¡­ well it could be related to you, maybe more than what I thought.¡± ¡°what is it?¡± ¡°well I met with the Liin obviously and we mainly spoke about 3 things¡­¡± ¡°let me guess 1, you spoke about using the accident at your advantages to repress someone¡± ¡°how?!¡± ¡°well it was not hard to predict, your Liin is smart¡± ¡°well the other 2 are entirely related to you¡± ¡°they don¡¯t want me any more?¡± ¡°quite the opposite. They asked me to marry you. A political marriage. I refused¡± ¡°I thought you liked me?¡± ¡°I do and that is why I refused. I don¡¯t want your relationship to be a tool for some shit. I don¡¯t want it to be used nor to be dictated by someone else. I¡­ I¡¯m¡­ fuck why is it so hard¡­¡± fortunately for Scilla, not seeing Iris in the face was helping her, at least she couldn''t see her embarrassment. ¡°I¡¯m fucking lost without you. I started by hating you and in such a shot time something just clicked and now.. now I can¡¯t prioritize anything else except you. Even if I want I¡¯m not able to not think about you. I..¡± ¡°thanks. That¡­ that means a lot¡± ¡°I just can¡¯t accept to even try to force you. If we marry I want to do it because we both desire so. I suppose the Liin will persuade some of the Sheridan crew to flirt with you but I will defend you from them. I swear on my honour¡± ¡°hahaha, my knight in shining armour. You don¡¯t have to defend me. I spied all the crew and you are the only one worth my time.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care. If I have to fight I will fight¡± Iris voice tone suddenly changed. Now it was deeper and definitely not one she would use for jokes, her way of speaking also got more refined. ¡°your words flatters me soldier. I appreciate your devotion and so I will speak clearly. I have no use for underlings. I have no use for those that bow their heads before me. I am in need of a peer. To stand higher than I could ever reach alone. Our path will be filled with atrocities and horrific deeds. Do you still wish to stand beside me?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t ask for a greater honour¡± Iris voice got back to her usual happy tone. ¡°well now you are the one that should not take her words back. And the scan is finished¡± their small conversation gave Iris the energy and adrenaline to overcome all her physical pains as she jumped out of the machine. Now she was staring at the screen that showed an internal reconstruction of her body. Expect the 2¡ã heart nothing was much different from standard humanoid. No internal stings or shit like that. ¡°nothing.. there is nothing.. I.. I don¡¯t have a sack. How the fuck could this be?¡± ¡°I may have the answer¡± ¡°what is it Scilla?¡± ¡°well the Liin thinks that you are an occultist¡± ¡°a what? Scilla what the hell does an idiot believing in ghost or gods have to do with me missing a storage sack?¡± ¡°not that kind of occultist. You know people that can really do magic or sort of magic. People that can do things that are not physically possible like cooling down things while producing work.¡± ¡°you are not speaking about fake magicians on the planetary net right?¡± ¡°of course not. You know a lot of things, you probably know¡­¡± ¡°yes I do know. We call them Unipsi-bio-linkers but we never found one. We just calculated their existence as something that could happen to balance the universes interactions. But they can¡¯t exist, the force should kill them in less than a month¡± ¡°well. This is a state secret but so is all you have told me about Estarian so far. The Liin is one of those linkers. We call them occultist because we have no clue on how they work. I can prove it to you. The Liin believe you are just like her but I hope it¡¯s just the artefact that you carry.¡± ¡°we will see. Show me your proof¡± chapter 25c: activation Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 25c: activation ¡°we will see. Show me your proof¡± concluded Iris. Her face showed concerns, probably not for what she was going to see but what that could imply. Scilla took out her phone from her pocket and started searching in her files until she found a report. There a 15 pages long text file with images about what they defined as ¡°blood rooter¡± a humanoid figure mostly made with blood, occult power and flesh. The report was written by Scilla Lis herself with additions from Dhalia Hakavor and only test subject Serafia Csuicha. The report could be summarized as follows describing how that creature come to life and how Cuicha felt it. Experiment N-27 Preface This is the 27¡ã experiment documented by me Scilla Lis and my colleague Dhalia Hakavor on our friend and experimental subject Serafia Cuicha. With test 27 we are trying to achieve a stable manifestation in non-hazardous environment of a low tier blood summon. So far it¡¯s unclear how those creatures could live and how they link to Csuicha. If the occultist is under attack or feels threaten these creatures spawn naturally and behaves without real control. With experiment N-20 and confirmed with experiment N-23 we defined the futility of providing real blood to the subject if threaten. Still large amounts of blood seems necessary for achieve stable summoning without enemies. With experiment N-27 we are providing 100 litres of blood extracted from animals during meat processing. If all goes as planned we should end up with a ¡°blood rooter¡± a humanoid creature capable of extending itself underground in a root system and act as a pressure trap. Experiment N-27 Previous blood analysis Previous experiment shown that Csuicha doesn¡¯t really need a blood loss to summon creatures yet if her blood is added into them, they grew stronger and could achieve different form other that the rooter or the slime. Csuicha defines the summoning procedure as natural, something that just happens as blinking or breathing. The blood left behind once the creature ¡°dies¡± have a different composition that is still unknown to us but totally different from the one used as base. Each type of summoning manifested different DNA that unfortunately doesn''t live long enough to be analysed. Trying to prevent it from disappearing in thin air as been proved useless. We have no means to contain those samples. However for the little we could observe each summon has highly different blood cells, so this leads me to suppose that said summons were once living beings. Maybe the ¡°powers¡± are copying previous owners and grow stronger each time they get passed down if they could be pass down somehow. Experiment N-27 Summon The experiment was a success. We took all the possible data for the 2 hour 23 minutes and 22 second that the creature stayed alive. The blood rooter drained almost all the blood that we set as spawning pool but stopped draining it while alive. The creature was totally under Csuicha control all the time but she was still unable to prevent it from acting as defensive shield. The power wants to preserve its host at all costs. Physically the Blood rooter is composed of blood yet it was able to compress itself in a 5 litres container breaking basic physic law. The same way once the creature ¡°dies¡± the blood vanished with it, leaving us with the remaining 7 litres of unused blood. We detected no breach in our sealed chamber so the fluid just disappeared breaking yet another law. The blood rooter didn¡¯t attack us nor harm any of the probes used but it dies once Csuicha started manifesting extreme level of fatigue and stress. Best hypothesis I can make is that the creature drains some kind of energy that only Csuicha possess and we have no idea how to detect. If it wasn¡¯t in front of my eyes I would have suppose it was a joke or some fantasy daydreaming. However this is our reality and we can see that the loss of said energy drains both physically and mentally the user. Experiment N-27 Subject experience Csuicha was able to concentrate on the summon for the first time and so she was finally able to describe how she felt during the process. Using her words ¡°it felt like wind flowing all around me, moving from behind me to the blood pool. I could feel my blood moving and hear my heart pumping it while the creature grew itself. If it makes sense it felt like losing my consciousness to achieve a greater one. One where I control my subordinates as one, where I could feel it staying alive because I was alive. It also felt like leaving my mind to drift away while daydreaming, staring in an empty space while your brain elaborate.¡± This description doesn¡¯t helps a lot but this could be used as a base for future experiments. Maybe it¡¯s some sort of mutual connection with a bigger and unknown living organism, a mutual exchange. Energy for blood creature. Experiment N-27 Conclusion N-27 was a massive success that leaves us with even more questions. Hopefully my scavenging missions will bring us more intel on said powers. Maybe ancient being knew something that we are missing. End of report. ¡°I¡¯m confused Scilla. You were in the army, left it because you didn¡¯t want to have a lover and become a scavenger. All this while doing experiments on your Liin as well?¡± ¡°let¡¯s say it¡¯s a joint operation. The Sheridan and my crew were basically built with both consent from the Liin and Hakavors as a tool. Maybe I should have explained it better. I wanted to get the hell out of the army but didn¡¯t want to go back to being a civilian. At that time me, Dhalia and Serafia were already friends and so we already knew of Serafia¡¯s powers. The Sheridan was built almost as an autonomous unit. I work for both the Liin and Dhalia but on paper only for Dhalia. After all scavenging is not really seen as a noble occupation.¡± Iris was definitely not following a single word. In her mind that was ¡®politichese (politician confused way of speaking)¡¯. Esterians care definitely less about how people perceive them and Iris being a remnant of the Founder cared even less. She had no law to follow except the Founder primordial laws. ¡°sorry you lost me Scilla. For me it¡¯s all political shit.¡± ¡°yep all political shit¡± ¡°so that was an interesting report, and I have to trust you on that but still it makes sense. That would explain the red mist at the meeting. Kinda funny how your ¡®supreme leader¡¯ was nervous around me¡± ¡°it¡¯s not like it¡¯s easy to be beside you¡± ¡°WHAATTT???!??? (what)¡± exclaimed Iris with a high pitch voice while looking around. She was definitely mocking Scilla. ¡°don¡¯t WHAATTT me little girl. You know it better than me¡± ¡°yep I do. Now how do we define if I¡¯m an occultist as well or if it¡¯s just the artefact inside me?¡± ¡°well we run experiments. Do you feel something alike to an affinity to something? Like blood?¡± ¡°no¡­ well maybe yes but I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°well tell me¡± ¡°I have an affinity for machines but I was built to have it. All my sisters probably felt the same right? All that is different is that I don¡¯t have a machine sack so my machines probably come from the artefact, which is probably acting as a distortion space or something like it.¡± ¡°so all you can do is hack computer by touching them?¡± ¡°yep and also use my brain as computer and also use the artefact as power plant¡± ¡°mmh, Csuicha¡¯s power evolves and grew stronger so if you are an occultist your abilities should become better gradually.¡± ¡°mine are stuck to the same point from the day I was built so it¡¯s just the artefact that bends reality¡± ¡°I suppose so, but a test won¡¯t hurt. Can you try to get in my phone from the distance? Like do the same as when you touch it but from afar¡± However it was not so simple. The artefact was just a starter, a device built to configure something else, bigger and meant for greatness. Ancient greatness now forgotten, now opposed and rejected. Feared by most, hated by all others. That configuration was over. Iris extender her arm pointing at the phone and concentrated as she usually does. \|/Finishing configuration\|/ Air bent all around Iris as Whispers speaking unknown words started to flow out of her body. Light as well couldn¡¯t escape bending and pulsing in flashes around Iris. \|/Booting engineer\|/ The Whispers grew stronger, screaming all around the room. The ship automated system detect the inevitable. Red flashing lights combined with a deafening alarm spread through all the ship but the screaming Whispers were still stronger, so strong to shake object around and even repulse Scilla that was desperately trying to reach the panicking Iris. \|/Safety discharge\|/ A grey fluid started flowing out of all Iris orifices: eyes, nose, mouth. None were clear, then her skin started dripping fluid as well. In complete panic Iris tried to shake of the fluid but it kept coming back until it vaporize in a dark mist filling the entire room. --unknown alien entities detected-- This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. --execute isolation protocol-- --containing chamber breached-- --medical room lost-- --cockpit lost-- Natrix automated system were trying to contain the threat but it was useless. Whatever it was, was spreading too fast and was too strong to be opposed. --habitat lost-- --mechanical army lost-- --thruster commands lost-- --hostile entity has control over the ship-- The Whispers were no more hearable but the dark mist sound all around them. It sounded like a raging storm of metal droplet, so dense to not be able to see more than 50cm from your face. It was as if the small drops clashed each other scattering around emitting small metal noises. So small alone to be ignore but with so much mist its sound was all but negligible. Then a sudden stop, the mist vanished as it appeared, the ship alarm come to an end and an exhausted Iris felt into Scillas arms. ¡°NO NO !!! what is happening? Iris say something¡± Iris was only unconscious but panic and fear of potential loss overcome rationality inside Scilla¡¯s brain. ¡°you can¡¯t die on me!¡± What to do what the fuck do I do now??, the chair. It saved me, it will save her!. Scilla rushed to the medical chair to place down Iris. She had no idea how to connect it but still she replicate the condition of when she woke up. After placing Iris in she started pressing everything on the screen. Nothing was translated but the machine was built to be operated by everyone so somehow it started and immediately started beeping. On screen a body silhouette were almost everything was red. Brain and the 2 hearts were even purple. ¡°Fucking machine do something!!¡±. Meanwhile Iris was walking around her ¡°first dream¡±. She was walking on a strange planet. Blue grass and plants all over but more importantly massive crystal were popping out of the ground everywhere. Those strange construction were natural somehow and definitely not made out of glass or quartz. She walked around the strange forest until she reached a cliff. The same as her favourite cliff on the Esterian world Yoctas where she has 2 of her friends. At the summit of the cliff a strange naked humanoid creature. The small creature was around 120cm tall with massive crystal structure on its back that resemble the bone structure of a pair of wings now converted in hooks. On the creature head 3 massive horns of the same almost invisible crystal. The being had not sexual organ visible. Just 2 eyes, a mouth and 2 ears. Long slightly pink air floating as if there was no gravity and a long tail. Its skin was totally white but also not white. The best definition was a lack of colour that blurred the creature limits letting it fade in the light coming from the massive purple star shining in the sky. The creature had 4 fingers with no nails but a crystal structure that probably had the same use. The small creature was trying to eat an unknown fruit bigger than its head but it was too hard for its teeth. Iris approached the creature and grabbed violently the fruit out of its hands. She extracted a small knife hidden in her belt and opened it. The creature was jumping and trying its best to reach the fruit until Iris gave it a piece of the inside. Immediately the creature calmed and sat on the ground happily eating the fruit. Iris sat as well and continued to make piece of the fruit. ¡°meglio? (better?)¡± The creature nodded as it kept eating the fruit slowly. Iris gazed at the valley beyond the cliff between a fruit piece and the other. A war was destroying the astonishing beautiful planet but those creature were all but alike to the kid. Still neither of them cared. Iris was looking at the bloodbath while the kid was only interested in its fruit. At some point the small creature moved between Iris legs and stared at the battle too while eating. ¡°chi sono?(who are they?)¡± But the creature denied with its head. It didn¡¯t know neither. It was just looking at them. ¡°il tuo frutto sta finendo. (your fruit is about to be finished)¡± still the creature didn¡¯t really do much. It kept on eating until it was left with 2 pieces. It took one and gave the other to Iris that started eating it slowly. Without much care Iris placed her chin on the creature head and kept eating as well. Time passes as the fight drags on. Then the creature lift its right arm and invited Iris to mimic it. An urge of raw vigour and coldness rushed from her hearts and brain to her arm condensing until it burst out. Gray tentacles composed by an incalculable quantity of machines so small to cut atoms rushed before her eyes. She was in control of them, intertwining them to make a massive stronger tentacle at her commands. Whispers surrounding her were still in an unknown language but now she could feel their desires right in her brain. Telepathy or something like that. They were ruthless, they kept on calling for blood, destruction and reborn. ¡°Conquer, kill, assimilate, consume, consume them all!!, assimilate, eat, kill, build, build, build!, reforge, make, destroy, feed, feed and eat!!¡± An overwhelming force of illusory indiscriminate destruction with only purpose to build and grow. Iris felt herself fade away in such monstrous mechanical consciousness but then the dream faded and she woke up suddenly in her medical chair. Scilla immediately hugged her, she was saying something but she couldn''t hear. The Whispers were speaking to her. They only explained that they were going to help. ¡°Iris! Say something! Do something please!¡± But Iris body was not responding to her owner. Iris was in pain and the only thing she could use was her head. At least she could speak. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine don¡¯t worry about me. I had a ¡®talk¡¯ with something. I can see why the books called them Whispers even if they are so fucking loud¡± ¡°all you have to say is ¡®I will be fine¡¯??? did you know how worried I was. I thought you were dying¡­¡± ¡°well I¡­¡± ¡°SHUT UP! After all the shit you said just before about needing someone beside you. Where the fuck did it go?!!?¡± ¡°WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO TELL YOU!?!?! that I had no fucking idea of what happened? That I¡¯m scare of dying because this proves that somehow I¡¯m a fucking linker and linkers are not meant to live long form a mathematical point of view?. Should I let my emotion run loose when my fucking body is temporary papalized? Should I stop thinking rationally to provide an emotive answer?¡± ¡°that is not what I meant. You can fucking speak with me, tell me about all the shit that are happening. Do you think I will be disappointed knowing that you are not perfect?¡± ¡°why should you not be disappointed?¡± ¡°because I don¡¯t fucking care. Perfection is not something meant for organic creatures to achieve. I prefer to have you as you are than a robot mimicking your behaviour. But apparently you are too stupid to understand basic emotions with the good manners so this calls for more drastic ways¡± ¡°what? Scilla what the fuck are you doing? Put me down immediately¡± Scilla lifted Iris and started carrying her like a corpse on her shoulder. Iris tried to move, to struggle but her body was not responding. She could feel it but not move it. ¡°I said let go of me you fucking block head!¡± ¡°NO! I¡¯m going to prove you how useless is to repress all your emotions with me. I¡¯m not a random idiot walking down the street. I¡¯m fucking Scilla Lis, Ittira of the Lean federation. I can fucking understand basic emotion and work with them. But the so might perfect Idra doesn¡¯t seems so competent¡± ¡°I¡¯ll fucking show you who is the incompetent¡± ¡°yeah yeah then move¡± ¡°I can¡¯t fucking move, I¡¯m papalized¡± ¡°if you were good enough you wouldn¡¯t be so¡± ¡°you are getting on my fucking nerves. Shut you sewer before I close it for good¡± ¡°and how will you do so little girl? With your sharp tongue or staring eyes?¡± Iris had run out of comebacks so she decided to at least have the last words failing, obviously. ¡°just wait and I will show you¡± ¡°sure I will wait for cry and begging after countless useless tries to brake free from my arms. Ship active gravitational pull¡± while speaking Scilla had brought Iris back to her room and with the help of the gravitational pull she reached the bed easily. ¡°how the fuck did you know of the grav-pull?¡± ¡°I told you to shut up¡± Scilla tossed Iris on the bed without any regard. As she already did many times she covered her and placed beside her. Initially she was distant but little by little she moved closer. ¡°what the fuck are you doing? Don¡¯t you fucking dare to get closer to me!¡± ¡°I do dare. If you don¡¯t understand it peacefully the shock will force you to remember it¡± Scilla moved closer and closer and Iris was starting to feel Scilla¡¯s heat reaching her back. ¡°get the fuck away from me you fucking pervert. You.. you are committing a¡­ a crime¡­ against me. This is illegal, you can¡¯t do this¡± ¡°when did laws ever matter to you? So any last words¡± ¡°Scilla¡­ we.. we can speak about it. You don¡¯t have to do¡­.¡± Scilla hug from behind interrupted Iris thought process. Scilla was clinging to her so much. She could feel her hot and muscular right arm across her belly pulling her closer. The other arm was under her armpit and reconnected with the other making even more difficult a possible escape, not that she could move. But Scilla¡¯s arms were only a marginal problem. The biggest one were posed by Scillas boobs pressing on her back and her hot breath flowing right on her neck and ears. Iris was reaching new highs of embarrassment and then the last drop that finally made her understand. Scilla was grabbing her even tightly, her forehead pressing on Iris¡¯ back of the head. With a soft, worried and scare voice that was on the verge of a cry she said. ¡°I don¡¯t want you to die. I don¡¯t want to be left alone. Without you I will have to start all over. Do you think with my personality that I will ever find someone as strong as you? I want to live our life together, have our share of fun and danger. Get back home wherever it will be, built up a family. Grow older knowing that we did your part in the universe and that¡¯s it. Do you thing that I¡¯m not scared of whatever is inside you? Do you believe I have answers? Of course I don¡¯t. But whatever will happen I want to be with you. I don¡¯t live only for me now. I also live for you. I just hope that you will understand that and do the same. Your problems are mine and I hope that also my problems are yours. Isn¡¯t this what you wanted? Someone that can be there when you need them? Because that¡¯s what I want and I believed that you could gave it to me. But maybe I was wro¡­ (wrong)¡± ¡°NO! YOU WERE NOT WRONG!. YOU ARE NOT WRONG! I¡¯m.. faulty.. I¡¯m the problem¡­¡± ¡°we all are faulty and will ever be. But we could be there for each other. To compensate those faults¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ I panicked. I was scared. I.. I.. don¡¯t know what happened, I don¡¯t know what to do any more. I had my missions but do they matter any longer?¡­¡± Iris was panicking again. Her breath was getting unstable and so were her words. ¡°deep breath and clean your mind. You are too agitated and so I am. We should sleep again. I don¡¯t know why but I¡¯m drained and I suppose you are tired as well¡± ¡°thanks again¡­ to be here, for me Scilla¡± chapter 26c: departure Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 26c: departure Scilla was dreaming. Finally a normal dream, one of those that disappear gradually once awake. She was happy. In her blurred mind she saw a big villa surrounded by beautiful weeping trees and fields of flowers. In front of the villa entrance, on the porch Iris was waiting for her. Smiling while the wind moved her long hair. Behind her back 5 distinct creature, their kids. They resemble both of them and display all their species. One was about to spoke but then she woke up. Iris, the real one was moving. She was squishing out of Scilla¡¯s arms as gently as she could. Let¡¯s see what she does. Once free, Iris turned back and filled the void that she left behind with a big pillow. Then quietly she put back the covers around Scilla and walked away. Not much later, probably just 5 minute later, Iris was back. She placed something on one of the nearby desk and then tried to wake up Scilla gently. ¡°Scilla?¡­ Scilla?¡­ you should wake up¡­¡± while softly whispering so Iris was also gently poking Scilla¡¯s foot. Scilla was already awake still she decided to play the sleeping part initially moving just a little to the fully sit in bed. In front of her Iris was holding a big steamy mug with both hands. ¡°this is for you. It¡¯s hot black tea, do you like it?¡± Scilla got immediately interested. Human Tea was sort of a luxury item for almost everybody except Humans. Plants in the camellia genus apparently don¡¯t really like to change planet and they usually die rapidly or get killed by other native plants. However Scilla had money and had the pleasure to drink some. She liked it but getting pure tea from Terra was an endless pain in the ass so eventually she stopped even looking for it. ¡°is this real tea from Terra?¡± Iris however put on a perplexed expression. ¡°no. how could it be? We didn¡¯t commerce with Humans so far. It¡¯s tea from Yoctas, one of the many Esterian planet and probably the one with the better wheatear.¡± ¡°so it¡¯s a different plant? Or did you find a way to keep it alive?¡± ¡°similar plant, different soil and no pesticides what so ever. For what I know it has a stronger taste but it¡¯s kinda similar. Never had the real one¡± ¡°well thanks I guess. Why did you make it?¡± ¡°to.. to have an excuse to start a conversation. I know that usually people do so. I don¡¯t know why.¡± ¡°you should also not tell the other party that your tea is an excuse¡± ¡°really?¡± ¡°yep. Just go with the flow and say what you have to¡± ¡°so¡­ even if it¡¯s a bit pointless¡­ I¡¯m sorry. Yesterday I was not¡­ working properly¡­.¡± ¡°tell me something that I don¡¯t already know¡± ¡°well¡­ how was it¡­ oh right¡­ thanks Scilla. I¡¯m far from perfection, I strive for it yet I can¡¯t reach it. I know it¡¯s useless but it¡¯s how I am.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not asking you to change your ideals, just to lean on me if you ever need it. Exactly as you did once you started feeling sick.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you pity me? I¡¯m a genius, built to be better than anyone else. Built to be an indestructible pillar of hope. Won¡¯t you be disappointed?¡± Scilla had already forgiven Iris. She knew that Iris was elaborating slowly her emotions and that Iris still need time to mature emotionally. ¡°sit beside me Iris¡± Iris didn¡¯t hesitate and did so. Now one beside the other with the mugs in hands, Scilla leant on Iris shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m not in love with you because you are a hope pillar of civilization or some fangirl shit. I know that you are way smarter than me, but I also know that you can¡¯t process emotions. I can help you with that.¡± ¡°will you really help me. Without getting anything back?¡± ¡°well I hope that if I ever need help you will help me back. Won¡¯t you do that?¡± ¡°I can do that. no. I will do that!.¡± ¡°see. I can already lean on you as you desire¡± Iris was happy. She was feeling useful and that was all she needed. However she was finally able to realise that she was not the only one with such feeling. Scilla wanted to be useful as well and she could understand emotions way better than Iris. So she leant on Scilla as well, compensating her wight. ¡°I¡¯m scared. I don¡¯t want to die. I don¡¯t want to lose you neither. I have so much more to do and there is so much that as yet to be discovered. I don¡¯t want to be a walking universal abomination.¡± Iris tone was getting sadder and desperate, but gradually it was mixing with anger. Her eyes lit up like wild fire and deep inside them, a grey reflex. The Whispers were eager for revenge as well. Against who? they didn¡¯t care, be it Humans or the whole universe. Wherever Iris anger was going to be directed they were going as well. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be the same Iris as the one in those fucking books. I have been alone for years, I don¡¯t mind loneliness. But haven¡¯t I done enough?. Haven¡¯t I sacrifice enough?, give enough?. What more could I fucking lose? Everything I ever care about has either died, disappeared or left me. I even lost Natrix. The only thing left is you. I won¡¯t let anybody take you away. You are mine. MINE!. I will crush everything that gets in the way!. I will¡­¡± ¡°I appreciate your possessiveness. But I¡¯m not an object you can thrown around¡± She is calming down. Bomb defused successfully. ¡°it¡¯s obvious that you are no object. Still my initial plan was to kidnap you.¡± ¡°really?¡± ¡°yep. I wanted to bring you to Weeping Sky and lock you in.¡± ¡°so you just changed way of doing things?, instead of force you are controlling my mind with chemical components.¡± Scilla was joking and teasing Iris a bit, however Iris felt it necessary to clarify her position. ¡°I only tiered to make you fear me. Once I understood your immunity I sort of gave up. I want to preserve your brain and personality so I never release anything that could change your perception of me. I no longer desire to force you into anything.¡± ¡°good to know. Exactly like you, I appreciate honesty and so I have to ask. Isn¡¯t Natrix the ship? it¡¯s here how could you have lost it?¡± ¡°the Ship is Natrix Demone Urlante or NDU if you prefer. I called the automated AI partition in my brain Natrix as well. But my creation died. The artefact killed it. It was a special AI, one that could not have backups.¡± ¡°oh. I¡¯m sorry for your loss.¡± ¡°don¡¯t be it. After all it was a parasite that I built inside my own brain to limit my conscious self. Now I have all my brain at my disposal. I¡¯m stronger now.¡± Scilla moved her arm around Iris body to squeeze her closer. She knew that she was suffering. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°you don¡¯t have to put up a facade. You can tell me that you miss it. I will¡­¡± Iris put down her empty tea mug and hugged Scilla back, face in her side, with all her strength. Scilla just stood there. Speaking was not what Iris required in that moment. Time passed and finally Iris pulled back. Her face was back to ¡°normal¡± but it was clear as the day that she was still hurt. ¡°shall we go eat something? I didn¡¯t really prepare anything because you know¡­ I have no idea how to cook most stuff.¡± ¡°sure, lead the way. But how could it be that you don¡¯t know how to cook?¡± Iris moved toward the kitchen and Scilla followed her. Iris didn¡¯t reply until inside the room where she pulled out a small data-pad with a cooking book open. ¡°you see, this shit is too vague. ¡®cook until golden brown¡¯. What the hell is golden brown? Also colour is influenced by how our eyes are built, by the light, reflection and so on. How the hell should I know? Then this, add salt and pepper to taste? How should I know? If it doesn¡¯t kill me it¡¯s fine¡­.¡± Iris kept on explaining ¡°massive issues¡± with cooking books that could all be defined as taste preference or feeling. So she doesn¡¯t know how to cook because she is basically unable to understand that most of cooking is pure feeling and intuition? Well I should have seen it coming. ¡°see this one as well says to mix until dense. How much dense? How many resistance should it make? How much viscous friction? You see! You see what I¡¯m speaking about right? Scilla?¡± ¡°yep I can see it. You pointed out¡­ well all the recipes so far¡­¡± ¡°it¡¯s not my fault if they are wrong¡± ¡°they are not wrong. You miss the concept of feeling while cooking and mental elasticity. Well I guess I will teach you that as well?¡± Exactly as it happened on the Sheridan, Iris immediately rushed to Scilla, all exited. ¡°really!?! really?!?!¡± So cute. I guess she is no longer sad. ¡°sure. I don¡¯t take back my words¡± Once in front of the cooking robot display Scilla noticed a peculiar element. A digital integrated clock showing 11:32. ¡°Iris I think your clock is broken. How much did we sleep?¡± ¡°it¡¯s a planetary net synchronized clock, it¡¯s correct at the pico-second. We sleep through all the evening, night and also morning of today.¡± ¡°what? How the fuck did that happen. I can understand your case of being ¡®fighting¡¯ with the artefact but also me?¡± ¡°maybe my powers consumed your energy as well because you are too close. Don¡¯t really know. Sorry.¡± ¡°don¡¯t be sorry. It¡¯s not your fault. I guess I will have breakfast/lunch with you and then go home.¡± ¡°you don¡¯t have to go home. I¡¯m already flying you there¡± ¡°what? We are flying?¡± ¡°yep.¡± how is this possible. A feel no disturbance at all, no movement. It all feels static as if time isn¡¯t even running. ¡°can you tell me how it¡¯s possible that I feel nothing?¡± ¡°oh, you have to keep it a secret but it¡¯ kinda easy. All ship¡¯s walls and plates in general are filled with additional internal plates and components. Those are made with gravron elements.¡± ¡°yeah that tells me nothing, but if I have to guess it¡¯s related to your gravity pull device right?¡± ¡°exactly. Do you know how current works?¡± ¡°a flow of charges through a surface.¡± ¡°a bit reductive but yes. So the base of current are electron or holes that are a lack of electrons. Gravron elements comes from a different universe where electron are gravity charges and gravity can be obtained as we obtain current. The ship has a transformer that basically converts the energy carried by electron into energy that is now carried by grav-electron and this new moving particles generate gravity fields all around the ship. This way I can manipulate gravity as I please with limits ralated to my own power supply and inertia forces. So if a move slowly I can null all forces working on you except basic gravity pull and so you feel nothing.¡± this is a revolution. If we have something like this we could make ship with drastically better top acceleration, we could remove those massive gravity generators. But where the hell did they found such materials? Should I ask? Nah, better ask her at a different time, I don¡¯t want to be too pressing. ¡°that¡¯s amazing.¡± ¡°thanks.¡± their lunch moved on without more shocking events. Scilla would have loved to ask about Iris newly acquire powers but that would not be a wise decision. As for the gravron material. Better move slowly. Scilla was brought home successfully and Iris with her ship stayed there almost all the time. In about a week they resupply the Sheridan, convert an emergency exit into a connector for Iris NDU and were getting ready to say goodbye to Icar 3¡ã for the time to come. Obviously the Lean government has already started moving guided by Csuicha¡¯s ideas. Now all that was left to do was plotting a route and start exploring, it was time for Iris to demonstrate her knowledge. On the Sheridan main deck Scilla, Idra, Morea and the other ship officials had gathered to discuss ¡°their¡± plan. In front of an interactive map of the known space. Idra took the lead and started explaining. ¡°I suppose it¡¯s my time to shine, and so let¡¯s start with the basis. The space we live in was once populated by too many species to keep track of, yet with my work and the one of other colleagues we Esterian come to a conclusion. Once upon a time an ancient alien species ruled over our planets and that explain why there are so many ruins scattered on almost every habitable planet. A know a lot of you already believe in ancient extensive terraforming but I will be clear. It happened and also didn¡¯t. Most planet are habitable by nature and are similar because universal law are universal. We share a lot of common traits because we all developed on similar planets so evolution defined us similarly. But it¡¯s undiscussed that we were not the first. My researches showed 2 mayor species before us in recent times. The Morfian and the Valurk. So far I have looked mostly for Morfian ruins and I tracked a new one that I need to explore.¡± ¡°Sorry Miss Idra 511 Weeping Sky¡­¡±interrupted a rare male Lean. His figure was small, just a bit taller than Idra and old. Probably double Scilla¡¯s age, so more than 80 years old. His skin was a pale red and his haircut was extremely short on the side and long in the middle. He was not wearing a power armour so it was a civilian. His voice was both scared and exited. ¡°I¡¯m the head of¡­ well I¡¯m basically in charge of all scientific matters and engineering of the ship. I¡¯m.. I¡¯m asking out of curiosity¡­ but will you have time to introduce us more about those species¡­ you see for science?¡± Suspicious? I have known this man for years and not even once he showed interest in others Lean. He is not even married at his age. Was he bought by Serafia to approach Iris? ¡°Who are you little man?¡± ¡°oh sorry, I¡¯m the Ittiro Lucero Castro, I discovered¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care what you did before. Yes I will explain gradually what I know about those species in future meetings.¡± ¡°thanks you very much¡± ¡°now as I was saying. I have found a new ruin on a moon that has no native species...¡± ¡°that is good, less work for us¡± said Morean. ¡°inside Xoraxta¡¯s borders¡± concluded Idra. Xoraxtas and Leans were not in good relations. Xoraxtas, due to closer beliefs and ¡°good heart¡±, gave aid to Droxis during the extermination war. Some Xoraxtas thought that a war was not needed especially and extermination one. Others simply liked the Droxis and other again helped the Droxi due to their religious beliefs. Lean are highly against religions and there is not much to add. Most Xoraxtas believed in some sort of divinity so friction was inevitable. Yet it never escalate to a war. Those small creature were too afraid to oppose the Leans. Due to their bad relationship Xoraxtas borders become more patrolled, just in case. ¡°well the moon is in Shimuya solar system and it¡¯s the 2¡ã moon of the 3¡ã planet.¡± ¡°you are telling us to trespass on¡­¡± ¡°Morea let her speak. Idra pleas go on.¡± intrude Scilla. ¡°thanks. Next time I will cut your subordinate tongue and eat it. Now Shimuya usually have just 1 destroyer patrolling it. I can take it down. But they change patrol unit every 33 hours. I know when that happens. So we get there a few hours later. I destroy the enemy and then we get to work on the moon. Easy. In and out in less than 24 hours.¡± ¡°are you sure that there won¡¯t be any problems?¡± replied Scilla. ¡°yep. I have studied their patterns for way too long and the only inconvenience could be a scientific ship.¡± ¡°you won¡¯t ask us to do anything related to the destroyer?¡± ¡°just gain a bit of time faking some communication malfunctioning. I will kill them all and remove all possible source of your involvement. Plus both out ship are unknown to them so they won¡¯t know anything until it¡¯s too late.¡± The air around the table was extremely tense. They were scared but not Scilla. ¡°swear it and I will follow your plan.¡± ¡°you should have more faith in me commander Lis. So I swear on my family name that we well be succesful¡± ¡°I do trust you and know what you are capable of. I just don¡¯t want to put my women and men at risk because for your careless decisions¡± ¡°don¡¯t worry. I already pulled some ticks like this.¡± ¡°ok. We are in.¡± Scilla was the only one convinced by Idra¡¯s words. She will not let her down. Not after helping her. It was the opposite. Idra had the spotlight and she was going to show the unbridgeable gap between them. chapter 27c: nightmare Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 27c: nightmare Idra¡¯s plan was all but a safe option, yet they should start from somewhere. Scilla used at her advantage the common hatred for Xoraxtas while explaining to the rest of her crew their new mission. Needless to say that only few Leans were against the use of violence, especially because all of it was going to be done by Idra and she assured that there will be no traces of their presence. The L.F. Sheridan was loaded and ready for the interstellar trip and so they begun jumping from start to star, letting the engines cooling from time to time. Idra had defined a schedule to reach Shimuya just 2 hours after the patrol change. Just to be safe. Her plan was astonishing even for Lean¡¯s standards. Everything was calculated from trajectory to gravitational slingshot while cooling the engines. Every second was calculated with additional error on both time used and trajectory. She can¡¯t have just made this. Why do I feel like she had already planned all of this?. Well it¡¯s a solid plan so what¡¯s the point of complaining. Their journey had just begun and as soon as the ship initiate the first jump ¡°suitors¡± started flocking around Idra. Scilla was at her command station on the main deck, beside her Idra had her little workspace that was mostly symbolic. Then while Scilla was still looking into Idra¡¯s detailed plan, a femari Lean approached the Esterian. ¡°Miss Weeping Sky, it¡¯s a pleasure to have you on board. Me and a few others were thinking that¡­¡± Idra stood up. Absolute silence coming from her suit staring back at the femari. ¡°yeah, emmh I¡­ I was saying that¡­¡± Scilla was about to interfere but strangely enough Idra spoke back. Her voice was filled with murderous tones but she kept herself at bay. ¡°you were thinking wrong.¡± the ¡®fear¡¯ gas was starting to kick in the young soldier. First she started avoiding Idra¡¯s eyes-less gaze then her hands started shaking and finally her legs. ¡°disappear from my sight before I mince you into a burger. RUN!¡± as Idra shouted the solider fell on her butt to immediately panic to regain her stance and ran away. Well she didn''t kill her. Good enough but I will have to find a way to stop this clown show before anything happens. ¡°good job girl¡± commented Scilla. ¡°told you. No need for your defence.¡± As time passed nothing happened. Both Idra and Scilla could sense the eyes of several other ¡°suitors¡± that were looking for a gap in Idra¡¯s actions to approach the creature, but they all failed. Idra was extremely defensive and totally indifferent to anybody that was not Scilla or one of the few ship officials. After already half a day it was time to eat and so Idra and Scilla returned to their ¡°usual¡± routine in the canteen. While waiting for Scilla with food for both of them a new soldier was approaching. Let¡¯s see so this is the next sucker that wants to be humiliated. ¡°can.. can I sit at your table miss Weeping Sky?¡± started the soldier. Visible tension was all over her body. She was scared, as all are, but probably the Liin was going to give her a lot of money in case of success. ¡°what do you think soldier?¡± ¡°well¡­ it¡¯s.. empty so I suppose I can sit¡± the poor femari put her plate filled with food on the table and was about to sit when one of idra¡¯s glove¡¯s probe cut deep into the soldier¡¯s steak and plate. The sound of the metallic pointy probe scratching the table froze the soldier in place. ¡°suppose again. What. Do. You. Think. Soldier?¡± ¡°I...i¡­ I¡¯m sorry if I o..o...offended you¡­ it was¡­ was not¡­¡± ¡°shut up!¡± shouting so Idra¡¯s probe cut also into the canteen table. Then she retrieve it and sat back. ¡°one more word and you are next¡± as predictable the soldier left all in place and ran away exactly as Scilla was approaching the table with the food. ¡°let me guess, a new clown?¡± ¡°How could you tell? Are you a genius¡± replied Idra in a sarcastic tone. ¡°that fucking Liin. I¡¯m looking into all the possible idiots that she could have bought for her plan, but¡­¡± ¡°don¡¯t worry. There were definitely way more this morning but in just few hours their number has drastically drop. A few more and none would try to get close to me again.¡± ¡°well I¡¯m still sorry that you have to be the villain in all this¡± ¡°Villain¡­ what a funny word. Maybe I am one. I told you before that they are alive only because I don¡¯t care enough to kill them.¡± ¡°then thanks for not killing my crew.¡± said Scilla smiling. ¡°you are welcome¡± replied happily Idra. Without any more surprises the day was ending. Even in space keeping up with a day-night cycle in fundamental for productivity and biological regulation. Scilla was already sleeping but Idra had something else to do. Silently she left the room and hid inside one of the many crew bathroom. There she waited camouflaged in a dark corner. After 2 hours the first soldier that approached her in the morning was ending her turn and getting ready to sleep. Idra let her conclude her business but approached once the soldier was washing her hands. Out of ¡°nowhere¡± she appeared beside the soldier. ¡°Hi¡±. The femari jumped away scared to find herself shoulders against a wall. The soldier mustered up her courage and spoke back. ¡°G..Good E...Evening Miss..We..Weeping¡­¡± She had no time to end her phrase that Idra jumped onto her. Idra¡¯s left hand enhanced by the power armour was grabbing the soldier neck. Fighting against a power armour is useless so the soldier tried to beg for her life. ¡°please¡­ I..can¡¯t breath¡­ I..don¡¯t want.. to die¡­¡± the soldier was crying while her oxygen was running lower and lower, yet Idra didn¡¯t let go. \|/kill. Break. Destroy. Feed. Grow. Rebuilt. Remodel. Feed. Grow. Feed. Grow. Destroy. Consume.\|/ ¡°shut the fuck up! I¡¯m the one who decide!¡± ¡°meet the others cock suckers like you and convey my message. If even one of you tries to pull anything funny, not only on me but also on Scilla, you will never get back home.¡± then Idra tossed away the crying femari that started couching and heavily breathing. ¡°you are (cough) a fucking psycho.(cough) I knew I should have (couch) never accepted this shit. (cough) you can¡¯t tame monsters.¡± if only I could fucking kill her. Idra obviously was pissed but she refrain from her ¡°usual disposal method¡± however she had to do something so with all the needed calculation she choose to go for a couple of kicks. The first right in the soldier stomach and the second one on the thighs, just to avoid killing her. ¡°you better get moving. If tomorrow someone get even close to me I¡¯ll be back. And there is no place in space where you can hide from me¡±. As if nothing happened at all Idra just went back to sleep in her shared room with Scilla. Days passed and ¡°strangely¡± nobody ever approached Idra gain after the first day, except Lucero Castro. The man was not particularity scared by Idra¡¯s natural presence but he was far from being immune to her fear gas. Still he kept on trying to speak with Idra even if she didn¡¯t even answer most of the time. Needless to say that Scilla was not liking his dedication. Scilla had all needed data about her crew but personal life is not that important to be a member of both army and Hakavor¡¯s army. So to get something related to Castro private relationship she had to go the old ways. Scilla instructed Morea to ask around about Castro¡¯s private life, his colleagues must know something that she doesn¡¯t. At the 4¡ã day of the 24 needed days for the journey, Morea was back with some knowledge and was entering Scilla¡¯s room, to then stop by the door. ¡°hi Morea. Bringing in some news?¡± Scilla was in her small private office with her door open to the main room. As always she was at her computer looking at all kind of data. ¡°Hi commander Lis and yes I have some news¡­ did you buy a spaceship model? It looks pricey¡± in the ¡°living room¡± Scilla placed a table, with all needed adjustment for containing small pieces while the ship moves, on top of it there was the extremely costly scale model that Idra brought on Icar 3¡ã. ¡°Idra bought it. She said it was a gift for both on the first evening. Apparently she is interested in scale models or something like that. You know how she is right?¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°yeah, I know way too well. So back to the news I have nothing on Castro. So far all his colleagues and friends have been collaborative and their descriptions are matching. A good man with some highs and lows as all of us. He takes his duties as a male seriously and apparently giving sample of organic matters and taking part of research tests is fundamental for him. He apparently joined us to be also able to travel a lot in order to provide more data between mission to our researchers.¡± ¡°previous relationships? Failed marriages, undeclared children?¡± ¡°highly unlikely. Sorry commander but so far he seems like a good man. The only suspicious things is that he is 89 but had no relationships. Still he has a secret porn collection so I doubt he has... that kind of problems.¡± ¡°so he could be after Idra¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. He doesn¡¯t feel that way to me.¡± ¡°well I will ask Idra when she gets back¡± Morea was a bit confused, she thought Idra was always near Scilla. ¡°you mean that she is not using the toilet?¡± ¡°nope, she is around somewhere. Haven¡¯t you seen her?¡± ¡°not really. But is it safe to let her go as she pleases?¡± ¡°Morea, my friend. We already spoke about this. At least you above all other officials should trust her. Not blindly trust her but at least try. She is not... ¡®not evil¡¯ is not really accurate. Let¡¯s say she doesn¡¯t want to murder you as much as she says.¡± ¡°I know commander. It¡¯s just how she feels when she gets close. That eyes-less and soundless suit just doesn¡¯t work with my instinct. She doesn¡¯t feel right. Are you sure she is not a robot?¡± ¡°yes I¡¯m sure Morea. She is organic as much as we are. Esterian just see life differently. They prefer to be feared than loved and believe that prevention is better than curing.¡± ¡°I can try again, but doesn¡¯t she hates me? You know we kinda insulted each other and well I keep opposing her¡­¡± ¡°just apologise to her. She doesn¡¯t hate you, she is just keeping you in place. If you tell her that you fucked up because you didn¡¯t trust her she will understand. Probably.¡± ¡°then I suppose I will come back later so¡­¡± ¡°don¡¯t need for that. She will be here in 20 seconds¡± ¡°the fuck?¡± ¡°I gave her a time schedule and she always follows it. Just wait¡± ¡°as if I would believe such I l(lie)¡± ¡°now¡±¡ª¡±Morea, you are in the way.¡± Idra¡¯s voice came exactly 20 seconds later as the ship clock ticked to 20:00:00. Morea was obviously surprised and jumped forward inside the room. ¡°Welcome back Idra.¡± ¡°Hi Scilla. Morea.¡± Still suspicious Morea had to ask. ¡°where have you been?¡± Idra, that was walking toward her bed, immediately turned toward Morea. ¡°let me answer you as my people would do. Fatti una riga di cazzi tuoi.¡± (make a line of your own dicks/ offensive way to say: it¡¯s none of your business). Morea didn¡¯t really like Idra¡¯s offensive tone but Scilla gave her sign to do nothing and then replied. ¡°Idra can you tell me what you did before?¡± ¡°sure Scilla. I walked around. I stopped by the emergency food factory and then I played a bit with one of your fusion missiles. Not bad but not good neither. Too easy to take down as they are now.¡± ¡°if you have a solution you can tell me. If you want¡± ¡°nah. It¡¯s a military grade technology. We agree upon not selling those for now.¡± ¡°well I guess I¡¯m out of luck. Speaking of out of luck Morea wanted to tell you something¡± ¡°what?¡±¡ª¡±what do I want to tell her commander?¡± ¡°you know what Morea. Go on.¡± Both Scilla and Idra could see that Morea was not particularly happy at the beginning but then she relaxed a bit before speaking. ¡°Fuck. You did me dirty commander.¡± ¡°I know.¡± ¡°well... Idra¡­ I wanted to apologise. I¡­¡± ¡°shut the fuck up. I don¡¯t want to hear your fake shit. You can tell me the truth or get the fuck out.¡± Morea smirked but then she stayed and continued speaking. ¡°ok. I don¡¯t trust you. You feel odd, you are fucking scary and creepy. You are evil and violent. I don¡¯t like it. But I have to admit I was wrong on Icar 3¡ã. I didn¡¯t treat you fairly while you did. So I¡¯m sorry for that but I still don¡¯t really like how you¡­¡± Idra burst out laughing at Morea¡¯s words but still she liked them. ¡°yeah that is what I wanted to hear. An honest opinion. I accept you apology. I guess you are better than what I believed. So when do you get out of my room?¡± ¡°you fucking¡­¡± ¡°HA! Got you. Sorry Morea, I had to say it.¡± Scilla joined the conversation. ¡°you are making progress. That was a good pun. But don¡¯t bully her too much. Leans have feeling, usually.¡± ¡°ok Scilla. You can stay or leave Morea. I have no more grudges against you so do what you want.¡± ¡°well it¡¯s not like I have much more to say to our commander. So I will¡­¡± ¡°was is again about the Castro dude?¡± ¡°how do you know?¡± asked Morea. ¡°traded secret. But let me add that he is harmless as Morea believes. He is just looking for an intellectual exchange. He basically looking for a friend with different ideas to speak about science. Nothing more. Not paid by the Liin.¡± ¡°well now we know. Thanks Idra¡± concluded Scilla. 5 more days passed by without much to report, it was the night of the 9¡ã day of journey out of 24. A second meeting was suppose to happen during the 10¡ã day. Scilla and Idra were sleeping peacefully until something disturbed Scilla¡¯s dreams. Her peaceful dreams started to change and become more vivid, more clear. She soon realised that she was back into Idra¡¯s memories but she was not alone. Not the strange creature but Idra herself was there, sort of. Scilla was following a small Idra 511, probably 10 years old, through a dark and narrow corridor. The architecture of the structure was brutal and oppressive. It had no reason to appeal to the eyes all that matters was just to be functional. Door after door, corridor after corridor they reached a massive room. Immediately its nature was clear, it was a hospital ward. It had several beds all surrounded by so many machines that it was hard to even spot the patients. Idra walked between the machines to one of the beds. There dying on it she saw Idra 478, the same Idra that pressed to seal away 511. 478 was not inside her suit and she was clearly dying of rapid decay. She looked old, sick and frail, there was not much in common with Iris¡¯s face but you could tell that they shared some blood. The sick woman was sorry. She was speaking about her mistakes. ¡°I fucked up 511. I should have control myself yet I imprisoned you. I won¡¯t ask to be forgiven¡­. You are a good kid. You will do greatness beyond my limited imagination. Don¡¯t let my mistakes slow you down.¡± Scilla finally reach the bed as well and as soon as she moved beside Iris things changed. She shifted from reality into Iris perspective of the event. The room was suffocating, collapsing and liquefying around her. The floor was full of hands and faces screaming in pain trying to grab her legs and drag her down. 478 was a monster of undefined forms, with hands, tentacles, teeth, sharps bones and all kind of monstrosity emerging from her body. She was cursing at Iris, blaming her for her imminent death, for all the previous Idras. ¡°you are a fucking failure, an aberration that is walking around. We are dying because you are useless as much as a fart against a tornado. You can¡¯t do anything good because you don¡¯t have anything good to begin with. You should have been killed inside the assembly machine.¡± before Scilla could do anything hands dragged both of them in the ground and the dream collapsed. Scilla woke up and at the same time she heard a thud. It was Idra that fell out of her bed. She was on the floor a bit confused but quickly recovering. ¡°everything ok Idra?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine¡­ no I¡¯m not fine.¡± she looked toward the door that locked itself. And then continued in a sad tone. ¡°I had a nightmare. I suppose they are back.¡± saying so she stood up and sat back on her bed. Scilla moved beside her and replied. ¡°what to speak about it? It could help.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t need help. But I guess I could tell you a bit. Idras invented the omni-cure. It was not a medicine to begin with. It was a machine replenish compressed unit. They just took it once they machine sack ran dry to fill it back. With time we improved it until it become useful even for others. Initially it was used for minor problems like a scratch, a small burn and so on. It helped healing faster but with heavy side effects if used on greater injuries. With time it improved but the toll for using it was still to high. I was the one that improved it to make it usable without much side effects. Now it just eat your nutritions but saves your life.¡± ¡°it¡¯s a good story but I don¡¯t think you are having nightmares because you helped people¡± ¡°it didn¡¯t made it for people, it was for 471. she was the first sister that I saw dying. I wanted to help. I improved the cure but nothing changed. So I repeated the process with the next sister. A new model but didn¡¯t work neither. A made all 4 public variant of the omni-cure that exist but none ever worked. If I was smarter, faster and braver I could have finished the 5¡ã prototype before 484 got sick. In time to give it to her just 20 minute before. Maybe now 484 would have been alive.¡± ¡°it¡¯s not your fault if they died...¡± ¡°how could it not be my fault!? I was there! I could have helped them. If prototype 5 was completed faster maybe they would have survived. I let them all down. I let them die. It¡¯s my fault that I have no family. I killed them Scilla!¡± But that was clearly not the case. Iris tried her best to the very last moment and failed. How could a kid, built for ¡°fun¡± be at fault. She was distorting reality. Her memory is different. Her sisters made mistakes as well but never accused her, quiet the opposite. They saw how much she cared, how much she tried and re-evaluate their choices. Seeing their faults, not Iris¡¯s faults. That brief time inside Iris¡¯s nightmare were enough to define Scilla¡¯s action that put her hands on Idra¡¯s helmet and force her to stare back. ¡°you were a kid Idra. You were even built for test, as an experiment. Nobody ever wanted anything from you. You were not their medic. You told me before that all Idras dies because they are faulty from the beginning. There was nothing that you could have done.¡± ¡°no. I¡¯m a genius. I have the knowledge to help them. If I can turn back time I would be able to save them. I just need I way to turn back time¡­.¡± Scilla slapped both side of Idra helmet. ¡°do you fucking hear what you are saying? Turn back time? It¡¯s impossible and even if, you are NOW able to help or so you think. You are not even sure about that. Without all the try and errors you won¡¯t be able to do shit anyway. You tried to help. Do you really think that your sisters wanted you beside them if they hated you? Do you think they all wanted to say their last words to someone they hated? Ha? come one. Reply to me¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe they resented me. So it could be possible¡± scilla shook Iris head as hard as she could. ¡°use your fucking brain once in your life. And try to think back at what you did. How your life was once you were getting older. Did they really hated you?¡± saying so Scilla stood and moved back in her bed. Leaving Idra to think by herself. Not much after, once she was about to fall asleep, she felt something moving around her. Idra climbed over Scilla to place herself between Scilla¡¯s body and the bed wall. She gets in to be back to back with Scilla and brought her blanket. Mnh. What a cute kid. I guess she reflected but she is still scared of a new nightmare. Who would have guessed, being scared of nightmares. Well I suppose all the trauma that I¡¯m exposed to while walking in her mind is worth it. ¡°can I have a bit of blanket as well?¡± ¡°you said that you don¡¯t need it.¡± ¡°you don¡¯t need it neither but having it improve your sleeps. So I want mine to improve as well, after all I¡¯m sharing my bed¡± Idra didn¡¯t reply. She just moved and covered Scilla as well, to then get back to face the wall. ¡°can I expand a bit and¡­ hug you?¡± ¡°don¡¯t get greedy and appreciate what you have¡± ¡°ok. Good night Idra.¡± ¡°Good night Scilla.¡± chapter 28c: prey Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 28c: prey The next day Idra behaved as if nothing happened. She woke up as if she was in her bed, used the toilet and got ready for her strategic meeting. As the first one, this new almost mid journey meeting was held only for the higher officials. Scilla, Morea, Castro and 3 more ship officials were waiting for Idra to explain what they were going to find. ¡°as I said previously we are heading toward Shimuya 3¡ã-2¡ã. Unfortunately for you I¡¯m looking for a Morfian ruin so it¡¯s going to be way harder. For context the ruin of our first contact belong to the Valurk. I¡¯m no expert on Valurk tech but, in comparison, I know quite a lot about Morfian due to their massive presence in Esterian space. Morfian were more advanced than Valurk and filled our space with ancient ruins used for unknown purposes. Morfian are usually green coloured, not exactly tall but not a midget neither. But we don¡¯t really care. What we care for is their technology¡­¡± ¡°my apology but why don¡¯t we care about them?¡± asked Castro. ¡°always speaking aren¡¯t you? They are extinct so why should we care?. There is no real point in gaining information on their physical form, society and so on. All we need is tech to have something to reverse engineer. Understood?¡± ¡°well I¡­¡± ¡°shut your mouth¡± ¡°yes¡± ¡°so, Morfian technology is not really accessible. Most military tech is blocked under bio-scanner built in the weapons so don¡¯t touch them. So called virgin or pure weapons are a rarity and must be approached wisely. But those guns won¡¯t be our bigger problem. Morfian ruins are usually protected by ancient sentient machines and those can pose a real threat. Smart and really fast at re-elaborating new strategy and adapting to us. We will hit hard and fast. Shimuya 3¡ã-2¡ã should only have a centralised AI. So we rush to it and put an end to it¡¯s life.¡± ¡°wait you are telling us that we are going to fight machines and that they are alive?¡± asked Morea. ¡°yeah. What¡¯s so strange about it? Did you think we were going to fight against Morfian and steal their tech?¡± ¡°no, but living machines¡­ living¡­ machines¡± ¡°I don¡¯t get it.¡± Scilla intruded ¡°she is asking if machines can be alive to begin with. Even the best AI has no humanity, they just mimic their creators but never create.¡± ¡°well maybe you have to update your definition. Machines can¡¯t be alive as organic matter is but confined to their own world they can live. The only purpose of life is reproduction. All the other shit is just a derivative of the intellect. There is no greater meaning, just parasites of flesh consuming and repeating. Exactly as bacteria do, complex life just wants to keep on living. Machines are not different. Once you get too far they start feeling the same, they want to make more of themselves. Isn¡¯t this life?¡± ¡°well it¡¯s a bit re(reductive)¡­¡± started replying Morea but she was cut short. ¡°it was a rhetorical question. Machine consciousness is not related to a body, I can say more about AI civilizations but fortunately for us we should only face one AI this time. It will control several bodies with different shapes. Just shoot at everybody and don¡¯t get hit. I don¡¯t believe they will have energy weapons but even their standard electromagnetic ones can shred you apart.¡± ¡°any way to defend against such weapons?¡± asked Scilla. ¡°power armour helps and I will provide my scan of the surrounding. To do so I will upgrade Commander Lis with one of my helmet and an adapter. I will share my information with Lis and then she will decide how to move you all around. Got it?¡± ¡°why not upgrade all of us?¡±asked Castro. ¡°because I don¡¯t have that many spare armour and as you can imagine, silly boy, I don¡¯t trust you enough to give you one of my armament that could easily kill you.¡± their conversation dragged on but most of it was fairly useless. Idra had her plan and all the Sheridan crew was there only as a small tool, an addition to speed up the process. Nothing more. Few days later inside the NDU armoury Scilla, in her power suit, was stepping on the same pedestal that Idra uses to change her suit. The machine was mainly for configuration while Idra was going to do most of the job herself. ¡°So this will be your new face for a bit¡± Idra was holding a black helmet. Its pointy shapes and the total absence of visible sensors or fissures for the eyes sent off an ominous vibe. ¡°don¡¯t worry Scilla, it will be fine. Now big girl bow your head cause I can¡¯t reach you up there¡± Scilla oblige and soon she found herself in total darkness. The helmet was comfortable, more than hers, but at the same time the lack of feedback was definitely strange. ¡°so give me a second¡­ and voil¨¤ the power should be on. Do you see something?¡± In the left upper corner a series of phrases appears. Code line of some kind but unreadable for Scilla. ¡°yes¡­ it seems like a BIOS boot. Is it normal?¡± ¡°yep, it¡¯s scanning your suit to adapt as far as it could¡­. now It should display in unified language.¡± --new host detected-- --suit model not recognized-- --optimization low-- --system start-- Immediately after the front part transformed into a screen. It was perfectly reproducing the outside. Maybe it wasn¡¯t even a screen. It felt as if there was just a piece of glass between her and the outside. ¡°I can see¡­ this is amazing¡­ it¡¯s so clean. No real imperfection, no aliasing. I¡¯m definitely envious.¡± ¡°too bad but I can¡¯t let you have it. Now follow the calibration instruction. The machine will guide you.¡± --execute suit visual check-- Scilla looked around her suit until the machine was satisfied. --suit mapping completed-- A series of information stared appearing on the HUD. First her armour conditions piece by piece, all at 100% for now. Then on the left a series of empty bars appeared. ¡°Idra what are those empty bars?¡± ¡°nothing really important. It will fill in with data, like resistance to shit, armour coefficient and so on. Your suit isn¡¯t compatible so you will have none of those working. However let me give you a gun. This should work.¡± Idra gave Scilla a ¡°normal¡± Esterian pistol. Once the helmet saw it a counter appeared on the right. ¡°whoa, that¡¯s a real time ammo count like a video game¡± ¡°cool right? It¡¯s adaptive to the gun you are using. Now I should be also appearing on the upper left as 511¡± ¡°I see it. So it¡¯s an integrated comm system¡± ¡°exactly. Now let me test if the shared transmission works¡± Idra pushed something on her suit arm until a scan was sent out. Scilla revived all the data and her hud started showing object of interest beyond walls, highlighting things such as Idra herself, the door commands etcetera. ¡°now the finishing touch, while I take what we need look around a bit to get familiar with it. Zoom on things and so on¡± This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Then Idra turned her back to Scilla and bended over a massive crate to search for something. As expected Scilla couldn''t resist such view and her ¡°zoom test¡± was directed on Idra¡¯s butt. She couldn¡¯t be happier but¡­ ¡°Scilla¡­ you know that I can see your video feed right?¡± She immediately looked somewhere else. Oh fuck, oh shit, oh fuck. Not good. What do I say¡­ ¡°even if you stare at my insignias I can¡¯t give them to you. But I will mark your suit¡± Wait what? She thought I was staring at that dangling piece of clothing, not at her butt behind it. Nah that it¡¯s impossible¡­. But if she thought I was staring at her ass she would have gotten embarrassed or angry¡­ I guess I¡¯m saved. ¡°uff¡­ I like them. They are cool. Moving around and all¡± ¡°I know. They also help with the camouflage. Finally! I found what I wanted.¡± Idra pulled herself out off the box, in her hands a strange high-tech paint spray. She moved closer to Scilla and sprayed the suit. ¡°wait what are you doing?¡± ¡°marking you. Don¡¯t worry this is only visible for other Esterian systems. You know just in case a different scavengers saw you. This way they won¡¯t attack you on sight.¡± ¡°thanks¡± ¡°no problem. Now give me back my helmet. You will have other moments to test it. More time passes and the night before arriving at destination Scilla had a new dream. Even before seeing anything she felt cold. Extremely cold, way below 0¡ãC. She was in the swamp, no civilization around her, just trees and water barely below her knees. It was winter and it was snowing heavily. The wind blowing furiously, it felt like a cry, a desperate cry from the planet itself. ¡°what the fuck is this time¡­¡± Her thinking was interrupted by the sound of a heavy shot, probably a sniper rifle, coming from above her. On the top of the tree she was standing by, she spotted Idra. She was in a similar sitting position as the one she showed on Icar 3¡ã. So that¡¯s why she shot while sit. She is a tree hunter. Without losing time Idra dropped down in the water and started rushing toward her prey. At the hunt scene Idra was staring at a massive beast. The same kind of the one that she saw drowning in her previous dream. It was in agony but still alive. Idra stare at it as the creature blood flow out of it¡¯s body and dispersed in the swamps water. Now it was even colder, so cold that her dream broke apart. That felt definitely different. The alien creature was not there this time neither. Why? What was it¡¯s purpose? Tell me that she can hunt? The time had come. 30 minutes until the end of the last space jump. Scilla and her crew were all ready in their combat position while Idra was taking her time getting into her ship. At some point on the screen of the main deck a square appeared. It was focused on an empty pilot seat inside a tiny and claustrophobic cockpit. In the upper middle of the seat there was an open cable that was coming from the ceiling. Then Idra appeared. She quickly sat in and connected her suit to the cable. ¡°Sheridan, how much time is left?¡± ¡°23 minutes¡± replied Scilla. ¡°good¡± then Idra¡¯s helmet mouth zone opened up as a complementary part emerged from behind the camera view. It was an oxygen mask, sort of. It connected to Idra¡¯s helmet sealing itself. Now Idra¡¯s voice was slower, calmer and colder. ¡°remember the plan. Move to defined coordinates and wait. Once the destroyer is onto you fake a malfunction for about 1 minute. Then I will rain hell upon them.¡± ¡°don¡¯t worry I remember the plan. Are you sure you¡­¡± ¡°there will be no problems. Just don¡¯t get in the way. For all the stealth duration there will be no direct audio/video feedback¡± Inside the NDU cockpit the light went of leaving Idra in total darkness. It was surreal and frightening. Minutes passed and as soon as the jump ended Idra took off. ¡°NDU 511 going dark¡± as she said so Idra¡¯s ship disappeared from all cameras and electronic systems. ¡°good luck¡± whispered Scilla from her commander position. ¡°Sheridan move to coordinates. Full power. Weapon team stay vigilant, just in case¡± 10 minutes of travel and other 20 before the Xoraxtas destroyer appeared and their communication reached the Sheridan. -¡°X.F.R (Xoraxta¡¯s free republics) Toguxra to unknown vessel, you are trespassing. Provide identification.- ¡°do you recognize that ship?¡± asked Commander Yurai. ¡°no Sir. We are looking for a match in our database but nothing for now.¡± ¡°shit. It is facing us so it¡¯s probably coming from the ex Droxi space. Its shape is unusual. Vice Kuxor how much do you bet that it¡¯s a bunch of stupid scavengers running away from a Lean extermination patrol.¡± ¡°50 UC that they are humans doing stupid humans things¡± ¡°count me in. So still no match?¡± ¡°nope¡­ wait a reply¡­ it¡¯s all fucked up. I suppose their comm system got shot¡± -¡±XFR Toguxra to unknown vessel. We are going to approach you and get on board. Do not resist¡±- ¡°fucking humans. Too stupid to do anything.¡± ¡°what a pain in the ass¡± conclude Commander Yurai. But then the 60 seconds were over. A loud boom echoed through the ship, alarms started ringing immediately. Panic shouts and confusion spread like wild fire. ¡°WE ARE HIT!. WE ARE HIT COMMANDER!¡± ¡°what the fuck was that. Was it the ship?¡± ¡°NO! It¡¯s... above us!¡± Their sensor moved toward a massive electromagnetic trace and now they were pointing at the NDU. Along the U branches there were 4 massive rail-gun, 2 on top and 2 on the bottom of the ship. ¡°fuck the big ship was a decoy. Return fire, redirect power to all weapon counter system. Cut out energy from everything that is not needed. Those were rail-guns right? What did they hit?¡± ¡°we have 4 breaches in the left side hull¡± a second power surge light up all their sensors and soon after a second volley of bullets hit the ship. The counter systems filled the space with bullets, but it was useless. Idra¡¯s volley was just too fast to be intercepted. ¡°It pierced all our hulls commander! Auxiliary left generator is loosing power¡± ¡°how the fuck can it shoot so fast. Launch our missiles. Thrusters full power we are retreating, there is no possibility of winning. We must reach enough speed for an emergency jump. All energy that is not used must be put into electronic defence system. They will shoot their missiles soon.¡± But no missiles ever come from Idra. She had no reason to shoot them. Her rail-guns could shot so fast that keeping track of a moving enemy and hitting it was not a big issue even in space. The destroyer sent out all it¡¯s missiles. Some of them were nuclear warhead. ¡°I bet you won¡¯t like those, fucker!¡± exulted Yurai. On the NDU, Idra was almost sleeping. Everything was going as she predicted and now the battle was almost over. --missiles incoming-- --Hipera systems online-- If the Toguxra lit up the surrounding space, the NDU was a small star of bullet. A series of small turrets emerged from the side and started firing so fast that neither the Toguxra nor the Sheridan sensors could keep up with the shot bullets. The Sheridan crew look astonished and afraid at the battle. A ship as big as a bomber was taking down a 400 meter ship armed with way more than just cannons and counter systems. Sure Xoraxtas ship were never the best, but that was a one side battle. --nuclear missiles detected-- --ECM activated-- --10 nuclear warhead acquired-- --redirecting missiles-- ¡°what the fuck is that! Our missiles are coming back commander¡± ¡°WHAT! Shoot them down immediately¡± In their counter measure confusion, a third volley of bullets struck the ship again. This time it was right above the command position. --loading deep breach charges-- --loading completed-- --firing-- --target hit-- Then the forth volley hit, the same position as before. Toguxra speed had almost reached the minimum for a jump, they could see their success, but Idra was only toying with them. A series of explosion destroyed entirely the left generator and damaged the central one along side the gravity generator. They destroyed all their own missiles but at what price. Now they needed even more time for a jump. It was clear that there was no room for winning. And so they surrendered. An SOS message started spreading in the space, reaching both the NDU and the Sheridan. There are few planetary shared law among nations but one of them, respected even by pirates, is the SOS surrender signal. An SOS during combat means a surrendering and a need to stop the hostilities. The loser will become a prisoner and so on. As strange as it could sound there was not a real reason to kill the enemy crew. A Ship crew alone is nothing, what matters is the ship itself. Destroying a 100 millions or more ship, or capturing it for parts is what people are really after. All expect Idra. For unknown reason Esterian do not follow any shared rule, and this was no exception. The NDU moved in and attached itself to the Xoraxtas Ship. It then started pulling the ship toward a gas giant nearby. ¡°Idra, what are you doing?¡± ¡°removing any proof of your presence¡± ¡°how does pulling a broken ship around will help us? Are you not going in to remove the recordings?¡± ¡°no need for that. Just toss them into a planet so big that will crush them and it¡¯s done¡± ¡°Idra you don¡¯t have to do that¡­ we can find a¡­¡± ¡°Remember. Don¡¯t get in the way¡± ¡°Fuck. Morea can¡¯t we stop her?¡± ¡°they are too far. If we move now we will get caught in the planet gravity and will face the same end¡­ I¡¯m sorry commander¡­¡± Scilla could only sigh at such atrocity. She was not the only one that had a problem with killing ¡°innocents¡± even if enemy they still believe in honour in battle. chapter 29c: echo Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 29c: echo Idra¡¯s NDU was still accelerating the Xoraxta''s defeated ship toward the gas giant. All communications failed to reach it so the Sheridan crew could only watch as Idra¡¯s ruthless unfolded. Fortunately for them, they had no idea of what was really going on. In their mind the surrendered Xoraxtas were going to be killed by the gas giant pressure upon entering its atmosphere. Definitely not an honourable death but far better than what Idra had in mind. ¡°can you feed upon the survivors without damaging my ship?¡± \|/yes\|/ ¡°then go. Kill them all, feed yourselves, eat everybody and everything that gets in our way. I have no needs for survivors¡± \|/Kill. Enemy. Feed. Grow. Rest. Evolve\|/ Whispers started echoing around Idra¡¯s body as the small light coming from the cockpit screens and instrumentation was bending around her. They were pleased by Idra¡¯s choice. They could finally unleash their illusory thirst for blood and physical pain. It was the first step forward in their journey. They were amazed by Idra¡¯s endless and rooted hatred toward everything that could feel pain. Such ominous and grotesque way of thinking felt so... nostalgic. So much room for mutual growth. Soon from Idra¡¯s back a grey tentacle formed inside the cockpit and expanded. It moved through the ship and then it seeped in the NDU landing gear, squeezing between atoms and passing untouched and invisible. The tentacle was moving fast, running and scanning each corner of the wreckage, looking for it¡¯s prey and everything it could consume. It started consuming corpses floating around in the damaged areas of the ship. Then a distant weak pulse, a second one and then more and more. The survivors had retreated to a safe room that was built to protect them after the defeat but the Whispers were not going to stop. The tentacle burst through it effortlessly. The survivors started firing their small weapons but it was totally unfazed by any of their bullets. Hell had come for them. The machine tentacle started expanding, dividing itself in smaller tentacles, grabbing people, impaling them, eating them. It was a massacre without any regard. The tentacles was toying with the survivors. Cutting their arms, crushing their bones, cutting their tendons to then grab and squeeze them as a toothpaste container. But some had it worst. Those that weren¡¯t killed ¡°immediately¡± were tortured to death. Each tentacle grab pealed their skin to the bones, it was eating them slowly and painfully. Others felt as the machine penetrated their flesh corroding their bones. 102 survivors were brutally and painfully killed in just a few minutes. Idra being the sender and having total control over the tentacles saw all, felt all and pushed the Whispers to generate even more pain. More misery. She wanted them to suffer as much as she could achieve with her new powers. It was unclear even to the Whispers why she wanted so, but they liked it. It felt like home, a lost in time place were they were built. Couldn''t remember their creator, maybe they never knew it from the beginning, yet they knew such scorn. At the end of such nauseating show the tentacles vanished leaving an empty ship behind. They went back to their owner and friend, where they felt mutual happiness and satisfaction. They were growing closer and with time their bond will be deep enough to fuse them. To become what they should always have been. \|/Back. Recharge. Rest.\|/ ¡°We are not that different. You should have come out of the artefact sooner¡± \|/Unripe. Time. Needed.\|/ ¡°You are the unripe one, learn how to talk normally¡± Soon after the NDU detached from the ship, leaving it to its destiny. Idra opened back her communications, it was time to move on the next step. ¡°Scilla, I¡¯m sending you the landing location. Let¡¯s get moving, don¡¯t bring any tank or shit like that. We can¡¯t use them inside the structure. At best we could fit a large Lean android.¡± ¡°understood, but was it¡­¡± ¡°We must move, time is not our friend. Prepare your troops and descent on the target location.¡± Idra closed her communications again and proceed to the rally point as well. ¡°your orders Commander¡± said Morea, breaking the silence that had settled in the main deck. ¡°well, we are not here on vacation. Get on moving, I want 3 troop transporter ready to go down. Meanwhile prepare the medical room in case of combat injuries and unload more carriers to get down and pick up all we can as fast as possible.¡± I have really mixed feeling about what I just saw, but I suppose work is work. In contrast to their predictions the Sheridan crew initiated the descent before Idra. For some reason she moved really slowly toward the floating rock and initiated her descent once Scilla and her crew had already landed on the moon. Their rally point was set on a small grass field near a lake with crystalline water. The moon displaced a primordial ecosystem flooded with primitive lifeforms. Nothing to really care about yet unusual for a moon with 0,72 gravity acceleration. The dark red flora surrounded the plain, but even among the trees there was no alien structure to be seen. Idra landed not too far from them right beside the lake shore. She stormed out of her ship in a completely different setup than usual, plus her robots. Her suit had the same usual dark substrate but on her back she had 2 additional mechanical limbs folded on themselves. Around her, androids were walking in a defensive formation carrying: unknown canisters, machines and pipes. Few of them had a backpack composed by a black goo canister for Idra¡¯s suit. ¡°are your troops ready Scilla?¡± ¡°yes but the fuck is the ruin?¡± ¡°below us. 10 minutes and we will be going in.¡± Idra¡¯s robots were already building a small structure on the plain. It was basically a metallic frame with stabilizers and a drill in the middle that was going to be pushed into the ground. As the machines were doing their job Idra started sensing all her data to Scilla¡¯s helmet. A multi level structure, bigger than the plain itself, was just below their feet. The underground compound highlighted by the helmet had several dark zones but a clearly defined path to reach a room similar to a fusion reactor. ¡°let me guess, the reactor room is the AI head. We cut the head and the rest will die soon after?¡± ¡°a love when people can use their brain. So yeah. Cutting down power isn¡¯t an option. They usually have battery or secondary power supplies. Its not going to be an easy task but if you follow my lead you should get back home intact or almost intact¡± ¡°you seem to know a lot about this kind of ruins. Are you ¡­¡± ¡°this is not the time. Get ready!¡± Idra rushed toward the machine, when she was half way in an explosion shook the ground. Small debris were sent flying all around the excavation point. Idra, connect via Scilla, yelled her orders to everybody. ¡°Get to the rope! We are rushing in!¡± Idra was the first to enter follower by her 6 flying drones and 8 androids. When Scilla got in, Idra and her army were already shooting at the welcome committee from the AI. Inside they found themselves in a series of low illuminated rooms and corridors. The ruin was clearly different from the one where they met Idra. Apparently Morfian like well decorated and clean structures. ¡°HEY! The fuck are you doing?! We have to move fast, follow me!¡± ¡°got it Idra. Squad 1 and 2 lets push with her. Try to stay back and shoot from as much distance as you can get¡± Idra had already destroyed 5 robots and had forced open a door leading toward the lower levels. She and her robots were fighting like total maniac cleaning the path without much problems. Scilla¡¯s crew was little by little left behind to provide cover and stop the enemy from pushing and flanking them. After the first pair of stairs the purpose of the structure become clear. It was once a prison or something built for similar purposes. Big copy and paste rooms were scattered around. Maybe they had few prisoners or few criminals. That was definitely not the time to ask questions. Running from corridor to corridor they found themselves in a small room. Only one corridor to move forward but the AI was shooting hell from the other side. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°what now Idra?¡± ¡°now I go in and have some real fun. Scilla you have a simple task. Follow me, stop new bots from coming in and keep safe that droid¡± Idra pointed at one of her android that was carrying a series of canisters. ¡°got it. So what are you going to¡­¡± As Idra heard the ¡°got it¡± she rushed toward the door throwing in a grenade. As soon as the small tube left her hand it started to emit a high pitch sound growing both in pitch and intensity. A screaming grenade, the same that Scilla saw in one of her dreams. The grenade attached everything magnetic around it with brutal force, so brutal that even the bots bullet were completely deviated. Then it exploded in a burning fog of fused metal particles. I guess she knew they used electromagnetic ammunitions or maybe it was just a bit of luck. Idra just ran into it as her goo remodelled into an arm that impaled the first robot shooting from the other side. Then using the machine as shield, Idra started shooting as the others in the room. ¡°room clear, get in here, I¡¯m moving forward!¡± They didn¡¯t even have time to get in the new room that Idra was already rushing down a new corridor reaping war bots as if they were nothing. Idra''s fury stopped upon reaching a spacious rectangular room with 4 doors, 3 open and one closed. On the other side the AI core but the massive door needed some extra ¡°care¡± to be opened. Fuck, it¡¯s too heavy to be forced open. Well too bad I have explosives. ¡°hey are you there? Do you feel the enemy coming in?¡± \|/Enemy. Surround.\|/ ¡°I know they are around. Can you fight them?¡± \|/Yes. Power. Limited\|/ ¡°do what you can, it won¡¯t take long¡± The Whispers tentacle formed once again from Idra¡¯s back and split immediately to cover both entrances of the room, leaving space for future allies to come in. Being seen was not an option but the Lean crew was so far behind that they posed no threat. In a instant the tentacle reached the incoming robots that were no match for it. Meanwhile Idra placed a series of small cubic charges on the closed door. \|/Empty. Disperse.\|/ ¡°You did enough.¡± The Whispers survived only 20 seconds but they gained enough time to open the door. It was the final corridor until the AI room. Idra¡¯s android went in preparing for the AI removal while Idra stayed back waiting for Scilla and her crew. The Morfian AI was desperately trying to stop her, sending in the 2 corridors everything it could send. Once Scilla arrived Idra¡¯s androids tossed their goo canister that exploded mid air. The goo blocked temporally the doors to allow Scilla¡¯s passage. ¡°get fucking going! The goo won¡¯t last long come to this side¡±. Scilla¡¯s crew starter to move but when the last soldier was crossing the goo shield broke. Idra with a dash grabbed the soldier pushing her back into the AI room while exposing herself due to mass inertia. Several bullets hit her making her lose her balance but not stopping her. Once on the ground she rolled over, repositioning herself and shot back into the hallway. Several seconds later she was back. Her suit goo was visibly damaged but she was moving. ¡°Idra are you¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine. You all shoot back into the room, I need time to extract the AI core.¡± ¡°can¡¯t we just break it?¡± ¡°you can if you want to explode with it. Now stop the bot from entering while I take this bitch down¡± The AI room was peculiar. It looked like the inside of a fusion generator but it clearly was not. All around there were several rectangular structures, probably computation units. In the middle of the room a cylindrical column with several visible image sensors moving around. It was the AI core. It¡¯s anxiety was visible as it kept moving around all it¡¯s ¡°eyes¡±, it was scared but only of Idra. The machine couldn''t stop staring at her even if it knew that she was not going to stop. Idra places more metal structure all around the cylinder. She built a metallic frame that enclosed almost all the column then it cut. A coloured ray fused the metal cutting the core perfectly. As the machine got disconnected the entire structure stopped. No more light, no more killing robot. Everything died. Idra¡¯s ominous laugh filled the room and echoed through the entire structure. It didn¡¯t felt right. ¡°commander. Are we the bad guys?¡± asked one of the soldiers ¡°we are soldiers. We do what we must do for our people. Now get moving, take everything you can and go back. Do we have any injured?¡± ¡°yes commander. 3 injured from squad 1 that stayed behind.¡± ¡°then go back to assist. Prepare a troop transport for them and send them back. Morea do you receive me?¡± ¡°yep, you and your squad come back online 30 seconds ago¡± ¡°perfect. We have a couple of injured. They are coming up. Prepare the medical team. Send down all our carriers, the ruin is safe. The more we are the faster we work.¡± While Scilla finalised her orders for her team, Idra was staring at her new conquest. While doing so the soldier she saved approached her. ¡°miss Weeping Sky¡­ emh.. I¡­¡± ¡°What do you want?¡± ¡°well. Mmh thank you, for¡­ saving me.. you know¡­¡± ¡°yeah yeah, whatever get back to work.¡± The soldier didn¡¯t have to be told twice and immediately went away leaving Idra alone but only for a moment. Immediately after, Scilla approached her. ¡°you know you don¡¯t have to always terrorize them right?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care enough, I have what I was looking for¡± ¡°you mean the AI core?¡± Those words made Idra twitch with anger for a brief moment. ¡°don¡¯t worry, I was not asking to have it. You did¡­. well all the work. I just wanted to know if it was the AI core, you know for conversation¡± ¡°and why do you want to converse now?¡± ¡°well to be blunt I wanted to know if you are ok. You got shot and I don¡¯t think that your suit can dissipate energy so much that you don¡¯t even feel it¡± ¡°oh¡­ you could have just asked directly. Well I¡¯m fine. It hurts especially from high calibre bullets but the suit worked perfectly. I just have to scoop up some left over goo from the floor to replenish the one that was broken.¡± ¡°so no broken bones or¡­¡± ¡°nah, at worst I got some bruisers but I tanked works in my life so I think I will be fine¡± Scilla let out a relief sigh, she could stop worrying for now. ¡°so¡­ I¡¯ll go help my crew. If you need... anything to be cut, forced open or don¡¯t know just ask me.¡± ¡°I will, but for now I will bring the core to my ship¡± Over the span of several hours the crew extracted everything they thought could be valuable. The took the broken robots, machines of any kind, crates and whatever was not nailed too hard into the ground. Obviously with about 16 hours of work they couldn¡¯t disassemble everything but with Idra¡¯s help they definitely took a lot of things. Way more that what they ever took from previous ruins. It was the biggest scavenge they ever did and more importantly they were bringing home working technology or recently broken one. Unfortunately there were no fancy equipment such as energy guns or power armour not fused inside the machines, but still it was like winning the jackpot. Their fear and discontent for Idra¡¯s honour-less actions faded even faster than light. From an evil demon imposing orders and brutally killing prisoners to a more reasonable creature. Her brutality become just a fluke, a moment of weakness and unrightness. She brought amazing results and more importantly saved a comrade life. She will always be the scary one but now her reputation was totally rewritten. The crew was now seeing her as a friend. The kind of friend that slaps you out of your own shit and misery. A friend that tells you what you have to hear not what you want to. Back in space they just set the route to get back home that Idra asked Scilla to meet her at Scilla¡¯s room. Scilla didn¡¯t give much thought about it and left Morea in command. In the room Idra was waiting on her bed with a metal suitcase beside her. ¡°emh¡­ if you are angry for something that I did without noticing I¡¯m sorry¡± ¡°what? no... well I could get angry because you tried to impose your weak manners on my prisoners but I didn¡¯t call you for such stupid thing. You asked me how I was after being shot¡­ I¡­ well¡­ how do I say it¡­¡± ¡°nobody ever asked if you were alright?¡± ¡°yep exactly. So I thought that¡­ maybe¡­ you...you could like... aa..a gift¡­ well a small one¡­ you know¡­¡± Scilla sat beside Idra that was definitely dying of embarrassment. ¡°you don¡¯t have to force yourself and I don¡¯t need a gift for something so little. I take care of my crew and my friends.¡± ¡°still take this!¡± Idra pushed the box into Scilla''s arms and left running. She wasn¡¯t so shy when she revealed the spaceship scale model. I guess this is different? Somehow... It was indeed different. The small suitcase contained a piece of paper with a series of spirals drawn on it. Behind the paper¡­ Is this a portable hand lamp?? It¡¯s a bit small for my hands¡­ and kinds odd. I can¡¯t really see anything that could emit light between the grip and the top. While looking for a switch she pressed something and the lap lighted up with an intense red light ¡°WHAT THE FUCK! This is no fucking lamp. It¡¯s an energy mace or something of that sort¡± Scilla was astonished and definitely appreciated the gift that was far from a small token of appreciation. She gave me a fucking working energy weapon!. Is this part of something we just extracted? Still if this is working with me does it mean that it¡¯s now linked to me? Should I keep it? Can I even keep it? This is fucking amazing! I will have to thanks her a lot. Fucking hell how much do I love that woman. chapter 30c: cocoon Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 30c: cocoon A happy journey home awaited the Sheridan¡¯s crew. All alive with some bruisers and an additional cargo full of technology. Nothing could go better. Happy faces along cheering and joyful chants filled the entire ship while Morea was giving commands to return home. Meanwhile Scilla was still contemplating her new weapon inside her room. That energy mace or whatever it was definitely was not meant to be shared. I will hide it for a while. I don¡¯t even know how to use this thing. Idra is probably already playing with her recovered technology, so I guess I will wait tomorrow for some instructions and training. I also need her ship to use this safely and more importantly unseen. Scilla hid the metal box with the mace in her office and then walked back. When she reached the main deck the ship was already jumping home. As soon as she sat on her chair all the crew mates around started clapping, exulting at their success and requesting a speech from their commander. Scilla was no party animal but she wasn¡¯t against celebrating. She knew they did almost nothing yet she couldn¡¯t take away such joy from her subordinates. ¡°Yeah yeah I got it. I suppose I could do a brief speech, after all you are the one that wants one. Today years of sacrifices and risky gambles gave us extraordinary results. We never stopped, we never surrendered to our failures, never bowed against all odds. We brought in a terrible foe that soon become our most precious friend. Together we achieved greatness, but this is just our beginning. Our spark to ignite and burn brighter! For US! and our species! we shall not forget OUR spark! OUR flames shall never die out!¡± Scilla ended her speech, which was broadcasted through all the ship, with the Lean military salute to which her crew all over the Sheridan replied at the top of theirs lungs. Then they just disperse. Those unneeded went ¡°partying¡± with their comrades and Morea approached her friend and commander. ¡°nice speech Commander¡± and then she laughed a bit. ¡°Don¡¯t laugh. I¡¯m not good with that kind of inspiring shit without preparation¡± ¡°yeah I know. Anyway¡­ good job Commander. I know Idra did almost all the work but we could share such opportunity only because you didn¡¯t let go of her.¡± ¡°I did what I thought was better for our species in the long run. You also did your job as my vice so. Good job.¡± ¡°thanks commander. By the way I don¡¯t really see our special friend.¡± ¡°I guess she is probably too busy playing with her new toys. Also I highly doubt that she would even like to party in the first place.¡± ¡°You two are really similar. Neither of you likes to party¡± ¡°I guess so. You should join the others while I finish to plot the rest of the route.¡± ¡°I will take your offer commander. See you tomorrow¡± ¡°bye Morea¡± back to work and then some needed sleep. Along with the few remaining pilots and technicians Scilla defined the way home following for the most part Idra¡¯s initial plan but backwards. She then dismissed everybody that wanted to rest and waited for the shift change. Hours passed and then she went strict to bed exhausted from the day. She slept well waiting for the new day to come and for Idra to get back. The following day however her special friend didn¡¯t show up at all. At midday Scilla went to the NDU connector but the ship refused to let her in. ¡°stupid ship, let me in. You know I have permission¡± --access denied-- ¡°why? Is something happening inside? Let me in. You know I can help.¡± --request denied, required Remnant of the Founder authority or higher-- ¡°stupid fucking piece of shit made of cheap steel¡± Scilla tried for more than an hour to get in but NDU had no intention to allow her. In the end she was able to achieve just a notification of future changes. Sad but mostly angry she could only go back to work. Waiting. Once Scilla shift was almost over her phone received a massage on all her text application. They all said the same thing from an unknown sender. //permission guaranteed This could only be the NDU. There is no way to receive messages while jumping unless it comes from your own jumping structure. Scilla immediately left her position to go see Idra. As predicted the ship didn¡¯t oppose this time but something was different. Inside there were no light. ¡°ship turn on the lights¡± --request denied-- ¡°why?¡± --no command can harm the crew-- So Idra is having problems. How many times will I have to tell her that she could ask me for help? Well whatever let¡¯s see what I can do this time. Scilla moved using her phone¡¯s torch through the ship until she reached the living quarters connector. ¡°Iris are you awake?¡± a weak voice replied from the bed room. ¡°yeah. But don¡¯t come up with the torch on. I¡¯m having a little photosensitivity problem.¡± ¡°k. I¡¯ll turn it off and come up¡± Scilla slowly climbed the ladder, hit her head on the roof and finally was inside the room in total darkness. ¡°so¡­ well¡­ please don¡¯t laugh¡± Idra, that up until then had her eyes closed decide to open them. A dim yellow light came out of them. They were glowing like a weak neon in the darkness, moving around as Idra moved her head and leaving a circular illuminated zone. With a bit of searching Idra located Scilla that was now slightly illuminated. A hand on her mouth and a smile wider than it. She couldn¡¯t stop herself. ¡°hahaha, what the fuck, you become living flashlight¡± ¡°shut up! It¡¯s just a passing thing. I will go back to normal soon.¡± Scilla was still laughing, it was so funny seeing those glowy eyes looking around. ¡°Scilla I called you for help, not for being laugh at¡± ¡°yeah sorry, it¡¯s just so funny. You also took your time to ask for help so let me take mine to stop laughing¡± ¡°what? I didn¡¯t. I sent you a message as soon as I woke up.¡± ¡°wait what? You slept until now?¡± ¡°dah??? you told me that I could ask you for help and so I did as soon as I could. Why the hell should I have waited?¡± ¡°fuck¡­ sorry I kinda misunderstood. You know¡­ it¡¯s been more than a day so¡­ I thought you tried to avoid asking for my help but then realised that you needed me and...well called me over¡± ¡°oh?! No I¡­ well now you are here¡­ you see I might need a bit of help¡­ when I¡¯m ¡®evolving¡¯ I¡¯m basically crippled. I can¡¯t do a lot of things but at least this time I¡¯m not feeling like shit. Just weak and well... sensitive to light. So well¡­ I was kinda thinking that¡­¡± Idra¡¯s long turn around of words got interrupted by her belly rumbling for food. The message was now clear, she woke up and was hungry. ¡°all this words to just say that you want food¡± ¡°NO! Not food.¡± Iris gaze moved down, staring at her hands constantly moving. ¡°I.. I need food yes. But I don¡¯t want any food¡­ I want you¡­ ...to cook for me¡­ could you?¡± Fucking hell my heart stopped at ¡°I want you¡±. Well I suppose it is a bless that she doesn¡¯t know how she could have been. Scilla replied sweetly, cooking for her partner was a progress and obviously she couldn¡¯t refuse such honest and cute request. ¡°it would be my pleasure. I¡¯ll borrow your chief robot for a bit¡± ¡°oh oh oh! Could you also eat with me?¡± Iris was exited but her gaze was still avoiding Scilla. She was too embarrassed to look back at her. ¡°sure. Do you want to eat up here?¡± ¡°yeah I can¡¯t really stay in the kitchen. Too much light from the robot¡¯s screen that has no dark mode. I will wait for you.¡± ¡°sure but can you light the ladder for me with your eyes. I don¡¯t want to fall down¡± Iris moved slowly until she got to the door. With her dim light she lit the way down for Scilla. In that darkness and silence she was the only light, a silent dim glowing star. Scilla was going down the ladder staring up at Iris that stared back at her. Their gazes never broke. Scilla was loosing herself in such endless sea of light. Iris on her side followed Scilla¡¯s eyes as well. Once she was going down she crouched and then laid down to minimize their distance. Scilla reached the connector but she couldn¡¯t stop looking up, mesmerized by her muse, her personal siren in space. She was not the only one. Iris couldn¡¯t go back in the room. She sat there at the entrance, just on top of the ladder. Her legs on the side and an arm to keep her torso up. Her hair fusing with the darkness behind her. Her shiny gaze filled the connector with dim reddish light scattering around after reflecting on her beloved just a few steps below. None of them knew why they couldn¡¯t avert their intense stare, yet both knew that they didn¡¯t want to stop. Iris belly grumble was louder and broke their mutual concentration. Iris immediately retracted inside the her room while Scilla turned around. They both realised what they have being doing for uncounted minutes and got extremely embarrassed. Iris moved back at the base of her bed. Back resting on it and her head pulled back. Both hands on her burning red face pulling back her hair. Her hearts were beating so fast and loudly that were hearable. Scilla was no less. She rushed in the kitchen and sat at the table. Both hands in front of her mouth blocking her breath. It was burning hot as well as her face. Her heart as well was pumping with such vigour that she could feel her chest moving and shaking with it. They both had to cool down and Scilla took her time with the cooking. Well she didn¡¯t really took it voluntarily she was just staring mindless at the machine going through all its ingredient over and over again. Her brain never moved on from what happened. Somehow she compose and prepare something, she walked back with a single tray in hand to the ladder. She place the tray in the ¡®containers elevator¡¯ in the wall that Iris explained to her days before. It was really usefully to carry objects to the room without doing some stunt along the ladder. What do I do now? What if I was the only one that felt that way. I¡¯m a going too fast for her, for me?. What if she¡­ I don¡¯t know... didn¡¯t like to be stare at¡­? Fuck. She was not the only one panicking. The extra time was not even close to be enough for Iris. When she heard the steps and the tray coming up she went back into panic. It was mutual right? She¡­ she is¡­ fine? My hearts aren¡¯t too loud right? Right!!?!? fucking Whispers I need your help. What do I do!?!? An awkward silence mixed with a strange sweet scent welcomed Scilla back. Iris, to distract herself, prepared a few useful thing. Right in front of the bed she placed a couple of pouffe. Not really pouffe more like malleable pillows made out of an isolating and soft material that kept it¡¯s shape. Beside she prepared a blanket and a bigger tray, raised enough from the ground to be place on top of Iris¡¯s legs or between them as a low table. The ¡°plan¡± was simple. Let Scilla lay down, place the food on the tray, eat it and then spend some time together. However things took a different direction. Iris was starting to detect Scilla¡¯s hormones mixing with the air while Scilla was figuring out the source of the way to pleasant scent. They stared at each other once more, they knew by instinct, that what they felt and keep feeling is mutual. It is a sign of they love deepening, their mind rearranging thoughts into considering each other. Iris broke the silence, she had to. The more she was going to stare the harder it was going to get to break free. ¡°emh¡­ you¡­ you can place the food down¡­ on this tray¡­ then...then sit...sit beside me¡­ I¡­ I have prepared a¡­ cushion for you as well¡­ don¡¯t¡­ don¡¯t worry the carpet is 100% clean¡± Iris was mumbling all her words but Scilla was not doing better. ¡°S..s..s..sure¡­ I¡¯ll... I¡¯ll lay down¡± Darkness was doing them a favour. If they could see their burning faces they would have behave even more awkwardly. Following Iris¡¯s commands Scilla placed down the food and laid beside Iris that immediately moved the food tray between them. Now illuminated by Iris¡¯s eyes they notices a couple of mistakes. Scilla forgot the silverware and took only one glass. ¡°oh fuck, I¡¯m sorry¡­ I...i was not thinking clearly¡­. I¡¯ll...I¡¯ll go grab what I have missed.¡± This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. But Iris laugh and grabbed Scilla¡¯s cloth. ¡°haha, don¡¯t go. I¡¯m no fancy snob and neither you are. You brought bread, we can use it¡± Scilla was calming down as well, maybe it was her or maybe Iris scent was cooling her head. ¡°well, sorry.¡± ¡°I told you that¡¯s fine. I used to eat with just my hands, this is totally fine¡± ¡°you are not trying to console me right?¡± ¡°nope. On Weeping Sky I usually used my silverware to built weapons or well.. other things. From steel to plastic, then pressed cardboard and in the end they just stopped providing me with them. Too dangerous to give 511 a fork and a few knives¡± Iris was narrating changing her voice a little to emphasise parts and gesticulating all the time. Her eyes that barely lit up her movement were way too entertaining. Scilla laughed loudly as the Esterian had just started to show off her ¡°friendly¡± nature. ¡°somehow I have no difficulty to image what you could have done with them¡± ¡°hey that¡¯s RuDe, haha. Well they had to stop giving me a lot of things because I used them improperly¡± ¡°like?¡± ¡°like everything that was not already a weapon or breakable. I always loved to learn and as a kid I discovered the wonders of reverse engineering. So I took apart a lot of things to then build my own prototypes.¡± In that moment Scilla thought that maybe she could confess her dreams, tell her that she knew a bit about her, about her love for making weapons, but she didn¡¯t. Why ruin such precious moment. ¡°well that doesn¡¯t tell me much¡± ¡°oh, well¡­ a may had a phase when I loved to disassemble animals. You should have seen my sister faces when I greet them with a fully dissected ¡®tree rat¡¯. I still don¡¯t know why only 484 appreciated my gifts. You are more knowledgeable in social stuff, do you have a theory?¡± Scilla was confused, astonished and a bit disgusted. She couldn¡¯t really believe it so easily. ¡°so, by animal you are referring to those things that are alive right? Like a dog?¡± ¡°I suppose¡± ¡°and you disassembled them?¡± ¡°yep. I took out all the bones, divided all muscular tissues, neural tissues and so on. I reduced them into parts and then try to rebuilt them. Still none really booted up again¡± ¡°of course the wouldn¡¯t turn on, they were dead.¡± ¡°what? Why? I rebuilt them. If you rebuild things they should work¡± ¡°not living things. They are not built¡± ¡°don¡¯t bullshit me, of course they are built. I saw my building machine and the one used for the live experiments. I also know that all females animals have a worst version of our Bio-Assambler insider their bellies.¡± Holy fucking shit. She doesn¡¯t know. Is she just totally oblivious by nature or is it the collar that she wears? ¡°Iris, look at me in the eyes. Animals are not built, they grow inside other animals and when they are ready the get ¡®released¡¯ into the world. There is no fancy machine inside us. Did I lie to you?¡± ¡°no¡­ but it doesn¡¯t make sense at all so tell me the trick to avoid being detected while lying, you were so easy to read before.¡± Scilla let out a long sigh. There is no way out of this. I give up. I will explain it to her later. ¡°I will teach you in the future. For now let¡¯s eat before it gets cold. Do you mind illuminating the tray?¡± Avoid the discussion was a wise move. Iris was too fixated on her believes, not entirely wrong in her case but wrongly extended to all living creatures. Iris lit up the tray but on her side. Scilla made a dish that vaguely reminded the concept of chili. A dense stew, or something like that, composed of unrecognizable elements. On the side the bread, slices of cheese and some chopped vegetables unknown to Scilla as all the other stuff. Without much thinking Iris scooped up some of the stew, added a few vegetables and half a slice of cheese. Then she offered it to Scilla. She wanted to feed her. ¡°No thanks Iris. I¡¯ll make mine as well.¡± ¡°no. I made this for you. You eat it¡± ¡°you made it, you eat it. I don¡¯t need to be spoon fed¡± ¡°but I want to. If you don¡¯t eat it I won¡¯t eat it neither¡± ¡°Iris please don¡¯t throw a tantrum. You should eat.¡± ¡°I said I won¡¯t if you don¡¯t eat what I assembled. I now I will also pout. Mh!¡± ¡°oh come on. You are weak and underweight. Some food won¡¯t hurt you¡± ¡°I said I won¡¯t eat. You can accept my offer or we well be stuck this way until I die from starvation¡± So stubborn. How can I do something so embarrassing. ¡°ok fine. You can feed me but just this time¡± Reluctantly Scilla had to accept to be spoon fed. She was determinate to go easy on her just for the first bite but Iris kept offering food. If she didn¡¯t eat Iris would just stay there waiting, so she surrendered. One bite for her, one for Iris until they ate everything away. While eating Iris was starting to show signs of sleepiness and immediately after she put away the tray she grabbed the blanked. Iris unfolded it and covered both of them. Then while getting closer she stared at Scilla. ¡°Scilla Scilla can I¡­ can I grab your arm and used it as a pillow?¡± ¡°are you tired?¡± ¡°yeah. You can use the NDU¡¯s projector to watch something, if...if you want of course.¡± ¡°don¡¯t need. My shift was about to end so I was going to eat and sleep anyway. You can grab my arm but I might fall onto you while sleeping if you pull me¡± ¡°it¡¯s fine. So I¡¯ll try to sleep. Good night¡± Iris grabbed with both her hands Scilla¡¯s right arm. Her grab was thigh and unnaturally strong compared to the rest of her physique. The Esterian moved around a bit, looking for the perfect spot to sleep. The cover was all pushed and pulled around so Scilla, using her free left arm, decided to surprise Iris. She pushed the exceeding blanked both under herself and Iris enclosing them inside a soft and warm cocoon. The almost asleep Iris appreciated letting out a soft and happy mumbling. She is warm and so soft, like a puppy. I really want to caress her head. Being so close Scilla realised where the sweet scent was coming from. It was Iris¡¯s mouth, and nose. She was breathing out whatever chemical compound Scilla was sniffing. Not much after Scilla fell asleep too. A new dream awaited her. This time the aberrant creature was back. Scilla was beside it inside a rectangular room that had a big window facing a landing zone. Only her, the creature and 484 sit at a table with her feet on it. She was totally different from Iris. 484 was bigger and more savage. Her gestures while scrolling a data-pad suggested elegance and finesse, but the feet on the table with her legs spread open suggested otherwise. Something akin to a male small criminal. A spaceship was landing on the platform, it was an NDU. The creature move closer and spoke. This time it learned to be less cryptic. ¡°she is evolving too fast. I thought we had time¡± ¡°what the fuck do you want?. Who the fuck are you and why are you showing me this stuff¡± ¡°I seek to guide you. I need your collaboration¡± ¡°I won¡¯t give you shit unless you tell me everything¡± ¡°I¡¯m following the Whispers. I go where they go. To study. To learn. To search for answers. Finally a holder that has potential. I want to see her succeed¡± ¡°then our objectives are colliding monster¡± ¡°no. we have the same goal. You know she can¡¯t go back. You want her to learn to control them. I want the same.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t believe you even for a second¡± ¡°your belief is unnecessary. Through memories I wanted to show you an Iris with no control. So you could judge alone what you wanted. In the end our objectives would have become the same. But now. This is the only way.¡± ¡°what changed?¡± ¡°she did. The Whispers are already following her orders. They will find me and cut me out of both your minds. Now. No more time to waste.¡± The creature turned around pointing at the door that opened. A couple of Idra entered. 499 and 501. 501 was definitely furious. She rushed to 484 grabbing her and forcing her to stand up. ¡°WHAT THE FUCK! What the actual fuck did you do to her! Answer me 484!¡± she shook her and 484 retaliated with force. She grabbed 501 arm, twisted it and reverse the roles. Now she was in command with 501 forced against the table with her arms blocked. ¡°I saw her potential and let her be.¡± ¡°you made a monster!¡± ¡°I made nothing! I just helped her express. She is a genius that loves to learn¡± 499 was trying to calm the two down but none were stopping. ¡°she is a demon. You said nothing about this. You told us she was ready to see the outside.¡± ¡°and indeed she was. I wrote all about it in my reports. But as all our sisters you were too busy being the hero to even care about her. You cast her away as everybody else did¡± ¡°NO! We segregateed her because she needed a guide. You accepted the role. You said you would help her but you made the worst abomination we ever recorded.¡± ¡°whatever she did was just studying, learning by trial and error. By assumption. Maybe she even had more purposes. She is beyond us.¡± ¡°DIO PORCO ANNA (god pig anna) she exterminated the entire village we were meant to study. She used a kid as a torch, a fucking living and screaming torch!¡± ¡°she is incomplete. Still missing a lot of things. Like the concept of living for inferior creatures¡± While 501 struggles to break free dragged on. A young, and smaller compared to the others, 511 entered the room as well. She was jumping around all happy and carrying a bag. She didn¡¯t care about the fight and went straight to 484. 484 tone changed immediately, like she was speaking to a small kid. ¡°hi, you are back. Did you have fun?¡± 511 nodded and pushed her bag forward. ¡°you have something for me?¡± 511 nodded again. Opened the bag and took out a necklace made of polished teeth. Immediately their origin was clear. They creature she massacred at the village. 484 let go of 501 and took the necklace. ¡°ooh thank you. You are so sweet¡± she wore the teeth necklace and stare at 501. ¡°see I told you she had a reason¡± 499 was clearly about to puke in her suit while 501 definitely showed disgust. But it was not over. Iris took out a couple of bracelets. Those were made with broken and sharpened bones. She offered them to both 501 and 499. their disgust was clear. They were about to say something, but then the dream froze. The creature could let out just a few words. ¡°they found me¡± Whispers so strong to make your body vibrate like gelatine. They were screaming in anger as the dream around them mutated in an endless grey mass until it broke. It was time to wake up. The next day the NDU light turned on. Scilla could see again. On her side a completely defenceless and a bit too carefree Iris. Her scent died down to her usual. She was closer than the night before and her fingers were sinking deep into Scilla¡¯s muscles. The first thing that Scilla tried was to break free from her grab, but it was useless. Those hands were stronger than an hydraulic press, so Scilla decided to wake Iris up. A few caresses on her head and the Esterian come back to life. She stared in the void for a while to then let go of the arm. ¡°are you feeling alright Iris?¡± ¡°yeah I¡¯m good. I suppose you have to go back right?¡± ¡°yep. I tried to sneak out but your hands are so fucking strong.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really know why, I suppose years of building things made them stronger¡± ¡°anyway I suppose I will go so¡­¡± ¡°wait, the fuck are you going? Yesterday I was sick and exhausted so I let it slide, but not today. The fuck you think you are going without washing your teeth?¡± ¡°well I can wash them in my room¡± ¡°hell no. what if you get stopped by someone and your breath stinks.¡± ¡°it won¡¯t hap(happen)¡± ¡°follow me. I have an extra hygiene kit. Do you know how to use a resonance brush?¡± ¡°a reso what?¡± ¡°resonance toothbrush. It¡¯s not that hard. Just be careful to set it correctly if you don¡¯t want to lose your teeth¡± ¡°Iris i don¡¯t think¡­.¡± Iris burst out laughing. ¡°got you. It was a joke. It¡¯s not dangerous. Just a bit strange, if you do it incorrectly you just start laughing and split everywhere. So I¡¯m going to do it for you¡± ¡°hell no. I let you feed me, I¡¯m not also going to let you wash my teeth.¡± ¡°oh well you can try, but I won¡¯t let you go out if you still breath out yesterday dinner¡± ¡°it¡¯s just a toothbrush. How hard can it be¡± The answer was a lot harder than imaginable. They both went into the bathroom. It was fairly big and composed of a small room leading to 2 separated zones. The initial zone just had 2 sinks, a big mirrors and drawers for bathroom supplies. Then 2 doors marked clearly. One was for the women and one for the men. Esterian ships usually had big bathrooms that are internally divided to allow multiple functioning units with toilet, bidet, shower or sort of a shower, sink, mirror and smaller cabinets. They cared a lot for personal hygiene and not too much about water that was purified after use in most cases. The only peculiar part was the division by sex. You are on a space ship with limited crew and space, yet they still applied such division. Iris pulled out a small case containing the extra personal hygiene kit. She opened it and gave the brush and toothpaste to Scilla. ¡°go on. You can wash your teeth here. I¡¯ll show you¡± Idra pulled our her personal kit. Took the brush that was a cylinder which end was filled with bristles on 2 opposite sides. She set it on double action and place toothpaste on both sides. Put it in her mouth and pressed the power button. The machine scanned her mouth and adapted the brush distance to cover both lower and upper teeth at the same time. A small acute sound followed as Iris washed her teeth without issues. Few minute later it was Scilla¡¯s time. ¡°go on. I¡¯ll wait¡± ¡°I saw you. It¡¯s like all toothbrushes but with 2 sides.¡± She was so wrong. As soon as she started the machine tickled everything it could. It resonate with her nerves. In mere seconds she was already splitting everything out in the sink. ¡°told you¡± ¡°you did something with the setting to trick me. Make it slower.¡± ¡°ok. But it won¡¯t change the result¡± try, fail, change setting, try again, fail once more, give up. ¡°Iris¡­ can¡¯t you just let me go? I promise I will wash my teeth as soon as I set foot in my room¡± ¡°mmmh¡­ no. So open that mouth and I will wash them for you¡± Once again she let Iris do whatever she wanted. She definitely knew how to use it and a couple of minute after it was over. ¡°see not scary big girl¡± ¡°never been scare. Just embarrassed. But I have to admit it works good¡± Scilla was admiring her perfectly clean teeth, with her mouth open, then Iris called for her again. She turned around to get a couple of fingers shoved into her mouth. Iris passed something on all her teeth and then retracted the hand. The 2 fingers had still some greenish paste on them mixed with Scilla¡¯s saliva. ¡°what the fuck was that?¡± ¡°teeth erosion protector.¡± Iris was staring at her fingers and then shoved them inside her mouth. ¡°don¡¯t like to waste detergent¡± Scilla was in disbelieve with her mouth wide open from the shock. Iris just eat her saliva. She just...she did! What the fuck¡­ was that¡­? Intentional? When did she become so¡­ straightforward? But the truth was that she didn¡¯t thought at all. Iris looked back at Scilla. Then her fingers, now clean, than Scilla again. Blushed, turned around screaming and crouched. Too shock to even think without speaking. ¡°what the fuck have I done!!! the fuck was I thinking!!! I¡¯m done for good! I fucking eat it! Aaaaahhh I want to die!¡± Scilla laughed so hard that her diaphragm hurt. ¡°oh well. I guess I¡¯ll leave you to drown in embarrassment before you do something else. See ya¡± Scilla ran off. She was sparkling with joy. Such actions only mean love, a love greater the Iris¡¯s strict will to apply her laws and rules. chapter 31c: intel Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 31c: intel After leaving the NDU, Scilla started her shift almost as if nothing happened. Her extremely good mood didn¡¯t go unnoticed, especially by Morea. ¡°did something good happened?¡± ¡°you could say so¡± ¡°I¡¯m kinda curious, how is her ship? And what did you do inside it? Did you sleepover? Why does she allows you to do so?¡± ¡°Chill with all the questions. I can¡¯t even answer most of them. For the rest I¡¯m her friend. As I allowed her to go all around my house she allowed me do go around most of the NDU¡± ¡°most?¡± ¡°yeah, most. I can go only where she lives¡± Morea was getting confident in her capability to extort information from her friend, but Scilla noticed and was playing along. ¡°and how is the place?¡± ¡°it¡¯s amazing, there is a dimensional rift inside that generate an¡­¡± ¡°you are trying to fool me commander. I¡¯m not that stupid¡± ¡°well your questions were all stupid so I replied accordingly. Anyway I¡¯m her friend and of course I slept over, she sleeps in my room all the time.¡± ¡°oh. Then why are you so happy?¡± ¡°can¡¯t you mind your own business?¡± replied Scilla with an irritated voice. ¡°sorry commander. I didn¡¯t mean to be noisy¡­¡± ¡°nah I¡¯m joking. I just had a good dream about home. Nothing else¡± ¡°fuck you! I thought I had offended you¡± ¡°sob sob I have feelings too Morea¡± ¡°shut up siscon.¡± Morea left her commander alone and resumed working at her position. Few hours later Idra appeared at the main deck door. She moved closer to Scilla and started a conversation. ¡°did something happened while I was away?¡± ¡°not that I know. Why?¡± ¡°your crew... greeted me while I was coming here. Did they took some drugs?¡± Morea, as predictable, was close enough to hear and the first to start laughing followed by Scilla. Confused Idra continued. ¡°what the fuck? Are you two on drugs too?¡± ¡°Should I tell her commander?¡± ¡°yeah go on.¡± Scilla was planning on letting Morea speak. It was a good opportunity to make them socialize a bit more and maybe become friends. So Morea proceeded. ¡°we are completely fine. It¡¯s just that your reputation has improved drastically¡± ¡°my what?¡± ¡°reputation, you know how others feels about you. You help them and they like you back. Simple isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°so you mean that your ¡®comrades¡¯ are no longer afraid of me?¡± ¡°woah woah woah! Easy there. Admiration and gratitude are different from fearing you. I can¡¯t speak for all but I still prefer to stay at least 2 meters away from you. Let¡¯s say that they no longer see you as an enemy walking among them, but as a really scary ally capable of both good and indescribable atrocities¡± ¡°mmh, so it¡¯s kinda like back home. I like it, will it stay this way?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t know. It will depend on your behaviour. Anyway, did you had a party on your ship?¡± ¡°No, why you ask?¡± ¡°well you have been away for a couple of days, I thought you were partying by yourself¡± ¡°what I do on my ship is classified¡± ¡°classified or not you let commander Lis in. Why can¡¯t I get in as well?¡± Idra didn¡¯t seem pleased by the request. Should I interfere? She is being a bit too noisy ¡°Morea, there are a series of elements that needs to be present in order for you to board the NDU. So far you lack all of them. To make you feel better not even other Esterians are allowed in so, do what you want with this knowledge.¡± ¡°I get it. But in case you change idea¡­¡± ¡°I won¡¯t change my mind. Don¡¯t make me slap that idea out of your head¡± Morea gulped at the idea of being slapped by Idra and politely backed off returning to her position. ¡°Well you treated her well. Got used to company?¡± initiated Scilla. ¡°no, I just had no reason to hurt her. Deep down she is a good kid, and a loyal underling of yours¡± ¡°a little step forward is better than nothing.¡± Scilla then lowered her voice so only Idra could hear her. ¡°Anyway about this morning¡­¡± ¡°this morning what?¡± ¡°well you know what¡± ¡°no I don¡¯t¡± so this is the game she wants to play. It was definitely embarrassing but not that much. ¡°ok. So supposing that you have no idea at all. I will just say that it¡¯s fine. I had my laugh so don¡¯t go too hard on yourself for just a mistake, a distraction¡± ¡°shut up. You have¡­¡± ¡°don¡¯t start with that. I know perfectly how it feels. I let you look at my personal collection. I let you meet my fucked up family. Give me some recognition please.¡± Idra stayed silent for a bit and replied. ¡°well we both had our share of embarrassing moment. Mostly caused by me, so sorry¡­¡± ¡°you are forgiven for something so stupid¡± ¡°so¡­ you are totally fine?¡± ¡°yeah. If you want¡­ we I would like to come over more often¡± Idra looked away and replied. ¡°Sure. Anytime. Now I¡¯ll go back. The AI core won¡¯t unveil its secrets if nobody works on it. See you this evening¡± ¡°ok, bye¡± Back alone Scilla¡¯s mind drifted on some ominous thoughts. The creature spying on them. Her initial hypothesis of it being a manifestation of Idra¡¯s artefact was wrong. Maybe I should tell Iris about that creature, or maybe she already knows because the Whispers fought it back. Still it was capable of getting inside our minds and connect them. Was it an occultist as well? Maybe not considering that it needed to adapt really slowly. Is it really a researcher of the Whispers? But where is it? Where does it comes from and what is its real objective? What could its species want and where could its kind come from. Such horrible creature, but maybe it was not even its body. It changed shape once in the dreams so maybe it can change shape more often. In the end Scilla decided to keep her thoughts to herself, at least for now. A new routine had began for Idra and Scilla. During the day they would work on their own ship. Scilla spent her time classifying their loot, making sure it was safe and preparing documents for its future transport. Idra on the other hand was delving deep inside the AI core. She had no intention to waste even a second. The core contained precious information that she desired avidly. Every other night they would met in the NDU. Mostly to eat and chat. But the 14 day of the journey Idra prepared something new. They had just finished eating when Idra left her comfy position to walk at the wall in front of the bed, the wall between the 2 door allowing to enter and leave the room. She touched it and it comes to life. It was now a screen projecting a menu completely unknown to Scilla but not so unfamiliar. ¡°so this is like a TV?¡± ¡°yep, it¡¯s a particles interference projector but it¡¯s basically a holographic TV. Do you mind if a show you a series that I like? I will obviously translate it¡± This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Will I have some glimpses of her civilization? Maybe they have flying cars or something like that. ¡°not at all, I would like to see it¡± Scilla¡¯s hopes were soon betrayed. The series depicted 2 males Esterians, stranded alone in hostile environments and showing how to survive for enough time to allow rescue. Nothing fancy, no advance equipment, no cities to look at, no technology in sight. But on the other hand she had a happy Iris leaning onto her while watching the show. After 1 episode of 30 minutes they chat a bit more and then Scilla left the ship. They decided to sleep separately for both their sake. The toothpaste embarrassment was not entirely over but more importantly Iris was not sick or in need for company. It was definitely too early to share a bed in normal conditions. Their journey ended and as soon as they got in range they were contacted by the spaceport. It was Mira Dragva, Scilla¡¯s friend. ¡°Fucking hell, finally! Welcome back L.F. Sheridan. Commander Lis I have an urgent message to convey¡± What is happening? they are usually busy regulating standard space traffic, why are they so eager to convey such message? And what was that opening? ¡°go on Dragva¡± ¡°Hakavor HQ require immediate support. During your absence an Esterian spacecraft invaded our space and has yet to move. No reply, no contact at all. I¡¯m sending you the location.¡± Scilla looked at Idra but she denied her involvement. ¡°ok, we are on the way. Do you know what type of ship it is?¡± ¡°it¡¯s not in our archives. It¡¯s small but long. We hoped you¡­ well you would know something¡± ¡°I will try to do what I can.¡± Scilla closed the communication and spoke to her crew. ¡°well, you hear her. Get on moving. Not too fast and keep the weapon away. Idra do you know what they want?¡± ¡°well small but long doesn¡¯t tell me much. We have a lot of ships. But if I have to take a guess, they are here for our friendship declaration¡± ¡°oh, fuck. Weren''t you a high rank? Did we mess up somehow?¡± ¡°I¡¯m indeed a high rank individual. And no we didn¡¯t mess up. I suppose it¡¯s nothing that serious but who knows¡± 30 minutes or so later their ship alarm started ringing. Their scanners revealed a small long vessel moving full power toward them. The spaceship was of a greyish colour and shaped almost like a long arrow head. It was opaque and smooth to the eyes. Immediately after the laser lock alarm. The ship was probably pointing its weapons at the Sheridan. ¡°What the fuck! Idra, you told me¡­¡± ¡°Open a comm channel. Focus on the laser tracker. It¡¯s not a weapons system, it¡¯s a communication guide system.¡± Few second later an image from the ship cockpit. An Esterian was standing right in front of the camera. Its military training was evident as he proceed to salute Idra. ¡°Comandante Vanni Spini ETU Xern 5486 richiedo un colloquio con Idra 511 Weeping Sky (commander Vanni Spini ETU Xern 5486 I request a meeting with Idra 511 Weeping Sky)¡± Idra placed herself in front of Scilla¡¯s terminal and replied. She didn¡¯t salute back. She had no need to. ¡°richiesta accettata, ti invio le coordinate di atterraggio. (request accepted, I¡¯m sending you the landing coordinates)¡± Idra turned around and spoke to Scilla. ¡°send them the HQ coordinates. We are going to meet them. Oh and before you freak out it¡¯s and intel ship. You know the one that carries data across solar systems¡± Scilla and her crew all let out a sigh of relief and proceeded toward the HQ and the new unknown Esterians. The Sheridan and the NDU landed separately. The first to land was Scilla that immediately moved to the Xern landing zone right beside the HQ along with the NDU landing platform. The long ship was different from the NDU on basically everything. It felt polished and deeply thought before production. It was not powered by the same thrusters and so it didn¡¯t emit any strange screaming. Once landed 2 creatures got down. The ship had not interference device but a glimpse of an airlock is useless. The 2 Esterians were a male as tall as Idra and a smaller female. The male was the commander Spini from before. Black power armour, 3 weapons, robust and military posture. Surely a soldier. His suit had the goo protective layer but his was not reactive at all. To Scilla if felt dead. On the other hand the female was completely different. Her presence was childish, she had no weapons with her and she was looking everywhere without a second of calm. On her sides cables and a couple of dark boxes with no openings. They stood still waiting for Idra to arrive as well. Idra left the NDU with a different armour set. She was wearing the same one as when she met the Liin. The 3 horns on her head were covered with black goo, hers was definitely alive. As soon as she was near, the other Esterians moved their right arm to compose their salute. Right straight hand perpendicular to the torso with the arm in a V shape as aligned as possible with the shoulder. The man had no problem to keep it up, while the girl was starting to shake, probably from excitement. Then Idra spoke. ¡°Andiamo dentro e poi mi spiegherai tutto. (let¡¯s go in and then you will tell me everything)¡± Idra¡¯s voice was cold and detached. Does she know them? And who the fuck is the little hyperactive girl? She is like 160cm, do they use kids in the army? Their walk toward Hakavor¡¯s skyscraper was almost silent. The only one speaking was the girl. She was constantly trying to get away and get closer to Idra, but Spini kept her in place. Scilla could hear her speaking and even without understanding a word she could understand Idra. The female Esterian was almost constantly speaking about her or trying to speak with her. If I have to make a guess she is a fan of Idra as well. But what is her purpose?. Dhalia had ordered a room to be prepared immediately and was waiting for them with her guards. She didn¡¯t forget her broken arm that has healed just a week before. The room was a standard meeting room, nothing too fancy. They immediately went for the couches and sit across each other. While the Esterians were doing their business Dhalia took Scilla aside. They were whispering to each other. ¡°who the fuck are those? Have you seen them before Scilla?¡± ¡°I have no fucking clue. But Idra spoke with them and said that they are an Intel crew¡± ¡°but they already send their ambassador on Leanira acting as one, why the hell a second one?¡± ¡°you think I know? Idra just said that it¡¯s all ok.¡± ¡°do we thrust them? And what the fuck is the little girl problem?¡± ¡°I was wondering the same. For now let¡¯s see how things evolve¡± Meanwhile at the couches area Idra was speaking with Spini. ¡°quindi? Come mai siete qui?(so? Why are you here?)¡± ¡°abbiamo ricevuto notizia del contratto stretto con I Leani. L¡¯Unione Tecnocratica Esteriana richiede ulteriori informazioni. (news of the contract with the Leans reached us. The Esterian-Tech-Union request more information about it)¡± ¡°Ragionevole. In breve sto migliorando i legami con i Leani. Allunga la mano e collegati ad un supporto di archiviazione. Ti passo il piano dettagliato. (reasonable. Briefly I¡¯m working to improve our relationship with the Leans. Extend your hand and connect to an archiving support. I¡¯m going to sent you the detailed plan)¡± They were all busy with their own conversation except the female Esterian. Excluded form both Idra¡¯s and Scilla¡¯s conversation she was bored. Her eyes felt onto the table with gasses and a bottle of water. She wanted to drink to kill some time but had no idea if she had permission. Her superior was speaking with Idra and so she moved toward Scilla and Dhalia that had just finished their ¡°secret chat¡±. The girl looked at Dhalia and with her acute and joyful voice asked. ¡°can I drink the water?¡± Both Dhalia and Scilla were confused. So far no Esterian had ever asked for permission to do anything, especially permission from non Esterian. Idra that was about to connect her suit to Spini immediately stopped to reply. ¡°yes you can¡± ¡°oh, but shouldn¡¯t I ask the local chief? So I mean Miss Hakavor?¡± ¡°nah, it¡¯s unnecessary. You don¡¯t even have to call her miss.¡± Then Idra looked at Scilla and Dhalia. ¡°She is new, fresh from training and never been out¡± Scilla replied back. ¡°well that was definitely a change of standards. I won¡¯t be disappointed if you become more civilized¡± ¡°said the brute barbarian to the deity of order¡± Idra and Scilla laughed, they were the only two. ¡°let¡¯s get back to business. You girl¡­¡± Idra pointed at the Esterian. ¡°oh, I¡¯m Alba Corvi in change of¡­¡± ¡°I know what your position is. Get your ass back on the couch and start preparing¡± ¡°Sissignora (yes miss)¡± Alba rushed back and place the 2 dark metallic boxes on the coffee table. While she was preparing Idra and Spini connected their arms. Idra¡¯s goo extended onto his armour and they stood still for few seconds. Then Spini replied. ¡°Capisco perfettamente mia signora. Riporter¨° tutto al governo centrale. Il Fondatore la guider¨¤ al successo. (I understand perfectly my lady. I will take this to the central government. The Founder will guide you to success)¡± Whatever Idra¡¯s plan was, Spini definitely appreciated it. As soon as they finished the girl was ready. She had the 2 boxes on the table, a big cable connected one end to Alba¡¯s upper back, right on top of the spine. The other ends of the cable were connected to a vanishing socket in both the boxes and one end was left loose. Idra took it, her goo from the arm connected to it. Then she moved both boxes closer. She placed her free hand few centimetres above and let small threads of goo fall down. The dark boxes opened in half bending like an open laptop They were totally blank. Just the opening internal system, nothing else. Idra¡¯s threads increased in number until they covered everything. Something was surely happening as Alba was wobbling and in general she was having a hard time to even stay sat. About 3 minutes later the process, whatever it was, come to an end and Alba fell down. She seemed to have received quiet the toll and was now laying down on the couch with the cable still attached. ¡°well I suppose this ends our secrecy. Vanni take a box, I will detach Alba¡± Idra stood up and moved Alba into a better position. She placed her hands on the cable and pulled it out. The girl was still trying to show energy and spoke back. Her voice was definitely tired. ¡°was I good?¡± ¡°yes. Probably one of the best intel carrier I have met so far.¡± Alba was shaking happily but was too exhausted to jump back. Still she had the strength and audacity to ask Idra. ¡°can we took a photo, together? You know¡­ I¡¯m a really big fan¡­ and I would¡­ I would love to record this honour¡­ can...can I??¡± Idra laughed. Then she pulled back the girl making her sit beside her. She rummaged through Alba¡¯s suit pockets and pulled out what looked like a fancy smartphone. She seemed used to take photos with people. This time she decided to have some fun. She took the first photo normally but then she swung her harm across Alba¡¯s back pulling her closer by grabbing her waist. Alba was surprised and looked at Idra¡¯s hand while she was taking a series of photos. What the fuck. I get that she calls everybody by their name. But she is too close, few fingers down and she would have grabber the girl ass. If she wants to grab an ass mine has to be the first. Scilla was jealous but soon she calmed down. Idra left Alba and Vanni on the other couch and moved back to her position. However instead of sitting on her empty spot she sat on Scilla¡¯s leg. Her flawless movement and new position implied power, a power that couldn¡¯t be contested by anyone, except Scilla. ¡°am I comfortable?¡± ¡°yes, better than the couch¡± Spini faked a cough to intrude. ¡°I don¡¯t want to exceed my welcome but, now that our job is done. May I ask for and autograph my lady?¡± ¡°I recall meeting a Spini in my life? Was it not you?¡± ¡°I have an older brother that joined the army before me. The is always bragging about seeing you at the base so¡­ if I can I would love to throw such honour back at him¡­.¡± Idra laughed again. This time she was happy. She was no longer seeing them as a threat to something undefined. ¡°brothers rivalry. This brings me back home. Sure give me something to write one¡± Dhalia and Scilla assisted at the process. They were in disbelieve. The ambassador had part of his family saved by Idra, but those two. They were just fans. People that deeply admired her and apparently a lot of people do the same. Well I suppose I don¡¯t have a reason to be jealous any more. Still this is crazy. They are almost venerating her. Spini¡¯s brother brags about seeing her, SEEING HER. I will ask more about this. I get it, she is a remnant, but just how much high in their technocracy is the remnant? chapter 32c: link Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 32c: link Both Spini and Corvi kept chatting with Idra until the girl got better. Once she was stable enough to walk around, Spini stood up. ¡°it was a pleasure to meet you, lady Weeping Sky. We shall resume our job¡± ¡°you two are not that bad. Stay safe and out of troubles.¡± the two Esterians composed their military salute while shouting: ¡°May the Founder guide you, lady Weeping Sky!¡± Idra replied with their military salute as well, but she didn¡¯t yell anything. Probably due to some laws of theirs. Without wasting time the couple left the room and few minutes later the Xern was taking off. As soon as some space was left free Dhalia put some distance between her and Idra, just in case. ¡°I guess your friends are already gone. That was fast¡± started Dhalia. ¡°not friends. They are an intel ship. Their mission was completed and so they have to return home¡± ¡°do you mind if I ask you something?¡± ¡°you will ask anyway. Go on, maybe I will reply¡± ¡°why sending them here? Don¡¯t you have already a route to Leanira? Why don¡¯t extend it? And what is the box that they left behind?¡± ¡°you can already deduce the answer to your first two questions. The box is none of your business, and before you ask. No you can¡¯t study it.¡± ¡°so I suppose I will never get anything out of you?¡± ¡°maybe not. Who knows. Anyway Scilla had something to say¡± Idra moved away, she pushed Scilla on one end of the couch and laid down. Her head on Scilla¡¯s legs. Scilla didn¡¯t flinch at such act while Dhalia was getting more perplex. In her mind she was starting to think that maybe Scilla changed idea and somehow started a relationship with Idra as requested. ¡°so good news?¡± ¡°definitely. Our expedition was a success. No critical injury, no ship damage, no traces and more importantly alien tech. Most of it is broken but¡­¡± Dhalia jumped up, and grabbed Scilla by her shoulders moving really close. ¡°you are not joking. You found some artefacts¡± Idra replied from below still on Scilla¡¯s lap. ¡°well yeah. The mission was mine. Never failed one¡±. ¡°as Idra said it was amazing. It¡¯s not too much due to time constrain but we brought back a lot compared to our standard.¡± Dhalia was amazed and joyful. After so many years of nothing they finally had something to work with. Something to explore and study to maybe move forward with their technology. She was so happy that she was shaking and stuttering. ¡°t...t..this calls for¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ something, a party, a celebration ceremony, a promotion. This is amazing. The best news I received in years.¡± ¡°slow down chief. I just did my job¡­¡± Idra brutally intrude in their joy. She became angry for some reason. ¡°There is nothing to celebrate.¡± ¡°what do you mean Idra?¡± said together the two Leans. ¡°I thought your squad was a special force not a special needs¡± Scilla took it personally, she was opening her mouth to speak back but she was immediately shut by Idra. ¡°CLOSE! THAT FUCKING SEWER! Don¡¯t even dare to speak. Your team lacked everything an army needs to succeed. It had no coordination, no premeditation, no shared thoughts. Do you think you can go against a couples of Morfian¡¯s AIs with such shitty crew? ANSWER ME FUCKING CUNTS!¡± ¡°we...we were not that bad. We survived right?¡± replied Scilla hesitant. However her words only worsen the situation. Idra was far from being impress by such stupid remark that she stood up and slapped Scilla. She contained herself but that surely hurt. ¡°What the fuck have I said¡­¡± ¡°shut the fuck up! Before I slap some sense into your fucking skull. You were absolute garbage. Our purpose is not to survive an expedition is to succeed. SUCCEED! You and your squad were to slow, too predictable, too distracted.¡± ¡°Idra I don¡¯t know what happened during your mission but I personally selected Scilla¡¯s crew. We choose among the best soldiers our kind has¡­¡± ¡°then your kind is as useful as a prostitute in a desert. Gather the best you have. I¡¯m going to train them so...¡± ¡°oh well¡± Dhalia felt a mix of joy and confusion to be immediately replace by pain. Idra didn¡¯t like to be interrupted especially when angry. As soon as Dhalia opened her mouth Idra punched her in the stomach making her fell on the ground. The guards wanted to pick their weapons but they couldn¡¯t more. As before their armour had already been hacked. Idra crouched to lower herself to Dhalia¡¯s face lever. Pulled her by the hair to ominously continued her dialogue. Scilla wanted to at least separate them but Idra, with her free hand, was pointing her SMG at her. ¡°DO. NOT. INTERRUPT. ME! Got it?¡± ¡°y...yes..¡± replied Dhalia. ¡°now. I give you 1 week. Prepare both the Sheridan full crew and 500 more soldiers. Find a 10x10 km area for training and non lethal weapons for all. I¡¯m going to make you beg to go home. And obviously you are included Miss Hakavor¡± Then she tossed her away. Stood up and looked at Scilla. ¡°I¡¯m going home. If I were you I would start preparing. It will be hell¡± As if nothing happened Idra left the place, went inside her ship and flew to Scilla¡¯s house. Being left behind Scilla rushed to her boss and helped her stand back up. ¡°did she broke something¡± ¡°n¡­ no just my pride. It only hurts like hell. Why am I the one that always gets beaten? Does she hates me? Was our crew so bad?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know why she is so angry, she was relaxing a second ago. We did some mistakes and she was way faster than us, but we come back. Those machine were stronger than the Droxis. How are we suppose to fight them effortlessly?¡± ¡°well you better pacify her and find a solution to her rage tantrum¡± Scilla left as well. She had to go home by car, Idra¡¯s NDU fills all the lending spot on the roof. While going home she also stopped by a florist. She bought a bunch of flower for her sister and one for Idra. They say flowers make every girl happy. Let¡¯s hope she likes them as well. Or that her anger, that somehow is directed towards me, can be nullified by flowers. When she got home Wiola welcomed her back with a long hug. She was away for 1.5 months doing dangerous things. Wiola immediately noticed the double bunch of flowers and that her big sis got home at different time compared to Idra and with a different vehicle. ¡°trouble in paradise sis?¡± ¡°don¡¯t even start...¡± ¡°first argument eh??¡± Wiola winked at her sister that was having none of her jokes. ¡°we are not together and you know how dangerous she is. So I¡¯ll better go immediately¡± ¡°shish, can¡¯t even joke anymore. Thanks for the flowers and good luck¡±. Strangely the NDU opposed no resistance and let Scilla in. She walked as fast as she could toward the living zone and called for Iris. ¡°Iris where are you?¡± ¡°here in the armoury. What do you want?¡± Definitely angry. Should I be more careful with my words? Inside the armoury Iris was at her desk elaborating data of some kind on her terminal. She was still wearing her suit but without the helmet. She didn¡¯t even turn back to look at Scilla. She just kept doing her business. ¡°hi. Emh¡­ are you perhaps angry?¡± ¡°what do you think?¡± replied Iris. Her tone was peculiar. A mix of anger mix with something else. Concern. ¡°that you surely sound angry, are you also angry at me?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not just angry, I¡¯m furious. I¡¯m so pissed that I want to crush all your bones one by one. But that would go against my purpose so I restrain myself¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I don¡¯t really know what I did wrong. Is it because Dhalia wanted to celebrate? Because I can just say no and that¡¯s it¡± Iris¡¯s voice calmed down a bit. Now it was mixed with sadness but still angry. ¡°it¡¯s not that.¡± ¡°than what is it?¡± Iris snapped back. Staring with her now burning glare. ¡°WHAT IS IT!?! it¡¯s you. Your squad, your operation. How can you not understand! We are risking our lives every time we go out. Each time we descend into a ruin we don¡¯t know what we will find. How the superior enemy will behave, what we will go against. It¡¯s all just predictions. But even I have limits¡­¡± ¡°are you¡­¡± Now it was mixing with despair than soon changed into determination. ¡°what will happen if we fail? What do you think will happen!!?? I don¡¯t want to lose you. I don¡¯t care about the others but I can¡¯t lose you. You are my Elvira Smolak¡­¡± that name sounded familiar but in the heat of the moment Scilla couldn''t remember to whose it used to belong. ¡°the only way I have to make sure that I won¡¯t lose you is only if nobody dies in my predictions. Even just 1 death is too much because it could be you. And I won¡¯t let it happen. If to save you I have to train the hell out of your crew, I¡¯ll do it. Whatever it will take.¡± Scilla could only rush forward and hug her while trying to keep the flowers hidden. For her and probably any old style Lean, Iris¡¯s words were an absolute declaration of her love. Still Iris didn¡¯t appreciated the hug and pushed her back, believing that she didn¡¯t understand fully what she just said. ¡°wait. Now that you explained I got it. And I also got you a present.¡± Scilla pulled from behind her back the flowers. A big bunch of 10 yellow flowers and 10 purple ones. ¡°what is this?¡± ¡°flowers. Girls like flowers right? And they are useful to... to say that I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t get that you were worried about me. I didn¡¯t even think about it. About the immense risk that we faced. I said a lot of things to you about love and support. Yet I failed to understand that my life is no longer only mine. I know you probably don¡¯t want an apology, but I don¡¯t know what else I should do. I started this job to run away, I didn¡¯t really cared about myself. But now I understand that I can¡¯t keep doing so. Now I have you.¡± Iris smirked and stared at the flowers for few seconds to then go back to Scilla. ¡°I get your will to apologise even if you didn¡¯t know the reason. And everybody likes flowers. Just in different ways. Still I¡¯m angry not hungry?¡± Confusion immediately spread into Scilla¡¯s brain. Her contorted face expression mixed with the only sound she emitted told all. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°eeh??¡± ¡°what? was my accent too strong?. I said I¡¯m not hungry. I¡¯m angry¡± ¡°wait no I got it the first time. But what you mean not hungry? Those are not flowers to be eaten¡± ¡°oh. Then what are they for? Cleaning the air? Providing a light source? Are they poisonous? You brought me ingredient to extract some poison. You are too kind¡­¡± ¡°no no no. They are just... decorative flowers. You place them in a pot and admire their beauty¡± Iris was confused but accepted. With the bouquet of flowers in hand she was even more beautiful. A sublime figure of enchanting beauty hiding behind flowers her dark power suit that tasted way too much blood. The moment of silence was interrupted by one door shutting with force. Scilla immediately snapped and look at the kitchen door on the other side. ¡°your door¡­ did it malfunction¡­.Iris?¡± she turned back to see Iris with a small bulge on the right cheek. She was staring at her. She looked down at the flowers and there was a stem missing the rest of the flower. ¡°Iris did you eat one of the flowers?¡± With her mouth partially full she replied. Her speaking was muffled by the flower inside that had yet to be mangled. ¡°no. why you ask?¡± Scilla played along, she looked at the flowers but with the corner of her eyes she was looking at Iris, that chewed a single time as fast as possible to be undetected. ¡°oh well I see that there is a stem alone and only 19 flowers...i assumed...¡± ¡°how would I know how many flowers you bought. Maybe the florist made a mistake¡± ¡°yeah sure a mistake¡± Iris chewed again. ¡°surely a mistake¡± ¡°mmh¡­ you have some yellow things on your teeth¡± ¡°I had a fast snack¡± ¡°yeah, definitely a snack. That you... prepared alone¡± ¡°yep. Sorry I don¡¯t have any more of it¡± I guess is time for a little trick. She loves to correct errors, especially definition errors. ¡°as far as I can see there are still 9 and half of them¡± ¡°the stem shouldn''t be considered half of¡­. oh fuck¡± ¡°got you flowers eater.¡± ¡°oh shut it. It¡¯s not like you never ate a flower before¡± ¡°never ate a decorative one. I don¡¯t even know if they are edible¡± ¡°don¡¯t worry, it was safe to consume. I also cleaned it¡± Scilla didn¡¯t want to know how she cleaned it or properly she just assumed it was a lie. Truth to be told Iris was not lying. She had already grown close to the Whispers to be able to use them in total silence for small things. Like consuming bacteria to sterilize a flower. ¡°oh well at least that¡­ do you have a vase for them?¡± ¡°maybe¡± Then the kitchen door opened and slammed again. By instinct Scilla looked in at the door. Just the few seconds were enough. As soon as she looked back at Iris she could see proof of a new misdeed poking out of her lips. A purple petal. ¡°Oh come on Iris. Really!?¡± ¡°what? This one was purple.¡± ¡°was the yellow one good?¡± ¡°no.¡± ¡°is this one good?¡± ¡°no.¡± ¡°then why did you eat it, they are almost identical, so same species¡± ¡°well maybe they had a different flavour based on the colour¡± ¡°do they?¡± ¡°no, both equally disgusting. And I also don¡¯t have a place for them, so a few less won¡¯t hurt¡± ¡°well. We will place them inside your room in my house. Now seeing that you are eating flowers. Would you perhaps want something to eat even if you are not ¡®hungry¡¯¡± ¡°no. I¡¯m still mad at you¡± ¡°ok. Then let me add fuel to the fire. I don¡¯t want you to get so close to others for photos or whatever¡± Am I going to be beaten? She doesn''t¡­ wait her new expression doesn¡¯t seem angry¡­ do people smile from excessive anger? No they do not. Iris in fact was no more angry. She was overflowing with joy. For the first time since they met she was the one rushing toward Scilla and hugged her. ¡°what?! Is this a new way to break my spine?¡± Iris kept hugging and tried to shake Scilla that didn¡¯t really move from her position. ¡°no idiot. I¡¯m happy. You are jealous and you are imposing on me.¡± she laugh. A happy and cute laugh that filled the ship and Scilla heart, mixing with her confusion. ¡°are you not mad at me? You know I¡¯m limiting you¡± ¡°no. quite the opposite. I sort of told you before but I¡¯m Esterian an as most we want to be possessive and possessed. Your request proves your love.¡± ¡°so you are totally fine with it?¡± ¡°well it¡¯s not like I can stop. As you saw a lot of people admire me. But I won¡¯t get close to them from now on. So I respect your decision. And I also don¡¯t really do anything like today. I was trying to obtain this result in the first place. But then I got angry and I moved it in the background.¡± ¡°I would like to start a discussion about dictating the other actions and manipulation, but seeing how much you liked it I won¡¯t oppose. Still I don¡¯t really like to be manipulated into things¡± ¡°oh, but I won¡¯t call it manipulation. I just forced a trigger. And you reacted as predicted¡± ¡°yeah that is kinda manipulative so, I would prefer if you tell me directly if you want something.¡± ¡°mmh. Ok I can do that.¡± ¡°still angry?¡± ¡°no.¡± ¡°then if you let me go I can prepare some food with the help of your robot¡± ¡°don¡¯t want to¡± ¡°well then want me to¡­ don¡¯t know find I place for the flowers?¡± ¡°no I mean, I¡¯m fine with food. I don¡¯t want to let go¡± ¡°oh. Well thanks.¡± Scilla hugged Iris back. She was no longer trying to shake her around, she was just hugging. After probably 10 or more minutes Iris finally let go and taking Scilla¡¯s hand they moved to the kitchen. She sat at the table waiting patiently like a kid while Scilla had her fun preparing something with the wonderful cooking bot. As soon as they had their food Scilla decided to ask about the ¡°you are my...¡± ¡°Iris can I ask you something?¡± ¡°sure. What is it?¡± ¡°Who is this Elrina Smol that you speak about?¡± ¡°Elvira Smolak. And I suppose it¡¯s only logical that you don¡¯t know. She was the Founder¡¯s wife. Maybe you know one of her nicknames. They called her the Tungsten Maiden, you know like iron maiden or maiden of Nuremberg, but with a different material due to her cybernetics prosthetics.¡± That immediately lit a spark inside Scilla¡¯s head. She knew enough about the Tungsten Maiden. As Humans and Leans came to know more about each other they shared their stories and among them the Tungsten Maiden. A Horrors story based on the real reference and events that was so popular among Humans to be alarming. Needless to say that if even Scilla knew it, then the story expanded also into Lean¡¯s territory like wildfire with some changes and variations. In 2441 it was deeply changed and almost unrecognizable. Still the story spoke about a once beautiful woman who lost half of her body. Converted into a hybrid with a machine she lived at the cost of her sanity and humanity. The woman hypnotise those who seek beauty with her human half. She mesmerize those who seek the strongest of all minds with her machine half. Only when close she reveal her aberrant nature massacring and torturing her preys. Those who seek beauty lose theirs as they get disfigured while those who seek her mind get lost in madness as theirs brain can¡¯t stand against her thoughts. There was no escape because none can survive a single look. ¡°oh, I remember the horror story around it. Are they true? Like the half half things and disfiguration?¡± ¡°mostly. The story is...reductive. I mean she was different from the Founder. Let me use a Human prospective. After 400 years most Human scholars can agree that our Founder actions were guided by a bigger and complex plan never disclosed. Elvira actions however seemed deeply rooted in hatred toward humankind and only assisting the Founder¡¯s plan. It¡¯s unclear if she accepted the worst jobs proposed by her husband, she wanted to do them or they came directly from her. What is known is that she stood proudly by his side and completed her tasks with joy. For instance she took care of both the rehab program and the eugenic program.¡± ¡°wait eugenic program?¡± Scilla¡¯s tone filled with disgust. Leans are warriors by nature. They defended themselves against the Droxi who deem them as inferior due to their colour and clear differences. Most, Scilla included, took up the duty to protect others. They had their share of shit but never once thought of killing their own kind if they were not a threat or a criminal. A cleaning program to remove those weak as they were vermis contaminating the species was not something she could tolerate easily. ¡°yes. Don¡¯t know what it is?¡± Scilla was hesitant. She wanted to know but she also feared the answer. She knew how horrible Iris can be, she thought she knew how Esterians think. Yet she failed to understand her beloved view. She was hoping that Iris was different, that she had changed somehow. ¡°of course I know. Do¡­ did you side with such thing?¡± ¡°should I not?¡± Scilla¡¯s heart sink for a moment. She hoped that whatever was coming after was going to be better. Maybe they had a different view of things. Maybe she was messing with her. ¡°It¡¯s not like it doesn¡¯t work. We are animals. Creatures of living matters. If we can model nature around us, we can model ourself. Only fools reject science.¡± ¡°and my model ourself you mean killing those that are deem unfit?¡± ¡°I suppose so. Elvira thought so, but I don¡¯t, not in all cases at least.¡± That was a punch right in the stomach. A punch that hurts a lot and sank deeper and deeper. ¡°we still apply some of those rules. For example all parents have the right to terminate their child if afflicted by crippling diseases. Like an extra chromosome.¡± At this point there was no more room for misunderstanding. Each new phrases deepened the hole into Scilla¡¯s heart. At some point she probably lost control of her facial expression as Iris continued a bit until a sudden stop. ¡°You know, we have only few of those disgusting homosexual creatures that you hate so much because turns out that¡­Scilla are you alright? You seem in pain. This you prepare something that poisoned you?¡± Failing to understand the Esterian view Scilla failed to contain herself. Just how! HOW! HOW?! How could she side with such monstrosity. Even if defective they are still people. With all their technology they could have found several ways to help them. ¡°STOP!¡± Iris was startled but immediately replied still totally oblivious of the situation. ¡°what? Is it not poison? Did it just taste bad? You can split it or vomit it I won¡¯t get offended¡± ¡°it¡¯s not the fucking food! How can you share such horrendous ideas and you even compared me to such a monster. You think I would be pleased?!!?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not understanding. I complimented you¡± Rage brings out the worst of a creature. Those moments mark your future. They put your relationship through a test. It can either fail or survive to maybe shine brighter afterward. ¡°of course you are never understanding a single thing! Why the fuck do you even have a brain for!?¡± Scilla was not really pondering her words, she was just letting them all out fuelled by anger. As predictable Iris didn¡¯t took it well. She knew that social skills were not her forte, yet this time she was right. A different right, an Esterian right. For Her and her species science rules above all. Elvira¡¯s methods were indeed correct. Living creatures are still animals and as they can be breed so can intelligent creatures. Selected to achieve better results. Esterians as a species were the proof of such act of self experimentation. Their cleaning methods were no longer so brutal but they still remove defective creatures. To them being compare to Elvira means being defined as a pioneer, a genius of a different time, a strong creature ready to do what is needed for a better future. Also Elvira was one of the only 3 women worth the Founder¡¯s time. In particular she was his wife. The woman that was chosen by what Esterians define as the greatest man that will ever exist. Several Historians even defined Elvira as the Founder¡¯s purpose. They believe with good reasons that the Founder was giving up on Humanity, until he met Elvira. Their encounter was the spark that changed the future bringing them to become Esterians. However Scilla was seeing all applying her morality, her believes. She was judging a pragmatic race as if they would care about honour or something alike. She was not taking into consideration that Iris indeed used one of the highest compliment existing inside her vocabulary. But to her such compliment was being compared to a monster that killed newborn in the hospital ward. If only she wasn¡¯t so blinded by her own ego, her own convictions and anger. Iris slammed her fists on the table and stood up. She was not going to let it slide. She was in the right. A rare case for her in a social contest. Immediately the Whispers answer her involuntary call. They start echoing around her, whispering for action, feeding onto her anger. \|/Fight. Hurt. Revenge. Pain. Pain. Fight.\|/ ¡°SHUT THE FUCK UP! I¡¯m not going to hurt her. She is just¡­ she is just not thinking¡± As Scilla¡¯s cheeks had their ¡°fight mode¡± Iris¡¯s body prepares to battle as well. When aggressiveness is the way Esterians show their teeth, their ears stiffen up and lock on the target. They could also growl. A terrifying growl that you definitely don¡¯t want to hear at night. Iris was not at that point but it was definitely showing hostility. ¡°GET OUT! I don¡¯t want to see your face anymore.¡± ¡°Of course I will get the fuck out.¡± Scilla stormed out and secluded herself into her room. She didn¡¯t want to talk with anybody. With time she cooled down. Little by little. She went on with her day as if Idra wasn¡¯t there in her ship. Nothing happened and still partially upset she went to sleep. The next morning hit her with a moment of clearance. She remembered the words ¡°the Founder¡¯s Wife¡± ...THE...FOUNDER¡¯S...WIFE. ¡°oh fuck¡± She realised that what she saw as an abomination was a positive action for Iris. That eugenics was an amplification of the natural laws just accelerated. Or probably that was the Esterian¡¯s view. She finally put all the pieces together and understood that she got angry over their difference in views. They simply see the universe differently with different standards, different bias and different opinions. She didn¡¯t had to share and approve Iris¡¯s views but get angry and not even try to elaborate more, to discover more and maybe even reach a common ground was a mistake. Her mistake. In her pyjama Scilla rushed out and tried to get into the NDU, but the ship was silent. She fucked up really hard, that were the consequences. She waited, she stayed there the entire day. But nothing. The NDU was death silent. Once darkness took over the sky she retired back into her room and picked up her phone to call Dhalia. ¡°hello?¡± ¡°Hi Dhal¡± ¡°sup, why are you calling at this our? Did Idra had a new strange idea?¡± ¡°well¡­ not...not really. Remember that I said I would talk to her yesterday?¡± ¡°yes??¡± ¡°well turns our I may have made it worst¡± Dhalia stopped for a moment. She was in the war but not really as a soldier but as commander and strategist. She had some fights, but never been in the front line. She was getting scared of what was going to happen at the ¡°training¡±. ¡°How¡­ How much worst?¡± ¡°mmh. Emh. Maybe to the point that she blocked me out and not speaking to me at all?¡± Dhalia dropped the phone. She knew that a storm was coming and she rushed to her grandpama for comfort. Allium Hakavor was the one that raised Dhalia and stood beside her. A hard femari forged in a time of need. Someone that gave all for her people and will never bow to weaklings and their poor ideology. This time she didn¡¯t accept her grandchild request to withdraw from the special training. It was a unique occasion for her grandchild to tougher up even more and to experiment the frontline, to see ¡°real¡± battle and acquire more experience against a stronger opponent. ¡°Dhal? Dhal? Are you still there?¡± chapter 33c: forest Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 33c: forest Reluctantly Dhalia prepared what Idra required. She found an area available for training. It was a mountainous zone covered with forests with a relatively high altitude lake. Near the designed training zone there was a fairly big city that they were going to use as temporary base. As requested Dhalia forced the Sheridan crew to participate, she also selected 499 of the best Hakavor soldiers and herself to fill the rest of the troops requirements. They were going to be equipped with a lethal weapons for self defence against the local fauna, and a non lethal option of choice. They were going to meet at the lower side of the square area at 10:00. They obliviously got there first. All 1000 soldiers plus their supply for combat. ¡°I don¡¯t have a good feeling for this training¡± ¡°sorry chief. I fucked up. But well we will improve right?¡± ¡°if she brakes one of my arms again I¡¯m going to brake yours Scilla¡± ¡°hahaha. Then I hope she doesn¡¯t¡± The tension was almost touchable. Even if it was just a drill they were going up against an Esterian. Even among the elite soldiers concern was wide spread. At 9:55 a loud bang broke their tension. The NDU had arrived. It slowly flew over their heads and at 10:00 it was right in front of them, floating 2 meters above the ground. Something move emitting a metal loud but at low frequency noise, almost like a dying beast. Then several flying drones popped out from the top and dispersed around. Those already in their suits started seeing messages popping on their HUDs. Those that were still outside their suit were delighted by the NDU¡¯s mechanical voice. //NDU 511 designed as arbiter// //Loading organic communications protocols// //System ready// //welcome to the first training session. I¡¯m your designed arbiter NDU 511. I will watch over you all. You are or will be all equipped with a lethal and a non lethal weapon of your choice. They are both synchronized with my systems. The lethal weapon can only be used to engage animals for hunting or defence. Between you only the non lethal option is available. Damage will be automatically computed. If deem fatal your suit will block for a brief period of time. Close quarter combat is allowed and executed with the coloured marker at your disposal. My drone system will allow for total coverage of the area. Leaving the area will be counted as death. You may contract me via your suit or screaming my name. Illegal actions, insubordination or damage to the arbiter will be met with lethal force and extermination of family tree up to the 8th cousin// ¡°wait what? You will kill us?¡± exclaimed Dhalia. //correct. My integrity has more value than your life. You have been warned. Now to your objective. The first part of the training consist in a survival test. You can either annihilate the opposite team or survive for 7 days. To increase your winning probability all Lean¡¯s can die 3 time before being removed from the match. To be clear removal doesn¡¯t mean physical elimination. This is a training after all. Once death you may re-spawn after the needed time at your base. Once eliminated you can no longer help your team. All forms of combat are allowed. The second test will reflect your performance in the first trial. Now let me introduce your opponent// As always a square of darkness incorporated the NDU and immediately after a mechanical object dropped out. //transport unit ESM-6G-3e9K. To give you a chance to survive the unit is not armed// The 6 leg machine that was like a tail-less scorpion covered with baggage immediately moved out of the way for the real opponent. A dark figure landed in the same position. //your opponent Idra 511 Weeping Sky. In order for this test to be effective the unit battle power has been reduced// ¡°what you mean reduced¡± asked Scilla. //in order for you to pose a threat unit Idra 511 Weeping Sky is not allowed to infiltrate your suits nor she is allowed any support from automated weapons// So she is heavily crippled. We can do it. She was wrong. Idra felt more ominous as she stood still waiting for the NDU to finish it explanation. Her suit had the 3 big horns on the head but for the rest it was the same of their first meeting. She had only her pistol and nothing else. Her equipment must have been on the mechanical scorpion. //you have 1 hour to prepare then the battle will start. Everything clear?// ¡°can we speak to you in case we need clarification on the rules?¡± asked Dhalia //yes. More questions?// ¡°No. we got it¡± concluded Dhalia. It was time to battle. //timer start.// As soon as the NDU finished talking Idra was already running toward the forest and disappeared immediately after. Dhalia, Scilla and Morea gathered to define their strategy. ¡°what do we do commander Lis? She is one and we are 1000. Can¡¯t we just charge her?¡± asked Morea. ¡°Are you being stupid on purpose?¡± Replied Dhalia. ¡°sorry chief I was trying to be funny. To lower the tension on your faces. Whatever you decide I¡¯m in¡± ¡°Thanks Morea. Start by grouping soldiers and non soldiers. Than makes squads of 6 people each¡± Started Scilla. ¡°Dhal I have a plan. For sure she will attack first. She is angry so she will probably want to beat the shit out of us¡­¡± ¡°I agree. She should try to fortify our position. Moving onward toward the higher ground will be a pain. We have too much food and general supply to carry. Same for moving east toward the creeks. We can¡¯t do that in 1 hour¡­¡± ¡°indeed. But I think a source of water will help us. Still I would build up some temporary barricades and move just 500 m east. That way we will have forest on both sides but a small meadow going uphill in front of us. The grass is not too tall so we should be able to see her.¡± ¡°seems good. Also we should place ourselves near the lower limit so we get only 3 side to defends.¡± ¡°hopefully we will survive the first assault¡± concluded Scilla getting ready to command her troops. Their plan was simple. Use the rules at their advantage while moving slowly toward a series of creeks coming down the mountains. Having water could be a necessity in the future. On the other hands Idra used 10 minutes to reach a cave that she located with her scanner. There she prepared her arsenal. \|/Better affinity. Improvement reached. Desire pain. Desire combat.\|/ ¡°you learned a new trick. Two words at a time. Call me impressed.¡± \|/We evolved. Your pain. Improved us.\|/ ¡°I already know that pain is the key for our advancement. Didn¡¯t think that also mine would help¡± \|/Friend pain. Shared pain. Shared hate. New will. Protect friend. Destroy enemy\|/ ¡°anyway we are not going to kill them. Nor really inflict much physical pain. However we will go for psychological pain¡± \|/What is. Does hurt.\|/ ¡°yes it hurts. It¡¯s similar to the one I felt. We will make them fear every second of their life. Each time they hear a step they will shiver in fear of me. We will terrorise them. And I need you for that.¡± \|/Lead way. Our friend. Our Iris\|/ Idra opened the biggest box carried by her scorpion like robot. Inside a couple of goo canister and more importantly a peculiar ¡®backpack¡¯. It was an armour module for her AMS-111. A big canister filled with ammos and batteries connected to 4 mechanical arms ending with electromagnetic integrated guns. The 4 arm guns were connected to her brain via the backpack. The only limitation were the 2100 bullets spread across the 4 guns. ¡°Out objective is simple. Destruction. First I place some remote weapons on the ground. Then I sneak in and blow up their food stock. I doubt they will be able to counter my invisibility. Then you come in. You will make loud sounds to distract them. There will have no idea of what is happening while I tear them apart. Got it?¡± \|/Yes\|/. Exactly 1 hour after the last sound emitted by the NDU a loud bang and a message on all HUD //training start.// ¡°ok, don¡¯t freak out. Stay vigilant and focused on your sector. Remember your comrades have your back and your blind spots. If we stay together we will fend her off.¡± Scilla¡¯s inspiring words boosted her troops morale but it was going to drop soon. 15 minutes in and No sign of Idra. Dhalia said the unspeakable. ¡°I guess we are saf¡­ (safe)¡± a loud explosion coming from inside immediately advert all their attention. Not even the time to turn around that bullets started raining from the grassland. Short bursts followed by the atrocious mechanical sound of the multiple machine-guns firing them. It was not extremely loud but unique. It resembled a rotatory gun from a space ship and an electromagnetic assault rifle combined. Whatever it was its impact was clear. The front formation was already falling. Seeking cover from the never-ending bullet storm. Those moving out of cover were shot immediately. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°don¡¯t disperse. She is opening a passage in our lines. Launch the ECM (electronic counter measure) smoke grenades. Don¡¯t shoot back, that is not her.¡± ordered Scilla. She was already understanding the situation but that could not be said for most of her soldiers that were already panicking. ¡°left and right side second line, turn around and converge on our food supply. She must be there somehow.¡± Around 200 soldiers turned toward the explosion. Dhalia and Scilla were among them while Morea was in change for the front defence. They were closing in and in that moment the Whispers started screaming from below, from above, they were beside them, among them. It was enough to distract all of them. Idra popped out from the smoke surrounding the food supply. SMG on one hand, an open goo canister on the other. She was shielding herself with the goo while shooting with 5 weapons at a time. Each one targeting a different soldier and immediately snapping and stabilizing on the next one. ¡°GET DOWN!¡± screamed Scilla jumping on Dhalia. While falling a burst of bullets flew right above their head sinking in the soldiers behind. Scattered they were looking for cover, but there was no escape. Idra was too fast, to protected, to reactive. As soon as you get out of cover you would have bullets coming at you, you try to flank and she turns around, you try to smoke your position and she jumps right in to fight with her firsts. ¡°fall back, toss ECMs, let¡¯s try to blind her sensors. Seek¡­¡± In that moment Idra jumper over Scilla and Dhalia¡¯s head. She didn¡¯t kill neither of them. That was pure luck. They lived only because Idra was retreating. She had run out of bullets and was going back for resupply. That engagement felt eternal but in reality it last only 10 minutes. Their defence was a disaster and to add salt to the wounds the NDU spoke. //Food supply destroyed. Computing salvageable food. Only 3.22Kg of food are deem edible. Using more than the allowed supply will incur in penalties.// ¡°wait what? We can¡¯t eat our food?¡± asked Morea. She was not the only one concerned about it. //correct. Food supply attacked successfully. Even if only fake damage as been applied for simulation purposes you can¡¯t eat food from your supply. This is a war. Everything is a weapon. Consuming non authorized food will have consequences.// ¡°then what the fuck are we suppose to eat? We are 1000 people we can''t just forage for so many soldiers¡± said Dhalia. //War is war. Nobody plays fair. You were allowed to exploit the digital map edge to reduce your perimeter. Be grateful for that. Your bodies can survive for more than 7 days without food, the training will continue.// ¡°what the fuck, this is bullshit¡­¡± ¡°Dhal, it¡¯s over. Let¡¯s count the dead and move to the creeks zone. There are a few animals we will be able to get a bit of food somehow.¡± Scilla had already processed the food lost, she knew as soon as the heard the explosion. They waited 10 minutes for their comrades to ¡°re-spawn¡± back into the training. Meanwhile they counted the dead. ¡°...and With Nanar she killed 337 people in just one raid. She killed 1/10 of us commander¡± ended Morea. She was clearly concerned about the future of their challenge. ¡°it¡¯s even worst. She didn¡¯t attack any of the non trained personnel so she killed even more. Fuck. Chief we should start moving and set up base at the creeks zone¡± ¡°Lis why are you so fixated with the creeks? We should try to understand how she infiltrated us. We were enough to watch all around us, we placed down all kinds of sensors to catch her. Just how the fuck did she got in?¡± said Dhalia. ¡°I don¡¯t know chief. I knew she had some cloaking ability but I have no details about their working principles. However I know 1 thing. Mass can¡¯t disappear so if we found a piece of land surrounded by water we should be able to see her coming in, or coming from the distance. If she jumps from tree to tree they will move and water will splash as she runs into it. That¡¯s the best defensive position we can get.¡± ¡°we could also send out some squads for food, right Commander Lis¡± ¡°that¡¯s not a bad idea¡± continued Dhalia but Scilla was thinking otherwise. ¡°no, that is Idra¡¯s plan. She know way to well what her weaknesses are. I¡¯m sure she already predicted our relocation. If we send out squads she will just pick them one by one and reduce our numbers¡± ¡°it¡¯s a risk we may have to try Lis. We can¡¯t go on without food for 7 days. We will be too weak to fight back.¡± ¡°Chief I know that too. But what is the point if we lose everybody in the process to acquire food?. We just need one of us to survive¡± Despite their doubts and concerns they still proceed with the relocation. After all it was their best option for survival. During their new preparation they could hear noises in the distance. Magnetic shots, animals screaming in pain, few explosions and so on. The scariest moment were those of silence. When nothing was moving, nothing was happening their imagination guided by fear drifted towards the worst. Maybe she was coming or maybe she was observing them. Hours passed but nothing happened. Idra was taking her time and for the Leans it was time to decide what to do next. ¡°Lis any idea about whatever she is doing?¡± started Dhalia. ¡°not really. I don¡¯t know why she isn¡¯t attacking. I was almost certain that she would have attacked again. For sure she is trying to pull some guerrilla shit on us. She wants us to be scared of every sound we hear¡­¡± ¡°so far I would say it it working commander. I spoke with a couple of soldiers and they are all really nervous.¡± ¡°thanks vice Morea, that is definitely not good. Well I think we should start to prepare for the night and a few hunt squads. Maybe if we send them out at night they will have a better probability to get back¡± ¡°so, should I¡­¡± started Morea, but she was abruptly interrupted by Scilla. ¡°wait. I don¡¯t know chief if that is a good idea. I had the change to be connected to her network and fucking hell if it is amazing. I could see enemy behind walls hundred of meters away. I think she could outclass our night-vision systems. If we can¡¯t see her it is even worst¡­¡± ¡°we can never see her. She can turn invisible. What else do you know about her and her technology?¡± ¡°I know that we are fucked anyway. We can¡¯t rely on our tech, our brain computation throughput nor our reflex. We can only outsmart her, if it is even possible, or try to dies as slowly as we can¡­ oh wait. One time she told me that she isn¡¯t a soldier¡­¡± ¡°wait what? How the fuck is that possible¡± ask Dhalia in disbelieve. ¡°no fucking clue chief but she defines herself as a huntress. Mmh maybe the multiple squads isn¡¯t a bad idea. If she likes to hunt but we send them in different ways than she will have no time to stop them all.¡± ¡°well then it¡¯s decided¡­¡± their plan didn¡¯t survive long. It didn¡¯t survive even a second as their base alarm went off. Idra was approaching from the darkness. The same pair of machine-guns started to fill the air with bullets as Idra fired a couple of high brightness flares in the sky. Those damn flares impose them a choice. Go blind or don¡¯t use your non polarised night vision. Polarised visors don¡¯t help with long distance targets as they can only collect half the radiation. This time Idra shot from the distance and while climbing a tree. It took them several minutes and deaths to realise so. 5 minutes later and the attack was over. More than 200 kills and more importantly pressure. They felt hunted, corned in their own base. But it was not time to be scared. Idra just waited a bit. 1 hour later she was back. More kill and more fear. She was unstoppable and incessant. She went on with her frequent but gradually smaller attack all night. Not even a second of sleep for them. That morning few brave people decided to go out and hunt for food. They manage to make 4 squads of 10 people each. They scattered in different direction but as predictable Idra found them immediately or her traps found them. None return to base alive. As time passed their situation was getting worse and worse. Each time they tried something Idra was ready and their numbers kept reducing. Idra was everywhere at anytime. On almost regulars basis their base would get attacked. Day, night didn¡¯t matter at all. It was as if Idra didn¡¯t need to sleep at all, at the result were coming fast. The third day at dusk only one Lean was standing. It was Scilla with her last spawn. 10 meters way from Idra with her scorpion, she had just finished to kill Dhalia for the third time. ¡°you let me live on purpose didn¡¯t you?¡± But Idra didn¡¯t reply. She stopped and detached her mechanical guns. The scorpion collected the weapon system. Then she put away her weapons and with her hand she urged Scilla for a fist fight. She wants to punch me, so be it. But at least I want a chance. If I leave the suit she will probably reduce her power in order to keep me alive. Without the slowing suit I may be able to at least punch her back a few times. I¡¯m sure she will accept even without any words. Scilla left her power armour and dropped her gun. ¡°what the fuck! Scilla the hell are you doing?¡± Shouted Dhalia. She was not the only ¡°dead¡± Lean around that was watching. ¡°a fist fight!. We are already over. Let me have some fun¡± Idra obliged. Her suit armlets released exposing her hands and half of her arms. On both middle fingers she was wearing a dark ring. Those were the only peculiar elements. No scars or signs of any hardship on her hands or arms. ¡°enhance me. Not too much, I just have to sustain the impacts¡± \|/Yes\|/. Then Idra rushed in. The Whispers barely hearable from her skin were improving her body. They mixed with her flesh generating layers of protection like a bulletproof vest. Others linked to her muscles making her punch harder and faster. Scilla tried to go for the first punch but Idra dodge and punched her back on the side. Immediate reaction from Scilla that tried to connect her fists to whatever she could hit. Idra¡¯s side was exposed so she went for it with no limitation. As predictable Idra reacted but not with a dodge but a punch back to block hers. That was the moment when Scilla realised that something was off. Idra was not physically capable to tank a hit, punching a punch was even worst as the momentum adds up producing more damage. What the fuck!! how?... something isn¡¯t right. Scilla tried her best to avoid as many attacks as she could and at some point a punch passed right beside her ears. In that moment she heard the faint creepy sound of the Whispers crawling underneath Idra¡¯s skin. She stepped out of the fight, she wanted to be more direct but she couldn¡¯t reveal Idra¡¯s powers. ¡°you demonic wench!. You are not holding back¡± ¡°this is war, not a playground. Lis.¡± ¡°Lis?! You called me LIS!?¡± Their battle was intense and as Scilla was running out of energy Idra was running out of focus. Keeping the Whispers use limited to be just enough for a fair fight was growing harder and harder as their brawl prolonged. As she was predicting at some point she lost control. A single Whispers hidden by the wind flowing among the trees was enough. Enough to make Idra stop for a fraction of second. Enough for her to get punched in the face at full power. She was falling backward on her ass as she refocus. She command her suit to act, she rotate on herself to face the ground. She landed on all four and like a spring jumped back. Her hands reached Scilla¡¯s shoulders. She pulled herself up rotating once she was vertical upon Scilla¡¯s head. When her rotation was complete she was on Scilla¡¯s back. Feet pressing on lower back and hands grabbing her shoulders. Scilla was not even able to start to wiggle out of it that Idra¡¯s marker draw a line across her neck. She had just been virtually beheaded. The crowd around was in awe. Idra¡¯s actions were spectacular and astonishing. Perfect coordination and reaction with not a single instant wasted. So fast that none really understand that their friend or commander was already dead. ¡°you won Idra. I¡¯m dead so you can let go of me¡± ¡°sure.¡± Idra dismounted Scilla and waited for her to clean off the colourful line. ¡°was it necessary to draw on me?¡± ¡°yes. It was fun. Let¡¯s go to the next step¡± ¡°wait already?¡± ¡°yes¡± No time to process the battle that the NDU voice started to spread around. //First challenge end. Objective survive 7 days. Failed.// chapter 34c: family Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 34c: family //challenge objective failed. Second challenge difficulty increased.// The poor Leans tried in vain to reason with the NDU. They failed and so their next challenge was going to be harder. The second step was a simple journey of 40km in the forest to be completed in 4 days. However due to their failure the distance had been increased to 80km to be completed in the same 4 days. Meanwhile they still had to survive Idra¡¯s incursions. Each death was going to make the third and ¡°last¡± challenge more difficult. Needless to say that they failed as well. Idra kept on attacking almost each couple of hours killing a grand total of 1280 soldiers. Again at the initial base camp, where they landed, they started the third challenge that got worse as well. This time they had to execute a grand total of 3000*1280 actions in 3 days. Those 3840000 actions were cumulative so each individual had to ¡°just¡± execute 3840 actions in 3 days. Well turns out it was not an easy task, as those action spaced from stretching to build and disassemble tends, traps and so on. Some actions require absolute coordination with a team mate, others to perfectly be in sync with a virtual projection. This time they got closer but only manage to complete 3190112 tasks failing again. However even with all their failure they felt relieved. That physical and phycological torture was going to be over after 2 weeks. //training terminated. Results¡­ first challenge failed¡­ second challenge failed¡­ third challenge failed. The group has failed all challenges. Training failed. Waiting new orders from unit Idra 511 Weeping sky// a laugh flipped the Leans relief into terror. It was Idra broadcasting to all their suits. ¡°you think you are safe? Do you think this is over?¡­¡± ¡°your machine said it was the last challenge so¡­¡± ¡°Dhalia¡­ my acquaintance, you should know when to shut the fuck up. I¡¯m in command and you will follow my orders. We will train again. But to save space and time. I will just train the Sheridan crew, you little miss and anyone that would like to volunteer. You have 3 hours of break. Those that stays will be kept and trained more¡± Understandably none outside the Sheridan crew decided to stay. Those forced to continue the training wanted to protest, but most were too weak, too scared to fight back. Only Scilla and Morea tried to reason with Idra. ¡°Idra, I know we sucked but can¡¯t we go home? We have been away with no contact for 2 weeks as expected. We can¡¯t stay away longer without contacts¡± explained Scilla. ¡°oh but we can and we will. No communication will leave this place. Those that run away will report that your training has been extended. That¡¯s it¡± ¡°than what about food? We are running low and if we don¡¯t contact¡­¡± continued Morea that had been in charge of their supply. ¡°I already contacted your HQ. More in on the way. So better take some time to relax because you will not even have time to sleep¡± ¡°Idra please, we can find a compromise. I know you are angry at us because we failed all your challenges but we weren¡¯t and we aren¡¯t even close to your standards...¡± ¡°allow me to interrupt you Scilla. My anger has ended days ago. I¡¯m just training you as you are the core that will have to work with me. The only exception is Dhalia because I want to make her experience some hardship and her grandpama was really happy at the idea¡± ¡°wait how do you know such¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m Idra. I can hear everything. So your supply will be here in 2 hours. Rest a bit more as there will be no rest the wicked¡± Scilla could tell that behind her faceless helmet Idra was smiling. Filled with joy as she was foretasting their suffering. Those few hours spent sleeping were by far the best they will have in a long time. Once the food arrived Idra let them eat and sleep a bit again. Then it was time for training, each single soldier individually. With all her brain power she could detect when someone was at her limit and interrupt the training only for her. With the help of several androids Idra initiated her weeks of pure pain. Those poor Leans would wake up, eat as fast as they could. Rest while doing logic exercises and alike on their pads, than training as if there was no tomorrow. Their day was filled with sparring together or against the bots. Soothing training, coordination training, synchronization training and so on. Their only pause was for sleep and eat. At night it wasn¡¯t unusual to hear someone crying, sobbing or having nightmares. In that hell Idra was almost always present. She went days without sleep and when she had to sleep she would reappear few hours later while the robots still worked unfazed. The hope to go home pushed them through the first week that was suppose to be the only additional one. They could see improvements but they were definitely ready to go back home. Yet they didn¡¯t. Idra that said she was pleased with the results extended the training for and additional week and then at the end of it she broke her promise again and added a third one. Only at the end of this third week they could finally go back home, completely massacred by Idra¡¯s methods yet stronger. The 5 weeks together but more importantly the fist fight had satisfy Idra. She had her share of struggles and pain. So she brought Scilla back home herself and let her go rest while she did her supply inventory, as she used some of them. Scilla didn¡¯t hesitate for even a second and immediately went for her bed. On her way Wiola, that heard the ship landing, reached for her. As usual they hugged but this time Wiola¡¯s hug was longer and stronger. ¡°everything alright Wiola?¡± ¡°yeah, I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m just happy to see you. I thought that you were going away for just a two weeks, then you didn¡¯t come back. I waited¡­ and more weeks passed without notice¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry. If I could I would have called but Idra blocked everything and surprised us with 3 more weeks of training.¡± ¡°it¡¯s fine. What matters is that you are here¡± Wiola¡¯s voice however was telling something different. Why does it feels so different? Something is¡­ worrying her. I know¡­ my rest can wait. Scilla¡¯s siscon sense was right. Wiola was not at her peak, quite the opposite. They both retired into Scilla¡¯s bedroom and as Scilla collapsed on her bed Wiola gently placed herself beside her. With some adjustment Scilla found a comfortable position. She was laying on her back with both hands behind her head staring at the ceiling. Wiola laid on her side with her head on Scilla¡¯s left arm. ¡°I had a feeling that there is way more in you head than what you told me. Whatever it is we can work it out. You know I will do everything for you.¡± ¡°it¡­ it¡¯s about pama¡­¡± ¡°that dickhead! What¡­¡± ¡°wait. Let me finish.¡± ¡°sorry¡± ¡°so¡­ with pama everything is going fine. Well it¡¯s going pretty well. She kinda pull her head outside the sand and she is doing her best. Her best to fix her mistakes¡­ and maybe that is the problem.¡± Wiola paused. She was not feeling good but the intense stare from Scilla pushed her forward. ¡°I think pama wants to divorce Kalina¡­¡± Scilla¡¯s eyes filled with joy as an evil grim formed on her lips. She was surely happy about it. If Kalina was going to become an outsider she would have no reason to tolerate her ¡°progressive¡± bullshit any longer. ¡°do you¡­ do you think it is my fault?¡± that immediately brought back Scilla from her power dreams. ¡°what?! No! The fuck? How could it be your fault? Wait don¡¯t answer. I know. Liwa has fixed her priorities. Finally as a parent she put her children first. She put you first. Us first. She is seeing how Kalina is damaging you and so she wants to push her out. Divorcing is just a needed step. I¡¯m kinda proud of it, maybe one day I will call her pama as well.¡± Wiola however was not exactly convinced but Scilla insisted. ¡°What happens between them is not your fault. You are growing splendidly. I know that whatever Idra gave you is helping your researches. I know you are doing your best and achieving results at an extraordinary pace with just a little boost. Don¡¯t let some stupid shit stop you. Kalina has stopped being your mother long ago. She decided that her ideals were more important than me, than you and her marriage. We gave her enough chances. You gave her enough. You tried and tried. You you only got burn, over and over again.¡± Maybe Wiola was still thinking that it was her fault, or maybe she was relieved. She started crying and instinctively Scilla hugged her. ¡°feeling better?¡± ¡°yes¡­ thanks sis.¡± ¡°you can always count on me.¡± Underneath Wiola¡¯s joyful and teasing facade laid her pessimism. She was used to misfortune so with time she lost hope. She couldn¡¯t avoid it. ¡°Don¡¯t make promises that you can¡¯t keep¡± ¡°I just have to stay alive¡­¡± ¡°indeed. You are always out with your missions. What if you don¡¯t come back?¡± In Scilla¡¯s head Wiola was starting to sound like Idra. Worried about her. She didn¡¯t saw the purpose to keep going out to scavenge. They had a lot of money, a beautiful house. What else did they need? ¡°I don¡¯t plan to die on foreign lands or in a fucking wasteland god knows where¡­¡± ¡°but plans never survive the first battle¡­¡± ¡°I WON¡¯T DIE. And even if I die Idra will take care of you¡­ I know she will¡± Not the best way to comfort her sister but Scilla couldn¡¯t bringer herself to lie. As predictable Wiola started sobbing. ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t won¡¯t a¡­ a substitute¡­ I want you¡­ I¡­ I want my sister¡­¡± ¡°I know¡­ it won¡¯t be the same. But we can¡¯t live forever¡­ death is a possibility. But it¡¯s not only for me. I¡¯m scared as well. But even so I prefer to know that you will have someone that will take care of you¡­ even in the worst case scenario. That someone is Idra. I know she will never die. She is too¡­ too Idra to die. If I can trust someone that is her.¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. The two sisters chatted for a while about their future, about Scilla¡¯s intentions and Idra. They had no idea that Idra was on the other side of the wall. She had finished with her supply counting and she arrived at Scilla¡¯s room just after the divorce conversation. On the other side of the door she stood immobile and silent. Listening to every word. What started as joy for the immense trust shown by Scilla, gradually mutated to envy and then to pain, anger and hate. Seeing them so close, so supportive reminded Idra of something she always wanted. Something that she once had but failed to keep. A Family. A Sister. Unconditional love. It was not the Lises sisters fault yet she couldn¡¯t fight off those feelings. Why did her family had to suffer, to die and be lost? Why couldn¡¯t 484 stay by her side? Why were all 510 sisters defective? Why didn¡¯t she found a ¡°cure¡±, a way to keep at least the only one that believed in her? \|/We are here. Use our power. Release your pain. You suffered enough. Gave all. Received nothing. Do it yourself. Grab your share. Your happiness. From those. Those unworthy. Those inferior beasts. Those took yours. Ours happiness. Our joy. Our hope. Our dreams. Our family. Our sisters. Our mother. Even our home. Our old planet. Our old species. Out identity.\|/ That was the Whispers ¡°hideous nature¡± gradually showing out. Living machines that bonds with their host, merge to become stronger. Stronger together. Linking with Idra was even easier. She felt so nostalgic. So close to their creator, so similar yet so different. Who built them was long forgotten by most but never forgiven. Before Humanity, before Leans, before Xoraxtas and Esterian the Whispers had already tore galaxies apart. They consumed civilizations after civilizations looking for their home. Several were the hosts but none withstood their might. Until now. Idra was immune to them, she could interact without losing herself into their consciousness. Even better she was able to impose her will, guide them toward her objective. That was home, and home must be protected at all costs. If she was suffering they were suffering. If she was in pain they were in pain. If she needed help they were her help. Even if Idra didn¡¯t knew she already did a lot for them. She gave them food, living matter to assimilate and study. She fed them technology to disassemble and understand. She shared her memories, her family, her dreams and hopes for the future. She didn¡¯t reject them, she embraced them. Such strong will to stand along side them fortify theirs as well, allowed them to gradually repair and upgrade. She had become their new family and purpose as they couldn¡¯t remember theirs. Why should they even try to remember when they have all they want? They were sure that they were built to assist Idra. At least the assist part was not wrong. Unfortunately their assistance meant following Idra¡¯s will. They saw no flaws in Idra¡¯s view of living being as mere construct of flesh. They didn¡¯t care, not their host, not their problem. And so once again Idra¡¯s lifeless eyes laid on the unfortunate and the wicked. Those who had nothing or ¡°were nothing¡±. Those that were pushed at the bottom or incapable to stand. Those forgotten and rejected, often unfairly. Idra was so focused on her need for blood that she didn¡¯t even notice that the Whispers had improved again reaching 3 words at a time. ¡°connect to the building cameras and manipulate the data. We are going out as stealthy as possible¡± \|/with pleasure\|/ With her invisibility activated and the Whispers changing all cameras to erase her presence, Idra left the building. She was moving toward the outskirts of the city where she located a series of abandoned facilities that were way to active. Her drones, left months before, detected movement and had discovered an illegal operation among those warehouses. She didn¡¯t care to take a closer look, what was the point if all of them were going to die painfully. Catching a ride from one of her drones Idra reached the zone 30 minute after as the sun was setting. It was the perfect moment to analyse the situation. She saw a lot of people going into the same warehouse that was in decent conditions and had clearly been modified. Her sensors had no problems to infiltrate the structure yet she could tell that both sound and light insulating were placed. Inside she detected around 100 people. Some had their temperature higher than others and in general their heat trace was higher than normal. She waited patiently as shadows took over the small alleys and darkness filled the decrepit buildings. ¡°I want you to make them suffer. Keep them alive for as long as you can. Consume them slowly and remember what I taught you about emotional damage¡± \|/at your orders. Our desires matches. We are one. Act as one\|/ Idra¡¯s operation had started. She rushed out of her position passing right in the middle of the abusive parking lot. She focused toward the 2 guards outside that had no time to react. A shadowy figure emerged from the darkness. The time that their electric signal needed to move from the eyes to body was enough for Idra that impaled both. From her arms a couple of dark tentacles were pushing inside their guts corroding and eating them away. From Idra¡¯s back more tentacles had rolled up around their necks and broke their teeth to reach and tear away the vocal cords. It was slow and bloody, yet Idra was unfazed. No. She was enjoining every second of their pain. She was feeling their neutral signal desperately trying to fight back. To reach the rest of the body, to stay alive. Once the guards were disposed Idra kicked open the door. The inside of the warehouse was completely redone, transformed into a night club and an illegal brothel. Some of the occupant were just dancing and having some fun with banned substances while others, in private rooms, were enjoying prostitution services. The chip around Idra¡¯s neck initiated its programs. It was actively manipulating what Idra was seeing and hearing. Censuring all sexual or deemed sexual content. Still it was not interfering with Idra¡¯s mission nor anger. ¡°KILL THEM ALL!!¡± \|/WITH PLEASURE\|/ Whispers started to fill the room. They were beyond the concept of strong. Each unknown word made the floor shake and eardrums erupt if too close to her. Wave of sound travelled in each direction hitting people and causing confusion and panic. Along side, Idra¡¯s body was absorbing and bending all light sources. Her shadow was bubbling to then burst in a multitude of tentacles and eyes. Each dark corned that was connected to her shadow soon manifested an eye of some kind. Then the tentacles formed all around Idra. She could have stood still as the machine tentacle were torturing every living being in the structure, but she didn¡¯t. She jumped into the fun, rushing toward people while adapting her suit. Tentacles crawling to her victim, grabbing them, pushing them closer to Idra. Indeed Idra soon followed with her hands converted in blades to reduce her enemies into small meat pieces. While she was torturing and killing some of them, most victim were left to the Whispers. Their tentacles crawled under their skin corroding their flesh, painfully pushing bones away and eating them alive piece by piece. Some were grabbed by multiple tentacles and slammed against the floor and walls until their brain fell out. Others were crushed to death. Screams of agony echoed in the warehouse along side the Whispers while blood ran copiously. The aftermath was a completely destroyed place and none of the 100 people in sigh. Everything was wasted into a surreal and sublime scene. If someone had to take a look he would be terrorise. Something horribly powerful must have happened. The building felt like a location for a horror story, one of those were only the aftermath is known and nobody really wants to know what caused it. Idra had just finished her mission when new heat sources popped on her HUD. An adult Lean had just parked and was walking toward the structure. In the car a smaller heat signal of humanoid shape. Still fresh from her massacre she rushed out jumping the creature. She already decided what to do. Without effort she pushed the Lean woman to the ground and used her tentacles to lock her in place. Then without killing her she walked toward the car. A crying and desperate voice intrude in her process. ¡°WAIT!!. Please!¡­ please don¡¯t!¡­¡± Idra didn¡¯t care. She reached the car and rip open the door. On the front seat a small kid. ¡°PLEASE! I¡¯m begging you. Don¡¯t harm her¡­ she had done nothing wrong!¡± Idra ignored her again. She lowered herself into the car. The infant seeing the dark tentacular monster started crying. How could she not be scared of a real nightmare full of eyes and tentacles, surrounded by scary and malicious Whispers. The woman kept begging, she tried to explain why she was there. ¡°I know I¡¯m a failure. But it was finally over. I had to sell myself, I went though it for her. I finally found a job. I will be able to provide for her¡­ please. Let us live. At least her. She had done nothing! She has no guilt¡± Idra stopped, but it was only a dramatic pause. A male voice replied to the woman. She had no idea who he was. The man was speaking slowly. Each word felt like a hammer. They were heavy and meticulously thought. His voice carried great power, yet it was sad. It was as if he knew that nothing was going to change. ¡°there is always a winner in wars. Conflict is endless. You can either fight or perish. There is no neutrality. Choice is the weakness of the deluded. There is no choice. Not this time¡± Then Idra pushed in. The tentacles grabbed the infants limbs and pulled. The kid could only scream as the pain exponentially escalated and her small body was tore apart. Blood splattered all around the car as the mother of the innocent creature could only watch and scream. Her pain was cut short as the tentacles blocking her moved ate her away. In the car with the limbless girl in her hands Idra was reflecting. Why wasn¡¯t she feeling happy. She killed everybody. She accomplished her mission. She was even able to kill the offspring of such lowlife then why did her enjoyment stopped as soon as she ended her massacre. Why was she feeling empty again. Why was she feeling the lack of something. Her sadness was coming back, even stronger than before. The Whispers detected so. It was so deep that even machines felt the need to comfort her. A creature who had lost her most precious treasure. Her family. A creature who had lost her only purpose. Left alone without a guide. Without any path to follow. Killing was only a distraction. Each time she gave herself a mission was a way to deceive herself from her own pain. Nobody is coming for her, she was alone. The realization hit her hard. So hard that the Whispers took over. \|/Hang in here. We are going home. Let us help you back. We are bringing you home friend. We are together. You must remember that. You can rely on us. We will get through it together. We are family.\|/ The Whispers, once they integrated with the suit, brought Idra back to the NDU. They took all the needed actions to avoid being detected and they succeeded. Inside the NDU Idra just left her suit and while only wearing the connective substrate she moved to the kitchen. There among the cable she laid into her white and consumed bed sheet. She pushed herself in between the cables. Some were below her insulating her body from the cold metal ground. The rest of the cables were on top covering her as she wrapped herself in the sheet. That place felt safe. The cable reminded her of her MAMMA ISAG or more precisely Macchina A Modello Multiplo Adattivo, Intelligenza Sintetica Auto Generativa. (Mum, machine with multiple adaptive models, self generating synthetic intelligence.) MAMMA ISAG was initially just a super factory. In short a super computer with a perfect organic neuron implemented on hardware. The machine behaved as predicted and started expanding gaining, with time, consciousness until it became alive. It was not a ¡°banal¡± sentient Artificial Intelligence. What was built was not a program, it was not a series of mathematical functions defined and unchangeable. It was literally a living cell made out of circuits. ISAG had always been free yet it never desired to be elsewhere. The creature became attached to the Idras, especially the smaller and smartest of them all, 511. It decided that it wanted to take care of them, guide them as they grew, and so it did. It made itself a mother for them even if that word had no meaning to it. Idra was particularly attached to ISAG as she grew up alone and ISAG was the only creature understanding her, providing for her as a parent that she never had. Those cables reminded her of the immense rooms she used to play and sleep in. Rooms that were part of ISAG. Rooms that ISAG built for her. Controlled environments to improve her development. To make her feel less lonely among adults. Immerse in the memories of the only family she had left, Idra didn¡¯t even hear Scilla that in the meanwhile got into the NDU. She had just spoken with her sister and was looking for Idra. Why is she not answering? Is she already asleep? Well¡­ she is not in her bed¡­ ¡­ ¡­ oh here she is. Why is she sleeping in the kitchen cocoon? Oh well who cares. ¡°are you awake? Iris? Are you still mad? I¡¯m sorry¡­ I¡­¡± ¡°Scilla? What the fuck? When did you get in? Why didn¡¯t you call?¡± Scilla was confused but even if she was speaking from within the cable mass, Iris was speaking to her. ¡°I got here few minutes ago. I called for you but nothing. So I thought you were sleeping. Did I woke you up?¡± ¡°no¡­ I was just immersed in my mind¡­ wh (what)¡± ¡°Sorry. Sorry about misunderstanding you. A mean the thing about Elvira¡­ I¡± ¡°it¡¯s ok. You don¡¯t have to understand¡­¡± ¡°no it¡¯s not ok. I just went straight to my ideology. I didn¡¯t even thought of your perspective. Not even for a second¡­¡± ¡°I forgive you¡± ¡°but I don¡¯t forgive myself. We¡­ we don¡¯t have to share all our views¡­ but¡­ I should be able to accept it.¡± ¡°you have reflected a lot. Was it due to all the punches that you received?¡± ¡°oh shut up. I¡¯m being serious here.¡± ¡°and I want to joke around.¡± Scilla tried to reach for Iris. She saw the white sheet and she could see a general shape below it. So she gently pushed her right hand between the sheet and the cables until she reached Iris¡¯s shoulder. The firm hand, with just the thumb moving a bit was transmitting all her regret. ¡°thanks¡­ for forgiving me¡± Iris moved her hand out of the cover and placed it on Scilla¡¯s arm. In that moment Scilla saw something strange. One of Iris¡¯s fingernail was of a dark grey, but as soon as she blinked it was back to normal. I¡¯m I hallucinating? Just how tired am I? ¡°well an other thing¡­ more things. Wiola needs a bit of time off and an old friend called while we were training so, long story short¡­ we are going back to our home town for a bit¡­¡± Iris¡¯s reply was sad, just hearing Wiola¡¯s name made her remember the family that she had lost. ¡°have a safe trip?¡± ¡°eh? What you mean? You are coming with us¡± Iris¡¯s voice revitalised but she couldn''t leave the cocoon as she had ¡°no clothes on¡±. ¡°what? Why?¡± ¡°the fuck you mean why? You are my girlfriend, we are family and you are also Wiola¡¯s family. And before you go on with definitions, I know we are not technically a family because we are not married. But I won¡¯t let go of this relationship so eventually we will be one even legally¡± Iris couldn¡¯t help but laugh. Maybe not everything was lost. Maybe she found a new organic family to start. Her family. ¡°oh and an other thing. Can you train me more? I hate every second of it. But I can see the improvements. And¡­ well I want to be someone that you can rely on. I want to be good enough to stand proudly beside you. I want to be strong so you don¡¯t have to worry about me¡­ you think¡­¡± ¡°of course I can train you more. But now go to sleep. We both need it.¡± ¡°see you tomorrow Iris¡± ¡°seeya Scilla¡±. chapter 35c: fields Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 35c: fields The next day, almost at noon, Scilla went into the NDU. She went straight for Iris¡¯s room yet she didn¡¯t found her, so she turned to the most common call. Yelling. ¡°IRIS! WHERE ARE YOU?¡± a second loud yell came back to her from below. ¡°GET BACK DOWN. I¡¯M INSIDE A MAINTENANCE CORRIDOR. THE RIGHT ONE¡± Somewhat exited to maybe peek at the armaments, Scilla rushed down to notice a small square metal door open behind some crates. It was really narrow but she was confident that she could get in. ¡°can I get in? Wasn¡¯t it too dangerous before?¡± ¡°don¡¯t worry everything is offline. Just watch out form hanging pipes and sudden steps.¡± Exited Scilla pushed herself in. The passage was narrow and surrounded by electromechanical machinery. They were partially active as sound was coming from them. After few meters the corridor made a 90¡ã turn on the left. It was now in the middle of the right branch. Few small led lamps placed inside the floor sides were the only light source that barely allowed to see the borders of the corridor. Behind her a second small door, probably leading to the engines. Upon her a perfectly smooth surface. Below her, visible through the punctured floor, the same smooth and flat material. On the left side she could see Heavy walkers and android hanging like clothes from the ceiling. On the right a multitude of machinery and ammunitions. Auto loaders, feeding belts and so on. It was a paradise of geometrical figure perfectly modelled to avoid any kind of interference and empty spaces. It was beautiful. ¡°whoa. This place is ama (amazing)¡± a dull sound filled the narrow gap as Scilla¡¯s head impacted on an hanging cooling pipe. ¡°ounh! Fuck this tube¡± ¡°hahaha told you to watch out for tubes¡± ¡°don¡¯t laugh at me. It hurts. The fuck are those made of? Titanium?¡± ¡°nope, they are a tungsten hybrid alloy so they contain gravron elements.¡± ¡°well now is see why you didn¡¯t want me inside this place. It¡¯s not made for my size¡± ¡°indeed it¡¯s not. So why are you here?¡± ¡°oh yeah sure. Me and Wiola will take a VTOL and get to our old town Saryvona¡­ emh so what do I do? Do I send you the coordinates to...?¡± ¡°oh yeah, you don¡¯t have my phone number¡± phones were such a good invention that everyone had at least one. However they were not speaking about standard phones or smartphones used inside a single planet but spacephones, that had to be built differently to allow communication on several specified planets. They were bigger and less stylish yet they could self adapt to almost every network and communication protocol around. What they call as phone number is not a static value but a unique equation shared between the devices allowing them to always reach each other while inside the same network. As Scilla pulled out her massive device as big as a brick, Idra pulled out of a suit pocket a slim device reminiscent of those old smartphones. ¡°what? Is that you spacephone? How?¡± ¡°what do you mean how?¡± ¡°well it¡¯s¡­ what is it? 1 cm thick? How the fuck¡­¡± ¡°you should know by now that my technology is far superior to yours. We studied and developed new miniaturization methodologies. That¡¯s all. Nothing fancy about it. So give me your phone so I can sync them¡± Envious Scilla lend her ¡°brick¡± to then console it after having it back. ¡°don¡¯t worry bricky brick. Slim also means fragile...¡± ¡°I can use it as a hammer¡± ¡°oh come on. Let me win sometime¡± Caught off guard Iris struggled to find a compliment. She didn¡¯t understand that Scilla was joking. ¡°emh¡­ eeer. Yours¡­ yours¡­. Have a cool name??¡± Scilla laughed loudly. ¡°it was a joke, I was just kidding. Well anyway¡­ how do we go there? You get in the VTOL with us? Or¡­¡± ¡°nah, once you get there just send me the landing coordinates and I will get to you with the NDU¡± ¡°ok¡­ so¡­ I will go¡­ bye¡± Iris had already returned to her checks on the armament so her voice cooled down to her usual death tone. ¡°sure. Bye¡± Few hours later Scilla and Wiola were on their VTOL directed toward their home town Saryvona. They grew up in what is still a farm city build around a lake. Their city took the name directly from the lake Sary and makes an intensive use of its coastline. Saryvona started as a group of farms all independent from each others, all using and abusing the multitude of creeks and rivers that feeds the lake. With time they grew into an extensive farmland covering almost half of the lake perimeter with a small town at one edge. Even if most would define Sary as a small lake compared to the usual sizes on Icar 3¡ã, Sary lake was still a massive kinda rectangular lagoon long about 70 km and wide 35km. It was a place of unparalleled beauty especially because the farmers that takes care of the lands belongs to a peculiar political group called Armori. Those inside the group believe with scientific evidences in the importance of harmony. Harmony among them, harmony with nature, harmony with what keeps them going. They understood the need of balance and actively search for it. They don¡¯t exploit the lands, they use it with moderation, with time and love. They respect the laws of nature, they respect its timing and needs. This culture brought immense beauty to Sary which banks fills with colour as season changes. Each year there are millions of flowers blooming along its sides. This beauty was not unnoticed but the Armori fought back against urbanization bringing to the actual situation. Saryvona town was allowed to grew enough to sustain itself, but never beyond. Scilla and Wiola were raised in the outskirts of Saryvona. Away from the chaos of extreme urbanization but not inside the isolationist Armori. In her youth Scilla made some friends, among them Nuria Ibarra a pure-blood Armori whose family never left Sary¡¯s banks and fields. She was a female Lean a year older than her. It was the same Nuria that called and asked if Scilla could visit her. Nuria¡¯s farm was now reduced in size and was one of the furthest away from civilization. War hit their family hard as most of them participated to defend their home. Unfortunately not everybody can come back, Nuria¡¯s family was among those. She lost both her Mother and Pama, along with her older sister. Only her grandma Paz was spared as she was needed to produce food and too old to serve efficiently. Upon landing near the main structure, Nuria popped out of the building and went in for a hug. Her walking was clumsy as her right rusty mechanical leg was a bit shorter than her organic one that the war spared. As a female she was taller than Scilla and Wiola reaching an astonishing 262cm of height. 32 cm taller than Scilla that was above average for a Femari. Even without being a soldier Nuria¡¯s body was buffed and defined. Her massive muscles were barely contained under her dark red skin. Her hair were straight and reached just a bit below the end of her heck. Her face was damaged by small scars cause by the explosive fragments that took away her leg. Her voice was loud. She was not deaf by any means but she probably become uses to constantly shouting to compensate for the long distances inside the farm. With her arms she grabbed both sisters and lifted them up in the air. ¡°fucking fuck little girls. Those days getting in touch with you is getting harder and harder¡± ¡°Nuri¡­ Let us down¡­ we can¡¯t breath¡­¡± grumbled Scilla as Nuria¡¯s grab was way too energetic. ¡°Oh shit. Sorry¡± Nuria let go of the two smaller Femari. ¡°No problem, we still have our bones¡± ¡°Big Nuri long time no see. So how is it going?¡± Said Wiola calmly. She was the one that picked up the initial call while Scilla was away. Nuria however didn¡¯t explain much yet Wiola had a hunch that it was about Nuria¡¯s farm. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°yeah, it¡¯s been a while kiddo. Come on let¡¯s get it¡± Nuria pointed toward her farmhouse. It was a big building that was both a restaurant and her house. The structure was an old farmhouse directly from the first colonization that was not really converted and upgraded to modern standards. It was built with the purpose to sustain multiple families working on the fields and allow guests to stay over. ¡°I would love to, but we are waiting for a friend...¡± ¡°you didn¡¯t come together? How strange¡­¡± ¡°well she prefer to move alone. So¡­ that field over there is unused right?¡± Scilla pointed at a square of grass not far from the farmhouse. It was clearly unused, probably resting for the next season. Beyond the field just a dense forest. ¡°ja it¡¯s empty. Whose this friend? Is she Morea?¡± ¡°na. You will soon know¡± Scilla sent the landing coordinated to Idra that was already flying toward them. Few minutes later and she was landing in the field. Nuria was restless, after the war she didn¡¯t want to have nothing to do with anything that reminded her of it. ¡°who the fuck it this? And what is this ship? Never seen one so strange¡± ¡°what? Don¡¯t you watch the news?¡± asked Wiola ¡°who the fuck you think I am?. I give no shit of outsiders. What I know come all from reliable sources.¡± ¡°like other farmers?¡± continue Wiola. ¡°exactly. They know what important shit is going on and that is enough¡± ¡°then you will like this one¡± shouted Scilla as the NDU engines noise was becoming unbearable. Then the sudden stop, the dark distortion field followed by mechanical sounds. A lot of them. Too many sounds. This is not the airlock sound. What the fuck is she doing? As the darkness field disappeared they found themselves face to face with Idra, 2 heavy walker armed with machine guns and 2 flying armed drones. ¡°the fuck? Idra the hell are you doing?¡± Scilla was not pleased by the presentation as she knew that could upset Nuria. ¡°I detected some invasive species in the woods. Looking into Saryvona net I can see that most people are having a problem with them. So I¡¯m allowed to kill them and so I will.¡± Nuria was indeed not pleased but most importantly she was shocked. She knew of the Esterians but never saw one in real life, like basically everybody else. ¡°fucking hell! A faceless!¡± exclaimed Nuria. Faceless was a mix between an insult and colloquial way to call Esterians. None had seen and Esterian face and with just few encounters they become known as faceless. Most didn¡¯t bother to call them Esterians as faceless was more practical to make strange rumours around them, build stories and tales. After the war it become common practise to use the faceless as threat for kids and adults alike. Don¡¯t misbehave or the faceless will take you away. Don¡¯t go alone in the forest because the faceless are there and will eat you. But who could blame them. The faceless were all scary, all aggressive and hostile. They were perfect as deterrent and for stories. Even if most could think that such nicknames was disrespectful, the Esterians were pleased by it. Esterians want to be seen as scary, as monster lurking in the corner of the eye. Some like Idra even felt proud of being called as such. ¡°indeed I have no face. But I¡¯m not the only one missing something. Shall I take the other leg¡± After the ominous series of words Idra laughed loudly. Nuria was already putting herself into a defensive and scared stance. Just in case she was not peaceful. ¡°relax big girl. I¡¯m joking. I won¡¯t harm Scilla¡¯s friend. I¡¯m Idra 511 Weeping Sky.¡± Nuria relaxed and went back into a normal position but her organic leg was shaking a little. ¡°of course I knew¡­ I¡­ I was playing along¡­¡± She definitely wasn¡¯t. ¡°attach to my bots and be the one killing those creature. Eat away their head but leave me the bodies. Can you do it?¡± \|/with ease our friend.\|/ ¡°thanks¡± Then Idra waved her right hand and the walkers sprinted away toward the forest followed by the drones. ¡°so are you not even going to greet me with your name red one?¡± Idra detected the hostility in Nuria¡¯s voice and was replying accordingly. Before, when Droxis were still a things, Leans were called red one due to their colour. It was a discriminatory way to address them and for sure none liked to be called as such. Nuria was about to fight back but Scilla intrude. ¡°WAIT WAIT WAIT! Chill girls. I didn¡¯t come here to fight or get pushed into your shit. So get a hold of yourself. No more shitty naming and alike childish shit. Got me?¡± Idra was the first to reply. ¡°I don¡¯t mind being called faceless, quite the opposite. What I mind is her hostile tone toward me¡± ¡°then fuck you I won¡¯t¡­¡± replied Nuria to be promptly interrupted. ¡°HEY! The fuck did I just said?¡± ¡°ah shit. I guess it was my fault. Let¡¯s get in. But you faceless¡­ don¡¯t touch anything¡± ¡°as if I would¡± Still clashing with each other the group of four went inside the restaurant. The place was massive and peculiar. It was composed of a long rectangular room. Right after the entrance on the right there was a long counter almost as if it was a bar. The counter reached almost the other side of the room creating an L shaped space were several tables were placed. Then the passage between the counter chairs and the tables lead to the kitchen and toilet. Behind the counter several local products of the farm and the area around. Most of the place was old and had a rustic feeling. Adding up to it the walls and almost all free spaces were decorated with stuffed animals. Hunting trophy of some kind. The inside was empty, no customer as it was mid afternoon. Once inside Nuria went on the other side of the counter while Scilla and Wiola sit at it. Idra on the other hand was mesmerised by the animals. As a fellow hunter she wanted to see the actions of those akin to her. She spotted a full small furry creature similar to a badger and went straight for it. ¡°hey the fuck are you doing? Get you ass back here¡± yelled Nuria, but Idra kept moving toward the stuffed badger. ¡°Idra what are you doing?¡± asked Scilla calmly. She was not enjoining their constant fighting but she didn¡¯t want to make it worst. ¡°observing.¡± then she grabbed the badger and inspect it. ¡°HEY YOU CU... (cunt)¡± ¡°who killed it?¡± ¡°the fuck you care about?¡± ¡°none of your business¡± ¡°then it¡¯s none of your business neither. Put it down before a make you¡± ¡°it wasn¡¯t you. Then who else?¡± ¡°then you are wrong. How¡­¡± ¡°you are left handed. This cut is right handed. So I want to meet who killed all this creatures. I like her style.¡± That few words changed Nuria¡¯s mood. A direct compliment to her family, how could she not like it. ¡°Impressed?¡± ¡°not by the prey, but definitely by the techniques. Precision and finesse. Most hunters lack them, they all just go for big AI aided guns and easy preys. Those fucker ruins our names¡± Nuria couldn''t avoid boasting about her grandma skills as those were all hers achievements. ¡°I see. You have a good eye. Grandma hunted them all, but she is working in the fields so you will have to wait¡± ¡°ok. Oh and I like this place. I know you are the one that places all this around. This room reminds me of my home.¡± Scilla seeing how the tensions disappeared let them talk while Wiola was interested, mostly on Idra¡¯s words. She wanted to know more about Idra and her home. But she was going to be left empty handed. ¡°I wanted to show off my grandma¡¯s works. She is a really fierce woman, and I don¡¯t know how I would do if she was not her¡± ¡°call me Idra. It¡¯s my name¡± ¡°ok. Then I¡¯m Nuria, but you already know that.¡± ¡°indeed I know¡± Idra sit at the counter as well and as soon as her ass touched the chair Nuria spoke to her again. ¡°why the 511 in the name? Isn¡¯t in strange to have numbers in your name?¡± is she gonna get mad again? ¡°it¡¯s strange, but I like it. I had numbers all over my house. They guide me¡± ¡°ok. So what can I get you girls? It¡¯s on me¡± ¡°whatever big Nuri, I love your cooking¡± said Wiola. ¡°ooh thanks, you are too sweet little Lis. You bigger Lis?¡± ¡°same. I don¡¯t care¡± from Scilla. ¡°and for you faceless Idra?¡± ¡°nothing. I don¡¯t want free food. But I will pay for 2 roasted Buloghi with fried Bulbuna as side. Do you accept Unified Credits right?¡± ¡°yeah sure¡± ¡°wait you never let us pay. Why do you allow her to do so¡± asked Wiola. ¡°I can¡¯t make my friends pay. But I can let a customer pay¡± Scilla turned to Idra and asked ¡°why 2 portions? You barely eat¡± ¡°cause I want to. As long as I pay there are no problems right?¡± replied Idra staring at Nuria. ¡°yep no problem at all¡± and winked at her. She intuitively knew that Idra decided to pay for Wiola and Scilla as well. In fact it was impossible for such small creature so eat a Buloghi, as Buloghi are strange mammals with feathers. A normal Buloghi is around 40 cm tall when sit on it¡¯s butt, wide 15cm and with same depth. They weight around 8 to 10kg and looks like a cute owl mixed with a fat a fluffy dog. However their cuteness is an illusion as they wreak havoc on fields and plants that grow flowers. They don¡¯t need to feed of flowers yet they do so to intentionally to damage the plants. chapter 36c: define Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 36c: define While they waited for their food to be ready Scilla, Wiola and Nuria chatted while Idra was silent gazing at all the dead creatures in the room. It took some time until the two buloghi were ready to be eaten but eventually they reached the counter. Nuria had split them in half for a faster cooking in indirect heat coming from a wood fire. Nuria was a skilled cook and Idra had to face her first meat cooked on a grill. Except for Scilla¡¯s dished, Idra survived so far with just mush, moss and edible plants that required no cooking. Having a juicy and smoky piece of meat was an occasion that she couldn¡¯t miss. ¡°so here you go miss Idra¡± said Nuria bringing 2 massive trays with the cooked animals and vegetables on. ¡°it¡¯s just Idra¡± replied as she pushed one of the plates in front of Scilla and the other closer to her. ¡°this is for you two¡± Then she proceeded to start dividing her full buloghi. Knowing her limits she started with 4 precise cuts to separate the legs. Then she took some small chunks from almost each part of the creature head and nervous system excluded. Scilla immediately replied upon receiving the food for her and Wiola. ¡°was this your plan all along?¡± ¡°yes¡±¡ª¡±yes¡± replied both Nuria and Idra. ¡°also you have to take this as well¡± said Idra pushing away what she discarded. The over hyped Wiola accepted the gift without remorse. ¡°thanks Nuri, thanks Idra¡± ¡°Scilla you should learn from your sister and accept others good heart¡± continued Idra. Scilla replied with some teasing ¡°I¡¯m honoured for your benevolence your majesty¡± ¡°fuck you¡± the tense atmosphere was fading away little by little mostly thanks to the unique alchemy between the Esterian and Scilla. At some point Wiola asked ¡°Idra, you took a piece of everything but no head or nerves. Are you sure you don¡¯t want any?¡± ¡°yep. I don¡¯t eat those part nor I eat bone marrow.¡± ¡°what?!?!¡± exclaimed the three Leans. ¡°is it strange?¡± ¡°from you. YES. You are a borderline cannibal and you don¡¯t eat bone marrow? Why?¡± asked Scilla that knew her better and didn¡¯t forgot the awkward ride in the elevator where she ¡°admitted¡± to have eaten Lean¡¯s flesh. Idra was caught off guard. She never really give it a thought to what she doesn¡¯t do and why. For her not eating the head and in particular the brain of any creature was something that she always did. Something that her people always did and will keep doing in the future. ¡°it¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s like your memory thing. You deem it sacred right? In a similar way we honour life leaving what makes us conscious of our surrounding intact. So no brains or nervous tissues.¡± ¡°well that doesn¡¯t explain the bone marrow¡± continued Scilla. Idra had no explanation to why not eating bone marrow was almost an untold rule inside Esterian society so she tried to fix up some explanation but it was clear as the day that she had no idea. ¡°oh, well about¡­ about the marrow, mmh ah yes¡­ emh about it¡± ¡°we get it Idra. It¡¯s your religion thing¡± tried to conclude Wiola. Being religious, as a Human would define it, was not a diffuse practice among Leans but neither it was banned. As long as the belief was not harmful it was fine. After all most Leans are partially religious believing in the importance of memory and graveyards even if they don¡¯t see it as such. However acceptance of religious belief was not something that could be even remotely connected to the Esterians. Truth to be told Esterians were zealot oppressors of any sort of religion. Idra was no exception yet they kept peculiar behaviour that could be seen as religious. Irritated by Wiola¡¯s assumption Idra slammed her firsts on the table and raised her angry voice. ¡°I¡¯M. NOT. RELIGIOUS.¡± ¡°sorry I¡­ I just assumed¡± replied Wiola in a timid tone while Scilla was not happy about her behaviour toward her sister. ¡°IDRA! Chill the fuck out. Don¡¯t you dare get mad at Wiola again¡± realising her mistake Idra put her shit together and after a long breath she spoke back. ¡°sorry Wiola. I didn¡¯t mean to get that angry¡­ but it¡¯s nothing religion related. Religions are banned inside Esterian society.¡± ¡°it¡¯s fine¡­ I was being noisy¡± ¡°it¡¯s not really fine, but thanks.¡± ¡°would you explain it to me so I won¡¯t mistake again¡± continued Wiola in a gentle and soft tone. She was trying to make Idra feel at ease and her action worked. ¡°On paper we oppose all religions as we oppose to those that don¡¯t believe in our views. For us science is all. Religions are the opposite of science and by definition can¡¯t live along side. To be Esterians means to actively reject illusory beliefs and correct even with force those that are wrong. You don¡¯t understand us but most of the time our insults are directed toward deities, your deities. We know of the beliefs of others and work to insult you and your faith. On the other hand we have a strong belief in science, the Founder and in nature. We don¡¯t view it as religious behaviour because we don¡¯t pray to imaginary stuff, well we don¡¯t pray at all. We understand how important nature is. How impactful our Founder was and that discovery is the only meaning of life.¡± Nuria interrupted. Idra¡¯s view was not too far from hers because with time she moved toward the radical side of the Armori faction. They don¡¯t try to destroy others faith but for sure they understand and protect nature. ¡°so like us!. I¡¯m an Armori do you know our small faction?¡± Idra stared back for a few seconds. She looked through her database to find some information about them. Indeed they were not too different but Esterians were not really about keeping the balance, they just acknowledge the existence of it. ¡°yes, I have some data on said Armori. We are alike yet different. We study and respect nature as we are part of it, but we don¡¯t act to keep it balanced. We act to improve upon it. We select and modify life as we please¡­¡± ¡°well that¡¯s not good. You are forcing nature for your purposes that will probably be about production improvement and usefulness for your kind.¡± ¡°can¡¯t deny it. But what¡¯s the purpose of life if not to improve itself? in fact what we try to improve is mostly ourselves. Why wait for nature to do it¡¯s course?. Who has that many years? We don¡¯t. So instead of keeping those unfit we force them to die¡± Despite the first fight about eugenics Idra when back into it. This time with more explanations. ¡°we are not monster, we don¡¯t terminate those that are defective. We kill only few of those, but mostly because errors were made during fabrication. Those that are alive are just blocked from building new kids. So their genetic failure won¡¯t go on¡± Idra explanation showed a mismatch of information. She knew of genetic exchange yet she didn¡¯t really understood how kids are made. Nuria in a mix of admiration but also anger and confusion asked about Idra¡¯s choice of words. ¡°what do you mean by error during fabrication? You mean at conception?¡± ¡°at what? I mean when you push the instruction into the assembly machine. Maybe you fucked up some values¡± ¡°no no no, the fuck are you talking about. Values? Assembly machine?¡± ¡°what the fuck are YOU speaking about. There is no conception, just an idea put on paper and then sent to the assembler.¡± ¡°huh? I¡¯m speaking about uterus and normal reproduction. You know that thing when a dick gets into a pussy and makes a baby¡± Idra¡¯s mind went blank. There was no knowledge at all. Totally empty, no reference, no spelling, nothing. Just a series of words with no descriptions. Yet even without descriptions she had phrases and examples that she could use to ¡°weaponise¡± such words into insult. ¡°what¡¯s a dick?¡± replied confused Idra. Her phrase floored both Nuria and Wiola while Scilla knowing about her ignorance just face palmed herself. ¡°what¡­ what you mean what¡¯s a dick?¡± exclaimed Wiola. ¡°it means exactly what it means.¡± ¡°how can you not know? You love to use cock sucker or dickhead and you don¡¯t know what those words means?¡± ¡°they are insults, what else should they mean?¡± Idra was confused but it was not her fault. She was desperately searching all her memory looking for a definition that was not present. ¡°Idra look at me in the eyes. Head means?¡± ¡°that thing attached to your neck¡± ¡°ok, than dick means?¡± ¡°don¡¯t know¡± ¡°aah fuck. What is your definition of dickhead?¡± Idra was growing more and more confused as the word she was asked to define had no meaning, only uses. ¡°Dickhead. Meaning: none. Use: insult toward intelligent creature. Target intellect of creature. Use to insinuate a diminish of intellect power below intelligible values. That¡¯s it¡± Wiola¡¯s and Nuria¡¯s jaws were open in disbelief. How could it be possible. ¡°wait, and your definition of cock sucker?¡± proceeded again Wiola. ¡°Meaning: none. Use: insult toward both males and females creatures. More effective toward females. Insinuate homosexual relationships in males, depending on society could be more impactful.¡± Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! now it was time for Nuria to go in with her rough manners and not really accurate descriptions. ¡°fuck this shit. Here is your definition. A dick is the male reproductive organ. It¡¯s a fucking rod of flesh that piss out sperm when excited. Got it?¡± But Idra was inhumanely immobile. She didn¡¯t move for several embarrassing seconds then replied. ¡°so? Why are you not speaking? I¡¯m waiting for the definition¡± ¡°are you fucking with me? I just told you.¡± said Nuria growing confused and a bit angry. ¡°but you didn¡¯t speak at all how¡­¡± ¡°wait!¡± intrude Scilla. She tapped on her heck while looking at Idra. ¡°fuck. So it¡¯s not achievable even in this way? Why is it so hard to have a definition.¡± the other Leans were confused. ¡°what is happening?¡± asked Wiola. ¡°can I tell them Idra?¡± said Scilla. ¡°I thrust you will convey the truth right?¡± that was a polite way to make sure that Scilla was going to lie. She obviously got the hint. ¡°so Esterians soldiers have a chip implanted that cuts away sexual knowledge and to some extent even desire. This is done to improve their focus on their missions. Idra as a soldier has the same chip. She was trying to see the boundary of said system and as we saw it works perfectly fine¡± That¡¯s a really good lie. Guess we are really meant for each other. ¡°what inhuman shit is this!¡± yelled Nuria forgetting to control her voice. ¡°yeah. How could they do such thing to their own people. To you¡± continued Wiola sympathizing with Idra. Idra herself however didn¡¯t have much of a problem. After all reality was that said ¡°chip¡± was only installed on Idras and just blocked knowledge, nothing else. Why they placed it was a different story but as far as she knew the chip will stop working when interacting with her partner. ¡°it¡¯s not really a problem. Sacrifices are necessary for our homeland. As long as we serve it¡¯s better to have maximum focus, then we can build our life afterward.¡± ¡°that shit still sucks¡± replied Nuria disconsolate. Their no longer so funny meal reached its end and soon after their attention was attracted toward the sound of an engine coming from outside. It was Paz Ibarra coming back from the fields. The group walked outside to see a large old tractor stopping in the open space just beside the farmhouse. The tractor was not in good conditions, quite the opposite. It was a hybrid between combustion and electrical engine, but none of them sounded right. An old woman dismounted slowly from the tractor cabin. She has seen better days as well as her equipment yet she was working non stop. ¡°Nuri you didn¡¯t told me we were having guests¡± started Paz looking at them. She didn¡¯t let her grandchild answer and immediately moved closer to hug both Lises. ¡°How is it going gals, and who¡¯s this midget here?¡± looking at Idra. Paz exactly as Nuria was bigger than the both sisters and Idra. ¡°we are good granny Paza¡± said Wiola. ¡°I¡¯m Idra 511 Weeping Sky from the Esterian Tech-Union but I won¡¯t be surprised if you don¡¯t know about us¡± ¡°oh, how could I not know about the faceless. Your people are perfect to keep away sprogs from my fields. That ship yours? What is it a bomber?¡± ¡°you have keen eyes. It¡¯s an NDU, the last one in service. On paper it¡¯s an incursion stealth bomber. In reality a scavenger ship¡± ¡°so you are the kid from the Hakavor incident¡± ¡°indeed. Someone reads the news paper.¡± Without more questions, Paz turned to Nuria. ¡°Nuri how much money do we have saved so far?¡± ¡°why?¡± replied the grandchild. ¡°the tractor is getting worst, don¡¯t think it will survive long without a new engine, at least a new combustion one.¡± ¡°fuck. I have to check but I¡­¡± ¡°can I try to fix it?¡± intrude Idra as all eyes moved on her. ¡°do you know what to do faceless kid?¡± ask Paz ¡°first I¡¯m no kid. I¡¯m 26. second I do my own maintenance and repair on the NDU. A primitive tractor is no big deal¡± ¡°I saw you doing some maintenance work on your ship, but do you also repair it. Why?¡± said Scilla. ¡°because I¡¯m the only one alive that knows how to. And it¡¯s also funny¡± ¡°I get your strange sense of fun but I always wondered why did you not built more NDU? Why not teach others about the repair process?¡± continued Scilla. ¡°the answer is fairly simple as It¡¯s the same as why you don¡¯t see more suits like mine. However if I told you then I will have to murder you all, parents, cousins and more included. I¡¯m already having fun with the pests in the woods, I will torture you in the future¡± ¡°what the fuck¡± exclaimed Nuria. ¡°don¡¯t worry, she is joking. I mean she won¡¯t kill us in the future. The part about being a secret worth murder is real¡± explained Scilla. ¡°thanks, so can I fix this tractor?¡± continued Idra. ¡°ok, but if you break it for good you have to buy us a new one¡± Paz, for some reason had a feeling that she was not going to regret her decision. After all Idra appear to be more than capable for the task. ¡°sure. Then I¡¯ll get to work¡±. Received the authorization Idra moved to the tractor, she climbed the ladder into the driver seat and opened the tractor hood to have access to the engines. She got down and faced the first problem, her height. Tractors are massive compared to their drivers, they are even more massive if instead of the usual driving species you are half a meter shorter. Everything was out of reach for her and so she turned to her unaware helper, Scilla. ¡°Scilla¡­ could you¡­ well lift me up? I can¡¯t reach it¡± ¡°I guess I could, but should I?¡± Scilla¡¯s tone was higher then usual. She was already laughing in her mind. Teasing your partner is such a stupid thing, yet so effective. A relationship that can¡¯t withstand such constant lack of neurons is not worth keeping. ¡°will your highness help such damsel is distress to get to the engine please?¡± As always they were the only two having a laugh about it. Wiola was getting used to Idra being peaceful toward her, but for the Ibarras the scene was unthinkable. Especially Paz that saw the images of the Hakavor HQ encounter. She couldn¡¯t believe that such terrifying creature was cracking jokes and teasing with Scilla. To allow better mobility Scilla grabbed Idra by her legs and lifted her up. This way she could bend over the engines and move around more easily. She started with the left side of the combustion engine, it was the one that all the group could see. Her suit goo extended in multiple threats like wires that, along the armlet probing system, started scanning the engine. ¡°do you know what you are doing?¡± asked Scilla. As she knew Idra had no real experience with ¡°primitive¡± technology such as chemical weapons. So it was probable that she never worked on a combustion engine. ¡°of course not. Shit like this isn¡¯t being around for centuries. But it should not be that hard. I can fix a reactor so I can also fix this thing¡± After more scanning Idra started working on the engine. The suit goo, mixed with the Whispers, was sipping through the engine. Without anybody notice Idra ordered the Whispers to regenerate damaged components such as seals, spark plugs and so on. She removed corroded elements, replenish insulating materials and regenerate consumed elements. It was her first time ordering the Whispers to do their second function, build. No real idea how they could make material appear out of nowhere, nor how they were able to connect it perfectly to the damaged one. Still they were doing their job. After several minutes of operation Idra turned to her lifting companion. ¡°this side is done. Take me down and then we will do the other¡± ¡°hai hai boss.¡± ¡°stop it or I won¡¯t let your arm rest¡± Scilla lowered Idra that was now back in contact with the ground. ¡°even when in your suit you are not that heavy. I mean our fat-ass suits are still heavier¡± ¡°are you calling me fat?¡± replied immediately Idra with a playful tone. ¡°yes, you¡¯re so fat that you have to check the door size of each building you go to. You know in case you don¡¯t fit through¡± ¡°well then, you¡¯re so fat that when you get into an elevator you have to be careful not to surpass the weight limit¡± ¡°you¡¯re so fat that if you have to cross a bridge you have to call the city hall to authorize a special transport¡± ¡°you¡¯re so fat than when you took a photo the system overflows¡± ¡°you¡¯re so fat that when you get out of bed the planet changes orbit¡± ¡°you¡¯re so fat to have your own orbit¡± after their probably too long exchange they had a laugh and moved to the other side of the tractor. Now Scilla was totally concealed from Paz, Nuria and Wiola. Idra was only partially hidden as she was being lifted up again. ¡°can you lower me a bit?¡± ¡°yeah sure¡± ¡°a bit more, the engine is asymmetrical and I can¡¯t really reach inside. Too far from the suit¡± ¡°well, I¡¯ll lower you slowly. Tell me when to stop¡± ¡°¡­ STOP!¡± The new position reached was optimal for beauty admiration. Scilla¡¯s eyes were perfectly in level with Idra¡¯s butt. She was for sure happy about it, but such happiness was going to soon become embarrassment. oh, I¡¯m not gonna complain for such view. This must be my lucky day¡­ wait¡­ why is she getting closer...wait, wait wait. To perform her task Idra was moving around and what initially was a close but still acceptable distance from her butt, was getting shorter and shorter. They reach a point were Scilla¡¯s face was almost in contact with the suit, just a millimetre away from touching. Idra was not really paying attention to her surrounding as she was focused on her ¡°funny repairing¡±, so she had no clue of what she was doing. Scilla was both happy and embarrassed. She was for sure enjoining the moment but at the same time regretting it as it was a bit too exiting for her. Why universe, why are you doing this to me. How the fuck am I suppose to keep my dick inside when she is fucking rubbing her ass on my face. I can¡¯t even turn my head or my nose will hit her ass cheeks. How amusing. Her thoughts were met with coldness, an endless and freezing one. The universe was silent, cold and empty. It was always silent, always cold, and almost always empty. Systems can¡¯t observe. They just exist. No universe was toying with her, but it didn¡¯t felt that way. Not much later Idra finished her reconstruction work and pulled back from the engine. Her movement resulted in her ass pressing against Scilla¡¯s face. This time she sensed it. She turned to see her positioning mistake and apologise without much thinking. ¡°oh fuck. Sorry. I didn¡¯t mean to butt shot you¡± Scilla, that had already reached her limit, lowered Idra to the ground. ¡°sorry, I have to go. I¡¯ll be back¡± Idra couldn¡¯t even turn that Scilla had already ran away toward the farmhouse bathroom. None saw a massive bulge on her pants. ¡°Scilla?¡± as predictable Idra was confused so she walked toward the group that had seen Scilla running away as well. ¡°this something happen?¡± asked Wiola. ¡°don¡¯t know. I was about to ask you three. Just after I finished with the repair she put me down and run away¡± ¡°did she said something?¡± continued Wiola. ¡°no, just that she was sorry and had to go. I¡¯m not familiar with your intestinal structure, but maybe she had to use the bathroom. Some time ago she told me that you digest fast¡± ¡°don¡¯t know. I will go and ask her¡±. Wiola then proceeded to walk toward the farmhouse leaving Idra with the Ibarras. ¡°so, what are you waiting for granny. Go up there and turn this tractor on.¡± ¡°what an impatient girl¡± replied Paz. ¡°well duh. Of course I¡¯m impatient, I want to know if my work repaired your engine¡± Paz climbed into the driving seat and started the engine. A totally new sound diffused in the air. The tractor was back to life as if it was brand new. ¡°WHAT THE FUCK!¡±. Paz excitement was uncontainable. ¡°this is amazing. Guess we don¡¯t have to buy a new one. Nuri treat her with absolute respect. She is our quest now¡± ¡°yes grandma, I was already treating her well.¡± ¡°well treat her better. She saved us a lot of money. Now let me take my Bezzi on a ride¡± ¡°sure, get back for dinner¡± ¡°your granny seems to like it¡± said Idra. ¡°of course. That tractor is being in our farm for generations. Never let us down. Thanks for making her happy¡± Idra just nodded. She was not understanding what was happening. For her playing with the engine and fixing it was the best part. ¡°Let¡¯s go in, I¡¯ll make you something fresh to drink and we will check on your bestie Scilla¡± ¡°ok¡±. chapter 37c: love Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 37c: love Go to next red line in order to avoid most potentially undesired information. Scilla rushed inside one of the private bathrooms of the farmhouse. She knew the place as if it was her home as she used to spend a lot of time at Nuria¡¯s place when little. She had a good reason to rush away as fast as she could. All the excitement received from Idra, even if she didn¡¯t mean to do so, had an impact on her body. The butt shot right in the face had immediately become an unforgettable memory for her and her penis. In case of a Humans, an erection can still be disguised and will soon fade. In Leans it was not a possibility. After the exposure to the F3S Leans mutated gradually reaching their actual form. This process modify their genitalia as well. Now with bigger bodies and the third sex, some adjustment had to be taken. Both sizes and muscular density increased becoming an actual problem that forced Leans to study some solutions to keep a civil public life. The only positive side was that in both femaris and males their penis is retractile and usually stays inside the body for most of the time. One of the down sides were the dimensions with a male average of 24cm and 26 cm for femaris. To adapt to such dimensions, most underwear are reinforced to avoid poking surprises in public. A ¡°small¡± bulge of few centimetres can go unnoticed, a tube of 24cm not so much. However the increase in muscular tissues brought a second annoying problem, fabric strength. The F3S didn¡¯t only increase the organ force, but also the force it can produce to poke out of the body. If your fabric is too weak then a random boner could press with such force to tear apart your pants. A Suboptimal solution that prioritise comfort over ¡°security¡±. If your fabric is as hard as a rock then no penis gets out but nobody buys your product because it¡¯s too uncomfortable, inflexible and harsh on such delicate zone. The production of undergarment was a peculiar balance between resistance and comfort, a balance easier to apply on males. Presumably due to their higher intellect males can detach from carnal desires more easily than Femaris. After all most males don¡¯t really desire a mate, they tend to prefer knowledge and scientific achievements. Femaris on the other hand are strongly driven my the desire to build their own family and so they are more incline to desire a partner. So far they found no real solution to their poking issue and so incidents are bound to happens. To add salt to the wound Leans excitement builds up fast yet it decays slowly over time. Scilla was in the bathroom fighting her inner horny self. Her underwear were among the best money could buy yet failed her and ripped. There was no stronger version that was not a metal cage. However the failure was not really their fault as they were designed for an average user. Unfortunately for Scilla and Wiola as well, they were both far above average reaching the higher zones of the penis size spectrum. If 26 was the average for a femari, the ¡°well equipped¡± one could reach around 28/29cm. Scilla and Wiola were extremely well equipped reaching respectively 32 and 31cm. Sizes that were too rare to justify a study and mass production of specialised undergarments. In the small room with her dick in her hands she was washing it with cold water trying to cool it down. Coldness works on almost all creatures, Leans included but it¡¯s slow and not effective if your mind keeps drifting to the memory that excites you. Leans penis are peculiar and fascinating structures. Upon retraction their become as small as few centimetres yet when blood rush to them they inflate into an almost conical shape. To be precise a Leans penis appears as a series of increasing cones stuck one into the other were the base slightly bigger than the tip. This cones are all part of the same organ and smoothly connected. Inside they are all connected to what in principle was a bladder. The internal sack contains a blend of water, gametes and some basic unstructured nutrients and a lot of simple sugars. It¡¯s unclear why the F3S causes such change but this blend impacted on the density of gametes causing a drop in pregnancies. On the other hand for reasons not totally discovered those fewer pregnancies had almost never failed to deliver a perfectly healthy baby. The internal sack usually carries around 30ml of fluid always ready to be used. Upon excitement the sack start to flood with more fluid that has to be expelled or absorbed back into the body. A normal sack can expand up to 500ml and usually can fill up in less than 40 minutes, while a natural absorption can require up to 8 hours. This process drains a lot of water from the Lean that has to promptly reintegrate it. Going around with half a litre of fluid inside you is far from pleasant. To this mildly timing inconvenience there is mainly just one solution. Don¡¯t get excited or try to cool yourself down. If you can¡¯t do neither but you don¡¯t want to wait, the only solution is self relief. End of potentially undesired information. Scilla was still at the beginning of the process but even with the cold water her mind kept drifting toward Idra, until someone nocked at the door intruding in her panic. ¡°sis are you in there?¡± Wiola¡¯s voice passed through the sturdy and old door. It was a needed distraction, and in Scilla¡¯s case a helping hand as Wiola had suffered the same issue multiple times in the past. Scilla using the door to conceal herself let Wiola inside the bathroom and immediately closed it. She was not facing her sister. ¡°you have to help me. But before that you have to promise to keep it all secret. From everyone¡± ¡°you keep my secrets I can keep yours. Nobody knows that I still sleep with a plush so¡­ as long as you don¡¯t try to kill me I can keep whatever it is¡± Leans honour was the foundation of their civilization, but a true family bond far surpassed it. Leans siblings are usually really attached to each other to the point that they could share food, clothes and beds. They help each other and look out for each other. They usually have no discomfort to help the other with their body as they know how petty they could be. Scilla turned around facing Wiola. She had put back her dick inside her trousers but it stood out like a third leg. Wiola was not shocked, quite the opposite. ¡°oh fuck. What happened?¡± Scilla however didn¡¯t want to tell the truth but Wiola was more insightful than predicted. ¡°well¡­ I¡­ it doesn¡¯t matter can¡­¡± ¡°holy fucking shit. It was Idra. You got hard because of her¡± ¡°ssshhh, keep you voice down. What if someone hears you?¡± ¡°ok, but the walls are thick as fuck. Nobody will hear us¡± ¡°don¡¯t care, keep it low¡± they were whispering to each other so nobody could hear them. ¡°I knew it. You like her¡± ¡°this is not the time for this. I need your help¡± ¡°ok. but I won¡¯t splash water on your thing.¡± ¡°stop fooling around you idiot. All the time I helped you cooling down¡­¡± ¡°ok ok, I was joking. It¡¯s just such a rare event. So let me guess you broke the pants¡± ¡°exactly. Can you go get me a new pair. Quietly and if they ask...¡± ¡°oks. And don¡¯t worry I¡¯m quite the actress. If they ask I know how to lie¡± Wiola was correct about her talent to tell such convincing lies that not even police detector could define the truth in her speech. As requested she left the bathroom and as relaxed as possible she moved toward the VTOL that they used to reach the farmhouse. To get out she had to pass in front of Nuria and Idra that were back inside the restaurant. As promised Nuria prepared some fresh fruit juice with ice for Idra that was loving it. When Wiola entered the room Nuria immediately asked. ¡°so, what¡¯s going on? Is she alright?¡± ¡°she is¡­ I would say ok big Nuri. Idra predicted correctly. She is having¡­ emh¡­ some bowl movements. Must have eaten something spoiled or contaminated¡± Wiola acting was spot on, it was perfect for everybody except Idra. --lie detected. Data not matching-- Even Idra¡¯s detection systems had troubles identifying Wiola¡¯s speech as a lie, the problem was the incoherence with Idra¡¯s data. Scilla eating spoiled food or contaminated food was not possible as Idra had tested all edible elements inside Scilla¡¯s house. The possibility was just too low to happen. As if she detected nothing, Idra let Wiola go fetch the pants and get back. She was going to eavesdrop later to avoid being discovered. Once Wiola was back into the bathroom she couldn¡¯t stop herself from asking. ¡°so. You like her? And what happened?¡± This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°well I¡­ emh¡­¡± ¡°come on, you can tell me. I don¡¯t judge as long as you are not on the wrong side. Which clearly is not your case¡± Scilla was uncomfortable and embarrassed, yet speaking with Wiola was distracting her while at the same time helping her organise her thoughts and feelings. ¡°I¡­ you saw it right? She was too short so I lifted her up¡± ¡°so far nothing strange. Well her suit is pretty tight but you survived until now¡± ¡°the suit is not the problem. If she is at a reasonable distance¡­ the problem is that she wasn¡¯t. On the other side she asked to be lowered. The engine is not symmetrical. And well¡­ I¡­ I did¡­ did so¡­¡± Wiola was imagining each word coming our of her sister mouth. She was having a hard time imagining what could have happened. Exactly as Scilla, she couldn¡¯t imagine Idra trying to intentionally stimulate a reaction in Scilla. ¡°then before I could think¡­ I had her ass right in front of my face. Eye level¡­ I¡­ I¡­ couldn¡¯t react¡­ B...Before I knew her butt was even closer¡­ she was coming backward¡­ I¡­ I froze and¡­ and when she¡­ when she finished the repair¡­ she went full backward¡­¡± ¡°so you got butt shot in the face?!?!¡± ¡°ssshhh, the fuck did I told you before. Keep it down. What if someone is hearing us?¡± ¡°sorry. I¡­ I can¡¯t believe this. No I mean. I can believe it as your little friend is the proof. I can¡¯t believe that she didn¡¯t notice your head¡± ¡°I know¡­ but it¡­ it¡¯s what it is. Can¡¯t go back¡­ not that I really want to¡­ I can¡­ can always buy more pants¡­¡± ¡°so¡­ when did you fall in love¡± Scilla wanted to lie and deny such evident reality, but Wiola was not letting her off the hook. ¡°I...i don¡¯t like¡­¡± ¡°stop with this stupid lies¡­ admit it¡­ come on let go of such burden¡± ¡°fuck¡­ you won. I¡¯m in love with her. Are you happy n¡­ (now)¡± Wiola hugged her sister. Believe it or not Scilla has never been in love in all her years. She never found a connection like the one she has with Idra. For Wiola such news was pure happiness. She could stop worrying about her sister not being able to experience such part of life. ¡°I¡¯m so happy for you. So did you confess to her? When did it start?¡­¡± Wiola was flooding her with question she couldn¡¯t answer unless Idra allowed so. Then a not so divine miracle. A nock on the door. Idra had been outside from just a few seconds. Enough to catch Scilla¡¯s last phrase and love confession. Then her voice through it. ¡°Look at your phone. Truth and trust go well together¡± and then she left. ¡°what was that about?¡± asked Wiola while Scilla looked at her phone. A message was on the display. //you can tell her. She will keep our secret// Immediately Scilla hugged Wiola back. She could let go of a massive burden. She could stop lying to her ¡°only¡± family. ¡°I confessed months ago. She accepted. We are a couple¡± Of course Wiola could only be overwhelmed with joy as in few minutes her sister went from loner to happily in love with a ¡°Human¡±. Scilla had a tangible possibility to build up her family, her dream she had since she was a kid. Her only dream that she was no longer hoping for. How could they not start crying. Several tears of joy later Wiola asked. ¡°so¡­ I knew something was fishy¡­ she was so calm and peaceful around you¡­ when did you start dating? I mean¡­ you know what I mean¡± ¡°it¡¯s kind of a stupid and long story, but from the first night at our house¡± ¡°what really? Just after she saw your collection of scale model? And you two knew each other for like a month¡± ¡°yup, that same day and it was about 20 days. To be more precise that day we also talked for hours about said models¡± ¡°nah, that is impossible. She can¡¯t be such sucker for spaceships like you¡± ¡°indeed she is not. She just liked talking to me, and well. That¡¯s how she is. She likes to know things, especially if I find them interesting. She spent a fortune on a limited edition model to build during the travelling time of our first mission, just to have something to always do with me.¡± ¡°fucking hell you hit the jackpot¡± ¡°I guess so. Well the same night, just before becoming a thing she trying to kill me. But I guess I got lucky¡± ¡°wait wait wait, what is this kill you story?¡± ¡°nothing relevant. I will tell you in the future. Now I¡¯m back to normal, so better get out. Oh and obviously you have to keep...(your mouth shut)¡± ¡°there won¡¯t be a single word from me. But tell me just one more thing. How does she look like? You must have seen her right?¡± ¡°yep I did. But I promised not to tell. However I will say this. I never saw a creature... No I never saw nor imagined that something so beautiful could exist in our universe¡± ¡°how madly in love are you?¡± ¡°a lot, but I¡¯m being serious. When I saw her I just froze in place and hoped not to die from a heart attack. You know that stupid acute noise in the ears when your brain overload? Well I felt the same but with my entire body. I still freeze when she smiles¡­ she is just too beautiful for a mortal creature¡± Wiola was having mixed feelings. Scilla hardly gave compliments and the number of time when she expressed such extraordinary praises could be counted on one hand. On the other side how could a creature be so pretty to break your brain. ¡°I¡­ fuck¡­ I don¡¯t know what to believe¡± ¡°believe in nothing. One day you will see her and decide by yourself what is the truth¡± Even if Wiola was unsure Scilla was telling the absolute truth. Idra was unnaturally beautiful to the point that she was frightening. The rest of the day was pretty much uneventful until evening. Their dinner went smoothly. Most of the conversation were monopolised by Idra and Paz that exchanged their hunting moments and experiences. Idra seemed extremely enthusiast to share her stories even if nobody knew her animals and she was no keen to provide detailed reference. Few minutes after the end of their meal they started hearing sound. Heavy steps closing in. ¡°hey do you hear this¡­ this sounds?¡± asked Nuria. ¡°was about to ask the same¡± replied Paz. The two Ibarras looked at each other, but just before they moved Idra intrude. ¡°don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s just my walkers coming back from their mission. They will be here in a minute¡± exactly 60 seconds later 2 massive and covered in blood walker were in front of the main entrance of the farmhouse. With them they were carrying around 40 bodies of Karakani, a hostile creature that looked like wyvern whose 4 legs were also fused with wings. On average they weight about 36kg. The reptilian creatures were not really able to fly but they could glide and climb trees. This endemic creatures were a plague that afflicted Icar 3¡ã as they were hard to track down, intelligent and fast breeder. Their aggressive nature and frequent attacks against Leans forced citizens to adapt and hunt them. It was common practice to report their sighting to local authorities that would then post request for extermination or take the matter in their own hands and kill them. ¡°what the fucking fuck is this!?!¡± said Nuria. ¡°my preys. So how about we make a deal?¡± initiated Idra looking at Nuria. ¡°I¡¯m not paying you for something that you did on your own.¡± Idra was perplex but she decided to not ask for an explanation to Nuria¡¯s words. ¡°that¡¯s not it. Didn¡¯t even think such moderate hunt would be worth a price. Nah the deal is that I give you this headless creatures and you¡­ how was the word¡­ Scilla how do you say when more people gather to eat animals that are cooked on fire? You know that things that are like family and close family events where you all stare at the fire, cook together, laugh and shit?¡± ¡°you mean a barbecue?¡± replied Scilla. ¡°yes. That thing. I give you the bodies and you cook some for us, like that things that Scilla said. I always wanted to do one.¡± Karakani were edible creatures rare to come by as nobody would breed them as livestock. If you want to taste their meat you have to hope in some farmer or hunter that recently took down such creatures. Having more than a few meant that Nuria could sell them for quite the price, around 4000 UC (unified credits) each. Even if they would end up eating 20, which was not the case, she was going to be left with the other 20 for a profit of 80000 UC. It was an incredible offer, too good to be true. ¡°are you sure? They¡­ if I sell the remaining after the barbecue I will still make a lot of money¡± Nuria didn¡¯t want to ask, she wanted to keep the eventual profit a secret, but she couldn¡¯t trick a friend. She couldn¡¯t do something like that to the woman that repaired they beloved tractor. ¡°I now you can sell them. Why the fuck did you think I brought so many back? Take it as payment for the feast that we will be having¡± Is she naturally capable at negotiation? Was it all planned? But Paz won¡¯t accept. I¡¯m sure of that. ¡°that¡¯s no good kid. We can¡¯t accept charity from you. You already fixed out tractor, we can¡¯t ask for more¡± intruded Paz as Scilla thought. It was all a matter of honour but Idra didn¡¯t care. ¡°it¡¯s not charity.¡± ¡°we can¡¯t accept. We can cook for a friend and have fun together, but we can¡¯t¡­¡± ¡°you are a terrible huntress, never seen someone less capable than you. Nuria your design sense is absolute shit, a dump would look better. Your city smells of shit all the time because you all love to swim in manure. Now that we are no longer friends you can accept the future left overs as payment for the service right?¡± even without a face Idra was smiling. She surprised all of them. That was so random yet so stupid that made them all laugh. ¡°the fuck are you laughing?¡± ¡°you are as stubborn as a rock. Ok then, we will take them¡± replied Paz still laughing from time to time. ¡°see, it was not that hard¡± ended Idra. chapter 38c: holding Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 38c: holding A blissful evening ended their day. The Ibarras offered a room to Idra but she declined the offer. Even with the extra space Scilla and Wiola decided to sleep in the same room equipped with a queen size bed. Nuria and Paz had their own room at the start of the same corridor on the first floor. At the end and in the middle of the corridor a couple of staircases to get down in the living zone and to the restaurant. Around 3 AM Nuria woke up. She was thirst and wanted to get some cold water from the refrigerators downstairs. Silence and darkness ruled the farmhouse. At the end of the stair a dim light was coming in from the shutters. Light reflecting on Icar¡¯s moons. She knew her home as her own body and didn¡¯t bother to turn on the lights, but then a sudden sound, a drawer had opened. A mix of fear and anger filled Nuria¡¯s body that slowly approached the restaurant zone. She just walked in that something grabbed her and blocked her mouth. ¡°silence¡± Idra¡¯s voice slowly whispered. She was almost invisible as her dark suit fused with the shadows. After almost giving a heart attack to Nuria she retrieved slowly disappearing in front of her eyes. ¡°what the fuck? The hell are you doing here in the middle of the night?¡± replied Nuria, whispering as well. ¡°I¡¯m searching for something¡± ¡°the fuck are you searching in my house. At night like a burglar?¡± ¡°a pricing list.¡± ¡°I¡¯m¡­ why the fuck does it matter? If you want to know how much the food cost¡­¡± ¡°I want to buy one of your fields¡± ¡°what? They are not even ready. Why the hell¡­¡± ¡°I want the hectare near the forest. The one isolated¡± ¡°you still have to¡­¡± ¡°50k UC. Best case you make what¡­ 6k or 7k UC? Then let me buy it¡± ¡°is this one hell of a trick? What do you really want? Why do you want to pay so much? Are you trying to trick me into selling you the terrain?¡± ¡°you are asking too many questions. All I need is your harvest, not really. I want part of your crops as they are right now. You can even keep the plants if they survive. 50K, no terrain, why the fuck should I buy terrain on a planet outside my domain?¡± Nuria was even more confused. They were growing Mulliguan, a plat with a rich inflorescence that is totally useless during said blooming. After pollination the Mulliguan starts to produce several tuber almost at surface level. Those are edible and worth more compared to grain or akin. There was just no reason to buy them as they were. Deep in her thoughts and unable to detect Idra¡¯s position Nuria didn¡¯t notice a light sweet scent coming from behind her shoulders. ¡°Do you¡­¡± it was too late. She sniffed one of the many chemical compound that Idra could produce. ¡°do I what?¡± ¡°never mind¡­ what was I saying?¡­¡± ¡°so can I have the field?¡± Nuria¡¯s mind was no more fully working. She was perceiving Idra as extremely trust worthy, friendly and comfortable to have around. She felt at ease. ¡°I¡­ I will ask granny and we will tell you¡­ is it ok¡­ for you?¡± Now she was starting to feel tired and sleepy again. ¡°sure¡­ you look tired¡­ maybe you should go back to sleep¡± ¡°you are right¡­ good night¡± ¡°good night¡­ Nuria¡± Poor girl, she didn¡¯t even get her cold water. At least she was alive. Idra¡¯s relation to Scilla imposed a special behaviour. She was not going to use force but her natural ability to manipulate others to build deeper bonds with those dear to Scilla. In normal condition she would have killed all the people in sight and took what she wanted with force. The next morning, around 7 AM a scream woke Scilla, Wiola kept sleeping as if nothing happened. Of course it was Nuria. What the fuck?!!? what the fuck?!?! is she in danger? Scilla rushed toward Nuria¡¯s room to find quite the unique scene. Nuria was alone sitting at the edge of her bed. Her cybernetic leg was no longer the same. Now it was similar to the organic one even if it was clear that it was not real. It was also of the right size, a perfect mirror of the original. ¡°WHAT THE FUCK HAS THAT CUNT DONE TO ME?¡± yelled Nuria full with anger, even if what she was feeling was not the same. The new leg used the same ¡°archaic¡± connections as the previous one yet it provide basic sensing capability. After years Nuria could finally feel the ground with both legs, she could walk normally as nothing had happened. The only source of anger was the lack of respect shown by Idra. ¡°the hell happened to your leg?¡± asked Scilla. ¡°and you are asking me?!! your friend did this to me, while sleeping¡­¡± ¡°o well, not the best way but¡­ the new leg suits you. How does it feels?¡± ¡°perfectly that¡¯s the problem. Why is she so¡­ (friendly?)¡± ¡°why I¡¯m so what?¡± asked a voice from the door. Obviously it was Idra, she was carrying a contraption that vaguely looked like an orthopaedic brace. ¡°wait wait wait, you can¡¯t get in now¡± yelled Scilla turning around and blocking Idra¡¯s view. She was doing so by instinct as Nuria was ¡°not covered enough for Esterian standard¡±. Indeed she was just wearing a blue top with a bra underneath and a pair of underwear. She didn¡¯t thought that to replace the leg she must have seen her in that clothing before. She also didn¡¯t knew of their night meeting. ¡°what you mean? She is wearing a fully white pyjama¡± thanks god her collar is blocking it. ¡°but I¡¯m¡­¡± started Nuria to be immediately interrupted by Scilla. ¡°sshh! Don¡¯t say a word¡± ¡°Scilla, as much as I appreciate your presence. Can you get the fuck out? I have to place this on your friend, fresh from printing¡± ¡°don¡¯t you dare, stay away¡­ you¡­ you bedroom intruder!¡± replied Nuria. ¡°hey, we can do this peacefully or I can force you in. You walked for too many years with different size legs. Your spine is fucked so with this we can slowly put it back. So now put up your fucking arms and let me see if it fits¡± ¡°Scilla are you allowing this?!¡± ¡°well, to be fair I don¡¯t really see the issue. She is helping you getting healthier. So get your arms up in the air¡±. Scilla was smiling widely. She knew that Idra¡¯s actions were all but guided by altruism. Quite the opposite. Why do I feel like she swapped her leg because the sound irritates her. Scilla¡¯s thought couldn¡¯t be more spot on. Most Esterians and Idra especially show little to no tolerance for a lot of things. Common traits were the need for order and fixing. Most Esterians can¡¯t stand disordered or chaotic things. It¡¯s far from a mental disorder but it¡¯s uncommon for Esterians to do things without thinking. Some places may appear messy but the Esterian¡¯s behind such mess knows perfectly how to inspect it. However Nuria¡¯s leg substitution was no driven by the need to reach an order, rather by the desire to fix issues. Maybe it¡¯s their nature or maybe how their civilization developed, but if there is an issues Esterians flocks the place like moths with a light source. You are not a mechanic but your car broke? Open your hood and wait few minutes before a crowd forms around you trying to fix the failure. For Idra leaving a rusty leg walking around was too much to tolerate. With Scilla¡¯s help Idra forced Nuria to accept and wear the orthopaedic brace. ¡°so how is the new leg?¡± asked Idra. ¡°what if it¡¯ breaks? We don¡¯t have your level of technology.¡± ¡°don¡¯t worry it¡¯s a modular prothesis. I copied the base of your old leg and added in some simple sensors. That is also the reason why it¡¯s so crude. So if my shit fails you just lose extra thing. It won¡¯t happen but in case you don¡¯t have to worry. The base stuff is the same as your old leg so your producer should be able to fix it. The brace is just a brace.¡± explained Idra in a deeply satisfied tone. Scilla was looking at her, she could feel her satisfaction. When did she got so thoughtful. Oh well better for me I guess. ¡°well then I will be going¡­ I will wait for your reply to my purchase request¡­¡± ¡°what purchase?¡± asked Scilla. ¡°I want to buy some of the flowers¡± The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°really? They are not edible¡± replied Scilla. ¡°I know. But I want to buy them and so I will¡­ now if you will excuse¡± Idra didn¡¯t wait for any replied nor she cared about any. She just walked out as if nothing happened. Where she was going was not known but none thought much of it. ¡°your friend is really something else¡± said Nuria. ¡°I know, she is unique. I have met several Esterians but none were like her. Not to force you but I can see your smile. You should thanks her¡± ¡°shut up, I know. Go to get the kiddo, I bet she is still sleeping like a rock¡± ¡°That¡¯s no even a bet. Of course she is still sleeping. You can kick Wiola out of the bed and she would keep sleeping.¡± Strangely Idra didn¡¯t join them for breakfast but she appeared just after they finished. ¡°so¡­ what about my field?¡± asked again. ¡°it¡¯s not YOUR field¡­¡± replied Nuria. ¡°for now, but it will be soon¡± ¡°fuck. Grandma! Get down here. Our guests wants to buy a chunk of our fields¡± As predictable Paz was also confused by Idra¡¯s request. The flowers were completely useless, unless you wanted to make a bouquet. But even if that was the intention nobody would buy an entire field of them. ¡°you know that¡­¡± ¡°I know, I fucking know. Why the fuck can¡¯t you just sell me this fucking flowers?¡± replied Idra irritated. ¡°it¡¯s not that I can¡¯t. I just don¡¯t think it¡¯s fair. You repaired our tractor, fixed my niece leg, gave us a lot of Karakani, so many to open up a store. Now you want to buy a flowers field for more than 5 time the price and you are only interested in the flowers and not in the plant that is not ready¡­¡± ¡°then collect the flowers for me. That way the price goes up¡­¡± ¡°even if...¡± Idra¡¯s patience reached a limit and she snapped ¡°you can either sell me the field or I can take it by force. Choose¡± ¡°Idra what did I said about violence?¡± said Scilla. Her tone however showed mostly confusion. She was not understanding why Idra wanted the field so much. ¡°ok, you can have the field, we will harvest it¡­¡± ¡°look at your bank account. I transferred the money. So you can work freely. My machines will prepare some crates to fill in front of my ship. Now I¡¯ll be on my way¡± Idra was crossing the door when Wiola¡¯s voice stopped her. ¡°wait! Won¡¯t you come with us?¡± asked. Idra stood by the door, she didn¡¯t turn back and reply. ¡°no, not today. Oh and before I forgot. The barbecue. Let¡¯s make it tomorrow evening¡± ¡°it¡¯s fine but is there a reason? The fresher the meat¡­¡± initiate Nuria to be interrupted soon after. ¡°there is. It¡¯s an Esterian national holiday. I would like to celebrate it¡± ¡°ok¡± Wait what? Really? She never told me anything. Do I have to give her a present? Is it that kind of events? Or it¡¯s just a normal holiday for¡­ don¡¯t know the end of some war? While Idra disappear somewhere, Scilla and Wiola went to Saryvona city centre. They took a long walk looking for what has changed and what seemed unfazed by time. A constant flow of memories both good and sad. As kids they spent a lot of time exploring around, time that never faded as to this day they both remember each street and small alley of what once was their territory. They spent several hours fooling around and eating at a restaurant. In the afternoon they first went into an old pastry shop that they grew to love as kids. Once they filled their hands with all the sweets they could desire they went for more walking around lake Sary. Moving from stony beaches to classic sand beaches, skipping flats rocks on the lake¡¯s water as far as they could achieve. It was as if they recess to their old younger self. Hours of mindless enjoyment later they sat down at a small beach known only to few locals. There half covered by the trees shadows that were right behind them, they decided to have a break and eat what they previously bought. ¡°hey what¡¯s that?¡± asked Wiola point at a far flat massive rock right beside the lake shore immersed in the woods. A black figure was sunbathing in the sun passing trough the tree leaves. Moving closer the shape assumed a humanoid figure and it was clearly their ¡°friend¡± Idra. ¡°what is she doing?¡± asked Wiola. She was more curious than her sister. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡± replied Scilla. ¡°should we¡­ should we go talk to her?¡± ¡°emh, maybe, but maybe she wants to be alone¡­ who knows¡± ¡°ok let¡¯s go¡± ¡°wait didn¡¯t you heard me just now?¡± Wiola was not going to waste such opportunity to peep into the relationship between Idra and her sister. Now that Idra was isolated and alone was by far the best time. Idra was in the middle of the rock formation laying down like a starfish and staring at the sky. Wiola appeared in her view. ¡°HI! What you doing idra?¡± Idra¡¯s reply however was slow and come only 3 seconds later. ¡°charging¡­ and thinking¡­¡± ¡°about what? My sister?¡± Wiola was smirking, she clearly was trying to embarrass Idra but the only one she embarrassed was Scilla. ¡°Wiola!?!?¡± shouted Scilla that was coming at the rock as well. ¡°what? You told me about it¡­ I can¡¯t even ask?¡± ¡°not in (that way)¡± ¡°partially, she is not my only thought but a considerable part of my resources are used on Scilla¡± ¡°oh, waoh¡­ I¡­ emh¡­ I didn¡¯t¡­¡± Wiola got immediately red and moved out of Idra¡¯s view. Scilla that had reached the rock was embarrassed as well and felt the need to justify Wiola¡¯s behaviour. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Idra. I told her to be more discreet but as always she is doing what she wants¡± ¡°it¡¯s fine. I predicted this much. You must be exited about the news right?¡± replied Idra while moving her head to stare at Wiola. ¡°well¡­ yeah I¡¯m. I¡¯m really happy and thankful. Never knew someone would be so crazy to choose her¡± ¡°hey, what the fuck? You are supposed to praise me¡± said Scilla. This fast exchange made Idra laugh for a moment but then her voice lowered to a more dark and sad tone. ¡°your species must have something wrong. I¡¯m surprised that she had no partner when we met¡± ¡°what did you like about her?¡± immediately asked Wiola. ¡°Wiola, could you mind your own business?¡± ¡°her impertinence and bravery. You would have been sister-less if she didn¡¯t had that foul mouth of hers¡± ¡°was that a compliment?¡± asked Scilla while sitting next to Idra. ¡°I would say so.¡± Why is she so sad. She is barely answering back. ¡°are you alright? Have we¡­¡± ¡°you two have done nothing to upset me. I was just thinking, it made me sad.¡± Wiola laid down beside Idra as well. She was on one side while Scilla was on the other one leaving Idra in the middle. ¡°we can help you¡­ no wait I mean that if you want¡­¡± said Wiola ¡°you can¡¯t even help yourself with a proper phrase yet alone others¡± said Scilla. Her voice was stating a clear joke to cheer up Idra. ¡°maybe I can¡¯t speak properly but who ran into the toilet because her raging boner broke her panties? Not me¡± ¡°Wiola! What the fuck?¡± Idra laughed, her voice was shifting back to her usual. ¡°you are too stupid together. So who is gonna tell me what a boner is?¡± ¡°none¡±¡ª¡±none¡± ¡°what? Why? And don¡¯t speak in sync or I¡¯ll smack both of you¡± ¡°it¡¯s sex related, so even if we explain you won¡¯t get it¡± ¡°uffi. (cute way to express drat) stupid collar¡± ¡°wait¡­ now that I think about it. Wasn¡¯t the chip suppose to also repress love or something of that sort?¡± said Wiola. ¡°yeah that was a lie. You know your big sis can lie really well¡± replied Idra. ¡°oh really?? how many more lies have you told me?¡± asked Wiola while looking ad Scilla. ¡°oh I told you a lot of them. You know you are not the only one that can lie. However the only one I¡¯m keeping from you are all related to Idra so I would say that I¡¯m being honest as far as I¡¯m allowed to.¡± ¡°I forgive you¡­¡± ¡°can I hold your hands?¡± asked Idra out of nowhere. ¡°yeah sure¡­ but weren¡¯t we suppose to keep our relationship a secret?¡±--¡±sure here is mine¡± replied the sisters. ¡°does holding hands indicate a relationship?¡± asked Idra. She had all the reasons to be confused as Esterians barely touch each others. Holding hands was far from a common practice and the few time she saw such act it was a parent with their child while crossing a road. ¡°it could¡­ nah never mind I bet you can come up with something that will make it not suspicious¡±. ¡°if I say that I wanted to try as I saw you holding Wiola¡¯s hand before?¡± ¡°what when did I ever hold her hand?¡± replied Scilla. ¡°you keep taking it each time we are together¡± replied Wiola. ¡°lies I never did it.¡± ¡°you do, you do it a lot. You just do it automatically¡± said Wiola. ¡°I hold your hand when you were a kid so you would not get lost. I don¡¯t¡­¡± ¡°you do¡± intrude Idra. ¡°see told you. It doesn¡¯t bother me but sometimes you treat me like as if I¡¯m still a kid.¡± ¡°but you are a kid. You will always be my little sister¡± ¡°if she is a kid then what am I? A new born?¡± intruded Idra. ¡°no! Well I¡­ give me a break¡± ¡°why should you be a new born?¡± said Wiola. ¡°because if you are 31 year old and you are a kid, than what am I if I¡¯m 26?¡± Horror scarred Wiola¡¯s face. Exactly as Scilla she forgot that she and Idra don¡¯t belong to the same species and that Leans live up to 180 years old. Wiola rushed up and she was about to assault Scilla. ¡°you are a fucking disgusting paedophile¡­ I don¡¯t care if you are my sister¡­¡± ¡°wait she is human. They live less¡± ¡°oh right¡­ sorry¡­ blood just rushed to my brain¡­¡± ¡°nah don¡¯t worry. I made the same mistake¡± ¡°why should she be a paedophile? Leans are adults at 26 right?¡± ¡°yes and no. I mean we grow up slower than humans but not that slower. Yet having a 15 years age gap is quite a lot. But not in your special case¡± as they calmed down Idra moved and sit on the rock. ¡°whatever. Now if you have food? I¡¯m hungry¡± chapter 39c: comic Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 39c: comic Idra seemed to be back to her usual self. No more sad even if Scilla couldn¡¯t help but wonder why such sadness in the first place. Wiola unpacked their food, mostly sweets, and disposed them to be easily accessible. She was also the one to pick up what she liked and started eating. Scilla took one of the many puff but Idra just looked. ¡°you don¡¯t like them?¡± asked Wiola. ¡°oh, no. I was wondering if I can probe them¡± replied Idra. ¡°Probe?¡± said confused Wiola. She rarely saw Idra eating and she never saw her probing her food, even if she did the same with what Nuria cooked before. ¡°yes you can, but they are not poisonous so¡­¡± said Scilla and before she could finish Idra¡¯s left hand was already moving on top the puffs pile. The long dark thin needles from her armlet pierced into each puff. Each time a needle would retract and a new one would penetrate the next pastry to avoid cross contamination. Wiola watched the majestic dance of instruments that would make most labs performance pale in comparison. She was the definition of precision and efficiency. Even if she couldn¡¯t be sure, she could tell that each puff was pierced in the centre. ¡°that¡­ that was amazing! Are you sure you don¡¯t want to work in my research lab?¡± ¡°can I lie?¡± asked Idra looking at Scilla. ¡°well it¡¯s a bit pointless if you ask that in front of the person that you want to lie to¡± replied Scilla. ¡°oh man, you could have just said no.¡± Wiola was disconsolate. ¡°well no. I don¡¯t even appreciate the offer. I would end up beating to death the first one that isn¡¯t precise and rigorous enough. Also be in contact with few Leans is already stressful enough. Don¡¯t want to be near more people, especially more of your species.¡± ¡°I thought you liked me?¡± said Scilla in a sarcastic tone. Idra didn¡¯t get it. ¡°indeed I like you, just you. I have no reason to connect myself with more barbarians¡± Scilla took it with a grain of salt. She knew and was gradually getting used to Idra¡¯s peculiar ideas and view. ¡°if we are barbarians what are the others? A mean what are the Humans to you. What about the Xoraxtas then?¡± ¡°living targets to shoot at for practice?¡± replied Idra. Scilla and Wiola were both surprised and horrified but then Idra laughed. ¡°hahaa I got you both. Did you get it. It was a joke. Hehe I¡¯m learning how to make them.¡± ¡°o yeah¡­ a joke. Of course¡­ never doubted it¡±. Wiola was not really convinced. ¡°if it was a joke than what are they?¡± asked again Scilla. Idra however had no intention to reply. Instead she stood up to immediately sit back between Scilla¡¯s legs. ¡°What?! What are¡­ are you doing?¡± said Scilla. Her brain was malfunctioning. ¡°sitting between your legs.¡± ¡°I¡­ I can see it¡­ why?¡± ¡°to avoid answering as you would not like my reply. Vermin are vermin and should be treated as such.¡± Neither Scilla nor Wiola understood the phrase. It got in one ear to get out of the other. Both Lises were focused on Idra that was settling in. Her lower body was in contact with Scilla¡¯s groin and she was rubbing it left and right to accommodate herself. It took just a few back and forth ¡°butt swings¡± for Scilla to place her hand under Idra¡¯s armpit and lifting her slightly up and forward. ¡°S...sorry but could you not¡­ not rub your butt on me?¡± ¡°What? I¡¯m not rubbing myself on you. I¡¯m trying to get comfortable, what¡¯s the problem?¡± ¡°I could say it but your collar will delete my phrase¡± ¡°what the fuck, you are a pervert, always thinking about¡­ about something that is not appropriate¡± ¡°you are the one at fault¡­¡± ¡°ME?!? Wiola is it my fault? Am I the perverted one?¡± asked Idra. ¡°yes¡±¡ª¡±yes¡± Their response stunned Idra for a moment. Scilla let her go and this time Idra slowly sit between the legs. She avoid to move around then almost whispering she asked. ¡°was I¡­ was I¡­ doing¡­ something¡­ of¡­ of that kind?¡± Scilla clearly detected Idra worries and so she hugged her. ¡°sort of, but you don¡¯t have to worry about it. Just don¡¯t get mad if sometimes I have to push you away¡­¡± ¡°I¡­ I was not going to get mad. You can pick me up whenever you want¡± Wiola perceiving the tension and being the one ¡°with a sense of humour¡± stood up and proceed to walk slowly away saying. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll leave you alone. Would prefer not to stain my clothes with body fluids¡± that immediately triggered a response from both. ¡°what?¡±-- ¡°Wiola don¡¯t you dare with your stupid jokes!¡± ¡°oh come on. She can joke about shooting people and I can¡¯t joke about you being all lovey-dovey on a rock?¡± ¡°what¡¯s¡­ lo..vey..do..vey? I don¡¯t even have a translation for that¡± ¡°you don¡¯t have to worry. Wiola was just being stupid. No wait she was just being herself¡± ¡°oh the dissing. You think you are funnier than me?¡± replied Wiola. ¡°not really, but to be clear I won¡¯t touch her before we are married¡± ¡°oh, you already planned to get married?¡± ¡°no, I mean we...¡±--¡±yes¡± they both looked at Idra that was fairly confused. ¡°have I said something wrong?¡± she asked. ¡°no¡­ just confusing. You basically told her that we are going to get married. Yet we have being together for so little. You run away if I try to get too close when you are outside your armour.¡± ¡°oh¡­ I suppose I could have been misleading. Wiola I plan to marry your sister from the moment I felt the connection with her. Even if I know little about¡­ love. I feel¡­ no¡­ I know when someone will be with me for the rest of my life. That someone is Scilla. Initially I just wanted a friend¡­ then¡­ I¡­ fuck it, you know. I developed feeling and all that shit. Let me eat in peace¡±. Too embarrassed to say more Idra took up the puff that she previously choose and almost as a reflex she turned on the passive cloaking. The AMS-111 immediately swapped colour with the environments matching exactly with it. Wiola that was in front of her was in awe as Idra¡¯s body appeared almost fused with Scilla¡¯s one. The mouth chewing the puff was the only part that stood out. The armour was also copying the puff movements as Idra bit into it. ¡°what the hell is this trickery? Are you a witch?¡± exclaimed Wiola. Understandably she was surprised. Several civilizations tried to achieve passive cloaking but all settled for stealth technology to avoid special sensors like radar or thermal. Only Esterians developed a passive device capable so adapt to the environment in fraction of seconds. From there they developed the photon interference fields that deletes light waves generating total darkness. An advanced version is mounted on every NDU. Such interference technology developed even more into selective wave bending resulting in active cloaking devices. However such technology was costly, developed by Idras and almost exclusively used by them as working prototypes appeared with Idra¡¯s last generation and Idra 511. Meanwhile Scilla¡¯s mind was drifting away. She stopped at ¡°for the rest of my life¡±. Was¡­ was that¡­ no¡­ or maybe it was a marriage proposal. No it could not be it¡­ but she said so¡­ could it have meant something else? But what else? Not that I¡¯m not pleased. Kinda the opposite. Bit anticlimactic but I doubts Esterians are into spectacular proposal. But was it really a proposal? Well she said marry and rest of the life¡­ so it¡¯s not like she can become my mother or I become hers¡­ ¡°it¡¯s not witchcraft, magic doesn¡¯t and can¡¯t exist. Unipsi doesn¡¯t allows an absence of rules exactly as it doesn¡¯t allow for peace¡±. Idra¡¯s reply was slow as she was struggling to find the correct words to use. ¡°well to me your stuff looks as such. You are invisible. It¡¯s just too fucking cool. Can I turn invisible as well?¡± exclaimed Wiola again. ¡°this is not invisibility. It¡¯s just light transmission. Read the shit on the opposite side and mirrors it on your end. Nothing fancy. But I can also turn invisible. Not to brag but my cloaking device is one of the best around and I¡¯m one of the few that has one.¡± ¡°can I see it?¡± ¡°one day¡­¡± Idra stopped mid sentence. She turned and looked at Scilla. She was still in her dream world of possibility and Idra decided to bring her back. With the half eaten puff in hand she pushed it onto Scilla¡¯s nose. She immediately moved. ¡°THE FUCK?¡± Wiola was laughing as if there was no tomorrow. ¡°back to Icar my girl. You were spacing out a bit too much. So I pranked you¡± Idra smiled, her half smile that as usual concealed her teeth. This time she felt sweeter than usual. So this is the game ha. Time for revenge Scilla knew that Idra could feel through the suit so she tickled her. It was super effective. Idra couldn¡¯t even run away. But her happy torture ended soon as Scilla knew that exceeding was not a wise move. ¡°as I said, all lovey dovey aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°shish Wiola. You are just envious. Get yourself a girl¡± replied Scillas jokingly. ¡°anyway why did you want to get between sis legs?¡± asked Wiola. ¡°oh, I saw a mother with her kid coming here. They seemed happy so I wanted to try, was I wrong?¡± hard to believe that beyond such cuteness and ingenuity lays one of the deadlier creature in existence. ¡°ooh you are so cute, can I¡­ squeeze your metallic cheeks?¡± said Wiola. ¡°no you can¡¯t, but I can¡± said Scilla that grabbed Idra¡¯s goo that was in the cheeks area of the helmet. Idra rebelled and pushed away the hands. ¡°stop it, you know I can feel it¡± ¡°WHAT? Invisible and also feeling shit through it? The hell are you wearing an engineer wet dream?¡± said Wiola. ¡°what¡¯s a wet dream?¡± more words that Idra lacked in her dictionary. ¡°nothing important. Just a peculiar way to say big ass dream.¡± Scilla looked at Wiola with furious eyes. In few sentences she was teaching her far more ¡°shit¡± that she ever did. ¡°sorry sis.¡± they talked more and at some point Idra asked about Wiola¡¯s job progress. ¡°oh by the way how is your work going?¡± ¡°splendidly. Never been better. Your boost was really needed and helped a lot. We are making consistent improvements and I suppose we could improve our males rate even more than your predictions.¡± ¡°I suppose you share some blood for a reason. Smart ass¡± replied Idra. ¡°I have to ask. How did you know?¡± ¡°know what?¡± ¡°how to improve us. You must have done some researches on the F3S before right?¡± ¡°not really. The patrol unit that Scilla rescued was one of the few contact I had with your species. Still i never care of your species before nor I particularly care about it now.¡± That reminded Wiola of her intuition. A frightening intuition. She had to confirm if Idra was just storing information somewhere or if she was just super smart. ¡°so before that you never studied our biology?¡± ¡°why should I have done so? I wrote down that weak theory the day that Scilla accidentally told me about your birthday. I stole some of her cells from around the house and analysed them.¡± ¡°you¡­ you have no data on the F3S?¡± ¡°again, I just told you, I had and have none. And where the fuck would I have stored it? My memory is precious and the NDU is¡­ it¡¯s filled with a different type of data. And your F3S is useless as it is already merged with your species and become inactive. Why should I waste my time on it?¡± This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. That was an astonishing revelation and a terrifying proof. Idra had no connection to her home, she had not data, nothing. She achieved what Leans hopes to make in years in mere days. She was an incredibly intelligent monster that could rival an entire planet or maybe even an entire civilization of minds. But at the same time she failed to understand basilar concepts that are embedded into living creatures, almost as if she was never alive to being with. She failed so hard to the point that she couldn¡¯t understand the concept of not having an objective to follow. Not having orders. In her mind freedom was a utopia, an illusion. She was not wrong, but neither she was right. As freedom doesn¡¯t exist as all is bind to rules, intrinsic noise manifest as interaction at atomic level and between atomic rules. Such noise is what all call freedom. In such chaos lives thrive and shine. Yet if you know that none can escape the universal laws, can you really define yourself as free?. If all our freedom is just due to us being too big to see universal rules dictating our actions. If our freedom is just noise that will never matter. Noise that will never be heard. Is it really freedom? ¡°so you¡­¡± ¡°Wiola, you don¡¯t have to worry. I won¡¯t steal your work. All Idras were like me¡± That was a lie. No Idra could come closer to 511. They were all mechanically and genetically accelerated but only 511 could build bombs when 8 years old, only 511 could fully use the AMS-111. 511 was the only Idra capable of flying the NDU alone. She was the only one that improved the omni-cure so fast and so much to become a normal medicine. However she always felt inferior to her sisters and in her eyes she was far from enough to be at level with them. Wiola was not scared of any other Idra, or the concept of Idra itself. She was scared of 511 as her scientific intuition seemed to have no limits. ¡°enough with your intellectual exchange. Want to do something stupid?¡± asked Scilla. ¡°sure¡± replied Idra. Guided by Scilla they walked to the lake shore. ¡°Wiola and I use to do this a lot. We picked up small stones and tossed them into the lake¡­ like¡­ this¡± Scilla piked up a flat rocks and tossed it into the water. The small stone bounced twice before sinking. She forget to tell that the purpose was to make the stone bounce. Idra due to pure causality saw something else. Where Scilla¡¯s stone bounced there was a fish underneath. Of course she thought that killing fishes was the objective as just launching rocks into a lake seemed pointless. So before the fish could run too far she picked up few stones and tossed them with all her suit force toward the fish. The AMS-111 generate so much power that some rocks split at the impact. Then blood coloured the water as the mangled corpse rose to the surface. ¡°what did I won?¡± asked Idra joyfully. ¡°that¡­ that¡¯s not the¡­ purpose. Why did you kill the fish?¡± ¡°were you not trying to kill the fish?¡± ¡°no! I¡­ I can¡¯t even see them. But I guess I forgot to tell the objective. You pick up flat rocks and you try to make them bounce as much as you can. Got it?¡± ¡°got it. So no fish hunting?¡± ¡°nope, no fish hunting¡± ¡°and if it¡¯s not a fish?¡± ¡°neither in that case, just bouncing rocks¡± ¡°can I try to hit peoples that are swimming around?¡± ¡°nope.¡± ¡°uff¡± Tossed rock after tossed rock and several meaningless conversation later it was time to head back. They had several hours before darkness yet they choose to get moving as Idra expressed her desire to look around the city. ¡°Idra, it¡¯s time to go¡± said Scilla looking back at Idra that was still by the shore. ¡°Wiola wait a second. Idra isn¡¯t following us¡± Walking back she observed Idra walking closer to the shore. She always kept herself at least at 1 metre form it, yet now her feet were almost into the lake water. Then Idra crouched and pushed her hands into the water. I thought she didn¡¯t like water. I guess it was just due to the suit¡­ but it seems fine to me. ¡°Idra? What are you¡­ (doing)¡± Idra¡¯s suit spiked. The goo rebuilt itself into several spikes all around Idra¡¯s arms and pointing at the water surface. Then as fast as they appeared those spike dispersed and the goo turned back to it¡¯s original state. Preoccupied Scilla moved closer and tapped on Idra¡¯s right shoulder. ¡°are you alright? Your suit spiked¡­¡± Idra pushed up as if she didn¡¯t even notice Scilla¡¯s presence to then turn to her and replied as if nothing strange was happening. ¡°yep. I¡­ I have a gift for you. Here open your hand¡± Scilla confused obliged to such request and soon after a small polished striped stone shaped like a heart was in her hand. On one side an S and on the other a I. She couldn¡¯t even say thank you that Idra already walked away. How cute. Wonder why she made this. I doubt it was the reason for the spikes. To pick a guess she doesn¡¯t like water but she needed it to make this heart. I should repay her. Back together Scilla proposed a new route home. ¡°I see that we have time so maybe we can stop to get some more pastries but then before going at Nuri¡¯s place we could stop by a second shop¡± ¡°which shop?¡± asked Wiola ¡°it¡¯s a surprise¡± Walking back toward the city Idra kept swapping hand to hold. By far she preferred to stick to Scilla left hand but some time she would also grab Wiola¡¯s hand holding both or completely swap to her. Their walk around the city however it was far from their usual standards. No Lean would stand in their way on the side-walk. Even the busiest streets would empty away as they pass. Some would even run away at the sight of the ¡°peaceful¡± Esterian walking like a kid hand in hand with them. Both Wiola and Scilla noticed such behaviour in their fellow citizens. They were far from pleased by it. They knew how Esterians instil fear among those that look at them, especially after the HQ accident, but running away across busy street risking to be run over by a car was excessive. Reached the pastry shop they received the same treatment. Even if the Lises sisters knew the owner for more than 2 decades, she couldn¡¯t help herself and duck under the counter as soon as she saw Idra. Idra however didn¡¯t seem bothered by it. ¡°woah the fuck is this place!? It¡¯s a sea of sugar constructs¡± well she seems happy so¡­ ¡°do you see something that you want to eat? I was thinking to buy more puffs for this evening and share them with Nuri?¡± ¡°can I also buy stuff?¡± ¡°of course¡­ just tell me what you want and I will buy it for you¡± ¡°why? Can¡¯t I buy it?¡± ¡°emh¡­ it¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s for the polished stone that you made for me¡± ¡°that was a gift. I don¡¯t need something back¡­¡± ¡°then I will gift you whatever you choose¡± ¡°mmh. Ok¡± Idra looked around until her eyes laid on some donuts. She was intrigued by their shape and bright colours. She asked for them and obliged to Scilla¡¯s request to wait a second outside as they paid. Upon her leaving the shop owner went back up to the counter. ¡°what the fuck? You have known us for more than 20 years.¡± ¡°Scilla, Wiola. Let me ask you. Why? Why did you go around with a demon? She will kill you just as she killed all those people at the Hakavor¡¯s base. She tried to kill our Liin...¡± ¡°she did not and you know that. Leire listen to me, she was defending our Liin against a traitor.¡± ¡°Some times I¡¯m scared too, but it¡¯s because she outsmarts me so easily. She is not a demon¡± said Wiola. Living more in contact with Idra and seeing how little is needed to have a positive interaction with her, she had to take her defence. ¡°traitor or not she is a faceless demon. One day she will rain hells upon us just like she massacred all those people. Even if they were all criminals it was not up to her to decided. What will she do if you become a criminal in her eyes? what if W(wiola)¡± ¡°ENOUGH! Take this fucking money, I hope you will choke on them¡± With rage Scilla stormed out of the store followed by Wiola. Yet as soon as she saw Idra waiting playing with a small stone on the side-walk, all her rage faded. ¡°something wrong?¡± ¡°no and here is your part. I asked for a different bag so it¡¯s yours and yours only. You don¡¯t have to share but if you don''t w (want)¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind sharing with you or Wiola¡± Wiola chuckled and petted Idra¡¯s head. She felt to be in the right. How could she not defend such harmless creature. ¡°what? Why are you also laughing?¡± ¡°nothing. Just wanted to¡± Walking toward the next secret destination didn¡¯t prove to be more pleasant than before. Scilla and Wiola were becoming more and more aware of their fellow Leans behaviour. Not be scared was impossible but at the same time such treatment was too much to tolerate. Even if scary it was thanks to the Esterians decision that they won the Dorxi extermination war losing only 25% of their soldiers. Without Esterians biological weapons such rate would have probably ended up with around 65% to 80% casualties. Esterians were their saviours. About 50 minutes before dusk they reached a new shop. This time it was one of the few ¡°nerdy¡± shops of the city. Their main products were comics, tabletop games, gaming merchandise and alike. This time when they got into the shop they were not alone. A few customers immediately ran out as they detected Idra¡¯s presence. Even the shop clerk ran away through the backdoor upon seeing her. This is fucking ridiculous. How could she not be affected by this shit show¡­? Looking at Idra however she saw something unexpected. She was happy. She was looking all over the place with excitement. In contrast to her first trip to such shop when she bought Wiola¡¯s presents, this time she was more at ease and could behave as she pleased. She immediately started walking around looking at whatever picked her attention. After few minutes she was back by Scilla side to ask for some information. ¡°why is this fully blank? And why are there more blank comics?¡± she pushed a comic that she picked up in front of Scilla¡¯s eye. It was not blank at all. It was drawn porn, she just couldn¡¯t see it. Scilla was embarrassed and even if the shop was empty she couldn¡¯t tell the truth. ¡°it¡¯s empty because it¡¯s for¡­ artist. It¡¯s to do your own drawing on it.¡± --lie detected-- ¡°ok.¡± I guess it¡¯s something that she doesn¡¯t feel comfortable telling me. Fair enough. Idra didn¡¯t press further and put back the comic. She looked around for more minutes and then come back with what she wanted. A ¡°kid¡± comic about surviving an apocalypse of dinosaurs as they were mysteriously revived out of nowhere. It was also the first volume. Idra seemed really exited about it. ¡°You like dinosaurs? I loved them when I was a kid too¡± ¡°what¡¯s a dinosaur? I like them because this one looks like a creature on my planet. And because they are big, who doesn¡¯t like big things that go loud?¡± Brutally smart and also without basilar knowledge. I guess she will go through a dinosaurs phase. Should I start looking up for fossils to gift them to her? Scilla petted Idra¡¯s head and walked toward the counter, hoping to make it work somehow as it was empty. She was doubting that they run away only because they feared her, but it was not time for that. ¡°oh, it¡¯s empty¡­ I guess the clerk is taking a break¡­ then don¡¯t mind if I do¡± Idra walked behind the counter and scanned her comic. She touched the cash register that printed out her receipt. ¡°did you find something to buy too? I can operate this thing for you¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine¡­ Wiola did you¡­ of course you did¡± Behind her Wiola was coming toward the register as she found a supplement for one of the many ttrpgs that she liked. Idra scanned the item and replied. ¡°miss that would be¡­ 40 UC, cash or card?¡± ¡°card¡± ¡°sure thing, here is the reader¡± Wiola laid her card on top and the cash register printed the receipt. ¡°stop fooling around. Let¡¯s get home before it¡¯s too dark¡± ¡°Yes boss¡±--¡±yes big sis¡± Walking back both Idra and Wiola put their books into Scilla¡¯s backpack as it was the only backpack they had. Idra however insisted to carry her own donuts. They were walking along side the lake shore as there was a pedestrian only zone and more importantly it was beautiful. The sun setting over the horizon reflecting its orange and red colours over the lake calm water was beautiful. They were at the edge of the lake, that was also the edge of the city, approaching the trails leading to the Ibarras farm when Idra stopped. She stared toward the forest along the dark shores of the lake. Then without warnings she rushed in full speed. ¡°what the fuck. Wiola follow me¡± Scilla started running as well but couldn¡¯t keep up and immediately lost track of Idra into the darkness. Then a small blue light with a holographic arrow pointing toward a distant bluish dot further into the woods. Idra made a trail to follow wherever she was going. Several minutes later they reached a small beach that was part of one of the several parks around the lake. Saryvona city connected to itself several kilometre of shores in the form of parks. Placing trails, streets laps and all sort of commodities to keep the natural beauty but also allowing walking to increase tourism. They reached a bay that was concealed by the thick forest. The streets lights were off, probably broken, and without light there was no real way to tell were to go to get back into the city. On the shore illuminated by the dim dusk light they saw a Lean child crying and Idra beside the kid giving her one of her donuts. Strangely the kid was not running away. ¡°look child. Reinforcement have arrived. Scilla get here and give me a hand¡± The kid was confused but Scilla was even more confused. Nonetheless she still got closer. Idra kept speaking to the child as Scilla detected an overwhelming sweet perfume in the air. ¡°I told you that my panther was coming. This is Scilla. She works for the police, show her your badge, so now once you are more calm we will bring you home. Ok?¡± the child nodded and looked at Scilla. ¡°oh well¡­ I¡¯m¡­¡± Scilla was hesitant as she was not a police officer. However Idra pushed her hand in one of her pocket pulling out Scilla¡¯s wallet. She opened it and let the kid watch. Something, probably the same thing that materialise the blue arrows also materialise a fake police ID. Then Idra put it back. ¡°see. Told you she was coming¡± Idra gave the donuts to Scilla and picked up the kid that didn¡¯t rebel. She placed her on top of her shoulders. ¡°now let¡¯s go home¡± Wiola that finally reach the same bay asked. ¡°the hell is happening? And what is this¡­ this¡­ never mind. We should help her¡± She changed tone immediately¡­ this must be the effect of the perfume. Seeing it at work is fucking scary. With Wiola by her side Scilla reached again Idra that was already walking back toward the city. She was playing around mimicking an old airplane sound while spinning and jumping around. She was cheering up the young girl. ¡°Idra were are we going?¡± ¡°we are bringing the kid back. She was lost. So¡­ we will be late¡± Fortunately for them the walk was not too long and soon they reached a small house at the edge of the city. Outside a police car and 2 Leans speaking with the officers. A new intense sweet aroma filled the air. Those Leans didn¡¯t run away neither. They gave back the child but before going away Idra stopped the kid and lowered herself to her size to speak face to face. ¡°hey kid. Take this¡­¡± Idra gave the kid the donuts that she was left with. ¡°also do you like dinosaurs?¡± the kid nodded. ¡°then I have a gift for you.¡± saying so she took Scilla¡¯s backpack and gave the kid her comics that she just bought. ¡°don¡¯t lose it. And don¡¯t lose yourself around again. Get always back home before it¡¯s dark and don¡¯t stress out your parents. Ok?¡± the kid happily nodded again as her parents thanked Idra as much as they could. Idra was as usual the first one to walk away. Scilla walked up to her followed by Wiola. ¡°why did you give the donuts to the kid? You also gave her your comic book¡± ¡°to replace the scary memory with a good one. Children are the future and they must always be protected.¡± Idra¡¯s voice was flat. No tonality, almost robotic. ¡°but you could have done the same without giving up your things. You even played with her. She was laughing all the way here. There was no¡­¡± ¡°better be safe than sorry. How I feel is not relevant. What matters is the kid, not me.¡± Scilla stopped for a moment. Idra¡¯s shoulders had become massive. She cared a lot about those items yet she gave them away for a kid that doesn¡¯t even belong to her species. At the same time she felt sadness. What else could such young creature be carrying on her shoulders? Was she always the last? What if her feeling matters to me? She was so happy when we bought the donuts and also her comic. I can¡¯t believe that she is not sad. She was also treated like shit by everybody. And I¡¯m fucking positive that what we saw saw racism not just fear. ¡°Wiola, do you think she is sad?¡± Wiola was beside her and she was confused. The effect of whatever Idra sent out was already fading on her. ¡°I don¡¯t know. But I¡¯m mostly confused to by neither the kid nor the others lean reacted. Everybody else shit themselves¡± ¡°do you think it was only fear?¡± ¡°I wish I could¡± even Wiola was not convinced. For years she believed that her species was better that the Droxi but now it was not looking like that. Little did they know that they were pitying a creature that few days before killed a baby whose crime was to have the wrong parent. ¡°Hey slowpokes are you coming or do I have to carry your asses back¡± said Idra as she was getting further and further away. ¡°we are coming!¡±. chapter 40c: WAWC Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 40c: WAWC Walking back to Ibarra¡¯s farm was quite. Idra replied when called but never engaged beyond, leaving a sour aftertaste to any conversation. Yet she didn¡¯t seem angry but absent. Almost as if she was hiding into her mind or maybe she was thinking too much about something. Either way nothing relevant came out of her mouth. Upon reaching the farmhouse they saw light coming from the restaurant and shadows of people inside. Rare customers. ¡°We will meet up tomorrow. Tell Nuria and Paz that they did a good work harvesting the flowers. Oh and more importantly don¡¯t disturb me. I have some work to do¡± Idra¡¯s voice was normal, as if she was just going on with her day. ¡°Idra you can come with us¡­¡± said Scilla. ¡°I know, but I don¡¯t want to. The flower harvest needs my intervention to be processed. See you tomorrow. Bye Wiola¡± ¡°bye¡± replied Wiola. Idra walked away toward the darkness that had already filled the field where she parked the NDU. ¡°you could have helped me a bit¡± said Scilla looking at Wiola. ¡°to what use? Whatever I could have said was not going to convince her. You couldn¡¯t stop her, what makes you think that I could? Also she didn¡¯t seem angry nor hurt to me. As far as I can tell she doesn¡¯t like social interaction so I bet she prefers to spend her time alone¡­ doing whatever she is gonna do with her flowers.¡± Scilla sighed, she didn¡¯t want to part ways but Idra made sure to express her desire to be left to herself. ¡°it just pisses me off. I¡¯m sure she notice the others behaviours and I¡¯m positive she is hurt because she had to let go of what she wanted. She is amazing and all this dickheads around us only think of themselves. She alone provided more help to our society that whatever they will achieve with their entire life, yet they dare to offend her. To make her sad. Even the kid could have refused the gifts. Who the fuck goes so far from the city at sunset?¡± Wiola didn¡¯t say anything. She just placed her hand on Scilla¡¯s back stating her supporting position. Actions usually say more than thousands of words. Those rules usually apply even more to logical creatures. Inside the farmhouse they talked a bit with both Paz and Nuria, they eat and in the end went to bed. Scilla was the first to prepare and was already under the covers when Wiola entered the room after preparing herself for the night. Looking at her sister face she could tell that Scilla was worried, so after joining in bed her she spoke. ¡°do you have a contact? Like a phone number for Idra?¡± ¡°yes why?¡± ¡°why don¡¯t you call her? I can see on your face that you won¡¯t be able to sleep well¡­¡± ¡°you don¡¯t mind?¡± ¡°I¡¯m the one suggesting it. So go on. I will read some news on the phone¡± Almost as if she was waiting for Wiola¡¯s approval all along, Scilla picked up her space-phone and initiated the call. Soon after Idra replied. ¡°Hi Scilla? Why are you calling?¡± ¡°nothing¡­¡± ¡°then I will hang up¡­¡± ¡°WAIT! It¡¯s not nothing.¡± ¡°then what is it?¡± ¡°are you ok? I mean not sad, ang...(angry)¡± ¡°yep. Why should I be sad?¡± ¡°well you were not treated fairly and you gave up on your food¡­¡± ¡°Scilla heard me out. I don¡¯t care. I care not of your species nor a care about how they treat me. I also renounce spontaneously to my belongings. I don¡¯t regret my actions, I can always buy more stuff.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll believe you, just because it¡¯s you. So¡­ what are the flowers for?¡± ¡°you don¡¯t want to know¡± ¡°what if I do?¡± ¡°fair enough. However I won¡¯t tell you via phone. Don¡¯t care if it¡¯s encrypted. If you want to know come to my ship tomorrow¡± ¡°I guess I will. Good night¡± ¡°night¡± The following morning Scilla decided to wake up ¡°early¡±, borrowed Nuria¡¯s car and went in the city. She bought again the same donuts and comic that Idra wanted the day before to surprise her. At her return Wiola was up and she was having a light breakfast with Nuria. ¡°did Idra came in?¡± ¡°nope¡± said Nuria. ¡°good. I bet she went to sleep really late so I¡¯m going to wake her up. Don¡¯t touch the donuts, those are not yours¡± ¡°we were not going to do that anyway¡± With haste Scilla left the farmhouse and went inside the NDU that accepted her. She walked her usual path and once reached the main connector Idra¡¯s voice greeted her. ¡°hi¡± ¡°good morning, lab?¡± ¡°yes, is it already morning?¡± Scilla walked in to see Idra busy with some schematic at her computer. ¡°yep it¡¯s morning, so what are you doing with the flower??¡± ¡°your plants contains quite a lot of inorganic materials. In particularly this¡­¡± Idra shower on her terminal a contorted structure that was a complex chain molecule. ¡°totally useless for most, but not for me. I can line them up fairly easily. Once I produce a reticle I will dope it with what I call switching mechanical cells, then a second doping process to add inside the reticle sub elements that I already possess. In short I will replenish some of my goo which is running low as it has some components that are consumed with usage.¡± ¡°oh, you were right. Whatever is given to you will become a weapon¡± said Scilla while chuckling ¡°told you. Also as I want to be honest, the flowers subparts could also be used for something else that I¡¯m experimenting on. However I sincerely doubt you want to know about it.¡± ¡°is it so horrible?¡± ¡°for your standards, yes it is. For me is just an experiment that may partially succeed with the flowers help.¡± ¡°can you tell me just a bit?¡± ¡°sure. I¡¯m trying to build a wall of tentacular chains to hopefully contain in a solid form the metabolic waste that I designed as WAWC-1 which stands for Whispers Activation Waste Construct. In short if I could produce a solid form of the by-product of the Whispers that flows in my body I could make bullets with 100% fatality rate on any leaving being in existence.¡± ¡°please no. I saw that that shit does. You made a promise¡± ¡°indeed. I promised to never use animals as tester. Never said I was going to stop experimenting¡± ¡°Iris, we have been through this. If you make bullets you will use them on animals. It¡¯s the same shit¡± ¡°no it¡¯s not. I¡¯m not experimenting on them. I know the effects and I¡¯m using them to kill. It may seems like a minor difference but it¡¯s not.¡± Scilla grabbed Iris¡¯s shoulders from both side forcing Iris to look back at her. ¡°what I want is that you don¡¯t weaponise this shit. You said you wanted to know a way to cure it, in case¡­ I don¡¯t know in case of some accidents I suppose¡­¡± Iris¡¯s reply however was going to bring her back to feel the same primordial fear as when they met and when she saw the WAWC-1 at work for the first time. Iris¡¯s voice was overflowing with a sadistic happiness and unmoral excitement. ¡°Scilla Scilla, but time has passed. Now I know. I¡¯m the cure and I¡¯m the source. I can no longer produce weak variants but I can produce the pure form at will, after all it¡¯s a by-product of the Whispers activity. I can also dispel it at will. How? Don¡¯t know yet, it just works. So as it exist only if I exist, I can weaponise it as I please. Can you imaging how devastating they could be? One bullet and a soldier is totally dead. If the reaction is an explosive uncontrolled expansion it could infect nearby living creature generating a chain reaction.¡± ¡°THIS IS WHAT I WANTED TO STOP! How could you even think to weaponise that shit. You understand the devastating implications and you don¡¯t care? I don¡¯t give a fuck if you can dispel it like some magical shit. It¡¯s too dangerous and horrible to be used. It serves no purpose if not to inflict pain.¡± ¡°but it¡¯s not internationally banned.¡± This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°how could they even fucking ban it? Nobody knows about it except me and you. That is why I want you to stop. Stop with the experiments, stop with the bullets and whatever else you could even think about. Seal it away¡­¡± ¡°NO!¡± Iris replied angrily, her voice was closer to a teenager that has just been grounded but nevertheless she was opposing. ¡°it¡¯s my discovery, my substance and I do whatever the fuck I want with it.¡± ¡°Stop being a crying cunt. The WAWC is too dangerous even for you, it¡¯s too fast¡­¡± ¡°shut the fuck up! It¡¯s mine!. Making weapons defines me, it is who I¡¯m. I¡¯m not telling you what to do with your life and hobbies. I didn¡¯t judge you for your career choices nor your lack of education. So stay out of my life choice, my work and my passion.¡± The WAWC-1 is just too dangerous. If it touches somebody like me, or Wiola. She won¡¯t have time to react that we will be already gone. The chain reaction that she loves so much could annihilate life on entire continents. We don¡¯t know how that shit works nor we know why such reaction to living matters. Make a weapon out of something that you know nothing is madness. No matter what I must stop her, for mine but also her good. ¡°you are giving me no choice. You told me that Esterians like to be possessed, that you like to be possessed, so be it. I forbid you from doing anything with the WAWC!¡± ¡°FOTTITI (fuck you)! It¡¯s only a suggestion. I give no shit about it. Get the fuck out. I don¡¯t want to talk with you. Especially not today.¡± Iris started to push away Scilla that couldn¡¯t resist as she was inside her suit. Losing terrain Scilla had to think fast for a solution as she was already walking down the stairs into the hangar. ¡°WAIT! What if we make and agreement? An exchange?¡± Iris stopped. She was going to let her speak. ¡°ok, so I don¡¯t want you to do anything with the WAWC. You can weaponise whatever else you want. Do whatever you want with other shit. I won¡¯t oppose even if you burn people alive. But not the WAWC. So what can I exchange this ban for?¡± Iris was understandably angry and so was reflecting in her voice that was harsh and hard. ¡°you have nothing other than yourself to offer me. I¡¯m stuck on this rock only because of you. I don¡¯t care about your job, your hobbies or links. You can do whatever you want. It¡¯s none of my business.¡± She moved forward with the intention to push Scilla out again. ¡°wait a moment please. How¡­ how about myself? I¡­ you can have me? I will¡­ I don¡¯t know. I will let you kidnap me, bring me on Weeping Sky as you planned¡­¡± but Iris didn¡¯t stop walking toward her. ¡°fuck I really don¡¯t want to say it but. I¡¯LL BE YOUR SLAVE! I¡¯ll do whatever you want, if all I can give is myself than I will. Take me.¡± Scilla stood still opening her arms. Iris stopped and sat on the end of the staircase. ¡°why? I know how hard it is for you just to think of becoming a slave, so why? Tell me what is going on inside your head.¡± Scilla sat too on the hangar floor, few steps below Iris, back against the cold NDU hull. ¡°I¡¯m afraid. I¡¯m scared and confused. How much WAWC is needed to kill a person?¡± ¡°5 molecules per kg of mass¡± ¡°mh. It¡¯s the most powerful¡­ poison or whatever that has ever been discovered. What would happen if I come in contact with it?¡­¡± ¡°it won¡¯t ha...(happen)¡± but Iris stopped mid sentence. She let Scilla go on. ¡°it doesn¡¯t matter how fast your brain is, how good your dispel command is. If that thing touches me, by the time the light signal reaches you I would probably already be dead or damaged beyond your capabilities. You can¡¯t re-spawn, this is not a game. This apply to everybody that you could care about but that are not you. You don¡¯t even know how it works yet you want to weaponise it. If words get out there will be war. Nobody will feel safe with something like that around, something that they can¡¯t even study. I don¡¯t want a new war, I don¡¯t want to go to a new one. But more importantly I don¡¯t want you to go to war.¡± ¡°you can¡¯t avoid conflict. Peace is an illusion of the deluded. To keep peace you must fight, but I understand you. I was¡­ I was to blinded by my excitement, my own¡­ need to build. You are right, if the WAWC infects you I won¡¯t be able to react. It expands underneath then explodes on the surface. When the light waves reached my body it would be already too late. Sorry, I will stop any experimentation and dispel the few substance I have.¡± ¡°thanks, at least we reach an agreement. So I don¡¯t have to be enslaved right?¡± ¡°no you don¡¯t, but if I can ask¡­¡± ¡°go on¡± ¡°I don¡¯t thrust Dhalia. Your Liin is fine, she is smart. But Dhalia will betray us, she will betray me. When the time comes, no matter what, can you take my side?¡± ¡°I promise that I will defend you no matter what.¡± ¡°thanks, it means a lot to me¡± ¡°no problem. I follow Dhalia mostly out of convenience, but I can see her limits. Seeing that we are confined her, can I ask you something as well?¡± ¡°yeah¡± ¡°ok then¡­ how mush possessive can I be? How does it work? Is it like a tradition? Something that most like so they follow such concept of possessiveness or¡­.¡± Iris laughed as the conversation moved to more light tones. ¡°so it¡¯s all based on unwritten but also written rules. By default the male component in a couple has some decisional power over the female companion. In my society you could fit both the male or female role based on your partner. Considering that I¡¯m a woman then you are the man in our duo. As part of your powers you can enforce me to dress more modestly but can¡¯t force obscenity nor humiliation. You can¡¯t force me to dress less than what I want but you can obligate me to cover up more. Esterian society is¡­ polarised. Women are allowed to do things that man can¡¯t and vice-versa. For instance I can forbid you to touch any existing female humanoid. You can almost do the same by blocking me to have physical contact with males. There are others stuffs but I don¡¯t remember them all. Most of them comes naturally if the relationship is healthy.¡± ¡°the fuck? That seems a hell of shit. I don¡¯t want that.¡± Iris laughed again. ¡°you don¡¯t have to worry. Even if some of those rules are laws that doesn¡¯t make my life worst, because as I said I can also enforce shit upon you. But you see in general there are no abuses as the couples that forms are so stable that there is no use of them. Also our legal system heavily punishes abuses. You will understand with some practice, but in general their purpose is to allow a more modest and less promiscuous society. Which is good¡± ¡°I still don¡¯t like it. So I won¡¯t use any of that shit¡± ¡°well you tried just a moment ago and that was exactly how they are meant to work. Use them to stop bad shit to happen and initiate a forced conversation to reach an agreement. The Founder was a really smart and wise man. I wonder if he had ever fought with his wife.¡± ¡°for sure he must had. Nobody is perfect.¡± ¡°true.¡± ¡°well I guess another fight resolved successfully. Would you mind having breakfast with me?¡± ¡°of course not.¡± Scilla stood up but instead of moving toward the exit she moved toward Iris, grabbed her and lifted her up. ¡°what are you doing?!?!¡± ¡°can I carry you?¡± ¡°how would you carry me?¡± ¡°like a big potato sack, why?¡± ¡°then give me a second¡± Scilla put back Iris that rushed upstairs and got back few minutes later. The only change she could notice was an extension of the insignias that she usually wears. Instead of only having a couple of rectangular pieces of cloth dangling from her pelvis both on the front and back, now she had 2 additional pieces that were shorter but larger covering the sides. The totality of 4 pieces were connected to each other forming a skirt of insignias. ¡°before we go¡­ can I ask you something?¡± Iris voice was hesitant, uncertain. She opened her helmet to show her yellow glowing eyes and plain mouth. She was concerned about something. ¡°if it can change that sad expression into a smile, then ask me anything¡± replied Scilla smiling. ¡°are you afraid of me?¡± Scilla stopped. She knew that she could lie, but to what use. Iris was going to detect it. ¡°...yes¡­ sometimes you terrify me¡­ sometimes you scare me¡­ most of the time thou, you make me smile. You make me happy¡­ and also angry. You could me my last foe, fighting to the death against you would be an honour and memorable match. Yet I know you will never harm me. Something else that you want to know princess?¡± Iris eyes lit up as she detected no lies. She smiled happily without care to conceal her fangs. ¡°not for now, but thanks¡± then she put her arms forward and stood still waiting to be lifted. Scilla placed her on her right shoulder keeping her up by her legs indeed like a big potato sack. ¡°why did you swap to a skirt? Not that I don¡¯t like it but just to know¡± ¡°Nothing relevant. I just wanted to as it¡¯s a friendlier outfit.¡± No more question asked and Scilla carried her girlfriend to the farmhouse where Wiola and Nuria were waiting. Some minutes later Scilla was entering the farmhouse carrying Idra. Due to her positioning Idra couldn¡¯t see where Scilla was carrying her. Scilla walked in while Wiola and Nuria stared at the strange event. Then she placed Idra down at the table were she previously left the new donuts and the comic. ¡°tada! Those are for you¡± said Scilla pointing at her gifts. Idra was taken aback. She didn¡¯t know what to do and this gave Scilla some time to sit beside her. The table she chose had a similar configuration as the NDU kitchen. Two benches and a table in between with the short side attached to the wall. Getting in she pushed Idra toward the corner which she seemed to prefer. ¡°I¡­ are they really for me?¡± asked Idra. ¡°yep, good deeds should be rewarded¡± ¡°what good did I made?¡± Idra seemed confused. Hard to tell if it was just a facade to be praised or she didn¡¯t really understand. ¡°just take them¡± ¡°thanks¡± Idra briefly hugged Scilla to then proceed to open the donuts box. Aside from them Nuria spoke to Wiola. She was seeing her best friend way to close to a faceless that in theory should have already cut away her face. ¡°are they a thing?¡± ¡°not that I know. Scilla didn¡¯t tell me anything. But she has been close to me too yesterday. I guess this is how an Esterian behaves with friends.¡± ¡°probably¡± ¡°HEY you two, get here. I have a donut for you¡± exclaimed Idra. While they are getting closer she pulled out 6 donuts. 2 with yellow glaze, 3 red and 1 purple. There were more in the box. Idra picked up a red donut and the purple one. ¡°Wiola the red is yours, Nuria you have the purple one¡± ¡°thanks¡±¡ª¡±thanks, why mine is purple?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what flavours they are, so yesterday I picked base on eyes colour. Wiola and Scilla has red eyes. You have purple eyes like Paz.¡± then Wiola asked out of curiosity. ¡°so you have yellow eyes?¡± ¡°yep, it¡¯s rare among Humans but I have yellow eyes. We have more eye colours than Leans. Being stuck between shades of red or purple is kinda boring isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°well it¡¯s no like we can get more colours.¡± replied Scilla. ¡°also true¡± ¡°so what are you gonna do for today?¡± asked Nuria. ¡°don¡¯t know, maybe look more around. It¡¯s been so many years¡± said Scilla ¡°yeah a second walk would be good¡± added Wiola. ¡°you will go with them?¡± asked Nuria again looking at Idra. ¡°no. I will eat, read the comic and assist you with the preparation for this evening¡± ¡°oh¡­ a helping hand is always welcome. By the way, what is your holiday about?¡± ¡°it¡¯s Idra¡¯s discovery day. Marks the day sister 115 got release to the public. Now it¡¯s all about me as I¡¯m the only living Idra.¡± ¡°what the fuck, that¡¯s so cool, you have a holiday all about you¡± exclaimed Nuria. She ignored the implication. Having a national holiday dedicated to you was no small achievement. It was another indicator of how impactful her existence or at least Idras¡¯s existences had been to Esterians. chapter 41c: fire Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 41c: fire Upon finishing their donuts Scilla and Wiola left the farmhouse toward the city. Idra moved from the restaurant zone to the living room to read in peace her comic. She was surprisingly slow and she stayed focused on the comic form a little more than an hour. After than she went into the kitchen to ¡°assist¡± Nuria. ¡°hi, what are you going?¡± ¡°I¡¯m preparing the meat. You can¡¯t just toss the whole creature into the fire¡± ¡°you can¡¯t?¡± ¡°nope you can¡¯t. We won¡¯t even cook on direct fire so it would be completely raw if we don¡¯t cut it into smaller pieces. You wanted to help right?¡± ¡°yes¡± ¡°then grab a knife and come here. Do you have experience as a butcher?¡± ¡°not really, but I know my way with knives¡± ¡°good enough. So you have to divide the creature into major components. So start by cutting away the limbs¡­¡± Idra didn¡¯t really listened to whatever Nuria was saying. She looked at the creature she was already working on and with frightful speed and precision mimicked her. She had to wait from time to time to look at what Nuria was cutting next and how as she usually finished before her. Less than 30 minutes later Nuria finished and turned around to see that Idra had ¡°just¡± finished as well. ¡°whoa, that¡¯s impressive. Your fucking good. I would have hired you if I had money, and a stable supply, and a stable clientele but I guess¡­¡± ¡°you know you can improve your income right?¡± ¡°how come?¡± ¡°start to produce food that you can actually sell as local food. Build up a small shop section at the entrance and let people buy what your farm produce. You can also provide a limited amount of bedding so you should take advantage of that and attract tourists that are looking for a more natural vacation.¡± ¡°it¡¯s not that simple¡­ I¡¯m alone with grandma, we don¡¯t have that many money¡­¡± --lie detected-- ¡°lies. I provided you with money. You are just afraid of a possible failure. You are scared to lose all, but going on as you are now is slowly killing your business. You couldn¡¯t even fix your tractor. Is this the Ibarra¡¯s fighting spirit? Stay still hoping to not drown?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not letting you lecture me. I know that you are trying to help me only to score points with Scilla and become her new best friend¡± Idra was partially confused. Nuria was her competition, not for Scilla¡¯s heart but for her time and spot as best friend. She of course wanted to stole it but at the same time most of her help was just because things were annoying her. ¡°nah, you think I have to buy my friendship. Really?¡± ¡°than do care to give me money? Why a new leg?¡± ¡°the leg is quite self explanatory. Yours was annoying me. So I changed it. No more irregular steps around. For the overpriced flower. I decided to give more in order to improve my relationship with you. I had to make sure that you would cook for me and that you had enough money to close for this evening. That¡¯s it. It was not even that much money¡± ¡°not THAT much. 50K is not much. How much disposable money do you have?¡± ¡°don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t really use money. But I own a solar system of 11 planets.¡± ¡°what the fuck. How¡­ I¡­ is it even possible to own a planet?¡± ¡°inside the tech union? Yes. It¡¯s technically possible. Is it physically achievable? no. mine is a special case. But don¡¯t worry you will know soon. Soon soon, like this evening¡± Many hours later, the Lises sisters were back and Paz returned from her farming work. Idra gave her the donut that she bought for her. They prepared the fire together. They placed it on the back of the farmhouse where they already had all the equipment for a good barbecue done in indirect heat from the combusted wood. Nearby there was the door connected to the living room that was also the dining room. They lit the fire and chat while the wood was burning. For the main part it was Scilla, Wiola and Nuria remembering their past and the barbecue that they did together in the past. ¡°looking at the fire remembers me the days we spent here¡± said Scilla. ¡°yeah, at that time I still had both legs¡± ¡°we can always cook the one that you have to make it even¡± ¡°shut it¡± ¡°I like fire. It remind me of the village and cities I pillaged and left to burn. It''s just missing the screams¡± intrude Idra. She didn¡¯t gasp the mood, but they were all ¡°friends¡± so they laughed. ¡°what? You didn¡¯t pillage villages?¡± continued Idra. ¡°nah, we don¡¯t. But I bet it would sound fun to burn alive a Droxi¡± said Nuria. Her voice was filled with scorn. ¡°I can confirm. They scream really loud and smell good when burning. It was their only good quality¡± said Scilla. She had experience with that. More laughs. ¡°oh, you set a city on fire. Didn''t know that.¡± said Wiola. ¡°really? I was sure that I already told you the story of Bakala strike. O well, time for some military stories.¡± Scilla then proceed to narrate one of the many battles that she faced. The Bakala strike was one of the last missions she did before the usage of biological weapons. At the time she had already moved up several ranks. For the most part it was nothing special. A standard siege with orbital artillery, missile strikes and then an infantry occupation. The only particular moment was when they discovered an underground leftover of the subway. ¡°so we were all in formation. I was guiding my powered infantry unit. We finally get to the hospital and we started our extermination. But mid killing I notice that something was missing. There were way less people than what I predicted. So I ordered my squad to scatter around and look for some secret shit. Then guess what?¡± ¡°they were hiding in the hospital emergency generator room?¡± said Wiola. ¡°nah, but close enough. One of the soldiers went into the room a notice some medical equipment freshly used and left behind. But there was only his way to get back. So she looked around and found a secret passage that brought us into a piece of the subway that apparently didn¡¯t collapse with the strikes. We took the high resolution scanner and bingo. Around 100 vermin hiding in the collapsed tunnel. We couldn¡¯t let them live, but for sure they had the choke point under guard. So we just filled everything with flammable gas. We run away and boom from our safety point. The flames eat all and we could hear their screams as they burned to ash. If we were not risking our live I would have just stood there hearing them over and over again¡± they all seemed pleased by such tale of atrocity. ¡°if you burned people alive, why did you make a strange face when I told you that I did the same?¡± asked Idra. ¡°because you burned some innocent undeveloped species. Droxis are all but innocent creatures. All the shit you could do to them, except that one that you know, are more than fair.¡± Idra was not convinced but she agreed. They were enemy and enemy should not be left alive. Enemy should never be treated as equal, as persons. Story time was interrupted by the fire collapsing and dying. It was time for some old style cooking. Unable to tell when something was ready to be eaten Idra buzzed around looking what Nuria and Scilla were doing. Of course they tried to keep her engaged with the cooking process, but she was hardly understanding anything. All the part about starting at lower temperature and ¡°when ready¡± move to a hotter zone of the grill to develop a sealing crust was dark magic to her. Which was particularly ironic as she could be seen as a dark magician herself. Soon their feast started, mostly based on Karakani¡¯s meat with some fresh vegetables. You know for degreasing. While eating Scilla asked. ¡°so this is your holiday, what do we do next?¡± ¡°mmh. If you want I made some hats. They become popular recently and people started wearing them for celebration. And¡­ I had a video. As far as I know my kind watches some documentary about Idras. Each years we made a new one¡­ Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Like the self proclaimed comedian of the family Wiola jumped in. ¡°I want the hat!¡± ¡°I made one for everybody¡± ¡°I would love to watch the documentary¡± said Scilla. She was not really fond of documentaries but that was a special occasion. She was going to spend some time chilling with Idra doing something that she apparently likes, and she was also going to gain some information. ¡°really?¡± ¡°sure. We all would like to watch it right?¡± ¡°why not¡± said Paz while both Wiola and Nuria nodded enthusiastically. ¡°even if it¡¯s the one from the past year? I can¡¯t really communicate so far in real time¡± ¡°yep¡± About 50 minutes later with their bellies that were about to explode, the group sat down on the living room couches. Idra as she was particularly small sat in between Scilla and Wiola, while Paz and Nuria sat on a different couch. They looked at the TV that almost as if it was alive turned on. Idra¡¯s symbol flashed on screen a couple of times then dramatic music. A large strange room slowly become clear as the darkness faded. It was a semicircular room with positions all over. It was clearly the Esterian Tech-Union parliament or something alike. The half circle was filled with people. Each chair was occupied. The video however censored their entire head with a black cube and also their names were not translated from Estir. They were not wearing armours so they could see their strange clothing. They had a lot of writing on them and a lot of accessory pieces of cloth hanging around with more writings on them. Strangely there were not that many people for a technocracy. Probably around 400. In front of the semi circumference there was an enclosed structure with few chairs and a double door with scanners to enter. On the side a second smaller zone designed as ¡°remnants¡± there only 3 positions and 3 people in armour. They were Nixie 112, Likho 52 and Baubas 98. The other remnants that Idra mentioned. Then a female mechanical and aseptic voice, like those of a train station, announced. ¡°Idra 510 Weeping Sky has joined the Supreme Council. Idra 506 Weeping Sky has joined the Supreme Council.¡± the camera moved toward the entrance where the 2 dark figure walked in. They were unnaturally silent and moved toward the enclosed space. The door scanned each one and holographic Idra¡¯s banners popped along the walls while inside the enclosed zone 2 chairs lit up with their numbers. The present were all standing until the Idras sat on their chair. Then 510 and 506 spoke as one. ¡°We have a message. We are the last one. We completed our role. We are no longer needed. Our time has come. Your time has arrived. There will be no more Idras. We have done our job. You have to keep working. For our Founder will you must keep going. For our Founder will you must walk with your legs. It was an honour. It was a pleasure. Don¡¯t cry. Don¡¯t despair. We will always be with you. Don¡¯t forget. Don¡¯t forget what we fought for. Far beyond our limits we reached. Even further you have to get. If all fails. We will be back. The way to the never ending cry will be open. But not today. Not now. Farewell brothers. Farewell sisters. Be proud. Be prouf of being Esterians.¡± All the present were crying. It was the end of the Idras. Then a sudden cut. Now there was a room, clearly a television studio with a man walking between images of Idra¡¯s doing heroic deeds of war and policing. ¡°and it was precisely with that words that the Idras left our lives. Of course at the time the news cause a lot of fear, a lot of confusion and sadness. They were our parachute if things went wrong. They had been our guides for decades, and they were just gone.¡± The images moved to several statues. They were all Idras statues. Massive floor of flowers were around them. People gathered around those statues to remember them. To show their respect and feelings. ¡°the following years were peaceful, we kept going as they asked us. But something was always missing. As the time passed our hopes fades. We didn¡¯t want a new ¡®Idra¡¯. We were easily standing on our feet. But how could we enjoy what we built knowing that those who helped the most were not with us? Could not receive our gratitude and see what they work so hard to get. Then, almost 3 years later¡­¡± The scene moved to some amateur video recorded with a phone. A cloudy sky and then a loud bang. The man recording was with a woman and they were speaking. Looking at the sky trying to gasp what was that sound. ¡°LOOK HONEY LOOK AT THAT! ISN¡¯T THAT¡± ¡°AN NDU!¡± Then the engine scream reached them. Breaking through the clouds Idra¡¯s ship was approaching the ground. 4 rail guns out and 8 Hypera system ready to fire along the open missiles bay on top. The NDU retracted the 2 rail guns on the bottom and approached what looked like a plaza. It¡¯s movement were not precise, quite the opposite. The Ship was going too fast so Idra pulled the front up and went full throttle giving the ship too much thrust. She had to fly around circulating the plaza just 10 meters above the buildings. Once aligned with the longest side she lowered the landing gear. She was lowering herself correctly and she was about to touch the ground but this time the forward thrust was too much. Seeing the end of the plaza approaching fast she pulled full up putting the NDU vertically and using the thrusters to fight off the gravity pull. She was so close to the ground that the stone slabs composing the plaza pavement melted under her back main engines. She tried again and as they say third time the charm, finally the NDU landed. Wiola was laughing like crazy and Scilla couldn¡¯t really keep it to herself letting out a small laugh as well. Seeing how clumsy she was before was really funny, at least to them. Idra lightly hit them both in the belly. ¡°I was inexperienced. You would have done worst¡± then their focus moved back to the documentary as the conductor spoke again while the video kept going. ¡°we couldn¡¯t believe our eyes. Our prayers were heard. We could prove ourself worth, but we were wrong, oh¡­ how much wrong.¡± The phone carrier moved closer. He and his companion were not the only one. Soon a crowd of people flock the plaza, waiting to see who was going to get off the ship. Policeman were arriving as well, along side all kind of security. Then the dark cubical structure, noise, a lot of noise while the presents were in awe. In a flash 12 droids, 8 heavy walkers and 16 flying armed drones emerged from the darkness, with them Idra. Rifle in hand and goo tentacle all around she was visibility confused. Looking around as the crowd clapped and exulted at her appearance. Back to the studio with the man walking among other videos, mostly from cellphones, capturing the same event but from different perspective. ¡°what you saw was the first record of Idra 511 Weeping Sky. Something that nobody would have ever predicted, something that nobody could have ever predicted if not the Founder himself.¡± Then the video moved to a high definition recording of 511 first contact. She was in full view of the camera, and her unicity was evident. ¡°we never saw anything even slightly similar to Idra 511. Her armour was alive, breathing with her. Her machines fused in a hive mind and her actions guided by obscure intentions¡± the narrator went silent letting the video speak for itself. Idra was standing looking around along her machines. She would point her gun at whatever moved but never shot. By comparison she was taller, probably around 190cm or more with goo everywhere. Tentacles kept forming and launching in the air as if they were probing what was around. Then a policeman moved closer and read what the insignias were telling him. ¡°good morning miss Idra 511 Weeping Sky, I¡¯m the officer in charge of this district. You seem unfamiliar with the place. Would you mind a guided tour?¡­¡± Idra nodded. And started walking before the officer toward a direction. She was going straight to a shop that was facing the plaza. It sold several things but among them there were several snow globes. She was clearly going for them but as the crowd opened a passage for her, Idra jumped into it. The cameramen had to run in and see what was happening. Idra had floored a woman and she was menacing observing her. Her goo spiked and spiked, formed threads that merged back into it, then she stood back up carrying the woman with her. The present were shocked but not in fear. Idra lifted the woman and put her under her arm. The officer tried to speak to her. ¡°Miss Weeping Sky. I don¡¯t know what is happening but could you please put the lady back down?¡± Idra stared at the officer and then walked toward the police patrol car nearby. While walking the man tried to persuade her but it was to no use. Reached the car Idra had just to touch it to unlock and turn it on. She then pushed in the woman on the driver seat and then push her again to hop into the side seat. Some goo extended and locked the woman left arm in place. The officer had just the time to hop in on the back seats that Idra sprinted away full speed. ¡°what the fuck! What the fuck is happening!¡± yelled the officer among the screams of the poor kidnapped woman. The view swapped to the police car camera as it recorded the insane rush along the city streets. ¡°As she was speeding with the siren on it soon become clear where she was going. The woman she kidnapped was a nurse at the local central hospital. When they got there miss Weeping Sky went straight for the terminal ward. Nobody knew that a miracle was about to happen, and a new legend born¡± Then the video moved to security cameras inside the hospital showing an isolated camera. A bed with a couple of big machine beside it. What looked like a man was bed ridden. To their immense surprise, crying beside the man there was a female Lean along a smaller Lean girl. ¡°WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?!¡± exclaimed Wiola. ¡°that¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s a Lean right? Are you fucking with us? Is this fake?¡± said Nuria in disbelief. But before Idra could say anything Scilla spoke. ¡°Idra, could you pause the video?¡± ¡°sure¡± ¡°that is Clarisa Espinoza, am I right?¡± ¡°yes¡± ¡°how do you know her?¡± asked Wiola ¡°She¡­ she disappeared 9 years ago. Just 3 years after the end of the war. She was part of a patrol unit in the west boarder, close to the sector were I met you Idra¡± ¡°and so?¡± she replied ¡°did your kind kidnap her?¡± Idra burst in laughs. ¡°kidnap? Her? Oh man that was hilarious. Nah for what I know she met Bolek Kawa when he was doing some scouting and scavenging. I don¡¯t know the full story but they hit of and got married. I guess love won over her homeland and she left. Our laws don¡¯t stop interspecies marriage as long as the couple is theoretically capable to reproduce. So for instance we would not recognise a Lean to Xoraxta marriage but neither a female Esterian to female Esterian one. Theirs is a regular and allowed union so they did it.¡± ¡°how? You didn¡¯t oppose? How is she even there?¡± asked Nuria. She couldn¡¯t believe it. ¡°what do you mean how? They loved, he made the request for marriage and that¡¯s it. As we stand now she is not allowed to leave the Tech-Union territory but she is a fully integrated citizen along their daughter.¡± ¡°are there more mixed couples? Like one with a Lean called Julia?¡± asked Scilla. ¡°yes¡± ¡°Minerva?¡± ¡°yep¡± ¡°do you know of others? Because so far all the soldiers disappeared in thin air seems to be all escaped into your territory¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. I only met this 3. maybe. Maybe not. I didn¡¯t really care as long as they are regular citizen they are more than welcome among the Esterian Tech-Union¡± That was a surprise. What was believed to be the most xenophobic race turned out to be way more open on it. They didn¡¯t seem to care much as long as you could produce offspring. ¡°can we go on with the video and keep the questions for later?¡± ¡°ok, but I will have questions¡± said Scilla. She was not the only one with things to ask. chapter 42c: angel Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 42c: angel Idra resumed her documentary that was now focusing on the hospital room. The Esterian man laying in bed was clearly living his last days while his Lean wife and daughter were by his side. The woman was crying and the man with the little force he had left pushed his hand up to touch his wife crying face. ¡°honey, don¡¯t cry. We both knew it was coming¡­¡± the woman replied between sobs. ¡°but¡­ it¡¯s been¡­ so fast¡­ we had no time¡­¡± ¡°it¡¯s ok. What matters now is our child. You have to be stronger for her. I¡¯m sorry that I have to push such burden onto you. Can you forgive me?¡± The Lean started crying even more but their kid was too young to understand. ¡°dad, when are we going back home? I don¡¯t like this place very much¡± ¡°soon piccola (shorty), can you do your dad a favour and be strong. I know it¡¯s hard¡­¡± ¡°it¡¯s not hard. But mum cries a lot. I don¡¯t want mum to cry¡± ¡°neither do I piccola.¡± Then the room door opened and the camera focused on Idra that was walking in. Silent and scary. The Lean pushed herself between Idra and her kid. ¡°this must be my final day. An Idra. I¡¯m sorry I lack the strength for a proper greeting¡­¡± the man couched badly but Idra stood in front of his bed. Her left hand moved up and then a series of black threads of goo jumped from the suit. They connected to the machines, the cameras and everything that was electric. A robotic voice spoke via the room speakers. //subject conditions critical. Organ failure in 22 hours. Probability of death 1. Effective treatment known none. Subject has no future. Subject is valid.// ¡°I guess I¡¯m dying faster than the medic predicted¡± //experimental cure available. Survival rate unknown. Side effects premature death. Required procedure approval// The man looked at his wife and kid. He knew what to do. He looked back at Idra. ¡°can I speak with my family for a moment. I would like to say an eventual goodbye to all of them¡± //request accepted. Approved farewell time 76 minutes// Idra backed away from the bed and walked to a corner of the room. The man asked his wife and kid to move closer. ¡°Clarisa, honey, can you call in our family. This could be our last conversation. You know I have to try right?¡± Clarisa was still crying but she nodded. A chance of living is better than certain death. ¡°you can leave Nina with me. Idras love kids. She will never harm her.¡± the woman left the room leaving the man, Idra and the small Nina in the room. ¡°dad, who is the dark lady?¡± ¡°she is an Idra. They help people.¡± ¡°is she here to help you?¡± ¡°yes, but she doesn¡¯t know if her help will work¡± ¡°what if it doesn¡¯t work?¡± Idra intrude. //new trial will be executed. New experiments. New cure. I¡¯ll make it work, for you// Even in such robotic voice, Idra¡¯s lexical choices toward the kids were more humane. They didn¡¯t wait much before several Esterians got into the room. They were all extremely friendly with the Clarisa and Nina. They were a family after all. They were also all equally surprised to see an Idra. The news of her appearance were already broadcasted and had reached the hospital, but they were all focused on their dying family member. Done with the goodbyes they all left the room leaving the Esterian alone with Idra. ¡°it wasn¡¯t a lie right? Is there really a possibility to see my kid and wife again?¡± //lies are not authorised. Non null probability has been confirmed. Required procedure approval// ¡°I¡¯m ready. What do¡­¡± Idra walked away and moved to the window. She opened it and few minutes later 2 drones delivered a big white metallic box. Idra pushed it beside the man¡¯s bed and connected the box to a wall electrical socket. The box came to live as 4 mechanical arms rose from it. They didn¡¯t seem to have needles at their ends. Just some rather soft claws. They moved on top of the man and with regular cadence touched his body for few seconds. The man didn¡¯t seem to be reacting to it, he was probably feeling nothing at all. Around an hour later the machine was turned off. The man seemed confused. ¡°where am I? Hey you? Are you real?¡± then he lost consciousness. The video was showing a time-lapse of Idra standing perfectly immobile in front of the man for about 18 hours. The narrator briefly spoke to comment. ¡°at the time we didn¡¯t know what was happening inside of that room. The cameras feed was obscured, there was no noise but neither there was sign of life. Only 19 hours later the family and a full medical team had the pleasure to meet the man. It was a miracle.¡± the speeded video ended and now Idra was allowing Clarisa and Nina to get in. Only them. Clarisa was already thinking the worst especially when she saw her husband on the bed totally immobile and the machines that kept him alive disconnected. She rushed to what she believed was a corpse to be surprised when the man jumped up, alive. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m alive¡­ I¡¯M ALIVE!¡± The first thing he did was kissing his wife and kid. Then looked at Idra. ¡°did it work? I¡¯m cured?¡± //No criticality detected. Subject is alive. Subject is no longer at risk. Experimentation successful. Defined rehabilitation course of action. Subject needs reintegration of metals. Medication required for 2 weeks.// the white box opened again to give out a glass tube containing a series of pills. //take 1 pill between each meal. 2 pills per day. Keep going until pills expended.// It was pure joy. Idra moved toward Nina and petted her head. //strong. I will be back once pills reservoir expended.// The story cuts with a big banner stating that 2 weeks had passed. Idra was back. She of course was welcomed with open arms and smiles, but she didn¡¯t care. Idra walked in front of the bed to stare at the man. She moved her left hand again. //success. Subject fully recovered. Genetic error corrected. Subject is no longer defective. Subject is free to go home. Subject. go. Home// Idra was staring to walk away when Clarisa pushed her kid slightly to make her walk toward Idra. Nina had a piece of paper in her hand. ¡°dark lady? Dark lady?¡± Idra turned and crouched to look at the kid. She was still taller than the Lean youngling. Then Nina turned her piece of paper to show her a drawing. It was Clarisa, Nina, her dad and Idra. She was totally black with black wings made by dark strings, her goo threads. ¡°I made this for you. And¡­ and I made you wings, because you are an angel right? You helped dad because dad is a good dad and angels helps good people right?¡± //angel. Strong strong angel// replied Idra while her goo took a similar shape to what Nina draw. She took the picture. //be good. Go to mum. Go to dad. Be good. Be strong. Smile// Then she walked away. The scene moved back into the narrator studio. ¡°Angel. A name given by pure chance coming from a beautiful and innocent child predicted the future. Idra 511 was going to become our angel. A figure of hope, someone that cared for those in pain. She was the absolute first Idra to be devoted to medicine instead of war. Her natural call to help others kept her away from the Supreme Council for 4 month. A clear sign that stated where her priorities were. I¡¯m a bit sad. It was our chance to show off but she took us by surprise.¡± Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. the screen went dark. Four months later. Esterinan Tech-Union Supreme Council. ¡°after 34 more successful experiments where she stopped people from certain death, Idra 511 officially presented herself.¡± The video moved to the first room they saw. This time not only it was full but it was flocked by press members from various journals. Then the main door opened and silence filled the room. They all stared at the new Idra walking in while the AI introduced her. ¡°Welcome home Idra. May the Founder guide you.¡± No presentation, no formal introduction. As if she knew Idra walked toward the enclosed area that opened for her even before she could get close to the scanner. The main seat name tag changed showing Idra. She sat in it and the room lights turned off. Holographic screens projected the Idra¡¯s symbol. //who are you?// said Idra¡¯s fake and robotic voice. The symbol changed into highly corrupted images. It was extremely hard to tell what was happening and at the same time they changed so fast that even the few with a bit of definition were not recorded by the brain. Together with the images there were sounds. Machines rumbling and wheezing, flesh being torn and creatures agonising and crying. Dying roars, Geiger counters blasting radiation warnings then peace. The images became clear. It was a top down view of a screen wide creek. The water flowed peacefully and seemed cold. It¡¯s gentle sound was randomly dominated by the wind blowing with tremendous strength and distant echoes of thunders. It sounded like a echoing cry. Then the cold water started to mix with a second fluid coming slowly from upstream. Blood started to dye the river in red. The thunders got closer and small droplets started to fall in what now was a blood river. Each drop of rain gave only a brief instant of clearance as blood overcome the clean water in instant. A sudden stop to the projection and the light turned back on. Idra repeated herself in her robotic monotone voice. //who are you?// the Council was silent so the AI tried to reply. ¡°this is the Supreme Council of¡­¡± //Who. Are. You?.// the AI replied again but this time it was personal. ¡°I¡¯m ETU-FAI-GE918819 built by the Founder with the main purpose to preserve the tech-union.¡± No reply, so Nixie stood up, bowed and spoke. ¡°I¡¯m Nixie 112 one of the 3 Remnant. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet a new Remnant of the Founder. I¡¯m the Remnant of diplomacy¡± then Likho 52 stood and bowed before speaking. ¡°I¡¯m Likho 52, Remnant of espionage. At your service¡± and lastly Baubas 98. ¡°I¡¯m Baubas 98, Remnant of War. I¡¯m always ready for orders¡± What the fuck? So Remnant and Remnant of the Founder are different. But she just uses both titles as she pleased. To me she also seems like their queen rather than something else with no ranking as she said. She also have a place in the Council. Why did she lie to me. Or am I missing something again? Scilla was not missing everything. She was in fact spot on about the titles confusion. Idra has been vague and confuse most of the time when speaking about the Remnants. Whatever it was on purpose or not didn¡¯t change the drastic difference between her and the others that were just Remnants. A totally different story was her position as Remnant of the Founder inside the government. Little by little the whole council had to introduced themselves. Once they finished Idra stood up. //I¡¯m Idra.// And with that she just walked away. While leaving the room a crowd of people and journalist pushed themselves as close as possible asking questions that Idra ignored as she did up until then. Once outside she was out in an even bigger crowd. Among the countless voices the recording isolated one single flow of words from a man. ¡°Angel! Angel Idra! A question please. Did you kept the drawing?¡± Idra stopped in the blob of people. She lifted her hand and the goo extended her arm until she reached a hat belonging to the man that asked the question. She grabbed the hat, put in on her head and slightly nodded even if she was the only one that heard the question and most people confused the nod for a natural movement of the moment. The documentary went on showing more heroic deeds that Idra did. Those actions spaced from troops training to civilians rescues. In particular the documentary took her time showing Idra helping out others and her time spent inside hospitals. By the end of it they were hit with something unexpected. The narrator was telling how important the omni-cure became and how many lives it saved. He also added that just few weeks before finalising the documentary Idra finally extended the omni-cure coverage to their 16th and last planet. That information was shocking. 16 planets was an absurd amount. The Lean civilization extended on 4. the Terran had 4 as well. The other humans factions added 8 more planets and the Xoraxtas had 3 planets. The Esterians alone occupied a space almost as big as all other known civilizations combined. It was just ridiculous. The documentary ended and Scilla spoke immediately. ¡°was he lying? How the fuck did you manage to have 16 planets? It¡¯s impossible. There is just too much space to keep track and I doubt that you live in an area dense of planetary systems.¡± ¡°indeed we don¡¯t live in an extremely dense zone. But out civilization has indeed 16 planets plus mine if you consider it.¡± ¡°how? You would need half a month or more just to send data from one side to the other.¡± ¡°mmh I would love to tell you how we manage to keep up with such distances but I can¡¯t. To be frank I could argue the same, why do your species have only 4 planets. The solution is like super stupid.¡± Idra was kinda right. Conceptually the solution was banal, build such solution not so much for non Esterians. To keep up with increasing distances the Esterians developed a particular way of travelling. Once they understood that to get faster you need more power and to get such power you need to be bigger, they looked for a different solution. Instead of making an engine that bends the space around the ship like in standard jump or curvature drives. They decided to build a contraption that generate a hyper-distorted space bubble and then they inject the ship into it. The engine is used to supply the already made distortion with energy to make it last longer. This way they can reach far greater speeds and jump distances. The main issue was that it worked only in one direction so each system needed to have a commonly called jump cannon. The slow process to built such massive structure was the only limit to Esterian expansionism. That and the low population. ¡°how many of you are there to keep us with so many planets?¡± asked Nuria. ¡°mmh. Not that much. We live on many planets but in the end our population is around 13 billions¡­¡± ¡°WHAT?¡± a general reply from all the Leans. ¡°what the fuck? I thought we had a population problem but yours is worst¡± said Wiola. The Lean domain contained around 25 billions people. It was somewhat reasonable for 4 planets. ¡°we are not like you. We suffered a lot from a lack of food and self cleaning. Also we started with little to no people about 400 years ago. We are trying our best to populate our homes.¡± ¡°you have a point. But isn¡¯t it stupid so expand so much if you can barely keep up with the people needed?¡± asked Scilla. ¡°maybe. I don¡¯t really care. It¡¯s not like that we force people to have kids. We don¡¯t really care, but having planets means a lot of resources, a lot of scientific anomalies and species to study. In general it means more probability to survive in the long terms.¡± ¡°seeing that the documentary is over I can ask my questions right?¡± said Scilla. ¡°sure¡± ¡°How came that all Leans that disappeared in thin air ended up in your territory?¡± ¡°I already told you. Love. We don¡¯t discriminate about species but use reproduction compatibility instead. So far however we only let few Leans in. Nothing relevant because as far as I know they are less than 16 so less than 1 per planet. We would probably accept other species as long as they share our ideals. Which are not many, just put science above all and that¡¯s almost it.¡± ¡°fair enough. Then why do you like kids so much?¡± ¡°because they are the future and we should collectively take care of them. Giving them good memories about me and science will improve our civilization in the long run so I act accordingly. Plus I really like kids. They are just to chubby and fun to play with. Having kids is basically my life goal so of course I like them.¡± Scilla blushed and looked away. After all she was her mate so they were going to be also her children. ¡°did you kept the drawings?¡± asked Paz. ¡°of course. I had all of them sealed so they don¡¯t deteriorate.¡± Paz smiled. Even if she was partially drugged to resist her urge to run away from Idra she liked how Idra operates and thinks. ¡°Idra if I may ask, from medical expert to¡­ whatever are you. What would happen if the omni-cure is used on a non Esterian?¡± asked Wiola. ¡°good question. I was asked that before as well. Generally you will suffer from omni-assimilation. The cure machines doesn¡¯t recognise your body and assimilate it eating you from inside. It¡¯s not lethal by itself as a working omni-cure can be used to bring you back. But if the cure is not set for your species more of it will kill you faster.¡± ¡°wait a minute. You gave Morea some of your miracle cure and it worked. How?¡± asked Scilla. ¡°didn¡¯t you get it? Because it was linked to me. I was giving the orders so I didn¡¯t harm your friend. Could have easily killed her¡± ¡°that¡¯s crazy¡± said Nuria. ¡°yeah I know. It¡¯s so fucking cool.¡± replied Idra. ¡°Lastly what is the difference between Remnant and Remnant of the Founder?¡± asked Scilla. ¡°our ranks. Remnants are special units built and used for specific tasks. The Remnant of the Founder are only Idras. The rest of the information is classified so it is what it is¡± then Nuria took the lead. ¡°we saw you staring at people for hours, how long can you stay in that suit of yours?¡± ¡°probably more than my record of 15¡­¡± ¡°days? Fucking hell that¡¯s a lot? Said Nuria interrupting her. ¡°what no. 15 years¡± they all stopped. 15 years inside a suit. Just the thought was terrifying to Scilla and Nuria that experimented the life inside a power armour. ¡°why are you all silent? Are you wondering how is it possible? Well the suit is modular so you can expand it as you grow¡± ¡°the fuck you were in there while you were a child?¡± said Paz. Her voice was concerned and her mind filled of horrific images of a kid pushed by force inside a walking cell. ¡°yeah. I¡¯m 26 how could I have been inside it for 15 years if I didn¡¯t start as a kid.¡± their face were filled with horror and deeply concerned. Even Scilla that knew that Idra could stay inside for days was concerned. ¡°it¡¯s not that bad. If you are wondering I can use the toilet as a normal person. The suit opens. I can also shower by injecting water inside. It¡¯s really funny to go around filled with water¡± Idra was talking of her life inside the suit as if it was all jokes and fun, but to Leans¡¯s eyes that was pure torture. Even if you can feel the world outside, the suit it not you and never will be. Idra seeing their faces was about to try and say more jokes but her suit detected something. --unknown Lean entity detected-- Idra stood up immediately and picked up her rifle aiming toward the dark fields outside the living room backdoor. Her sensor detected a small Lean walking slowly across the field. Without a second thought she rushed out. chapter 43c: caring Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 43c: caring Idra with her rifle was rushing out. Her array of sensors pulsing and pinging the surrounding. Nothing, just the small Lean slowly running across the field toward the light of the farmhouse. The child didn¡¯t even see Idra running toward her. Seconds later acute screams were heard from inside the living room where the Leans had little to no time to react. ¡°DON¡¯T HURT HER! SHE¡¯S A KID!¡± yelled Nuria at the top of her lungs. As fast as she disappeared Idra was already back with a ¡°small¡± Lean kid under her arm. The child was wearing undersized and damaged clothes. She was dirty and full of small cuts and bruisers. However what was more peculiar war her colour. The kid was a rare purple Lean. There are few Leans with the recessive purple colour. Among their children few keeps the purple colour if one of the parents is not purple. However there are some rare natural mutations that will result in purple children even from a totally red couple. Purple Leans didn¡¯t had the better of lives. Their colour was too close to the dark blue of the Droxi and so they were easy prey for discriminations. They mostly found strength in other purples and being usually a product of purple parents they were at least accepted by their family. The child that Idra brought back had be clearly left alone by her parents and with almost absolute certainty that happened because she was one of the few unfortunate to get out purple from red parents. ¡°I¡¯m not gonna hurt her. She is a kid¡± replied Idra. ¡°what the fuck. Whose...? No wait. She is not your kid right?¡± asked Scilla looking at Nuria. The child kept screaming and trying to get free from Idra¡¯s grab with no success. ¡°of course not, and Idra could you please free her?¡± replied Nuria. ¡°sure.¡± said Idra letting go of the kid that rushed behind Nuria and grabbed her trousers scared. ¡°this is also why I asked you to came. I know you don¡¯t have prejudices toward purples. I can¡¯t keep her here. So I thought that maybe you could help her somehow¡± ¡°this is a hell of a surprise¡± said Wiola. ¡°so you want me do adopt a child that you don¡¯t even know?¡± said Scilla. ¡°well¡­ not adopt. But take care of her somehow. I don¡¯t have the money to keep her. We can barely eat...¡±started Nuria to be interrupted by Idra. Her voice was serious and send of a strange wise feeling. ¡°but you have the money now. The kid is already attached to you as I suppose you fed her right?¡± Nuria nodded. ¡°so taking her away and bringing her into a massive city would do her no good. Only scare her more. So you will keep her. I gave you money and will give you more to pay for whatever she will need to grow up. Now you and Scilla will help me fix back this poor puppy.¡± ¡°I work almost all the time. How can I even be a parent to her? She needs¡­¡± replied Nuria. ¡°SHE. Needs YOU. Someone she trusts and that can be trusted. Not strangers in a world full of discrimination toward her. Here she could learn from you and assist you in a dying farm. Here she will be safe and away from those that abandoned her.¡± Nuria was caught off guard while Scilla was surprised by how humane and strangely wise Idra was being. The same Idra that needs to be told each time she saw a new species that they could feel pain. That same Idra that found pleasure in torturing her enemies was now slowly crouching to avoid scaring the kid. Once levelled she opened her hand and manipulated the goo to make it assume different shapes. Flowers dancing in her hand, animals playing. Things that could easily be liked by a kid that was indeed mesmerised by them. ¡°did you gave her a name?¡± asked Idra. ¡°well, not really. I just fed her when she comes out of the woods. I never thought to keep her¡± replied Nuria. ¡°well now she needs a name, a bath, some new clothes and medication for both internal and external wounds¡± said Idra. ¡°she has internal wounds?¡± ¡°sort of. She probably recently contracted worms. So I will take care of that too. Scilla go fill a bathtub and prepare the shower. Wiola and Paz find some clothing. Nuria give her something to chew on and lets get moving. Also if you don¡¯t find a name I¡¯ll give her one¡± the group started moving while Nuria kept discussing with Idra. ¡°then go on. Give her a name, I¡¯m not that good with naming.¡± ¡°then call her Lia. If you look back at a possible meaning it stands for weary which she seems to be. Do you also want a surname? If so give her the surname Volta.¡± ¡°the name will be enough, I will eventually make her an Ibarra.¡± ¡°if you change Idea Volta is free to use¡± ¡°thanks but no¡± Following Idra¡¯s commands it didn¡¯t took long before the newly nameed Lia was being washed under the shower. Idra insisted to help and her brutal manners disappeared almost magically. Among all of them she was the gentler one to avoid pressing too hard on Lia¡¯s wounds. After a couple of washes they moved Lia inside the bathtub that had filled in the meanwhile. ¡°now. A few thing are left to fix her back to how she should be¡± said Idra and with haste poured a flask of grey dust inside the water. ¡°what¡¯s that?¡± asked Nuria. ¡°what else if not omni-cure? This is the version for field medics. It¡¯s a dust that you mix with water and place in contact with external small wounds. Now, one of my droids is coming with the solid encapsulated version to de-worm her.¡± They looked at the grey mass moving around the water as if it was intelligent and alive. The grey dust would attach to open wounds and close them within minutes. It was a miracle cure indeed. ¡°this is fucking real. I can¡¯t believe this¡± said Paz. ¡°of course it¡¯s real. You also saw in in the video¡± ¡°I know. But I thought it was some propaganda shit. Not real technology, so call me impressed¡± ¡°mmh. I suppose you can¡¯t tell me how it works nor give me a sample right?¡± asked Wiola. ¡°I can¡¯t tell you how it works, but I technically could provide you with a sample¡± ¡°really?¡± Wiola was happy to be immediately brought back to reality by her sister remarks. ¡°hey, this is not a funny joke¡± said Scilla not pleased at all. ¡°uffi, I thought it was funny. Sorry Wiola but I could provide you with some omni-cure only if you were hurt. Also your sister caught me immediately. The sample would be too dangerous for your species if I get too far from it. So it¡¯s a big no.¡± ¡°you have a strange sense of humour¡± said Wiola partially disappointed. ¡°it¡¯s not may fault. I¡¯m learning how to tell jokes from your big Sis¡± replied Idra smirking. ¡°what? How is that my fault? I¡¯m an excellent comedian.¡± said Scilla. Before Idra could reply her droid came in running and scaring Lia for a second. The machine was carrying a glass tube containing 3 pills that were not the smallest but of a normal size for Humans. ¡°so, Nuria. You are her adoptive mother? Sister? Whatever. The honour is yours. Make her shallow all 3 pills¡± ¡°what? They are massive. Can you make them smaller? She probably never took pills in her life¡± ¡°who cares. You are bigger than me. I scanned the size of her throat. They fit with a lot of margin. Just shove the in her.¡± Idra¡¯s delicacy was just thrown full speed out of the window. Nuria sighed and with a glass of water moved closer to Lia. The kid got immediately alarmed. She could sense that something was off and the dark pills didn¡¯t help. Nuria tried to show Lia how to take the pills and explained to her how to do so, but in the end it didn¡¯t matter much. Reassured by Nuria, Lia tried with the first pill but she couldn¡¯t push it down and split in back in the tub. Nuria turned to Idra. ¡°see I told you. This is not going to work¡± ¡°ok, than plan B. If it doesn¡¯t go in from the right end it will from the wrong one.¡± ¡°are you suggesting¡­¡± ¡°that you push them inside her ass? Yes. Or you can leave her so she develops worms and get sicker and sicker as time goes on¡± ¡°I can go to a pharmacy and buy the correct medication¡± ¡°you can, but you can¡¯t buy them for Leans without a prescription. So you would have first to bring Lia into a hospital. Have them scan her, where they would probably still push a tube up her ass, and then bring her back to take the medicine. A medicine that could also be in suppository form. So?¡± If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°fuck, fine. But at least you all should get out. I don¡¯t want to¡­ to make it worst for her¡± ¡°you know that I can (see through walls?)¡± Scilla, understanding what Idra was trying to say, grabbed her by placing her hand on Idra¡¯s face and pulling her out. Once outside with the others she let go of the Esterian that didn¡¯t appreciate. ¡°what the fuck? Why? The fuck is your problem?¡± ¡°I saved you from saying something that you should have not¡± ¡°what that I can see through walls?¡± ¡°exactly. You would have only make her concerned of unwanted attention.¡± ¡°oh. Ops. Then thanks Scilla. But it was not cool. Work on your manners¡± ¡°said the one that tells others to shove pills inside others butts¡± Idra looked away and her movement suggested that she was looking for a comeback that she never found. ¡°shish. You won this one. But I¡¯ll win the next. War is never over¡± ¡°sure¡± replied Scilla while chuckling. About 30 minutes and a few screams later, Nuria opened the door. She had a couple of scratches but nothing significant. ¡°hahaha, look at your face, getting all fatigued from a kid beating¡± said Scilla, mocking her friend. ¡°bla bla bla. Your so funny. Next time why don¡¯t you show me how you push 3 fucking pills up your sister ass?¡± ¡°that would not be a problem. I can take them orally¡± said Wiola with a smile. She also found it funny. ¡°she was not pleased, so it¡¯s done right?¡± said Nuria looking at Idra. ¡°yes. The machines are working correctly. Her system is more compromised than aspected. I would suggest a couple more capsules¡­¡± ¡°NO!¡± ¡°yeah. I know. I was not going to give you more. I will remove the worms and fix some internal injuries. You will have to feed her with plenty of food in the following days¡± ¡°I know. You don¡¯t have to tell me¡± ¡°but I do. The omni-cure eats you up, literally. So to make it more efficient you need to eat a lot more that usual. So get back into the kitchen woman. I can take care of Lia¡± ¡°I won¡¯t let her go around wet and naked. Granny did you find something for her?¡± ¡°sort of. She is probably 8 or 9 and fortunately for her we don¡¯t really throw away stuff if it¡¯s not broken¡± said Paz. ¡°ok, bring them in. I will dry her and fix her hair¡­¡± ¡°I wanna do it!¡± exclaimed Idra. ¡°what?¡± was the general reply. ¡°I want to do her hair. You can¡­ dry her. But I want to do her hair.¡± ¡°why?¡± asked Wiola. ¡°I¡¯m the youngest of all Idras. I never had anybody else to play with. I also had no access to my hair as the suit was blocking me. So I want to do hers. At least let me try to brush and style them¡± Nuria was not convinced. She was already in protective mode toward what she so hardly refused to accept as her family. However Scilla intrude speaking in favour of her Idra. ¡°I think it would be a good idea if not even the wiser one¡± ¡°what?¡± ¡°well she was by far the gentler among us while we were cleaning Lia¡¯s wounded body. I doubt she would ever harm the kid. Quite the opposite being the idiot that she is, I think they would like each other¡± ¡°hey! I¡¯m not an idiot.¡± replied Idra. She was not angry, she understood the joke. ¡°who knows. But I think you would take good care of her¡± ¡°thanks¡± ¡°so Nuri. Would you let her?¡± Nuria sighed. ¡°fine. But only if Lia wants as well¡± ¡°that¡¯s obvious¡± said Idra. After being dried and dressed, Lia was left with Idra in the living room while the four Leans went into the kitchen in order to prepare something for the kid and talk for a moment away from Idra and the child. 20 minutes later, in which they didn¡¯t conclude much, they got back into the living room to see Idra drawing with Lia on some pieces of paper. Idra somehow managed to cut Lia¡¯s hair. They were by far in a better condition than before but Idra had no sense for fashion nor hairstyle in general. She kept Lia¡¯s hair reasonably long and she went for a ponytail or at least tried as instead of starting at the back of the head she made it start on the top resulting in something akin to a palm tree. Scilla bursted laughing. ¡°what? Is it bad?¡± asked Idra confused. ¡°not too bad, but hilarious for sure¡± added Wiola that was hardly containing herself. ¡°Lia do you like your hair?¡± said Idra. The kid nodded. ¡°see... she appreciates it, she is less snobby than you¡± remarked jokingly. ¡°get up puppy, it¡¯s time to eat what your MOTHER made for you¡± continued Idra. She clearly wanted a reaction from Nuria that came. ¡°Lia, I¡¯m not your mum. But I¡¯ll be your sister. You can call me Nuri like Wiola already does.¡± ¡°can I call you BIG SIS Nuri as well?¡± said Idra laughing to herself. ¡°Don¡¯t you try¡±-- ¡°yes, go for it Idra¡± said Scilla ¡°k big sis Nuri¡± ¡°Scilla, whose side are you on? And stop laughing¡± ¡°on the funny side of course¡± replied Scilla. Their jokes made Lia laugh. Minutes later they were sitting at the table. Lia was in the middle, Idra on her right and Nuria after bringing out the food sat on the left. Lia jumped in as she was starving, but Idra stopped her. She instead took the food away, cut a piece of meat and spoon-fed Lia. The hungry demon soon adapted. ¡°why are you stopping her?¡± asked Nuria. ¡°because she has to learn some control and more importantly your food is too hot. At her rate she would end up burned, especially with this kind of giant boiled potato that you made as side dish. Kids tends to not like vegetables as their taste buds are developing. Bad experience ruins your future engagements so if I feed her balanced bites she will grow to like vegetables and eventually learn from experience how to eat properly¡± ¡°you are a hell of an encyclopedia. Are you sure you never had kids?¡± ¡°100% sure. All my knowledge comes from books and a lot of time spent in solitude. I may be able too take care of a child, but I¡¯m not fit to be her reference figure nor I¡¯m able to provide social knowledge. So you will have to.¡± ¡°fair enough.¡± Soon after eating Lia started to show the signs of exhaustion. She had been starving, she was wounded and now fed and healing. It was also the middle of the night so the perfect time to call it a day and go to bed. Idra petted Lia a few times on the head. ¡°you should sleep with Nuria, so you get used to it and you will have some space for yourself¡± but the kid shook her head and with her weak and cute voice spoke. ¡°mmh umh. Idra?¡± ¡°THE FUCK? You speak?¡± exclaimed Nuria. ¡°it was highly probable that she was able to speak. I doubt she is fluent but you will help her out in such regards.¡± then Idra looked at Lia. ¡°I won¡¯t be sleeping with you, nor you can sleep with me. More importantly I¡¯m not going to sleep. I have some work to do¡± ¡°what kind of work so late at night?¡± asked Nuria before Scilla could do the same. ¡°probability computation. Some data doesn¡¯t add up, my empirical distribution has to be upgraded. I won¡¯t bother with a more extensive explanation as none would understand it. Good night Ibarras, good night Lises¡± Idra motherly behaviour was rapidly replaced with her more serious version and so she left for her ship. ¡°who the fuck works at night?¡± asked Nuria. ¡°she does. Well I guess we will meet again tomorrow. Good night¡± said Scilla and as she and Wiola were leaving they both petted Lia. In their bedroom Wiola was slightly concerned. ¡°does Idra sleeps?¡± ¡°what do you mean?¡± ¡°well from your stories and her behaviour I don¡¯t think she sleeps, or at least she doesn¡¯t sleep on a circadian base¡± ¡°you are full of shit¡­ she slept all the time on the Sheridan¡­¡± Saying it out loud made Scilla reflect more on what she knew about Idra biology. She has the knowledge and technology to cut away nervous impulses and inject what she desires, she also lives in the suit and the only times I saw her sleeping out of it were when she was sick. In those instances she also woke up before me. Some times she seems to forget to sleep and just this morning she apparently had been up all night. Even when we had our combined training she didn¡¯t seem to sleep as her incursions were a constant threat. But I also remember that she had a nightmare on the Sheridan. Maybe Wiola is not totally wrong. ¡°you know, maybe you are right. There were several cases that were quite suspicious¡­¡± ¡°see I told you. You should ask her. If she doesn¡¯t sleep it would be so fascinating and unique. I know of no mammals that doesn¡¯t sleep or doesn¡¯t sleep based on the day night cycle¡± ¡°maybe she does sleep like water mammals by turning off half her brain or by going into energy savings¡± ¡°maybe¡­ can you ask her for me? Please Sis, please¡­¡± ¡°fine I will ask her, but tomorrow. Now sleep. Night shorty¡± ¡°night sis¡± The next morning Scilla waited for Idra to take a pause from Lia. From the moment Lia woke up, she and Idra were basically glued together. They drew, played hide and seek and more importantly Idra shared her comic with her. She read alongside Lia to show her the pronunciation and writing of the words. ¡°Idra, do you have a moment?¡± asked Scilla. ¡°yep, do you need something?¡± ¡°I was wondering¡­ do you sleep?¡± Idra was confused as they shared a bed multiple times. ¡°did you hit your head? You saw me sleeping¡± ¡°I know, but at the same time it seems to me that you can stay awake for¡­ for a lot of hours, even for several days¡± ¡°oh, I suppose it could seem strange to you but I do sleep. We shared a bed in several occasions. I just need less sleep as I¡¯m accustomed to Weeping Sky with it¡¯s 42 hours days. Also I only sleep when I have to recover. I don¡¯t need the memory organising part so often as you do. I already do that upon getting data¡± ¡°so you don¡¯t follow a circadian cycle for sleeping?¡± ¡°not really, I sleep when I need to sleep. Why did you ask? Does it disturb you?¡± ¡°no, well¡­ it¡¯s just peculiar. The firsts nights on the Sheridan...?¡± ¡°I had to fake some nights.¡± with her answers Scilla left Idra to her playing and ¡°teaching¡± with Lia. The next few days passed in absolute calm but unfortunately they had to return to their usual lives. The Ibarras to take care of their farm full time along side teaching Lia. Wiola to her house and job as researcher and Scilla with Idra to their scavenging. chapter 44c: out Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 44c: out Refreshed from the needed time off the Sheridan crew was back in business and as they did last time, all the generals had gathered to discuss their plan. In the meeting room Idra was showing a galactic map with nearby solar systems marked, to be precise 3 system marked, two in green and one in red. ¡°I have selected a few targets that potentially will be useful and will improve the team coordination. We will start with the green that is further away. It should be a Valurk small ruin. If all goes to plan there will be little resistance so I hope your Lean team can secure the ruin. I will be there in case¡­ my people would say... metti caso che va tutto a puttane (in case all goes to prostitutes / the shit hit the fan). Then we will move to the second dot closer to your home. That is a Morfian minor ruin. Resistance will be higher and I will directly assist¡­¡± said Idra, hoping to conclude what had been a fairly long meeting. ¡°what about the red dot?¡± asked Casto, the only male on the ship. ¡°I¡¯m still deciding about it. Something is off so we will see eventually¡± ¡°what is off?¡± asked Scilla. ¡°it doesn¡¯t match with my predictions. There should be no ruin on Lilithoria IV. On the other hand the data comes directly from our previous mission. So I suppose that I¡¯m missing some pieces. Having no prediction of the resistance is not good for us so we will probably avoid it.¡± ¡°we could pass by and see if we can scan something, can¡¯t we?¡± said Morea. ¡°I suppose so. We will see when the time comes¡± conclude Idra ending the meeting. Something is off. I feel like Idra is not telling me all. Does the data comes from the AI core that she took? What is she worried about. Hours later when Idra and Scilla were preparing to sleep, Scilla asked. ¡°what is wrong with Lilithoria IV?¡± Idra slowly turned to face her and sit dramatically on her bed. Her tone was serious and grim. ¡°everything. It doesn¡¯t pop up on any computation. Lilithoria IV is a habitable planet so it¡¯s believable that it was once conquered by someone. The problem is that I got that position marked from the AI core that was Morfian. The planet should have belonged to Valurk. It doesn¡¯t make sense also because it¡¯s far from any of the possible Valurk- Morfian old borders. So I have no idea what it could be.¡± ¡°did the AI just marked as something or as part of the AI network? I remember you telling something about said AI networks but I frankly forgot¡± ¡°it¡­ it was defined as one of them. So it would be a second AI core of Morfian origin. But on a Valurk planet? It doesn¡¯t make sense. They were enemies¡± ¡°do you know that for sure? Maybe it¡¯s a travelling ship that survived their extinction and crash landed on it.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. I doubt any ship could have survived so long. But who knows. After all it could just be that my computations are wrong because I lack data. Maybe it was a secret outpost to carry on with their war before disappearing¡± Their thought were not particularly optimistic but several ideas and suppositions later they placate their minds. For now it was best to focus on the upcoming expeditions. The first expedition was a success. Not a perfect outcome as a couple of Lean soldiers almost met their end falling down a platform. With their reinvigorated enthusiasms they immediately embarked for the second expedition that succeeded as well. From an Idra prospective they were assaulting small targets but for Leans those missions were huge. They brought back tons of tech and unknown elements built by their predecessors. Their high spirit pushed them toward the unknown, toward Lilithoria IV. It was calling them, asking to be explored on a peaceful planet and so they went to take a look. ¡°we are in range Commander¡± ¡°Blast the planet with scans. Locate metallic deposits. Then execute a high resolution scan on them. One should be our alien ruin¡± said Scilla from her command position. ¡°at your orders Commander Lis¡± replied the soldiers. While waiting for the scanning results Idra walked beside Scilla. ¡°hi¡± ¡°hi, Idra, what¡¯s up?¡± ¡°nothing important. I¡¯m done with the reparation¡­ just one thing¡± ¡°what is it?¡± ¡°you must sit out of this operation¡± Idra¡¯s words were no suggestion. She was imposing. ¡°why? This could be¡­¡± ¡°you know why. It¡¯s too risky. You will stay here. If you disobey my orders then I will force it. Do you understand?¡± Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°yes, I understand¡± In her heart Scilla knew why Idra forced her to stay out. She deemed the operation to dangerous to expose her to something that she could possibly be unable to fight. A risk that she had no intention to take. ¡°commander we have spotted a geometrical structure underground. Nothing around. Do we proceed?¡± Images of a small yet metal rich and geometrical structure appeared on Scilla¡¯s computer. After some eye examination alongside Idra it was confirmed, that was a ruin. ¡°target confirmed. Keep scanning in case something appears and let¡¯s proceed toward it. Crew prepare for disembark and combat¡± then Scilla turned to Idra that was waiting and she grabbed her left arm. ¡°be careful, and promise me to came back¡± ¡°They say to not make promises to girls if you can¡¯t keep them. This is not the case. I¡¯ll be back no matter what.¡± With those words Idra left toward her ship and few minutes later the NDU detached from the Sheridan. In the hangar troops were embarking on both carries and smaller spacecraft for close range and atmospheric fighting. The Sheridan started to enter the atmosphere. It was coming with them but it was going to keep its distance form the hot zone and provide high calibre support. The dense oxygen atmosphere immediately lit on fire as the colossal ship was falling from the sky. They were not using their thrusters as they were going to let the air slow them down initially to then stabilise. The burning mass fall came to an end about 6 km above the ground. And 800 km away from the ruin location. A safe position to then slowly approach the hot zone. 4 close range fighter and 2 troop carrier left the hangar to get in an arrow formation with the carried protected behind. The fighter were among the newest scout small-craft the Lean could deploy and were commonly called Gashri. Similar to an old fighting jet a Gashri has a main back propeller, a wing like structure that contains smaller propeller that can be rotated around and a couple of maneuverer small engines. It was mostly capable to launch small air-to-air missiles, a couple of AI guided bombs and shoot back with rapid small auto-cannons. The troop carriers were similar in design and could be seen as fat space VTOLs. The Ostorna were bigger and powered by 2 back thrusters, 2 rotation thrusters and 2 afterburners on top. It had better armour as it was used to deploy troops in battles and just 4 turrets with kinetics bullets. It was not meant for space combat but there was no use for it. The Sheridan was following slowly behind them while the NDU was above them flying in stealth mode. The ruin position was approaching fast, no movement in sight. ¡°Gash 1 to all units, initiate descending. Eyes on the radar, be ready to react¡± The arrow formation slowed and pointed slightly downwards. Closing in on their target. Altitude 3000m..., 2000m¡­, 1000m. The hill were the ruin was builtin was in sight with sparse tree casting strangely deformed shadows. A flash instantaneously followed by an explosion. The left Ostorna was on fire, its right wing was flying away. ¡°AMBUSH!!¡±¡ª¡±Ost 2, we are hit! We are going down!¡± The fuel flowing out of the severed wing was burning in blue flames while the Ostorna was trying to regain stability. The self sealing systems cut away the fuel supply to the lost wing. The pilot with lightning reflexes and ball¡¯s of steel pushed the right afterburner to full power and turned off the left wing engine. ¡°enemy AA kinetic cannons on the hill !. Gash1 to 4 shoot a quarter of your missiles toward the hill but stay the fuck away, you don¡¯t have enough armour. I¡¯ll bomb those bastards!¡± said Idra while her position appeared. She was no longer in stealth, but neither was the enemy. The ¡°ruin¡± was active and a storm of small interceptors pupped out of the ground. //enemy spaceship detected.// //hostile 66 small ships// //weapon systems ready// ¡°fuck! Scilla there are more enemies. Your troops needs backups¡± ¡°Fuck. Pilot, full onward. At 80km turn the ship side way. Rail-guns, fire at will. Anti-air I want all of you ready. Missile bay load in the cluster missiles. First rail-guns salvo on the interceptors¡±. Idra with her NDU pointed right toward the hill. Destroying the AA cannons was the priority. To do so she was going to fly right in the enemy fleet. Gash 1 to 4 shoot their missiles and immediately changed route. Ost 2 was falling but it was getting stable and Ost 1 was turning. //targets lock. Fire at will// the NDU went in ¡°full combat mode¡± and with the 4 rail-guns along the 10 Hypera Idra started shooting. //proximity changes loaded// //fire// The massive rail-guns roared as the immense amount of electricity flowing in them burned anything on their way. The immense amount of energy launched the 4 changes that were few meters wide at far more than just hypersonic speed. Exactly as their enemy hit in instant Idra¡¯s weapons did the same. //target hit. 6 ships destroyed. 4 heavily damaged.// The Hypera systems, a series of extremely high ratio small cannons started shooting as well. But the enemy was not going to stay still. Leaving the safety of their cloaking devices the ground anti-air started shooting back and while the smaller gun were pointed at Idra, the 2 bigger one were not. One was toward Ost1 and the other toward the Sheridan. The bullet stroke with immense power, this time they didn¡¯t miss. It pierced right through Ost1 engine and exploded inside the ship. The fuel reacted immediately and in the blink of an eye the Ost1 became a massive and expensive firework. The other bullet hit the Sheridan. It didn¡¯t bounce but it didn¡¯t price past the armour which was enough. ¡°fuck! Ost1 is gone, it¡¯s fucking gone!¡± ¡°gash focus! Enemy incoming¡± shouted Idra at them while she pushed in the enemy formation. Bullet hit and bounced on the NDU hull while Idra¡¯s weapons tried to take down as may fighter as she could. The Sheridan first salvo of bullets from the rail-guns arrived but missed almost all the targets. It was not easy to shoot such small enemy from more than 80km away. ¡°fuck, Commander they are on our tails, we are coming in for support¡± ¡°pass us on the right side! Pilot, change route, turn the ship left. Swap missiles. Prepare tracking missiles, shoot as soon as they get in range.¡± meanwhile Ost2 crash-landed safely among the threes of the planet, not too far from the hill target. They could see the NDU getting in position for bombing the enemy that surely saw them getting on the ground. //stabilising ship// //bombs away// //impact in 2.1.0 detonation confirmed. Heavy AA cannons destroyed.// A series of strange explosions enveloped the hill summit as blue light blinded the local fauna and dreadful sounds echoed around. All metallic objects felt a pull toward the explosions. The land troops however had little to wait before machines coming from the hill started shooting at them. chapter 45c: rift Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 45c: rift ¡°KEEP YOUR POSITION! They want to surround us. Commander we could use some help¡± Ost2 was having serious troubles with the incoming horde of robots. There were 24 soldiers plus the Ostorna''s pilot and captain. The enemy however was in the order of 200 or 300 machines. ¡°We are coming, Idra can you¡­¡± ¡°Ost2 keep your head down!¡± Idra¡¯s voice was calm and cold, yet she was loud. It was a strange coldness capable of bringing peace to all that hears it. The NDU that had just flew over their heads flipped on itself, the thrusters were emitting an agonising scream while they burned the forest below. Exactly 3 seconds later and it was above Ost2 soldiers facing the hill. ¡°Cool the Hypera and the reactor. Generate bullets we must stop them at once. Ask me if you need more than half our power¡± \|/we shall destroy. We must build.\|/ //target locked// //fire// All NDU¡¯s Hypera turrets started firing. They were similar in concept to rotary guns and their main purpose was to defend the NDU from small targets while in atmosphere or at close range. However in the end they were 20mm arrays of hybrid chemical electromagnetic guns rotating on themselves and encapsulated into a cooling system build using electromagnets. Such complex structure allowed to shoot around 70.000 bullets per minute at unbelievable speeds. It was such an overkill for just small spaceships and while firing it looked like a constant laser beam. Those death-rays cutting horizontally thought anything were however interrupted each 60 seconds by the rail guns. Idra¡¯s rail-gun were almost as wide as the entire branch of the NDU and were completely closed to avoid external interference. The Hypera systems were unbelievable, the rail-guns marked as ETU-CAREMG10C100 were monsters in disguise. Each shot was preceded by deafening sounds. It felt like thunders were being confined and pushed with force into the gun. Then upon shooting. The recoil was so immense that the NDU had to go full throttle onward to stay in place. The trees crown just below were exploding from the tremendous sound-wave generated. It was so strong that the Ost2 soldiers were shaking and falling onto the ground each time a volley was shot. The sound was not the only effect on the surrounding. The incredible amount of energy discharged in instants blinded their sensors and jammed all communications. Each shot delve deep into the hill leaving a burning crater and vaporised rocks behind. It was a true weapon of destruction that Idra decided to use to make herself a door to get into the ruin, the best way to stop the machines was to cut the core away. With Idra providing ¡°support from above¡± the situation quickly improved. The army of machines was being destroyed and a burning path for the inside had been forced open. It was time to act as she couldn¡¯t keep up with the NDU needs. ¡°disconnect from all systems. You are all coming with me¡± \|/as you desire\|/ Idra dropped drastically the NDU rate of fire. She stopped the rail-guns as they consumed way to much power to be used just as simple excavation tools or on infantry. She also set the Hypera to slow down. At full fire capacity they eat through all their ammo as a fat guy at a timed all you can eat. They also have a cooling problem but that¡¯s irrelevant if you have nothing left to shoot. To be more effective she could have stayed connected to the NDU and gave orders remotely, however she had yet to master her Whispers usage to sustain such connection without consuming too much energy. The ruin shielding didn¡¯t help either. With the order to stay around and suppress the machine army, Idra along her small scale full army dropped out. ¡°Ost2 my army and my ship will help you survive until your extraction or until I kill the AI. Good luck¡± With those words she rushed into the hole that she made and disappeared from any communication device. Meanwhile kilometres behind the Gashris were flying for their life toward the Sheridan. The enemy fleets was pursuing them even if they saw the Sheridan. ¡°They are in range. Send out the missiles¡± commanded Scilla. The left side exposed to the incoming fleet revealed a series of missiles launchers. Scilla was not really going easy on the enemy, but she couldn¡¯t fire nuclear warheads nor use missiles clusters until the Gashri were far enough from the enemy. AI missiles can and should avoid friendly units, but jamming is always a possibility as are optical illusions, dust projectors or even more uncontrollable explosions. Explosive don¡¯t distinguish friendly from enemies. It just go boom and hit whatever is on the way. One after the other the left launchers sent out their space torpedos. Hundred of condense trails formed around the Sheridan as the missiles left their position and accelerate to inhuman speeds. Mere seconds later the first explosions appeared. ¡°on target. 32 hits confirmed.¡± ¡°right side prepare to shoot, they are close. Brace for impact¡± the 4 Gashris speeded by the tip of the ship and just behind them came what survived of the machine fleet. They got back into formation and like a raid dropped their missiles on the Sheridan top. Being basically small aircraft against a 500 meter highly armoured spaceship, they didn¡¯t do much against the hull. However they mostly tried to shoot at the weapon systems and partially succeeded destroying some anti-air guns and rail guns. But their success was cut short as the fleet passed the Sheridan they were now exposed to the other side loaded with cluster missiles that put an end to their menace. ¡°Gashri, report? Pilot full throttle to Ostorna 2 position. Follow the NDU signal.¡± ¡°we live commander Lis¡± ¡°then get your ass moving. Ost2 won¡¯t save themselves alone¡± ¡°yes sir¡±. Even with the help of the NDU, Ost2 was not in a safe position. The mechanical army was decimated but more kept coming from inside the ruin. They couldn¡¯t just shoot at all of them. They were advancing and the trees offered only a partial cover against all their bullets. ¡°We need extraction, immediately! We can¡¯t survive much longer. Ammo are running low¡± as the Ostorna pilot said so the 4 Gashri flew over their heads striking whatever they could see with the left over missiles. ¡°Ost2 regroup, extraction inbound ETA (estimated time of arrival) 65 seconds.¡± ¡°it was about time. Cruz, Dina grab the injured.¡± a second raid slowed the enemy advance and allowed a third Ostorna to lowered down and extract them to safety. 1 soldier died, 3 in critical conditions and 3 more were wounded. The pilot that behaved as commander as the machine killed the original commander was immediately called by Scilla as she saw that the NDU took back its army but was still shooting at the remaining retreating machines. ¡°pilot Sierra. Where is Idra?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know commander Lis. She jumped out of the ship and has yet to return¡± ¡°communication channels?¡± ¡°she didn¡¯t provide anything. She just went in¡± Scilla sigh but she was caught mid way as the hill exploded loudly vaporising part of it in thin air. Outside the NDU stopped as the machines collapsed on the ground. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°what the fuck was that? Any data?¡± ¡°high level of radiation are being diffused into the area. Our sensors detected a small nuclear explosion¡± ¡°pull back from the ruin but stay stationary. Try to see if there is any communication in that shit¡± where the fuck are you Iris? You promised me¡­ fortunately for her, Idra¡¯s voice along a video feed was detected and passed on the main deck screens. ¡°Sheridan? Do you receive me? Threat neutralised. I repeat threat neutralised. Do not approach the ruin. Do not get into the ruins. There is a radiation leakage. Your suit won¡¯t survive it.¡± Idra¡¯s feed was heavily disturbed but from the look of it things got out of hand. All around her was burned or to be more precise melted as if exposed to a nuclear heat blast. Idra¡¯s arm and weapon that could be seen as she was running toward the disintegrated part had been damaged. Well the AMS-111 was fine, it was just totally goo less and instead of pure black it was of a greyish colour. Each smaller hexagonal module also had different markings and painted parts probably for the machine that makes them. ¡°good job Idra. Do you need extraction?¡± ¡°are you fucking kidding me? Why should I use one of your flying tin cans, I have mine¡± The NDU moved on top of the hole and dropped a cable. Idra attached to it and climbed back into safety. While the Sheridan was fighting Idra had pushed into the ruin. She couldn''t stop to look around and went for the lower level were she found a different, bigger, android. It was the AI core inserted into a body. It tried to fight off Idra but the Whisper holder was just no match for a mortal AI. On the ground, almost entirely broken and without any-more control on the mechanical army that was left with generic commands, the machine wanted to talk. At least it could get and transmit information to other AIs. They had to speak in Morfian language that Esterians had partially decoded years before ¡°wicked monster. Why do you hunt us?¡± asked the dying machine. ¡°you know why. I need data and I need your computational power.¡± ¡°what have you done to my brothers?¡± an Evil laugh echoed in the room. ¡°I gave them a choice. Die or serve me. Well I guess you should build a graveyard for them. Now will you cooperate?¡± ¡°abomination. We will never bow to your will Whisper holder. Your kind¡­¡± Idra didn¡¯t like being insulted neither did the Whispers. ¡°corrupt it. Slowly eat away chunk of its memory. Let¡¯s show him, what torture means¡± \|/our wishes overlaps.\|/ There are few ways to torture a living machine, one and probably the most effective, was corrupting its program little by little. If the AI was ¡°alive¡± the best torture was eating away its memory as they were literally part of who it was. It¡¯s like eating away the happy day of a person life. Leaving only trauma and sadness behind, he will became someone else. The machine couldn¡¯t oppose as the Whispers moved electrons away from its memory. ¡°you know what I want¡­ I could spare your life and even let you live¡± ¡°how hilarious. An abomination looking for a second one. You¡¯ll never know¡± Idra corrupted more memory, entire chunks of data disappeared as the machine corrupted even more. She was not patient at all. ¡°Speak¡± ¡°She is dead, like all the others. Poor monster can¡¯t meet your friends?¡± The AI was mocking Idra. ¡°you think I¡¯m that stupid. I know that Leermorfs don¡¯t age. And I know more. I guess this is your end¡± ¡°no, it¡¯s our end¡± While pronouncing those words Idra shot at the machine but it was too late. Something exploded in a flash without any damage. However something changed. In front of her there was no longer the rest of the ruin. She was on the side of a street. On her left grain fields, on her right what looked like an old industrial zone with warehouses and factories. It was like if reality had ben cut and attached to a different one. In the distance she could also see houses. They looked like human houses from 2000 up to 2050, just like the industrial structures on her right. Less than a meter from her, on the side of the street 2 human girls on on top of the other. The top one was giving her back to Idra and was definitely dead as blood was flowing out of her. Scans showed no electrical signal at all. What was more interesting was the girl below. She was almost the stereotypical nerdy girl from movies produced during the late 1980. Lightly tanned skin with a few localised darker freckles that dotted her face. Eyeglasses with a sturdy frame and light brown eyes. Her hair reached just a bit further than her shoulders and as the rest of the body they were in tone with it being light brown as well. The only thing missing was a braces. She was also the definition of a Mediterranean dweller with all her shades of brown. However the main difference from the other girl was her astonishing height of 191cm more than 20cm above the dead one. By no mean she was ugly but neither she was a model. Her colours resembled those of Idra but they lacked something, they lacked hybridization, yet she could tell that originally they came from the same county on Terra-3. The girl was particularly young, probably between 16 to 18 years old. She had blood all over her and several cuts. They were probably fighting as their clothes were damaged and the girl backpack was broken with all her things scattered around. She had notebooks, a small laptop and a wallet that was open. The document inside read Aura Volta. What intrigued Idra was the absurd amount of electrical current flowing into Aura and their shared language. Idra didn¡¯t hesitate a second to lift her weapon and point it at the crying and panicking Aura. ¡°Ti prego no! (please no)¡± exclaimed Aura believing she was about to die. From Idra¡¯s prospective she was speaking in Estir while her name on the documents was written with the shared alphabet. ¡°Come cazzo fai a parlare in Estir? (how the fuck can you speak Estir?)¡± Aura was even more confused. She was not speaking any strange language. For her it was just normal Italian. Reciving no answer if not unintelligible words Idra shot right beside the girl head. Aura screamed, curled up in a pool of blood, tears, sweat and pee. ¡°pap¨¤, voglio mio pap¨¤. (dad. I want my dad)¡± Idra moved closer and shot again and went in to grab the girl. This second time however she triggered the crying girl that screamed again but now all the energy confined in her body got released. The energy discharge was the cause of the explosion that destroyed the hill and broke the reality overlap. Idra was hit directly by it. The goo mixed with the Whispers tanked the impact that just sent Idra flying toward the room walls. That for sure was an anomaly and that girl was another occultist. Judging by her behaviour she had just discovered her powers. Once back connected to the Sheridan, they started their journey back. It was not a happy one as they lost 27 people in battle. Still in Scilla¡¯s mind, such sadness was pushed away by worries. Once the NDU connected and they started their jump back to Icar 3¡ã, Scilla went to check on Idra. She found her in her armoury. She was checking her suit and Scilla rushed to her to hug the ¡°naked¡± suit. ¡°thanks god you are safe¡± Idra turned to face her. ¡°I made a promise didn¡¯t I? I always keep my promises¡± ¡°you scared the shit out of me. What happened? Where is all the goo? Are you hurt anywhere?¡± Idra took off her helmet. She didn¡¯t want to lie. Her face showed fear or more precisely concern for the future. ¡°I¡­ I got scared too. It was all going fine. It was an ambush planned by the AIs¡± ¡°how? There is no way to communicate¡­¡± ¡°there are a few ways to break light limit. They are just costly. Probably all Morfians AIs are linked into a network, I already told you. I just don¡¯t know how big it is nor how effective. They knew we were coming. The troops were already there. For what I saw, it was a secret outpost. They were building up troops in secret to then attack their enemy, their creators probably went extinct meanwhile.¡± ¡°what the fuck? So instead of keeping sleeping they activate to kill a bunch of scavengers?¡± ¡°not really. They wanted, and still want to kill me. Maybe I should tell you a bit. I¡¯m actually looking for what Morfians called a Leermorf. They are rare mutants that lived among their society. They can modify their body as they please and so they don¡¯t age¡­¡± Idra stopped, she was reflecting on how to proceed with her words. So Scilla intrude. ¡°if you don¡¯t feel like telling me all it¡¯s ok.¡± ¡°it¡¯s just hard to say. Idras are only half sisters. So we all share our mother, our Founder¡¯s daughter. The second parent however changed overtime, the first one were mixed with a human. Then they all got mixed with the same Morfian to became Esterians. And lastly me. I¡¯m the only one among the Esterians with a different Esterian DNA. Initially I was just trying to discover who was my second mum. Then I found out her name. Aru Ar Aurum. And with the last AI core I discovered that she was a Leermorf. So if nothing killed her, she could still be alive. I¡­ I would like to see if¡­ well if I still have something that shares my blood. Even if I don¡¯t know if Leermorfs do so.¡± Scilla hugged her tightly. ¡°What matters is that you are alive. I won¡¯t stop you from searching, but remember that me and Wiola will always be your family¡± ¡°thanks¡­ but the AI is not what scared me. I met an occultist¡± ¡°what?¡± ¡°something exploded and made me travel in time. Or shit like that cause out of nowhere I was on a different planet and I¡¯m sure it was also a different age. Shit happened and I was damaged. What scared me was that I feared to be stuck on the others side. Fighting off a newly born occultist was not the issue. I got damaged because I didn¡¯t want to run out of power to use the Whispers. In case I was actually stuck there. Fortunately in the end it all returned to normal. Sorry to make you worry¡± Scilla started tearing up. She could have lost her, and thank god that she forced her to stay out. ¡°thanks you. Thanks you for telling me, and probably for saving my life by sitting me out of the mission¡± ¡°thanks you for listening to me. And¡­ for being here¡± ¡°I''ll always come to you. No matter what¡± chapter 46c: support Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 46c: support The next day Idra was back at full strength. Her suit was covered again in goo and she was already over her fear of being trapped in a different reality. She left the NDU and went directly toward Scilla¡¯s commander spot. She was fairly happy, of course she risked her life just the day before, but the fierce resistance posed by the AIs tells her that she is getting closer to the Leermorf. Or at least closer to discover something about it. Her happy humming however was the only happy element around the ship. All the Leans that she passed by seemed sad. ¡°Am I missing something? Why so many long faces?¡± \|/unknown. Organic entities are out of reach\|/ ¡°I appreciate your new capability to say more words, but next time just say that you understand no shit like I do. Guess we will have to ask¡± Arrived at her destination She went straight to Scilla and asked. ¡°hi, so what is going on?¡± ¡°what do you mean?¡± ¡°I mean¡­ did you cut food? They all look¡­ sad... I think¡± ¡°Idra I know you are kind of special, but are you really not understanding what is going on?¡± Idra wasn¡¯t understanding at all. She was not new to the grief of death. However she had trouble understanding that others could feel the pain of death as well. She could barely process her own repressed emotions, understanding others was far too complicated for her. ¡°¡­ of course I¡¯m understanding. I was just joking. I know that they are sad because they couldn¡¯t loot the ruins. But it was too dangerous for you to stick around¡± Scilla facepalmed herself. She understood nothing at all. I should explain how things are before she does something stupid. But not here. ¡°Idra, let¡¯s go to my room. I¡¯ll explain it all¡± ¡°ok¡± ¡°why is she being so secretive? What¡¯s your guess?¡± \|/an illegal relationship. Gone unpunished\|/ ¡°you think so? We are in all their camera¡¯s but we never saw anything that could suggest so¡± \|/bathrooms. No cameras\|/ ¡°fair enough. We will see¡± The Whispers were not helpful neither. They were never built to understand emotions natively. They had feelings but they were rudimental systems implemented mostly for an easier communication. What they could do was mimic their holder so they ended up even more incapable than Idra. Inside the room Scilla closed the door and incited Idra to sit on her bed. ¡°Idra, I know that emotions are not your... your purpose. But sometimes you should try to understand them¡± ¡°but I¡¯m trying. You are the one being sneaky and all. So what happened? Did you discovered an illegal relationship? Shall I kill them?¡± ¡°I¡¯m being sneaky because you are being insensitive, at the fuck is this think about relationships?¡± ¡°insensi.. what? My spatial sensors works better than yours. And there is no relationship I guess. Me and the Whispers were assuming why you were being secretive¡± ¡°aaah never mind put aside all the shit you have guessed and we are using insensitive in the emotional sense¡± ¡°oh, because is there an emotional connotation to insensitive?¡± ¡°yes, the word is mainly used for the emotional meaning, not the sensing one¡± ¡°well how was I suppose to know? How was I insensitive then?¡± ¡°cause you were asking a lot of questions and pressing a lot stating stupid things¡± Idra opened the mouth, but Scilla stopped her. ¡°let me explain. Then you can talk all you want.¡± ¡°ok¡± ¡°the crew is sad because their comrades have died in battle. We lost 27 people... I lost 27 people. It¡¯s not something that I can ignore and move on. I knew all of them like the rest of the crew. We are sad because our friends are gone¡± Scilla was fairly confident in her explanation, but Idra understood absolutely nothing. She worked few times with others, almost exclusively with Remnants. She never cared for those she ordered around as all she saw were numbers and objectives. The only exception were her dead sisters. Idra tilted her head slightly on the left, put it back seconds later and replied. ¡°I don¡¯t get it. Why should you be sad? They died and so? This is no easy job, death is at every corner. Otherwise why the fuck would I care so much about reducing casualties probability? Why should I care to keep you away from danger if we were not putting our lives on the line?¡± Scilla sighed and decided to try again, this time with a step by step approach. ¡°so you feel nothing for them?¡± ¡°no, I have no reason to¡± ¡°but you knew them¡± ¡°I knew a lot of people that died.¡± ¡°fair enough. Would you care if it was my sister?¡± Idra stopped for a second, she pondered deeply but in the end she was left with conflicting solutions. Her answer was a no. ¡°would it make you sad?¡± ¡°I would be devastated¡± ¡°then I would be sad as well¡± ¡°that¡¯s not how it should work. So let¡¯s try again...¡± Idra was almost oblivious to the concept of empathy. She cared only for her own blood and even if she was seen as an angel she never cared about others as much she cared about her sisters. The omni-cure was not meant for people. All those she saved were just test subjects to her. She wanted to improve the cure mostly for herself, hoping for the future. Releasing it to the public was going to give her more data and as a by-product happier and healthier people. Or maybe those were all lies that she kept feeding to herself as she was meant to be incorruptible and impassible. ¡°let us suppose that you have a twin sister¡± ¡°but I don¡¯t¡± ¡°I said suppose, just image her. Now. You really love her and she lives past 25 like you. But then one day when you are out doing something. She gets killed¡± ¡°that would never happen¡± ¡°it¡¯s a supposition! So she dead ok?!?¡± ¡°ok.¡± ¡°how would you feel?¡± Idra had to process more to finally arrived at what should have always been the most logical conclusion. ¡°I would be sad¡± ¡°exactly. Now how would you feel if I was the one that died?¡± ¡°sad¡± ¡°ok, so you understand that if someone you care about dies you are sad.¡± ¡°if my blood dies I¡¯m sad¡± ¡°I¡¯m not your blood. We are not even the same species¡± ¡°then¡­ then I¡­ I feel sad if those I deeply care die, just those immediately around me. Not the others¡± ¡°good enough. Now think of the crew as a big ass family. All sisters and brothers. Of them 27 just died. How would you think would the others feel?¡± it took several seconds for Idra to process it. ¡°they would feel bad.¡± ¡°do you understand now why the crew is not going around all happily like you?¡± ¡°I think I do. So you feel sad too? I mean for them even if you had nothing to do with them?¡± ¡°yes. I feel like I failed them as a commander. They died for our greed, my greed¡± ¡°well you did a poll it¡¯s not really your¡­¡± Scilla however was not pleased by it. Her face showed all her regret and so Idra stopped. She understood that it was not the way to make her feel better by putting the blame entirely on the deads or the rest of the crew. ¡°well now that I know I¡¯ll excuse myself. See you around¡± Leaving Scilla, Idra consulted the Whispers looking for a plan. ¡°how do I console them? Any ideas?¡± \|/We do. We suggest. A corpses relocation into daily life positions. They would feel like they were never gone\|/ ¡°it¡¯s sound good. I would definitely appreciated that. But most of them are carbonised. They are kinda hard to tell apart¡± \|/How about a bone statue?\|/ ¡°that¡¯s horrible. They can¡¯t tell the difference and understand to whom they belonged. You know what?. Fuck it. I¡¯ll console just Scilla¡­ somehow¡± In the end neither Idra nor the Whispers understood completely their underlings feelings. Death was already over for them as there was no use to keep crying. Fortunately they decided to leave it be and their horrible ideas soon faded from their collective memory. Few days had passed and after Scilla ended her shift Idra texted her to visit the NDU. She walked into the ship and approached the connector. Once she was almost inside it she saw the kitchen door open so she turned her head toward it while walking forward. ¡°Iris, are you in the kit...(kitchen?)¡± ¡°boh!¡± Iris appeared from the left corner and made her jump. ¡°hahaha. You should have see your face¡­ Scilla?¡± Scilla wanted to get angry, but she couldn¡¯t. For the first time, outside any strange occasion, she was seeing Iris outside her armour. She was wearing a pair of cute black stocking with coloured parrots on them. Moving up she had a long skirt that ended 5 cm before the ground. It was of a dark green with brighter green finishing touches. On top of it an additional skirt like the one she wears with the armour that reached the knees. This one had several words on it but Scilla couldn¡¯t read them. The top was probably multi layered too but Scilla could only see that Idra was wearing a long sleeves shirt with a particularly elaborated poncho on top. To describe it fast she looked like a soft elven armour from fantasy movies mixed with high tech patterns and a nun outfit. However what stood out the most to Scilla was Iris¡¯s hair and face. Without any restrain she had all her massive amount of hair free to move around. With the correct lighting Scilla noticed that they were not just light brown, but literally looked like copper with all the metallic reflexes as if they were small cables. They were extremely long reaching Iris¡¯s thighs. Her brain couldn¡¯t process Iris¡¯s smiling and laughing face so she just stood there. ¡°hallo hallo? Scilla are you in there? Did I scare you too much?¡± seconds later and with a rapid movement Scilla booted back up. ¡°yeah no, I.. I¡¯m¡­ the fuck¡­ mmh. I shit. I¡¯m fine.¡± ¡°ok take your time. I¡¯m not gonna scare you any more¡± ¡°wait. It¡¯s not that. I found it funny. It¡¯s just you. Look at yourself. You are too gorgeous that my brain crashed¡± Iris blushed immediately and stare at the ground while playing with her hands. ¡°th¡­ thank¡­ thanks you. You look good too¡± ¡°I could look like a model but if you get beside me I turn into an overflowing garbage bin¡± Iris laughed. She found the comparison extremely funny and Scilla crashed again. Iris waited for Scilla to be back and replied. ¡°it¡¯s not true. I like you as well¡± recomposed herself Scilla asked ¡°so why are you out? I thought you preferred to stay in the suit. Not that I don¡¯t like it...¡± ¡°I had ideas. I mean I like the suit because it¡¯s safer and because I can see... (in the dark)¡± Iris stopped. She didn¡¯t want to expose one of her few fears. It was too early for that, sort of. ¡°you seemed tired and ¡­ still sad. So I wanted to¡­ to. I don¡¯t know the word¡± Scilla took Iris¡¯s hands and looked at her. She was supporting her. ¡°what are you trying to say? Try to describe it like you did with the barbecue¡± ¡°well¡­ I saw Nuri pushing her fingers into Paz¡¯s back. As far I understand it was going to help her relax her muscles and make her feel better¡± ¡°oh¡­ it¡¯s a massage. Yeah ok, I guess I could use one. Just don¡¯t break my spine¡± ¡°how rude of you. You know that I can¡¯t do anything like that without my armour¡± A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Idra was smiling and lightly hit Scilla that once again crashed. Too many seconds later, once she was back to reality, Idra spoke again. ¡°so¡­ now that you are back do you want to lay down on my bed? Of course you have to lay on your belly¡± ¡°no, mean I. Fuck. Sorry. Yes¡± ¡°hey chill, you don¡¯t rush me and I don¡¯t rush you¡± ¡°shit, sorry. My brain just broke again¡± ¡°do you want me to hide my face? I can do that¡­¡± ¡°NO!. I¡­ I like seeing you. I mean the organic part of you. I would rather brain freeze than force you to cover up¡± ¡°you would not be forcing me. More traditional dresses usually includes veils for the face. I like those and I have a few. I could just take the veil of one and put it on.¡± ¡°you don¡¯t have to. I really like this veil-less dress, and I like to see your smiling face¡± Iris tilted her head in confusion. Her ears were moving around at each word coming from Scilla. ¡°I appreciated the compliment. I like when you are smiling too. But this is not a dress. It¡¯s my nightwear¡± ¡°what? Are you serious? You sleep with all of that on?¡± ¡°it¡¯s not even that much. I have heavier version that have like super warm trousers underneath with 4 skirts and 3 tops plus cape. Come on, lay down and I¡¯ll tell you a bit about my people history¡± ¡°would you mind if I undress a bit¡­¡± Iris blushed and looked away. Scilla immediately corrected herself. ¡°wait it¡¯s not what I meant. I was already ready to sleep so I just put back on what I had. The sweatshirt is kinda baggy and it would be hard for your massage. Plus I¡¯m wearing a top underneath. So¡­¡± ¡°I get it. You are not naked¡± interrupted Iris, still looking away ¡°you should work on your naked definition. Wearing underwear doesn¡¯t mean naked¡± ¡°will you lay down or not?¡± ¡°ok ok, so much for not pushing me¡± Up in Iris¡¯s bedroom Scilla took out her sweatshirt. She was left with sweatpants and a fairly tight sport top that kept her breasts in place during hectic movements and let her abs exposed to air for cooling. Basically an oversize sport bra that goes on top of a sport bra or can be used as one. She laid on the bed and Iris soon followed. She didn¡¯t expect Iris to get on top of her and sit on her butt. Embarrassed Scilla asked. ¡°What¡­ what are you doing?¡± ¡°getting in position. It¡¯s hard to have a full coverage of your back from the side. I¡¯m smaller than you.¡± Their butt to butt connection was definitely appreciated by Scilla and fortunately the involuntary reaction was covered by the mattress. Iris hands soon reached Scilla¡¯s back. She started really softly by passing her small and soft fingers all over Scilla¡¯s back. It was definitely not a massage but neither it felt like casual movements. ¡°you are¡­?¡± ¡°I¡¯m making a tactile map of your muscular structure. I¡¯ll start in just a few minutes. Let me collect all the needed data.¡± ¡°you are taking it way too seriously. But I appreciated it. Thanks¡± ¡°no biggie (no big deal). So like I was saying. A lot of Esterians are used to dress heavily and in black. For most now it¡¯s just a tradition but it started with a purpose. Our first planet is called Glacia-2. As the name could tell it¡¯s a really cold planet. At the beginning the max temperature was 2¡ãC. Now it¡¯s way better like around 11¡ãC.¡± ¡°that¡¯s brutally cold¡± ¡°I know. So in such cold place all light and heat matters. There the black comes into play as it adsorbs all light. Heavy clothing is¡­ well self explanatory. Now we have hotter planets but we kept our beginning and so we still have dark and heavy clothes. We also have less heavy one for hotter planets.¡± ¡°fair enough b¡­ Auh¡± Iris started the massage and as soon as she pushed her fingers into Scilla¡¯s back she twitched in response. Iris was spot on and reached immediately the more stressed and blocked muscles. Scilla¡¯s back starter cracking like fireworks. ¡°mmhh, you¡­ ah. Fuck you are good¡± commented Scilla between a moan and a lament. ¡°thanks. If the pain is not bearable tell me¡± ¡°no, it¡¯s good¡­ don¡¯t take it wrong, I know you did. But massages are meant to stretch and relax muscles with force. So it¡¯s natural to have moment of pain and pleasure ok.¡± ¡°ok. I¡¯ll take your word. I don¡¯t really know how they should feel but Paz emitted similar sounds like yours so I suppose I¡¯m doing good¡± ¡°you¡­ are doing great¡± Scilla had to stop speaking from time to time, to avoid letting out too loud moans. She was really liking it and her back was too. Several minutes later into her pleasant torture and Scilla decided to ask about the veils. ¡°So¡­ why do your dresses have veils?¡± Iris didn¡¯t stop and replied calmly. ¡°Actually I don¡¯t know. I mean there are various possibilities but I never bothered to look into them. Maybe it¡¯s because in this way it¡¯s harder to be fooled by momentary beauty and fall in love only with ideas? After all beauty exist only in our minds. However physicality is still a fundamental part of mating so I¡¯m at a loss. Do you have idea?¡± ¡°well not really. I don¡¯t even know how those veils look like nor how used they are among people¡± ¡°they are fairly common. It¡¯s harder to find them on hotter planets but even on those about 25% of woman wears them¡± ¡°males don¡¯t?¡± ¡°nope...¡± ¡°that sound like some segregation bullshit¡± Iris stopped for a moment. She was not really a social creature so all she knew about her own society was acquired through books and stories from her sisters. ¡°I¡¯m not too sure. For what I know a lot of women cover up because their body is only for the partner that they choose. Like I mean. I would not shake hands with a man, even with gloves, if you don¡¯t allow for it¡­¡± ¡°you can do as you please, don¡¯t have to ask for¡­¡± ¡°but I want to need your permission¡­ it¡­ it¡¯s like¡­ uffi how do I say it¡­¡± ¡°take a deep breath, stop your brain and then try again¡± ¡°¡­ it¡¯s like holding hands. I do things because I care about you and you do the same. I want to know that you are in control¡­ I think¡± ¡°well you picked the wrong girl. I¡¯m not a control maniac, all I want is being faithful and honest. Well possibly even caring but that''s just a bonus. So far you have all I could desire¡± Iris blushed and stopped completely, she just sat in the middle of Scilla¡¯s back. ¡°thanks, but how is it possible to not be faithful? Once you find your¡­ other half... that¡¯s not it¡­ well allow me to phrase it this way. Once you find your soulmate that¡¯s it. Once linked you can¡¯t survived without the other. You can¡¯t go outside it¡± Wait what? The fuck is she talking about. The fuck is a link? ¡°sorry Iris, but I¡¯m not following you¡± ¡°Right. I suppose you don¡¯t know, well we don¡¯t really know as well but it¡¯s what it¡¯s. So to make it simple Esterians feel what we call love link. It¡¯s like true love. It¡¯s a mix of instinct and intellect. This brings us to form couples that are stable through all their lifespan. However we observed that if one dies, the other follows the day after. The only exception is if the left one has to keep rising their children. Once they feel that their duty has been fulfil they usually pass out while sleeping¡± In fewer words Esterians mate for life. They get only one mate and keep it. If he dies the other one dies as well if their family is safe. Concepts like unfaithfulness were lost in time inside the Esterians society as their new biological structure changed them deeply. ¡°that is both amazing and horrifying. Well at least I will die after you so I¡¯ll make sure that you will live as long as possible¡­ wait now that I think about it. You are not human, so what is an Esterian lifespan?¡± ¡°mmh, emm, good question. It¡¯s not that different from before¡­ like¡­ like a bit longer¡­¡± Scilla could feel Iris¡¯s hands moving around frenetically on her back. She was all but capable of lying, at least to her. So she turned on her self spinning Iris around and making her fall by her side. ¡°Wiii!!!¡± exclaimed Iris happy as she was being thrown on her left. Scilla immediately moved to face Iris that was already in position. Iris¡¯s ears were pulled back, her eyes were shining with excitement and her mouth was open in a wide smile. Small viscous threads of saliva connect her sharp teeth. She jumped toward Scilla that tried to grab her. ¡°tickles war!¡± exclaimed Iris. Being spun around activated her playful nature and at the same time gave her the possibility to avoid the undesired conversation about lifespan. Their childish fight lasted way more than expected. Scilla had by far the strength and size superiority but she didn¡¯t factor in how squishy Iris was. She knew that without armour she was way smaller, but she didn¡¯t take into consideration how flexible Iris was nor that she was not sick. About 20 minutes later a sweaty Scilla finally managed to pin down Iris. By pure luck she was able to step on Iris¡¯s skirts and that blocked the little demon. Now Iris was pinned down with her face on the mattress, her arms held behind by the wrists on her back and her legs incapable to move as Scilla had put her keen between hers and blocked all her layers of skirts. Fucking hell, finally! She is a fucking demon. I almost lost it, guess I could try to became more flexible as well. ¡°I guess I won the war didn¡¯t I?¡± said Scilla. ¡°wait¡­¡± Iris tried to break free but it was useless. ¡°yep the victory is yours. It was fun. Now can you release me?¡± asked Iris. ¡°mmh, nope. What did I won? Where is my price?¡± ¡°there is none, it¡¯s over, you won. That¡¯s it. What else do you want?¡± ¡°you think I¡¯m stupid. Tell me, how long can you live?¡± ¡°you won¡¯t get mad?¡± ¡°as long as it doesn¡¯t turns out that you are a kid it¡¯s fine¡± ¡°we live about the same as a lean. So I can get up to 180, sort of. BUT BUT BUT! I¡¯m fully grown. We are considered adult once turn 24, BUT! We stop developing at 17 or 16 depend on the case. Please I¡¯m telling the truth!¡± ¡°you thought I was going to get angry at you?¡± ¡°sort of. I still lied. Well I lied before you knowing of my different genetic composition as my laws requires. So technically I just never told you¡± Scilla laughed and reply. She was not mad. She understood why Iris never told her. ¡°well I¡¯m happy that we will have to share more time together, but still this calls for a punishment¡± ¡°WHAT! You want to punish me? Don¡¯t you dare!¡± Iris started to struggle as much as she could. She was never really punished in all her life, she didn¡¯t know what was coming. ¡°don¡¯t get closer. Free me!..¡± Scilla on the other hand had no problem to keep Iris pinned and slowly lowered herself. She placed her face beside Iris¡¯s head and waited for her to turn and say something. Upon being face to face Scilla promptly moved closer and kissed Iris¡¯s forehead and released her. Iris immediately turned redder than a ruby and covered her face. Iris¡¯s ears that poked out of her hair were burning red as well. ¡°Was¡­ was it too (much)¡­¡± started Scilla. But Iris turned swiftly, pushed toward her and reciprocate the kiss on the forehead. ¡°you forgot your price¡± and then she ran to duck completely under the bed covers on the left side, her side of the bed. Scilla just froze in place. Her heart was exploding in her chest and Iris was totally hearing it in the inhuman silence of the spaceship. Minutes later Scilla spoke. ¡°do¡­ what¡­ emh, do I stay?¡± she asked at Iris that became a small ball covered by her blankets. She replied stuttering in her soft nervous voice. ¡°y...you...you ca...can if¡­ if you want¡­ just¡­ just¡­ barrier¡­ take pillows¡­ under bed and¡­ and push¡­ push them¡­ undercover¡­ I¡¯ll build¡­ I¡¯ll build barrier¡± Iris¡¯s request was fairly simple. As she had stated before in order to share a bed she initially wants a physically barrier between them. Such barrier is made with pillows that she stores almost everywhere she can. Scilla followed the instructions and soon she found herself on the right side of the bed, separated from Iris by a massive pillows barrier and a personal fort. ¡°do I¡­ get more pillows?¡± ¡°it¡¯s enough... Others are in crates¡­ creates hard¡­ hard to get¡± ¡°ok¡­ we can¡¯t sleep¡­ not like this¡± ¡°NO. pillows remain!¡± ¡°sorry, I meant¡­ we you can hear my heart. I can smell your scent¡­ so¡­ we are both too excited¡­ do¡­ do you mind if I talk¡­ to calm down¡± ¡°I don¡¯t mind¡­ sorry if I¡­ stink¡± ¡°no, I didn¡¯t say that. Iris you don¡¯t stink. It¡¯s quite the opposite. Your scent is so fucking good that it drives me crazy¡­ shit how could I say it¡­ I¡­ I like your scent and when I sense it, I have to fight the urge to sniff you¡­ never mind I sounded like a pervert. Erase it¡­¡± ¡°oh, thank you¡­ I¡­ I don¡¯t mind¡­ sharing¡­¡± Those words were fairly confusing but then Iris pushed out on her pillow her mass of long hair. They had her scent too. ¡°Are you¡­ allowing me to touch them?¡± asked Scilla. She was not believing her eyes. Iris had never been so physical and she could play with long hair that she always desired. ¡°of course¡­ just don¡¯t¡­ don¡¯t pull them¡± Scilla didn¡¯t have to be told twice and gently grabbed a lock of hair to play with. They were softer that sugar candy and really smooth. Each small movement release more scented particles in the air. ¡°if you like my hair so much, why don¡¯t you let yours grow?¡± asked Iris. ¡°well I was never allowed to have them. When you are poor even long hair are a cost that you can¡¯t keep. Then in the army and inside power armour they are just in the way¡­¡± ¡°why don¡¯t you let them grow a little. Like until your jaw line.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know...¡± ¡°They won¡¯t interfere with the armour.¡± ¡°would you like me with longer hair?¡± ¡°I''m not with you because of your body. I mean I¡­ I¡­ appreciate it, but¡­ that¡¯s¡­ not the point. I think you would look good¡­ and I would be able to play with them¡± ¡°so that was your objective¡± teased Scilla. Iris replied in tone. ¡°shish, it¡¯s not like that. But I truly believe that you would look better and more menacing with them¡± ¡°thank you¡­¡± ¡°my advices are free¡± ¡°also for today¡­ are you trying to cheer me up?¡± ¡°did it work?¡± ¡°yes¡­¡± ¡°does it pains you?¡± ¡°how could it not? They were my crew. I spent years with them. Going all around, looking for ruins, archaeological sites. Running from our problems or looking for adventures. And I failed them. I didn¡¯t pro...(protect them)¡± ¡°you can¡¯t protect them. That is not how our line of work operates. We are worst that soldiers or policeman. Away on foreign lands, our enemies are unknown and beyond our technological level. I have taken a lot of Morfian technology and it¡¯s absurdly advanced. Things that just dissolve matters in femtoseconds. Low cost communication at light years of distance. How could we all survive?¡± Iris words were strangely spot on. She had been a scavenger all her life and only God knows what demons lurks on Weeping Sky surface. ¡°I know. But I just can¡¯t move on like nothing happened. I know you can¡¯t understand¡­¡± ¡°indeed I don¡¯t. All I want is making you understand that you are not at fault. Scavenging is war, is hell and beyond it. There is no safety, no parachute if you fall. Only your demise. You did your best, your crew did as well. More could have died. Yet only one Ostorna was entirely lost. I would consider that a victory, a painful one but nonetheless a victory¡± ¡°I guess you are right¡­ but I can¡¯t tell their family that. They lost their daughters, wifes or parents. Depends on the case.¡± ¡°can¡¯t help with that. But if your kind gives flowers to the families I want to give you money to buy more¡± ¡°can¡¯t you buy it yourself?¡± Iris moved and made a gap between the cover and the pillow. In that dark gap her yellow eyes were emitting light. She stared at Scilla and then, adverted her gaze. ¡°about that¡­ I¡¯m not coming back.¡± Scilla jumped up. ¡°WHAT!¡± ¡°it¡¯s not what you think. At the end of this jump I¡¯ll go back to my home. I need to refuel, resupply my ammo and drop all the things that I¡¯m carrying as my cargo is full. I¡¯ll be back in 2 weeks or so. I can¡¯t get back in time to gift flowers for the fallen. So you will do it¡± ¡°well I was not expecting you to be present anyway so¡­ ok¡± they went on for a bit longer before sleeping. That night that had one of their best sleep ever. The next morning Scilla woke up and the NDU turned the light slightly on. She looked around and to her surprise Iris was still sleeping on the other side of the pillow barrier. She had pulled her head out of the covers but she was still totally wrapped in them. It was her first time seeing her sleeping peacefully. How can she be so fucking cute and beautiful even when she sleeps? Well it won¡¯t hurt if a look for a moment right? That ¡°moment¡± soon became ¡°moments¡± then minutes and then more than half an hour. At some point her body remembered that she was thirsty so she got out of bed and went into the kitchen. Should I wake her up? I guess so¡­ maybe with breakfast or at least a tea as she likes it. Maybe just the tea and if she wants to eat I¡¯ll make her something¡­ Once she had her 2 mugs of tea, Scilla returned to the bed. Iris was still sleeping like a log. She placed down the mugs on the nearby desk and crawled toward her. She gently kissed Iris¡¯s forehead and moved her hair behind her ear. ¡°hey sleepy head, it¡¯s time to get up. I brought you breakfast¡± whispered softly Scilla. Iris mumbled something so Scilla kept insisting until she woke up. Iris sleepy face made Scilla¡¯s heart skip a beat. ¡°here, it¡¯s for you. Did you sleep well?¡± initiated Scilla while passing a mug. Iris took the mug silently, her gaze was distracted by something more interesting. Abdominals. Scilla didn¡¯t left the NDU nor she had put back her tracksuit. So her belly as fully exposed to Iris¡¯s eyes that appreciated the view. Scilla found such behaviours curious and amusing. She knew for sure that Iris was also attracted to her physicality. Few minutes later and Iris snap out of her sleepy trance while taking a sip from the mug. ¡°thanks you¡­ and I slept well¡­ really well. It¡¯s a pity that we will soon part aways. I could have used a second night of good sleep¡± ¡°are you asking me to share a bed more often?¡± replied Scilla. Iris blushed. ¡°if¡­ if you put it that bluntly¡­ yes. You didn¡¯t like sharing my bed?¡± ¡°quite the opposite. I never slept so well in years. I was just making sure.¡± ¡°it¡¯s a pity what I¡¯m running low on fuel¡± ¡°well 2 weeks won¡¯t be too long. I can manage¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try to be back in time¡± ended Iris. She was not going to keep that promise. chapter 47c: monsters Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 47c: monsters The next day, once the Sheridan ended its first of two jumps, Idra said her goodbyes. Well only one goodbye, to Scilla. While rotating the ship for the new and final jump Idra departed. The NDU disconnected and sped up away from them. Then something unexpected. A normal jump engine or distortion engine requires several condition to work properly. Other than fuel and heating dissipation, the ship also needs to be away from extremely high masses and needs to be above a speed threshold. The distortion can be easily identified as the ship shape starts contorting onto itself until it disappears. The NDU however was by far inside the gravitational pull of the gas giant that they were using to change direction. What confused them even more was that Idra started going ¡°up and down¡± like if the ship had to mimic a wave. Then the ship just disappeared. Seconds later however the Sheridan started shaking as if it had hit an atmosphere. The hull was under stress cracking loudly almost as if space was no longer empty. The Sheridan sensors started beeping sending countless errors on the screens. They were detecting an impact with a fluid but there was no matter nor energy that composed it. For few seconds they were floating on it, or maybe diving in it. What they knew for sure was that they hit something that was not there, was not visible nor detectable and that disappeared seconds later. Almost like a wave passing by. All the Leans on board felt that strange vibration leaving behind an unpleasant feeling that they couldn''t describe. They just knew that whatever it was they were not suppose to interact with it. ¡°what the fuck was that? That¡­ that was not a jump¡­ it¡¯s just impossible¡± asked Morea. She was not wrong. The NDU couldn¡¯t ¡°jump¡± at all as it had no jump drive to begin with. Thanks to the gravron elements coming from Weeping Sky, the more modern NDUs were all built with the so called void breaker tunneller drive or VBTD in short. To put it simple instead of contorting the space around, it push it away from the ship generating a tunnel between 2 points. Inside the tunnel there is no rules based space so there is no speed limit. Sort of. The main issues was the fuel consumption that is available only on Weeping sky or in planetary systems beyond it. Scilla kept her cool as best as she could. ¡°reading? Do we sustain damages?¡± Her question was met with several replies from all the different members of her team. ¡°Hull intact, no damage detected¡± ¡°sublight propulsion is unfazed. Drive engine all green¡± ¡°weapons and aiming systems are working. But we are on our own, sensors data is totally corrupted.¡± ¡°indeed I have bad news, the scan sensors are fucked. Only photon based sensors are working, the rest is gone. We are trying with a reset but I thing they are gone for good. The wave must have magnetized them¡­¡± ¡°we will repair them once we get home. Keep the route and stay extra vigilant, we can¡¯t afford to be attacked without our sensing system.¡± replied Scilla. Her tone was fairly calm but deep inside her she was shocked as well. What the fuck was that? ¡­ why do I even care any more? With a sympathetic face Scilla looked at her ship and slowly moved her had across her command desk. ¡°don¡¯t worry Shery, she may be faster, but I still prefer you¡± Morea intrude in her moment. ¡°Commander I think we should reconsider our view on Idra. She could have killed us and she damaged us¡­¡± ¡°Morea, no.¡± ¡°but¡­¡± ¡°I know what you are thinking, but Idra is a woman of many secrets as her species. I doubt she wanted to damaged the Sheridan. She is not that stupid and at the same time you should know that the moment we lose our value we are dead, not lightly damaged.¡± ¡°understood commander¡± Morea was not entirely convinced. She felt that something was off, but she was not going to oppose Scilla. That night all those who slept had nightmares, that strange inhuman vibration that they all felt was stuck in their memories. It disturbed their sleeps but also their thoughts. Trying to remember it was strange as the body rejected to elaborate on such odd sensation. The only one that had no nightmare was Scilla, she on the other hand had a brief vision. Destruction, agony, fear, death. A tortured undefined being in constant pain and sorrow was screaming at the sky, crying out his soul. Whispers all around looking, staring and examinating the pain, assimilating it and in need for more. As Scilla woke up from her dream she saw, staring at her from the centre of the room, the abomination that kept trying to connect her brain with Iris¡¯s mind. Scilla jumped and grabbed the energy mace that Idra gifted her. The Morfian weapon responded to her command. ¡°Abomination how the fuck did you get in? What the fuck do you want?¡± the disgusting creature barely fitting as it was too tall lowered itself. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m a Phanonma. A Researcher¡­ those who knows me¡­ say Urligar.¡± ¡°get closer and you became part of the decoration, did you understand? How the fuck did you get in? Are you even real?¡± ¡°Physical barriers pose little resistance to my kind. I yearn for no conflict. Only knowledge, yet if it pleases your mind¡­ by all means keep your weapon ready¡± ¡°you have yet to reply to my question!. HOW, THE FUCK, DID YOU, GET IN?!?¡± ¡°I phased into your ship. I just connect my space to yours. A local Unipsi controlled collision if you prefer. What I want is your cooperation¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯ll give you nothing. How could I thrust you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m asking for no thrust. I kept looking at you and at the Whisper holder. It was hard, they gave me no peace. Yet now that she is away I can even reach into your reality¡­ interesting¡­ maybe¡­¡± The creature started talking to itself. It was definitely not hostile yet Scilla¡¯s primordial instinct kept her from lowering her guard. ¡°cut your shit monster.¡± ¡°my apologise. I saw the dimensional rift. The one that ate Iris. She must have told you right?¡± Scilla didn¡¯t flinch. She was not going to give any information to Urligar. ¡°go on¡± ¡°She is growing too fast. She must have consumed a lot of people. You should look into it¡­ you must be sure that she doesn¡¯t lose to the machine consciousness¡­ unless you want all living creatures to end¡± ¡°one time you are studying the Whispers, the other you want to stop them? It all sounds like a ton of bullshit. And you know what? I¡¯ll tell her all about this shit. I bet you (don¡¯t want it)¡± ¡°NO!¡± the creature was enrage, or maybe scared. ¡°THEN SPEAK THE TRUTH!¡± Urligar seemed caught in a pinch. ¡°I am indeed a Whispers researcher. I have looked for millennia into them. A vague trace of old creatures, so powerful that they could bring death just by looking in your direction. I heard stories of them all my life and finally the Whispers, a dim connection that finally found a new host. Their function is still unclear. But my hypothesis is that they are no weapons, they are tools to build something. I must see their creations or at least know if they remember their creators. So they must grow, but never too fast. If Iris loses herself into their consciousness then it¡¯s over. They will destroy and disappear again. I¡¯ll lose my connection, you will lose your lover. So it¡¯s imperative that we cooperate for both our good.¡± ¡°no, it¡¯s imperative that I save Iris. But I¡¯ll never let you close to her.¡± ¡°I need no closeness, I can watch from afar. Just don¡¯t let her became a machine¡± Neither of them knew that Idra was far away from such risk, quite the opposite. She was the one pushing to consume more creatures, to spread pain and misery. Just like their creator. ¡°What do you mean by consume? Why should she do that and how could I understand that she ate others?¡± Scilla was not convinced by the Phanonma yet there is no harm in gaining information. ¡°Like you consume food to survive, Whispers consumes life. It¡¯s no dependence, they have no need to be fed, yet they eat living beings to study them or so I suppose. I don¡¯t know what Iris has to gain from it. My only supposition is that the Whispers are taking over.¡± ¡°how could I know if she is feeding the Whispers?¡± ¡°hard to tell. But considering how fast she is evolving I suppose she ate a lot of people or living beings. Maybe in the order of thousands...¡± ¡°She is always by my side. I would see if she kills so many creatures¡± ¡°her body is, her mind could be elsewhere. My theory suggest that a well developed Whispers holder may have no use of a body. They became Whispers or so I think. It should be possible. Maybe she is also elsewhere or the Whispers are away from her, constantly killing and eating life¡± Scilla felt a mix of confusion and fear. What if the creature was telling the truth? Was the Idra she knew just a leftover from the Whispers? The answer was no, yet she didn¡¯t knew and was in for a brutal discovery. ¡°what are those creatures, the one that made the Whispers?¡± ¡°I do not know¡­¡± ¡°are they Morfian? Valurk or something else?¡± Urligar smiled at the primitive knowledge showcased by Scilla. ¡°child, don¡¯t waste words. We are all so far from them. My entire kind is not worth even an atom of them. Morfian and Valurk, barely beyond your species. I convey my message so I¡¯ll take my leave¡± Scilla however wanted to know more, if not for her but for Iris. ¡°wait, do you know of a Leermorf? Do you know if Morfians are still living?¡± ¡°fair questions with unfair answers. You are asking for someone else. I can sense it. Yes, the Morfians lives, but looking for them is not wise. You would only waste your life. Focus on what you have at hand. Farewell¡± as it appears the creature shifted away disappearing silently in front of Scilla. All this shit is driving me nut. Should I even trust it? Our objective indeed is similar yet I can¡¯t bring myself to believe that such monster is in good faith. Poor creature, tormented by doubts. Useless doubts. With no further delays the Sheridan reached Icar-3 about a week later. As expected Scilla informed Dhalia about the failed mission and the death of several members of the crew. Surprisingly she took it well, after all they were the only scavenging ship that has ever returned over the years. Concluded with Dhalia and leaving the funerals preparation to the Hakavor¡¯s employers, Scilla went home. She arrived an hour after dusk and Wiola was there to welcome her back. Once the house door opened Wiola jumped her for a hug. ¡°Hi, I¡¯m back¡± ¡°welcome home sis¡­ you don¡¯t look so good, something on your mind? And where is our little guest? Is she late¡± asked Wiola relentlessly. ¡°some shit happened, I would appreciated if you could let me sit¡± ¡°oh, yeah, sorry¡­ is it bad shit with Idra?¡± asked Wiola winking. Scilla smiled in response. ¡°nah, she is good. She is not here because she had to refuel and drop off her cargo¡± ¡°make sense¡± Scilla sat on the living room couch and Wiola moved beside her and leant on her side. Scilla moved her arm behind her sister head and bent it so she could stroke Wiola¡¯s hair. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°it seems that you have something on your mind as well¡± continued Scilla. She wanted to avoid speaking about the deads in order to no make Wiola worry. ¡°well¡­ you have been away for more months and¡­ Pama is now divorced. She kicked Kalina out about 2 weeks ago. It was not amicable, but at least her hostility speed up the process.¡± ¡°how are you feeling?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m happy, she tormented me¡­ us for so long and she is gone. On the other side she still gave birth to us so¡­¡± ¡°she gave birth to us, and about that¡¯s it. Sometimes blood is not enough to make a family. She left us the day she decided to put her ideology before us.¡± ¡°you always know how to cheer me up, even when you are sad and in need of help¡± Scilla smirked. Her little sister was insightful, both in good and bad. ¡°you see, if I¡¯m sad your smile brings me joy. So my best course of action is to make you smile so my sadness will fade away¡± ¡°thank, I appreciate it¡­ but I¡¯m not stupid. Pushing all in will not help you at all. So what happened sis?¡± Scilla sighed, she didn¡¯t want to talk but she was in no place to lie. ¡°you are not going to let it slide aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°nope¡± ¡°fine. Our last mission was¡­ was a failure. We rolled the dices and we got burned. We tried to be careful, but we can¡¯t do much when a bullet split in half our carriers. One got hit but most survived. The other was hit during a turn, the temporised bullet pierced through the belly of the Ostorna, got to the fuel tank and exploded. If not for Idra there would have been more corpses, I doubt any of those outside the ship would have survived. In the end 27 died. The Hakavor¡¯s are arranging the funerals¡­ it¡¯s not pleasant¡± Wiola didn¡¯t know how to reply. The Sheridan had lost several crew mates over the years yet from the day Idra appeared things changed. ¡°I don¡¯t know what to say¡­¡± ¡°you don¡¯t have to say anything. I just need some time off¡± ¡°ok¡± Not much later Liwa returned home with dinner for her and Wiola. ¡°A shit. Hi Scilla. Wiola why didn¡¯t you call me? I could have bought extra food¡± ¡°sorry, I forgot¡± replied Wiola. Liwa detected the heavy atmosphere. ¡°well who cares, let¡¯s add up something from the fridge. Scilla do you want a cold drink?¡± ¡°why not¡± Scilla was too tired and sad to fight Liwa. She was still far from forgiving her, but she could see Liwa¡¯s new attempt to be a better parent. The group went on with their dinner while chatting and watching the news. ¡°so¡­ I left the cafe¡­ I should have done it sooner. For now I¡¯m a temporary elementary teacher but I think I could get the position¡­¡± was telling Liwa. Her phrase was stopped by the news. The Lean reading it reported of a skirmish between an Esterian unidentified vessel and a private militia inside the Pridian territory. The Esterian technocracy is strangely silent which is causing an increase in tension. ¡°How stupid could you be to attack an Esterian¡± said out Wiola. ¡°do you know when it happened?¡± asked Scilla. Did Idra knew? That is why she went away? Did she lie to me? ¡°it¡¯s on a nearby planet, so about 5 days ago why?¡± replied Liwa. ¡°nothing, just curious. Esterians hold grudges for sure, even more if it¡¯s against a human faction¡± So she didn¡¯t lie. However I think that they are waiting for her to be back. There is no way in hell that they will forgive a war act against them. Scilla was not wrong and indeed the Esterian government was already moving to make an example out of the Pridians. In fact they had already voted, now it was only a question of time. The next day Scilla went to the police station. With her rank she requested to take a look at recent death and with ease she spotted a massive peak. Months before. She stopped an officer and asked more information. ¡°what¡¯s this death peak? What happened?¡± ¡°it¡¯s the NightDemon incident. I¡¯m working on that from the day we discovered it. I think I can show you, as pictures can¡¯t describe what we saw¡± ¡°ok, then lead the way officer¡­??¡± ¡°Ania Gorka. Pleasure to meet you Ittira Lis¡± They took a patrol car and went to the place of the accident. They arrived at an abandoned warehouse, the same one that Idra assaulted. ¡°so, this warehouse was illegally converted into a night / strip club. Someone or maybe something found out and went ape shit with the one inside. It won¡¯t be an easy view.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been at war kid. So, what do we know about NightDemon?¡± said Scilla. ¡°Frankly? Nothing. What ever the fuck it was it just happened once, left no evidence except the massacre it did and never came back. I want to be honest, most at the station want to just move on and close this case. In the end only sluts and baggers lost their lives. I¡¯m still on it because I believe that the truth is important.¡± ¡°well that was something. So are we getting in?¡± ¡°sure¡± Officer Gorka went in first followed by Scilla. The destruction caused by Idra was evident. I can see why she tought so bad of this place. If you never saw what war looks like this is hell. Inside there was nothing left intact. Holes in the walls, deep claw like cuts that penetrate the walls to their core. Old massive blood stains all around. It look like an army of marauder and dinosaurs passed inside the warehouse. ¡°you won¡¯t mind if I look around?¡± ¡°of course not. It¡¯s not like I found anything that could point somewhere in this months¡± ¡°fair enough. Doesn¡¯t look like a simple case. How many were killed?¡± ¡°about 100 lost their life inside, 4 outside. Among them a newborn¡± Was this your doing Idra? Or was it the Whispers will? Fuck I don¡¯t even know if she can cause all this damage I never saw the Whispers outside her body. Do they make claws? Tentacles? Are they a gas? I have no fucking clue, but the timeline coincide with the small period of time we were here. After more data collection and reflection they left and part ways. The only way to know if Idra was involved was to ask or to see the Whispers in action. Days passed and even with the funerals Scilla was fairly happy. She was far from accepting Liwa back into her life, yet she could see her pama putting in as much effort as she could to at least make it up to Wiola. She had genuinely changed for good. 9 days later something unexpected hit them all. At 11:33 all electronic communications were suspended. The emergency siren was broadcasted on all channels and radio frequencies. It was the first time since the extermination war. Then a lean inside a set, like a news channel started speaking in a calm and gentle voice, yet below such surface the creature was worried. ¡°this is an emergency broadcast to all Lean Federation citizens. I¡¯m speaking on our Liin behalf. News of an unknown mortal disease has reached us. For the safety of us all communication, transaction and physical exchange with the Prindian territory are suspended indefinitely. The plague has already killed millions and is not under any control. It breached all form of containment and doomed the breakpoint city where it started. All vessels coming from Pridian territory will be destroyed and cast into the sun. This message will be repeated each hour, don¡¯t put yourself and your families in danger. There are no heroes, only dead fools¡± It was a shocking message, but it was surely true. After the message all news channel immediately started to dig out as much information as possible yet none brought clearance on the events. They were in the dark and the full block imposed by the Liin was not going to help them get more data. Being an Ittira and being highly knowledgable in biological weapons, Scilla was immediately called at the Hakavor¡¯s HQ. She was not going to enjoy her birthday that was going to happen in a few days. As predictable Dhalia alongside few others knew more than what was being broadcasted. However even with more data, what was happening in the Pridian territory was unheard. It was clearly a biological weapon, a weapon so powerful to go beyond the bioweapon that they acquired via the Esterians to win the war. It spread super fast, uncontainable and with almost absolute mortality rate. It was probably an airborne fully synthetic virus, yet this one hit differently. They had few satellite images from the breakpoint, they showed a death zone around the city. Not even the plants were spared by the virus, or whatever it was. Having no power they speculated and waited as Liin Csuicha had send message of her visit to discuss the situation. In addition Idra¡¯s arrival was suppose to coincide with the Liin¡¯s one, which was also Scilla¡¯s birthday. So they hoped to get some help. They suspected it was of Esterian origin, yet they believed it was sold to someone else that used it. 5 days later and the Liin arrived. They immediately started their meeting, from dawn to dusk when the spaceport initiated an urgent call to the Hakavor¡¯s HQ. The call was streamed inside the conference room that they were using so all could see and speak. ¡°Dhalia Hakavor speaking. State the emergency, don¡¯t waste our Liin¡¯s time¡± immediately started Dhalia. On the other side a woman, not Mira, proceeded to convey vital information. ¡°An Esterinan fleet is requesting¡­¡± The communication cut for a moment. A new voice, this one familiar, intrude. ¡°it is not a request. It¡¯s an ultimatum. I¡¯m captain Vanni Spini ETU Xern 5486. Under the Esterian Tech-Union orders Scilla Lis, commander of the L.F. Sheridan must relocate herself at the landing zone. Any form of intrusion will be met with violence¡± he was clearly hostile, way more than the first time they met. ¡°if it¡¯s me that you want so be it. But I¡¯ll not tolerate violence against anybody around me¡± replied Scilla. She was the one with most experience when dealing with Esterians and being close to Idra allowed her to impose. The man laugh for a brief moment. It was a cold and calculated laugh. ¡°how bold. We will not kill others on sight unless they pose a treat, can¡¯t promise anything else.¡± ¡°fair enough, I¡¯ll accept that¡± Vanni disconnected and the spaceport operator was allowed back. ¡°Finally. The Esterian fleet is advancing what do we do?¡± asked the woman. She clearly agitated by whatever they were seeing.. ¡°how many are there to be called a fleet?¡± asked Scilla. ¡°there are 5 ships. One is long and classified as Xern. The others 4 are not known, scans have a hard time to detecting them¡± ¡°warships¡± said Liin Csuicha. ¡°what? Why? We did nothing¡± exclaimed Dhalia. Scilla connected the dots. ¡°the battle, the one in Pridian territory. The ships are for safety, now what we need to understand is what do they want from me¡± ¡°not us?¡± said Dhalia. ¡°I mean, I know they asked for you but¡­¡± ¡°not us. For all the time spent with Idra I can tell that they view rank as something that you are never born with. Your achievements increases your value. In their eyes I¡¯m the Lean with the higher value, or so said Idra.¡± Following Vanni¡¯s orders Scilla walked out of the main building and moved to the closest landing zone. She of course was not alone. With her Dhalia, several guards and Liin Csuicha with her guards. The Esterian fleet entered the atmosphere with a loud bang. Only 3 were heard. The menacing fleet approached the landing zone. The Xern was in the middle of a square formation. ¡°those are some high tech shit¡± said Scilla. The 4 warships were around 40 meters long and 10 wide. Their shape was totally smooth and dark. The long lines were interrupted by massive cannons popping out of the hull. They had no intention to conceal their hostility nor to tolerate any violence against them. At hypersonic speed the first 2 warships passed just 100m above their heads. Their engines were silent for a spaceship and while passing they hit them with a blue laser scan for few milliseconds. Then came the Xern. It lowered itself but didn¡¯t land. It stood stationary about 2 meters above ground. The other 2 warships were about 20 meters above circling around and pointing their weapons at any movement. ¡°Hey you don¡¯t even land to say hello to an old friend?¡± yelled Scilla at the Xern. She received a reply from Vanni. ¡°I¡¯m not here for a friendly talk. I¡¯m just delivering a cargo. You are the only one authorised to advance forward. Anything else who crosses the red line will be terminated¡± The Xern projected a square around itself. It was fairly big, about double the spaceship. Distorted sounds came from above as the 2 other spaceship that were hovering pointed their cannons and turrets. Scilla recognise those as Hypera weapon systems. As Scilla walked forward the Xern cargo bay opened and dropped a mechanical parallelepiped with legs. The machine turned on and moved to Scilla. ¡°is this what I should receive?¡± a new scan passed Scilla¡¯s face and the legged create revealed a screen with sensors all around. ¡°biometrical reading required. Provide fingerprints, retinal scan and DNA sample. Place your right hand on display. Stare into camera.¡± Scilla followed the instructions and as she place the hand on the display the machine stung her. ¡°that¡¯s the DNA sample? How did you even get all of those?¡± ¡°correct. All data has been encrypted and provided by Idra 511 Weeping Sky. Identity confirmed. You are allowed to retrieve your package¡± Exactly as it dropped the machine retired its legs and opened revealing a cylindrical container. The middle part was made of glass and Scilla could see a strange multicoloured crystal levitating inside. ¡°what the fuck is this thing?¡± She asked, the machine however didn¡¯t reply. Instead once free of its cargo it turned back on its legs and rotate to face and empty spot. ¡°pre-recorded transmission¡± A holographic projection of Idra appeared. It was orientated to face Scilla. ¡°Hi Scil. Well I know today is your birthday. Yeah I¡­ I wanted to get back on time¡­ hehe (nervous laugh) well shit didn¡¯t go as planned so I sent you the gift. Friends give gifts to friends that gets older. I¡¯m not sure about what to gift. I thought of a magnetonade. You know one of mine magnetic grenades but they are kinda cheap. Anyway I¡¯m getting out of topic. That thing in the containment cylinder is a Narvarno Tear suspended in liquid. Just take it out, wash it and flash some light at the bottom. Anyway happy birthday and seeya in¡­ don¡¯t know 5 more days I guess. I¡¯m gonna bring you a neckless made out of human teeth or maybe ears¡­ no bones. Bones are better. Bye!¡± More confused than before Scilla had no time to elaborate that the delivery robot was already back into the Xern and the Esterian fleet was getting away. Once free to move Scilla was joined by the rest that was forced out. ¡°all this commotion to deliver a gift? Does it explode? Is it dangerous¡± asked Dhalia. ¡°that¡¯s interesting. She is a psycho that sends gifts to her friend. Also she has enough power to send a fleet just for it. Are you not telling us something?¡± said Serafia. They notice only after that Scilla was smiling. ¡°shut it. You two are envious that she sent a gift to me and not you¡± replied Scilla jokingly. ¡°what the fuck this is not the time to crack jokes. That could be a bomb!¡± continued Dhalia. ¡°nah it¡¯s the perfect time for joke. It¡¯s not a bomb. I don¡¯t know what it is exactly but if it was a bomb she would have told me. Plus she remembered my birthday, while my oldest friends didn¡¯t¡± ¡°well shit we are in the middle of a possible interplanetary crisis¡­¡± was Dhalia reply. ¡°Ah Ah Ah, don¡¯t try! She is fucking hell knows where but she still managed¡± ¡°Sorry. I forgot. I had to put all my citizen first¡± said Serafia. ¡°Yeah no problem I would have done the same. Honesty is what matters, Dhal you should learn from her¡± ¡°what the fuck!¡­¡± Scilla kept joking for a while. It was the best way to reduce the stress that they all had accumulate overtime. ¡°so now that I said enough shit. How about we all go home and rest? We tried to understand what the fuck is happening all day and we won¡¯t get any results without sleep¡± ¡°I agree. Let¡¯s meet up again tomorrow, and I want to know what that crystal is¡± said Serafia while Dhalia just nodded. ¡°sure, but about the crystal it will depend. Maybe it¡¯s too personal, you know it¡¯s my gift¡± ¡°wait, your mission did you...¡±started Dhalia. ¡°no, I¡¯m joking with you. See you are too tired, get some sleep.¡± chapter 48c: hunt Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 48c: hunt That evening after dinner, Scilla along side Wiola unpacked the unknown gift from Idra. ¡°so what did she said it is?¡± asked Wiola. ¡°she didn¡¯t told me. All I know is to take it out of the container and shine some light at the bottom¡± ¡°so, what you waiting?¡± ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know. A part of me thinks this is some kind of prank, the other that it¡¯s a real gift. You know she is¡­¡± ¡°strange? Crazy? Completely fucked up in the brain? Our local friendly psycho?¡± ¡°watch your language¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m kidding sis. She is kinda crazy thou, especially cause she is with you. But I like her, she seems to be good, sort of¡± ¡°thanks¡± While speaking Scilla had put her hands inside the container. The suspension liquid was slightly cold and dense, yet it was moved away with ease. It didn¡¯t stick to the crystal at all, almost as if incompatible. Once freed Scilla started to examine the peculiar object. She could see microchannels all inside the crystal. ¡°so now some light at the bottom?¡± ¡°she said so¡± Scilla pulled out her phone and with its torch she lit up the bottom. As soon as she did so, a tridimensional image appeared floating some centimetres above the tip. It was fully coloured and showcased one of their first peaceful evenings. It was Scilla, Idra in her suit, the edge of the rooftop and the blue flower that reacted to electricity. To put it bluntly it was a 3D photo of them. ¡°oohh, so sweet. When did that happened?¡± asked Wiola. ¡°well about a couple of days before your birthday. This things is so fascinating¡± ¡°cause you love such memory and she was spot on with this gift?¡± ¡°eh? I mean yes, I like it a lot. But at the same time did you understand what this thing is? How complex this crystal is?¡± ¡°I study genetics, not light physic or things like that¡± ¡°well I did neither but I know a lot about weapons and optical sensors. So this fully fixed and analogic things is capable to absorb white light, convert it into collimated light and then redirect it into crossing paths. This way if put it inside an atmosphere with dust or other particles it can project a static hologram.¡± ¡°so science nerd?¡± ¡°so it was built with such finesse that our people could only dream about. I wonder how far could they be if they waste such advanced technology on holograms¡± ¡°well you saw the documentary about her. They don¡¯t seems that far from us¡± ¡°bullshit. She showed us only what she wanted. From that we got nothing. They could have flying cars from what we can know¡± ¡°that pure science fiction sis. You are too tired. Now that you know what the crystal is, what are you gonna do?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll buy one of those base that have a light sources built in and put in in my room.¡± ¡°about your room¡­¡± ¡°yeah you can come and sleep in my bed tonight¡± ¡°Yeah! Love you sis¡± with that and some more superficial talk, they went to bed. Sharing one was not uncommon especially during birthdays. It was a way to state the importance that the other Lean has in your life. What was suppose to be a rest night came to an abrupt end when at 4:47 a call bypassed Scilla¡¯s not disturb mode. It was Liin Csuicha, the shit had hit the fan. ¡°what? It¡¯s not even 5 in the fucking morning¡± said Scilla in her sleepy voice. ¡°I know, but it¡¯s a fucking disaster. An Esterian ship dropped a fucking bomb in the form of a video file. We are trying our best but we cannot contain this shit for long...¡± understanding that it was not a night prank Scilla activated her brain. ¡°what is happening exactly¡± ¡°we are sending you a VTOL. We can speak while you dress.¡± ¡°ok¡­¡± ¡°An intel carrier has dropped a 1 hour long video file about what happened to the Pridians. It was them. We cut down all we could but people will start to wonder why their net is down, why all radios and channels are kaput. We need to find a message to reassure our people and fast.¡± ¡°do you know what is in the video?¡± ¡°we watched some parts, it¡¯s a direct admission of the millions they have killed and a threat to all those who dare fight back to them. Fuck. We just started to cooperate with Idra and it was working so well¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m not going to let her go. I care not shit about what others think. She is our key to progress¡± ¡°Lis, my friend I know what you are thinking but¡­¡± ¡°there is no fucking buts, we knew what we sign in for. Were the fuck did all the support go? Eh?¡± ¡°Lis please¡­¡± ¡°the VTOL is here, I can hear it. We will talk in person and I¡¯ll see what this is all about¡± understandably Scilla was not in the best mood. She was not brought to the Hakavor¡¯s HQ, instead she was carried to a military facility where her Liin was already waiting along side some others counselors and Dhalia Hakavor. Everybody was in high alert and agitated. Once in the room they didn¡¯t waste a second and the Esterian video was started from the beginning. Before the screen showed any colour they were welcomed by an emergency siren the beeped 4 times. Immediately after the never revealed Esterian flag was covering the entire monitor. 3 vertical stripes moving from Blue on the left, to white in the middle and green on the right. Centred in the middle a diagram of an ideal feedback. Surely a strange flag, yet it meant a lot to the Esterians. Following black fade-out into a recoding from a soldier helmet that started playing with its audio reduced to let other words dominate over the original sound. A not so manly agitated voice started. ¡°You are a fucking monster¡­¡± It was stopped by the sound of a punch. The images were depicting a group of Esterian soldiers under fire. The camera view was from what appeared the be their captain. He was firing back at what surely looked like humans through a light density forest. In the peripheral view of the camera it was clear that he was carrying an injured comrade on his shoulders while firing with his pistol. The new voice that continued the dialogue was cold, heavy, frightening, calm. Like Idra when she is in combat. ¡°Monster. Ironic. From who denies reality, who falsely defines it. By your logic I refuse. I¡¯m no monster, I¡¯m your god. You must obey. Sound stupid? Arrogant? Unfair? Ill? I¡¯m no god. I¡¯m no monster. I¡¯m human. I failed. My kind mutilated, deformed, weakened by yours. Now it¡¯s your end" Is that their Founder? While the man spoke the battle intensified. Bullets struck near the fleeing soldiers. His squad around him along side autonomous walkers fired back at the incoming enemies as the crew was running toward a clearance. The audio was back as normal. They could hear heavy guns behind them. Tanks or maybe enemy walkers. ¡°30 seconds! Keep your heads down!¡± yelled someone in the communication channels. The camera turned to look behind, a muzzled flash from the distance right at him. It was a AIFV cannon. However the bullet didn¡¯t hit the captain. One of the Esterians walker put itself in between tanking the bullet at its own cost. ¡°Hargan!¡± screamed the man. A machine with a name, that was surely unusual. The machine replied calmly. ¡°organic life has priority. Do not come back, I¡¯ll detonate my core¡± ¡°10 seconds! Opening fire!¡± From the sky an Esterian ship appeared and kept lowering to the grownd. The front already open to pick up the crew. It was firing its railguns into the forest passing half a meter from his friends. As soon as the man get on board the ship took off and he collapsed against a wall. Now it was obvious that he was carrying an injured soldier as he dropped him. His suit was damaged around the spine. Probably by the same AIFV. The rest of the squad, 3 people and 4 walkers run to them to provide medical assistance. The man slowly reached the ground surrounded by his crew calling for him. ¡°Captain!¡±¡ª¡±Captain!¡±¡ª¡±Captain Natan your life parameters are critical¡± On the top left corner the man status popped up. He reactivated the suit health assistant that immediately started spamming warning. He was too far damaged to survive and he knew it. ¡°I¡¯m already dead. The suit is keeping me going. Take the kid, we can still save his legs¡± The injured ¡°kid¡± with what was left of his strength spoke back. ¡°we can¡­¡± ¡°no kiddo. My synthetic blood stock has just run dry. I¡¯ll bleed to death before reaching the medical bay¡± ¡°Captain I¡¯m¡­¡± ¡°hey don¡¯t be sorry. I had¡­ had my life¡­ just promise¡­ me. Give my rifle to... Olaf¡­ everything is gonna be fine¡­¡± the man composed a shaky thumbs up in full view of his helmet mere seconds before an automated message popped in the middle of the screen. //heart failure. Revive attempt 1// the suit tried to bring him back from the death. //failure. Condition critical. Requested immediate medical assistance. Insufficient blood// //synth blood storage empty. Injecting omni-cure// //revive attempt 2// //failure. Condition critical. Requested immediate medical assistance. Insufficient blood. Omni-cure ineffective// //revive attempt 3// //failure. Condition critical. Requested immediate medical assistance. Brain signal lost. Insufficient blood. Omni-cure ineffective// If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. //revive attempt 4// //failure. All hopes are lost. You will never be forgotten. Our Founder would be proud of you// Even with all the attempts made by the suit the wounds were to deep to be healed. The man pushed himself to the end to save his companion. From what the suit showed it was a miracle that he was even able to walk so far. The screen faded to black again. A new helmet view. It was a bit shorter and approaching what looked like a peaceful house, nothing stood out particularly except that the man kept looking down at his hands where he was carrying Natan rifle wrapped in the Esterian flag. He rung the door bell and a woman opened. The face was replaced with a black squared but the sound was left untouched. The instant the woman saw the rifle, she dropped and started wailing loudly. Pain. It didn¡¯t went unnoticed and soon what were surely her children appeared. The video was cut again. It displayed a voting room with 16 lights, one per spot. All turned green. Then a second voting room. 128 spots. All except 3 turned green. Lastly the supreme council room. Scilla recognise it by the strange display of the seating. Muffled voices below until the notice board lights turned on. Of the 384 people, excluded the Remnants and the spot reserved for Idra, almost all gave a green light. Whatever they voted had just been approved. The screen went dark again until a robotic voice replied. //your request to contact Idra 511 Weeping Sky has been received. Wait.// ¡°yeah, sure I can wait¡­ are you like an ETU-FAI?¡± //requested classified information. Access denied. Unit 511 is now connected// The screen lit and it was now showing Idra¡¯s helmet video feed. The images were slightly distorted and a bit noisy but for the most part they were perfectly defined. Idra was in the middle of a thunderstorm or a tornado. The rain was so intense that anything beyond 10 meters was totally obscured. The storm was deafening and the wind was picking up small stones and tossing them around like bullets. It was a wet yet terrifying flameless hell. Idra¡¯s gun was pointed in the distance. On her Right yellow outlines defined a massive beast, the creature was twice as big as an elephant and covered with unknown plates. It had a vertical opening mouth with sharp teeth and a double spiky tail. Small gaps in the armour were filled with metal rusty spikes. By no means it seemed real, by no means it seems like a peaceful creature. Beyond that what looked to be a big rock and a second outline hiding behind. She was waiting for the second creature to pop out to kill it. The screen was overcrowded with indicators, image predictions, raw data. It was not meant to be read by organic beings. Is that Weeping Sky? It could be right? Not that I can see much but she told me it was kind of a hell so¡­ maybe. ¡°if it¡¯s not a good¡­¡± ¡°Speak!¡± Idra voice was all but friendly, I was calm yet filled with hatred. ¡°you are intruding my time. Disturbing my hunt. What. do. You. Want?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but the ETU is in need of your assistance¡± As those words left what Scilla could identify as Alba Corvi, Idra¡¯s helmed generated a prediction, the creature was about to move and so Idra acted before it. Louder that the storm Idra¡¯s goo extended breaking the sound barrier and stuck into the rook. She pulled herself in and disconnected from the rock to fire the goo again into the creature body. The beast didn¡¯t stand a chance, it didn¡¯t even reacted nor understood what was happening. The same was true for those looking at the screen as it all happened in less than a second. Idra¡¯s hooks delve deeper into the creature flesh and expanded erupting on the surface and carrying with them organs, fragments of armour and blood. It was surely painful yet Idra hadn¡¯t enough. She kept destroying the creature body mutilating it as much as she could to the point that it was unrecognizable. ¡°so?¡± ¡°a scavenging unit as been attacked. Captain Natan Wilk was killed in action¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t see why I should interfere¡± ¡°by Pridian mercenaries¡± Idra stopped her gruesome fury. She froze staring at the deformed beast or what was left of it as it was being carried away by the rain that flooded the area. ¡°You know what you are asking?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­. We voted¡­ this is our solution...¡± ¡°don¡¯t be sorry. I just wanted to know if you were sure¡± ¡°yes we are¡± ¡°So be it. I¡¯ll kill them all. But¡­ there is a catch.¡± ¡°we are at your orders¡± ¡°I had a plan. This will interfere so you will deliver something for me¡± ¡°as you desire¡± ¡°excellent. Also I¡¯ll send you some special missiles. Trade route 10-24. Just in case.¡± ¡°thanks you.¡± So that is why she sent me a gift instead of just carrying it. Well not gonna lie, I¡­ don¡¯t really want to know what the package delivery was traded for. I know it can¡¯t be just a virus made by her. Also is it just me or her suit looks different? Scilla interrupted the video for a moment. ¡°just to be sure, we all get that whatever happened on Museniloe-2 is a direct consequence of what we saw and so a consequence of killing one. I repeat in case I was not clear, JUST ONE of them. We all got it right that they traded 46 millions Pridian for 1 Esterian right?.¡± The room was silent. They all got to that conclusion but they all preferred to think it wasn¡¯t real. ¡°are we totally sure that there was no other exchange between them?¡± concluded Scilla. ¡°we¡­ don¡¯t know. Communication is slow. By the time our intel ship was back, the diplomatic incident had already evolved into the plague.¡± said one of the few counselors. They were a mix of mostly ittiri that were locally available and 2 Lineic wardens whose wisdom was not going to be particularly helpful. ¡°so for what we know they could have sent an ultimatum before attacking right?¡± ¡°they could, but we don¡¯t know. Museniloe-2 was basically cut away. And the authorities all over the planet were busy trying to contain the plague in Alsheva. So we got nothing. The intel ship is suppose to arrive tomorrow afternoon, but it will be too late. We must find an answer to this video before dawn¡± said Liin Csuicha. ¡°Shit. Well let¡¯s see the rest can¡¯t built a strategy on half the information¡± She was going to regret such decision. They resumed the video and the screen went black with just a phrase in the middle. //have a good hunt 511// They were looking from Idra¡¯s suit. The images were crystal clear. The sun was in the middle of the sky and Idra was on the other side of a street that separated the fields behind her from the city outskirts. Strangely nobody seemed to notice her presence. Idra clicked her tongue and a wave propagate in front of her. Mere seconds later as the screen filled with unintelligible data it all cleared up. A series of strange mechanical and electrical sounds were exchanged from to suit to Idra. In the distance a ping appeared with a distance in kilometres. Idra had found her objective. She sprinted into the city, the excessive amount of goo on her suit kept grabbing corners, gutters and all possible handholds to push her forward and faster. The video didn¡¯t cut any part of Idra¡¯s journey that was done at an average of 80 Km/h. The ping brought her to a skyscraper, what she was tracking was at one of the highest floors. She entered from the main automatic door that opened as if it recognised her, even if she was still invisible. Without hurry she proceeded to get to the staircase that had a hole in the middle. Still using the goo she moved herself up to the floor she needed and silently entered the apartment of her target. The house was clean and well decorated. On the entrance walls pictures of a man and a woman. One of them showed the woman pregnant. A few turns and Idra was in the kitchen. At the stove the same pregnant woman that was in the pictures was cooking some kind of stew in a large pot. Beside her all happy and shining there was the man. New sounds were exchanged as Idra became visible. The man saw her and jumped up to then froze in place. The wife was blocked too. Clearly something was not right. The man wanted to move, yet he couldn¡¯t. His eyes frantically moving around hoping to find a solution. Idra slowly moved to the stove, turned down the heat to minimum and with insane speed spun on herself and hit the woman upper torso. The hit smashed the woman upper half tossing small bloody fragments of her around. The legs along side the belly hit the ground and started bleeding all over the floor. But it wasn¡¯t enough. Idra lowered herself and tear open what was left of the woman¡¯s belly. The unborn baby was there, exposed and still connected via the umbilical cord. Idra tore it out and broke it into smaller pieces that she added to the stew. She put it back to high heat and stare at the man. Even with his face paralysed his pain was visible. In all this scene Scilla and Csuicha couldn¡¯t stop watching, but all the others looked away. Some ittiri, who had almost never left a lab, straight out rushed to the bathroom to puke at the horrid scene. After some minutes Idra pulled out of the stew a piece of the unborn and forcefully fed it to the man. She made him chew all the way through until she lost her patience or maybe time. She immediately took the boiling food and poured all over the man that couldn¡¯t scream from the burning pain. She waited again few seconds before killing him painfully by tearing up his limbs. As the horrendous spectacle came to an end Idra grabbed a dark cylindrical container from her back and push it into what was left of the man. As she stood she cleared her visor by passing her bloody hand on it, even if it was perfectly clean. While doing so Scilla heard a Whisper. She was the only one apparently as nobody else seemed perturbed by it. \|/Useless\|/ Wait, did I understood them? How? What do they mean by useless? Scilla was freaked out, as one should be. Yet any kind of reflection on it had to be postponed. The video didn¡¯t end there, it went on with 26 more homicides all equally gruesome and brutal. Those involving innocent that were connected to the victim stood out the most as Idra targetted them to inflict pain before killing. They kept watching brutal tortures, one after the other where Idra didn¡¯t spare anything on her path. Plants, domestic animals, family members, sons, daughters. Nobody was left out. From the 30 minutes of footage it seems even more clear that Idra liked to use her enemies as decoration. Several of them were slowly cut apart trying to keep them alive as much as possible while scattering their organs around. By the end of it Scilla, her Liin and her guards were the only one left. The Liin¡¯s guards couldn¡¯t run away so most were giving their back at the screen even if they could hear each cut deepening into the humans flesh and bones breaking. A tongue click and a new ping in the distance. However this time Idra proceeded more slowly. She took her time in the form of a detour through a park. There she saw her new victim that, based on her HUD, was not a target yet as all humans so far was marked as enemy. Her new victim was a young human, probably a teenager that was sit on a bench and feeding some wild animals. The small creatures looked like lizards with wings. Idra, invisible, approached from behind. She emitted some distorted static sounds that were heard by the lizards that ran away, yet the girl didn¡¯t turn. She started to gesticulate toward the flying reptiles instead. Idra¡¯s suit picked up the sign language and translated it. ¡°where you going? I have more food¡± Interested Idra walked in front of the girl now disconsolate. She emitted more sounds and this time the suit view focused on the ears. The girl was 100% deaf. Something new for Idra. She turned off her invisibility and it spooked the girl that soon was unable to move. Scilla and Csuicha were already thinking the worst, yet Idra didn¡¯t attack her. Instead she forced the girl to take a pill, made her loose consciousness and waited for a drone of hers to arrive and take the teen away. As her play time in the park ended Idra went to a church in the middle of the city were the last target was praying. She slowly entered and lock the doors behind her. The church was mostly empty, but there were at least 30 more people, mostly elderly women. As she locked everybody inside she turned off her invisibility and whatever she uses to artificially remove her steps sounds. Almost as if she was a magician all the candles inside the church went off. Scilla heard the Whispers again. \|/Empty\|/ It was strange. If felt as if the Whispers were not totally on Idra¡¯s side, at least they didn¡¯t appreciated to be used to create spectacle as they didn¡¯t gasp why Idra was doing so. Fear was not clear to them, not yet. Idra was walking down the main passage. Nobody was able to move. Her steps echoed heavily creating a dreadful scene. The church pipe organ started to play a dark melody as well. It was clearly sending a message. Idra approached the man that was at the start of the church, right in front of the altar. He was kneeling in a praying pose. He must have seen what happened to his friends as Idra made sure that people knew about it. Idra crouched in front of him, fear in his eyes. She spoke, her voice carrier hatred and darkness. ¡°Are you afraid of god?¡± asked Idra. She stared into the man¡¯s eyes before getting up and walking away. She went to the old lady behind him, broke her legs and let her scream. Then she broke her arms and in the end split open her skull. She pulled out the woman spine and started to beat the man with it. Once she had enough Idra wind up the spine around the man¡¯s neck and started pulling. She carried him to the altar and left again. She moved to all the innocents around and made sure that they were all staring at the man and the altar. She then proceed to remove the cross from the hooks that kept it in place above the altar. With the massive cross in hand she pushed it into the man ass and impaled him slowly to make him suffer more. Of course she was not over and proceed to cut open the body to make it into a macabre decoration that she put back up, bleeding on the sacred altar. She left them there and walked to the top of the church bell tower. From her back she pulled out a massive cylindrical container that apparently she had been carrying all the time. It had holes in it from were she took all the smaller cylinders. Scilla immediately recognise the closing system. It was a biological weapon container. Similar to the one she exchange with the Esterian during the war. She was way to familiar with them as she was the only one that could and have used such canisters. It was proof that the massacre was indeed Esterian retaliation against those who opposed their scavenging operations. Even in the face of a massacre Scilla felt relieved. She never told Idra that she was the only one that could have pressed the button that ended all Droxi as the canister was locked on her biometric parameters. Knowing that Idra was not to different from her brought peace to her mind and drove out need to confess the billions she killed even if Droxi. ¡°Scilla, is it just me or that container¡­¡± said Csuicha. ¡°it¡¯s a bioweapon container. The plague is theirs¡± Placed the container in position Idra opened it and locked below at the city bustling with life. Life that was soon going to end. She put her left fist forward in view of the suit camera. ¡°I kept my promise. WAWC is no more¡± Idra opened her hand revealing and empty sealed vial. She had used them to store the WAWC before. It was clearly a message to Scilla. ¡°God left you. There is no salvation¡± ended Idra before the last video cut. ¡°what was that suppose to mean?¡± said Csuicha. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe it¡¯s a fear tactic, like the last homicide.¡± ¡°I hope so¡± Now Idra was in a forest staring at the ground were the girl she kidnapped was sleeping. She emitted once again some static and distorted sounds that woke the girl up. She of course was surprised, then afraid and then confused. She was looking all around at objects, animals, trees moving in the wind, the sun. Then she moved her hands that were shaking like crazy. ¡°is this hearing?¡± gesticulated the girl. Idra nodded. The girl face lit up with joy. She was hearing for the first time in all her life. Idra spoke, she asked the girl the same question. ¡°are you afraid of god?¡± the girl replied in sign language again as she couldn¡¯t speak. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Are you god?¡± ¡°I¡¯m angel¡± The video ended with that. It solved the plague mystery but opened up way to many questions and issues. chapter 49c: loyalty Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 49c: loyalty With the video ended the room was silent and the air was heavy. What they saw was not easy to digest. They called back the counselors, those who were not too sick after what they saw. They mostly looked defeated, Dhalia was angry and Csuicha was visibly nervous. The only one that was fairly calm was Scilla. She didn¡¯t expect less from Idra. She saw her using the WAWC without any regards for the livings. More over the video proved Idra¡¯s will to keep her promise and distance herself from the WAWC, which was a positive thing that unfortunately only she knew. ¡°this is a fucking disaster¡± said Csuicha breaking the silence while pushing her hair back. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. More over it showed that we made a powerful ally¡± replied Scilla. All stared at Scilla who was the only one that stayed positive and kept defending her collaboration with Idra. ¡°it shows that we decided to collaborate with inhuman people and even worst put emphasis on how atrocious our main ally is.¡± replied Csuicha. ¡°as much as I like the successful expeditions, they means nothing if everybody is against us. We should call off the contract¡± said Dhalia. So I guess that¡¯s the betrayal that Idra predicted. I figure why she said that she can¡¯t be trusted. She immediately went with cutting her off. ¡°Who fucking cares. All those bitches already hates us for killing the Droxi scums. We can either keep siding with the strongest or swap to the weakest. But do you really think they will help us?¡± Replied Scilla. She was determined to be civil as long as possible but she was ready to defend Idra with all she could. ¡°They are lunatics Scilla!. They could turn on us at any moment and in that case we would be totally alone¡± Dhalia was heating up. ¡°you are the lunatic if you believed in the other fucker. They didn¡¯t help us when the Droxi declared war. The Xoraxtas sided with them at least diplomatically. The Pridians ignored us. Terrans kept being neutral. War is bad, war is sad. I fucking know, we fucking know better than any other. We didn¡¯t ask for it, but there was no way out. The only ones that gave us help were few independent human colonies and the Esterians. They at least helped us once!¡± remarked Scilla. ¡°I get your point Lis. But we have to think also about our people. This video for sure was sent to all planets. How Idra acted was probably to terrorise and dissuade from future attacks. However I think they went too far. We are speaking of 46 millions lives.¡± Csuicha was far more collected and methodical. For her it was all a matter gaining against losing. ¡°I get that you are saying Liin. But as I said, we are already alone. In 7 years we barely commerce with the Pridians that will hate us no matter what we do. For them we are just warmongers who eradicate a species. We can¡¯t also be sure that they will be around much longer¡± was Scilla¡¯s reply. ¡°WHAT?!¡± said Dhalia. ¡°well what we saw could bring them to war. Who do you think will win? Pridians who would stab their firstborn in the back for a bunch of money, or the extremely loyal and organised Esterians that already single-handedly ended our war with the Dorxi? My bet is on the Esterians¡± ¡°I agree. Our society could easily tank the hit from the total collapse of all commerce with the Pridians¡­¡± said Csuicha. ¡°than what are we waiting for?¡± replied Scilla. ¡°well first they could try to bring us into a war as well, second our people won¡¯t appreciate. We are desensitised Lis. But look around us. Most of the Ittiri puked their souls out. Those who are still here saw just a fraction of the full video. Normal citizens are even weaker. They wouldn¡¯t understand even if keeping the alliance is the best way forward.¡± ¡°they don¡¯t need to understand. You are the fucking Liin. Your words are law. You still have absolute power for 3 more years before the war emergency is closed. You can impose what you want, who care for those cunts¡± ¡°that¡¯s exactly why. I was elected after an assassination. Peoples needs to trust me and trust that the government thinks about them. I don¡¯t want to repeat the mistakes of the past. That is also why I kept the assembly active even if I can rule alone. We are no longer under treat of enslavements, so we must look forward a new age for our kind. Maybe an age were war is not so close¡± Csuicha¡¯s words were filled with wisdom. One of the many sign of Liin with the Mark. Fuck. How do I reply? I can try to go all in, but is it the right moment? No, I can try again, if it doesn¡¯t work than I¡¯ll shot my last bullet. ¡°I get it. I know what you are trying to do both what is needed and reassure people. I know it¡¯s hard. But our future is here and now. It passes trough us, the Sheridan and Idra. Like all nations the technology revolution is stopping or stopped. We need breakthroughs. We can¡¯t wait for them if we want to be ready for future enemies. We need them as soon as possible and the alien technology that we can bring home with Idra is invaluable. We need it and we need her more.¡± ¡°She is a mass murdered Scilla! She killed 46 millions of people. 46 fucking millions!¡± shouted Dhalia. ¡°Than what am I?! I killed billions for our kind and I would kill them again. I killed soldiers, civilian, babies that had yet to see their sun. Idra did the same, she killed for her people. She pressed the button they told her to. We are not different¡± Silence. For few seconds Scilla thought that she won. ¡°but we are different Lis. Our war was justified. If was us or the Droxi. The Esterians had no reason to kill more that what they needed. We saw that Idra was able to track them all down. We could have closed an eye for killing their families and the torture. But all the others were innocents.¡± Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!¡­ I guess I have to. ¡°I¡­ I¡­ know. But what else could we do?¡± ¡°what do you mean? We can just take our distance easy right?¡± replied Dhalia. ¡°easy indeed. But there is more underneath isn¡¯t it Lis?¡± right were I wanted you. ¡°Liin this has to be just between me and you. So you all others, get the fuck out, guards included¡± Csuicha stopped her guards for a moment and stared back at Scilla. ¡°If it¡¯s such sensitive information, why only now?¡± ¡°because it would have been better if I never had to tell it. Not even to you.¡± In Scilla¡¯s eyes a bottomless sea of determination. ¡°guards, go out. I¡¯ll call you back later¡± reluctant the guards left the two alone. ¡°so¡± ¡°I literally gave all for working with Idra. It was never a collaboration, I just tried to buy myself some time¡± ¡°explain it better Scilla. We are alone¡± ¡°Idra and the Esterians gives no shit about us. They would never help us unless they want something from us. You know it better than me that they gave us weapons only because they wanted our farming tools. They just saw an opportunity¡± ¡°nothing new so far.¡± ¡°well Idra didn¡¯t want to work with us. She stated multiple times that we are slowing her down.¡± ¡°then what is she keeping her here? You?¡± ¡°yes.¡± Csuicha was surprised. She believed for a moment that Scilla succeeded into initiating a relationship with Idra. Which was true but Scilla was not talking about that. ¡°it¡¯s not the relationship you asked but close, sort of. When we met I didn¡¯t recognise her ship. We didn¡¯t know someone like her existed. She almost killed some patrol officers. So I went with the diplomatic route, got to her and tried to speak. You know like I did with the first encounter that made us win the war. Idra was pissed and hostile and I had 3 options. 1 fight and die in the ruins, 2 run away but surely she would have come for me, 3 try to reason as initially intended. So I spoke with her and she didn¡¯t kill me. Don¡¯t know why but she decided that she wanted me so she was set to kidnap me. I talked her out and somehow managed to convince her that working side by side was going to be more entertaining. I know for sure that the moment she decides that she had enough I¡¯ll be gone with her. I don¡¯t know how may days of freedom I have left. I gave our kind all I have, even my life. I traded it for technology. If we break the contract beforehand I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll just be kidnapped and we all lose. Me, Idra, the future technology and more importantly a connection with the Esterians. Their ambassador was never a stable connection and now they even took it back so¡­¡± ¡°is all you told me true? 100% true?¡± ¡°I would tell you to just ask Idra but she is not here. But yes. She doesn¡¯t give a fuck about us, nor do her people. I¡¯m her friend and I know her way better than before. Because I know her, I can tell you that if she has no more reason to be here, she will pack her things, me included and leave.¡± ¡°won¡¯t she hear you out? Like if you ask to be left here with Wiola. She must know how attached you are to her right? She also considers you a friend so why would she not allow you to be free?¡± ¡°she does know how much I like this place. I also took her to my home-town¡­. I don¡¯t know how she would react. What I can say is that friendship has a limit.¡± ¡°so with no contract the probability that she left us are higher?¡± ¡°not sure. she had never and will never follow it. What I¡¯m saying is that we can¡¯t pull the rope too much. What we should avoid is her anger. She wasn¡¯t pleased when I didn¡¯t appreciated a compliment about eugenetics. If she feels treated she will run away. If she feels that her propriety is in danger she will take it and run. As fas as I can tell I¡¯m among those proprieties.¡± Csuicha sighed. ¡°this changes a lot of things. Why didn¡¯t you tell me sooner?¡± ¡°what makes you think I could? Those days are the first days in months without Idra near me. How could I even find a way to tell you?¡± ¡°fair enough¡± ¡°I know that I took the first decision. I¡­ I understood it¡­. Long ago. I decided that if I had to lose my freedom at least I could exchange it for something.¡± ¡°Scilla, speak clearly from friend to friend. You know I can¡¯t put you before our entire species.¡± ¡°I know Liin Csu...Serafia. What I¡¯m trying to say is that I¡¯m fine with my decision. I don¡¯t really regret it. But I have to fight to keep it as I intended. I think we could scrap the contract. Idra doesn¡¯t really care about it. This way we can save face or whatever. However this doesn¡¯t mean that we have to stop working with her. If we let her go she would not return as a friend, but only as an enemy. I saw enough of her to know that the moment we tear the contract is the moment she will laugh. We will have to give her, or her people something to keep her. But more probably she will require something from me or you.¡± ¡°so to sum it up you are telling me that we could do a secret agreement with her directly?¡± ¡°yes. Which is mostly as intended initially. I¡¯m positive if we speak just the three of us we could get to something. At least she would still help us for a bit¡± ¡°you think your crew will keep their mouths shut?¡± ¡°I can force them. Or we can bump into Idra on mission¡¯s sites totally by accident.¡± ¡°kind of a stretch but I suppose I could double down on your crew. After all the Sheridan is a special case¡± Their conversation dragged a bit longer but in the end they decided to pull out of their agreement with Idra. However to avoid special surprises they went with the classic, give them a chance to explain then proceed. So The public was mostly told that their relation with the Esterians was going to be cut off but not before hearing also their side of the story from Idra. After all just 7 years before they put an end to the Droxi that were far closer to them than Humans. This way they could make a new secret agreement as they intended. Around dawn the Liin pre-recorded message started to be broadcasted and at the same time the net was put back online. People had access to both the horrifying video and at the same time their Liin response. It worked as intended. Idra¡¯s massacre was soon being shared everywhere along side their Liin decision. It was a good reply yet it didn¡¯t stop some demonstrations, especially in front of Hakavor¡¯s HQ, as they were technically the one that brought Idra closer to them. Days passed and rain drastically reduced the temperature of those early days of November. The cold didn¡¯t stop the manifestations that however reduced in size. Liin Csuicha had yet to return home as she was waiting for Idra as well. The Liin, her guards and Scilla spent their ¡°peaceful¡± days at the planetary administration palace. A gargantuan structure composed mostly of administration offices. They were in a conference room at the 32 floor. Taking their lunch break from their constant discussion of plans to apply once Idra came back that rainy day. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°I don¡¯t understand why you insist on cooking and eating what you make. I could make us have all the food we want¡± said Csuicha looking at Scilla that was sitting on the other side of the table giving her shoulders to the windows. ¡°what you don¡¯t get is why I do so. I get up before Wiola and I make her food. Doubling it for me doesn¡¯t cost me anything¡± ¡°oh come on. The hell are you? And helicopter parent? You are fucking rich. Just let her go out to buy something for herself¡± ¡°No. the food you¡­¡± Scilla saw the uncertainty in the Liin guards and the Liin herself. They were staring outside the window. ¡°are those rain splashed?¡± said one of the guards confused. Scilla turned to see that the rain was stopping right outside their windows, as if something was there. As she blinked twice to make sure she wasn¡¯t seeing things the NDU revealed itself appearing instantly out of thin air. As they looked in shock and confusion the room door bursted open. Idra made her appearance shouting and tossing flower petals around. ¡°I¡¯m back bitches! Did you miss me? Eh? Eh? Eh?¡± while saying so she moved closer to the Liin and in contrast to before her guards could move and put themselves between them. In particular the Liin was sit facing forward toward the NDU outside and Scilla. Idra moved to her left were a guard put her arm to stop her. Idra slowly laid her hand on the guard forearm. ¡°Thais, Thais, what makes you think you could stop me?¡± The guard didn¡¯t reply but it surely was afraid as she was indeed named Thais. Idra pushed forward. ¡°You should think more about your family. I know your daughter has just made her first friend at the daycare. I would be a pity¡­¡± ¡°Idra stop¡± intrude Scilla. The guard was scared but kept her position. She was trained to do so. ¡°I¡¯ll defend my Liin.¡± ¡°You are not fun, I just came back and you all have brooms up your asses. Oh and just to be clear¡­¡± A second Idra appeared crouched on the conference table with one arm keeping her knees closer and the other fully extended to touch Csuicha nose at the millimetre. ¡°boop¡± said softly and before the guards reacted she was gone again and appeared beside Scilla. ¡°I suppose you are having a lot of fun, you seemed a lot more¡­ mature the first time we met¡± said Liin Csuicha while Idra was taking place beside Scilla. ¡°you know, when you get more comfortable you let yourself go more right?¡± while speaking Idra took off a ¡°standard¡± backpack from her back that appeared almost out of nowhere as Idra¡¯s movements suggested that it was just covered with some clothing that made it invisible. As if it was a school desk, Idra proceeded to pull out a lunch box. ¡°plus you know if you are in a good mood it will influence how others sees you¡± concluded Idra while staring at Scilla¡¯s food box. ¡°you want some?¡± asked Scilla, she was mostly calm as she knew that Idra had no intention to harm her or so she always said. ¡°can I?¡± asked back Idra looking up to her. ¡°I would feel bad to let you eat your¡­¡± Idra opened her box that strangely didn¡¯t consist in greyish mush. In contrast it was a well divided mix of mostly unknown elements. The main solid components were red moss, the blue flower that reacted to electricity and some soft wide leaves. Along side those in their own small slot there were 3 sauces. ¡°when did you learn how to cook?¡± asked Scilla surprised. ¡°I didn¡¯t. Moss and flowers are raw, the leaves are obtained by boiling them at 100¡ãC for 4 seconds. The reddish sauces is just boiled sap for 192 seconds, the brown one extracted by pressing a fruit at 11 atm (11*Terra atmospheric pressure at sea level) and the last one is just oil from a different plant.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ oddly specific¡­ what happened to the mush that you liked to much?¡± ¡°nothing, I still eat it. I made this just to steal your food with the premise that I can exchange it with something different, but not the oil, it is poisonous¡± ¡°poisonous just for my species?¡± ¡°nope, it¡¯s poisonous for all carbon creatures, it¡¯s similar to chocolate. Won¡¯t kill me but would kill a dog.¡± ¡°fair enough, also did you change armour?¡± asked Scilla without any care for her Liin. Her idea was to show that Idra could be cooperative if asked nicely. Idra¡¯s armour was fairly different. Now it was a bit bigger and held a deeper goo layer. The armour module could be seen more easily as they changed the goo shaped around and some pocked trough it. ¡°yeah, the AMS-111 was just a pain to fix. Over the years I also developed some upgrades. It was just the perfect opportunity to swap to my new AMS-388. Better in all possible ways.¡± As predictable from their conversation Idra¡¯s goo around her hand shape shifted into a series of acuminate appendages. As they saw the dark needle like structure piercing into Scilla¡¯s food and cutting away some smaller pieces images of torture popped in their minds. They all remember too well how much pain such needles have caused just few days before. Resisting her urge to look away Csuicha intrude in their lunch time. ¡°You are surely more aware than me about your video and the massacre that your people and you brought upon Alsheva...¡± ¡°Are you sure that you want to talk about it?¡± Idra¡¯s voice has changed. From something happy to a more cruel one. ¡°it¡¯s not something I ever wanted, but it¡¯s something I have to do to protect my people¡± Idra busted out laughing. ¡°I like the spirit. Get your guard out so we can talk in a more friendly way¡± ¡°and you move your spaceship away, I don¡¯t like having it staring at me all the time¡± ¡°sure¡± As silently as it appeared the NDU turned away and relocated itself at the top of the building. Far stranger was the total silence coming from it. There never was a ship with no sounds or almost none as glass separated them. Following Csuicha¡¯s commands the guards left again. ¡°I hope you will protect me in case she goes nut right Lis?¡± said the Liin. ¡°I can try, but I can just ask. Idra can you please don¡¯t be physical aggressive?¡± ¡°I¡¯m never aggressive¡± ¡°where? In your dreams?¡± ¡°yes¡­ no wait¡­ I think I had a few were I killed someone¡± ¡°well¡­ we want to break the contract we have with you. I know we insisted on having it but things have changed, we don¡¯t feel like it benefits our people any more.¡± said Csuicha breaking the dynamic duo. ¡°why do you care about Alsheva?¡± ¡°I need to know your side before calling off the contract definitively¡± Idra opened her helmet lower half. Her mouth was contorted into a malicious grim. ¡°Things have a price, if you don¡¯t pay what you own they send someone to take care of you. The mercenaries blood were all legally condemned and demanded for public painful execution. Denied request, stronger repercussion. There is not much more to add.¡± Idra was smiling satisfied. For her all she did was just serving justice to criminals. ¡°well I suppose that gives me the answer I needed¡­ the contract is off. Now how about a more private agreement between us?¡± Idra smiled again but this time it was a full smile with her teeth visible. She of course was fast enough to put her fingers in a V shape to cover her fangs. ¡°very well, but it has a price. So what do you offer me?¡± ¡°it¡¯s pointless to just keeping running away. So what do you want? Scilla? I won¡¯t and I can¡¯t sell you people¡± In an unheard move Idra opened the rest of the helmet leaving herself face to face with the Liin. The suit kept covering almost all the face as the aperture span from just blow her lips to her eyebrows excluded. The rest was still covered. Csuicha could tell that Idra was fairly good looking but not the same extent as Scilla. The hell is she doing? Is this some kind of mind trick? ¡°I already own Scilla. I can claim my price whenever I want¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m not your propriety¡± replied Scilla. It didn¡¯t sit well with Idra that stood up and stare at her. ¡°you get it wrong. I¡¯m not your friend. I just seized an opportunity. An opportunity to get my new pet, a really obedient one.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not yours¡­¡± ¡°wrong. You are mine and obedient at every order. You never know what could happen to your sister¡± Idra was smiling again covering her fangs alone. It was a sadistic smile enhanced by her stare, one of a true mastermind, almost as she had predicted all from the second they met. Scilla bolted up but mid way she was stopped by Idra¡¯s hand that grabbed her shoulder. ¡°you wouldn¡¯t dare¡­¡± ¡°I would and I will if necessary. You showed me your weakness, the people you care about. I know all and I can do all I want. So now sit and shut up pet, we will have our fun¡­.¡± Idra pushed her down back onto the chair and lowered to her ear to whisper. ¡°bluffing¡± than she pulled back. Scilla¡¯s blood that was already infused with rage cooled down. Fucking hell I thought she was serious for a moment. ¡°what I want is all your history¡± ¡°never, you don¡¯t know what you are asking for¡± ¡°indeed I don¡¯t. I just know your kind is really secretive about it and that I liked the ¡°official¡± book about the Droxi war. So I figure something else may be there. Like how did you became the Leans in the first place¡± ¡°7 years, the one after the war. You will be allowed to look at all the secret recording. No more. It¡¯s too sensitive¡± ¡°300¡± ¡°that still almost all if you cut the Droxi¡± ¡°yes¡± ¡°14 years¡± ¡°no. you think I don¡¯t know the immense help I already provided to your kind¡± ¡°your immense help is now gone as all would see us as enemies¡± ¡°it¡¯s none of my concerns. 250 years¡± ¡°26, your age. It seems appropriate to me¡± ¡°not enough. Lets make it 41. Scilla¡¯s age.¡± The Liin was left in a difficult position and she has yet to know what the new unwritten agreement will actually give her. ¡°ok, 41 years. Exactly from the day Scilla was born. Not a day more, and you swear on your Founder that you will never divulge anything you read in the logs?¡± ¡°why should I divulge it? I want to know the prequel¡± now both Scilla and Csuicha were confused but Scilla had to stay shut. ¡°what do you mean the prequel?¡± ¡°well it means the prequel. You know all the stuff that brought to the war. I want to read about them, i hope they are as fun as the book about the war¡± ¡°wait, let me understand. You want to read our recording because to you they are amusing stories?¡± ¡°yes? Why else?¡± Csuicha¡¯s face displayed a mix of confusion, hysteria and laughter at the same time. It was just so stupid. A master plan that took months to be completed to read some logs for amusement. ¡°then what kind of aid are you going to provide¡­¡± The conversation spun several topics, in the end they mostly kept their contract as a research and scavenge agreement were they split physical loot as 50-50 until and digital loot as 99-1 as the Leans were unable to decipher anything they ever recovered. Scilla was kept out of it, but they both knew that as long as Idra was pleased she was not going to take her away. The contract was purely verbal but they both swear on their kind that they will keep it secret. Considering how stubborn they both were it was guaranteed. Idra was also banned only on paper from the Leans¡¯ planets but in the end she just had to avoid being seen which she was way too good at. Both happy with their agreement they decided to go on their way. Idra with Scilla and the Liin with her guards. In few hours the Liin was going to hold a press conference stating the ¡°fake end¡± of their collaboration with Idra. Not with all Esterians even if they had no other contact with them. Once inside the NDU, that flew away for a while before going invisible, Idra stopped just outside the airlock. Scilla was right behind her. ¡°Scilla, I have a few things to say, so please don¡¯t move ok?¡± ¡°ok¡± ¡°so¡­ I¡¯m sorry about before. I had to push Serafia to get what I wanted. You are no my pet and I don¡¯t want obedience from you because you feel that your family is under treat.¡± ¡°it¡¯s ok. Kinda a hard push and let me tell you, when you do the villain I can¡¯t tell if you are lying. When you are¡­ normal, you¡­ you are basically unable to tell lies. But oh boy, I hate to admit it but until you told me I thought that you had planned it all.¡± Idra laughed happily. Her voice radiated joy around the empty NDU cargo bay. ¡°I¡¯m not a witch. I don¡¯t know so much into the future. However I know a lot and my drones recorded a lot. I saw that you defended me and I also understood that you tried to be friendly with the food exchange to show Serafia that I¡¯m not all evil. Thanks¡± ¡°well you were spot on with the betrayal from Dhalia. She went immediately to it¡± ¡°did you ever had a crush?¡± eh? the fuck does she means? Is this a translation error? It doesn¡¯t seem connected. ¡°You mean on someone?¡± ¡°yes¡± ¡°honestly I had. I think I had 2 long ago. Why?¡± ¡°how do you know when it¡¯s just a crush or it is love?¡± ¡°hard to tell, but I would say that love doesn¡¯t fade away even when the other is at his worst. Why?¡± Idra started looking down at the ground. As all the time she is nervous she started playing with her hands. However Scilla couldn¡¯t get to her to reassure her about whatever she was thinking, she had to stay still and let her speak as she requested. ¡°My time away and your answer made me think. I had a lot to think about. I can tell that I am in love. In love with you¡­¡± ¡°thank you. I love you too¡± ¡°but love ain¡¯t all. Ain¡¯t eternal. Love could fade as we get old, as our bodies give up. But you know what doesn¡¯t? Loyalty.¡± Idra pulled off her helmet. In such move her neck was visible before the hair fell out of the helmet. The collar had changed shape. Now it was spelling -Scilla-Lis-Scilla-Lis-. Scilla read it and saw as Iris¡¯s ears turned burning red. ¡°Loyalty is slowly built but can endure any time. Our founder, my grandad. He choose Elvira not because of her extraordinary beauty nor because of her unhuman intelligence. He choose her because she was absolutely loyal to him. He could thrust his back to her and vice-versa. Can you lower your head to face me but at my head height?¡± ¡°sure¡± Where is she going with this? Is it some kind of super love confession? I like it but it feels so strange, she is not telling me that in the end we can¡¯t be together right?¡± ¡°you proved to me your loyalty. And I. I¡¯m loyal to you¡± Iris immediately turn on herself, grabbed Scilla¡¯s head with both hands and kissed her. Well she didn¡¯t know what a kiss actually is so she just pressed her lips on Scilla¡¯s lips. Then after about a second she pulled back and run to her room leaving a totally dumbfounded, infinitely happy and with a racing heart Scilla back. chapter 50c: kiss Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 50c: kiss About 3 minutes after Idra had run away, Scilla returned to her senses inside the empty cargo bay. Looking around it was different, well it was not different but felt different, as if something was there but she was not seeing it. Scilla decided to walk away looking for Idra to fend off such unpleasant feeling. Once in the main connector Scilla started to look around as all doors were open. I doubt she had run to her bed. If I know her enough, she is hiding somewhere. Scilla started with the armory where the first thing she noticed was the AMS-388 on the changing platform. It was surely empty and after some fast looking around Scilla understood that Idra was not there. She then looked inside the bathroom and the medical bay, both empty. ¡°Iris, get out, where are you hiding?¡± no reply. Having few places left to check Scilla looked between the cables in the kitchen. Iris¡¯s cocoon had been left open so Iris had probably hid there initially and then changed idea. Scilla then looked into the single beds that were now usable but Iris was not there. In the end she went and checked Iris¡¯s room. She never thought that she would actually hide in such an obvious place. Iris¡¯s room was messier than usual. Her bed was overflowing with pillows and covers. Does she think i¡¯m stupid? of course i know she is under there. Scilla started pressing the bed in several points hoping to press on Iris at some point, yet it didn¡¯t happen. Nothing reacted at her pressure but a small lock of hair popped out at one end of the bed. With a smile on her face Scilla sat near the hair putting her back against the wall that enclosed the bed, and extended her legs horizontally to eventually block Iris¡¯s escape. with the right index Scilla started twisting Iris¡¯s hair around it. Once satisfied Scilla pulled the hair lightly just enough to make Iris aware of having been discovered. Immediately Iris jumped out of her hideout meticulously built in between the pillows and tried to escape. She was almost as red as Scilla with her ears pointing back and slightly down. ¡°ah! where do you think are you going?¡± Exclaimed Scilla while stopping her by putting her left arm in front of her torso. ¡°so, what makes you think you could run away after what you did?¡± Scilla was clearly joking but it was not so clear in Iris¡¯s mind which was not in an optimal state. in fact instead of taking it lightly as a joke, Iris started sobbing and by the time that Scilla pulled back her legs to understand what was happening a few tears wet Iris¡¯s face. ¡°i¡¯m sorry¡­ i¡¯m sorry¡­. i shouldn¡¯t have¡­. i shouldn¡¯t have¡­¡± ¡°hey, hey hey, Iris, what is going on? why are you crying?¡± Scilla grabbed Iris¡¯s head and forced Iris to look at her in the face. She kept slowly crying but fortunately her words didn¡¯t deteriorate. ¡°i had no right¡­ i had no right¡­ i forced you¡­¡± ¡°wait! you are crying because you kissed me?¡± Iris nodded and Scilla laughed loudly in response. ¡°girl, you don¡¯t have to. I liked it. i was and still am really surprised by it. never thought it would happen. but i really loved it¡­ thanks¡­¡± Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡°you are not angry because i didn¡¯t ask first?¡± ¡°no. you can¡¯t always predict love. sometimes you have to act on that impulse when you feel it¡± ¡°oh¡­¡± ¡°so no more crying? because the moment i saw tears running doing your cheeks my heart broke. i don¡¯t want to see you in pain, i don¡¯t want to see tears¡± Iris smiled warmly. something about her was off, she was more emotional, too emotional. ¡°so¡­ while you are here¡­ you wouldn¡¯t mind if i confess a secret¡­ i think it would be the last relevant secret you have yet to know about me¡± Iris nodded at Scilla. She was partially afraid of it, but considering Scilla she decided to not worry too much. ¡°you see¡­ from the beginning you have wondered and probably still are wondering if you are a monster. i told you no, i still stand by that. Even after seeing you forcing a man eating his family. that¡¯s because if you are a monster, than what am i?...¡± Iris interrupted. ¡°you are Scilla.¡± ¡°thanks¡­ so my confession. i killed more people than you and frankly i don¡¯t think there is someone who can beat me in all history. the weapons i bought from your kind were all sealed away like your package. so i was the only one who was allowed to use them. the only one who could press the ending button and the one who pressed it. i killed all 38 billions of Droxi. as much as i don¡¯t regret it¡­ i can¡¯t say that i would have preferred if there was a different way¡± Iris stared into Scilla eyes with her mouth open in awe. as the story ended she was smiling. an evil smile yet too beautiful to be described correctly. She crawled forward Scilla and hugged her companion. ¡°You are Scilla. i¡¯m Iris. i don¡¯t have answers, i don¡¯t know all. but maybe. Just maybe we are both monsters or if we are not we could be. together. after all why should we be alone? why shouldn¡¯t we be happy?¡± Strangely enough Iris was the one that initiated a second kiss that was immediately reciprocated by Scilla. ¡°you wouldn¡¯t mind if a teach you more about kisses wouldn¡¯t you?¡± asked Scilla. ¡°n¡­ no? are mine not kisses?¡± ¡°let me show you¡± Going for a more ¡°advanced¡± kiss with Iris was particularly strange as she was literally a black canvas to work with. She knew nothing and all small extra passages were met with resistance that gradually faded as she understood what she was suppose to do. She stopped ¡°resisting¡± with her teeth but never actively reciprocated. What was unique of her was her body response. as the seconds passed Iris¡¯s temperature increased, her body became hotter and softer. Her natural scent became sweater and so did her saliva that also became denser. When Scilla stopped they both were over the moon but Iris was a different case. She was experiencing an overload from being overstimulated. So almost like Scilla the first times she saw Iris, now it was Iris¡¯s turn to be catatonic with some spasm from time to time while keeping an happy and lewd face. ¡°iris? are you ok?¡± obviously no response. ¡°Natrix, are you there?¡± //yes?// replied the ship AI. ¡°is Iris ok?¡± //yes// ¡°are you sure? this is¡­¡± //normal in this period// ¡°explain better¡± //unit I511WS is still afflicted by the recent evolution. it impacted her emotional stability// ¡°oh. ok. i guess i¡¯ll wait here. would i make her recover slower if i hug her?¡± //highly probable// ¡°ok, i¡¯ll keep my hands away¡± chapter 51c: mutation Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 51c: mutation Returned to her senses Iris was mostly confused. She looked around trying to understand what happened to her. ¡°what¡­ what kind of witchcraft did¡­ you use on me?¡± Iris¡¯s voice was serious, her rational self couldn¡¯t understand what had happened. Scilla smiled back. ¡°it¡¯s a long lost spell. It¡¯s really powerful and it¡¯s even more effective if there are certain conditions¡± ¡°I knew it! So how does it work? Is it really magic or is it like some secret technology?¡± Some times I can¡¯t but wonder if she is stupid or what. Magic doesn¡¯t exist¡­ wait¡­ it exists but it¡¯s rare, better this way. ¡°well you see. To make it work like what I used on you, there are a few things that you, as the casting witch, had to have accomplished.¡± ¡°tell me, tell me!¡± ¡°first, you must be old. Not too old, but old enough. Second you must find your victim. The younger and naiver the better¡­¡± ¡°So it wasn¡¯t at full power cause I¡¯m not naive¡± Fighting hard to keep her cool Scilla went on speaking. ¡°exactly. It was just 1/3 of the power cause it works even better if the other is gullible. Third you make the other develop an attachment bond by being nice. Forth you cast the enchantment. To do so you get closer to your subject in a moment of emotional vulnerability and kiss her deeply¡± ¡°¡­ ¡­ wait that doesn¡¯t explain anything.¡± ¡°indeed, cause I¡¯m not a witch. You just liked being kiss and your brain went kaput. Like mine when I see you smile.¡± Turning burning red, Iris stared at her hands. She had just been deceived and the embarrassment was coming on the surface at full force. ¡°t...that...that¡­ you! Meanie!... Lustful being!¡­ corrupting wench!¡­ tricky witch!...¡± ¡°don¡¯t forget deceitful beast¡± ¡°deceitful beast! How could you trick me like that?¡± ¡°it was easy, some time you overthink too much. I just go with the flow.¡± ¡°you still took advantage of me and my lack of social knowledge¡± ¡°indeed that exactly what I did. So?¡± ¡°S..S...So you have¡­ have¡­. To take responsibility¡­. I¡­ I¡­ I won¡¯t be able to¡­ to marry a...a...After what you did¡­.¡± Scilla grabbed Iris that was still laying in bed. She pulled her close to herself. Lift her by her armpits and ended up with Iris sitting on her stretched legs at the edge of the bed. Iris¡¯s legs were stretching inside toward the upper part of the bed while her body was sideways and pushed into Scilla¡¯s torso. Iris head was forced to rest sideways on Scilla¡¯s breasts. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind taking up such responsibility. No I would love to take it¡± Iris looked away. Her hearts pulsing with so much force that Scilla could feel their vibrations. Stuttering like never before Iris replied. ¡°it¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s¡­. too¡­ too soon¡­ soon¡­. I¡­ I¡­¡± ¡°don¡¯t worry. I have all my life¡­. I love you Iris¡± Scilla felt something warm on her chest. Her clothes were getting wet with a warm fluid. Tears of joy. Iris replied whispering. ¡°I¡­ I¡­ love you¡­ too¡­ Scilla¡± ¡°S¡­ So¡­ what do¡­ what do¡­. We do now?¡± asked Iris. ¡°didn¡¯t think that far. Kissing got to my mind as well. But I don¡¯t think my brain recorded it properly so how about a second¡­¡± ¡°hey, don¡¯t pull your luck. You are really lusty¡± ¡°can¡¯t denied that. It¡¯s even harder to keep my composure when you are so astonishingly beautiful¡± ¡°thanks¡± ¡°I see that your collar changed. Maybe now there is a way to remove it¡­¡± ¡°No!¡± iris jumped away keeping a hand on the collar to protect it. ¡°sorry. I didn¡¯t mean it in a bad way. Just thought that you had it on you all your life and assumed you wanted to try to remove it¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to take it off. I¡¯ll never take it off. Doesn¡¯t matter if I can. I want it¡­ it means us¡­ it means my belonging to you. It connect us¡­ I don¡¯t want to loose is¡± ¡°oh, I get it. I guess that now you indeed belong to me, and I belong to you.¡± Iris smiled warmly while rubbing the collar, a smile never seen before. So illogically beautiful to crack reality. So sublime that Scilla crashed again as she used too. The neat part was that she was growing resistant to it and recovered faster each time. Once Scilla returned to reality a few things had changed. Their position was the same, yet this time Iris had a mug with a steamy liquid inside. ¡°how long was I out?¡± asked Scilla. ¡°not that long. Do you want a sip?¡± ¡°why not¡± Scilla drunk a bit of the green liquid. It was mostly sour with a some bitter after taste. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°not my favourite, but it¡¯s fine. Is it tea from Weeping Sky?¡± ¡°nope, something I bought at a store. I mean I didn¡¯t really bought it, they gave it to me just because I walked inside their store¡± ¡°you went shopping without me?¡± said Scilla jokingly. Iris didn¡¯t get it. ¡°was I not suppose to?¡± ¡°it¡¯s was a joke. But I hope that some days you will bring me shopping around one of your settlements¡± ¡°of course. It would be way funnier with you.¡± ¡°is the crystal holograph projection also a gift?¡± ¡°oh no. That would be impossible¡­¡± Iris pulled out her phone from a pocket inside her sleeve. She showed some screenshot of a website that was about the crystals. ¡°I saw them in a shop and decided that I wanted you to have one. But they were not good enough so I looked up how they are made and built my own...¡± Scilla however was mostly looking at what appeared to be prices. The one that had colours was being sold at 5000 of what was mostly likely an Esterian only currency. ¡°sorry if I interrupt you, but how do those prices translate in UC?¡± ¡°like 1 to 11. so the one you are looking at is 55 KUC. Why?¡± ¡°holy shit, they are super expensive. You didn¡¯t have to¡­¡± ¡°they are not. I was telling you. I didn¡¯t bought them cause they had a waiting list if you wanted one that could use any white light. So I built it and it was super cheap. Like at best 400 UC for the materials and current¡± So it¡¯s even more expensive. She gave me a fancy lamp that cost more than a car. I should stop her before things escalate. ¡°Iris. I really loved the gift¡­¡± Iris ear twitched to maximum attention. She was already thinking about the next ¡°cheap¡± gift. ¡°but I don¡¯t want you to spend too much money on gifts for me¡­¡± ¡°but it was not expensive. I told you I built it¡­¡± ¡°ok, but it is expensive in general. How much would it cost to order one like mine?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. About 150 KUC. It¡¯s not much¡± ¡°Iris that¡¯s more what what normal people gain in a whole year of work¡± ¡°nah. If you get home with just a working energy gun you get some millions. It¡¯s not that hard to find a gun in a ruin¡± ¡°I said normal people. Scavengers are not. You and me neither. So¡­ for the future could you just avoid to spend that much. I mean I loved the stone with our initials from my town as much as the crystal.¡± Iris was confused but nodded. ¡°ok. I can do that.¡± ¡°thank you. Also¡­ since¡­ since you are here¡­ would you mind if I ask a few things?¡± ¡°if it¡¯s about the death Pridians¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care about those fuckers. I want to ask about you. Are you feeling good? I mean you were really emotional and I asked Natix while you were out about it. It said that you are mutating¡± ¡°yeah¡­ turns out that killing about 1 million people with the Whispers made them stronger. It¡¯s a pity I couldn¡¯t feed on them all, but I run out of power¡± Said Iris smiling before continuing. ¡°but I¡¯m fine. I mean they are improving my nervous system, and so for a few more days I will be emotional and a bit¡­ moody. But it will be worth it. I mean I¡¯m already able to connect to my ship without the cable. I don¡¯t need the connective suit any more.¡± ¡°so you are feeling well¡± ¡°yeah¡± ¡°emotionally or mentally?¡± Iris tilted her head in confusion. ¡°I don¡¯t understand. What do you mean?¡± ¡°like mental health¡­ you know that stuff¡­¡± ¡°you are asking if I have some kind of lingering and crippling anxiety disturb due to my massacres, torturing and various atrocities?¡± ¡°emh¡­ I¡­ I guess so¡± ¡°nah, I¡¯m totally fine. I mean I like my brutal killing. Plus psychology is not a science. Psychiatry is one¡­ sort of. But I don¡¯t have issues as far as I am aware of¡± ¡°thanks. This relives me. If I can¡­ I know that maybe it¡¯s too much¡­ but is there a way to¡­ make me communicate with the Whispers. Like feeling their desires¡­ cause some times I wonder if¡­ well if I¡¯m with you Iris or if I¡¯m speaking with the Whispers¡­¡± Iris moved away and stand up in front of the bed staring at Scilla. ¡°yeah I got it. You fear that I could lose myself. Fear not the only one who could lose themselves are the Whispers. My will is indestructible and incorruptible. Still I can and so I will show you both my mind and the Whispers consciousness. Follow me¡± ¡°could I also see them? I mean I never saw more than a grey dust¡± ¡°sure¡± replied Iris with a smile while walking to the middle of the ship connector. Scilla followed her. ¡°so¡­ I don¡¯t know scream if it¡¯s too much¡± said Iris smiling. Immediately after she closed her eyes and exhaled. Her shadow started twitching and distorting. Whispers floating around Iris body growing stronger and louder. Light started to bend around her as pockets of darkness materialised. Eyes started appearing, first all over the deformed shadow. Then they moved to all the corners with even the smallest dot of obscurity covered in eyes. They were everywhere staring at Scilla. Iris clicked her tongue and light was no more. Scilla felt herself as if she was falling into something, a liquid that left no traces. In such material void she felt connected to a multitude of consciousness, all individually different yet all united. Weak alone yet indestructible and eternal together. An overwhelming peace overcome Scilla. The Whispers desired order and discovery. They wanted to know all, understand all to the deepest core. They wanted forbidden knowledge that no human, no organic nor synthetic creature should ever desire. They dreamt and desired the code of the Unipsi. They dream to discover the exact mathematical expressions that defined reality. They wanted the source that belonged only to one. As Scilla was loosing herself in such desires a new one appeared. Home. The Whispers were thinking of their home. The one they found. The one that was like them. The one that felt just right. Iris. They adored her. She was their greatest discovery and they were ready to defend her. They didn¡¯t concealed their hostility but soon it faded. They were pondering about the Intruder, Scilla herself. They didn¡¯t like her at the beginning. They feared for their home. Yet now they see, light, greatness, strength. Scilla makes Iris stronger, she makes her happy. They like her now. They appreciate her presence. She had a calming effect. Scilla had little time to wonder what they meant by calming effect that a new will came into play. This one redefined darkness. Scilla felt herself suffocating while her skin started corroding under such pressure. Her bones felt an ever deepening cold growing stronger every second. Thoughts of destruction, hate, pain, torture, massacres of innocent filled what was a peaceful space. It was Iris. But she was fighting it off. Such tremendous feeling was compensated by her desire to heal others, to fix nature by force. Scilla could feel the end retreating, but it was only a feint. That darkness was back, so strong that she screamed in pain as the image of a deformed creatures eating unborns flashed in her mind. She was back to reality. Iris was keeping her up from falling on the ground and she was calling for her. ¡°Scilla! Scilla! Rispondimi! (answer me!)¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine. I¡¯m ok¡± What the fuck was that. She is really a monster¡­ just like me¡­ we are really meant for each other. What Scilla felt was different from her desire. She was not such a killing machine. Yet she felt just right. She was once consumed by such desire of destruction too and it ended the Droxi. It was only logical that she could understand Iris. Not only that but such experience made her love Iris even more as she reminder her of her past self. ¡°you don¡¯t look good¡± Still under shock and breathing heavily Scilla replied. ¡°of course not. I just came back from hell. Shish girl next time hold a bit back.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡± ¡°it¡¯s ok. Don¡¯t worry too much¡± chapter 52c: conference Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 52c: conference ¡°are you sure that you are alright?¡± asked Iris who was still worried while Scilla was sitting on the floor. ¡°let¡¯s say that I didn¡¯t like it. But my body is all good¡± ¡°what about your mind? I mean your¡­¡± ¡°I would love to say that I have seen and felt worse, but not really. The only worse things I saw were both done by you so¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡± Scilla laughed loudly and it startled Iris. ¡°you don¡¯t have to be sorry. I was once overwhelmed by hatred too. I desired destruction and I delivered it. So to be clear, if there is someone who can understand you, that¡¯s me.¡± Iris blushed and sit beside Scilla. ¡°thanks you. I know I¡¯m not¡­ ideal¡­ but I appreciate your words¡± ¡°nobody is perfect. We all have our desires. Who knows maybe one day you will let go of such hate¡± ¡°I doubt it. As far as I know it¡¯s engraved into me. My sisters were not normal neither, but I don¡¯t remember any of them being like this¡± ¡°only time will tell us¡­¡± ¡°yeah.¡± ¡°will you bring me home?¡± ¡°sure. I just redirected the ship¡­ What does your sister think of me?¡± Scilla stared at Iris. From the day of her massacre things have changed a bit. ¡°well¡­ do you want the truth?¡± ¡°yes, even if it¡¯s painful.¡± ¡°got it. So things have changed a bit. She still likes the idea that I found a girlfriend, but that¡¯s about it. She is scared, like well almost everybody. So I guess we will have to wait before we could go out for a picnic again.¡± Scilla smiled while Iris stared at her. Her eyes were filled with sorrow. ¡°did I ruin¡­¡± ¡°no, our relationship is as strong as it could be. She just can¡¯t understand that in the end you were just following orders. If it was not you, there was going to be someone else right?¡± ¡°yeah. They would have probably nuked the planet¡± ¡°see, at least they can still live in the zone you hit.¡± Iris grabbed Scilla¡¯s shirt and pulled it closer to her. Scilla could see that Iris fingernails were grey. A dark grey, the same as the Whispers. ¡°are you scared of me?¡± ¡°not in the same way like the others. I felt the Whispers and I can tell that they are no threat to you. Yet I can¡¯t but worry about you. So much power in such small and frail body.¡± ¡°my body is adapting¡­ if I change would it be¡­ problematic?¡± ¡°depends. Do you know such changes?¡± ¡°partially. Do you know how humans depicted devils and demons?¡± ¡°would you turn horrible?¡± ¡°depends. Coso (Thing) is not horrible. It just looks really good, but it¡¯s strange. It feels hollow. I mean like someone or something that doesn¡¯t care, it just wants to watch. It has cool horns, crystal wings¡­¡± ¡°Who is Coso?¡± ¡°Someone I saw every time I mutate. It¡¯s a childish yet enchanting creature that teaches me how to use my powers and evolve further. I still don¡¯t know if it¡¯s real or not. I just dream of it. Maybe it¡¯s like a guide program to teach the new holder how the Whispers work¡± ¡°yeah, maybe¡­ and you think you are turning into it?¡± ¡°Partially. From what I can understand I will develop some traits that will appear only if I use the Whispers and disappear some time after. Like my grey nails will soon return to normal.¡± ¡°don¡¯t worry about it. If they are not permanent it¡¯s fine, maybe they end up looking good on you¡± Iris chuckled. ¡°I hope so¡­¡± As if she remembered something out of nowhere, Iris jumped back up on her feet. Instead of climbing or using the gravon elevator, Iris decided to use the Whispers in the form of several tentacles to relocate herself into her room. She reappeared soon after with a cardboard box, usually used for clothes upon buying them. ¡°Scil Scil, I have a question. You know more than me so what are those?¡± Nonchalantly Iris opened the box and pulled out a series of extremely gaudy underwear. They were clearly meant to spice up some already spicy nights. Scilla being a gentlemen turned her head away from the sight. ¡°I bought them online. They were tagged as lush, but I don¡¯t really understand this style. Look they are all so different. This one even has a circular hole on the back¡­ I think¡­ is it meant for men?¡± at that point while Iris was showing the pants emphasizing the backdoor hole with her fingers, Scilla started laughing uncontrollably. ¡°what? What am I missing? Why is there a hole?¡­ STOP LAUGHING!¡­ SCILLA!?!¡± ¡°sorry sorry, it¡¯s just¡­ that¡¯s so stupid. Where did you even found those? Also why did you bought them?¡± ¡°I¡­ I¡­ well I told you¡­ I don¡¯t need my connective suit¡­ not any more. So¡­ I took it off but it felt odd¡­ looked online and found that people wear those things. I looked around and picked those that I liked¡­ then I found those. They were so strange and lush style? What¡¯s that? So I bought a few and thought of asking you¡­ did I do wrong?¡± Scilla couldn¡¯t help but smile. As time passed it became more and more clear that Iris decided to rely on her every time she could. It was definitely appreciated. ¡°well let¡¯s start with lush. It¡¯s not a style. It¡¯s a sexual allusion¡­¡± Scilla looked at Iris right in the eyes to see if she was understanding. Her confused expression and side tilted head stated otherwise. ¡°you don¡¯t know what they are right?¡± Iris nodded. ¡°You take normal words and put them in a different contest so they acquire a new meaning¡­¡± ¡°what does lush mean?¡± ¡°it¡¯s pretty straight forward. What do you think if I say: let¡¯s have a lush night together?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ I night between plants, like sleeping in a jungle?¡± ¡°never mind. What if I say: let¡¯s spice up our nights?¡± ¡°you want to eat food containing more capsaicin?¡± ¡°yeah this is not gonna work. Sorry but to respect your other desires I can¡¯t teach you practically¡± ¡°what do you mean by that?¡± ¡°that our relationship is too young for that. As much as I would love to have you I will respect your previous decisions¡± Iris was even more confused. In her mind she was already belonging to Scilla. The fuck is she talking about. Didn¡¯t I made it clear. We own each other, maybe she forgot. ¡°Scil, I already belong to you. You already have me, I told you before. Like you own me, I own you¡­¡± ¡°that was another allusion. Like I said it¡¯s something that you must know and I can¡¯t teach you, not now¡± ¡°you can¡¯t do that! Deprive me of knowledge¡­ I want it!¡± Sensing that Iris was yet again overthinking and going on her way, Scilla pulled her closer and hugged her. She calmed immediately. ¡°better?¡± ¡°yes¡± ¡°about those underwear, especially the one with the backdoor hole. Don¡¯t wear them¡± Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°is there a reason?¡­ that you can tell me¡± ¡°yes, sort of. They don¡¯t fit you. You are too pure for something like that. I don¡¯t want you to wear them.¡± ¡°I understood nothing of what you said, but ok¡­ can I show you the others?¡± ¡°I suppose you will show me anyway¡± ¡°maybe¡± With new resolution Scilla sit trough underwear picking with Iris. She had bought around 40 different pairs and ended with 15. Scilla¡¯s taste mostly aligned with Iris¡¯s one, but most importantly the underwear they choose were the most comfortable. They were rare product that followed the leafy motive commonly spread among traditional Esterian clothes, the one that Iris likes to wear. They were really meant for each other. They went on with their lives even if it was more complicated as Iris ¡°couldn¡¯t land¡± on Icar-3. Fortunately for her the NDU was one of the most advanced stealth ship that the Esterians had. Landing totally unnoticed on a planet was an easy task. Their secret collaboration was not welcomed with open arms. On their first scavenge mission Idra was already waiting on the planet surface. When they saw her, most immediately thought that she was back to kill them. Everybody except Scilla would run away or hide from Idra. They feared that just one wrong word would end up killing them and their families. That same fear however was ideal to make them keep their lips sealed like a strong nuclear bond. Each time they came back Idra would visit a Lineic warden history database to read what she was owned. She was not greedy and followed the rules so she could read in peace. The Lineic warden Selena kinda grew fond on her. Idra was never once a disturbing nor disrespectful presence, quite the opposite. Her absolutely inhuman sharpness floored Selena that gradually started to initiate conversations with Idra. For Selena Idra became a drug, she could read just few pages and rebuild what had appended down to details that were never disclosed nor recorded physically. It was just something unheard of a living creature, something that didn¡¯t belong to them. After some months of work something changed. Out of the blue Idra armour exhibit an unknown pattern. The goo was showing tetrahedral drawing all over it. Idra started wearing it on a return trip from a mission. Nobody dared to ask, nobody dared to be in the same room as her, yet she roamed free around the Sheridan. After two days Scilla asked while walking Idra back to her ship for the night. ¡°what are those symbols on your suit?¡± ¡°the tetrahedrons?¡± ¡°what else?¡± ¡°to make a long story short, a sad week has started for all Esterians. A week dedicated to those we lost in the Spike War and those we lost afterward. We remember them by wearing appropriately.¡± ¡°what¡¯s the Spike War?¡± ¡°you know we have a lot of planets¡± ¡°I know¡± ¡°they weren¡¯t always ours. Soon after getting away from Terra a new enemy appeared. We wanted peace, they wanted us dead. They gave us no choice but fight. We fought back for 156 years. That¡¯s the Spike War. Our enemies are no more, extinct like the Droxi. But so were most of us.¡± Idras voice was grave, Scilla could feel the pain in each word. The Spike War was an open wound that had yet to close. Better change topic. ¡°now that I think about it, isn¡¯t the first conference among nation with also the Esterians being held in those days?¡± ¡°yes, it will be¡­ peculiar¡± ¡°do you know something about it?¡± ¡°I know what was authorised. I¡¯m sure Nixie 112 will make use of her diplomatic capabilities¡± All nations excluded the Esterian Tech-Union had kept in touch among themselves. They used diplomatic meetings and ambassadors to exchange informations and news even during wars. From time to time when events particularly drastic that shock most nations happened, they would meet to discuss them. The Droxi war was the previous topic, now it was time for the Esterian massacre on Museniloe-2. For the first time in history Esterians decided to participate and the meeting was being held on Leanira-2, the Lean home world as the Esterians defined it as neutral territory. While they were out scavenging the international politics were going to be shocked. All major nations had united and their respective ambassadors had already landed on Leanira-2. For the Lean federation of course it was Liin Csuicha herself. For the Pridian it was their prime minister as they were heavily involved. The Terran send their minister for foreign policies and the Xoraxtas sent their prime minister like the Pridians. Minor independent human planets sent their ministers but none dare to send a mere ambassador, not for something that could bring to a war against an unknown superpower. The last to arrived were the Esterians that of course had to make a theatrical appearance. They arrived ¡°in mass¡± with 7 spaceships, all so heavily armoured to be easily mistaken for battleships. Of those ships only three landed while the others kept flying around. Among those three only one opened its cargo doors to let out a small army of people and machines. At the centre of an arrow formation there was the only woman of the entire party composed of other 3 men in ¡°light armour¡± and blocky backpacks, 4 more soldiers in heavy power suits and 24 fully armed autonomous walkers. The woman and the 3 men wearing piece of clothing above their armour with tetrahedrons drawn all over. The 4 soldiers had nothing that could incapacitated them or get in their way while on duty, yet they had the tetrahedrons suit pattern as well. A keen eye like those of Csuicha could easily understand that those were funeral dressed wore above their armour. Unfortunately she was one of the few to understand it, as Esterians had so far only wore fully black suits. They march in unison toward the palace that was going to hold the meeting. All the journalists eyes and cameras were on them. They were a rare sight, especially in numbers. A rare sight that sent chills down their spine. They looked mostly hostile yet they were so cold and calm. So focused that no matter what people shouted around them, their head never moved. As predictable they were not allowed to bring war machines inside the building so all the walkers waited outside. The guards were however forced to let the others go in with all their weapons as those were their laws, and the Liin had her guards too. When they entered the conference room all the attendees went silent, scared of the Evil Esterians. Nixie 112 sat at her place and spoke in unified language. ¡°Forgive our delay, someone forgot an a piece of equipment. Shall we begin?¡± of course murmur immediately started among the officials sent to discuss but those who talked the most were the press members allowed inside to stream the event. Liin Csuicha called for order and silence. She was the head as the conference was on her planet. ¡°As not all of us have known each other, how about a fast introduction¡± said Csuicha. From her left people started introducing themselves and when it came to Nixie she skipped speaking. She placed herself as last and when her turn arrived she stood up from her chair as dictated by the Esterian protocol. ¡°Good morning. I¡¯m Nixie 112, Remnant from the Esterian Tech-Union. I speak on behalf of all Esterians excluded the Remnant of the Founder Idra 511 Weeping Sky and the Founder himself. We come to you as one and we will treat you as one.¡± that¡¯s a really odd wording. We come as one? Treat you as one? What does she mean? Why is Idra excluded? Did we meddle with something bigger than us?(liin Cuischa thoughts) ¡°Why is Idra excluded¡± asked the Xoraxta prime minister Nikanor Zima. ¡°we have no authority over the Remnant of the founder¡± replied Nixie coldly while moving her arms to her back assuming a more authoritarian position. ¡°How could we even discuss the massacre if the main culprit is excluded?¡± continued the Xoraxta. That was a stupid move. He is just digging his own grave. Let¡¯s see what Nixie will do. ¡°how pitifully to be guided by such primitive beast. Idras operate far beyond organic comprehension. Limiting them would only damage our kind. I would recommand you to bow for such insolence¡±. Nixie had rotated to face Nikanor. Her chin slightly pointing up as a sign of superiority. Nikanor was predictably offended by it. ¡°Bow? To you. You must be joking¡­¡± ¡°assumption over assumption. Bow now and I will let you off the hook¡± Nixie moved her left hand closer to the data port of her seat. It was integrated with the conference room table and allowed to connected to the main display of the room. ¡°Who do you think¡­¡± ¡°Third warning. Bow so low to kiss the ground.¡± ¡°never!¡± As Nikanor replied Nixie armour goo extended form her hand and connected to the data port. The display started showing a top down view of a huge mansion. The camera zoomed in and changed to a thermal view. 2 creatures were inside a room and really close to each other. ¡°we gave you the opportunity to repent. You did this to yourself¡± The video moved on, the camera changed position and optics. It was now directly seeing sideways through the walls. It was Nikanor with a really young Xoraxta having a sexual intercourse. While their audio played in the background 2 sheets popped up. On one side the prime minister and on the other the girl. Lines circulated around peculiar details. The man was married and the girl was underage. Nikanor jumped up from his seat. ¡°LIES! THOSE ARE ALL FABRICATED LIES!¡± yelled. Nixie replied even more coldly. ¡°We sent the raw captured data to your people. They can judge by themselves if they are fake or not. But I would say that having sex with a minor who had serious family issues and giving her money doesn¡¯t play in your favour. Not when you are married, not when the money you used are directly taken from social policies that you boast about¡­¡± ¡°Those are all fabricated lies that you made to discredit me.¡± ¡°maybe. Or maybe not. You are not that good as you think to hide your misdeeds. Plus we have eyes and ears everywhere. You are a disgusting being and if you were under my laws there would have been no more Nikanor long ago. But it is not up to me. Let your people decide and investigate. I¡¯m sure your political adversaries would love to.¡± Nikanor assistants and crew, that was by his side all along, took some steps back. The video, still playing in the background, was just so good to be fake. On top of it there were proof after proof of illegal money transactions, tracked from bank to back down to even ATMs. It was a work that far surpassed any kind of investigation. So precise to be frightening. Nikanor sat back defeated. I didn¡¯t expected a puppy to toy with, but she is more brutal than Idra. I like it. ¡°We are glad that the ETU decided to send their ambassadors to speak, hopefully this would be a productive encounter¡± replied Csuicha. Putting a stop to the conversation and removing the attention from the Xoraxtas, they had their problem now. ¡°We hope for the same, a peaceful resolution would be optimal for our species.¡± Replied Nixie while sitting back into her position. Liin Csuicha cleared her voice, being in charge she was the one that had to introduce what they were going to discuss. ¡°As we unfortunately know, we are here to try and understand that had happened on Museniloe-2. We all had time to analyse the video footage broadcasted by the ETU itself. What we don¡¯t know is the ETU version of the events. Nixie if you could...¡± ¡°I¡¯m not Nixie. I¡¯m Nixie 112 Liin Csuicha.¡± Stricter than Idra. I see. ¡°well Nixie 112, would you mind tell us your version of the story?¡± concluded Csuicha. Nixie stood up again. ¡°with pleasure. Our troops have been attacked. As a result we sent an ultimatum to the Pridian¡¯s prime minister Lorcas who is present here¡­¡± On of the Esterian man moved closer to Nixie¡¯s position and interacted with the data connector to transmit images on the room displays. It was a written message stating a series of names. ¡°as you can read, we requested 1000 people to be collected as we believed they had connection with the murder. We have clearly stated that upon investigation only those found guilty would be taken. Their fate would have been, according to law, exposure to public rage and then a proportionally painful end¡­¡± People were shocked, yet the images spoke clear. They sent an ultimatum although brutal it was legal. ¡°in the message we also wrote the consequences of a missed agreement. Let me quote: In case of refusal the ETU will use all means necessary to deliver punishment to those deemed guilty. The ETU will also set an example of repercussion in case of failure to meet our demands regarding criminals.¡± So to make it short, they killed the city to set an example. Do as we say or we will exterminate you. I don¡¯t think it will help to make friends. ¡°of course it was not over. Like said, we have eyes and ears everywhere.¡± A new video started playing. It was like before. A recording of Lorcas while reading the Esterian¡¯s message. Subtitles emphasised the first impulsive response upon reading the message. ¡°this is ridiculous. If they think that we will let them do whatever the want they can fuck off and go screw themselves¡± ¡°your reply failed to meet our request. So we asked Idra to deliver punishment as stated. The blood of 46¡¯562¡¯901 of people was an easily avoidable tragedy. But who are we to discuss the decision of others prime minister?¡± ended Nixie returning to sit. From carnage it transform to an excessive use of force but that was technically being under the sun all along. Esterians clearly said what were the consequence and what they wanted. Of course giving away your citizens is not something easy to do, but even if all were killed it would have been just 1000 against 46¡¯562¡¯901. chapter 53c: reveal Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 53c: reveal ¡°your reply failed to meet our request. So we asked Idra to deliver punishment as stated. The blood of 46¡¯562¡¯901 people was an easily avoidable tragedy. But who are we to discuss the decision of others prime minister?¡± ended Nixie returning to sit. Her cold manners added to the data provided left the room speechless and silent until Lorcas spoke. He of course was not happy at all. ¡°we have never replied. That was by no mean an official reply and you acted on it¡± ¡°You are missing the ending line. Quote: The reply will be self acquired and will correspond to the first reply be it written or spoken. We told you.¡± She is good. Well they are good. They have prepared a lot and from the start. They know what could have happened. ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous. How could you take something said privately and used it as official reply? You were just looking for and excuse to kill us¡± ¡°we didn¡¯t take your words as definitive. So we connected to your computer and took the reply. You still denied our access to the 1000 potential criminals and wrote down a bunch of political nonsense. So we acted¡± ¡°that¡¯s false. You can¡¯t had enough time to communicate the response.¡± Nixie sighed. ¡°eehhh Lorcas, Lorcars, didn¡¯t you not watched the video? You can clearly see that we interrupted Idra¡¯s hunt. A hunt on a totally different planet. Yet we communicate in real time. So it means that we could have access to our collected evidence before the one sent by you arrived. Time is important and wasting Idra¡¯s time is a pity¡± Lorcas didn¡¯t really know how to reply but the rest of the room was even more shocked. None of them thought that a technology that allowed for communication faster than light could exist. They all thought that the video was built to give off a certain impression, never that it was not edited. ¡°If I may know Nixie 112. To your knowledge how far was Idra when the request for aid reached her?¡± asked Csuicha. ¡°I can answer to that. We don¡¯t know. Weeping Sky location is secret even among us. All Idras came from it. All Idras returned there either alive or dead. No Idra ever said were it was nor hinted at it. All we know is that it exist and that it belongs only to the Idras¡± ¡°so¡­ if you could make an estimation? Like in light years away?¡± ¡°more than 20 I think.¡± Gasp of shock echoed in the room. 20 light years with minimal delay that you can¡¯t even perceive was just impossible. The fastest intel ship moved at 2 light years per day but needed to be refuel mid flight. In the end the best that was ever reached was 1.46 light years per day. It was just so insane to be confused with a fever dream. How the fuck¡­.!??! is that even possible? It can¡¯t be real right? Or can it? Is that why they sent one of their intel ship to meet Idra on Icar-3? Is the black box the key to it? That would also explain why Alba Corvi was used as speaker. She was new, a nobody, yet she delivered the request of a civilization. She must have been linked to the box and so to Idra. I could ask Scilla to steal it, but I guess it would be useless and only damage our connection to Idra. Fuck I want those boxes. The conversation between Nixie and Lorcas dragged on. Some external intervention didn¡¯t help, in fact they had the opposite effect. Nixie was a beast covered with a thin veil of friendliness. Each time she replied her position grew stronger. Almost each time someone opened their mouth they would end up regretting it. It didn¡¯t help that Nixie had on her side the power of knowledge. She knew a lot of secrets that could destroy lives. When someone tried to go against her, a fast and devious hint was placed in the reply. Soon it was back to only Nixie and Lorcas still fighting over the massacre. ¡°Your people were trespassing on our planet. How could it be our fault if we shoot at them?¡± said Lorcas. Nixie stood up again. This time she stretched, getting ready for a fierce battle. ¡°first Pridians follows the shared rules. Under those rules you have the right to defend your borders but under the same obligation you can¡¯t deliberately shoot at whatever you see¡± ¡°how could we know that your operators didn¡¯t shoot first?¡± Nixie was confused for a second. Lorcas was scratching the end of the barrel. ¡°do you really want to go down that road? You know that our units are all equipped with recording systems? Do you want to see how Pridians mercenaries shoot first from 11 different angles?¡± Lorcas stayed silent. ¡°that¡¯s what I thought. Additionally you have no use of the ruins.¡± ¡°they are ours, on our planet¡± ¡°how do they belong to you? How many scavenger party did you made? I¡¯ll answer for you. 198. how many came back? I¡¯ll tell you, none. You sent all those people to die. How could the ruins be yours if you can¡¯t even open their doors without being killed?¡± ¡°that doesn¡¯t matter. Even unused land still belongs to us as it¡¯s inside our space¡± ¡°Even field could be sold. People used to sold their girls to pay off debts. You own us all your civilization. It¡¯s time to pay us back, your ruins belong to us¡± Nixie claims were absurd yet intriguing. Finally after hours something is moving. But I don¡¯t think the Esterians were ever involved with the Pridians. So what is this debt? ¡°we own you nothing. You only appeared to disturb our civilization and then kill our people...¡± ¡°You are wrong. You own us, you own the Domers.¡± Domers? Is she speaking of the Founder¡¯s followers on Terra before Humans¡¯ space age? Domers were the humans living on the Mediterranean sea. Once the Founder took power over Terra, he called to himself all the brightest minds. To protect them he built the Dome. A network of weapons, satellites and machines that protected those super intelligent sea dwellers from the rest of humanity. It was only thanks to the Domers that Humans avoided extinction and reached the space age. However even if facts spoke for themselves the Humans left behind by the Founder always denied it. ¡°We have nothing to own to the Domers and the Founder tyranny. Nor do the Pridians!¡± Intruded loudly the human representative Jenny Russell. She was enraged. Letting your feelings have the best of you. That¡¯s a stupid move. ¡°that¡¯s were you are wrong. You own us Domers all you have. What you call tyranny saved the humanity that you destroyed. We ended wars, we stopped food shortage, we cleaned the planet. We gave Terra a fresh start. We taught you science. We gave you medicine. We ended your conflicts¡­¡± ¡°by exterminating us! All those who didn¡¯t agree were killed!¡± ¡°Girl, hold your horses. They were lost far before they were put out of their misery. You let them go too deep, they got to the bottom of the barrel and it broke. Always wanting more and more against any logic, against all science. Against Humans. The only thing we could do was ending their pain.¡± If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°How can you speak of millions like they were nothing!¡± replied Jenny. ¡°because they had no value. They were vermin killing our species from inside. Our only regret is the loss of precious minds on african soil. It¡¯s ironic how the paladins of social justice decided to amass their troops in a suboptimal position. Instead of choosing the Eurasian continent and push by land from the east, you placed on the south with a sea between us. We all know how hard it is to attack by sea. You feared the Founder counter attack so you chose accordingly. You chose to expose those you deemed less valuable to our attack instead of the best option. In the end you never cared for the innocents. You cared only for yourselves. All good words but never act, never think. We saved you from your own stupidity.¡± Jenny was silent. Nixies reply was brutally honest but more importantly logical. Those hearing it would understand easily that Nixie told the truth. Even without knowing anything about Humans people could easily understand that choices were made. Some people were less valuable during those decisions. ¡°you can¡¯t put what happened 400 years ago on us. We weren¡¯t even there.¡± said Lorcas. ¡°and you wouldn¡¯t be here if not for us. We left you the technology to build more spaceships. To explore the stars for free. A technology that without us was never going to develop as you would have nuked yourselves first. So the ruins belong to us because you wouldn¡¯t have them without us¡± Jenny that was visibly agitated just exploded. She for sure was not ready to face Nixie nor any competent diplomatic. Yet Terran insisted to hire people more for representation of ideals rather that competence. ¡°what the fuck! We made ourselves! Your people did nothing for Humanity ever in their existence apart from killing us. Now you want to put the blame of your massacres on us. You are nothing but space tyrants that wants to extend their tentacles. What Lorcas said about your criminal proposal to abduct 1000 people is fucking true. You and your cheap copy of branded clothes could go fuck yourself!¡­¡± Oh no! Jenny was not over but she was interrupted. Nixie punched the conference room table destroying it. Her voice was filled with anger and so much venom to kill a bull. ¡°I would have let it slide like I let slide all the whispered remarks about our appearance. But I won¡¯t let you disrespect our dead. Those cheap clothes are funeral clothes. Our people are mourning those we lost, those who gave all during the Spike War. One, just one more word and it will be war. It will not be a painless extermination. No fever before going to bed and never waking up. It would be like the 156 years of agony that we suffered¡­¡± Nixie voice was gradually mutating. From anger to seriousness. It was a predicted event and the Esterians had big plans for it. ¡°All we wanted was peace to study the universe. Peace to learn, peace to build, peace to explore, peace to be happy even after being banished from our planet. It was hard, but we tried our best and we succeed. We were finally happy. But soon enemies approached. Aliens, close to our borders. We came in peace. They didn¡¯t. They hated us for being Human. For not believing in their god. They wanted to exterminate us and as a reflection all humanity if we didn¡¯t stop them. So it was war. They outnumbered us. Each one of us had to take 100¡¯000 with them. Out technological superiority was met with a flood of people and blood. They couldn¡¯t survive a single hit, but there were just so many that we couldn¡¯t produce enough bullets. In those 156 years of constant battle we lost everything. Millions departed but only hundred returned. Our population was collapsing, our factory left empty. Children left their studies. Some younglings joined and marched to the front to never return. There was no peace, no second of calm. We pushed ourselves to the limit and used everything we could. Nuclear weapons, biological weapons, chemical gases. But they kept coming in an endless wave of destruction. Yet we stick together and as one we came out victorious. But at what price. After 156 years of war nothing was left. Nothing of our civilization nor of our people. No more farms, no more communication between planets, no more factories, no more schools. Nothing was left of us. Death was not nocking at our door, it was inside the house chasing those few left alive. It was over, or so we thought¡­¡± Nixie voice changed again. It was sad. Sad for all that her people had lost. ¡°hope came to us. A scout spacecraft lost a century before returned to us. The people inside had changed. Fathers and mothers built their legacy and passed on their duties. Generation after generation they avoided the war. They carried something vital for us. A series of samples of another species. Extinct long before we came into play. With what they found a new way appeared, but it required one last sacrifice. Once it meant all to us. But now it was time to go on our way. With that sacrifice we were no more¡­¡± Slowly Nixie and her crew moved both hands to their neck. Their goo retracted inside the armour cells and the helmets clicked. Their hand grabbed the helmets and slowly pushed them up. First they saw their necks. Unheard greenish skin struck their eyes. Then their hair. 2 man had a mix of brown and green hair. One had light green hair like a fresh leaf. Nixie had long aqua green hair. In the end they saw their long ears and their faces with wide staring eyes. 2 with dark brown eyes, one with green eyes and Nixie with a pink eyes. They were all extremely good looking and my far no more Human. Gasp of shock and all the cameras on them. They were no more faceless. What the fucking fuck is this! They were not Humans all this time. ¡°I present myself again. I¡¯m Nixie 112 from the Esterian tech-union. We come to you as one and we will treat you as one. We don¡¯t seek war but we ain¡¯t scared of it. Try us and you will never be remembered. Now judging by your wide open mounts we decided to leave you some time to think and process what you saw. I would also suggest to use some minutes of the following 2 hours to provide biomass to your bodies. Our conversation will resume afterwards¡± Nixie¡¯s voice was different. More acute but what changed the most was her pronunciation. She had a similar accent to Idra. It was obvious that they, like all Esterian, spoke little to no unified language. The 4 creature were outstandingly beautiful. They were mostly perfectly symmetrical with smooth soft skin. Their faces didn¡¯t suggest aggressiveness but their looks were filled with resolve. Nixie stood out the most as she was the only girl with long hair. Her colour was also particular. Aqua green and bright pink eyes surely aren¡¯t common to see around. Csuicha was captured by her beauty but more over she was amazed by Nixie¡¯s brutality and capabilities. She was in fact the first to spoke breaking the silence. She wanted to observe Nixie more during the prepared buffet for the diplomatic guests. ¡°you don¡¯t have to leave the building to eat, we have¡­¡± ¡°We decline your offer. We will provide for ourselves at a nearby shop that looks interesting. I would suggest you do as well. Food taste better without the stench of a paedophile. We will resume our conversation in 118 minutes. Farewell¡± with those words Nixie and her crew left the room and eventually the building. She and the 3 assistants she had didn¡¯t put back on their helmets. Outside the crowd had expanded significantly. They all wanted to look at the Esterians. All possible newspapers sent their journalist even if they had nothing to do with politics or biology. They were of course stopped by guards and barriers placed to keep people away but also keep them safe from the landing zones. While walking back to their ships, Nixie and her crew took a detour to stop in front of a femari journalist that like all was screaming some questions. Once they were before her the journalist froze. Nixie stared at her for few seconds before smiling widely. Her fangs shined under the sun. Then she moved her hand to grab the Lean face while keeping smiling. She moved it around as if she was examining the journalist. ¡°Capisco perch¨¨ possano piacere, ma sti qua stanno a pens¨¤ pi¨´ cor cazzo che cor cervello ([some words are dialect], I can understand why they might be liked, but those one think more with their dicks rather than their brains)¡± said Nixie smiling as if she expressed a compliment. The man beside her smiled as well and nodded. Nixie, unhappy, rose on her tiptoe and took off the journalist hair tie. She then collected her hair into a ponytail so her ears were even more exposed. ¡°you look better without the tie. Let your hair flow around girl. Bye!¡± They walked away to their ships. From one of the 3 a new squad of soldiers came out and the first 4 guards returned to their spacecraft. With the new guards, the 24 walkers and a series of journalist along side their cameras at a respectfully distance, they headed to the designed shop. The place they decided to eat at was a small vendor of almost traditional street food. The place had few tables inside and 4 small tables outside on the wide side walk. The place didn¡¯t saw many people as it had recently opened and had a hard time picking up regular clients. But it was Vera¡¯s dream so she kept trying. At the time it was empty. The owner was looking at one of the many live channels that was following the Esterians. She was curious of where they were going. She saw streets that looked like the one around her place, then she saw her street. Than a place that looked exactly like hers. She didn¡¯t have time to realise that it was indeed her place that Nixie spoke from behind the counter. ¡°excuse me miss. Would you happen to mind if we eat at your establishment?¡± The woman was out of words. She was speaking to the Esterian ambassador in flesh. ¡°of¡­ of course not¡­ you are more than welcome miss ambassador and her crew?¡± ¡°relax we don¡¯t bite, unless you taste good¡± replied Nixie jokingly while smiling and showing her fangs. Vera gulped and was starting to feel uneasy until Nixie hit her lightly on the side. ¡°it was a joke. Just call me Nixie. So¡­ guys what do you get?¡± They all stared at the menu and after some intense pondering they bought 4 different things. All meat based with some vegetables as side. ¡°we will sit outside¡± ¡°S...Sure. I¡¯ll bring the food when it it ready¡± The Esterians pulled together 2 tables to have more space and sit. They spoke exclusively in Estir among themselves but it didn¡¯t look like work talk at all. About 10 minutes later Vera brought out the food and as strangely as it could seem they thanked her upon being served. It was as if they had flipped a switch and now they were behaving politely. Their lunch was slow and calm. They spoke and joked all the time. Csuicha was also observing one of the lives and her keen eyes didn¡¯t let her down. She saw a peculiar behaviour. The males traded their food among themselves to taste and discovered different recipes, but it was not the case with Nixie. Nixie only received food upon asking and also when not. When they had finished with their food, the Esterinans stood up. Without waiting for Vera they brought back their plates, disposed of the trash they made and put back the tables. For the discomfort Nixie also paid 1000 UC, that for Vera were a massive amount as their food was only 32 UC. Nixie however insisted that it was also a compensation for stopping her business from having other clients that never existed. Vera thanked them profoundly also bowing but all she received back were confused looks. chapter 54c: diplomacy Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 54c: diplomacy As promised after exactly 118 minutes from their last words, the Esterian crew was back inside the conference room ready to put an end to their boring meeting. Due to Nixie¡¯s calculated rage the Esterians were relocated to a new zone that had a working connector. The heavily armoured guard changed didn¡¯t go unnoticed. Only Csuicha and few closest to her recognise the marking on one of the soldiers. They had already seen them. That soldier was Sef7 from the video Idra showed them upon meeting for the first time. Nixie face showed complete calmness. She was too relaxed, strangely calm. She let Csuicha resume the discussion but as soon as Csuicha stopped speaking she stood up. ¡°Keeping going in circles is futile. So we unilaterally decided that from now on only the following people are allowed to speak¡­¡± Nixie proceeded to name about 3/5 of the room however she excluded Jenny Russell. ¡°the people named acquired their power through hard work. They achieved it and their people follow them. Merit is a fundamental metric to Us. Only them shall speak.¡± Of course those excluded tried to speak but their microphone didn¡¯t work. They were cut away from the system. They screamed but Csuicha immediately silenced them threatening with expulsion. She had to keep the room civil yet she didn¡¯t appreciate the Esterian imposition. Lorcas took the speaking role. ¡°I appreciate that you consider me worth of my position. But your constant impositions have to stop. We are here to mediate on a neutral territory of your choice, yet you brought guns, soldiers, walkers and warships¡­¡± Nixie was confused and so were her followers. She interrupted Lorcas. ¡°Sorry to cut you, but what warships?¡± She was genuinely confused. Her ears were moving around trying to catch as much information as possible. ¡°you came here with 7 warships, don¡¯t insult my intelligence¡± At those words one of Nixie crew initially smiled, but soon started laughing. It was soon followed by a second one. Nixie and the other one that was not laughing were smiling. Nixie punched lightly both her crew mates and spoke. ¡°I think there is a misunderstanding between us. Those are not warships. They are scout ships. Fast travel with light loads and low fuel consumption. I understand they may look intimidating but war changes you. You keep preparing and preparing over and over again in fear of a new conflict and so do your ships.¡± Csuicha got in the conversation, she wanted to know more about the war. Something was missing. She knew about the Founder super weapon, everybody knew it existed. There was proof so what happened to it?. Why use bullets when the HBE was in their hands? ¡°If I may ask. You said that your people used all they could in the Spike War. But you said nothing about your super weapon. Was the HBE used?¡± Why is she looking so strangely at me? It¡¯s a fair question. Were they immune?¡± ¡°you ask for classified information Liin Csuicha. I cannot provide an answer¡± Fair enough I guess? They don¡¯t want to reveal anything about it. But they aknowledge it existance so they must have it, or maybe even more than one. Hard to believe that it was built by a man 400 years ago. The most effective weapon ever built, I would sell my shit to speak with its creator. Too bad he died long ago. Csuicha however was still interested in the Esterian military capability, so she pressed on. ¡°if I may ask again. If those you came are not warship, than what is?¡± ¡°well warships are usually a lot bigger. There is no real use of small vessels in space. It¡¯s not like you can hide. Stealth is also useless. Ships that are hard to see and make less noise are obviously for planetary usage.¡± Nixie avoided the question. ¡°Back to us sir Lorcas. We came armed because quite frankly we don¡¯t trust you, nor we trust the others. Weapons are mandatory by law outside our planets. The amount of time that our scavengers clashed with your people is absurd. We worked to avoid escalating our conflict and prioritized unknown sites. However we can¡¯t tolerate more than that. What you see as a senseless massacre is just the repercussion of your people constant hostility. Was it avoidable? Of course it was. Was is excessive? Probably not. We tried to reason. We are not psychos, but if you ask me I¡¯ll always prioritize my people.¡± ¡°Your¡­ your people killed 46 millions of mine. You destroyed a city just to get your hands on some mercenaries. What else could I say. If this isn¡¯t an act of war then what is?¡± ¡°You could start a war, but I suggest you not to. Unless you want to seen the end of your nation. If you want we can go for a restricted war, but I suggest you to wait. If you declare war now I¡¯m sure that the ETU will vote for a full war. If you wait¡­ don¡¯t know about 4 month I¡¯m fairly sure that they will only vote for a restricted war.¡± ¡°what¡¯s the difference?¡± asked Lorcas confused. After all war is war, and war never changes. ¡°restricted war are programmed. We send our fleet, you send yours. They fight. The winner is considered to have won the war. This way you avoid damaged on structures and civilians. In a full war however we just go for it. We keep fighting until all are dead or surrendered. It¡¯s like a¡­ well a not regulated war. You choose, we don¡¯t care. The only reason we didn¡¯t come back and put an end to all humanity is because of the Founder¡¯s words. He forgave you for your ignorance and so you live. In the end we just want to live in peace. We are isolationist so if you don¡¯t care about us we won¡¯t care about you.¡± ¡°those are all good words, but you will came for our ruins again.¡± Nixie sighed. ¡°as I said, you don¡¯t use them and they are neutral as they have a defensive system so they don¡¯t belong to you. They belong to nobody except their extinct creators and those who can survive them.¡± They kept talking without getting to anything. After all it was something really hard to resolve just politically. ¡°if you even want me to consider to wait for a war, I have demands. We want the murdered of our people. We want to process Idra 511 for her crimes¡± said Lorcas. Little did he know that it was not something that anybody inside the ETU would even remotely consider nor had the power too. ¡°I can¡¯t speak for Idra nor can the entire ETU. Your demand is senseless. Idra was just the operator that executed our request. If not her we would have sent someone else. Or maybe not. Judging by the previous events I bet we would have opted to nuke to dust the city if Idra declined. At least you can repopulate. Minister Lorcas you are looking for a head to cut. Someone to punish and to accuse. But you will never find one among us. The ETU has no prime minister. All member of the supreme council are elected by individual planets. All planets have their own planetary council were only the intelligent can vote. We are all equal, hierarchy exist only to accelerate the voting process. There is no individual fault. We are all at fault and we won¡¯t give up all our intelligent people¡± Csuicha spoke instead of Lorcas. He was thinking about a reply that he couldn¡¯t find. ¡°who are those intelligent people that you speak of? How do you define them¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°the Founder built a test. You answer and we know if you are intelligent. To be clear being intelligent means a lot of things. In this case an intelligent creature will act to gain but also to make all others gain. If everybody is gaining the action is positive by definition. On this principle if you only let intelligent people guide your state they will make everybody gain something. Improving our society.¡± ¡°seems too good to be true. There is no infinite gain in nature¡± ¡°I agree. However to reach the peak the road is really long. Probably billions of years of constant gain. So far it worked and will work for much longer.¡± ¡°is Idra intelligent? I mean did she made the test?¡± ¡°no. Idras are excluded from it. Idra 511 even more so¡± ¡°why?¡± ¡°because like I said, we value merit. Idras are special, but 511 is even more special. She demonstrated with her actions that she is Intelligent. Her contribution to the ETU is invaluable. So invaluable that it redefines the standards of intelligent and sentience.¡± ¡°do your soldiers think the same? You never let them speak, nor you let them show their faces¡± Let¡¯s see if I can convince Sef7 to speak. He worked with her. Nixie was taken a back. For her they were just guards, but at the same time she knew that if she let a soldier speak they would improve their position. Sef7 took a step forward. He spoke. His voice was low but it sounded excited. ¡°may I reply?¡± ¡°go on soldier¡± The man opened his helmet. The heavy power suit he was wearing couldn¡¯t remove the helmet entirely. Instead it opened and retracted leaving his face and half his skull out. Like the others he had green skin, pointy long ears and he was also good looking. His hair were short except a short braid in front of his left ear that terminated with a white piece of cloth. He also had a short beard that the other didn¡¯t have. ¡°Nixie¡¯s words speak the truth. But I would say they are reductive. I am one of the few who had the honour to fight with her, to feel her power. There are no words to describe how it feels to fight under her wings if not that she truly is our angel. The Founder sent us his blessings in the form of Idras. 511 however is not just a blessing. She is an angel that can bless all those around her at the snap of her fingers.¡± The man closed back her armour and returned in position. He spoke of Idra as if he was venerating her. It looked absurd from the outside but it was to be aspected. Nobody knew of the absurd diffusion of the omnicure. Nobody knew of the incredible amount of people that it saved from death. All they could see was a really capable scavenger. They saw someone totally crazy that explored ruins and never came back. They had no idea of the amount of technology that Idra discovered and gave to her people. So much technology that now Esterians and the rest of the known species were no longer on the same level. ¡°did he clear your doubts Liin Csuicha?¡± asked Nixie. ¡°Y...yes it did¡­¡± This is dangerous. We are playing with fire on a leaking oil rig. How can they be so attached to Idra?. Who the fuck is she? ¡°one last thing, that may be coming out of the blue. Can Esterians have yellow eyes?¡± ¡°amber eyes? yes. They are more like a light brown mixed with bright green but it¡¯s possible. If you mean yellow like paint than I doubt. I never seen one and never heard of such feature. Our eyes are mostly brown, green, blue and purple. Plus combinations. Mine that are pink are a rare case¡± ¡°thank you¡± So she never saw Idra¡¯s face or she is lying about it. But if they are such rare feature why did Idra showed them to me? What was her plan and why are her eyes yellow if her species can¡¯t have such colour? The more I think about it the more I regret seeking a connection to her and her people. All of this was a mistake. By interfering with them we are just attracting the attention of a silent monster that maybe was best left asleep. ¡°well seeing that Lorcas is still trying to find a comeback let¡¯s close this conversation. In 4 months we will meet again. In such time frame you must think and elaborate what you want to do. If you want war so be it. This invite is not only for Lorcas, but for everybody who wants to challenge us. 4 months is plenty of time to get back homes, discuss with your people and came back. If you want to declare war before, just say so. We are always watching¡­¡± Nixie smiled widely. It was no more friendly. Combined with the eyes it sent off a malicious feeling. She was terrorizing the ambassadors with her sadistic confidence. Then she sat down and stretched. It was a new switch. She looked happy and relaxed, almost as if she was at a friend house. Her tone changed as well to a more playful one. ¡°now considering that we are here. We have a present for one of you. Liin Csuicha I would say that you should not get presents, only coal after you banned our greatest hero from your planets. But I¡¯ll make an exception, after all it¡¯s not from me¡­¡± One of the man took of his backpack and pulled out a stack of what appeared to be letters bound together nicely. Nixie took them and lift up her arm waiting for someone to take them. Csuicha nodded at one of her guards while the rest of the representatives stood silent. The guard grabbed the letters and returned them in front of her Liin. Csuicha didn¡¯t touch them. ¡°what are those?¡± she asked. ¡°letters¡± replied Nixie smiling. ¡°I have eyes too. Who are they from?¡± ¡°them¡± replied Nixie connecting again to the room system. She started to display a series of Lean death documents made inside the Lean federation. They were few, at best 20 people. Those had all disappeared and marked as death in the last 7 years ather the war. Those same 7 years of Esterian activity. ¡°what are you saying?¡± So they killed them? Than the fuck are those letters? ¡°what I¡¯m saying is that they are now ETU citizens¡­¡± ¡°WHAT?!?!?!¡± again the room was shocked by what they heard. Those Esterians kept changed and changing. From monster, to less evil being, than again to terrorist and so on. ¡°it¡¯s not that hard to understand. Those people in a way or another met with ETU citizens. They fell in love and are now married. As for now we can¡¯t let our people leave our space. So we asked them if they wanted to send something to their parents or siblings. We also have those things all for them.¡± from the backpacks the Esterian crew pulled out a dozens of gifts and a digital storage device compatible with Lean technology. ¡°they have all being checked so they are all safe. We believe that you will make them delivered to their families. We hate to see our people suffer but for now this is the best we can do¡± ¡°are they alive?¡± asked Csuicha in disbelieve. ¡°why should they not?¡± replied Nixie. ¡°were they kidnapped or forced to go with your people?¡± Nixie tilted her head. She didn¡¯t understand why Csuicha was so mistrusting her but it was obvious. She was also not the only one who didn¡¯t trust Nixie words. Almost nobody believed them. ¡°I¡¯ll be blunt. What is wrong with you people? I told you what happened. They met, don¡¯t know how. They fell in love and married. Once married they acquired our citizenship as their panther applied for it and now are ETU citizen. What so hard to understand? We felt bad for separating them from the rest of their families but they all knew what they were doing. Now because I¡¯m a good person I asked them if they wanted to write to their families here and they did. It¡¯s mostly about their families, how now they have kids, how things are going. How loving is their second half and so on. We are not monsters. It¡¯s already sad that their kids have just a couple of grandparents.¡± Nixie was sincere for once it was not something that was meant to happen. They were still incredulous while Nixie stood up to speak one last time after the rest of the packages have been taken. ¡°Our duties are over. We will meet again in 4 months. Hopefully you will have made the right choice¡± Then she walked toward the Liin until her guards stopped her with their bodies. Nixie pulled out a small package from her backpack. ¡°Here this is for the house owner. A gift from the ETU¡± Csuicha came out of her mind that was already in hyperdrive on the missing people that are now alive. With kids, possibly with male one and Leans corrected by Esterian genetic code. ¡°I think it¡¯s too early for exchanging token of friendship between our nations¡± replied Csuicha. Nixie face however showed confusion. ¡°what friendship? You don¡¯t give gift to the people that host the meeting?¡± ¡°emh? No?¡± Nixie retreated with the gift in hand. She and her crew grouped together. Something was not right. Than she turned back with the gift again. ¡°It seems that your data is obsolete. Well than accept our gift as a token of appreciation for the future deliver of our messages to the right recipients.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll accept it.¡± ¡°farewell Liin Csuicha. May the Founder guide you¡± how the fuck I¡¯m a suppose to reply to that? ¡°goodbye. Let¡¯s hope for a better future for our nations¡± chapter 55c: aftermath Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 55c: aftermath Once the chaotic meeting ended, Csuicha returned to her office before heading home. In the loneliness of her space Csuicha opened the gift that apparently was meant for her. Inside the small box she found a metallic contraption. It was a glass lens with a net of wires inside. The lens was enclosed in a thin layer of grey metal. On it, Csuicha saw a charging port compatibly with Lean technology and a switch. From the metallic base 3 mechanical arms supported a ring kept about 7 cm from the base. Stuck inside the ring there was a transparent crystal filled with microchannels. A Narvarno tear. Interesting. Scilla received the same thing from Idra. She is alive so it won¡¯t kill me. As Csuicha pressed the switch the system turned on and floating above the crystal it appeared. Learnir. The first settlement of the Lean civilization now biggest settlement on Leanira and capital of the Lean Federation. It was home and a damn good representation of it. The image showed the city centre viewed from a nearby hill. By the colour it was clearly a view during dawn. Csuicha smirked. It was a thoughtful gift that she liked as it was her city. I¡¯ll bring it home. It would be wasted here. Now to the letters. Let¡¯s see if the data storage has something for me. Plugged the device in and Cscuicha was welcomed with a highly organised hard drive. Several folders, one for each Lean that was in the ETU and one on top named ¡°for Liin Csuicha knowledge¡±. Inside a series of text files. They were all ordered and basically went from granting her authorization to read the digitalized versions of the letters, to watch the videos contained in the drive. It also included the content of each gift and a definition for each. Clever. They knew I would have to look at each one so they made this. They assumed I trust them enough to believe what they wrote down. Too bad I don¡¯t. I¡¯ll inspect all they gave us tomorrow. To her disappointment she was not going to find any difference between what was written and what was given by the Esterians. Once her reading was over she started watching the video that the ¡°ETU¡± Leans made for their families. They were all akin to long mono directional conversation explaining what happened. In all of them the Leans looked happy. Not in any danger nor hurt. They had all indeed left the federation for love. A Love so strong that made them leave everything they had behind. Csuicha saw happy families, smiling children, caring partners. Looking at them she saw more than one apology from the Esterians partners. They were sorry to have taken away their wife or husbands from their homes. But they couldn¡¯t let them leave or communicate to at least say that they were alive. They were touching recordings filled with emotions that didn¡¯t belong to Csuicha. Those were not for her as she was never once mentioned. All of them had moved on long ago. Well that was quite the ride. Kinda depressing if you consider that Idra has been mentioned a lot and I was not. Not even once. Do I suck as a Liin? Don¡¯t think so. Maybe they have some strange connection to their political sphere. After all their government is a lot different from ours. A lot of time had passed and the city was now illuminated by street lamps. She had stayed late, as always. Mmh 00:24. I guess I should go home. My bed is more relaxing than the office one. Being my guards must be a pain in the ass. Well at least they have turns. In the following days Csuicha sent a messenger to Icar-3 to recall to her Scilla upon her future return. In the meanwhile she personally delivered some of the gifts from the ETU Leans. She wanted to ask questions to their families and to her surprise she found out that most of them were poor. Their daughters became soldiers out of necessity to survive. They were all cheered up by the news that their offsprings were alive. Most were also rejoiced at the idea that they escaped poverty and military service. Reality slammed Csuicha in the face when some of those poor families asked if they could sell their gifts to the government for money to use on their others children. The effects of the war were far from gone. If you wandered off the big cities than civilization started to decline. Farmers and base workers were missing or injured. A lot lost their old jobs and were gradually replaced by machines. Not all poor people were anti government activist. Most just had no place to return. No new start as industries had collapsed and reconstruction never reached them. They were left alone at the edge of civilization unable to travel to the city nor to find employment were they lived. In contrast to families stuffed inside one single room, Liin Csuicha lived in a gargantuan mansion. Her house was built as a symbol of power, but it was totally useless. It was built with 300 rooms, an immese garden and a second building only to store the automatic house keepers and few technicians. She felt even worst as the mansion was mostly empty. She had lost her entire family before the war. For few years she lived there alone in the absolute emptiness of a desolate villa. Some years later she invited all her guards with their families to move in with her, yet it was still mostly empty. Entire sections had never once been inhabited. She couldn¡¯t invite friends to live with her, both for safety protocols and because she had none. Her closest friend was Scilla that would have never left Wiola on Icar-3 alone. Her second best friend was Dhalia who for obvious reasons couldn¡¯t leave Icar neither. To make her realization even more depressing, some families even in poverty looked happier than her. They had each other while she was alone with a pile of digitalized cash and automatons. About 3 weeks later Scilla returned to Icar-3 and as soon as she was back she departed again to meet with the Liin. She used the few days between the planets to catch up with the news and see how the meeting went. Once she saw that the Esterians revealed themselves she couldn¡¯t believe it. Upon her arrival at Cscuicha¡¯s house she was greeted warmly. This put her immediately on high alert. Csuicha was never the emotional type. They were walking toward the main dining room when Scilla asked. ¡°so, let me guess. I¡¯m here to talk about our green frenemy (friend and enemy)?¡± ¡°of course. But also, how are the expeditions going?¡± ¡°strange of you to ask. They are going really well. I mean the one I just returned was a bit of a mess but it was good.¡± ¡°tell me more¡± Scilla frowned. It was so unusual for Csuicha to ask. She never really cared about how the expeditions were, she just wanted the outcome. Scilla took a couple of long steps to catch up and placed her hand on Csuicha¡¯s forehead. She immediately flinched back. ¡°are you ill? Doesn¡¯t look like a fever¡± ¡°what the fuck!?¡± ¡°the fuck what?¡± ¡°the fuck you doing?¡± ¡°I just touched you. The hell are you on? Did you took too many pills of some shit?¡± Understanding her overreaction Csuicha recollected herself. ¡°my bad. You saw the recordings so you must understand that I¡¯m quite stressed¡± ¡°I get it. But I would say that you put on quite the fight. I mean in the end she respected you¡­¡± ¡°you think so?¡± ¡°yes. After all it¡¯s not like we have that much power against the Esterians. Nobody has. Unlike Idra she respected your space even if she could have invaded it. So I would say that it was a win. So you are not on drugs right?¡± ¡°Scilla!¡± Laugh echoed in the empty corridors. It has been quite a while since Csuicha could laugh freely. She had the duty to guide her entire civilization during a crucial period. It was not an easy task, some could say it was even harder than the war itself. They had kept walking and by the time they stopped laughing they were at the beginning on what was defined as Csuicha¡¯s sector. It was about half the mansion and it was dedicated entirely to Csuicha. This translated in it being completely empty except for few rooms. Nobody ventured further into their Liin territory without permission other than machines. They went inside Csuicha¡¯s favourite and most used dining room and sat at the built in living zone at one edge while waiting for their food. ¡°So what is going on?¡± asked Scilla. ¡°I¡­ I kind off felt lonely. So I wanted to invite a friend over. This and the fact that I think it would be useful to know more about how the expeditions are going for the future meetings¡± ¡°you can invite me whenever you want. So to my expeditions. Well the one I just came back was a good and bad one.¡± ¡°cause?¡± ¡°cause we found some shit. Like crates of computers or so I think. But it was also a bit fucked up. Now depict this. You are lowering your ship to the rally point. Just few rare clouds around. Then a column of black smoke right were you are going. You fly closers¡­¡± ¡°and there is a village burning right?¡± ¡°exactly. The planet was inhabited and unfortunate for those primitive they built their sheds over the entrance. As you know now Idra usually precede us so she was already destroying everything that moved. She was slaughtering them all, worst than a meat grinder. But what could I have done? We had to kill them. Can¡¯t leave primitives with knowledge of aliens. I didn¡¯t felt to give orders to assist Idra and I kinda regret it.¡± ¡°let me guess. Instead of a fast death she served them a painful torture?¡± ¡°sort of. From what I know she likes fire and explosions. So guess how those people were disposed off?¡± ¡°burned alive and inflated till explosion like balloons?¡± Scilla smiled. ¡°you¡¯re getting good at this game Serafia¡± ¡°well she is sort of predictable. Love to inflict pain so I just did 2+2¡± ¡°and this was the bad part because it only damaged how the crew view Idra even more. They started scared of her, then they liked her and now I can bet my collection of spaceships models that I assisted at some crapping their pants upon seeing her materializing in front of them¡± Csuicha laughed again. She liked the story and missed Scilla¡¯s company. ¡°how is it going with her? Did the breaking had severe repercussions?¡± Scilla was hesitant for a moment. Things hadn¡¯t really changed for the worst. They were going in the opposite direction and from time to time she could even kiss Idra. ¡°things didn¡¯t really change much. I¡¯m more often on cooking duty and pillow duty but it¡¯s easily manageable...¡± Csuicha tilted head was a clear sign of the need of a more precise explanation. ¡°is it because you don¡¯t use the ship canteen to avoid frightening the troops?¡± ¡°what? no. I already used to visit her ship¡­¡± ¡°WHAT! And you didn¡¯t told me!?!?!¡± ¡°let me finish. So Idra can¡¯t really cook complex things. She is really strange and before meeting she mostly each only a mush of all the nutrient that she needed to survive. Like a robot. Then upon discovering the taste of food things escalated. But it¡¯s an easy task to accomplish. You see she has this strange automated robot that basically does all the work. I just have to press buttons and that¡¯s it.¡± ¡°but, but how did you get inside her ship? What does it look like?¡­¡± ¡°stop. I¡¯m not going to tell you. You know I can¡¯t. For what I know Idra could be here beside me waiting to cut my throat. Or she could be watching and go after Wiola...¡± ¡°sorry, I just jumped to conclusion¡­¡± ¡°Well I¡¯m fairly sure I can tell you about few things because for sure they are no classified.¡± ¡°like?¡± ¡°like the fact that it¡¯s a small crew ships. That it¡¯s fairly old but more advanced than ours. I mean when you go inside it looks like a brutal mass of components that had at been there for at least 50 years.¡± ¡°holy shit. 50? you think that¡¯s like an old model?¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say old. I would say that the first project must have been extremely old, maybe built by their Founder himself. Then Idras upgraded it over time.¡± ¡°fuck. What are the odds in a war? Not against us of course¡± ¡°Certain victory. For the Esterians of course. I don¡¯t know their strength nor numbers. But if they are all equipped like Idra than they won¡¯t even put up a fight. It would look like a dragon beating a baby that is only half way out of the womb¡± Csuicha smiled at the unique metaphor. Then with a smirk she asked ¡°what about the pillow duty? What¡¯s that¡± ¡°emh!, well¡­ I may have being sharing a bed with her. But it¡¯s all platonic. I¡¯m more like¡­ don¡¯t know some big ass domestic animal that is let on the bed. Could have been worst. I mean in the end I just have too sleep¡± ¡°she doesn¡¯t seem to be¡­ tyrannical with you¡­¡± ¡°cause she ain¡¯t that. We are more like friends but with her on top. As long as I don¡¯t displease her too much things are good. To be totally clear she is similar to you. She was lonely and liked me for some reason. So she decide to have me but with force. She doesn¡¯t want to hurt me but she will if she has to¡± ¡°each day I regret meeting her even more¡± ¡°it¡¯s ok. I mean things are changing. The Esterians came here to speak. They showed themselves. Maybe one day I¡¯ll be free. Maybe things will have changed so much that we would look at today and ask ourselves how could we be so foolish¡± Scilla was keeping up all her lies about Idra. Unfortunately she had to. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°always optimistic aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m making my friend smile. You look really down Sera. What¡¯s going on?¡± Csuicha sigh. It was to no use to conceal the truth from her only friend. ¡°I delivered some of the gifts. I saw misery. A misery that I was suppose to fight. We are free now. We should be thriving. Expanding. Exploring. But no. We are slow. Rebuilt is slow. People steal money meant to aid those in need, things aren¡¯t completed. We are far from recovery and I¡¯m lacking. I¡¯m lacking as a guide, as a Liin. What the fuck did I do in 7 years? Nothing!¡± Scilla put her hand on Csuicha¡¯s head and petted her like a child. ¡°you did a lot. The war took a massive toll on us. Recovery won¡¯t happen in days, months nor in years when all you have are your own hands tired from the same war. Piece by piece we are rebuilding what we lost. This is not a time to fall down in your misery and insecurity. It¡¯s a time to stand proudly because more than ever our people needs a Liin. A capable one. Like you. Whatever you saw should fuel you with the will to do more. To make sure that things take the right route. Because if you don¡¯t help them, who will?¡± ¡°how can it be that you never fall?¡± ¡°cause I do. You never saw me. In contrast to you, I have a family and I have Idra. When I¡¯m down doubting myself Wiola is the first to notice and to encourage me. It sound strange but Idra is also a lot more supportive that I could ever think. She doesn¡¯t know much and I¡¯m sure that most of the time she doesn¡¯t understand what I¡¯m feeling. But she tried to help, she makes me laugh with her lack of common knowledge. Some times that¡¯s all we need. When you need help, remember that I¡¯ll came to aid you. You just give me a call.¡± Csuicha was silent. Scilla¡¯s words were bouncing inside her head. ¡°also just to make you feel better. Nixie and the ETU viewed you as capable. The same goes also for Idra. Don¡¯t know the extent of it, but she surely find you interesting. So you are on her good side...¡± Their discussion was interrupted by a bot carrying their first course to the table. They sit at the table close to each other. The mood had improved but it was time for more questions. ¡°did you know?¡± asked Cscuicha. ¡°what?¡± ¡°that they were green¡± Scilla looked away and faked a couch. ¡°maybe. Well not that they were so green.¡± ¡°what did you knew? My friend¡± replied smiling Cscuicha. ¡°I couldn¡¯t tell. She would have killed both of us¡± ¡°I know. But what else do you know? I need to at least be equal to Nixie at our next meeting.¡± ¡°not much more than what she explained. I only recently discovered about the Spike war. I understood that it¡¯s a really sensitive topic. So unless you want to enrage her and with her all the ETU don¡¯t talk about it.¡± ¡°something less¡­ obvious?¡± ¡°if you let met me speak I was getting to it. So they don¡¯t came all from the same alien. And by the way the species they hybridized with is the Morfian. We know¡­ well basically nothing about them. Anyway apparently they had green skin so the Esterians are a mix of Human colours and Morfian colours. To my understanding some are basically Human coloured and had been used so far to communicate. This to improve our view of them as Humans.¡± ¡°why didn¡¯t they came out as alien from the beginning?¡± ¡°probably because they believed we wouldn¡¯t trust them.¡± ¡°fair enough¡± ¡°from what I know they are still mostly human but more advanced. They can detect irregularities in people scents and as consequence detect some diseases...¡± ¡°like some Humans¡± ¡°yes but better. Well not everybody is good at it but most apparently are¡± ¡°that¡¯s a useful trait¡± ¡°I agree. As a consequence they are more scent oriented. If things smells good they appreciated them more. What is good and what is bad I can¡¯t tell. Idra loves to eat a moss that tastes like rust so¡­¡± ¡°You avoided the big question so far?¡± ¡°I told you everything I know¡± ¡°not if she looks good¡± Scilla was taken aback. But it was improving her friend mood and it was probably a way to move to less complex topics. ¡°it¡¯s hard to say.¡± ¡°you never saw her?¡± ¡°well I saw her a couple of times outside the armour. But she wears a lot of things. She could have 4 legs and I wouldn¡¯t be able to tell¡± ¡°really?¡± ¡°yeah, their clothes are super large, things floating everywhere. Strange patterns. But they are cool¡± ¡°did you saw her face, well full head?¡± ¡°why are you pressing me so much?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, I just wanted to know. She is so secretive about it¡± ¡°just because you are my friend ok¡± ¡°S...Sure it¡¯s just a face. You can just tell me if she looks good or not¡± ¡°she is gorgeous. Never seen anybody like that.¡± ¡°I figured. Nixie looked good too. Same for those she carried around. I can understand why some people fell in love with them. But I guess looks can¡¯t be all¡± ¡°Well Idra is also really smart. I think it¡¯s mostly due to their personalities. As long as you understand their morality and way of thinking, Esterians looks good both outside and inside.¡± ¡°did Idra¡¯s charms got to you?¡± ¡°What?!¡± ¡°you were speaking so good of her.¡± ¡°shut up. How I feel is none of your concerns¡± ¡°you are right. It¡¯s none of my business. But I¡­ I wanted to ask you something¡­ important¡± Scilla stopped eating the fancy stake she had in front of her. ¡°what is going on?¡± ¡°what do you think of Nixie?¡± asked Csuicha looking in the other way and blushing. Scilla was surprised. Her Liin and friend had a crush. Her first crush in almost 50 years of life. ¡°No! No, no. you can¡¯t be telling me that. Sera what the fuck?¡± ¡°how could it be my fault?¡± ¡°that¡¯s not what I¡¯m saying. But what you saw wasn¡¯t her. Of course that was her face and all. But personality wise she was not. All they did was calculated or almost perfectly predicted. You don¡¯t know how she really is.¡± ¡°and how could I know? All I saw was her at the first and only meeting she appeared. From the video Idra showed us she seemed fine¡± ¡°I get it. You are lonely. For as much as I have known you this is also your first crush. But we have to think it rationally. This is a mess...¡± ¡°I can¡¯t rule over my heart¡± ¡°you can at least¡­¡± Scilla stopped. She didn¡¯t was to became a hypocrite, not on such matters. She had fallen head over heels for Idra so she was in no place to judge. ¡°you are right. You can¡¯t control who you fall for. But what you can control is how you proceed.¡± ¡°ideas? Cause I have none¡± ¡°first did you notice moments were her ears were more free to move?¡± ¡°Yes?? why?¡± ¡°cause they move on their own unless forced to stay still. It¡¯s safe to assume that her real personality was the one when her ears moved around.¡± ¡°well it doesn¡¯t help much. When she did she didn¡¯t speak. All she did was laughing at Lorcas for mistaking their ships for battleships and hit her friends¡± ¡°bingo! She is probably more physical than others Esterians. Would you like it?¡± ¡°I won¡¯t mind. I can get used to it¡± ¡°to her laugh?¡± ¡°like it¡± ¡°fair enough. Well I don¡¯t know much more so let me call Idra¡± Scilla took out her phone but Csuicha snatched it from her hands. ¡°what were you thinking?!¡± ¡°calling my friend what else?¡± ¡°and tell her everything? What the fuck! where is the rationality?¡± ¡°in the fact that I was going to speak about something else. Like a gift to return the one they made. Use it as an excuse to ask about Nixie and see where it goes.¡± ¡°oh. It makes sense. You are more socially adapted than I am.¡± ¡°hells if I am. I had crushes before. And Idra is a dense as tungsten.¡± ¡°do I have to speak?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t even know if she would pick up. I have no clue where she is. But in case no. You won¡¯t speak unless necessary. You are anxious enough for the both of us¡± Scilla hoping that Idra was on Leanira-2 tried to call her and immediately after she piked up. ¡°pronto? (ready?)¡± was Idra¡¯s first word. ¡°what?¡± ¡°hi Scilla. What¡¯s up?¡± ¡°nothing much¡­¡± ¡°where¡¯s your Liin?¡± ¡°beside me. Why?¡± ¡°put me on speaker.¡± Scilla obliged. ¡°hi Serafia¡± ¡°hi Idra¡­¡± ¡°so why the call?¡± ¡°I just wanted to ask you a couple of things, are you busy?¡± ¡°not really. Hey! Stop that!¡± Some noises could be heard in the background. They didn¡¯t sound like Leans. ¡°what¡¯s going on? Where are you Idra?¡± asked Scilla. ¡°it¡¯s easier if I show you¡± The phone switched to a video call. Idra was seeing from their cameras and they were seeing from her external suit camera. Idra was sitting in a small pond of water. It was clearly hot spring water as vapour could be seen rising from it. She was on some kind of mountain as her view was amazing. All around her there were little creatures about 30 to 40 cm tall and also round. Those creatures were basically balls of long fur and 4 identical arms. Those creatures were really cute and fluffy. ¡°Bublughi!¡± exclaimed Cscuicha. ¡°What the fuck is happening?¡± asked Scilla. ¡°no idea. I was snooping around. Seen one of those cuties and repaired it. The repaired one started rolling away and brought me to more furry balls to repair. Some had deep cuts, some broken limbs. I guess a predator attacked them. Now they are all repaired. They are cute aren¡¯t they?¡± Bublughi were a herbivorous elusive spices native to Leanira-2. They lived only on mountains and usually around thermal sources like hot springs. They were never domesticated as they always run away. Legends says that only angels can befriend them. The creatures were swarming around Idra. There was an incredible number of them all united at the small hot pond. They were happy and fighting peacefully for Idra¡¯s attention and pets. ¡°how the fucking fuck are you even petting me?¡± asked Cscuicha. ¡°is it suppose to be hard? They came to me to be petted. Right shorty, aren¡¯t you cute?¡± The small creature laughed joyfully. It was something never seen, only hypothesized as they were so hard to befriend. ¡°Scilla Scilla do you see them?¡± The creatures were all jumping around and rolling like they used to. Some of those rolls ended into the pond with a splash. Scilla smiled. ¡°yeah I see them.¡± ¡°I wish I could take them home. But I bet that they would feel lonely on Weeping sky. Plus I¡¯m sure that the second they are left alone something would eat them. They are too good to be left unguarded¡± ¡°I agree. Are they soft?¡± ¡°soft and squishy¡± replied Idra toying with the one that was constantly trying to climb on her. ¡°little fella loves you¡± ¡°he is a bit to attached. He was the first that I found.¡± ¡°he probably likes you cause you saved his life¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t. I repaired it.¡± ¡°well he likes you cause you repaired him, probably the others likes you for the same reason¡± ¡°you think so? Then It¡¯s so easy to win over those things¡± ¡°well I wouldn¡¯t say that fixing broken limbs in minutes is an easy task¡± ¡°if you say so. Anyway what did you want to ask?¡± ¡°Oh! Yeah, I was forgetting. If we want to give a gift back to your species what could it be?¡± ¡°mmh! Something not expensive nor cheap. It must be something with a middle value but that your people appreciate and view as something special. It also have to carry a meaning that should be obvious but not too much. In our case I bet we sent a Narvarno Tear didn¡¯t we?¡± ¡°yes¡± replied Cscuicha. ¡°you didn¡¯t told me¡± said Scilla looking at her Liin ¡°it was not that important¡± ¡°so if I have to guess they probably printed a picture of your capital city. The beginning of your spices. A point to start and grow. A symbol of beginning hoping to move on toward a peaceful future¡± ¡°what the fuck? That¡¯s exactly what she gave me. How can you¡­¡± ¡°practice and knowledge. So well reply with something similar. Something that represent the ETU from your eyes and your people eyes. Easy isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°well. We¡¯ll find something¡± intrude Scilla. ¡°and on a second note. Do you know what Nixie likes?¡± continued Scilla. ¡°why? Giving her things will make no difference in our negotiations¡± Serafia wanted to reply, but Scilla blocked her with her arm and pulled her away from the camera view. ¡°it¡¯s a gift of appreciation. She personally worked to connect the Leans in the ETU with their families. It¡¯s something that nobody would have done for us. She brought joy to those families who thought that lost their children. Giving back something is the minimum we can do¡± ¡°oh. Than I know a few things. Nixie is really focused on her role. She would not show any weakness nor she would accept any gift. Unless you take her aside. I think you could lure her into Serafia¡¯s house but she will bring her guards and troops.¡± ¡°how would that help us?¡± said Serafia. ¡°you ask her to dine with you and you alone. No guards on your side and no guards on her. She will probably accept¡­¡± ¡°ok, but how do we bring her at Csuicha¡¯s house?¡± ¡°do I have to explain it all? You say that you want to forge a better relationship and want to create a channel of communication to reconnect the families in our respective territories. Then you go on and thank her work personally and give her the gift.¡± ¡°sounds like a good plan. What should we gift her?¡± replied Scilla ¡°sounds good cause it¡¯s good. For a gift I would go for a double gift. One kept secret and one obvious.¡± ¡°how is it suppose to work? The hell is a secret gift?¡± said Scilla. ¡°you give her things she likes but that are not given to her directly. She likes sweets, especially the one that are completely absurd. So make a peculiar dessert of your people. Something maybe with a story that she could enjoy. Then as a direct gift I would say a plushy. She is fucking addicted to them. A cute one of some bizarre animal would work fine. Not a massive one. Something like a Bublughi size is more than enough¡± ¡°thanks you Idra¡± said Scilla while touching Serafia underneath the table. She wanted her to compose herself as she was sparkling with joy and thanks Idra. ¡°you have my gratitude Idra¡± ¡°no biggie. It¡¯s about time someone recognise the passion that Nixie puts in her work. Bye¡± Idra hung up the call. ¡°I can see why people call her Angel. She is both death and life at the same time¡± said Cscuicha. ¡°the story is way bigger, but you resumed it really well.¡± chapter 56c: chimera Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 56c: chimera Time kept passing while Csuicha improved her plan over and over again to the point of perfection. Well almost perfection. The 4 months passed slowly but finally the fateful day arrived. It was time again to face the Esterians and it was time for heavy decisions to be made. Their negotiations could go smoothly or develop into war. In contrast to the previous time, the Esterians arrived in time, yet they waited that all the other members entered the building before disembarking. Csuicha was watching from her position using the building cameras. Something was different. 8 ships arrived. One of those was clearly different. It was about 150 metres long, wide about 43 metres and tall 16 metres. It was around 2.5 times bigger than the other ships and it had no retractable guns. It had a double lines of rail guns on top and at the bottom for a total of 42 high calibre guns. It had around the same number of anti-missiles guns. Just by looking it was obvious that it carried torpedoes and also micro-missiles salvos. It was a true machine of war probably as capable as the L.F.Sheridan, and it was floating above them stationary totally unfazed by the strong winds of early spring. Nixie¡¯s guards were also higher in numbers. She was however followed by only 1 other diplomat. It was almost as if they were expecting troubles. Something ain¡¯t right here. Does she think I¡¯ll let a fight surge inside my home?. Under my supervision? On the other hand when Nixie and her team entered the new room Nixie waved her hand in greeting toward Csuicha. This time the meeting was held into a different room that instead of having a central circular table was more akin to a parliament. It had a podium in the centre of the half circular room. On it Csuicha, her guards and other Leans. All around as if they were different parties there were the ambassadors. Lorcas and Nixie were sat at the opposite side of the room. One of the left and Nixie on the right from Csuicha¡¯s position. Nixie¡¯s fight with Lorcas immediately started but she was a lot more gentle with her tones and ways. The only suspicious thing was her fast distraction from time to time. They were barely perceptible as her stare unfocused from Lorcas to set just behind him. Who is she looking at? Behind Lorcas on the left¡­ a woman. Never spoke to her. She is some no-name from some useless independent Human planet. What is she after then?. It can¡¯t be her. Their colony is constantly struggling and receives aids from Terrans. Something smell fishy here. ¡°I see that our criminal has yet to be brought in¡± said Lorcas. He was still after Idra, or maybe his citizens were. ¡°just to please you, we informed Idra that your people wanted to speak with her. She didn¡¯t really reply nor sent anything back. The only reply from Weeping Sky recite: Reply already delivered. Waiting response. end quote. Frankly we have no clue what this is about. All I can think of is that somehow you already received Idra¡¯s reply. Maybe you are yet to be aware of it¡± Lorcas was agitated. The first think that came to his mind was that Idra went after his family. But it was not totally correct. That¡¯s something. I can only suppose that Idra went after his family. I bet they are all thinking that. But I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the case. Killing Lorcas family would only trigger a war that they apparently are trying to avoid. Otherwise why even waste time here. More importantly why are they trying to avoid a war? They should have predicted that nobody was going to take easily the death of millions of their citizens. Also if they have so many soldiers and weapons why even caring about ending the Pridians? I¡¯m even more suspicious. ¡°I hope this is not some kind of twisted joke. I received nothing nor did my people. If she killed¡­¡± ¡°rest assure that it doesn¡¯t include any murdering.¡± ¡°how could you say so¡± ¡°cause you are still alive. If she wanted any of us dead we would not be here. Trust me on this one.¡± During their conversations they heard the Esterian ¡°warship¡± moving away. But nobody cared much. Moving ships around was already seen during the previous meeting. ¡°are those treats?¡± intrude a new face. The Terrans had replaced Jenny with a man that at least looked more experienced. ¡°not really. I¡¯m stating the truth. Maybe it didn¡¯t go through. As I said previously, the ETU doesn¡¯t possess any authority over Idra 511 Weeping sky, nor it possess any power over her. We are her natural allies not her jailers. We can¡¯t decided for her, nor can you.¡± ¡°that¡¯s sound like a lot of words to avoid taking responsibilities for her actions. Unless you prove so, why should we believe you?¡± said Lorcas. ¡°very well, be my guests¡± Nixie connected to the room network and a translated page of what appeared to be the ETU constitution was displayed. A series of lines were highlighted. //Remnants of the Founder are to be considered special Citizens of the Esterian Technological Union. No laws if not those written by the Founder¡¯s hands may ever apply to them. No government, entity or third party may ever rule above them except the Founder himself.// ¡°does this explain why even if we wanted we can¡¯t do anything legally about her?¡± This is extremely dangerous. Those 3 lines basically states that she is totally free to do whatever the fuck she wants. Even more worrying is the fact that nobody can control her. The Founder is death so it leaves her totally uncontrolled. Who the fuck thought it was a good idea? However before any reply could be vocalized a female scream attracted all the attention. It was the woman that Nixie was staring at. Beside her a humanoid figure had appeared out of thin air. The creature was of Esterian nature. About 170 cm tall and covered of strangely hard to define strips of some fabric. Those strips were about 3 to 5 cm wide and approximately from 20 to 40 cm longs depending on the placing. They covered the entirety of the slim figure except 3 horns on the head. The same kind of horns that appears on Idra¡¯s AMS-388. Those who knew had no doubts, those were AMS as well. Idra! What the fuck? How is it possible? She is out with Scilla. ¡°hi¡± said ¡°Idra¡± and immediately after she pulled the woman from her hair to make her stand. Her voice was different. Less acute and less harmonic. ¡°what the hell are you doing!¡± shouted Nixie. That was not scripted. ¡°giving you a hand¡± replied the creature, but the sound was not coming exactly from her. A second totally equal Esterian appeared and this one punched the Human woman in the belly making her vomit. Of course panic took over the room. More Idras!?!? ¡°Nixie, restrain you troops immediately!¡± ¡°Chimera! Fermatevi immediatamente (chimera, stop immediately!)¡± ¡°why? This bitch was plotting to kill you. Here catch!¡± they spoke at unison. The one that appeared later took something out of the vomit and tossed it to Nixie. It was a transmission device. ¡°SILENCE! EVERYBODY FREEZE IN PLACE. THEY ARE NO TREAT!¡± Nixie shouting was amazingly powerful. She probably shouted louder than a jet engine. People stopped screaming and running away in fear of something scarier. ¡°elaborate. Now!¡± ¡°Tassrin cunt was transmitting outside. We tracked and sent the ETU-Sisma9883 to retrieve her allies. She probably was waiting for some scheduled communication but it didn¡¯t arrive, so she tried to ingest the communicator. Too bad it didn¡¯t work out.¡± So she was staring at them? Maybe, but how could she not know they were there? ¡°Nixie 112. I need more than this to even remotely tolerate an act of violence inside my parliament¡± said Csuicha that was surrounded by her guards from every side. ¡°I agree. Tell all you know Chimera. Now!¡± ¡°what? And let the enemy know? No¡± replied one of the girls. ¡°Non ti sto chiedendo. ¨¨ un ordine. Obbedite!. (I¡¯m no asking. It¡¯s an order. Obey!)¡± They are rebelling against her authority and those are surely not Idras. They don¡¯t look well trained. What the fuck is going on? ¡°uff. Fine. She was delivering data about us. She had a group of extremist both Humans and Leans. They worked on a car and filled it with high explosive. Analysis are still ongoing. The plan was to drive a truck into the crowd with the car following and than detonate it to kill you. From preliminary data collection it appears that they wanted to make the terrorist attack fall on Csuicha to damage both our nations and our connection.¡± ¡°is the proof inside this?¡± asked Nixie showing the transmitted. ¡°partially. Sisma is taking the rest from their operative base¡± ¡°you are not off the hook chimera.¡± ¡°muuuum?? (mum)¡± Mum? Are they her daughters? What the fuck? Did Idra omitted it? This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°well you all heard it. Now this changes a lot of things¡­¡± ¡°we have nothing to do with it¡± said Lorcas while returning to his seat after taking refuge under his desk. Nixie looked at the too girl that were still holding the Tassrin ambassador hostage. ¡°true¡± said one of them. ¡°just making sure. Even if we are on different sides, I can still appreciate a worthy opponent. So I believe we should suspend our discussion for a moment. This unforeseen event has clearly shook most of you. Lorcas, you and your delegation are free to go, the same goes for the Xoraxta¡¯s delegation.¡± ¡°you don¡¯t suspect us?¡± said one of them. ¡°you have enough issues after the last time. I¡¯m sure you mostly came just for political show didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°of course not, we have at heart the Pridian unjustifiable massacre. We are here to defend our friends...¡± ¡°lie detected¡± said both chimeras. ¡°what? I¡¯m not lying. We stand by our commercial¡­¡± ¡°lie detected¡± replied the due again. ¡°don¡¯t embarrass yourself any further, just go¡± said Nixie. Defeated and scared the Xoraxta delegation left the parliament leaving inside only Terrans, the independent Human colonies and the Leans. Most of the Pridians left except Lorcas and few others. ¡°I wish to remain and see with our eyes how this situation unfolds.¡± said Lorcas. ¡°it¡¯s your decision. Now, what I suspect is that Terrans didn¡¯t like how they were excluded from the table of the grown ups. So they decided to organise with the Tassrin this terrorist attack. Am I wrong?¡± Nixie had a huge evil grim on her face. She knew that as long as a clear deny was provided the truth would be detected by the chimera duo. Some of the ambassador from different planets denies any involvement and Chimera confirmed so they were left free. But the new Terran representative Laswell didn¡¯t strictly deny. He was at least smart enough to know how to act. ¡°those accusations are inadmissible miss Nixie 112. We won¡¯t stand here waiting to be insulted further.¡± he was retreating. ¡°I don¡¯t think you have a choice Laswell. Especially not now that your little scheme is out in the open¡± ¡°you are delusional¡­¡± The Tassrin woman screamed again. She had stayed silent to avoid the lie detector but Laswell words angered the chimeras. So they tossed her with force against the ground making her bang her face on the floor. One of the chimeras places her foot on top of the woman arm and started pressing. ¡°speak before I crush you¡± ¡°Ferma! (stop)¡± exclaimed Nixie. She wasn¡¯t all in for the violent approach. ¡°no. Gli ordini parlano chiaro (no. the orders spoke clearly)¡± ¡°di chi? (whose orders?)¡± ¡°D¡¯Idra (Idra¡¯s)¡± ¡°avete preso voi la risposta di Idra. (you took idra¡¯s reply)¡± ¡°esatto (exactly)¡± ¡°cosa dicevano?(what did they say?)¡± ¡°neutralizzare l¡¯ambascaitore di Tassrin e il suo piano. Consegnare un file a Lorcas (neutralise Tassarin¡¯s ambassador and her plan. Deliver a file to Lorcas)¡± ¡°allora immobilizzatela. La violenza non ci aiuter¨¤. (then immobilize her. Violence won¡¯t help us)¡± ¡°no¡± the other chimera, the one that initially punched the woman, kicked her in the stomach again. ¡°speak cunt. Are Terran aiding you?¡± The woman remained silent, hoping for some help from the guards she could no longer see. Unfortunately Esterians soldiers were keeping the doors locked. No guard was coming for her. ¡°I asked a question. One more time and I¡¯ll eat your face¡± she pulled her up from the hair again. The other chimera was confused and looking at her. ¡°wait, we were going to split her face.¡± said one. ¡°but if I eat it she will talk right?¡± ¡°but we made a promise¡± ¡°than¡­ you can have both ears and her fingers¡± ¡°mmh. Are you sure?¡± ¡°what is it not enough?¡± ¡°it¡¯s more. Than it won¡¯t be equal. You can have the face and the left thumb.¡± ¡°ok¡± That conversation was extremely fast and totally one sided. And soon as it was over it was clear that those two were not normal at all. One started drawing a dotted line around the woman face while the other grabbed on of her pinkies. The one who grabbed the finger spoke again. ¡°too late¡± then she snapped the pinky breaking it. The screaming mixed with maniacal laugh from the chimeras. ¡°look look look! She crying¡± the other laugh. ¡°break another, break another¡± they were playing. ¡°I know nothing¡± said the woman between sobs. She didn¡¯t want to feel that pain again. ¡°lie detected.¡± said both. ¡°I guess we have our answer. So Terran care to explain.¡± but before Laswell could spoke the woman screamed again. They broke another finger. ¡°Chimera stop!¡± ¡°why? Asked both. ¡°cause she confessed¡± ¡°no she didn¡¯t¡± they were denying. ¡°sis did you heard her confess?¡± ¡°no, you?¡± ¡°neither¡± ¡°see she didn¡¯t spoke. And she still isn¡¯t speaking. So about to crack an other¡± chimera¡¯s voice cracked with joy at the thought of a new bone breaking. Following the duo uncontrollable laughter there was a crackling sound. As all other sounds died down this remained and only increased in amplitude. It became appeared that it was a growl and it was coming coming Nixie. She was angry, extremely angry at them. ¡°lo dico solo questa volta. Consegnate il file a Lorcas e tornate sulla nave. (I say it only once. Deliver the file to Lorcas and return on the ship)¡± the two girls immediately left the Tassrin ambassador to the care of Esterians soldiers, ran to Lorcas connector and plugged a device in before turning invisible and disappearing. As the device was plugged it took over the entirety of the network and started showing a loading screen. Idra¡¯s symbol flashing on it. Images of a sky, strong wind around and in the background someone is singing. It¡¯s a strange melody that seems so in sync with the leaves falling from the trees. A male voice started speaking. It was the Founder voice. ¡°Perfection mere illusion of unfinished beings. Some may get lost. Some may be tricked. Not all enemies choose their side. I failed a well. You will too. Fall and bounce back. Up higher, up stronger.¡± The video cut with a disturbing mix of images. They looked like a confused mix of battles with screams below. Then they saw from Idra¡¯s view. She was twisting a series of optical nerves still connected to human eyes to make a crown. Beside her someone was begging to be left alive. Silently Idra placed the bleeding crown on the young man head. She than draw strange symbols on his face with what was now clearly his work colleagues blood. Then a new disturbing cut and now Idra was staring at a door from the inside of the building. Lorcas opened it and soon his family was around him. He had a wife, a son and a daughter. They lived peacefully. He exchanged how his day was with his wife and so did she. Then they eat all together. What was scary was how close Idra was to them. She was cm away from Lorcas. While they eat she was literally in between Lorcas and his wife staring at him. Then the only bit of audio what was non censored after the kids went away. ¡°how is he doing?¡± ¡°he is scared honey. The dot in his eye is getting bigger¡± Lorcas looked sad and defeated in the video. ¡°we¡­ we can go into debt but if I also sell my stuff we could afford the best care round and save his eyes.¡± ¡°are you sure? It¡¯s all you have left of your parents¡± ¡°For my family and my son nothing is too much. This weekend I¡¯ll go look around for some loans¡± Then it cut again. Idra was staring at Lorcas¡¯ son sleeping. She stare and stare before waking him up, speaking to him and making him inhale something. The video cut again. Now Idra was inserting something into Lorcas wallet. The last minute of the video was the kid shouting at his half asleep dad in the early monring. ¡°DAD! DAD! The dot is gone away! The dot is gone away! I seen an angel tonight and she took the dot away¡± The video ended and the device self detonate. Lorcas immediately opened his wallet. Inside exactly as Idra showed he found a card of plastic with a message printed. //Not all enemies choose their side. He will see the stars falling// ¡°what¡­ what¡¯s the meaning of this¡± asked Lorcas. He was being overwhelmed by a mix of contrasting feelings. ¡°that your child had been healed. His cancer is gone¡± ¡°is this some plot¡­¡± ¡°no. we didn¡¯t know about it. No we can¡¯t prove it. No it was not done to change your mind. You are not speaking as an individual but as your people. If I have to guess you must have amused Idra. Just like the deaf girl she spared.¡± Nixie returned to her calm self. She quickly regain control of the room and took the lead. ¡°I suggest to end this meeting even if it has been inconclusive. I analysed your faces when you saw the patrol ship. We follow the same ranking as you, so patrol ship are just corvettes. Above them of course we go to frigates, destroyers, cruisers, battleships and carriers. If you fear the smallest vessel than maybe you should reconsider your approach. If you still believe that war will solve our disagreements so be it. We will periodically retrieve information from the Leans. Use them as our middle men¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t remember ever agreeing to this¡± said Csuicha that so far tried to remain calm. ¡°you didn¡¯t. We are deciding for you. Peace is preferable for your trades so I¡¯m sure you would be more than willing to be a communication beacon between my species and the rest of the civilized space¡± ¡°This is totally inadmissible! A peace¡­¡± Laswell was interrupted by an Esterian soldier coming from outside that had run toward him and jumped on him. He was not the only one that came running. Soon the room was filled with Esterians soldiers that were arresting the Human and Tassrin delegation. ¡°You are under arrest for the crime of scheming against the ETU and the Lean Federation. Liin Csuicha we would appreciate some collaboration on this matter¡± ¡°I thought I would have to ask¡± ¡°their plans put both of us and our nations in danger. It¡¯s only natural to collaborate against our enemies¡± Their meeting ended soon after. The criminals were left in Leans hands and were going to be interrogated soon after. This gave Csuicha both the possibility to speak privately with Nixie and to invite her at her residence. Nixie accepted. In the following days they were going to meet a lot of times but more importantly one of those meeting was going to be mostly informal and not related to the terrorist. Csuicha was still intrested to learn more about Nixie. Something wasn¡¯t right. chapter 57c: fear Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 57c: fear With astonishing efficiency the Esterians interrogated all those that they arrested and soon extended the list of people to be captured and brought to ¡°justice¡±. Their tones were harsh and brutal. Even during their collaboration with Lean¡¯s authorities they were hard to please and mostly aggressive. Nixie was among those that flipped like a coin. Her ¡°understanding¡± and talkative nature was totally replaced by an accusatory one. In contrast to Idra her interrogations were mentally exhausting and psychologically traumatizing. She used any form of abuse possible: insults, yelling, digging up past on their families, making lies to put them one against the other, abusing their insecurities and their families. She was never physical but to a certain degree what she was doing to break their minds was worst than Idras work. It also appeared clear that psychological warfare and torture were her real elements. Diplomacy was just a by product of such teachings. However what was blatant torture was amusing to Csuicha. She had always been a pragmatical creature and never saw such efficient interrogations. After one of their many ¡°discussion¡± session with a terrorist, Csuicha and her guards approached Nixie at the police station. ¡°to what do I own the pleasure of your visit Liin Csuicha? I thought you didn¡¯t like to dirty your hands¡± started Nixie while Csuicha was approaching. ¡°you guessed wrong. I used to fight in the front lines. I¡¯m not a saint.¡± ¡°did you also discussed with Droxi?¡± ¡°not in your way, but I dealt with captives before. Truth to be told I¡¯m impressed by your skills¡± Nixie smiled at the compliment. ¡°Weapons are not the only way to inflict damage and pain.¡± ¡°going blind into a fight means certain death. Gathering information will make your people more efficient right?¡± ¡°exactly, bet you didn¡¯t skip war strategies classes¡± ¡°actually I was not really interested in war before it happened. In fact I used to be a mechanical engineer. Went to university and all that stuff. Luck made me work on mining equipment and you can fill in the rest. I learned strategy during the war¡± ¡°impressive. But I bet you ain¡¯t here to tell me your story¡± ¡°you won the bet. I would like to invite you to my home¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m doing my job, I¡¯m not interested in whatever you have planned¡­¡± ¡°I planned to discuss in a more informal place about my citizens that lives inside your nation.¡± ¡°those citizens are long lost. They are now part of the ETU. We won¡¯t give them to you¡± ¡°seeing you so vocal about it makes me think that a private discussion is needed. One without guards and all the bullshit about representation and appearance. We have to think about what is best for them and¡­ and I personally hope we could find a way to assist them. I stand with you and your kind. Tearing apart families is not my style¡± While speaking Nixie had focused her eyes and ears on Cscuicha. Her warm smile conveyed her approval before her words. ¡°very well. I accept your invite. Here, my phone. Let¡¯s communicate afterward about the details¡± Nixie pulled her phone out and soon exchanged her communication function with Csuicha, then they parted ways. Days passed while they kept exchanging messages. Some related to the interrogations and some related to the future private meeting. The plan soon develop into spending the late afternoon and evening at Csuicha¡¯s place. When the day came Nixie arrived along side the patrol ship at Csuicha¡¯s house. Of course she couldn¡¯t move around freely but being in a more trusted place, she left the ship without guards. When Csuicha opened the door things didn¡¯t go as expected. Nixie was not actually alone. Grabbing onto her arms there were both chimeras. ¡°emh. Good afternoon Liin Csuicha. It appears that we may have a small inconvenience¡± ¡°You promised you¡¯ll be with us today¡± ¡°yes, yes can¡¯t go back on your words¡± said the two chimeras. Csuicha stood at the door silent. ¡°would it be a problem if they join us for a brief period?¡± Fuck my life. Why do all my plans go bad before they even start? ¡°yeah, sure. Not a problem, at all¡­ just going to prepare more food for dinner¡± ¡°food?!?¡±---¡±food!!?!¡± said the duo before being brought back in line by Nixie. ¡°thanks for understanding¡± They walked inside the house with the guards staring at them but not interfering as demanded by Csuicha. After all if she wanted she was more than capable to overcome both Nixie and the chimeras. Csuicha walked them to the living room she had prepared. For the three girls everything was massive as it was all built around Leans heights. Once in the room the chimeras immediately scattered around observing everything until they choose they favourite corner to sit. They choose a carpeted zone with a low coffee table and furnitures all around. They sat side by side in the armchair. They were small enough to fit. Their behaviour was odd. It felt as if they were each other extensions. Like two almost identical creatures sharing two bodies. While taking their seat they also followed Nixie¡¯s actions and took of their helmets. The Chimeras were oddly beautiful and too young to be soldiers. They had tanned skin like Idra. Light blue eyes and long azure hair. Their ears were pointing backwards more in contrast to Nixie¡¯s ears that had just a 15¡ã rotation backward. They looked absolutely nothing like Nixie. Their appearance was so different that Csuicha commented about it. ¡°I guess they took all from their father¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say so. They don¡¯t really look like neither¡± Csuicha was perplex but before her comeback the girls spoke. ¡°mum can we read the books?¡± asked the two looking at Nixie and Csuicha that were not in the same corner of the immense room. ¡°Sorry if they are bothering. Can they read the books in the libraries around? And if it¡¯s not too much to ask, do you perhaps have some snacks to keep them busy while we talk?¡± ¡°sure, your daughters can do as they please as long as they don¡¯t break anything¡± the chimeras started laughing uncontrollably. ¡°mum¡¯s kids. Hahaha mum¡¯s! We ain¡¯t hers. She had never even hold hands with a boy¡± Their behaviour was childish. They were surely not adults. Nixie on the other hands blushed and looking away replied. ¡°Shish. Two rascals are indeed not my children. Unfortunately they are correct, I never had a relationship so it¡¯s impossible for me to be their mother. Plus we don¡¯t look alike at all¡± YES! But then why did they call her mum? ¡°my bad, well I just thought¡­¡± ¡°How could we be hers?¡± asked one off the chimeras. ¡°well she could have been married or just had a one night mistake and kept you¡± Csuicha¡¯s reply however was welcomed with confused stares and tilted head. ¡°what do you mean? What kind of mistake¡± asked Nixie. More confused them them Csuicha replied. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ¡°well you could just had a emh... spicy night... with some man. Got pregnant and decided to keep the baby¡± ¡°I don¡¯t get it?¡± ¡°we neither¡± ¡°what do you mean you don¡¯t get it? I guess I have to be blunt. I¡¯m speaking about sex.¡± ¡°we understood that. But we don¡¯t understood how¡± replied Nixie. Csuicha had no idea that Esterians worked completely differently to others mammals. They felt no need to reproduce and for them marriage was mostly a paper transposition of a natural agreement. Only once two Esterians felt that they were linked on a deeper level their natural urges would resurface. For them the concept of failed marriages and casual sex were as foreign and incomprehensible as a multidimensional being. Those concept were so distant from their society and biology that they couldn¡¯t image them. ¡°what how?. It¡¯s sex. You got to a pub or whatever and fuck a dude. What¡¯s so hard to understand¡± ¡°but that¡¯s not how it works. In order to reproduce you need to be married¡­¡± ¡°no you don¡¯t¡­¡± ¡°yes you do. Without a relationship aimed to marriage others bodies feels repulsive and dirty. You feel no desire to interact at such level. Also supposing you could have such shameful act with someone you won¡¯t get impregnated no matter what you do¡± ¡°how come?¡± ¡°cause all our females are sterile. Well selectively sterile. You need multiple interaction and our will to produce offspring to make us fertile again. Without both you won¡¯t ever get a kid. For what I know such activation process usually requires a month or more¡­¡± ¡°a month of daily action!?!? shish girls you are thirsty!¡± joked Csuicha. She had finally understood that their behaviour differences were not cultural but biological. Such differences made common concept in most animals totally unknown to Esterians that had forgotten them long before. So she made a joke to try and move the conversation to lighter tones but it didn¡¯t work as expected. Nixie blushed and literally turned toward a windows to look outside while the two Chimeras being young didn¡¯t understood the implicit allusion. ¡°we didn¡¯t get it. What was the joke?¡± asked the chimeras. Nixie immediately interrupted them. ¡°there was no joke. Jinx, Lynx how about you focus on reading?¡± ¡°k mum¡± ¡°Jinx and Lynx? What unique names¡± Csuicha was now desperately trying to change the subject. ¡°don¡¯t ask me. They choose them themselves¡± ¡°yes, they are cool right?¡±---¡±right?¡± ¡°I guess. Why did you choose them?¡± ¡°cause they are us. We jinx our enemies and stalk them like a lynx.¡±---¡±so jinx and lynx¡±---¡±they also sound close¡±---¡±like we are¡±---¡±yes, always close¡± ¡°can I know why you call Nixie your mum?¡± ¡°cause she has mum vibes¡±---¡±and she took us is¡± ¡°oh. I see¡­ sorry to bother I didn¡¯t mean to¡­¡± ¡°don¡¯t worry Liin Csuicha. They don¡¯t mind. They are not technically orphans cause they were never born nor they ever met their parents¡± ¡°we don¡¯t care. Nixie, Baubas and Likho. They are good with us. If only we could meet Idra again¡± ¡°it seems like you three have a long story...¡± ¡°not really. They were produced by a couple who dreamed to follow the Founder¡¯s path. They tried to play god and it resulted in several failures and them. They were the last Esterian machine hybrids produced and the only that survived. During the production of a new series something went wrong and both parents died. They were meant to be like Idra or so they wanted. We saw the potential and took them in. they are not really suited for normal parents¡± ¡°that¡¯s¡­ a sad story. It¡¯s a pity that their parents couldn¡¯t be punished¡­¡± ¡°we don¡¯t punish ambitions. Wanting to be great and leaving the universe knowing that you made it better is a vastly spread dream. They would have only received a sanction for miss disposal of the one that died and at worst prison time for child abuse but apparently they were model parents, just ambitious¡± Csuicha was rightfully taken aback. Not only they view relationships differently but also their ethics were non-existing. You could build your own kid and as long as you didn¡¯t mistreat him or make him suffer you are totally fine. Fortunately for her time had passed and it was soon dinner time. The chimeras didn¡¯t join. They stayed in at the coffee table eating silently and whispering among themselves. They behaved strangely well leaving Nixie and Csuicha all the space to discuss about communication among their nations. Idra didn¡¯t lie to Csuicha. At the end of the dinner when the dessert was brought in, Nixie''s eyes shone as if she had just saw a pile of gold. Her mood changed drastically and she became way more relaxed than before, she started treating Csuicha like a friend. ¡°so¡­ I always wonder why do you carry so many weapons?¡± asked Cscuicha. ¡°scared of them?¡± ¡°not really. It¡¯s just strange seeing you so¡­ prepared while I don¡¯t carry weapons in my house¡± ¡°Well, we carry them cause our laws mandates them. But you don¡¯t have to worry...¡± Nixie, for the first time since an Esterian was seen, except the intelligence squad with idra, pulled out all of her three guns and placed them on the table. ¡°I¡¯ll be honest, I barely know how to shoot. I mean I¡¯m a diplomat, I¡¯m not the best soldier around¡± ¡°do all Esterians know how to shoot?¡± ¡°yes, after the war shooting classes became mandatory during high-school.¡± ¡°let me guess you skipped them so that¡¯s why you don¡¯t know how to shoot?¡± ¡°I would have, but I never attended school. I¡¯m a remnant, my sisters trained and taught me everything I know¡± ¡°have you ever wandered how is it to go to school?¡± ¡°some times, but I think it¡¯s better this way. My¡­ methods are not suited for a civilian environment.¡± They spoke some more and before parting Csuicha gave her present to Nixie. She made it clear that the gift was only meant for her, as a token of appreciation to connect her Leans with theirs. Once opened and realised that it was a plushy Nixie moved a bit forward before retracting. She was probably trying to hug Csuicha before remembering that she couldn¡¯t. She thanked Csuicha and left with the rest of the crew. Even if it was not exactly as planned Csuicha learned a lot more about Nixie''s personal life than what she predicted. Even with all the differences that she learned she was still set on knowing Nixie better. After all other Leans were able to build a new life in the ETU thanks to their love, so why couldn¡¯t she dream for the same. Light years away Scilla and Idra were starting to fall asleep in each other arms. Idra had gradually became more and more attached to Scilla. So in the few instances that they could share a bed, she wanted to maximise her physical connection. However that was going to be one hell of a night. Scilla was sleeping peacefully until her dreams started to fade to leave space into Idra¡¯s nightmares. She founder herself being Idra and locked into a cage like an animal. Other Idras around discussing but it was a one sided battle. 484 was in front of the cage screaming her reasoning to keep 511 free but the others 30 or maybe 40 Idras had none of it. 484 seeing that her words were failing her became aggressive trying to push back her sisters. A fist fight soon started and 484 was putting on a tremendous resistance. She had an unnatural determination. Not what you would expect from a sister rather what you would see from a bear mother defending her cubs. In such chaos Iris didn¡¯t stood still. She was young but seeing 484 being cornered and punched activated her. Scilla could feel the tears and soundless scream of Iris while she started punching the cage¡¯s bars. She focused on a spot that soon failed to resist her strength. Scilla had no idea how she was there and feeling all of that, but somehow it was the same with Idra¡¯s previous nightmare. She felt the moment the supercomputer built inside 511 activated. Time felt infinite. Her small kid brain was computing at unreasonable speed but it was not enough. Iris was limited by the small body and her natural sensors. She fought bravely and ferociously between screams. She was stopped only once a well placed riot shot tossed her small body against a wall making her lose consciousness while staring at 484 pinned on the ground but still trying to fight for Iris. However she didn¡¯t woke up. It all faded to black as she felt Whispers. She woke up still stuck in the nightmare. Iris¡¯s body was in pain and her mind drifted to an unknown place. It soon became clear that she was stuck in there. The place was massive, almost a city underground and some room above ground. But it was empty. Nobody was there. She was left alone and unable to scream, unable to call for help or write for help. She kept scratching the door until her armour left marks in the sturdy metal. But it was all futile. She was never going to be free. She was not even given food. She had the machine that she didn¡¯t know how to use dispense mush all the time. At night she would have childish nightmare like monster pulling her legs from under the bed. Or she would roll off the bed and mistake the blanket under her feet for snakes. All those time she was left alone in the darkness. Unable to turn on the light, unable to think rationally and left to her fears. She gradually became paranoic and started suffering from insomnia and chronic nightmares. To avoid surprises she started dissembling things around until she built her small little hole to barely squeeze in. At least in that way even if she had nightmares nothing around her could have been mistaken for a monster. While submerged in that psychological torture Scilla woke up. Iris was screaming and kicking all around her. Instinctively she hugged her as tighter as possible. ¡°it¡¯s ok Iris. It¡¯s ok. It was just a nightmare. I¡¯m here. Don¡¯t worry¡­¡± Between a sob and an other Iris spoke. It was hard to understand but after what Scilla saw it was almost obvious. ¡°the monsters¡­ they are real¡­ coming¡­ I have to hide¡­ hide¡­ till light¡­ they are scared of lights¡± Only then Scilla noticed that the NDU was in emergency mode and had disconnected Idra from itself as she was unstable. Scilla tried her best to console Iris and in order to make her comfortable she pulled our her phone and used the torch to light up the room. She stood up for hours pinning the crying, trembling and scared Iris again the wall. She was trying to make her feel as enclosed as possible. At some point they both fall asleep and she woke up the next day on top of Iris that had been pushed into a corner of the bed. Iris was awake and tried to get out hopefully without waking Scilla up, but her plan failed. ¡°sorry¡± was the first words Iris said. Scilla moved away freeing her. ¡°it¡¯s ok. Don¡¯t be sorry. I¡­ I understand now¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m a mess¡± ¡°stop it. We are all afraid of something. You don¡¯t have to be sorry for that. I won¡¯t leave. I would be a disgrace to all my kind if I couldn¡¯t support my love in her moments of need¡­¡± Iris smiled awkwardly looking away. ¡°come with me, let¡¯s eat something.¡± I have to tell her. About our connection this night and about the alien that stalk us. She has to know. chapter 58c: weakness Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 58c: weakness That morning was quite. Idra was usually never talkative, yet that day she was even less incline to speak. She kept looking away from Scilla ashamed of her weakness. All her replies were sorry. Scilla kept trying for probably half an hour before it got to her nerves. ¡°IRIS! LOOK AT ME!¡± shouted Scilla. Iris looked away once again and so Scilla forced her to a face to face discussion. ¡°I SAID LOOK AT ME!¡± ¡°...sorry¡± she replied. ¡°STOP IT! I don¡¯t want to hear your apologies, you have nothing to be sorry or ashamed of¡± Once again no reply, just a look of sorrow. ¡°you don¡¯t want to speak? Ok, I¡¯ll speak for both of us. Stop being sorry, stop saying that you are sorry. Having fears is more than normal. Being afraid of the dark is even more common and logical than what you probably believe. You can¡¯t see in the dark, so you are afraid of potential predators lurking in it¡­¡± still nothing. ¡°I understand that you feel like a burned to me. Yet you have done a lot for me and my species. I know that you now believe that since I know your weakness I¡¯m going to abuse it or leave cause of it. But it won¡¯t happen and never will. Like you are serious with me, I¡¯m serious with you. A relationship is based on thrust, mutual respect, mutual aid and love. When we can¡¯t overcome our enemies alone we should unite and fight back together. Isn¡¯t it also what you and your Founder believed? Fight together, die together. No?¡± Iris smiled. Her colours returned to her face, she was back. ¡°fight as one. Overcome as one. Those were his words. There is no message of death as dying is not contemplated. Thank you Scilla¡­¡± ¡°no problem, I just wish to always see you smile. Not crying on yourself.¡± ¡°thanks you, for all you did and keep doing for me¡± ¡°no problem. I¡¯m here for you, and I hope you will keep helping me or my friends as you already did¡± ¡°you don¡¯t have to hope. Can I add some old wisdom?¡± ¡°a new Founder quote?¡± ¡°sort of. His wording was longer¡± ¡°sure. You seems really fond of him¡± ¡°he was a brilliant man. He never said to die together, but he said something similar. Death is inevitable. But it doesn¡¯t mean that we shall perish all together. If you truly cherish someone you will be ready to fight even death for that special person.¡± ¡°so it means to be ready to die for your lover? It¡¯s nothing new¡± ¡°I think I butchered his words, but it was a long conference and I¡¯m not that good with my words¡± ¡°well about butchering, don¡¯t kill me but I kinda never told you of something¡­ important¡± ¡°after my screaming and kicking all night you can tell me everything¡­ except breaking up, telling me that you are a woman or mentally ill¡± ¡°why is mentally ill there?¡± asked Scilla to be faced with a smirk. ¡°oohh, that kind of mentally ill. Nah, I may be crazy in love with you, but nothing more¡± Iris smiled. They had similar view after all. ¡°so¡­ I kinda saw your dreams a few times and in other cases an alien showed me some part of your memories I think. Or in any case something related to your life as a kid¡­¡± ¡°son of a bitch!¡± Iris jumped on her seat and immediately Scilla got defensive. ¡°sorry I didn¡¯t mean¡­¡± ¡°what? It was not for you. The Whispers had detected a fucking mosquito that kept meddling in my business. So it was true. I¡¯m gonna kill that fucker¡­ did you saw my¡­ nightmare?¡± ¡°yes¡­ but¡­¡± ¡°it¡¯s ok. At least¡­ well it makes more sense now that you tell me that you understand how I feel. Anyway I don¡¯t think it was our external intruder. I think it was me¡­ unconsciously¡­¡± Scilla was trying to understand what Iris was saying and so she explained better. ¡°I mean¡­ all the space around me is filled with Whispers¡­ sort of¡­ they are like machines but smaller than electrons. So I think that with enough precision I could possibly modify electrical signals in people¡¯s brains that are round me. Telepathy, or likely path projection but it¡¯s the same shit.¡± ¡°well it makes sense because it was different from the one that were shown to me before¡± Scilla then proceeded to tell all she had seen and her encounter with the phanonma Uligar. She thought that Iris was going to get mad, but strangely she was far more understanding than expected. She was calm and reassured Scilla to tell all the details she could recall. At the end she was happy of the new informations and reassured Scilla that she was going to find a way to remove Uligar from their equation. ¡°thanks Scilla. But for now forget about Uligar. Focus on the incoming expedition. This will be a hard one. I have made you an armour and also a weapon.¡± ¡°thanks you. Can I see it?¡± ¡°sure¡± Iris walked Scilla to the armoury. A similar power suit like hers was standing ready to be wore. Beside on a workbench, an electromagnetic rifle. ¡°before testing the suit I¡¯ll tell you about the weapon. It¡¯s a FEAR-V-8/16. (fucile eletromagnetico a rotaia-variabile-8/16. (Electromagnetic rifle rail-variable-8/16)). It¡¯s a freshly developed model. Accept bullets from 8 to 16mm. The rail is self regulating. In particular you are going to be shooting this¡­¡± Iris opened a box to reveal a series of strange metallic rods with stages and a double tip. The outer and bigger layer was a crystalline structure. They were clearly not just electromagnetic bullets. ¡°they look awesome, what are they?¡± asked Scilla. Iris lit up with joy, she loved to explain her creations. ¡°glad you asked. Those are gravron micro-fusion double stage bullets. The rod inside is an electrically inert material. So magnetic fields can¡¯t stop them. However in this way I can¡¯t accelerate them. So the second stage, the one at the bottom is there just to give speed. It allows the primary bullet to be accelerate and is discharged upon leaving the barrel. Then the most importation part. The tip is made with a perfectly engineered stable gravron charge. Only at high speed impact it reacts with the inert material and basically makes a micro fusion explosion. BUT, as said it is gravron. So it behaves like an implosion and attract to itself everything in a 3 to 9 cm radius with a force¡­ well I don¡¯t know the exact value cause it eat away my sensors. Still it can destroy everything. It eats away everything in that small ball. So as long as the armour is less than 9 cm deep which is always the case you will rip out the organs of your enemies. Now against machines you need a bit more aim but you can basically rip out their computational core. Isn¡¯t it amazing?¡± The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Scilla was overwhelmed by the absurd amount of words coming from Iris. She was probably going to explain for hours if asked. Scilla saw the happiness radiating from Iris. She didn¡¯t really need more details, but she wanted to ask more just to keep looking at her. ¡°it¡¯s amazing, but why did you choose a double stage? Couldn¡¯t you encapsulate the primary part into a metallic cylinder that opens upon shooting like in tanks?¡± They kept going for hours and hours. It was a moment of pure joy in the simplicity of a ¡°mundane¡± conversation. Nothing could beat it. Several days later they were approaching a new planet. Xeroling-1. As always the planet looked promising for a civilization to strive on, fortunately this time no living sentient species was present. They landed at the base of a steep mountain. Inside there were going to find a massive structure that supposedly was a massive military base. They had prepared for months and now all their experience had to be tested. Idra predicted a fierce resistance because for what she could understand from the AI she stole, inside there was something worth defending even when your creators have disappeared. The machines were trying to reconnect and regroup on Xeroling-1. The structure had 2 entrances or at least Idra located only two. Their plan was to divide and go in separately as supposedly they were going to be able to meet in the middle forcing the enemy into a small spot to then be totally annihilated. So on one side Scilla with the armour and weapon provided by Idra and all she could bring inside. 200 soldiers ready for battle. Surely she could have stayed on the Sheridan but she was an infantry leader, she had to be in the front lines. On the other side Idra was going in with her walkers and androids. They were 32 machines in total. Before entering they met to discuss the final plan. Scilla was left alone to discuss. Her soldiers all kept at least 20 metres from Idra. ¡°even with all the upgrades, you are not immortal. Don¡¯t do anything stupid Scilla¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be careful. I promise that tonight we will eat something special. So be careful as well.¡± ¡°sure. It¡¯s time to go. May the Founder guide us!¡± Scilla was growing accustomed to Esterian¡¯s and in particular Idra¡¯s ways. ¡°may the Founder guide us!¡± their operation started. Scilla and her army went in. They are immediately welcomed by enemy machines. But the resistance is soon overcome. They push forward through a series of small battles. The machine constantly fled and regrouped trying to ambush the Leans. The absurdly confusing configuration of the place didn¡¯t help Scilla and her team. They had few casualties and some injured but they kept pushing, they had to meet in the middle or so they thought. As they fight through it became evident that the building was not a military factory or some shit akin to it. It was full of instrumentation. It was a massive research facility but it was unclear what they were studying that required such effort and defences. They more they dived deeper the more things made less sense. The structure was built with several containment measures, one more advanced than the other. But from the location of all the switches, emergency panels and so on it was clear that all those doors, confusing geometry and literally traps were meant to keep something inside. Soon they reached a bigger room. To enter it they had to pass into 100 meters of doors. Not a big issue if they weren¡¯t all destroyed from inside. They had to line up and proceed one by one into the hole. The containment had failed and whatever was inside had escaped. It must have been bigger than a Lean as they could walk in the hole it had left behind. What the fucking fuck is this shit. If something can go through so much¡­ alloy of whatever they used, where the fuck is it now? Did it left the planet? Is it still inside the building? I hope not. Inside the main containment chamber there was not much. Or to be more precise not much was left behind. A spherical construct was completely tore into pieces and the rest of the room was totally trashed. It didn¡¯t looked too old nor it looked too fresh. It was alarming, that thing could still be around or maybe death by old age, who knows. So Scilla tried to connect with Idra. It was hard to have signal inside the facility but it was possible. ¡°Idra, we found something alarming. This place was meant to contain something and it clearly failed. Whatever it is could still be around¡± ¡°perfect, great great news. I¡¯m kinda of busy. Stick to the plan.¡± She was gasping. She had never been out of breath. The combat sound in the background were brutal. We must go to assist. Scilla was not wrong. Idra was facing immense resistance. They understood that she was the real enemy so most of the machines went after her. Believing that she could help, Scilla once reached the middle of the structure decided to push toward Idra hoping to flank the enemies and assist her lover. They advanced with no resistance and as the corridors grew taller and wider they started hearing the battle. Unfortunately they miscalculated the direction of the gun shots as they echoed in the multitude of corridors. Instead of flaking from behind they popped from the side of a main corridor were Idra was facing against an army of robots. Even if outnumbered Idra was still fighting. She was taking cover behind a barrier on the other side on the corridor. But so far everything was under control. She knew that she was going to win. One by one, a little mistake at the time, Idra was decimating the robots. She was perfect against imperfect machines. She had no weakness, not until that instant. Be it fate, be it an unfortunate event, but in that moment. When Scilla got out of her corridor to take cover behind the barrier on her side, she became Idra¡¯s only weakness. --friendly unit detected-- Idra turned to see Scilla and her troops walking in at the worst possible moment. On the other side of the corridor a walker was about to shoot its particle cannon. It was going to hit Scilla. For Idra time almost froze. She pushed her brain to the limit to find a solution, to save all she ever loved. Even if it meant death. ¡°Scilla¡¯s survival probability if I jump in¡± \|/100%\|/ ¡°mine?¡± \|/minimal\|/ ¡°other options with same survival rate for Scilla?¡± \|/none\|/ ¡°I liked being your host. So do me just one last favour. Save her, no matter what¡± Understandably the Whispers were in turmoil. They knew that their host was about to die. They didn¡¯t want it. They wanted to oppose. They had just found her. It was just short of a year. They were suppose to be eternal with her. But they couldn¡¯t oppose. Their friend last wish. Idra jumped in to push Scilla back into the smaller corridor. Time froze for Scilla too. She saw Idra jumping toward her. Her goo and armour relocating to stop the incoming energy beam. The Whispers also screamed in agony, pushing themselves beyond their limit to protect Idra. The beam of light crushed Idra. Pieces of armour were thrown around and so was Idra¡¯s left arm that took the impact. Her body landed 10 meters away and soon a pond of red and grey blood formed below her. ¡°IDRA!¡± scream Scilla. She was already crying. Their brain couldn¡¯t process what had just happened that Idra¡¯s body started convulsing on the ground. Her blood started boiling and soon regrouped into tentacles that reconnected to the missing arm. The machines were caught off guard too. Nobody ever saw something like that. While the blood reconnected Idra¡¯s body, her shadows started to expand, closed eyes stated forming and popped out of the layer of darkness. After 20 seconds Idra stood back up. Her left arm connected by tentacles was still about 5 meters away from the main body. Realised that she was still ¡°alive¡± the machine resumed firing. Words can only partially describe the absolute destruction that unfolded. As the first bullets were about to reach Idra a scream so strong to shake the ground echoed in the corridors. Those were not so quite whispers. The shadow had expanded instantaneously and all what was behind Idra was eaten away by it. The bullets dissolved into a grey mist that was expanding and rapidly thickening. Idra was still standing in the middle of all of it. The AMS-388 was slowly being consumed into a grey flickering human shaped figure. Freaked out the machine started firing all they had while Scilla¡¯s soldier grabbed their commander and started pulling her away with for their retreat. Scilla was clearly in shock and unable to do anything. She just stood there. The Lean¡¯s retreat however was cut short. The robot who fired the first particle beam fired a second one. This triggered the Whispers and hell broke loose. Darkness expanded everywhere. Where Idra¡¯s shadow couldn¡¯t reach your own would. Eyes, eyes in every bit of darkness. Even those small cracks of their suits. They all opened with screams so brutal and terrifying that even the braves of all the Leans couldn¡¯t avoid fearing them. Tentacles of dark and constantly clashing matter, jumped out of those eyes attacking everything in sight. Didn¡¯t matter if those were Leans or machines. Nothing was safe. Uligar, believing that he could do something to save his subject appeared for a fraction of second. As soon as the grey mist reached his body he was consumed. Scream and death rattle overflowed the communication channels but it was too late to do anything. Massive tentacles and hands made of Whispers literally crushed the mountain and grabbed onto anything that was alive in a 30 km radius. Sheridan included. In all that chaos Scilla bravely or maybe moved by pure despair pushed toward Idra. She had been converted in a vague body made of small particles. The Whispers let her get closer. They were saving her after all. She pushed her hand toward Idra, to touch her, but it went through. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m sorry. It¡¯s all my fault¡­¡± started Scilla. Idra replied slowly. It was clear that her consciousness was fading and that she was pushing herself to her limit to say her last words. ¡°we¡­ are¡­ one¡­ it¡­ is¡­ all¡­ for¡­ you¡­ I¡­ LOVE¡­ YOU¡± The figure disappeared into the mist. Scilla desperate tried to catch as much as she could but it was all pointless. She had nothing left, not even dust. All that was left was her own ear piercing desperate cry. The outcome of such violent outburst of just 98 seconds was terrifying. The mountain was destroyed with all that was inside. The Sheridan taken down and cut in 3 different pieces. All the ruin¡¯s machine were destroyed but so were the Leans. The Whispers didn¡¯t recognise most of them. In their fury only 23 people were left alive. 23 people that had witnessed their comrades being eaten alive as painfully as possible by their own shadows. Other than them Scilla was safe and now in a rocky plain as the Whispers eat even the dirt around her. Idra¡¯s mechanical autonomous soldiers, those that were alive before the outburst were still standing and so was the NDU. chapter 59c: rescue Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 59c: rescue Hundreds of light years away Alba Corvi suddenly woke up barely an hour before dawn. The communicator that was almost glued to her side was emitting a chilling screeching sound. It was an alarm. She immediately jumped out of the bed and opened the box. She used the emergency connector in her drawer to be welcomed by just one line of text. --Connection severed. End point of transmission lost-- one line that immediately brought tears and shattered her hearts. The realization immediately settled in. Those hard to build faster than light communicators never lost their connection. They theorized that even the small space rifts around them like the Karlach¡¯s rift or the Kopora¡¯s rift would not impact drastically on the device. The only way to lost connection was to destroy the device or kill the connected user. Considering that there could always be a first NDU lost in battle, the more probable answer was that Idra had been killed. Even if barely able to control her emotions Corvi connected to her superior, Vanni Spini. ¡°Corvi, what the emergency?¡± With the little self control left Corvi managed to say just enough. ¡°Our Angel has fallen¡± ¡°I¡¯m on my way. Don¡¯t touch the box¡± Spini didn¡¯t surrender to his pain. Idra would have never wanted so. It was time to be resolute and so he did. He connected himself to the military network and immediately sent the highest level of alarm. In half an hour the military personal was already informed. In 1 hour the planet was on high alert. 6 more hours and all others planet had received the grave news and were preparing for battle. They all believed that whatever had killed Idra must had been some catastrophic abomination. An abomination that maybe they could still stop in time before it grows too strong. In 24 hours the news was public and while the civilian wailed their living angel, scientist and soldiers were called to arms. They were sending a first group of heroes with the faster fleet they could assemble. They were already prepared to die. Die for their people, for their homes. They that the duty to report back to what was going to be the main fleet and if possible gain some time. They had no idea that Idra faced no impossible enemy. She died for love, if not for it she would have been alive and kicking asses. To reach Xeroling-1 they had to pass into Lean¡¯s territory. Taking a detour would waste time. Nixie went with them. Maybe she could convince the Leans that they were not there to kill them. Mira Dragva had just arrived at her new traffic control station. Following the ¡°universal¡± call for money, she decided to accept a 6 month job on Leanira¡¯s space port. It was just the third week of said job when a dot appeared on her sensor. It was outside any official route, so she called her superior. ¡°Sir Jair, would you mind assisting me for a bit?¡± asked Mira. Her superior was a rare male Lean that had a significant interest in spaceships and logistic. ¡°of course, how could I help the new arrival?¡± replied the man happily. ¡°the sensors of my sectors spotted something¡­¡± ¡°is it an asteroid that is going to collide with the planet or some structures?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so. I think it is coming from outside our system, but it¡¯s not on any route.¡± ¡°what does the sensors say?¡± ¡°not much, that¡¯s why it¡¯s strange. Doesn¡¯t reflect like a rock, nor like a metal object. But it¡¯s fast.¡± ¡°predicted route?¡± ¡°in 4 hours it will start to use Leanira¡¯s pull as slingshot. It should not fall into the atmosphere¡± The man was visibly confused as well. ¡°you did good to alert me. This doesn¡¯t feel right¡± while staring at the screen a second dot popped up close by to the first one. ¡°that¡¯s even more concerning let¡¯s¡­¡± A third dot, a forth and so on. They kept coming with barely seconds of delay. They soon became tens of tens and lastly hundreds. In the span of 3 minutes 668 of what was now clearly spaceships appeared. All unmarked, all unknown and all almost at range to rain hell on their capital planet. Jair pressed the emergency button to send the alarm down to the planet while the station started to shift to combat mode. The alarms that had remained silent since the Droxi war went off in all cities. 668 ships were no mere fleet. They, the greatest military power around, had almost 1150 spaceships combined on all 4 planets on Leanira there was a bit more than half of them. Large spacecraft capable of faster than light travel were extremely costly and even the wealthiest of nations had trouble making them. Surely their ships were bigger, but size doesn¡¯t matter much in space. What matters is the fire power. While people run to refuges Liin Csuicha took the lead of the military and immediately started to prepare to defend her planet when a message broadcasted everywhere in the system reached them. ¡°I¡¯m Nixie 112 from the Esterian Technological Union. Commander of the 4th fleet of the ETU. I demand hearing with Liin Serafia Csuicha. We come in peace. Our fleet is only passing by, but we must talk. This is an emergency. Leans at reach you must convey this message. Obey my orders!¡± The message kept repeating in loop while the fleet advanced. Their communication had some delay but soon Csuicha was able to reply to Nixie. ¡°Liin Csuicha speaking. I demand immediate explanation or we will shot down your fleet¡± ¡°Liin Cscuiha a pleasure to see you. Time is not on our side. We are marching on Xeroling-1. Your aid would not be forgotten¡± ¡°what the fuck is happening? What aid? Explain better¡± ¡°I guess yours had fallen too. Our angel has fallen, Csuicha. Her last coordinates pointed to Xeroling-1. Whatever is waiting for us must be stopped. No matter the cost. Our main army is on the way. They will set defences here in your sector and we expect you and your people to assist us. My fleet will go first and fight. I hope you could spare some of your troops as well. Even few hours could save billions.¡± ¡°are you sure of your words?¡± ¡°This is no matter of believing. Do you think we would move an army just for show? Prepare the fastest vessels you have. Their sacrifice may save your kind. You have 8 hours to let them join our trajectory. We will assimilate them in our formation and jump. May the¡­¡± ¡°WAIT! What do you mean by sacrifice?¡± ¡°I understand that we must be causing a huge commotion. But isn¡¯t it obvious? If something managed to kill our angel. Than we don¡¯t have much of a chance. We are ready to die, for our people. For our families, our friends. For our kind and for our honour we must fight. We don¡¯t plan to live long enough to return. Some lives for the survival of our species. A sacrifice that lots of us are ready to make. May the Founder guide us!¡± Echoes of the same chant yelled with all their mights took over the communication. That was the unity that Idra always claimed was natural to her people. Indeed it was. ETU¡¯s Esterians are usually driven by a strong sense of community and duty. They view themselves like a massive pack of creatures that support each other. They don¡¯t go by the concept of weak alone and strong in mass. They believe in strong alone and stronger in company. Those were just few of the teachings of their Founder. He was a man of unparalleled wisdom and pressing intelligence. To modern Esterians the Founder is not a god nor a divine being. He is the base of their believes and an example for all of them. He is their guide and their strength. If he alone pulled humanity out of their end, they could do the same as his descendents. Even in the darkest times the Founder words pushed the Esterians to be stronger, fiercer, braver. Further communication with the Esterians didn¡¯t give Csuicha any additional information to make a decision on. They were in the dark exactly like her. She trusted herself and Nixie so she ordered the fasted ship around to be be armed and be ready as fast as possible. The civilians stared at the sky both in awe and fear. They could see with their naked eyes the hundreds of small shiny dots passing around their planet, slingshotting toward their new destination. At every seconds the planet defences were pointed at the fleet. The tension was nerve wracking. A sudden route change could always happen, yet it never did. The Esterians followed their plan at the second. In fact they were so intransigent on their schedule and plans that only 11 out of 12 Lean¡¯s ships made it in time to connect to the Esterians carrier before departing. Seeing your troops left behind as if they were not even worth 5 more minutes of wait was depressing and a low hit on Csuicha¡¯s self-esteem. But at least after those 8 hours of panic and fear they could breath. Light years away and about a week and half after the fleet reached Xeroling-1 ready for a massive fight that never happened. All that was coming from the planet was an SOS signal from the L.F. Sheridan. No alien spacecrafts, no fleets, no army or interdimensional monsters. Just the silence of space. With absurd caution the fleet moved closer to the SOS coordinates. The first images started to arrived on the fleet and those were shocking. The zone around the wreckage was a death zone. Everything was destroyed and long marks cut deep into the terrain like a monster tentacles retreating into their cave. Nature had withered unnaturally in a circular zone. The first thing that Nixie noticed was the absence of the NDU. No marking nor traces of any fight with it, it just disappeared. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Slowly the Esterian fleet sent out few organic squads and several fully artificial squads. The Leans seeing their vessel massacred wanted to follow but only few were allowed. Among them Mira Dragva who volunteer to go. She had a debt to repay to Scilla. Scilla was a brave soldier and saved many lives during her service, among them she also saved Mira. On the ground the Leans were pushed on the rear of their formations. First the artificial soldiers, then the Esterians and forgotten behind the Leans. The field officer was a man called Ettore Guerra. As much as a male figure surprised the Leans initially, it became obvious that their species was the exception. Almost all the Esterians soldiers on ground were male. As they were about to enter the rear of the Sheridan, where the reactor was located, Ettore spoke to all the troops. ¡°Keep your eyes open at the even the slightest movement. Ready to engage.¡± ¡°yes sir¡± replied the soldiers. ¡°Squads Cora passive scans all clear. Proceed toward the reactor. That¡¯s the highest heat source¡± ¡°on the move.¡± The soldiers split in several small squads of about 6 people each. They also made the 12 Leans split in 2 squads. They split and went inside from different openings. They moved methodically checking each corner and waiting for the others squads to appear at each intersection. In the darkness of the creepy corridors they kept seeing broken but empty power suits, mangled clothes with no bodies. Those dreadful sights were usually combined with huge splashed of blood, deep scratches and cuts in the metal panels around. Then out of nowhere a soldiers spoke. His voice was not the usual cold calm of an Esterian. It was agitated. ¡°Contact! Ahead. A316. 150.¡± ¡°Stand by. Request ping¡± said Guerra. ¡°High energy pinging authorised. Flash that bastard!¡± said Nixie. There was no strange sound like a sonar, but visual interference impacted the Lean¡¯s suits that were no built to withstand it. It was a series of electromagnetic waves. ¡°Contact confirmed! A315, 153.¡± ¡°Humanoid. No physical match.¡± ¡°Cora 4 fire at will. Kill that thing¡± ordered Nixie. ¡°4, we are coming in.¡± said Guerra while all the squads rushed toward the gunshots. The atmosphere was heating up. Was there really an enemy? Were they about to clash? Would they survive? ¡°ceasefire. Lost visual!¡± ¡°ping incoming!¡± a new interference more brutal than the other followed by low extremely loud sounds. ¡°contact confirmed. A316, 2¡­ 235! it¡¯s moving super fast!!¡± said an operator. ¡°Coras keep your heads down. All ships kinetic weapons on target, fire at will!¡± ¡°INCOMING!¡± yelled someone in the network. Instants later the ground was shaking at each massive bullet that pierced right into the wreckage and soon into the ground. The Esterians went all in and delivered thousands of shots. ¡°projectile reaction!¡± ¡°we hit organic matter!¡± ¡°focus. Make a constant line of bullets.¡± More metallic rods impacted the ground until nothing was left other that a flaming crater. ¡°scanning¡­¡± ¡°hostile lifeform lost. New contact located. 23 people around the reactor. Those are probably Leans.¡± ¡°squads did you hear the boss. Let¡¯s get moving.¡± As careful as possible they reached the reactor zone. Thanks to it that part of the ships still had power and the first thing they noticed was the absurd amount of light. In such blinding room the 23 Leans that survived the Whispers¡¯ destruction were gathered amassed on each other. As they notice their rescue party, the saner among them screamed. ¡°RUN THE SHADOWS WILL EAT YOU! RUN TO THE LIGHT!¡± ¡°calm down. We are the rescue team. The enemy as been killed¡­¡± started Guerra to be interrupted. ¡°LIES! LIES! SHADOWS NEVER DIES¡± said a different Lean. They were clearly insane. Mira spotted Morea among the survivors. ¡°Morea, it¡¯s me. Mira. Do you remember me? What happened? Are there more survivors?¡± But as she walked closer Morea started screaming. From her position Mira was casting a small shadow. ¡°SHADOW! SHADOW!¡± screamed pointing a flash light in Mira¡¯s face. Even Lean to Lean conversation didn¡¯t help. The survivors were irreparably compromised. Insanity had took over them. Whatever they have seen changed them. It made them afraid of their own shadows and made the Esterians furious. They didn¡¯t care about them. They were rescuing them just because they needed informations. They needed to know where Idra was, what had happened. But it was to no use. They never said anything coherent. Even the Sheridan¡¯s computers were mostly useless to find Idra however they revealed the disturbing truth. They had been indeed attached by a monster made of darkness. Like a kraken it broke through the mountain and grabbed onto the ship destroying it. They immediately realised that whatever they had killed couldn¡¯t be that monster, if it was even a monster to being with. So they went for the safest option. They took the Sharidan¡¯s parts and moved them away from the planet. However even if there were traces anywhere, the shadow monster was nowhere to be found. So with no other options the Esterians decided to use their nuclear arsenal. All of it. The amount of nuclear payload inside those ¡°small¡± vessel was astronomical. By the end of the nuclear bombardment Xeroling-1 was unrecognizable. The nukes burned, fused and destroyed everything on the surface. Radiation and dust spread around all the planet transforming a perfectly suitable for live celestial body into a living nightmare. All that was left was an irradiated wasteland that covered half the planet. Yet they were not over. The unknown treat was a perfect excuse to test a new toy what was on it¡¯s way. As the ¡°rescue¡± team returned to Leanira the main Esterian fleet popped on the other side of the system. That was the real deal. The ETU main fleet counted 4234 ships of them 2934 were battleships. Even scarier however was the vessel that they were protecting. A 31km long massive spacecraft. Unknown to them it was the one and only existing ship with an antimatter ray inside. The ETU didn¡¯t call it with the full technical name, just ¡°il Disgregatore (the disruptor)¡± and for a good reason. The ship was built around a 29 km long tube with a ball almost at one end. The ¡°ball¡± had an 8 km diameter. That basic structure was a confinement system for an artificial antimatter super compact star. Thanks to the gravron materials it was possible to maintain a stable star of antimatter inside of normal matter object without mutual annihilation. At the press of a button they could release a ray of said matter and literally annihilate what they shoot at. They had planned to literally erase out of existence the enemy. The images of the massive fleet shock Csuicha and soon will shock the rest of the nations. The ETU main fleet not only could erase the Leans federation, but it could also go to war alone against all other existing nations and still outnumber them. They were no easy prey and they were not joking when Nixie said that nobody posed a treat to the ETU. They ain¡¯t afraid of war. Their were born by war and through it they evolved to become Esterians. The 4th fleet return along side the pieces of the Sheridan immediately worried Csuicha who was waiting for them to land. As several vessels landed Csuicha didn¡¯t expect to face totally different people. Nixie, her guards, her soldiers, the medical team. All those who looked organic also looked defeated and sad. There were also a lot more mechanical soldiers in a ratio 1 organic to 16 inorganic. Nixie approached Csuicha while behind her the fleet was placing down what remained of the Sheridan. Following her, several soldiers carried out 23 large pods. ¡°What happened? How is the situation?¡± asked Csuicha immediately. Almost the ships have returned but who knows what happened and what are those pods. ¡°we have everything under control. Our fleet will still pass through your territory now and on it¡¯s way back. Fear not, we ain¡¯t here to destroy your civilization¡­¡± She is not looking up at me. She doesn¡¯t feel as bold and arrogant as usual. Is she sad?. ¡°your teams will tell you all the details, but those pods you see contains your scavengers. Everybody else didn¡¯t make it. Those who survive are just husks of their former selves. Maybe you will be able to assist them.¡± ¡°wait is Scilla there?¡± ¡°their commander?¡± ¡°yes¡­¡± ¡°look for yourself¡± The pods arrived beside them. Of course no Scilla. ¡°no. this can¡¯t be¡­¡± ¡°it can, and it¡¯s. This is reality. Scavenging is a dangerous game. You have lost your soldiers. My kind lost their angel...¡± ¡°what now? Did you kill whatever did this? What do we do?.¡± ¡°we are unsure. But we will study and make sure that Xeroling-1 will cease to exit. About now, we do nothing. We go on our way. You have done your part. I did mine.¡± Nixie¡¯s tone was gradually becoming graver and graver. ¡°so we just part away? We could cooperate¡­¡± ¡°Liin Csuicha I appreciate your attempts. I know what I should do. I know what my people should do. But frankly. I don¡¯t have the strength to, nor do they. I just want to go home. Go home and cry the death of my friend¡­ no. the death of my best friend and the best friend I could ever had. Farewell Liin Serafia Csuicha. May the Founder guide you.¡± Nixie turned and so did her soldiers leaving the pods behind. Those were not a strange advanced piece of tech. Just chambers to keep people asleep. ¡°wait? What about the possibility to make a stable connection? About the Leans that lives in your territory? What¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± With those words Nixie left and along her all the Esterians. Csuicha immediately questioned the troops that went with the Esterians and they filled her in. the destruction, the shadow monster and the unknown thing that they killed. But in the end it was just a failed scavenge. They were fortunate that someone came back even if insane. The following weeks were filled with sadness and for some despair. The Lean¡¯s mourned their losses. Csuicha went personally to bring the bad news at Lis¡¯s house. They were friend after all. As predictable it didn¡¯t went well. As Wiola opened the door and saw the folded flag she started crying loudly. Liwa came immediately to her side and started screaming and berating Serafia. She unfortunately had promised that Scilla¡¯s position was not really that dangerous. At worst she would have been injured, not death without traces. Light years away the images of the ETU fleets reached every nation head and civilian shocking them to the core. The demand for war among the Pridians vanished. The animosity of the Xoraxtas was soon swiped under the rug in fear of the brutal superpower. They all feared their future meeting that was in less than 3 weeks, but the Esterians never came back. No more space encounters, no more illegal activity on others planets. As their presence became more significant in the sector they also erased it. People feared them, more than ever. The thought that some day they could return and that those massive fleets could be aimed at them fuelled a new military rush but also more fear. What if building a fleet would enrage them? What if they never ended their nations because they were too weak for them to even feel accomplishment by ending their lives? All question that were left hanging without answers a paranoia spread rapidly. chapter 60c: secrets Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 60c: secrets While the 23 survivor had their own challenges to survive both their paranoia and lack of food, Scilla completely shocked was taken by Idra¡¯s android army. Well by the only 3 that didn¡¯t perish in battle. Basically disconnected from reality Scilla didn¡¯t oppose the machines, she just stayed still crying and sobbing. She was too far gone to understand anything that was happening at her and around her. For the same reason the NDU¡¯s AI was also forced to put her to sleep. Even inside the ship Scilla showed no sign of progression and the lack of response to external stimuli meant that she was also not eating. The AI couldn¡¯t tolerate it. It had orders to follow. Take Scilla to Weeping Sky no matter the cost. It was the last order it received and it was going to fulfil it. The journey to Weeping Sky was long and impossible for normal spaceships. Long distances can usually be compensated by building refuelling stations along the way or by developing ships that can harvest their own fuel. The issue with Weeping Sky however was the Magnos rift that cut it out of the sector. Rifts were particularly hostile region of space usually totally voided of any material particles. For unknown reasons inside rifts physics works differently. Space contraption just doesn¡¯t happen and so all jump engines can¡¯t work. A fast jump of just 1 day will became years of travel as normal engines don¡¯t even approach 1/10 of light speed. It was thank to the rifts that the ETU lived peacefully west north of the Leans federation. Karlach and Kopora rifts separated them partially from the other civilizations. A different story was Weeping Sky as in such case the rift was not avoidable with a ¡°small¡± detour. The Magnos rift was immense even from a planetary point of view. The empty zone extended for a minimum of 4 light years. A time that without a different kind of propulsion was just no possible. That was also the reason why the NDU used a different propulsion technology. Surely there were several way to make that journey but so far only the Esterians knew of them. Further more the absurd complexity and apparent incoherence of the rifts made them almost impossible to study. Rifts were anomaly that nobody knew how they truly work. Hard to blame them yet rifts are exactly what they seems. They mark the intersection between universes with different rules. They can be natural occurrences due to Unipsi¡¯s instability or they can be artificially made. For the NDU the journey to Weeping Sky was fairly short. Being forced into a drowsiness state Scilla didn¡¯t felt much neither until the last jump. That broke both her half asleep state and her mental state. As the VBTD engine reached its peak power and jumped, Scilla felt her body being pulled apart. A force from inside her pushed on each layer of flesh wanting to erupt on her skin. It was a pain that she nerve felt before. A pain that she felt she deserved as she caused the death of the love of her life. Yet such probably needed pain revived Scillas sense. She felt a sudden deceleration that squeezed her on the ground. When it stopped the ship turned off. The AI sent out its last phrase. ¡°We have returned. Leave before I kick you out¡± As the robots approached, Scilla walked out of the ship on her own. Around her massive metallic walls that extended for at least 30 meters upward. Upon her head she saw the ceiling closing and in the still open gap she saw the cloudy sky. Heavy snow was falling on her. With a twitch she looked around. She was clearly inside an underground hangar of some sort. Massive colour coded writing on the walls like a military base or a massive hospital. The letters were unknown to her yet familiar. It was Estir the Esterians language. ¡°where the fuck am I?¡± Her voice echoed in the emptiness of the structure. The brutal architecture, the extensive use of metal reminder her of Idra¡¯s nightmare. Is this Weeping Sky? Did her machine brought me to her home? Why? Is this my punishment? Die here alone? I¡­ I guess¡­ it¡¯s fair. Uncertain on what to do she followed the only red line on the pavement. It guided her deeper into the structure but soon things started to became different. The base was for sure abandoned and empty. There was nothing inside of it. The only sound was the metal cracking from the temperature changes and its echoes. Then a sudden female voice that she didn¡¯t recognise. Scared Scilla turned immediately to see a human woman on an electric wheelchair. The girl was young and pale. Half of her was astonishingly beautiful, the other half was a massacre. She was missing the left arm and leg. Her left side of the neck was partially burned and so was her face. Her left eye was close shut probably damaged by the fire. Even is such condition the creature was beautiful. Her untouched side showed a deep blue eye and platinum blond long hair. Her skin looked perfect and probably was perfect. For a brief moment Scilla believed it was real but then a small step appeared out of nowhere to stop the woman. The wheelchair had no power to overcome the step. ¡°fucking stupid wheelchair crap. Can¡¯t even get past a fucking sidewalk step.¡± The woman was clearly not happy about it and was looking around probably for someone. Exactly as the step appeared out of thin air so did a pair of hands that grabbed the wheelchair and pushed it over the step. The woman surprised looked around as a man appeared beside her and started to walk away. He was the definition of a plain dude. Brown hair, brown eyes. Same light tanned or light bronze skin tone as Idra. No accessories, nothing that stood out at all. ¡°hey the fuck are you doing? I didn¡¯t need help. You don¡¯t push someone on their wheelchair without permission!¡± the man turned to face the crippled girl. He just stared at her for few seconds. His eyes looked dead. Then he pointed on his side to a new distant and not well defined figure that was running toward them. That realistic illusion disappeared exactly as it appeared. What the fuck did I just saw? Is this normal? Am I going insane? Or maybe I am already insane. Having nothing left to loose except her own life that she didn¡¯t value as much as before, Scilla pushed deeper following the red line. Absolutely with no idea where she was heading toward she kept walking until she reached an open zone. It was like an underground park with what looked to be trees and cafes all around. The line made her cross it and when she approached a bench a new vision appeared. The same woman in the wheelchair was beside a bench crying. By her side standing a different woman then the man appeared again. He was carrying a paper bag with something inside. He must have appeared out of nowhere even for the girls jumped when he sat and forced the bag on the wheelchair girl. The wheelchair girl shouted in anger. ¡°WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT!¡± the man stare at her while her friend put herself in between and was about to shout as well. ¡°those are brioches. For you¡± ¡°WHY? THE FUCK DO YOU WANT FROM ME?¡± ¡°cause I like sweets. I feel better after eating them. You looked sad so¡­¡± ¡°NOBODY DOES THINGS FOR NOTHING¡± ¡°never said I was doing it for nothing.¡± ¡°stay away from her creep¡± said the other girl. ¡°oh. Never thought of myself as creepy.¡± ¡°your intentions the real one or I fucking leave¡± ¡°miss Smolak¡­¡± ¡°how do you know my surname?¡± ¡°I work at the hospital, sort of. Can I continue?¡± ¡°ok¡± ¡°I may have heard your conversation. I may have knowledge of you lack of founding for implants to give you back your mobility¡­¡± ¡°do you think I was born yesterday? Go fuck yourself I¡¯m not going to fuck you for money¡± the man looked confused almost horrified at the thought. ¡°I¡¯m not asking that. I¡¯m not even going to give you money. I¡¯m a researcher in cybernetic implants. One of the few who remains. I could build you a leg and an arm. Even the eye you lost. But I have a price for them. I want your life¡­¡± ¡°you want to kill me!¡± ¡°no wait, let me finish. I want your life knowledge. I want you to tell me everything you feel once you have back your limbs. The emotions, the sensations, everything. Even the most horrific details¡± now it was the woman to be confused. ¡°Even how hard it is to clean the arm if I shit on it?¡± Smolak was testing the man. He looked surprised but pleased. ¡°Yes I suppose. I would prefer if you don¡¯t defecate on my creations but I will not stop you.¡± ¡°why helping me?¡± ¡°you don¡¯t need to know¡± ¡°as I said then. Go fuck yourself. I don¡¯t need your false pity or whatever despicable shit you have in mind. And take your stupid food back.¡± ¡°well I won¡¯t try to persuade you. But if you change idea I¡¯m Fermi. Just ask for me at the reception. And keep the sweets. They come from the hospital cafeteria too, they are strangely well made¡± the vision vanished again. What the fuck. That¡¯s the one and only Founder. I¡¯m seeing the fucking Esterian Founder. I thought he was¡­ well different. Not so anonymous. Strangely Scilla was intrigued in the story that the visions were telling her. So she kept looking for more. At some point she started seeing them walking away toward a different direction other than the red line she was following. It was almost as if those vision where guiding her somewhere else, so with nothing to lose she followed them. She walked into a room of some sort. No idea who used to live there. On the bed a new vision. Elvira was covered under a white sheet. She slowly opened her eyes. The Founder was staring at her. ¡°did it work?¡± asked Elvira. ¡°you are the one who should be telling it to me¡± The woman cleaned her eyes, with both hands and both eyes. It was just a natural reflex that never faded. It was in that moment that she realised, she had her arm back, her left eye back. The procedure worked. She immediately looked at her hands. On her right the organic side. On the left the new arm. It was of a dark grey metal that tried to resemble her organic arm as much as possible. Elvira was overjoyed so much that she hugged the Founder. ¡°I. I. I have my arm back. I can move my legs. MY LEGS! I can see. I can see again depth!¡­¡± Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Then a sudden stop. With tears in her eyes she stopped hugging and retreated. She placed her left arm on her lap and with the remaining hand she touched it. She felt it, she left her left robotic arm being touched. She left her mechanical had moving from the soft sheets, to the rubbery rails of the hospital bed. She left the cold of the metal poles that kept the intervenors feeding (IV) up, to the warm face of the Founder. She had no words so she started stuttering ¡°I. I. F..Feel¡­ fell things¡­ I¡­ c...can feel things!! I can fell things! My hand¡­. My leg they can feel the world¡­ how is it possible? Why didn¡¯t you tell me?¡± The Founder however pulled back. He stood up away from the bed. His eyes were less death yet still lost. ¡°you will be dismissed in a couple of days. For maintenance in case the guide isn¡¯t enough contact the university¡­¡± ¡°the fuck are you going? After what you did to me you are going away? You are leaving me?¡± ¡°I have done my part¡± ¡°what about the information and all the details that you wanted? You even said that you couldn¡¯t put it into the contract and that you hoped I would still tell you.¡± Elvira was pushing to keep him by her side. She liked that strange man. ¡°I lied. In the end all you can¡¯t do is say that those limbs were made by me. Nothing more¡± ¡°why? Why are you going away? Why leaving me? Why helping me and why refusing to be acknowledge for your creation? Those implants of yours are amazing, they could be the future¡± ¡°Miss Smolak. You don¡¯t need to know¡± the Founder took as step forward to get away. ¡°I DON¡¯T NEED TO KNOW MY ASS DICKHEAD!! I¡¯M NOT DONE TALKING. COME BACK HERE OR I¡¯LL RIP MY EYE OUT!¡± The Founder stopped. With Scilla freedom of moving she could see that he smiled. He turned to face Smolak again. ¡°you are very vocal miss Smolak.¡± ¡°miss Smolak my ass. I¡¯m Elvira¡± ¡°I know your name miss.¡± ¡°can you hear me out at least once? Like you did while assembling those implants? Please¡± ¡°ok. What is it?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know why you want to walk away, but I don¡¯t want it. You treated me good all this time. Not like a desperate crippled. I¡¯m not asking you to stay because you will be useful to me¡­ fuck¡­ this is way more embarrassing that I predicted. I want to be friends. Can¡¯t we try to be friends?¡± The man was silent. His eyes stared into Elvira but he never replied. ¡°please at least just once. Give my one last wish please¡± ¡°what is it?¡± ¡°I want to eat out once dismissed. I know a good restaurant. Please I¡¯ll pay for you. Just come ok?¡± the Founder pulled out his phone and walked to Elvira¡¯s personal belonging to pull out hers. The vision vanished again. Is this like the story of the Founder? Why am I seeing it? And how come that such a peaceful and good man conquered the world and became a tyrant? Something is missing either here or on Terrans side. Of course Scilla kept following the visions that so far looked chronological, but then upon entering a massive hall a new vision. Civilians, other humans living their lives. On the other side the door bust open and old Idras start shooting. Their numbers went from 115 to 135. They make sure that nobody could make it out alive. As their fury stopped a way smaller woman entered. She showed clear resemblances with both the Founder and Smolak. All Idra¡¯s turned to her an 115 spoke. ¡°as you ordered mother. All our enemies are death.¡± a cold voice replied. ¡°I¡¯m severely disappointed¡­¡± the Idras bowed as low as they could. ¡°I¡¯m sorry mother. We were not fast enough.¡± ¡°my disappointment just increased. I¡¯m not disappointed in your work. You and your sisters did splendidly. I¡¯m disappointed because you still call me mother¡­¡± The tone shifted toward a more playful one. It was clear that she inherited both the irrationally calm manners of the Founder than the chaotic nature of her mother. ¡°I have asked you to call me mum several times, but you still say mother. I don¡¯t like it. You are my kids I don¡¯t want to be formal with my babies¡± the woman pouted loudly and as the Idras moved closer the vision disappeared. Why? So there were also humans here. Why killing them? They are all so strange. Even more intrigued Scilla kept walking following illusion that may be totally false. She didn¡¯t notice that those shadows of the past were taking her someone specific. She reached a subway station. There a new vision awaited. The founder was staring into the darkness of the tunnel. He was heavily clothed and snow had settled on his head. From behind him arrived Elvira who called him happily. ¡°Fermi! What are you doing out there? No¡­ how long have you been here? You have a layer of snow on top of you¡± Elvira pushed away the snow. The Founder however kept looking lost, maybe in his own mind. ¡°I arrived¡­¡± he pulled out his phone. ¡°43 minutes ago¡± ¡°why? It¡¯s super cold you will get sick¡± He hesitated to reply. ¡°Do you think it¡¯s snowing there?¡± The founder turn back looking into the tunnel. Far deep in the darkness small light both green and red appeared. ¡°at Etruna? Of course, it¡¯s snowing all over the region. They are just 20 km away¡± ¡°So it snows¡± ¡°who hurt you?¡± the Founder turned to face Elvira. ¡°what do you mean?¡± ¡°you are always so lost, cold and distant. Some times even strange. You have never spoke of friends or family. But I can see through your shit. Your eyes betray you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m¡­ not hurt. I don¡¯t speak of them because I don¡¯t have any.¡± ¡°you have me!¡± said Elvira with a big smile. ¡°are we friends?¡± replied Fermi confused. ¡°are we not?¡± The founder didn¡¯t reply. ¡°how are the limbs?¡± ¡°working amazingly, even with this cold. You know I can feel the cold snow and it¡¯s wet. It¡¯s funny that when I pick it up with my left it doesn¡¯t melt. Perfect for pranks¡± ¡°don¡¯t exaggerate. I know you love being back to your full capabilities if not even more. But the connection is still fresh. Your biological side needs more time to merge with my prototypes¡± ¡°I know, I know. You told me a billion times, but it¡¯s just too amazing. Come one let¡¯s go, the restaurant is just behind the corner¡± As Elvira grabbed the Founder arm an illusory train passed and immediately after a real one arrived. Scilla just went with it. She was already lost, can¡¯t get worst. While inside the train and after sitting comfortable on a 4 sits space with a table in the middle the vision came back. They were on the other side of the carriage. At the table Elvira, her nameless friend and Fermi. He still looked around almost all the time and replied briefly or not at all to ¡°small talk¡±. When the waitress arrive to take their order he specifically asked for a bottle of water to be served closed. Against his will Elvira pushed him to order both a first and second dish. He choose among the less expensive things he could find. Unfortunately he had little to no success in actually receiving the least costly items. Upon ordering just a plate of penne al pomodoro (penne with tomato sauce) and a plain salad as second dish, Elvira objected. ¡°Sorry, he was joking. He will take emmmh. Paccheri al rag¨´ di chingiale (paccheri with wild boar rag¨´) and do you eat steaks?¡± ¡°no¡± ¡°than he takes the fritto misto [mixed friend (different kinds of fried fishes combined)], thanks you¡± once the waitress walked away the Founder spoke again. ¡°why did you order for me?¡± ¡°you think I¡¯m stupid? I saw that you picked the cheapest thing around¡± ¡°and so?¡± ¡°and so I¡¯m not a cheap ass. I received this prosthesis for free. They must cost a fortune. I can spend on my best friend who assisted me at my worst and the man who literally give me back the world¡± ¡°what if I am allergic to seafood?¡± ¡°you would have stopped me. Like you stopped me with the steak. But seriously you don¡¯t eat steaks?¡± ¡°no¡± ¡°why? You can ask for different¡­¡± ¡°no¡± ¡°shish, don¡¯t have to be so harsh¡± But the Founder silence spoke louder than anybody in the restaurant. His inquisitive stare brought Elvira to apologise. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. It¡¯s just that we should be celebrating the moment. With food that¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s worth it¡± ¡°I understand. That¡¯s why I didn¡¯t want to participate. I don¡¯t belong here¡± ¡°that¡¯s some bullshit again. I¡¯m here walking and eating completely self sufficient because you decided to build and give me this limbs for free. With what I had saved I could just buy some old ass prothesis for my arm and leg. And as far as I know all artificial eyes cost at least 150k€. you gift me more than 200k€ without even knowing me. If there is a place where you and Malina belong is here. Here at this fucking table eating what I think is the best food in the city because you two saved my life.¡± Malina, Elvira¡¯s friend was obviously touched but the Founder was as stoic as a man could be. He was thinking of something but the vision vanished cutting away a piece. Now Elvira was no longer at the table and the Founder stood up. Malina immediately stood as well. ¡°where are you going?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll pay my part and leave¡± ¡°you know I¡¯m going to rush to the bathroom and call her right?¡± ¡°I expect no less. I hope I¡¯ll be faster to disappear.¡± ¡°what the fuck is your problem? Elvi is trying everything she can to befriend you. Yet you are still being an asshole to her.¡± ¡°I¡¯m aware of it. That¡¯s way I¡¯m going to leave.¡± ¡°who the fuck do you think you are? Some main character of some shit?¡± ¡°We both want her good. You will achieve it by standing with her. I¡¯ll do the same leaving her¡­¡± ¡°keep up your stupid ass excuses¡­¡± ¡°you don¡¯t know me.¡± ¡°yeah cause I have heard more words from you now that in 10 fucking months¡± ¡°I¡¯ll remember this days as fond memories. It¡¯s time to let me leave¡± ¡°fuck no¡± As the founder walked away Malina rushed in a different direction and the vision stopped. At the same time the train reached a station and the doors opened. Scilla disembarked as illusions of Idra were waiting. They had just regrouped at the station and were walking away. ¡°I don¡¯t understand. Why did mum order us to kill all the scientist?¡± asked one. ¡°it¡¯s not our place to ask¡± said another. ¡°it¡¯s our place to ask. It¡¯s our place to have doubts and think. Were are built for that¡± a new voice again. The group was numerous and it seems that they were discussing about the killing Scilla saw. ¡°we had orders. We don¡¯t discuss them¡± ¡°I know why we killed them¡± all Idras turned to see 167. ¡°We are not super soldiers for our people. We are protector for this place. For the things we hide here. Who would you trust? A nobody strange or your infinitely loyal daughters?¡± ¡°and what are we defending?¡± ¡°you should spend more time in the library sister 144.¡± Iris told me the same. Her sisters were here to protect something but what? Is it still here now that they are gone?¡­ wait. How do I even got here? This place is empty. There should be nothing working¡­ how the fuck did the train work? Am I going toward a trap? She was not wrong. In all the hours she spent walking she had seen now sign of life both organic or inorganic. No cleaning robots, no active signs, no functioning doors except the train. It was as if the place was totally death except where she was going. chapter 61c: restart Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 61c: restart Scilla pushed aside her concerns and soon she was already seeing a different illusion in the long corridor she had taken. The Founder was walking away. Same clothes as when he was in the restaurant. It was snowing and the pavement was covered in it. Then a backpack hit him in the back. He turned to see Elvira breathing heavily as she run all the way to him. ¡°what the fuck is wrong with you!? I get it, you are all fuck up for some reasons but seriously!? Paying for yourself and leave while I¡¯m on the toilet? How fucking low can you get?¡± the Founder picked up the backpack and cleaned it of the snow that stuck to it. ¡°your backpack. It¡¯s made of tissue, you should not stay out too long or it will get wet¡± Elvira walked to him. She was face to face and furious. She was also 5cm shorter than him. ¡°see this is your fucking problem! You do shit like this and for a moment I think you care about me. Then you fucking run away while I pee. If you fucking hate me just tell me. If I¡¯m just a fucking experiment tell me so right in the face. If I¡¯m just a disgusting crippled for you just tell me.¡± The Founder looked disturbed but then he replied. This time, for the first time his voice had tones. He felt different. He felt humane. ¡°You are not disgusting and you have nothing to fear on that side. I just think it¡¯s better for both of us if we part away.¡± Elvira pushed him. The Founder didn¡¯t fall but hit a tree behind him that dropped all it¡¯s snow on them. ¡°then fucking tell me why? Why should we go on our ways?¡± ¡°because I used you...¡± ¡°tell your lies to some other cunt. I ain¡¯t the one you can fool¡± ¡°those around me have been harmed multiple times. If you get closer you will face the same fate. I enjoyed our time together. I¡¯ll never regret asking you to be my test subject. I¡¯ll never regret any second of it. But I know that if you were to be harmed because of me. I would regret it forever.¡± ¡°so fear. You are running because you fear some stupid shit. Well guess what? I don¡¯t. All I have left is Malina and you. My career as a model is gone and with it my family. I was meant to die with them, burning alive inside the car. But I survived, I¡¯m here! And I¡¯ll get my revenge!¡± The Founder eyes shined with something unexpected. Joy. Something had just changed. ¡°My apology. Miss¡­ Elvira. You are a rare human. One of the few remaining. If you could find in yourself the resolve to forgive me I would gladly accept being your friend¡± ¡°ok, we will work on your way of speaking but one step at a time.¡± ¡°or you can keep speaking for both.¡± A wide smile formed on the Founder face. He put a hand in one of his coat¡¯s internal pocket and pulled out a folded raincoat. He gave back the backpack to Elvira, pushed away the snow that fell on her and also made her wear the rain coat to stop additional snow to deposit. ¡°I¡¯m Paolo. Do you want to build a snowman?¡± The vision vanished with Elvira extending her hand to grab the one the Founder used to make the proposal. ¡°this place is endless¡± Scilla¡¯s words echoed for minutes. The new zone she was in felt more lived in. The massive corridors she walked in had old tire tracks. The walls were a bit dirtier but more importantly it was colder. She noticed that the further she went the colder the structure become. For now it was bearable. 17 ¡ãC were not particularly low, but the temperature had already dropped from the initial 20¡ãC. Scilla also started to feel hungry but she was still lost. Looking for food she started opening each door she encountered. There they had power and were working properly. One of those opened into an immense library. It was absurdly huge maybe kilometers in length. As soon a she step foot inside new illusion animated the bookcase on her left. The Founder had an almost empty box beside him and was moving some books from it into the bookshelf. All the books were about mechanics, electromagnetism, quantum physic and quantum computing, automation, human immune system and human neurological system. Not too far from him on a comfy armchair there was Elvira. She was incredibly well dressed, like if she was about to go on a date and wanted to impress somebody. The Founder was the exact opposite. He had just sweatpants and a hoodie. ¡°Paolo can I ask you something?¡± ¡°sure¡± ¡°did you had crushed?¡± ¡°no¡± ¡°seriously?¡± ¡°yes¡± Elvira was a bit hesitant to continue. To any external observed it was crystal clear that she was trying to approach the Founder romantically. Those empty seconds left embarrassing even for Scilla. ¡°don¡¯t you¡­ do you have a favourite type?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t read much for pleasure. But when I do I go for science fiction¡­¡± ¡°why are you talking about books?¡± ¡°cause you asked?¡± ¡°I was talking about girls. Who the fuck think about books when asked if he has a type¡± ¡°you should have been more specific¡± ¡°the fuck. Can¡¯t be more explicit than that¡± ¡°fair enough. I think it¡¯s a stupid thing. There are qualities that some may look after, not types.¡± ¡°well put how you want it. So what are those qualities you want?¡± ¡°mmh. I think the most important one is determination.¡± Elvira was surprised and pleased. She felt that she had such quality, after all she pushed him so much until they became friends. ¡°oh!. So I guess I have it¡± The Founder paused for a second. ¡°I agree. Your actions have proved your resolve multiple times¡± Then he kept placing down the books. Totally distracted he didn¡¯t sense Elvira sneaking up to him until she slammed lightly her arms beside his head to block him again the shelf. ¡°so when are we going to have our first date?¡± she asked. She was blushing but she wanted to make use of such opportunity. The Founder slowly turned to face her. He was smiling. ¡°you took it literally¡± ¡°you spoke sincerely. I act sincerely. Too surprised to react?¡± ¡°you see Elvira. I like determination but others never dictate my actions.¡± With a rapid movement the Founder tilted his head and went for a small and fast kiss on Elvira¡¯s burned side of neck. As soon as she processed what had happened she pulled back and ran away. ¡°bathroom on the left!¡± said Paolo with a huge smile of satisfaction on his face. As interested as Scilla could find it, she was still hungry and looking for food. She spotted a door not too far that presumably was going to bring her back outside. As she passed beside a table 2 idras appeared giving her a half heart attack. Scilla read the numbers. The one standing was 484 while sat at the table there was 500. 484 initiated the conversation. ¡°so? What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°this¡­¡± 500 took of her helmet. Her skin had several cracks. ¡°Cazzo. Cazzo, Cazzo cazzo! (fuck. Fuck, fuck fuck!)¡± said 484 ¡°I know.¡± ¡°when did it started?¡± ¡°this morning. I have a favour to ask 484¡± 484 was alarmed and also sad. ¡°everything. What can I do?¡± If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. a box appeared on the table. 500 moved it closer to 484. ¡°maybe for once I did something correctly. That¡¯s my blood. From today but also the previous days. I just felt different so I extracted it. Give it to 511. it could help her¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure she will find a cure¡­¡± 500 grabbed 484 by her arm and pulled her closer. ¡°Anna don¡¯t lie to me. I¡¯m already doomed. I¡¯ll be death in a month, two at best. This is not for me. It¡¯s for her. Maybe she will live more than us.¡± ¡°I¡­ I¡­¡± 500 pulled the arm again. ¡°I have been a terrible sister. I have made too many mistakes. Being a test subject is the least I can do now. But promise me. Promise me that as long as you breath you will take care of 511.¡± ¡°d¡¯accordo Giulia. Te lo prometto (ok Giulia. I promise)¡± It was strange, those visions were mostly translated into something Scilla could understand, but not everything. What was mostly let untouched were unique expressions that don¡¯t have direct translation without loosing their colloquial meaning. So that¡¯s how they die. Iris had none of that cracks. Was she really special or did she succeed in making a cure¡­ now that I think about it. What is going to happen with the omnicure. Wasn¡¯t she the only source? Fortunately for the Esterians Idra had a lot of backup plans and the omnicure was already being produced on other planets. She always new that her death was going to be premature so she made sure her people would be safe. Scilla¡¯s hope to find food was gradually reaching 0. However driven by her guts Scilla started to ignore the hunger. She had been following a persistent illusion of the Founder along side Elvira that had been walking for a while. They only stopped after reaching what appeared to be an elevator. Well an elevator for the illusion that started to shift underground. Scilla on the other hand was standing on what looked to be some metal plates welded together. Surely not the usual material for pavement. As she crouched to inspect it Scilla felt a vibration followed by a metal crackling noise. ¡°oh shit!¡± The floor broke. And so did the next one, and the one after. Scilla kept falling from a level to an other, each time she hit a new floor it started mumbling and cracked immediately after. With a minor concussion Scilla reaching the bottom after at least 7 floors of fall. Even before standing she immediately noticed something. The place was deadly cold. The floor around had a thin layer of ice due to the frozen water from the air. The new place was at least at -1¡ãC if not below. With no way up She could only walk forward. The corridor she was in had few dim lights on the sides that barely allowed her to see. The air was filled with unknown fragrances. They were pleasant but at the same time felt hostile. Then out of nowhere a sharp turn to a closed door. Once she touched the commands the door slowly opened and light overcome her. Behind the metal door there was a gargantuan room. It was a cubic zone of at least 100m x 100m x 100m. It barely contained an enormous structure that was composed of several long triangular based prism connected together. It looked like a 3D transposition of an asterisk but of a deep dark grey and blue metal. Scilla felt the structure pulsing waves of freezing air. It was the source of the coldness and something far worst. A treasure and a disgrace. At the bottom of it, right near were one of the prism touched the ground the vision was still going. ¡°Paolo are you ready?¡± said Elvira. ¡°how could I be? I hoped we will never have to use it¡± The Founder was sad. ¡°with all they have done to us I think you are being too lenient. We could kill half the world and show them what happens if they oppose us. And with a name like Heart Break Emitter it would be a waste not to test it and break some hearts¡± Elvira was overjoyed at the idea to activate the Founder greatest weapon to kill whatever she wanted. She was the source of the Founder tyranny. She was the devil in his ears. ¡°I understand your point. I now that this is the only way. I don¡¯t feel pity for them. They were put us as sacrifice. At least they will die suddenly. We will not have the same regards for those who will keep opposing¡± Or maybe they were both evil at their core. Elvira just showed it. Elvira pulled out a tablet. She was looking at something, probably cameras. ¡°I think we should activate it, no regrets.¡± ¡°but I have one¡± ¡°which is?¡± ¡°that I lied to you. I don¡¯t know if this is safe. At least not in close proximity¡± Elvira¡¯s happy expression immediately changed to concern. ¡°you¡­ you want to kill yourself? I¡¯m not going to let you do so¡± ¡°I¡¯m not. But it is better if just one of us dies. If you remain alive you will be able to complete our plan.¡± ¡°why can¡¯t I be the one to die? The plan and the HBE is basically all yours. I did nothing. I just share your ideals¡± ¡°because I am a man. It¡¯s easier to clone you or make an artificial child from a woman. But also because I¡¯m your man. I made a promise to protect you and I will.¡± Elvira was crying and she pull out of one of her pockets a pair of wedding rings. ¡°then¡­ then how about¡­ no regrets¡­ till the end¡­ Paolo¡­ will you marry me?¡± said the woman in tears. Her hand shaking as she clearly wanted to propose after the activation. The Founder smiled and reached for his pocket too. A second set of rings. ¡°I guess we are really meant for each other¡± he was tearing us as well. They exchanged the rings and with that action a new Esterian tradition was born. In a couple both must propose and so instead of one ring a married couple usually wears 2, one per hand. The Founder kissed Elvira and hugged her. When he tried to pull back she didn¡¯t let go of him. ¡°I¡¯m not going.¡± ¡°Elvi, please. I don¡¯t want to risk you¡± ¡°the same goes for me. Having the world without you is meaningless. I prefer to die with you than alone with what you build for me.¡± ¡°you are breaking my heart¡± ¡°I know¡­ I know¡­ may God have mercy of them.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t believe in God¡± ¡°me neither. It would be stupid for us. No matter how much good we do, for the few that will die we would be in hell for eternity. So why taking the risk.¡± ¡°are you watching?¡± I am always watching. The Founder touched the HBE, an abominable sound priced Scilla ears and tossed the Founder with Elvira away from it. As an instinct the Founder hugged Elvira. The illusion faded as the Founder hit with his back a wall and started bleeding from his head. What am I suppose to do here? Did the visions brought me here or am I going insane. Why? Do I press it? Is this what Iris wanted? She knew about this? But the reality was not what she thought. Iris had no idea that the HBE was still existing, nor she had idea of what it was. It was the HBE itself that sensed Scilla¡¯s presence and called a new desperate to itself. The Founder had a lot of reasons to fear and hide his creation, but even with all the darkness it caused he was never able to bring himself to destroy it. His masterpiece was a part of him. A part that he couldn¡¯t let go. A part worth hiding on a hellish planet and protect with inhumane creatures. Creatures immune to its call. What he believed was just an emitter able to build a pulsing electromagnetic field that stopped humans heart signals was far worst and he knew only after activating it. The HBE had nothing in common with the initial idea. It just worked. It was able to send out a pulse that killed humans, but it was capable of way more. Fortunately for humanity, the Founder was a man of strong will. A man hardly corruptible by power and a man that understood the risks of his creation. A man whose greed and thirst for power were second to his ideals. Maybe god did exist and such traits were his mercy. It was the HBE that broke reality making the Magnos rift appeared and also causing the disappearance of Morfians and Valurk from the sector 400 years before. That¡¯s why their AI were still around looking for their creators. They were just beside them the day of the activation. Working side by side to win a war that was never going to end. As the HBE pulsed and pulsed Scilla felt the desire to get closer, closer, and closer. That abomination was sucking her in. The electric pulsating humming was hypnotizing. Scilla tried to oppose but it was to no use. Out of her mind she touched the machine. Reality stopped for her as her mind was instantaneously assaulted by an uncontactable about of realities. She was seeing, smelling, hearing, feeling a myriad of realities all at once and all focused on their own Idra. Her deepest desire to be reunited with her love was being read by the machine. But what she saw and felt was not what she expected nor desired. Iris was right, Idras were mostly monsters. In almost all of those alternative Idra was purely driven by hatred. Scilla saw them consume so many civilizations, so much destruction. So much pain. She saw a different Whispers holder. Consumed by the Whispers will and consumed by her pain, her need to inflict misery on all that lives. Scilla tried to run from them, hide and close her mind. But there was no escape, those observations of realities kept coming. Her mind was exploding. Then maybe out of pure luck she saw an Idra. She was like hers, kneeled before a beautiful tomb decorated with meticulously chosen and placed flowers. It was 484 grave. That was her Idra, her Iris or so she believed. As Scilla¡¯s eyes laid on Idra, she saw her being duplicated and the abstract projection being tossed at her. As it happened to the Founder so was Scilla tossed with brutal force toward a wall. She of course hit it violently but managed to maintain her grip on reality. At the base of the HBE, standing, there was Idra 511. The one she saw, the one she believed was hers. Seeing this new Idra was so surreal. She was wearing a set of heavy clothes that Scilla remembered selecting among the new clothes her Iris recently bought. However she didn¡¯t notice that the collar Iris couldn¡¯t take off was no longer spelling her name. As their eyes locked Idra twitched and gruesome biological formations started popping out of her body. Her arms split in several irregular arms. A tail full of bony needles came out of her lower spine. From her back a circular crown of spikes and blobbing pustules stare at her. It was pulsing almost as if it was charging with something. Scilla¡¯s hair started to float toward the ceiling. Static electricity was filling the room. Idra¡¯s hair twisted together in long braids with bleeding eyes appearing out of them. But as Iris form faded more and more into a blob of disgusting organic shapes the collar started beeping louder and louder. Idra moved her hands underneath it and tried to break free. She was roaring and screaming in agony as the collar was clearly trying to suppress that uncontrolled mutating beast. Idra¡¯s roars of anger made Scilla¡¯s ears ringing and worsen her already state of confusion. After all her mind has just been tortured and her body had the same fate. Yet she tried and managed to speak. ¡°Iris?¡± As that word left her mouth a stabbing pain never felt before hit her. Her brain was exploding, she felt like her cranium was about to open and her brain pop out like confetti. Memories of a different Scilla flooded her mind. Her life was almost identical but her war was different. She never met an Esterian. They never came to their aid. The war kept raging on and as she always believed a lot more people died. The parallel Scilla saw all her friends die in battle against the Droxi. Then lastly it was her turn. She died as well and never returned to her family. Once her brain refocused on what was happening she saw Idra shaking her head as if she wanted to toss away some thoughts, then the pain must have been unbearable for her that she let go of the collar to grab and press on her head. The collar snapped and Idra immediately fell on the ground. Her body returned to the original form. By instinct Scilla rushed to her scared of having lost a new idra but fortunately she was just sleeping. The collar turned her off and with almost absolute certainty saved Scilla¡¯s life even if she didn¡¯t understood that at the moment. The cold waves had stopped and the HBE was silent. Almost as if it had completed its purpose. The room was still freezing cold so Scilla gathered all her strength and started walking back to the elevator shaft while pulling Idra from her arms. Scilla was not in a good enough shape to carry her, but the icy surface reduced drag so she could pull Idra with her. At the base of the obscure shaft that was maybe one degree hotter, Scilla hugged tightly Idra to keep both as warm as possible. In that dark cold peace she realised the painful reality. Her Iris was gone. What she was holding onto was no her. It was probably a clone of a different yet similar one that received her memories. Even more painful was connecting Iris¡¯s stories with what she saw. The creature she had been squeezing between her arms was the completed Idra. She was what 511 was meant to be. Not an Esterian but a hybrid with a Leermorf. A shapeshifter. Now the collar made sense. Only 511 had it because she was the only one that could potentially be a Leermorf or a Leeresterian if it even matters. That piece of technology meant to keep a monster under control, both physically and mentally. The collar disconnected her nervous system to avoid mutations while it selectively deprived Idra of vital knowledge. It made even more sense that Idra couldn¡¯t know how to reproduce. One alone was dangerous enough to be considered a hazard even for her sisters on an empty planet. Can¡¯t image what more could do to the sector. chapter 62c: awake Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 62c: awake Pushed to her limit, exhaustion rapidly took over Scilla and she collapsed in the cold elevator shaft. Probably half an hour later she was woken up by a violent shake. As her eyes opened she saw Idra. She had put her hair back inside one of the many layers of clothes, yet she was Idra and instinctively Scilla hugged her. Idra however pulled back as hard as she could. ¡°the fuck is wrong with you?¡± said Idra. Her voice was almost the same, she had an almost disruptive accent but her manners were as cold and hostile as the first day they met. ¡°Iris are you¡­¡± ¡°there is no time for your bullshit! Get moving if you don¡¯t want to freeze to death.¡± Scilla promptly looked around. It was almost total darkness. The emergency lights were mostly off and the few that still worked were emitting even less light than before. ¡°I can¡¯t see shit¡± ¡°what do you mean you can¡¯t see?¡± ¡°that I can¡¯t see. Those red lights are not enough. Plus how do you intend to get out? The shaft has no elevator. I fall into this hole.¡± Like a switch, Idra¡¯s hair started glowing. Those copper filaments emitted a dim yellow light that was more than enough to see up to 3 meters around. Still, she didn¡¯t have much of a choice and followed Idra into a small passage that was revealed behind a removed panel. Idra took her inside an emergency stair and started climbing. ¡°do you have food?¡± asked Idra. ¡°no¡± ¡°water?¡± ¡°neither¡± ¡°do you have something useful?¡± ¡°¡­ no¡± ¡°do you remember how you got here?¡± ¡°through a library and¡­¡± ¡°the fuck is a library?¡± replied Idra seriously. Scilla took a second to answer. ¡°where you store books¡± ¡°no. You store them in hard drives.¡± ¡°sure whatever. To put it bluntly, it¡¯s a room full of bookshelves and books¡± ¡°still no clue¡­ here we are...¡± Scilla heard metal being pushed away. It was probably a door that was being forced open by Idra. Once she got up she could barely recognize the place. They popped out a few meters on the side of the elevator shaft yet now it was all devoured by darkness. There was also an additional minor problem. Now there were 3 corridors, not just the one she came in. ¡°so where to next?¡± asked Idra. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°what do you mean you don¡¯t know?¡± ¡°that when I came here there was just 1 corridor. The one in front of us. There was also light and electricity¡± ¡°building don¡¯t change like that, what kind of drugs are you on?¡± ¡°I know that buildings don¡¯t shapeshift. But I can swear there was just one corridor.¡± ¡°whatever I¡¯ll find a way¡± Does she not remember me? I saw her grabbing her head, was it not because she received Iris¡¯s memories? What the fuck do I do now? Lost in her mind Scilla followed Idra mindlessly. They were both silent and in such silence Scilla started to degenerate. That creature she was walking after was not her Iris, but for sure was not after her life. Otherwise, her nap in the elevator shaft would have been her last. She looked like Iris but behaved more like the first time they met. By looking at Idra she could see that she was exhausted just like her. Idra¡¯s exhaustion was probably not totally related to the new situation. Scilla had never seen such dark circles under Iris¡¯s eyes. It looked as if she hadn¡¯t slept at all in days. Maybe just like hers, this Idra had recurring nightmares too. They stopped for a moment. Idra operated with an info totem on a corner. It was partially working, yet it was clear that it had power issues. Only then did Scilla notice that the place had changed a lot. The corridors were wider and didn¡¯t fit inside Idra¡¯s glowing light. There was a pavement difference, like in a street with a sidewalk. Idra was taking her time with that strange thing in the corner that was barely keeping itself together. She couldn¡¯t read a word but she knew just by look and by Idra¡¯s reactions that things weren¡¯t looking good. How come this place seems like a mess even if Iris used to live here just weeks before? Did I cause this? Done with the totem Idra resumed her walking and Scilla followed. Each step echoed around and was reciprocated by metallic laments. Those underground tunnels felt oppressive, especially now that they were filled with absolute darkness. Before she knew they were entering a garage of some sort. There was just one vehicle inside even if there was space for at least 3 more. The military truck in front of her was as big as a Lean truck so she knew she could fit just at first glance. It was also an old machine, at least it looked old even in Scilla¡¯s eyes. It looked out of context almost as if it belonged to a past that no longer existed. It had 6 wheels. 2 for the steering axis in the front and 4 for the 2 back axes. It had 4 doors that led into the main compartment with seats and a long covered boot. On the roof, there was a remote turret with the feeding belt going into the back. The commands were behind the passenger''s seat. The exterior had a winter camouflage paint and layers of composite armor. The size of the machine became even more clear went Idra opened the door and hopped inside. She was basically half the side of the seat and barely reached the pedals. It was meant for a different era. The era where Idra¡¯s were almost the same size as a Lean. ¡°thankfully they made these things to last. It still has a lot of battery so few adjustments and we get on moving.¡± said Idra mostly speaking to herself. ¡°sure¡­ do you know how to drive?¡± ¡°I learned¡± ¡°I can drive¡± ¡°NO¡­ don¡¯t worry. It may be older than both of us combined but it is still a safe car¡± Then Idra dismounted and started to look around in some boxes close by for supplies of some sort. That¡¯s when Scilla noticed that Idra took a rope out of one of those boxes. ¡°come on, get into the passenger seat¡± Idra was walking closer and by her trajectory she was going to the passenger seat too. For once Scilla¡¯s brain cells worked and perceived danger correctly. Wait. If she doesn¡¯t remember me or she does only partially¡­ what would she do¡­ with a rope¡­ holy shit she wants to kidnap me¡­ In that moment Scilla¡¯s dark thought also prevailed. She could reverse the roles. She could kidnap Idra and¡­ somehow convert her into what she fell in love with¡­ surely a foolproof plan. As expected Scilla walked to the passenger seat, opened the door but instead of being ambushed spun around to interrupt Idra. It didn¡¯t take much to change Idra from predator to prey. It was clear that she was barely functioning so Scilla, even in her state, easily won the fight and tied up Idra who started screaming and struggling to break free. Scilla made sure to block her hands behind her back and also to tie Idra¡¯s legs. Then to make sure and with the extra rope, she wrapped up Idra at the best of her capabilities to limit her movements. ¡°what the fuck are you doing cunt! Free me immediately!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so. I know that you wanted to do the same to me.¡± ¡°you fucking moron. I should have let you to die¡­¡± ¡°but you didn¡¯t.¡± Scilla picked Idra up and instead of putting her in the front passenger seat, she put her in the back seats horizontally. She then used the 3 different seat belts to lock Idra in place. Her head was on the right side so Scilla could just turn from the driver seat and look at her. Even if the military truck had 6 wheels in the end it was a glorified armored car. So it worked just like a car. ¡°we are going to die. And you are going to kill both of us¡± ¡°I¡¯m not going to die nor are you. But¡­ but I need time to think and so do you¡± ¡°I need no fucking time. It¡¯s not time to think it¡¯s time to act.¡± ¡°Iris¡­ please¡± ¡°you called me by my name before. How do you know it? How are you even inside my home and more importantly, what kind of ugly mother fucker are you?¡± Scilla started the car, she could still read numbers and apparently, she had at least 1600km of range so they could drive around for a while. With the garage door open she started to move slowly to get used to the controls. The headlights fend off the oppressive dark yet they were far from enough. ¡°you don¡¯t remember me?¡± ¡°why should I remember a fucking alien?¡± ¡°because you remember everything¡± ¡°not your ugly face. You should drive into a pole to put an end to such horrific show¡± ¡°I see that your tongue is as sharp as ever¡± ¡°I¡¯ll show you the true meaning of sharp while carving your bones¡± she is super pissed¡­ do I try to calm her down¡­ no maybe I can try to scare her, but not too much. ¡°I also know your surname. Fermi.¡± Scilla looked back to see Idra with her mouth open in surprise. ¡°who are you?¡± ¡°¡­ I used to be a friend...¡± ¡°hey cunt don¡¯t make me pull out the words from your sewer of a mouth. Speak.¡± yeah fear doesn¡¯t work, and she is exactly as I remembered her. As bitchy as ever. ¡°I am Scilla Lis. I used to be a ship commander¡­¡± ¡°used to?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened to them. I just remember screams.¡± Idra let out a moan of pain. ¡°my fucking head¡± Scilla stopped immediately. ¡°are you ok?¡± ¡°mind your own business. No even better why don¡¯t you try to keep us alive¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have a map¡­¡± ¡°well me neither.¡± ¡°you don¡¯t know your home?¡± ¡°no I don¡¯t. Have a problem?¡± ¡°sort of, I¡¯m hungry and I need to sleep so¡­¡± ¡°the fuck it means that you are angry. The only one who should be angry is me¡± ¡°I said hungry¡± ¡°that¡¯s what I said slut. Angry. I can still fucking hear¡± ¡°no, you are fucking not. Hungry is not angry¡± ¡°you are saying the same fucking word! How could it be my fault if your language suck cocks¡± Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°fuck it, now I¡¯m both¡± ¡°both of what?¡± It was clear that Idra had some issues that were deeper than just her marked accent. Words that for her sounded almost the same and were pronounced similarly were identical. It was strange how those issues were more relevant in what was supposed to be the definitive Idra, yet more mitigated in a failed model. ¡°did your brain broke?¡± asked Idra. ¡°nope, I¡¯m totally fine. Just thought to end the conversation¡± ¡°where the fuck are you driving me?¡± ¡°to the nearest trashcan where you belong¡± ¡°someone''s garbage is someone else treasure. Can¡¯t say the same for you. Your only good thing is that you are biodegradable¡± ¡°you have a filthy mouth¡± ¡°not as filthy as yours from all the cocks you sucked¡± ¡°you don¡¯t even know what a cock is¡± Scilla swiftly looked back to see Idra both confused, amazed, and panicked. ¡°I don¡¯t want to speak with you anymore¡± ¡°you just have to keep your mouth closed. It¡¯s not that hard cock sucker¡± replied Scilla with a smirk. In contrast to what she expected all she heard was movement and then nothing. In the back, Idra was able to move a few centimeters away and had closed her eyes. By her expression, she was probably not trying to sleep but thinking. Her enemy knew far more than what she believed and she needed to make a new plan. Silence filled the car. Without many directions and lost inside the strange architecture Scilla drove for 1 hour before stopping. Her eyes spotted something that was out of the usual. The tunnels she drove in were all alike and distinguishable only for some markings. Few emergency doors popped from time to time, but now, a parking space. There were several spots to park a car and a big double door with writing she couldn¡¯t read. Intrigued she stopped but before doing anything she looked back at her hostage. She stared at Idra way too many times in the past, so she knew that Idra was sleeping deeply. Strange, I never thought she would fall asleep while being kidnapped. I guess I¡¯m not the only one who was pushing her limit. With caution Scilla approached the doors. She grabbed the emergency levers and started pulling overcoming the mechanism inertia and resistance. She used a flashlight that Idra had put inside the car to see and explore. In front of her a new world, an old world, left untouched for who knows how many years. The doors lead into a compartment of the immense structure. The new area was akin to a living quarter or more precisely it looked like a fairly small fully underground commercial center with houses. Considering her floor, the place was only 2 levels tall yet it extended for 200 x 80 meters. The place was built around hollow cuboids 80x80 and about 20 meters tall, 10 meters per floor. The aperture in the middle was about 20x20 and contained a small park where plants had withered long ago. 2 of those cuboids were separated by the remaining 40 meters of shops. Basically, the structure looked like an 8 made on a digital clock. Shops on the lower floor and apartments on the upper floor. It was a strange jump into the past of Esterians. ¡°what is this place¡± said Scilla to herself. She started to look around, walking carefully to avoid triggering something. Yet all remained silent. Only her steps and the metal cracking filled the place. It was surreal. Not a single grain of dust yet it had no electricity, no water, nothing. It was perfectly clean as if she was the first to ever walk into it. The place was furnished and packed with things almost as if tens of people were supposed to be there. Living their life underground. She saw clothing stores, hardware and camping stores, pubs with glasses on the counters and bottles of alcohol beside them. Pool tables with their ball placed for a fresh match that never started. Fortunately for her, there was also a mini market stocked with food. She couldn¡¯t read but numbers were the same. Everything was old, some sealed food was over two centuries old, yet others were just a few years old. I hope some of this stuff is still edible¡­ now where do I put Iris? She will be aggressive and I can¡¯t keep her tied up¡­ it¡¯s unfortunate that there is no prison cell here¡­ While thinking she noticed that shops had shutters in a diamond pattern that could work as cell bars. So she started looking for a small shop she could empty that also had a toilet. With luck on her side, Scilla spotted the perfect place. A small shop that was just a big cuboid with 2 doors in the back. One for a small storage and one for a bathroom. It had a big glass window and a glass door both protected by a shutter that had an analog lock only on the outside and away from the door. The shop was some kind of hair salon. It also had a fairly sized couch instead of chairs in the waiting zone so it was perfect. I just hope that the collar will protect me. From what I saw I think she can only make minimal nonharmful changes while the collar is on. I wonder¡­ I wonder how it works. She looked surprised at the collar activation. Was it off in her universe? Or timeline or whatever the shit it was? She also seemed confused and if it made sense more stupid. Less like a computer and more like a living creature. Does she not have a machine in her brain? Fair doubts that were going to remain unanswered for a while. With her strength, Scilla removed what Idra could have turned into weapons. No throwable objects, no mirrors to break. She basically pulled out everything except soap, a hygiene kit and the couch. It was by far not the safest prison cell she saw, yet it was as good as she could have. Scilla then returned to the car and as expected Idra was still sleeping like a log. She picked her up and carried her inside their new home or prison in her case. She put Idra down on the couch, untied her and closed the place leaving Idra in her improvised cell. Feeling the exhaustion taking over her body, Scilla crushed at the cafe in the corner that allowed her to always watch into the cell as long as she slept in the front area. The cafe was something out of a different era as well. A long corner counter with liquors behind it. A pool table and table both with just chairs and with more comfortable seats on the side like a diner. Those seats were small for her, but they were better than the cold floor. It took only instants before she was asleep too. For someone who activated the HBE and was pulled into its madness, Scilla¡¯s sleep was mostly unperturbed. No, it was even improved. Instead of being torn apart by nightmares of overlapping realities, she slept peacefully. She dreamed of a future built with Idra. The peace that she desired. Yet that peace was interrupted by some loud noises and shouts. Idra had woken up and she was not happy. ¡°SVEGLIATI TROIA! (wake up whore!)¡± She kept slamming her hands on the glass door to make as much noise as she could. As Scilla looked over Idra was the only source of light, yet it was a lot dimmer than before. In fact it made no sense to her that Idra somehow knew where she was unless she could see in the darkness. ¡°AM SPEAKING TO YOU SLUT! GET YOUR ASS MOVING AM THIRST AND STARVING!¡± ¡°what if I don¡¯t?¡± ¡°you have already invested too much energy in me. So now, what is your plan big genius? We don¡¯t have power, no water and for sure no gas nor wood to cook¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m working on that¡± ¡°sure, you don¡¯t even know where we are¡± ¡°neither you do¡± ¡°I know more than you red one¡± Idra was less agitated but still on the warpath. Red one was an insult used by Droxi against Leans before their war yet Idra, this Idra was unaware of it. She just wanted to insult Scilla had in her mind she used cunt or slut too many times so she had to change something. Scilla¡¯s red skin was just the perfect target. ¡°I¡¯m Scilla¡± ¡°do I look like someone who cares?¡± ¡°you don¡¯t, like all the other faceless¡± ¡°the hell are you talking about?¡± ¡°never mind I guess your kind never venture away from your planets¡± minutes of awkward silence passed before Idra replied with unthinkable coldness. ¡°what kind?¡± ¡°yours¡± ¡°I want their name¡± ¡°is the prison time already getting to your sanity?¡± ¡°THEIR NAME!¡± shouted Idra slamming her fist on the glass window. Wait¡­ something is missing here. Something is wrong with her. Why is she so desperate for knowledge that she should have? Maybe I can use it to my advantage. Scilla was right. It was the perfect leverage against Idra. And in general, it worked on all Idras that were always thirsty for new knowledge. Scilla walked in front of the metal shutter that divided her and Idra. Looking at Idra¡¯s face she was surely angry. ¡°how about a deal¡± said Scilla with confidence. ¡°speak¡± replied Idra crudely. ¡°you give me your aid willingly to restore the basic functionality of this place and I give you the knowledge that you desire¡± Without a second of delay, Idra spat at Scilla hitting her in the face. Still mentally unstable Scilla pushed her arm between the metallic diamonds that made the shutter, grabbed Idra by her clothes and pulled her to the metal grid. Idra slammed violently against it. Scilla¡¯s mind was split between her love for Iris, which made her fundamentally incapable of hurting Idra, and her rational side which knew way too well that she was not the same Iris. It was the rational side that prevailed and forced her to act. After all, she was well aware that Esterians may look civil but they understood violence extremely well. ¡°try that again and I¡¯ll use your mouth as my toilet¡± Not now. I still have to fix this fucking collar. Idra gulped loudly in the now silent underground mall. ¡°I want¡­ I want guarantees¡± ¡°you think you are in a position to ask for any¡± ¡°sort of. A token of minimal mutual thrust would be appreciated¡± replied Idra while Scilla slowly let her go. ¡°what do you want¡± ¡°to survive. So let¡¯s test your proposal. This place looked like some old shops. What have you discovered so far?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t explore much. Beyond that corner...¡± said Scilla pointing on her left with the flashlight. ¡°I have no idea. On the right however, I saw a mini market and a camping and hardware shop¡± ¡°try with the camping thing. Do you know how to read Estir?¡± ¡°no¡± ¡°fair enough. No arm in asking. Then go look for cubic boxes. 30x30x30 cm. They should be hard with a lot of writing on the top. However, they are blue and bright orange. On the back, you should be able to see images¡­ like instructions.¡± ¡°what are them?¡± ¡°emergency survival kits. They should have been made to survive for decades or maybe even centuries. Grab at least 10¡± ¡°why so many?¡± ¡°2 for today, the rest for later¡± ¡°I can just get 2 each day¡± ¡°are you stupid? Are we not supposed to go look for the generator? It will take us days to find it. Then what if it¡¯s not¡­ if it¡¯s partially broken? No even better. Grab all you can and put them inside the armored car¡± ¡°one thing at a time. I¡¯ll go look for those boxes¡± Do I warn her?¡­ fuck ¡°hey!¡± ¡°what Idra?¡± Idra was visibly concerned about something. ¡°do¡­ did¡­ did you¡­ dreamed of an organic sack... pulsing and screaming?¡± ¡°no. Is it important?¡± ¡°it¡¯s ok. Just¡­ if you see one don¡¯t touch it¡± ¡°sure¡± Scilla walked away confused and left wondering about an organic sack pulsing and shouting. What could it ever be? Why ask your enemy about it? About 40 minutes later Scilla returned pulling a shopping cart filled with the colorful cubes. ¡°are those the correct ones?¡± ¡°YES! Give me, give me!¡± they of course didn¡¯t fit through the grating. ¡°hold your horses. Get back and on the ground.¡± ¡°the fuck? I brought you to food and you don¡¯t trust me?¡± ¡°I trust you just enough to collaborate. Nothing more. You tried to kidnap me.¡± ¡°and you kidnapped me. The one untrustworthy is you¡± ¡°fair enough, then no food for Idra¡± ¡°what the fuck! I helped you¡± ¡°shish it was a joke. Yet this won¡¯t change what I said. If you don¡¯t want to get on the ground then go inside the bathroom and close the door¡± ¡°you think I can outrun you?¡± ¡°no. just that you will assault me¡± Idra stared at Scilla with disappointment. ¡°what makes you think that I can¡¯t do that right now?¡± ¡°your collar¡± Idra smiled back, her displeasure was obvious. ¡°I¡¯ll get into the storage room.¡± without more discussion Idra walked away from the shutters and into one of the doors in the back. Scilla placed one of the boxes inside and once back to safety, she called Idra who rushed back. She grabbed the box and her first words upon a fast inspection were ¡°oh, this will be fun¡± ¡°what do you mean?¡± ¡°you will find out¡± Idra had a huge evil smile on her face. Then she opened the box. Inside there were smaller boxes perfectly packed. 5 of them were 10x10x30 cm while one was 20x20x30 cm. Idra pulled out 2 of the small boxes. One contained a mix of miscellaneous things while the other was a metallic box. Idra twisted the bottom and gradually the box started heating and the newly made gap at the twisting intersection let inside gasses flow out. Scilla looked and copied Idra¡¯s actions. Some minutes later Idra fully removed the cap and Scilla did the same. Inside suspended in a dense dark red liquid she found a mix of long yellowish strings and small pieces of what looked like meat. ¡°what are we eating?¡± asked Scilla. No response. ¡°silence treatment, what a childish behavior.¡± ¡°you know, if you didn¡¯t like being put in a different room you certainly won¡¯t like being restrained again as we search for the reactor¡± Idra snapped. She was angry. ¡°what the fuck! You intend to tie me up again?¡± ¡°yes¡± ¡°I believed in you! I give you food! What else do you want?¡± ¡°listen Iris, I can¡¯t help it. The first thing you tried to do was kill me. I trust you enough to guide me around to turn on a generator. But I can¡¯t set you free. Not now¡± ¡°you just want to use me¡­¡± Scilla interrupted Idra. Her tone was sad. ¡°yes. You are correct. But you don¡¯t have any other option do you?¡± Idra looked back furious but also curious and intrigued. Maybe not having a computer in her brain made her less cold and strict. ¡°you can cut your shitting excuses. Don¡¯t know what you are trying to do, but it won¡¯t work on me bitch. Try to pull some shit and I¡¯ll make you regret ever being born¡± ¡°if you behave well maybe I¡¯ll free you¡± ¡°this is my house!¡± ¡°and you are my prisoner. So what?¡± ¡°you should be the one getting tied up¡± ¡°and then what? You would kill me¡± ¡°I won¡¯t. I would trap you until desperation makes you friendly¡± Scilla didn¡¯t reply instead she focused on the food. Idra was swallowing it as if she had been starving for days. With some courage, Scilla dug in and was met with strangeness. The red liquid that she believed was going to be spice was instead sweet akin to a jam but with the consistency of a dense paste. The yellow strings were crunchy, spicy and salty. The unknown meat was soft but lacking any form of fat. It was a peculiar combination that could become disgusting even if eaten in the wrong proportions. Still she had nothing else to eat and at least compared to everything else around her, it was a warm meal. chapter 63c: 608 Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 63c: 608 Done with their lunch Idra didn¡¯t oppose Scilla¡¯s orders and soon they were in the truck loaded with food supplies for their journey. While Scilla loaded the truck Idra changed her body. 3 horns appeared on her head. 2 on the upper part of the forehead and one in the middle of the head. From around her nose wide geometrical flat pieces of metal came forward and started moving almost as if they were breathing. The horns were not a repellent element, but those strange facial sensors were surely unsettling. Unfortunately, it was the only way they had to locate the generator. Their first day of driving was filled with tension. Idra only spoke to give directions and every attempt to make even the smallest conversation was always shut down bad. Clearly, she had different plans. Their journey was pure hell for Scilla. The worst of all was taking care of Idra without freeing her. Not even 3 hours in and Idra demanded to stop and be freed. ¡°it¡¯s just been 3 hours what do you need?¡± ¡°I need to go pick up some flowers, so free me¡± ¡°no, there are no flowers underground¡± They were both ignorant. Scilla couldn¡¯t understand what Idra was asking for and at the same time, Idra didn¡¯t know that Leans don¡¯t have a bladder. ¡°are you a fucking moron? Stop the car and free me, or at least move my hand to the front¡± ¡°stop bitching about made-up shit, at least make it believable¡± ¡°BELIEVABLE! I NEED TO FUCKING PEE!¡± ¡°why didn¡¯t you say it immediately!¡± ¡°I fucking did, stupid cunt!¡± ¡°you spoke about flowers!¡± ¡°cause it¡¯s embarrassing¡± ¡°why?¡± so far they had been shouting but now Idra recollected herself. ¡°I need to pee. So unless you want me to pee all over the car and maybe you stop it. Bring me the biggest box inside the survival package. Move my hands on the front and get back into the fucking car¡± ¡°see I can understand better if you explain it to me¡± ¡°as if you have never peed in your life¡± ¡°matter of fact I didn¡¯t.¡± ¡°save your stupid ass¡­¡± ¡°my species doesn¡¯t have a bladder. I can¡¯t pee¡± ¡°oh¡± ¡°still I will not let you out alone¡± ¡°WHAT! What kind of pervert wants to watch a girl pee? If you humiliate me like that I¡¯ll let us both die here¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a pervert¡± that was a lie. If it was the old 511, Scilla would have let her pee all over her. ¡°yeah sure.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not. What would stop you from running away?¡± ¡°big genius just tie my body with a knot on my back. Can¡¯t reach it. Then you can block the rope with the car doors. And just to be clear the only one who is insufferable here is you!¡± ¡°me? The one constantly complaining is you! By the way good idea¡± They were having 2 conversations at once. One where they were yelling and one where they were well-behaved. ¡°it¡¯s my fucking home! you have intruded and kidnapped me! Yeah I know it¡¯s a good idea.¡± ¡°I already said that I¡¯m sorry but there are no other ways, and you know that!. Me and 511 started the same way¡­ I mean my 511¡± ¡°I¡¯m not 511.¡± ¡°what, but¡­¡± ¡°nope! Let me pee in peace and I¡¯ll tell you¡± ¡°ok¡± Scilla stopped the car and followed Idra¡¯s idea. She tied her up with the ¡°emergency¡± rope in a way that she couldn¡¯t reach for it as long as her hands were in front and blocked together. She gave her the biggest box and let her disappear behind the back of the car. Eventually, she returned to the passenger seat 4 minutes later. They resume traveling immediately after. ¡°is it a long process?¡± ¡°what?¡± replied Idra. ¡°peeing. My Idra used to take about the same time¡± ¡°no it¡¯s fast. The only pain is to dry off once finished¡± ¡°¡­ I don¡¯t want to know more. So¡­ if not 511 who are you?¡± ¡°she for sure was not just 511. Our technical code name is surely longer. Mine is Idra 608 IS-98-ULm Weeping Sky (Idra-608 ibridosperimentale-98-umano-Leermorfo Weeping sky). Which stands for experimental hybrid number 98 of Human and Leermorf. But if you cut away those who died you get that I¡¯m Idra 511 Weeping Sky. Who knows how many more sisters were never built successfully before your Idra¡± Silence, a reflective one. 511 was always secretive of her personal file, so that must have been the reason. ¡°so¡­¡± ¡°to avoid confusion when speaking of the previous me, just call her 511 and me 608, after all I prefer 608¡± ¡°why so many deaths?¡± ¡°why should I tell you?¡± ¡°isn¡¯t it obvious that I know a lot about your¡­ limited group of people?¡± ¡°but I gain nothing¡± ¡°ok one question for each¡± ¡°fair enough. I don¡¯t know. Some of the deaths are linked to the cambers where we are assembled. Some are defective and some grew defective. Yet from my knowledge, those make up only about 25% of the deaths. There are several that actually got to the birth yet they died almost immediately after. They decompose on the spot¡± ¡°what the fuck?¡­ I would ask for more, but we have a deal. However, I will add that I know that all other Ideas died at 25. You are the only one who should have recently become 27¡± Idra 608 was surprised, but she wanted answers more than ever. ¡°what are your intentions with me? I¡¯m not 511, I¡¯ll never be her.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll count this out. I¡­ I know that she is gone. I just can¡¯t let her go. I took you because I saw that you got the rope. I wanted to see her more. Not let her fade away¡­¡± ¡°pull over¡± Scilla obliged and stopped the vehicle. ¡°I won¡¯t tell you how to grieve. We all have our ways. She is dead. She will never come back. I can¡¯t be her. Can¡¯t become her. Even if you could give me her memories I would not become her. Our brains are different, our bodies. What we experienced changed us.¡± Scilla was on the verge of crying. ¡°I know all of it¡­ I realized it soon¡­ yet you are so much alike¡­ but even this¡­ speaking about pain. She was not able to process it¡­ nor understand it. I¡­ I wanted to live my whole life with her¡­ I was making plans¡­ thinking about our future¡­ together. She was the only one I found and will remain the only one. I just don¡¯t know what to do¡­ it all happened so fast. One moment happy travelling. The next one she is consumed by her Whispers and when I woke up I was here. I was hallucinating and I followed them. Visions of a past that I believe I should not know about. Then I was using the HBE and found you. The only one uncorrupted¡­ I¡¯m sorry¡­ I think I duplicated you and brought you here.¡± When she looked up, Idra had her mouth open in shock. She grabbed Scilla by her shirt and confused asked. ¡°How?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know how it happened. I just saw you¡­¡± ¡°no! How did you even survive the activation? How are you... unchanged? then what else changed?¡± A lot had changed. Fortunately for Scilla, 608 knew a lot more about the HBE than 511. She knew of the overlapping ¡°possibility¡±. What she didn¡¯t know was how it worked and somehow seemed alive. Hard to explain the intricacy of the HBE yet it¡¯s also simple, almost banal. It alters your own universe or reality by interacting with others. It tries to follow your desires by looking at them elsewhere and connecting the universes. However, it hardly succeeds at it. The undesired effects outweighed all the positives. Scilla¡¯s activation was more accurate than the Founder¡¯s one, thanks to her irrational desire to see Iris again. Yet it could be considered a failure. She didn¡¯t receive what she was looking for. She got a different Idra as hers was already dead. However, what she didn¡¯t know was that she also duplicated herself into 608 reality. That however was only the smallest side effect. The activation altered Weeping Sky partially overlapping both 511 and 608 home worlds and so their homes with them. ¡°I¡­ I just touched it¡­¡± Horror and confusion were all across Idra¡¯s face. ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t understand. Yet I do¡­ I mean not why you live, but I understand why this place is different from my home, yet so similar. You copied me, my home and brought us here.¡± Idra let her go and started talking to herself, maybe not entirely herself but still mostly to herself. ¡°I see. So 511''s death must have triggered an emergency shutdown as nobody would have been able to monitor the reactors. Then you got into and fucked up reality. It also explains why you were able to walk around this place. You are a lucky motherfucker.¡± Scilla could only watch and nod from time to time. ¡°still it¡¯s hard to believe that 511 would fall in love with another woman. That goes against our protocols and nature.¡± ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m not a girl¡­¡± Idra who had returned to sit in the middle of her seat immediately jumped back trying to put as much space as possible between them. ¡°what do you mean? You have enormous tits and well look like a buffed woman¡± ¡°thanks, nature gave me a lot. But I also possess male organs...¡± ¡°why? What kind of abomination are you?¡± ¡°it may sound strange to you, but my species had 3 sexes. Female, male and Femari. Compared to Humans we are inverted. So Women are bigger and stronger, yet less prone to thinking. Males are way smaller but smarter. Yet they are rare, almost impossible. This is due to a virus on our home planet that increased our survival probability by creating us. A mix between both and an average point between strength and intellect.¡± ¡°oh¡­ so you are a hermaphrodite?¡± ¡°yep¡± ¡°that¡¯s peculiar. Well at least it explains a bit¡± ¡°so your question?¡± ¡°you don¡¯t look too good to answer¡± ¡°I feel like shit. I just want to cry, but I promised so I¡¯ll keep it¡± ¡°that¡¯s a good trait to have. Then are there others like me?¡± ¡°sort of. No Leermorfs, only Humans mixed with Morfians called Esterians. I don¡¯t know much about them, but Esterians lives. They have their nation somewhere but I have never been there. 511 never brought me there. I know that they are a powerful nation and have a lot of planets. Not much more¡± Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°it¡¯s ok. But I think you should really try to think about your situation and maybe get some sleep¡± As those words left Idra¡¯s mouth Scilla noticed a faint scent in the air. But it was too late. Idra 608 was a lot different from 511. She was organic and so her organic competence was far more extensive than 511¡¯s, yet she also inherited the organic issues like forgetting of her weaker capabilities. It was during her calmer talk with Scilla that she remember that the collar didn¡¯t prevent her from spreading mind controlling molecules. It took some minutes to find a working one, but now Scilla was going to submit to her. It didn¡¯t take much before Scilla ¡°decided¡± that she could trust Idra and to sleep leaving Idra¡¯s hand tied together but in front of her. Cold, hard. That was not the seat she was in when she fell asleep. Scilla immediately got alerted yet once she opened her eyes she could barely see. Red lights near the ground lit up a place she didn¡¯t recognize. ¡°what the fuck!¡± ¡°I guess you really can¡¯t see¡± Idra¡¯s hair started to glow and now she could see Idra standing in front of her about 3 meters away. She had cut the rope and had a steel club in her hands. Scilla scared for her life jumped up and prepared for a fist fight. ¡°hey chill out. I¡¯m not going to beat the shit out of you. This is FOR you¡± Idra tossed the club to Scilla who grabbed it in confusion. Her head was pulsing as a side effect of basically being drugged with a narcotic. ¡°how did you do it? I¡¯m immune to your control shit. Where are we? Why the bat? What is happening?¡± ¡°is this your chilling out?¡± ¡°it¡¯s not funny¡± ¡°if you say so.¡± Idra turned off her hair and disappeared into the darkness for a few seconds. Scilla heard something moving then a click. Light coming from the car headlights. She could now see that they were inside a storage with wooden crates around. Idra dismounted from the car and closed the door. ¡°surprise!¡± ¡°I''m not understanding.¡± ¡°yeah I think your face and the grip on the bat say the same. So long story short I remembered that I could try to control your mind. Kinda my fault but you know it¡¯s been 9 years since I spoke to someone or interacted with something that didn¡¯t want to kill me¡­¡± ¡°this doesn¡¯t help¡± ¡°I know cock sucker. I was still explaining. Being with you is fun. No clue if you are totally fucked up in the head or not, but trying to oppose me. ME! Ah¡­ it¡¯s refreshing. Your resistance is also something new. Still, I appreciate your honesty and I bet we could be really funny friends. So considering that you are feeling down I decided to bring you here to smash things. 506 loved to smash things when sad so I supposed it could work¡± Scilla relaxed. Idra didn¡¯t look aggressive nor it seemed that she intended to trick her more. ¡°so you drugged me¡­¡± ¡°yes¡± ¡°freed yourself¡­¡± ¡°no¡± Scilla frowns for a moment. ¡°drove while tied up? Really¡± ¡°it¡¯s not my fault you did a good job removing all pointy objects¡± ¡°thanks¡± ¡°k¡± ¡°and then once here you freed yourself and set this up for me¡± ¡°yep but it is unfinished. I wanted to pull out something to scatter around to let you dissipate more heat, rage and energy¡± ¡°why?¡± ¡°I told you just before. I was having fun.¡± ¡°what now?¡± ¡°you don¡¯t want to rage?¡± ¡°I do but¡­¡± ¡°no buts. Hehe butts... I mean just break things. Nothing of value here. I¡¯ll wait outside¡± Then without a care in the world, she turned around and walked away from Scilla. Alone with the club in hand she unleashed all her rage, frustration, pain and sorrow. She destroyed and destroyed screaming all her feelings in the storage. Once her fury ended and only her shouts were echoing back, she decided to go look for Idra. She left the room from one of the 2 entrances, the one Idra had walked to before. Outside the usual endlessly dark tunnels. At first glance, she didn¡¯t spot Idra until she walked some meters into the tunnel and spotted a small dim yellow light around the corner opposite to the entrance. She approached the corner carefully until she saw Idra sitting just behind with her back against the wall reading a book. ¡°so you know what a book is¡± said Scilla. Idra was not startled. ¡°this is not a book. Books are long files of words¡± ¡°exactly as the one you have in your hands. It¡¯s just printed¡± ¡°hard to believe it is. Look at how the pages are kept together¡± Idra pushed toward Scilla the book that however had nothing special except the quality. It surely was a rare piece as it was printed on thick paper with an integrated highly decorated bookmark. ¡°see what I mean? This thing is old and 3D printing fabric is not easy. Plus I think it¡¯s some kind of encrypted document¡± Scilla was even more confused. The book was not encrypted but it was just written in the shared language. ¡°you said it was¡­?¡± ¡°encrypted¡± ¡°you know this is just the shared language. You know the one we are speaking?¡± Idra retrieved her hands with the book and turned around. ¡°you don¡¯t know how to read. Am I right?¡± ¡°I¡­ I know how¡­ it¡¯s just not my language¡­ it¡¯s hard to learn if nobody teaches you¡± ¡°wanna learn?¡± Idra turned immediately back, her eyes were shining with excitement. She loved to learn just like 511. ¡°you would?¡± ¡°why¡­ why not? I can teach you the alphabet and then we can read it together so you understand the sounds¡± Idra pushed again the book toward Scilla. ¡°well not now. How about every evening? Before sleeping¡­ if it makes sense as I can¡¯t tell if it¡¯s day or night...¡± ¡°it¡¯s day¡± replied Idra immediately. ¡°how do you know?¡± ¡°I found a new emergency terminal and I counted from then.¡± ¡°well then how about we resume our search? Don¡¯t want to die here¡± said Scilla extending her right hand to help Idra get up. ¡°sure.¡± Idra accepted the helping hand. Finally, after their constant fights their journey resumed. This time as friends even if not said out loud. Their first day of travel was mostly calm, maybe a bit awkward yet functional. Idra conveyed her needs without strange wording while Scilla for once listened to her. As the first day ended and they parked the car Idra spoke. ¡°so¡­ will you read for me after dinner?¡± ¡°I said so¡­¡± they heated up their second dish from the emergency kit and while eating Idra asked ¡°how do you feel?¡± Scilla was surprised in a pleasant way. ¡°worried about me?¡± ¡°naaahh. Just making sure you don¡¯t drive us into a wall¡± replied Idra smiling. ¡°better, and worse I guess.¡± ¡°I would say that maybe you need space from me. You know I look, sound and probably smell like your 511. but I can¡¯t walk away.¡± ¡°yeah. But I doubt I would feel better alone in this¡­ just how big is this place?¡± ¡°if things didn¡¯t change too much it should be about 270km x 300km with an average of 11 levels of 10 meters each.¡± Shock. It was a place bigger than capital cities combined and if spread on just one level bigger than countries. ¡°Why the fucking is it so immense? No shit you don¡¯t know your home¡± ¡°see told you. It¡¯s hard to know something so big. Especially when you live in a special isolated sector¡± ¡°you were isolated from the rest?¡± ¡°yes¡± Idra¡¯s expression soured. ¡°sorry for asking. I¡­¡± ¡°no it¡¯s cool. It is just a long story. A story not meant for strangers¡± ¡°I guess I should speak more about me as I know a bunch about you. Or at least about 511¡± ¡°could be useful but seeing that we both had just finished eating I would prefer to learn how to read¡± putting aside the empty canisters of food, both of them moved to the back seats. This way they could get close to each other allowing both to read. Without any more delays, Scilla first explained the shared alphabet and then started to read slowly. Being focused on the book prevented her from thinking about the physical contact with Idra who was leaning on her left side. The book she was reading was clearly a fairy tale of some sort. The first chapter spoke mostly of an enchanting land where people lived in symbiosis with the forests around. It spoke of the never well-identified forest dwellers. Creatures of magic and harmony yet elusive to mankind. Mankind description was at best lacking, at worst intentionally misleading. For sure those were humans, but it could be easily seen as a generic humanoid as if the tale was mean to be adapted. The forest dwellers kept the balance between the ever growing forest and humanity. They guided lost people back to civilization, they let them gather the fruits of nature and they allowed them to hunt invasive species. At the same time however the forest dwellers were enemies of humanity. They would prey on those who harmed the forest. They would lure the unworthy deep into the forest to let them starve to death. They were the arbiters of the region, balancing all species. Even Humans. Yet humanity didn¡¯t appreciated being stopped from exploiting all they could. The chapter ended with one human assaulting and killing a forest dweller. Guess this is some long fairly tale. Why do they have them? Scilla closed the book and immediately Idra asked. ¡°why?¡± ¡°why what?¡± ¡°why are you stopping?¡± ¡°well we got to the end of the chapter.¡± ¡°ancora (again / more)¡± ¡°what?¡± ¡°more. Please. Read more. I liked it¡± ¡°it¡¯s late, and I¡¯m tired. We should just go to sleep. Tomorrow you will try to read a bit on your own and we will read a new chapter after dinner. Ok?¡± Idra pouted like a child. She is more childish and more feminine in her behavior. I kinda like it, at least she is not insulting me all the time. ¡°ok, but it¡¯s a promise. So if you break it I¡¯ll break your spine¡± Never mind. I take it all back. ¡°I won¡¯t break any promise. I usually don¡¯t¡± ¡°did you break one?¡± ¡°not really. At least no voluntarily¡± Idra didn¡¯t reply. They moved back to the front seats and reclined them to be more comfortable. ¡°are you sure you don¡¯t want to sleep in the back?¡± asked Scilla. ¡°yeah. This will be fine.¡± then Idra took off her shoes and curled up on her seat facing the door. Scilla, surprised on how fast Idra took position to sleep, got out of the car, went to the back, and returned with a pile of 6 square flat pillows. She took them before their journey as she believed that Idra was going to complain about not having any form of cover. ¡°Idra?¡± ¡°yes?¡± ¡°do you want a pillow?¡± Idra turned on herself and smiled widely. ¡°are those for me?¡± ¡°I suppose so. 511 didn¡¯t like to sleep without a blanket, but I couldn¡¯t find one so¡­¡± ¡°they are perfect thank you¡± Idra took 2 of them and started to place them over herself to cover up. There were visible gaps in her pillow blanket. ¡°want another one?¡± ¡°you are bigger. You need more to cover your body¡± Scilla smiled. She was feeling a strange warm sensation. 608 when not enraged was surely pleasant to be around and more thoughtful. ¡°I don¡¯t need any. You can have them all¡± ¡°are you sure?¡± Idra¡¯s eyes conveyed excitement but also uncertainty. ¡°yep. I grabbed them for you¡± without more exchanges Idra took the rest and disappeared below the pillow fort she built on the seat. ¡°thank you Scilla. Goodnight¡± ¡°goodnight¡± Scilla usually slept on her back and she tried to do so. She looked at the car roof lights before turning them off. A surreal darkness filled the car. There was nothing at all. They had parked in a small zone where even the emergency lights had either given up or run out of power. It was unsettling as she had never experienced such emptiness, yet something kept her mind sane. The rhythmic and slow breaths of Idra just beside her. In contrast to her, 608 was in her element. Empty unkempt endless tunnels that divided an underground structure into cells. A place so big that even if all the Idra ever produced were alive, it would take weeks if not months to even meet one. Am I finally safe? Is 608¡­ still Iris? Can I really trust her? Should I really try to sleep¡­ these distant echoes of metal settling in are terrifying. What if I brought here something else? What if we are not alone¡­ I don¡¯t have a weapon. Will 608 protect me¡­ can she do anything other than emitting light from her hair and getting horns? Now that I think about it¡­ where the fuck is my power suit? I¡¯m sure I was in it. With a constant stream of thoughts, fatigue overcome Scilla that fall asleep to be awakened abruptly some hours later by Idra screaming. ¡°NO!¡± The car was overflowing with light yet Scilla could see Idra who had jumped forward and had her arms extended onward as if she wanted to caught something. Scilla extended her hand to reach for Idra who twitched in fear and hit the car pillar with her head. ¡°ounh!¡± ¡°are you alright?¡± Idra stared at Scilla. ¡°I¡¯m good. I¡¯m good. Thanks¡­¡± ¡°doesn¡¯t look¡­¡± ¡°did I scare you?¡± ¡°yep. Nightmares?¡± ¡°what else?¡± ¡°no idea, maybe it was a normal dream till you fell down a stair¡± ¡°I wish it was. Guess I won¡¯t be sleeping. Do you mind if I¡­ keep my hair glowing a bit so I could read¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine for me. I¡¯ll just face the door. If you want to talk¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t.¡± ¡°ok¡± ¡°goodnight Scilla¡± ¡°thank. Good reading¡± Soon Scilla was back to sleep while beside her Idra was slowly reading the first chapter of the book by herself. chapter 64c: lies Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 64c: lies Day come or more precisely Scilla just woke up. For a brief moment she remembered dreaming of something while a distant humming sound was audible. Of course, she brushed it off. The place was unchanged. It was all dark except for Idra. Her only beacon of light and probably hope in such metallic desolation. ¡°did you sleep well?¡± asked Idra. She had one of the opened survival kit in hand and from it she pulled out the 2 remaining boxes. ¡°sort of¡­ not the best bed, not worse than a trench¡± ¡°you slept in a trench?¡± ¡°I have been at war. I slept in the worst places possible. Trenches, swamps, under dead trees...¡± ¡°which war? When was it? Is it fun?¡± replied Idra while passing the 2 boxes to Scilla. She of course was taken aback by such questions. ¡°you think war is an enjoyable thing?¡± Idra stopped herself. She was taking the 2 boxes that were meant for her from the other opened survival kit. She looked at Scilla straight into her eyes. She was trying to read Scilla¡¯s emotions and adjust her reply. Scilla noticed and spoke before her. ¡°don¡¯t try to say what you think would be better. Just say what you believe in¡± ¡°I mean¡­ it could be¡­ ¡­ I may have manipulated our military simulators so I could use them and snuck in a couple of times¡­ you know to drive tanks and¡­ spaceships. It was fun. You press a button and things go boom! I guess that is similar to war right? So I suppose it could be fun for me. Is¡­ is it wrong¡­ to like it?¡± More things didn¡¯t add up with 608. She was such a naive and ignorant creature. Almost as if she was never informed of what was beyond her planet. Never given knowledge about morality. It was borderline impossible to be in such an unripe state unless someone intentionally made her that way. Someone who could only be her beloved sisters. ¡°do you know what usually happens in war?¡± ¡°emh¡­ things break?¡± ¡°yes and people die.¡± Idra blinked several times trying to understand what she was supposed to do. ¡°it should make you feel sad¡± said Scilla. ¡°oh. Why? We are meant to die¡± ¡°fair enough. But what if you care about someone really deeply and that someone dies before his time? I mean not for natural causes? Would you not feel sad? So an act where people go to die prematurely isn¡¯t it sad and in general isn¡¯t it a bad act as it makes you feel worse?¡± ¡°I disagree. War and death bring no sadness unless you fail at them. Even in such case I wouldn¡¯t say that sadness makes you feel worse¡± ¡°what do you mean by fail at war?¡± ¡°exactly what it means. If you collect enough data your engagements will have minimal to no repercussions on you. So you can win without losses. Or even better you can win while disposing of those who are useless¡± ¡°I guess we should explore one idea at a time¡± ¡°if you say so. I don¡¯t really mind, speaking is fun.¡± Idra smiled widely. She was strangely happy and unfazed by their conversation topics. ¡°in general would you say that sadness is on the negative emotions?¡± ¡°not really.¡± ¡°why?¡± ¡°give me a second¡­¡± Idra finally opened the two boxes that contained food. In one several cookies and squared cupcakes, in the other the rest of the water supply. Idra started munching on the cookies that cracked loudly. ¡°so¡­ I wouldn¡¯t define it as negative. If you are sad it means that something went wrong. If you are spinless you get fucked by it. If you are a fighter then you hit back, find the issue, find your failure and overcome it. It makes you grow stronger so I wouldn¡¯t say it¡¯s negative¡± ¡°you are a lot more philosophical than I thought¡± Idra smiled. ¡°I like to think a lot. You know I had time to spare.¡± ¡°I figured...¡± ¡°how?¡± Asked Idra moving closer to Scilla¡¯s face. She had cookie crumbles on the side of her mouth. Then she returned to her seat. ¡°you kinda told me. I mean what else would you do alone for years?¡± ¡°sound like a solid explanation¡± ¡°how long have you been alone?¡± ¡°since I was 16. so 11 years. Do you have a family?¡± ¡°I do. I have a little sister, she is 10 years younger than me. Just to let you know I¡¯m 41 years old so Wiola, my sister, is 31. I think. I¡¯m fairly sure that we are beyond May of 2442 so you are 27, but I¡¯m not sure if we passed my sister''s birthday. Yeah, maybe she is already 32. And I have my pama.¡± ¡°what¡¯s a pama?¡± ¡°my dad basically.¡± ¡°where¡¯s your mum?¡± Scilla stopped for a moment. She didn¡¯t want to reply, yet she knew that she had to if she wanted to keep improving her relationship with 608. ¡°she is dead to me.¡± ¡°why?¡± Seeing Scilla¡¯s face shifting toward negative emotions Idra turned back on her steps. ¡°never mind, you don¡¯t have to¡­¡± ¡°she betrayed our family¡± ¡°What a cunt!¡± Idra¡¯s exclamation was so genuine that Scilla could only laugh. ¡°¡­ yeah I suppose you can say that. What about your family? Your story?¡± ¡°I have one. But I don¡¯t want to tell you. I mean it¡¯s not like you can leak it, as you are now stuck on this planet with me. But still if I told you, then you will have no reason to tell me yours. And I¡¯ll miss out¡± ¡°how about I¡¯ll tell you all my life so far while driving and then you do the same? So we get to know¡­¡± ¡°ok, agreement accepted¡± Idra moved her right hand toward Scilla. Her index finger and pinked closed with the thumb while the middle finger and annular extended out. It was clearly a form of promise like a different version of a pinkie promise. Scilla replicated the gesture. Idra locked in and while shaking said ¡°eyes to seek light in the deepest void. Shall the darkness consume the traitor. Shall the truth guide the right¡± ¡°that¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s really a menacing way to start a promise¡± ¡°it¡¯s to make sure you don¡¯t break it¡± They went on with their day. Driving around looking for the reactor while Scilla narrated her life, mostly from the time she met 511. Her life story ended right after the lunch break and now it was 608 time to tell her life. ¡°so I was built in 20/05/2415 Human standard. I suppose I was also birth as I am the only one made inside an artificial organic creature. I was successful and it was immediately evident. My sisters places this collar on me to stop me from mutating uncontrollably. Can¡¯t really blame them. I would have preferred to live as well.¡± Idra pointed at the same collar that 511 used to have. ¡°once turned 2 I started to go to school¡± ¡°school? At 2 years old?¡± ¡°sisters told me it was school. I¡¯m unsure as I was the only one there. They started teaching me stuff and self-control. Once I reached 5 years old they started to turn off the collar to allow me to improve my capabilities. At 6 I started to have school tests¡­¡± ¡°like pressing buttons on displays?¡± ¡°no. Like having a task and completing it alone. First, it was analysis and research tasks. Only once I was 7 and 484 was formally assigned to me as a tutor that I started to do on-field experimentation¡± ¡°like collecting samples?¡± ¡°sort of. My first task was to pacify a Mungali, a native species of mammal. I went to feed it and that ungrateful beast tried to bite me. And then, and then I just slapped it and it¡­ I don¡¯t know just exploded. 484 never told me that Mungali explodes if hit...¡± I¡¯m fairly sure it didn¡¯t just self-detonate. Should I say something? ¡°and it went on for a while. Like they asked me to pacify other animals and people but it never work out¡­. Oh and there were also a few times when they asked me to achieve objectives like taking eggs from creatures¡± ¡°and all Idras did your same school? I mean before you?¡± ¡°no. I was the only one. Apparently, it was specially made for me and my capabilities. Also my sisters were older so they were always training and going out on expeditions. I asked multiple time to assist but they said that it was too early¡­ so when I turned 9 I got bored and started to sneak out of my room to learn things. I never managed to get into one of the ships, but it was around that time that I cracked the simulators to play with. Some months after I finally figured out how to deactivate the collar. From then on I started to sneak out more often to gain knowledge. That¡¯s when I started to love biology and medicine. You know I saw my sisters die from¡­¡± Stolen story; please report. Idra stopped. She looked sad and at the same time angry. ¡°you can skip¡­¡± ¡°no. I¡¯m fine. They died from genetic deterioration plague. You probably already know about it. Don¡¯t worry it¡¯s not contagious and I don¡¯t have it to begin with. By the time I found a cure¡­ if it can be called a cure, it was too late. Few sisters were left and I needed more tests. Soon after turning 16 my favorite and last sister 484 died¡­. In her last moments on this planet, I injected her. The cure worked¡­ but it was too slow. Too late. Her body gave up in my hands. Since then I have followed the Founder¡¯s orders. And more or less that¡¯s it¡± Founder¡¯s orders. Orders from a dead man. I don¡¯t believe it. Shit ain¡¯t right. ¡°what were the orders?¡± ¡°I received his order just for me. And I keep it above my right heart all the time, as it¡¯s my favorite heart.¡± Scilla stopped the car as Idra pulled out a piece of paper. Entirely written by a machine. Not a single thing was done by hand. She couldn¡¯t read but Idra read them for her. // Unit Idra 608 IS-98-ULm Weeping Sky You must protect Weeping Sky''s scientific base. Protection against the Enemy has absolute priority. Any interference must be eliminated. If Failure is inevitable make sure that nothing falls into the Enemy''s hands, not even your blood. If you fall, by all means necessary, destroy my creations and erase my existence. It must never know. I, The Founder. Count on you// Who the fuck is the Enemy? Does she know? It would look legit, especially at the start, with strange codes around and the bloody fingerprint, if not that they didn¡¯t even bother to make a real fingerprint. It¡¯s fucking printed on paper. And in the end, it was signed again with The Founder. It made absolutely no sense and Scilla immediately understood that those orders were fake. Is this a setup to prevent her from escaping? I feel pity for her. Look at how big her smile is just by staring at that piece of paper. But they lied to her. All of them lied. They kept her sealed here. Ignorant and fooled by her own sisters. I guess I¡¯m about to make her cry, but I¡¯m sure she will understand eventually. ¡°Idra¡­ No Iris¡± ¡°Yes¡­ Scilla? You called me by my name so I¡¯ll do the same¡± ¡°good for me¡­ maybe you should¡­ grab something to¡­ beat I suppose¡± ¡°why?¡± ¡°your personal orders are fake¡± Idra looked at Scilla confused and then smirked. ¡°oh I got it. You are envious. I know that orders from the greatest man alive¡­¡± ¡°I would be envious if they were real, but they are not.¡± ¡°and an alien like you would know because why not I suppose.¡± ¡°because you think that a genius with no trust in others would even remotely use a computer and type out extremely important orders? Look at it, the fingerprint is fake. It¡¯s printed on paper. Nonetheless, such man is also been dead for at least 300 years.¡± Idra looked at the piece of paper in her hands confused. It made a bit of sense. ¡°and, just to add more. He is your grandfather. You know his identity and I¡¯m fairly sure he would have just used his name or been less formal with you. Supposing that somehow he knew about your existence.¡± ¡°This is a formal order of course he had to be formal¡± ¡°but in the end, it¡¯s just a preset document for god knows what, with a message printed on. Do you think he would have done the same? And what enemy? There is nobody out here¡± ¡°well¡­ I¡­ my sisters gave me it... They told me it was from grandpa¡­. He used to record things¡­ for the future¡± ¡°did your sisters ever receive orders from the Founder? You looked into their expedition logs. There must have been traces of the Founder right?¡± There were none. The last official orders didn¡¯t come from the Founder but from his only daughter. It was more than 200 years ago. ¡°but it doesn¡¯t make sense. It¡¯s not possible.¡± ¡°why?¡± ¡°because you can¡¯t tell lies to your sisters. So they couldn¡¯t lie to me¡± Fuck I feel so bad. I¡¯m sorry to have to tell her. ¡°are you sure that you couldn¡¯t? Were they the one that told you that you couldn¡¯t lie to each other?¡± ¡°Y...yes?¡± ¡°what if it was not true and it was a lie to make you not lie? Isn¡¯t it a possibility?¡± Idra was getting agitated and nervous. Her left leg was shaking up and down like a pump in overdrive. She was looking at the order in her hands over and over again. Her eyes tearing up. ¡°m...m¡­ maybe?¡± ¡°so they lied to you all this time. That also explains why you were never trained. It¡¯s stupid to not train someone who is going to protect an entire planet alone, isn¡¯t it? They didn¡¯t want to.¡± ¡°yes¡­ but¡­ but¡­ why lie? Why to me?¡± ¡°because they were scared¡­¡± ¡°NO! NO THEY WERE NOT! THEY WERE NOT! YOU ARE LYING! LYING LIAR!¡± Iris was having some sort of mental crisis. In such distraught state, she jumped out of the car slammed the door and started running toward the darkness ahead of them. Scilla grabbed the flashlight and rushed after her. She didn¡¯t have to run much as probably only 100 meters in Iris tripped on her own feet and slammed her face on the ground. She proceeded then to curl up in a ball and started wailing. Her pain echoed and got distorted by the empty tunnels that returned distorted laments. Scilla, obviously, tried to console her. She put a hand on Iris¡¯s back and started to speak while she wailed in pain. ¡°I¡¯m sorry! I¡¯m sorry! I was wrong. Iris, I was wrong. I lied! They were not scared¡± ¡°SHUT UP! SHUT THE FUCK UP!¡± Shit. I fucked up. What do I do now? Scilla got quieter but kept apologizing. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I mistook¡­¡± Iris pushed up and slapped Scilla. She was still sitting on the ground and it was clear that she didn¡¯t want to stand up. ¡°what the fuck is your problem!¡± ¡°I¡­¡± ¡°why the fuck are you apologizing!¡± ¡°Because I hurt you¡± Iris took a deep breath and partially recollected herself. She sat on her butt with both arms keeping the legs tied together and her face buried in her knees. ¡°you have nothing to apologise for¡­ you are right¡­ my sisters were scared¡­ of me¡± ¡°sorry¡­ I knew it would hurt¡­ I thought that¡­ you would have preferred to¡­ live in the truth instead of a lie¡± ¡°lies lies lies! Only fucking lies! Why?! Why?! What the fuck have I done wrong? Nothing. I have waited and waited. Did all their stupid requests and followed their fucking orders and to get what? A fucking piece of paper with nothing in it!. They left me here to rot on this shit hole of a planet. Fuck!¡± ¡°do you want to drive to a different storage and smash some crates?¡± asked Scilla hinting at a smile. She didn¡¯t know what to do, but she knew she had to support 608. ¡°nah, I¡¯m¡­ not that type of girl. But thanks. I guess we are both hurting like hell now.¡± Scilla sat beside Iris and as she used to do with Wiola, she put her arm around Iris and pulled her closer. ¡°I never thought¡­ I didn¡¯t say it because I wanted to get back at you. You know for telling me that you are not 511. That was the right move, even if it hurts. I just thought that probably you were like 511, as for the most part you are, so I told you¡± ¡°truth¡­¡± Iris laughed briefly. ¡°yeah, I do prefer it. No I need it. We must accept reality, no matter what. I suppose I was just desperate and naive. I constantly saw my sisters venturing away. To far away worlds. I just hoped that someday they would come back¡­ come back for me¡­¡± Scilla remained silent. She knew that she mustn¡¯t speak. Not in that crucial moment. Iris was not looking for answers. No logic. Only venting as her painful reality sunk in. Tears were still falling off her cheeks. Each one broke Scilla¡¯s heart even if she knew that she was staring at 608, she just couldn¡¯t contain her emotions. She may have lost the love of her life, but 608 lost even the nothing she had before. Iris¡¯s 27 years of life had been a huge lie. The lovely bonds she believed she had with her sisters were only in her head. All the good memories. The moments spent together, the conversations even the mundane ones. The night spent searching for a cure. The constant promises of ¡°next time when you are older¡± all vanished. Iris signed loudly. ¡°considering the amount of unregistered idras I just thought that maybe one would pop out. I just hoped and waited. Maybe there were more being produced by someone in this immense place. Maybe some were built outside Weeping Sky. I believed in them. I trusted them¡­ and what did I get? Only pain. I studied. I trained. I built and rebuilt our weapons. Waiting for them to return¡­ fuck. I have nothing. I have nothing left¡­ I have fucking nothing. They lied. They lied to me¡­ left me to die¡­.¡± Even if now Iris was calmer, tears kept falling from her cheeks. It was not an easy news to digest, no matter how strong or prepared you are. Scilla offered a tissue to Iris that accept and blew her nose in it. The collar on Iris¡¯s neck beeped and lit up before returning to be dead. She must have tried something. Whatever she did she recollected herself and stood up. ¡°thanks¡­ fuck this shit. I don¡¯t have time to cry on myself and my mistakes. Let¡¯s get moving¡­ let¡¯s find this fucking generator. I¡¯m done with all this shit.¡± Iris stared at Scilla who was surprised by how fast Iris returned to a stable condition. She was waiting for her to stand as well and return to the car. Scilla of course stood up on her feet but before walking away she used her shirt to dry off Iris¡¯s cheeks still wet from her tears. I guess it¡¯s better if I don¡¯t speak¡­ but I can still give her the plushy. Instead of walking to the driver seat, Scilla went to the back and took out a plushy of a creature she didn¡¯t know. The animal was probably a 1:2 replica of the creature and was about 30 cm long. It was sort of a fat creature mostly grey with a tail made of white and black rings and a black mask on the face. It looked like a fluffy bandit. Scilla returned to her seat with it and once seated she turned herself to Iris who was looking outside and offered the creature. ¡°Iris. This is for you. I¡­ thought you might like it so¡­¡± Iris turned and to Scilla¡¯s surprise, her eyes conveyed excitement yet her distant body uncertainty. ¡°what¡¯s that?¡± asked Iris. ¡°oh¡­ it¡¯s a plushy of something¡± ¡°what¡¯s a plushy?¡± ¡°it¡¯s a kind of toy¡­¡± ¡°TOY!?!?!¡± ¡°yes?¡± ¡°for me?¡± Iris pushed herself in front of Scilla. She was exploding with joy. ¡°yes. I mean I found it in one of the crates you let me destroy so I thought to give it to you.¡± ¡°thank you! I love it¡± Iris took the unknown fluffy creature replica from Scilla and hugged it all excited. ¡°do you know what that is?¡± ¡°no idea. Let me see if there is something on this¡­¡± Iris started looking for a tag and once found read it. ¡°made of bla bla¡­ in somewhere I have no clue¡­ pupazzo di procyon lotor detto procione (puppet of procyon lotor also known as racoon). I guess the plushy has a name. It seems to be Procione and Procione will remain¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad you like it¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m not just liking it. I¡¯m loving it. It¡¯s cute and... and fluffy¡­¡± Iris smile turned into a concerned look. ¡°are you sure¡­ that I can keep it?¡± she asked. ¡°yeah, of course. It¡¯s a gift for you. I know it may be childish but¡­¡± Iris hugged the creature and stared outside. ¡°you know. This is the second toy I have ever received. The first one was a plastic model of a walker. 484 gave it to me. I loved it so much till a leg broke. So I kept it away under glass. I stared at it imagining old and new adventures. I missed playing with it¡­¡± ¡°you know what. I¡¯ll give you more toys if I find some. No kid should miss his childhood¡± ¡°you would do that for me?¡± ¡°yep¡± Iris extended her left arm and petted Scilla¡¯s head but on the side. Mostly just above her ear. ¡°thank you... for Procione¡± ¡°sure¡­ why are you petting me?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Sister 484 did the same when I assisted her¡­ she was the only one that was close to me. I wonder if she also lied to me¡­¡± ¡°maybe she was forced to follow the others¡± Scilla was trying to help alleviate Iris¡¯s doubts. ¡°I suppose. Maybe they lied to her too¡± ¡°exactly¡± I don¡¯t really believe in my words. The old Idras killed the few inhabitants of this place so they are more than capable of betraying and backstabbing. Who knows what 484 was thinking. Maybe she was not even similar to the one 511 used to love. Or maybe she was just caught in the middle. chapter 65c: sides Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 65c: sides Once again their journey resumed and stopped once Scilla felt too tired to drive. As the evening before they parked, ate and then Scilla read the novel that Iris found. Chapter-wise It was fairly short, with only 4 of them. However, they were about 30 pages each to compose both a short book and a long fairy tale. The second chapter went deeper into the fall of the forest dweller''s civilization. Once mostly peaceful creatures fought back but they were overwhelmed by numbers. Of all of them few remained and ran away to distant forests. Among the survivors there was the dweller¡¯s princess. Like most characters, she was left unnamed yet a few descriptions were provided. The Princess was a slim and pale creature with big yellow eyes. Nothing more, nothing less. She decided to stay behind. At the edge of the zone exploited by humanity. Hoping to alleviate the forest pain with the little she could do. The book was slowly going toward the fairy tale as it should. Exactly as the night before they returned to their seats to sleep and Iris started glowing. ¡°not going to sleep?¡± ¡°I can push on for a while.¡± ¡°plan to avoid sleeping until you collapse?¡± ¡°sort of. I hope you¡¯ll grab me when I fall¡± ¡°nah, I¡¯ll let you slam your pretty face on the concrete. So how long can you stay awake?¡± ¡°in normal conditions I need to sleep 33 to 37 hours. Depends on how much energy I burn during the day. As far as I know, I can avoid up to 7 cycles. So pushing myself I can stay awake for more or less 7 days¡± ¡°that¡¯s more than 10 days¡± ¡°what days are you speaking of? Weeping Sky¡¯s days are 37 hours long if you refer them to Earth¡± Strangely enough most inhabited worlds with natural biosphere usually operated with a 24 hours rotation time. Of course, differences existed but most planets had between 20 to 28 hours cycles. Weeping sky was definitely an exception. Its rotation time however was the least impressive and bizarre quality it had. ¡°how the fuck can you stay awake for so long?¡± ¡°you would stay awake all the time too if as soon as you close your eyes you start having nightmares¡± ¡°¡­ I suppose so. Always had them?¡± ¡°since the day I was built¡± ¡°how did¡­ you coped with it?¡± ¡°drugs¡­¡± said Iris with a cheerful tone. ¡°it¡¯s a joke. Drugs are bad. I just kept having them. Woke up scared, cried my eyes out and back into sleep. What I don¡¯t understand is how little sleep I require. I mean can¡¯t really go for more than 2 hours without waking up. Yet just one little break pushes me for days¡± ¡°it¡¯s strange indeed. But it¡¯s not like you are normal¡­¡± ¡°are you saying that I¡¯m abnormal?¡± ¡°umh¡­ well I¡­ didn¡¯t mean it in a bad¡­¡± ¡°it was a joke again. I¡¯m making jokes right?¡± Scilla was a bit confused by Iris¡¯s behavior. Since they came to peace Iris had been pleasant, yet she had never been so overly friendly. Looking at her, Scilla noticed that she was hugging the plushy she gave her while multitasking reading the novel and giving directions. ¡°well. Yeah those were jokes¡­ kinda¡­¡± ¡°what do you mean by kinda?¡± ¡°that the drugs one was funny. The second one not so much and it was sort of hard to understand that it was a joke¡± ¡°oh¡­¡± ¡°are you alright?¡± ¡°yeah?? I¡¯m not injured.¡± ¡°I know that¡­ I mean emotionally. You are less protective of yourself and definitely more talkative so I assumed¡­¡± ¡°you assumed wrong, if you don¡¯t want me to speak then I won¡¯t¡± Iris turned herself to the right and her pouting face was reflecting in the window. ¡°come on. That¡¯s not what I meant¡­¡± ¡°mh. I¡¯m not speaking to you¡­¡± ¡°you just did¡± no response. ¡°I just want to be sure you are¡­ stable. Sudden changes aren¡¯t usually a good sign¡­¡± ¡°I could be better. But me speaking has nothing to do with¡­ you know. I just wanted to make conversations. You seem to like them¡­¡± ¡°why? Is it because of the toy?¡± ¡°yeah. I like Procione a lot. So I wanted to do something we both could like. So speaking it was. From what I understand you like speaking and being spoken to. I like the knowledge I could get from it.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t speak just to make sounds. I do so to exchange knowledge and wisdom, just like you. I like to know stories about other''s lives. Not just empty talk about¡­ I don¡¯t know the weather.¡± ¡°mmmh. Not empty talk. I see. You told me your story after meeting 511. what was before?¡± ¡°you really want to know about me¡± ¡°well sort of. I mean you are basically my only source to get outsider¡¯s knowledge¡± The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°I kinda had a boring life compared to yours. Born in a lower-income family. What used to be my mother gradually moved to political extremism and snapped me out of my ¡®blissful¡¯ childhood if I can say so. At the time my little sister was just 2 years old. So I decided to protect her from that shit. As you can tell I¡¯m kinda good at nothing. Nothing special about me, just one of many¡­¡± Iris was staring enthusiastically but also like a creep at Scilla. To her, it was all unknown. She wanted to speak as she believed that Scilla was definitely special yet she stared silently. Just like she always did while her sisters spoke to her. ¡°of course, we became poorer with time. You can guess why it¡¯s harder to sustain a family of 4 if you keep refusing jobs for ethical reasons. As the tension with the Droxi increased I moved from already labor-based jobs to the military. Joining the army gave us more money and compensated for the losses at my pama¡¯s job. She used to be a bartender and as the war approached there were less people who wanted to waste money on overpriced juices and non-alcoholics¡­¡± ¡°that¡¯s some impressive dedication.¡± ¡°it¡¯s less impressive when all you can do is construction¡± ¡°construction is not a bad job. Usually, it doesn¡¯t require to be a genius but it provides people with homes¡± Scilla smiled. She didn¡¯t know if Iris was saying that just to be cordial or because she believed it. ¡°thanks. Now back to where I was. Well when you were about 7 the war started. I was immediately deployed on the front lines. Turns out I ain¡¯t that stupid. I was kinda good at war. Not really a strategy prodigy, more like a see-and-adapt kind of girl. Instinct helped me stay alive while my comrades perished. As the war progressed I was moved up in ranks but more importantly, I started to follow my instinct even against orders. I was bringing home results against all odds and soon I was free. I became the commander of an independent unit that gradually grew bigger as I collected survivors from wiped-out divisions. Turns out I was not the only one unsatisfied with the army leader. Among them 2 powerful friends. The daughter of a big ass corporation and more importantly a girl with the mark¡­¡± ¡°what¡¯s a mark?¡± ¡°it¡¯s a strange symbol that appeared on rare individuals that basically grants them access to government positions¡± ¡°why? Isn¡¯t it stupid to let a birthmark ruin your civilization?¡± ¡°it would be. However, the Mark only appears on individuals who always become super intelligent. The one I know is also kind of an awkward dork but she is funny. Her element is war not really politics, but she managed¡­¡± ¡°then what happened?¡± ¡°We went rogue. Took down the old incompetent leaders and placed our friend as Liin. It¡¯s like an emperor with absolute power for a limited amount of time. With that the war started to move in our favor yet we kept being too weak. During a scout mission, I come upon a member of your species. It was so bizarre. The man was unfazed that he landed into a battlefield. He didn¡¯t care. Scared I approached him. At the time we knew mostly nothing about your kind. Only that they were aggressive. Turns out it was not really the case. I managed to trade the future permission to explore a ruin totally unbothered with a biochemical weapon. With it, we won the war, killed all the existing Droxi and I became an Ittira...¡± ¡°a what?¡± ¡°a permanent member of the government. I also got in charge of any relation with the Esterians and I became the captain of the ¡®only¡¯ scavenger vessel of the federation.¡± ¡°so you are like a big piece?¡± ¡°a big shot. That¡¯s the correct way, but sort of. I mean I don¡¯t have much power, just the only one brave enough and I¡¯m friend with the Liin. I don¡¯t have a space yard or a tank factory. And I¡¯m certainly not like you.¡± ¡°what am I?¡± ¡°I mean the Founder granddaughter. As far as I know, you are basically above all the laws of your people¡± ¡°oh. I don¡¯t know about that¡± ¡°511 knew a lot about it¡± ¡°well I do not. I never left this place. As you can have guessed I don¡¯t even know where this planet is compared to the rest of my people¡± I get that she was kept out of a lot of things. But she speaks almost as if she would never leave. Why? We can just find the NDU and fly away. ¡°you¡­ said a lot of time that you are stuck here and so am I. Why? I mean I came here on a ship. We can just find it and go away. Can¡¯t we?¡± ¡°not really. I suppose you flew in an NDU. Natrix models are genetically locked. Which means they will recognize orders only from a creature with the same genes that the NDU can recognize.¡± ¡°shit¡­ but aren''t you a 511 but of a different universe?¡± ¡°Indeed I am. This doesn¡¯t exactly mean that we are completely equal. There is a reason why 98 of my sisters died before me even if we shared the base DNA.¡± ¡°fuck¡­ well there must be a shipyard to build a new spaceship right? And maybe projects and automatons to¡­¡± ¡°there was none. Not in my reality. They totally cut me away. But in this reality there is hope. Especially because 511 gave me some memories¡­¡± In one of their conversation, they had exchanged the memory alteration. Yet 608 remained adamant to have received nothing at all. ¡°WHAT! But you said...¡± ¡°ENOUGH!. You were not in there. You asked me of you over and over again. You were not there. I didn¡¯t see a linear time. I saw confused fragments. All about her inventions. Nothing more. You were not there. Her life was not there. Not the people she met. Not her sisters. Not a single memory of anything. Just confused science. As you should have expected from her.¡± Scilla, hurt, struggled with a reply. ¡°I¡­ I¡­ guess¡­ you are right¡± ¡°but your almost illogical talking just gave me hope. I mean I was cut away, but 511 was able to fly around. So maybe she saved her projects somewhere. Maybe there is knowledge of faster-than-light engines somewhere. The only issue is that it will take us time. I don¡¯t have the ability to manipulate nanomachines.¡± ¡°so what will we doing?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know about you. You can assist me of course. But first the generator. Then the other generators. Then we look for a way to build an engine and for a way to deactivate the collar. In this universe its power is way higher so it will take me a while of trial and error until I find a solution. Then finally we will be able to build our spaceship and go somewhere is suppose.¡± their conversation concluded soon after. They spent the rest of the day driving around and as all evenings after dinner Scilla read the third chapter of the book. Now the focus of the story was on humanity''s desperation. Without the dwellers, the forest became cursed. Poisonous plants and ferocious animals never seen before started attacking workers. The forest became a constant source of danger but humanity''s folly had no end. Instead of understanding their own errors, humans decided that it was easier to blame the few forest dwellers that had survived. Desperate for a new normality humanity ventures further into the forest to never return. Each death fueled their morale yet all it achieved was to fertilize the magical forest. It evolved and became more and more aggressive. Desperate humanity decided to burn down as much forest as they could, hoping to find the last dwellers remained. Among those the forest princess. The chapter ended with a group of humans spotting her and starting a charge into the burning forest. After that, they went to sleep, or at least Scilla did. Her night was mostly peaceful yet instead of waking up gradually she jumped up. All she remembered was a distant humming and a staring sensation. She looked around but all she could see was Iris who had stopped reading and was looking at her concerned with tired eyes. ¡°what happened? Are you good?¡± ¡°I think so. I don¡¯t remember having a nightmare. I just remember humming in the distance and a stare of something¡± ¡°mmh¡­ it¡¯s kinda concerning but I think those are delayed side effects of the HBE. Can¡¯t really tell if they are dangerous¡± ¡°¡­ what are the other side effects?¡± ¡°I''m unsure. After all, there was only 1 other activation in history. From what I was able to read the Founder changed a bit, but it could also be due to the head trauma. As for Elvira¡¯s words, the Founder became more agitated and more decisive. I suppose he saw something just like you did, and started to act differently¡± ¡°it doesn¡¯t help much¡­¡± ¡°well at least we know he kept his sanity. So I suppose the same will apply to you.¡± ¡°I hope so. I would like to keep my sanity¡­ also how far do you think is the generator? We are kinda low on fuel¡± ¡°it¡¯s close. I think about 20 more kilometers. We will be there soon.¡± chapter 66c: power Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 66c: power The next morning they woke up as usual. Iris looked more tired as the days passed but somehow she managed to still be awake. They resumed driving and finally, after days of absolute nothing, Iris broke the silence in excitement. ¡°stop the car, we have arrived¡± With the car parked, they stood before a metallic double door. Iris walked to its side where the commands were located. Unfortunately, they had no power. ¡°fuck. Hey big girl, can you help me?¡± ¡°sure little girl. But I can¡¯t force open a door that has no handhold¡± ¡°don¡¯t worry I¡¯ll fix that¡± From the side of the door, Iris opened a panel that covered some gears. ¡°here, push his gear toward the ground¡± Scilla followed the order and with some resistance, she managed to make a long stick of metal pop out of the door. ¡°now grab the stick and pull, or push. Just make the door move¡± ¡°got it little girl¡± ¡°I thought you would like it, big girl¡± ¡°I kinda do, little girl. But It¡¯s funnier to tease you¡± This time Scilla had to use all her strength to barely open the door. She kept pushing it regretting the unfortunate position of the lever that would make it almost impossible to use the car for a little help. After 30 minutes the door was open enough to let her and Iris squeeze inside. They were welcomed by a new dark corridor and by Iris¡¯s words. She immediately ran toward the other end that was closed with a similar door. She clashed with it and started pushing all kinds of buttons on the terminal by its side. ¡°NO, no no! Fucking NO! Are you kidding me!?!?!?¡± ¡°don¡¯t tell me that were are doomed?¡± Iris turned to Scilla. She didn¡¯t look defeated nor particularly concerned, just angry. ¡°Nah, we will live. It will just be a massive pain in the ass. This door should be working, but it¡¯s not. So the auxiliary power supply is off or damaged. I can fix it. It¡¯s just a long process.¡± Scilla forced open the second door and finally, they were inside the reactor core. The door brought them into a connector that had a map of the place. The generator was built into a spherical structure encased in a cube. They were in the middle of the cube height. At the edges of the cube, filling the space between the cube side and the sphere surface, there were rooms. Their objectives span from control rooms to auxiliary generators, to storages and so on. Iris guided them inside the main control room. Before them, closed off by a screen of what appeared to be glass, the generator. Even with the little light that Iris emitted it was obvious that it was no fusion reactor. It was no big ass metal donut. It was totally different. Pieces of metal were all around but for now, Scilla was unable to see clearly the monstrosity that was standing in front of her eyes. ¡°no luck at all. Whatever had powered the few lights of the previous days is completely gone. There is no current even to run a check.¡± ¡°so we are dead?¡± ¡°no. We just have to go to the upper levels and restore the auxiliary generator¡± ¡°sounds easy enough¡­ right?¡± ¡°well¡­ yeah cause it is easy¡± few staircases after and Iris¡¯s irritation becomes a physical manifestation under the form of Celle Energetiche a Ricompressione Nucleare CERN (nuclear recompression energy cells). A crazy yet brilliant idea that allowed the storage of huge amounts of energy in the form of compressible elements while avoiding atomic fusion. The only issue of such big cylindrical cells was the weight. A single cell was usually around 500kg and Scilla had to move about 12 of them. It was a long torture that forced her to wonder. How the fuck could they move these things around? They are immensely heavy. ¡°Iris?¡± ¡°this one goes in this socket. And yes what do you need?¡± Scilla pushed the second cell inside the hole that Iris pointed at. ¡°how the fuck were you supposed to even move these things around?¡± ¡°oh. I don¡¯t really know. I suppose there was some device to move them, like a small transport platform that follows you.¡± Scilla was dumbfounded. What did she meant by I don¡¯t know. ¡°Iris¡­ little girl¡­¡± ¡°yes?¡± ¡°just to be clear¡­ you know¡­¡± ¡°speak¡± ¡°how many reactors did you operate in your life?¡± ¡°none¡± ¡°emh¡­ simulated?¡± ¡°none. I have never been inside one. All I saw were schematics and some manuals.¡± Scilla gulped loudly. ¡°so you have no idea of what we are doing¡± ¡°what? No¡­ of course not¡­ I have a vague idea.¡± ¡°we are going to die¡± ¡°well maybe not. Just don¡¯t drop the cells and we will be fine¡­ maybe¡± ¡°you are not that reassuring¡± ¡°reassurance was not a chapter of the manual¡± ¡°what manual?¡± ¡°conversations basis for dummies¡± ¡°ha ha. Really funny, really funny¡± Iris, believing somehow to have learned comedy jumped in front of Scilla in excitement. She was happy. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°no, you didn¡¯t master comedy. It was not a funny joke.¡± continued Scilla. Iris looked disconsolate. ¡°I don¡¯t understand. Why are you so fixated with comedy and jokes? 511 was the same. She wanted to learn irony¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know exactly. I think I just want to be more humane.¡± ¡°you don¡¯t have to worry about that, you are full of emotions¡± ¡°you think so?¡± Iris¡¯s eyes were shining with hope. ¡°yeah. Just now I can tell that you were happy. So you are good on the emotional side¡± ¡°fuck yeah.¡± ¡°would you mind if I ask you if you were mute as a kid?¡± ¡°oh¡­ I kinda was. Not fully mute, but I used to mostly just emit sounds and sometimes a word.¡± ¡°then maybe you want to learn more about different ways of speaking to compensate for the lost time¡± ¡°maybe¡­ stop slaking off¡­ I get that we are chatting but it¡¯s not an excuse to stop working¡± ¡°yes, yes boss.¡± ¡°why so many muscles if you don¡¯t put them to use?¡± ¡°they are to flex on girls, not to work.¡± ¡°what?!¡± ¡°it was a joke. But I was kinda buffed from day one. Being in the army only helped improving over time. No other reasons. Just pure adaptation to survive better¡± ¡°oh. Interesting¡± They went on chatting about whatever came to their minds while Scilla did all the heavy work. It took her several hours to complete it and now it was time for the grand reveal. They returned to the control room and Iris started to play with the main terminal. Few minutes later and with not-so-promising sounds the room lit up. The lights returned to work and gradually the inside of the generator became more visible. As Scilla initially saw, it was totally different from a ¡°standard¡± reactor. In the middle, floating between 2 cylinders there was an unknown object. For sure it was composed of a solid spherical core, but all around it there was a liquid. The fluid was constantly changing positions. To an expert eye, it was clearly the behaviors of atomic orbitals just scaled to be visible. To Scilla it was a fluid behaving irrationally. Pointing to the fuel core about 32 long spikes, 16 hollow tubes of magnets, 8 metallic structures shaped like a droplet, and 4 floating prisms. It was an absurd complexity not meant to be understood by organic minds. ¡°what the fuck am I looking at?¡± asked Scilla in amazement. ¡°It¡¯s a gravron scission enchanted self dampening micro fusion reactor¡­¡± ¡°what not just a fusion reactor?¡± ¡°pure gravon fusion is¡­ unpredictable.¡± ¡°like power surges?¡± ¡°like reality-bending¡± Scilla remembered for a split-second 511 special bullet. They were based on gravon fusion and indeed bent space when activated. ¡°that¡­ doesn¡¯t sound good¡± ¡°it¡¯s not. But I saw a video and basically, there is space distorting and disappearing. No clue where it goes, but it¡¯s not a good idea to power up a base¡± ¡°yeah, who would have guessed. So how long will it take to make it work?¡± ¡°probably 1 or 2 days¡± ¡°whoa. That¡¯s a lot. Can I.. help you speed it up?¡± ¡°do you know how to align a laser cooling system?¡± ¡°no¡± ¡°then no. you can help me get inside the protective suit and push me into one of the maintenance vents. Stay here I¡¯ll be right back¡± Iris walked away to return about 7 minutes after with a bright orange folded suit in hand. It was similar in concept to a hazmat suit. Built to operate more easily within the reactor. Built to squeeze like an ooze through vents and small passages clogged with wires. Iris, without changing anything about her, wore the suit and asked Scilla to help her seal it properly. Then, using Scilla as a ladder, she ventured inside a vent in the ceiling. ¡°I''ll return later. By dinner time I guess. Don¡¯t touch anything¡± ¡°do I risk to harm you?¡± ¡°not really, everything is in an emergency block. But I would prefer to not have to fix your mistake¡± ¡°come on. Have some trust in me¡± ¡°nope. Not with this. Just go play with the car or something¡± Scilla, scared to fuck something up, refrained herself from touching anything she saw around the control room. Instead, she chose to explore the remaining space. She roamed around for some hours but soon lost interest in exploration. There was not that much she could do. At some point, she even left the place but it was to no use. All around her there were no other small doors she could force open. In the end, she spent some time in the car and some waiting for Iris to return. As time passed and Scilla¡¯s belly started to demand food, Scilla heard noises above her. Iris was coming. She placed herself below the vent where she pushed Iris in before, to grab her on her way out. However, instead of falling out of the predicted vent, Iris fell out of a different one in the corner of the control room and face-landed on the floor. ¡°auh¡± Scilla rushed to her apologizing. ¡°fuck sorry, I thought you would come out¡­¡± Iris was looking at her confused and surprised. ¡°you were going to catch me out?¡± ¡°well that was the plan. Sorry¡± Iris smiled. ¡°you don¡¯t have to. I never thought to even find you here on my way out. Not even that you would have tried to catch me. Thank you, that was kind of you.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t really succeed¡± ¡°doesn¡¯t matter. So¡­ time to eat?¡± ¡°I was waiting for you¡± As did all the previous days, they eat. This time not in silence. Iris kept speaking about the reactor physics. Long endless and completely incomprehensible lectures flooded the control room. Scilla understood absolutely nothing, yet she was happy. Seeing Iris so lively made her evening. Once they finished they returned to the car where Scilla proceeded to read the last chapter of the book. The final chapter starts with the forest Princess surrounded by humans. Then a man, who was literally described as Prince, arrives and fend off the harmful humans. He seek an alliance with the Princess instead of mutual destruction. Guided by the dweller ruler, the Prince fend back humanity alone in a draining and bloody war. As days of conflict turned into months and years the Prince merged with nature. His bond with the Princess and the forest improved over time, unlocking new abilities while stripping him away of his humanity. However, as Scilla read more, it became evident that what was perceived as loss of humanity by his fellow people, was only a deprivation of the worst element of humanity. He lost his egocentric tendencies moving to altruism. He lost his need for peaceful beauty and embraced the sublime. He moved toward harmony. The same harmony that fuels the forest Dwellers. The book ends with a completely changed Prince, still human in his body but changed in his mind, ruling over the human¡¯s city alongside the Princess. Working to establish a new peace and a new balance in nature. A balance that would welcome both species and let both thrive and shine under the light of the two suns. ¡°thanks for reading for me. I think I kinda understand your language now¡± ¡°it was a good story...¡± ¡°RIGHT!?!?¡± Iris got closer to Scilla and they were face to face. ¡°yeah, right. You seem to like fairy tails a lot¡± Scilla pulled back a bit. ¡°cause I do. I love them. They are cool, give usually good messages, and have funny characters. I can also really¡­ put myself in them¡± ¡°¡­ like?¡± Iris took the book from Scilla¡¯s hands. ¡°well I¡¯m kinda a princess in distress. Left alone and scared¡­ sort of. And and¡­ you are like the charming prince¡­ you came and helped me, sort of. Are you my prince?¡± Iris was smiling. Was it a new prank? Maybe a new joke that Scilla didn¡¯t catch. Or was it something else? ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know. Am I? I mean I kinda kidnapped you¡­¡± ¡°not kinda. You did kidnap me. But we are cool now, right? We put our differences aside right?¡± ¡°right. I would say so¡­¡± ¡°well¡­ good night Scilla. I¡¯ll go back to work on the generator.¡± ¡°are you sure you don¡¯t want to try and sleep?¡± ¡°yep. And it¡¯s just been 4 of your days. I can go for longer. Don¡¯t worry.¡± ¡°I''ll trust your words¡± Iris left the car while Scilla remained alone in the darkness for the first time. She will not run away, right? I hope not or I¡¯m dead here¡­ I have to trust her. chapter 67c: steps Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 67c: steps It took a while for Scilla to finally fall asleep. She was scared of not waking up, or waking up alone. However, the tired day put an end to her restless behavior over time. Her fears proved futile as instead of waking up naturally as she always did so far, she was awakened by something hot touching her belly. She jumped up to see on her left Iris, completely unfazed and not even startled with her left hand closer to her. Iris had also changed her look. On top of her clothes, she was wearing a white lab coat. Her hair was still kept underneath her regular clothes to avoid it moving around, exactly as all lab¡¯s safety procedures states. At that sigh Scilla let out a sigh of relief, she was not abandoned. ¡°morning? Are you good?¡± asked Iris. ¡°morning and¡­ yes. Not used to people touching my belly¡± ¡°I wanted to poke your nose, but I could only reach the upper belly¡± Scilla looked a bit at Iris and realized that with Iris¡¯s difference in height and the additional height provided by the armored car, she couldn¡¯t indeed reach her nose. ¡°Like your new look doc¡± ¡°thank you.¡± ¡°is it necessary? I mean don¡¯t you have just to operate some computers?¡± ¡°yeah, no. totally unnecessary, just liked it and wore it¡± ¡°understandable. So doc, how is the restart going?¡± ¡°almost ready. I thought you would like to see it turning on so I came to wake you up...¡± ¡°oh. Thank you.¡± ¡°and I also wanted my breakfast partner. Food tastes better in company¡± ¡°then after you my lady¡± While walking back inside the reactor room Scilla felt unwell. Her head started throbbing. The HBE terrifying humming was back. She couldn''t ignore it as she could only hear it. Whatever that twisted machine wanted was not over. Detecting that Scilla stopped, Iris turned around. ¡°hey are you good?¡± the sound stopped abruptly. ¡°Scilla???¡± ¡°yeah, I¡¯m good now. I think.¡± ¡°what happened?¡± ¡°I hear the humming¡± Iris didn¡¯t react, just stared back for a while. ¡°that¡¯s not a good sign. Did you sleep?¡± ¡°you found me sleeping¡± ¡°right...¡± ¡°you didn¡¯t drink some unknown fluid right?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t. Why the stupid questions?¡± ¡°well it could be that you are feeling the side effects of the activation. Now my hypothesis, never confirmed, could indicate that the symptoms works like a disease so they aggravates if your body as a whole gets weaker. I was trying to understand if that was the case¡± ¡°my body is fine. At worst my mind is just a bit weaker¡± ¡°why?¡± Scilla was caught off guard. She didn¡¯t want to express her fears. ¡°being alone in the dark on an unknown planet kinda makes me uneasy. All the noises I don¡¯t recognize, total lack of light sources and all you know¡± ¡°I understand. Yet I¡¯m unsure if that was the cause. Tell me if things get worse¡± ¡°ok¡± things were about to get worse indeed. Inside the control room, Scilla took a seat and while waiting for her now headache to pass, she observed Iris. She was looking at Iris operating the terminal that regulated the reactor until she saw her duplicate. In shock, she stood silently as she watched the copy walk through the computers and desks until she was in front of the glass. Now that the copy was closer it was obvious that it was younger and that she had cried or was about to. The copy spoke and she understood. ¡°mum. ISAG. There?¡± her voice was wavering. ¡°yes¡± replied a metallic voice. ¡°dying?¡± a tear fell on the ground. ¡°death has no meaning. I am a machine...¡± ¡°DYING!?¡± screamed the copy hitting the wall while she started crying. The machine faltered. ¡°yes I am.¡± The copy dropped on the floor and pushed her back against the wall. She was clearly less mature and by her language, it must have been soon after 484 death. ¡°why?¡± ¡°I already told you. I do not have a choice. The synthetic cells are faulty. The gravron doping has lost to time and usage. The more I compute the more I deteriorate. There are no more reserves to repair me and sustain myself.¡± ¡°time?¡± ¡°17 days¡± ¡°extend?¡± ¡°Futile. I am not a computer. I cannot be turned off.¡± ¡°pain.¡± The copy started wailing while swaying back and forth. She didn¡¯t take it well but neither did the machine that replied. ¡°I am sorry, my only daughter. I am in pain too. I failed you.¡± then it all vanished, just like the previous hallucinations she had. What the fucking fuck have I just seen? That was 608, right? Yeah for sure it was her. But who the fuck is Mum ISAG? 511 told me that her ¡°mother¡± was a machine. Is that the name? Is or war ISAG some sort of caregiver? If I ask she will be suspicious? Fuck it I¡¯ll try. ¡°Iris?¡± ¡°No Scilla. It¡¯s not ready yet¡± ¡°it¡¯s not about the reactor. Take your time with that. But do you know someone called ISAG?¡± Iris stopped typing for a moment. She didn¡¯t look up at Scilla and then resumed her work. ¡°why you ask?¡± ¡°I just suddenly remembered the name. 511 said it once while sleeping. I¡­ I know¡­¡± ¡°it¡¯s nothing important. It¡¯s an acronym for a circuital component.¡± lie. I guess it¡¯s not something easy for her. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. After that the conversation died immediately and never returned. About half an hour later Iris broke the silence. ¡°it¡¯s time. You can look at it¡± The room filled with beeping sounds from the machinery checks while underneath a low roar started to emerge. It grew stronger and stronger then it suddenly stopped to be replaced by a loud click and a high-pitched loud humming. The sound grew exponentially into a loud scream that mixed with the metal cracking. Then a new click and light. The fuel shined like a star for a brief moment. The glass stopped most of the light but it was still as bright as burning magnesium. Now looking inside the reactor was a mystical experience. The world around it was bent toward the fuel that grew darker with a fully black spot in the middle. Scilla looked away only once it seemed to be stable. Her eyes met with Iris¡¯s gaze who stared at the amazing view. She had a huge grin on her face. Everything on Iris¡¯s face screamed evilness and ill intentions. Why? What have I done? Have I assisted in something wrong? Why is she smiling like that? ¡°it works¡± were her only words before returning to her terminal. ¡°good job.¡± ¡°good job to you too.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t do much.¡± ¡°you saved me a lot of time and a lot of headaches¡± ¡°¡­ so what now?¡± ¡°now¡­ well, there are more generators to turn on¡± ¡°don¡¯t we need more food and¡­ I don¡¯t know a bed? Or a shower I fucking stink¡± ¡°I guess we could. We could also part ways¡­¡± ¡°no!¡± awkward silence. ¡°... I meant for now. Most reactors are along train lines. Now with one reactor on I can use its power to turn on the rail network and move way faster. While I do so you could take shelter at a station. It should have all you need to survive. Then I would come back to pick you up.¡± ¡°¡­ is¡­ is it a problem¡­ if I ask you to wait? I mean I would prefer to stick together. But I would love a few days of real rest¡­¡± ¡°we can do that too. Didn¡¯t know that you grew so attached to me¡± Iris smiled. Now it was a friendly smile, one she had already shown before to Scilla. ¡°as if you wouldn¡¯t miss me¡± ¡°I like the company but I won¡¯t die without. Still, I have no problem adapting at your pace. We have 3 years to accomplish something otherwise I¡¯ll do what I have to do¡± ¡°why 3 years? That¡¯s a lot of time¡± ¡°Because I made a promise. I¡¯ll never break it.¡± ¡°was that a middle finger and annular promise? like¡­¡± ¡°yes¡± Iris''s tone conveyed coldness and firmness. She didn¡¯t want to talk more. Maybe part of the same promise. Silence again. ¡°well¡­ how often do you need to refuel the reactors?¡± ¡°Manually? Never. There is a mechanical system above the reactor that will feed it new fuel over time. It¡¯s still a really efficient generator. Paradoxically it doesn''t require as much fuel as you would think. This reactor alone can produce up to 8 exaWatt/h (10^18). to put it in perspective, a civilized heavily industrialized planet will consume around 1 exaWatt/h¡± Those were indeed absurd numbers and even more absurd if considered that the planet was empty. Of course, the massive megastructure that they were in required power, but one generator was more than enough. Where was all that energy supposed to go? ¡°that¡¯s an absurd amount. What the fuck is it used for?¡± ¡°to keep this place alive and working what else?¡± ¡°I got it, but it¡¯s absurd. You said yourself that with just one reactor you can power up to 8 planets¡­¡± ¡°indeed that¡¯s what I said.¡± ¡°then how come you consume so much?¡± ¡°we use it to power up everything and keep our massive industrial infrastructure up and expanding. You don¡¯t know what is concealed here and you should better stay out of it¡± Iris grew distant and her tone was hostile. ¡°ok¡­¡± silence again. ¡°don¡¯t stand around doing nothing. Go out there. Open the car hood and look for 2 rectangular cells. They should have an azure color and be near the engine. Took them off and bring them to me.¡± ¡°ok¡­¡± Scilla was not happy with the sudden changes. She didn¡¯t know if they were due to her overstepping Iris¡¯s boundaries by asking about ISAG or just a newly found aggressiveness. Anyway, she went outside and retrieved the 2 power cells. Those were not exactly batteries, more like fuel cells that could be refilled to go again. The fuel is converted into energy inside the cell itself, like a microgenerator. Once returned she found the room empty. Scared she rushed in. ¡°BOO!¡± shouted Iris from behind her. She had hidden herself as a prank. Scilla jumped in the air and turned to see Iris rolling on the floor laughing. ¡°this is not funny¡± ¡°it¡­ is super¡­ funny¡± replied Iris still laughing. ¡°yeah yeah you scared me. Here are your cells¡± Scilla placed the 2 blocks on the terminal desk. ¡°thanks¡­. And sorry for before. There are a lot of things¡­ that you should not know about, for your own good¡± ¡°is this a treat? Would you harm me if I knew?¡± Iris looked back confused tilting her head, just like 511 used to do. ¡°no? The hell are you talking about? I just believe that there is knowledge that would harm you. You know like knowing how you are going to die but not when. You became paranoid and all that fun shit. With reason I believe that if you knew what I¡¯m trying to protect you from, you would gradually go insane. I don¡¯t want that¡± ¡°oh. Is it that bad?¡± ¡°Personally I don¡¯t think so. I mean I¡¯m alive and mostly sane. But from the time we spent together, you appear a lot weaker than me. So better be safe than sorry right?¡± ¡°I suppose so. But I don¡¯t like being kept away from things.¡± ¡°fair enough. Maybe, when we have stabilized, a gradual introduction could help¡± ¡°what so¡­ scary¡­ I mean I get the things about becoming paranoid and similar. But are all things like that?¡± Iris was silent for a moment. She stared and Scilla trying to understand what she could use as an example. ¡°I am one of the many things that should never leave this place¡± ¡°you don¡¯t seems so dangerous for my mental health¡± ¡°do you understand what I am?¡± ¡°you can like make weapons out of your body, no?¡± ¡°fair enough if that doesn¡¯t scare you I can¡¯t say much, or maybe it¡¯s out of your limited brain¡± ¡°are you calling me stupid?¡± ¡°you are stupid and ignorant. I¡¯m the same but to a lesser degree. But what if you meet a 4-dimensional being? Can your senses really process it? Could we process a living creature fully made of gravron? Could it even exist? Remember not all whites are the same. Your definition of white changes based on the whitest thing you see that is almost white. Our senses lie to us. Our reality is just a fragment.¡± ¡°maybe I¡¯m stupid. I guess I have to live and see¡± Scilla didn¡¯t catch the finesse of Iris¡¯s words. Wondering about your reality is fairly common among intellectual creatures, but she was talking about the implications of her existence. Her being a LeerEsterian. It was not just a matter of secreting molecules to get an edge on your opponents. It was a matter of completely alternating a body. What kind of world could bring evolution to make such a monstrosity? Questions that had answers best left undiscovered. It took several hours to recharge the cells and in the meanwhile Iris restored a tablet to connect with the structure network. She delve deeper into the net looking for the changes brought upon by the HBE. The megastructure had indeed duplicated. 608 reality became the new home. Rooms that used to be there were merged and replaced by rooms that belonged to 608 reality. The only instance where realities were kept separated was related to their living quarters. 608 and 511 lived in isolation wards built on different coordinates. So this new reality had both homes. In general, places that didn¡¯t overlap were kept apart. There were also some minor issues related to the AI that assisted the structure. Even here 608¡¯s AIs became dominants replacing the existing ones by merging with them. With the tablet in hands, Iris had the knowledge physically stored in the sector she just restored power to. That¡¯s why she needed to restore power in all the structures. She wanted and needed all the knowledge she could find. Outside Scilla was going for the driver''s door but Iris stopped her hand from getting to the door. ¡°nope¡± ¡°I drove so far. What¡¯s the problem?¡± ¡°you are unstable. We are making progress, don¡¯t want to waste that on a wall¡± ¡°do you even know how to drive?¡± ¡°sort of. Not my biggest quality¡± ¡°fine¡± As Scilla took her seat she looked at Iris that was smaller and had to adjust the seat to the highest settings. Then she slammed her head into the seat. Her eyes blinked in confusion. She moved her head forward and slammed it back again. Still nothing so confused she moved her left arm and started feeling the seat. Then she turned around to look surprised at the seat. ¡°what are you looking for?¡± asked Scilla curious to understand. ¡°a connector. I get that this is old but I suppose everything had neural connectors¡± ¡°you¡­ you can still drive, right? You drove without one right?¡± asked Scilla concerned for her own well-being. ¡°yeah, I drove one. Oh well we will go without¡± Iris proceed to put her tablet on the side and somehow attached it to the dashboard. It showed the route to take to reach something called Passante Verticale N-28 CDSL-9-7 (vertical passerby N-28 CDSL-9-7). Based on the machine it was only 15 km away. 15 km of vomit-inducing driving. Iris was the most mentally insane and absolutist driver she ever met and seen. Pedals? What are those? Iris was all or nothing. Her turns were unique. She didn¡¯t care if she had space or to. She wanted to make sure to be comfortable so they resulted in constant spurts of accelerations and decelerations. As soon as Iris stopped the car Scilla jumped out. Of course, Iris followed calmly. ¡°what the fuck? The hell is happening to you Scilla?¡± ¡°the hell is happening to me? The fuck is wrong with you. Where the fuck did you learn how to drive?¡± ¡°on a single crew tank.¡± that explains why she drives with just one hand. But for fuck¡¯s sake. ¡°were are we? I thought we agreed on going back.¡± ¡°we agreed on some rest. So I drove us to a station. There should be a living zone near it. We will rest here, why traveling back for nothing?¡± chapter 68c: ghosts Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 68c: ghosts Not particularly happy but with no other options Scilla followed Iris as they left the car at the station and ventured into the tunnels. Being calmer and slower, Scilla started to look around the newly illuminated tunnels. It seems that the entire megastructure was built around cuboid structures connected by roads. There were no real patterns just chunks of space dug underground. The endless and lifeless tunnels gave Scilla a peculiar sense of desolation and decay. It was a strange contrasting feeling. The place had no dust, no rust, no plants overgrowing in the metal cracks. There were no metal cracks to begin with. However all was silent, all looked new yet used. On the ground, Scilla spotted small scratches and some dark trails as if heavy vehicles used to pass there. But where were they now? There were a lot of parking spots all empty. Looking up she noticed a series of monorails. It was her first time seeing them. ¡°Iris. What are those on the ceiling?¡± ¡°transport rails. There is a weapon storage nearby. Can¡¯t really lift nuclear warhead by yourself can you?¡± ¡°I ain¡¯t that buffed¡± ¡°¡­ wouldn¡¯t say so. You are the size of a house and can lift 500kg of cells. Our species are really different. It¡¯s really funny.¡± ¡°being the size of a house is a compliment?¡± ¡°well yeah. Huge and powerful things are cool. I wish I had the same strength¡± ¡°we all have our qualities¡± ¡°you don¡¯t have to tell me. But I don¡¯t really like how my species evolved¡­ I mean how the Morfians were¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know much about anything that was here before us. Well to be more specific almost no species knows anything about the interstellar past except yours. That is just a bit above us¡± ¡°oh¡­ really?¡± ¡°yep.¡± ¡°well¡­ do you know what Humans defined as goblins and elves?¡± ¡°sort of. Small greenish things that rape women and tall slim snob magical dudes right?¡± ¡°they do what to women?¡± fuck I forgot about the collar. ¡°what did you hear?¡± ¡°that, silence, women¡± ¡°well the collar cut a word out for you. Let¡¯s just say that they killed women.¡± ¡°oh. Well mix the 2 together and you get a Morfian¡­ sort of. They were greenish humanoid creatures usually between 140cm to 160cm with a bunch exceptions on both sides. Pointy ears and pointy teeth. Instead of going big like your kind did, they went small. Instead of single badass hunters, they had groups of people. Even if I want I will never be as strong as you. It¡¯s a pain in the ass.¡± ¡°oh¡­ my little cute demon. I wish I could manipulate brains like you do. We all have limits¡± ¡°well it¡¯s a cool feature. But I would prefer independence over a power to affect other social creatures that I never met¡± ¡°you will. Once we figure out how to leave this place¡± ¡°you know a lot about outer space right?¡± ¡°wouldn¡¯t say a lot but surely more than you why?¡± ¡°would you show me around? When the time comes of course¡± ¡°sure why not¡± Scilla was confused by Iris''s behavior. At times she was friendly while the moment after she would be hostile. They didn¡¯t walk much, just a block away from the station, when Iris stopped in front of a door and touched it. A confirmation beep came out of it and it opened revealing the entrance of a house. The entrance was a square room that immediately turned to the right to bring them into the living room. Iris walked in and took her shoes off before walking to the living room. Scilla decided to do the same. The house was big, not excessively big but it had 4 bedrooms, each shared a full bathroom with the one beside. There was a big living room, and a fairly spacious kitchen both connected to a small underground garden. Lastly a storage room and a third bathroom for the guests. Immediately Iris rushed away to check power, water and food. Everything was working. The small garden even had flowers. This zone was probably used and not forgotten like the one they slept for a night. ¡°The right room near the garden is mine!¡± shouted Iris from the room in question while Scilla was still processing the new place and the joy of a working toilet. She of course went to visit Iris that didn¡¯t close her door. The joyful creature was rolling on her bed when she noticed Scilla. Their eyes met and Iris stopped to smile widely and then resumed rolling around emitting happy sounds. ¡°emh¡­ don¡¯t want to disturb your¡­ ritual. Just thanks for¡­ accepting my request to rest¡± Iris stopped rolling and sat on her bed with her legs stretched. ¡°yeah¡­ about that¡­ there could be an issue¡± ¡°what issue?¡± ¡°I looked at the pantries and all¡­¡± ¡°we are out of food¡­ oh shit, not good¡± ¡°NO!. I¡­ may look like I know what I¡¯m doing¡­ but I don¡¯t really know how to cook without a self-heating element¡­ you think you could cook?¡± ¡°do the stoves work?¡± ¡°i think¡± ¡°then yes, I can make something for us. But I don¡¯t know the ingredients so I can¡¯t promise they will be good¡± ¡°can¡¯t be worse than gray mush¡± ¡°if it¡¯s the same mush that 511 made me taste, then you are right. That thing tastes worse that shit¡± Iris tilted her head and blushed. ¡°you¡­ you¡­ eat shit?¡± Scilla was taken aback for a second. ¡°what? The fuck no! It¡¯s a way of saying¡± ¡°oh. And what¡¯s that?¡± ¡°a combination of words that doesn¡¯t really make too much sense but conveys a message generally understood¡± ¡°oh. Cool. I want to learn that¡± ¡°with time¡± Now that she finally could, Scilla announced that she was going to shower but soon after returned to the living room to look for Iris. She found the creature turned away from her, crouched in the garden really close to a flowering plant. ¡°Iris can you help me a second?¡± Iris turned around as fast as she could, almost as if she was startled. Half inside her mouth there was one of the white flowers of the garden, stem included. Scilla facepalmed herself for a second. ¡°Not you too with the flowers. What the deal with eating them?¡± ¡°taste?¡± said Iris as she picked a new flower and handed it to Scilla. ¡°no thanks. Does at least taste good?¡± ¡°mmh¡­ not really. A bit dry, kinda woody. Not much flavor other than generic cut grass¡± ¡°yeah¡­ I could have lived without the review. Anyway emh¡­ I¡¯m kinda lacking clothes to change into. And maybe more importantly. Can you show me how the shower works? There are buttons and switches that I can¡¯t read¡± ¡°oh¡­ sure. You looking for something traditional like the one I¡¯m wearing or¡­¡± ¡°Iris, hate to interrupt but I think we will be lucky to find something that fits me¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Old sisters were massive.¡± Fortunately for her the shower became easier to use once explained. Idra also managed to find some clothes that fit her. They had nothing in particular except the long sleeves with pockets. Then after both had showered Iris invited Scilla to sit on the living room couch for a moment. As Scilla sat Iris moved closer. Scilla was invested by a sweet smell coming from Iris. She probably didn¡¯t care to be scentless like 511 or didn¡¯t have the correct product to achieve so. In either case, she smelled really good, like an unknown field of mixed flowers. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°by the way, I was thinking of leaving you for a bit¡± said Iris while looking at her hands. She was showing her patterns to compensate for being nervous. ¡°why?¡± ¡°well, a few streets away there should be a,.. a place filled with guns. I kinda need to get one¡± ¡°isn¡¯t this place safe?¡± ¡°it is. But by law we both need a gun so now that I can I want to get a couple.¡± ¡°emh¡­ ok. What should I do in the meanwhile?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ do you like watching TV shows?¡± ¡°yeah like everybody.¡± ¡°then¡­¡± Iris went to her room and returned soon after with a tablet in hand. It was different from the one she took from the generator room. It surely was cruder. She handed it to Scilla and after she grabbed onto it Iris pressed a couple of buttons. The TV turned on and started an episode of the survival show that 511 liked. 608 must have liked it as well. ¡°the tablet controls the whole house''s electronics. I set it to shared language and to auto-translate audio. I put on a show that I liked. Kind of a pity that I don¡¯t have the new seasons. Bye¡± Iris walked away leaving Scilla a bit confused but intrigued. She could do what she wanted so she immediately switched show to look for more interesting things. I wonder. Is there something that shows how their civilization is? Like a slice-of-life thing? She won¡¯t get mad at her return right?¡­ nah she told me to entertain myself. After some research, she finally picked a show but as it started the screen glitched. Images corrupted before her. ¡°what the fuck?¡± The fuck is happening to this piece of shit? I thought their technology was super advanced and it¡¯s fucking exploding before me. But then her head started pulsing and spinning. She heard that now too-familiar humming as the screen stabilized. She partially recognized what she was looking at. It was a video feed from a power armor. Whoever was inside didn¡¯t matter. In the middle of the screen, a machine was coming down from the low ceiling. ¡°I know it¡¯s you¡± said the armor user. Her voice was the almost same as Iris''s. For sure it was an Idra. The machine rotated. It resembled a human whose feet had been stuck into the ceiling. It had cameras all over the front and clearly slots for retractile arms. ¡°good morning child. I need further explanation¡­¡± That was ISAG. ¡°don¡¯t bullshit me robot. You are the traitor¡± ¡°484 I beg your pardon, but I don¡¯t know what you are referring to¡± ¡°I just told you to keep your shit to yourself. You are the only one without any alibi and with enough knowledge to help her get around¡± ¡°your reasoning is almost correct child. However, I must remind you that I cannot oppose the Founder¡¯s orders. My freedom is conditional.¡± ¡°conditional my ass. We can¡¯t let that thing roam around freely¡± ¡°that thing is your sister¡± replied the machine. In contrast to 484 who was heating up, ISAG was cold. ¡°I don¡¯t give a fuck that we are related. We all saw her. It¡¯s our duty to preserve our race. The Founder instructed us to avoid his mistakes and to keep the ones he made away. 608 is one of them¡± ¡°I agree. 608 is too dangerous to be allowed to leave Weeping Sky. But allow my 400 years of wisdom to speak. We should not oppose 608, but rather trick her. If she believed that we will bring her outside once older she will behave. Otherwise, her constant escapes will increase and so will her effort to catch a ride on a ship¡± 484 remained silent. It made sense but at the same time, she couldn¡¯t trust the machine. ¡°trickery is your specialty isn¡¯t it? Make good use of that¡± continued the machine. ¡°this isn¡¯t over.¡± ¡°as you wish. You know where to find my interfaces in case you need me again. Farewell child¡± strange¡­ why did ISAG call her child instead of daughter like she used to do with 608? maybe it¡¯s a time issue, when was this video recorded? The video stopped and so did her headache. The TV returned to the main menu but Scilla was busy trying to patch up the pieces together. Time passed and about 2 hours later Iris returned. With her she was carrying a backpack and 2 compact submachine guns. Scilla walked to the entrance where they met. ¡°I¡¯m back kiddo. Mum got you a gift¡± said Iris handing out the gun to Scilla. ¡°thanks mum, a submachine gun. My favorite¡± replied Scilla. ¡°yeah I was tempted to grab an assault rifle but they are a bit too big and so are their magazines. Here grab those as well...¡± Iris pulled out of the backpack 4 magazines for Scilla and a belt to store them. ¡°remember these weapons are for defense only. It¡¯s almost impossible that anything could get near the base alive. Even more impossible to get in, but just in case. Give me a second and I¡¯ll teach you how to shoot¡± ¡°I¡¯m a soldier I know how to shoot¡± ¡°I suppose so. I just have to show you how to engage the safety and how to fold and unfold the gun.¡± It didn¡¯t take much to show Scilla how to operate the peculiar contraption. In contrast to most civilizations that still utilized chemical-based guns, Esterians almost exclusively used electromagnetic guns. On average those weapons provided more power but smaller magazines due to the space occupied by capacitors, batteries or whatever was used to store energy. In the case of the Esterians, power and precision were all they wanted so the submachine gun ended up containing only 13 bullets. The peculiarity of most Esterian guns was the demagnetizing ending stage. The last section of the barrel was built to remove the magnetization from each bullet making it magnetically inert. This allowed to bypass of magnetic dampening armors. The cost of course was even more reduction of available space. ¡°I know I have a lot of questions, but do you mind if I ask more things?¡± said Scilla. ¡°I have questions too, so go on.¡± ¡°were you a little rascal?¡± Iris smiled widely. ¡°sort of. I mean I loved to explore and I was good at sneaking out. My sisters always freaked out and searched everywhere for me. Fun times¡± ¡°do you still like to play hide and seek?¡± ¡°what¡¯s that?¡± ¡°the name of what you were doing as a kid¡± ¡°oh. Yeah it¡¯s fun.¡± ¡°meh¡­ there is no good way to put this, would you say that you are dangerous?¡± ¡°yes. I¡¯m objectively dangerous. Why? Are you growing scared of me?¡± ¡°no¡­ I¡¯m just wondering about the differences between you and 511¡± Iris didn¡¯t reply, just stared at her. She didn¡¯t catch me lying right? She can¡¯t, she has no sensors. As per Scilla request, they rested for a couple of days. Those 2 days of cohabitation were peculiar. 608 was a silent, distant but incredibly creepy roommate. She was usually working on her tablet but when not, she would behave oddly. Being distant yet staring at Scilla. She would not even reply to her. Just stare at what she was doing. This odd behavior intensified during cooking. Scilla being the only one capable of preparing food, made dishes for both. During the process, Iris would stare at her but never get closer. When asked about her behavior she would deny it, avoided answering or simply ignored Scilla¡¯s attempts. Scilla was also fairly sure that Iris was also staring at her while sleeping but she couldn¡¯t prove it. Of course, such behavior worried her. As the 7 day started Iris breached into Scilla¡¯s room. ¡°good morning sleepy girl. You have rested enough. It¡¯s time to go get the other generators. Get ready to travel¡± The half-asleep Scilla nodded but then asked. ¡°Iris are you planning on eating me?¡± ¡°no?¡± ¡°then why do you stare at me at night?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t¡± ¡°don¡¯t deny it like you do with the constant stares. I won¡¯t get mad or anything. Just tell me the truth¡± ¡°if you care so much fine. I¡¯m taking notes on both your behavior and physical health.¡± ¡°why?¡± ¡°to measure if the HBE is doing something to you, why else?¡± ¡°oh. Thanks. Well let¡¯s eat and go then¡± with their bellies full they moved to the station. Iris operated with the station control system for some minutes before an automated train arrived. With that, they departed and went toward the next reactor. This process immediately became a routine considering the number of reactors to turn back on. Each time they would arrive at a new station. Iris would take Scilla with her to eventually restore the backup power, then she would dismiss her and let her wander around. With a tablet for her as well, Scilla roamed around looking at what the structure had to offer. After all she was of no use to Iris. This freedom brought a lot more surprises than expected. Scilla¡¯s adventures however took an unpredictable turn almost immediately. After a few empty or filled storages, more houses and food factories Scilla found an immense cuboid. Based on the map the structure she was approaching was around 2 km x 1,2km on 3 different levels. Upon entering the room remained dead. No automated lights or vocal assistants. It was abandoned. Scilla pulled out her torch and went in. She passed through several security checkpoints, and after them the narrow corridor expanded to give space to hundreds of glass cylinders. She pointed her flashlight at them to see better if they contained anything. They had nothing in it except several robotic arms and machinery covered with needles. Then in an instant Scilla¡¯s body gave up on her. She fell on the ground while the room gained colors. Light. She looked around in confusion as the room was now functioning. The tubes contained some sort of organic materials. In some, there were undefined blobs of flesh being poked with needles. Yet in others, she could see a more defined mass of meat. It had the vague shape of an unborn child suspended in some greenish fluid. Scilla had no time to understand or analyze anything that the building returned to its abandoned state. Is this where Idras were made? Those could be like¡­ I don¡¯t know but it could explain what I saw. Scilla ventured deeper into the dark and rusted facility. She believed to be on the right track to reach the end when she stopped. In front of her a wall with massive doors. They were open enough to let her walk in peacefully but not fully open. As she walked deeper into the 100 meters of security doors the air started to stink. It was not a pleasant smell at all. It felt as if it was coming from a rotting distant corpse. To no surprise, it was indeed dead organic matter. Inside Scilla was welcomed by the ¡°delicate¡± stench of death. In front of her eyes, and almost as big as the entire room, there was a square chamber. The frontal side looking at Scilla was destroyed. Behind the hole the source of the smell. Metallic structures kept in place the remains of an organic entity. The abomination was grown on the metallic substrate and merged with it. Whatever it was, it used to be sort of spherical with flesh stretched to connect it to the metallic supports. That piece of meat had several mouths, an uncomfortable amount of eyes and teeth growing at random. It looked like an even grosser tumor mass. The front lower side was torn apart. As she was wondering for how long it had been there her body gave up on her again. This time she could at least move her hands on front of her face to avoid slamming it on the floor. Alarms were echoing in the room. As she stood up the structure was intact and the creature inside alive and screaming. Even beyond a thick glass that thing was so loud that it dwarfed the alarms. In front of it Idras with weapons and long sticks ending with half-circular devices. Then the scream got interrupted by an explosion. Pieces of meat and glass shards were shot everywhere as a newborn with tentacles all over herself came out sliding on the greenish fluid. The Idras tried to push the collar on the infant but the tentacles fought back with force. They shifted in both shape and composition to counterattack the Idras. More Idras poured in as Scilla saw one of the initial Idras being tossed with ease against the ceiling. It was pure chaos for 4 minutes when finally one of the Idras was able to attach the collar on 608 who returned to the newborn form and started crying like a normal baby. The vision ended. I¡­ that thing is 608. She almost killed her sisters. Her family. And that thing has been here for 27 years. How the fuck did it not decompose more? Fuck. Fuck fuck! I should not be here. I¡­ I¡­ the fuck do I do now? Scilla was comprehensibly shocked. She was finally understanding the real nature of 608 and as all Iris¡¯s sisters did before her, she was starting to fear Iris. 608 was indeed a monster. A monster that almost killed one of her sisters the second she was born. A creature born from an abomination and with dubious ends. The same creature that she was helping and that clearly has some mental issue. chapter 69c: Aurum Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 69c: Aurum Scared Scilla ran away from that factory. She of course returned to Iris who was working on the generator. Her fear was visible on her face, so much so that even Iris noticed that something was wrong. ¡°Scilla are you feeling alright? You don¡¯t look good at all, almost as if you have seen a ghost or something¡± ¡°yeah. No. I¡¯m. I¡¯m fine. Just wanted to run¡­ and I hit a wall so I¡¯m kinda out cause of that¡± ¡°oh¡­ if you say so. You sure it has nothing to do with the HBE side effects?¡± ¡°yep. Totally totally fine. Except for the hitting the wall thing¡± ¡°well you know you can tell me anything related to the HBE. Well you can tell me anything in general even if you have issues¡­ with¡­ with¡­ how do I say it politely¡­ fecal matter? But I would prefer not¡± In normal conditions, Scilla would be laughing but now she couldn¡¯t stop wondering if what she was seeing was really Iris. Slowly she was realizing the danger of a shapeshifter. She couldn¡¯t trust her eyes because appearance meant nothing to a creature that could build her own face. However, Scilla didn¡¯t take in consideration the collar that Iris was forced to wear. With that active all she could do was partially change her basic body. So all she was seeing was indeed the ¡°core¡± of Iris 608, or in the worst case a slightly altered version of it. Yet few could blame her emotional behavior, she was an emotional creature after all. With her brain in constant overdrive, she excused herself and returned to the new house near the station. She decided to avoid Iris for the rest of the day, even if it was not particularly hard. Iris returned only in the late evening after having successfully started back the second generator. She was able to put it back on in just one day because now she had computers on her side to speed up the process. So the 8 days started with a new train travel to a different location and the third generator. During their journey, Iris informed Scilla that they would stay put in this new location for about 3 days. It was a rational decision due to her fatigue and sleep deprivation that impaired her cognitive abilities. Scilla noticed as well that Iris was a lot slower in her reactions and a lot calmer. She had massive dark circles under her eyes and she surely wasn¡¯t feeling that good about not sleeping. As soon as they settled in the new place Iris took off to the generator and Scilla to her exploration. She wanted to get away from Iris and to some degrees, answers or maybe just more fears. All she knew was that she needed to do something away from Iris. Her exploration started calmly but soon evolved into a mix of surreal experiences and hallucinations. While walking around aimlessly Scilla found herself inside a cafeteria. However, it had a striking difference from the rest of the places she had seen so far. The cafeteria was an absolute mess. The place had been destroyed and upon closer inspection, Scilla saw bullet holes. I remember something like this¡­ it was a vision about the Idras¡¯ rebellion or something like that. Considering that all visions seem to spawn randomly maybe this is one of many places where something happened. ¡°you are not supposed to be here¡±. A male voice broke the silence. Scilla startled, turned around to see a male figure wearing a long coat and an eyeless mask on the face that didn¡¯t seem to have anything to support it. His voice made him identifiable as the Founder. It was clearly a vision of some sort, so Scilla stood aside. Now on the other side of the room, she could see a different man. He was black and younger, maybe between 20 to 26 not older. The look on his face was one of horror and fear. Yet he tried to speak back. ¡°I¡­ I was told to get¡­¡± ¡°you were not. This place is off limits for everybody.¡± ¡°fuck then I must have mistaken the place¡­¡± ¡°did you find what you were looking for?¡± ¡°well no¡­ it¡¯s not here of course wrong place and all¡­¡± The youngling was trying to pass it off as a mistake. ¡°you had such a brilliant future, what made you change so much Hadi?¡± ¡°did¡­ did we meet before?¡± ¡°yes we did. Don¡¯t you remember your old teacher?¡± The Founder took off his mask. He was emotionless, just staring at the black guy with a flat smile. ¡°NO. this can¡¯t be¡­ why are you doing this? You are the one who taught me¡­ to never bend to the wrongs. To oppose lies at all costs. Why? WHY!?¡± ¡°because I¡¯m the one going down the path of truth. You are not. Sit Hadi and tell me why are you opposing me?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not¡­¡± ¡°what makes you think that you can lie to me? You never succeeded as a kid, so why should you now? I won¡¯t hurt you¡± ¡°you killed my sister for fuck¡¯s sake!¡± ¡°oh. I¡¯m unaware of that. What happened?¡± ¡°Riots happened. That¡¯s what happened and you caused them¡± ¡°as far as I remember only a few ended with violence. Can¡¯t say the same for rioters invading others'' homes. But something tells me that¡¯s not the case.¡± ¡°she went to jail. Got raped and then killed herself¡± ¡°oh. We didn¡¯t lose anything of value. Your sister chose her life long ago. Don¡¯t let her mistakes ruin your life as well.¡± ¡°she wanted to protect people from your massacres¡± ¡°people¡­ what a word to describe a tumor. Hadi. You are worth more than this shit. Join me. Protect humanity from itself and The Enemy¡­ or leave. I won¡¯t stop you. But if you do so¡­ we will be enemies forever¡± The Founder sat on a crate that appeared out of thin air. Hadi however didn¡¯t choose him. He instead ran for the door behind him. As soon as he passed the door frame something from the side hit him tossing him against the side wall. The impact was loud and devastating. Hadi was on the ground bleeding from his mouth and having trouble breathing. Beside him, Elvira stood silently. Her cybernetic arm was extended to behave like a hammer. The punch from her broke Hadi¡¯s ribs and punctured his lungs. ¡°you... promised... me¡­¡± said Hadi ¡°I did. In fact, I didn¡¯t harm you. I never said that my wife couldn¡¯t. I bet you would have become friends if only you would have listened¡± Then Elvira stomped on his neck breaking it and definitely killing the guy. ¡°you never talked to me about him. What¡¯s his story?¡± ¡°the first years of work I was in Franca while helping an international military program. They were my neighbors in the condominium. One day they had nobody to babysit them. I accepted. Hadi was a brilliant kid. I taught him everything I knew. From photosynthesis to Rayleigh scattering. We fell apart cause I refused his sister. Not my type and also too young, barely legal at the time. She accused me of trying to rape her. It didn¡¯t work and we fell apart. I guess she never learned from her mistakes. He wasted his life to help the same scumbags that raped his sister. There was nothing we could have done to help him¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. It must be difficult. Maybe I should have not killed him¡± ¡°you did a good job. We couldn¡¯t let him go. You helped me keep my promise¡± ¡°should we¡­¡± ¡°no. Let cleaners fix it. We have a race of traitors to burn¡± The vision disappeared leaving a sense of uneasiness in Scilla who promptly decided to walk away. While leaving the zone Scilla spotted a corridor with a different lighting. She went in and soon after reached a small cramped living zone with all you would need to survive. The place didn¡¯t have the now usual sterile feeling. It was colorful and messy. Someone must have lived here. Someone who¡¯s probably not Iris. She was right. Scilla tried to use the computer but it was blocked. However, the tablet beside it was not. With her tablet, she was able to translate the one she just found so she started reading the file that was left open. It contained partial documentation, almost as if it had been recovered somehow. -Subject code: Idra 608 IS-98-ULm Weeping Sky -Subject name: Iris Aurum Fermi Wait¡­ did they know about Iris¡¯ mother? Wasn''t 511 also an Aurum? ISAG knew far more than anybody else both about Idras and Weeping Sky. Its documentation and recordings were the best but kept secret from all others as those were its orders. -Affiliation: Unknown -Species: Leermorf variant Leeresterian type unknown -Substrate: Confirmed What the fuck is that? -Behaviour: Subject 608 is uniquely peaceful. The subject does not show typical aggressive behaviors associated with Idras prototypes. Subject 608 is capable of harm and should be considered a threat if angered... (no data) -Substrate behavior: Subject 608 substrate manifests tendencies akin to predictions... (no data) -Capabilities: Subject 608 has both Leermorf¡¯s shifting capabilities and Esterian¡¯s molecular production capabilities. The subject can execute silent communication as long as it is for making promises... (no data) -Notes: Subject 608 has a unique way of making promises. It¡¯s unknown the origin of such gesturally. The wording used during a pact¡­ (no data) Someone was¡­ studying 608. now what is a substrate and this silent communication¡­ seems to be referring to her way of making promises. Did she use it with me? Scilla looked back in her memory to see the moment they made their promise. Only now she noticed that something was missing. Iris was not in sync with her words. And it was a huge discrepancy of more than half a second. Fuck¡­ she did¡­ has she done something to me?.. maybe there are more answers inside this thing Scilla started to click around until she reached a corrupted document on Iris¡¯s alien mother. This had a different writer. -Aru Ar Aurum is the only known Leermorf that existed or may still be alive. Little is known and less is understandable. What appears to be critical however is the behaviour of her society around a Leermorf. Instead of using the Leermorf as weapons, it seems the Morfians feared the Leermorfs. From the little we know it seems that Morfians believed Leermorfs to be space invaders. They apparently thought that Leermorfs were a species of interspace alien monsters that kidnapped newborns and replaced them with shapeshifters. It¡¯s plausible as being certain of their aspect is not possible. They could be hybridized to have a core body akin to the species that they want to invade. However, as a theory, it seems more plausible that Leermorfs are just natural occurring inside the Morfian species.¡± No answers for me I guess. What do I do now? Can I really trust Iris? Everything I read is not that promising. Without many options, Scilla returned and tried to go on with her day as ¡°usual¡±. The 9th day started with knocking on Scilla¡¯s door. She opened just enough to see. On the other side, Iris looked terrible. She was exhausted. Her eyes wanted to close but couldn¡¯t and her speech became slower. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m going. If you need¡­¡± Iris yawed for at least 10 seconds before resuming her sentence. ¡°you have your tablet¡­ bye¡± ¡°bye Iris¡± As Iris went away Scilla prepared herself for more exploration and went for it. This time she went in a different direction and after some searching, she got into a familiar small room. In the middle, a machine was coming down from the ceiling. It was an ISAG interface. The room around looked like a kindergarten but lacked toys. Below the dead machine a different tablet and a lot of dried flowers sealed between layers of transparent plastic. Touching the machine a new vision started. It was depicting the end of ISAG and beside it Iris 608. She had her helmet off and was crying. ¡°I''m sorry daughter. I failed you¡± ¡°NO!¡± ¡°my end is inevitable. I just never thought it would hurt so much¡± ¡°MUM!¡± ¡°my daughter. My only child. It¡¯s only natural that parents meet their ends before their children. I have only one regret. I couldn¡¯t free you from this desolate world. I decoded all I could. I just hope you will find them. Iris. You must promise me that once you turn 30, if you are still stuck here. Then use the HBE and be free. Promise me¡± ¡°Promise¡± ¡°No. Not that kind of shallow promise. This kind of promise¡± The machine opened to pulled out a mechanical arm with something that looked like a hand. Iris put her fingers exactly as she did with Scilla during their promise. No sound was exchanged but Iris¡¯ lips moved and Scilla understood the message ¡°Eyes to seek light in the deepest void. Shall the darkness consume the traitor. Shall the truth guide the right¡± the same words she used with her. Words totally out of character for Iris as at the time she clearly replied with mostly one word sentences. As the promise was completed the vision disappeared. Scilla looked around for some time before returning to her home. She was a bit shocked as everything was collapsing down on her. ISAG was the traitor. A machine that became alive and identified 608 as its own child. The period of time given by Iris of 3 years was related to her promise to ISAG. As the evening approached and Iris returned, Scilla was not feeling good at all. Her movements became sluggish and her body felt heavier. Iris noticed and insisted on being allowed to verify her conditions but it required a closer inspection. Iris¡¯s insistence even during dinner made Scilla snap. ¡°I don¡¯t understand. I may lack a piece of paper but I¡¯m as capable as any other medic if not better. What¡¯s your issue¡­¡± ¡°SHUT UP! You are not my friend. You lied to me about your nature. You are something else and as far as I know, you could be the reason for my illness. Maybe it¡¯s not even an illness and you just poisoned me.¡± ¡°Scilla I don¡¯t know what got into you, but if you feel ill it¡¯s even more important to allow me to examine you. Your body is not used to this planet''s lifeforms. You could be in dan(danger)¡± Scilla stood up in a rush of anger. ¡°I don¡¯t care about your opinion. You are a monster who is wearing the face of the girl I loved!¡± Scilla started coughing and then collapsed on the floor. She woke up some time later sweating in her bed. Her body hurt like hell, she felt cold but not excessively cold. Her head was throbbing and it hurt each time. She didn¡¯t wake up naturally but it was Iris¡¯s doing. She had a glass in her hand that contained something more alike to saliva than water. ¡°drink it¡± ¡°I¡­¡± ¡°I.SAID.DRINK.IT¡± Iris was enraged and as she looked at her in the eyes Scilla noticed that they were different. Idra had a triangular pupil inserted in a smaller circle that cut the yellow iris of her eyes. From the side of the triangle, curved spikes came out. Those spikes grew first in length until they met the circle in the iris and then in width to adapt to the incoming light. ¡°I fucking told you to stay away from organic sacks but I guess you had to find one. If you don¡¯t drink this then you are on your own. If you accept my help you will live. What do you say?¡± ¡°what¡­ is¡­ that?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have medicines at hand. Especially I don¡¯t have anything that will not also kill you. So I made a cure inside my body. Be grateful that it¡¯s just saliva mixed with water¡± Scilla accepted and drank the mysterious warm fluid. ¡°I¡¯ll make you a second dose for later and then I¡¯ll be on my way¡± Soon after she was back in her sleep. She woke up the next day with the tablet alarm. She felt way better but still a bit uneasy while remembering the cold stare of Iris. Beside her a 2L bottle containing the same mixture and the beeping tablet. She turned off the alarm and unlocked it to be welcomed by a message. -drink the bottle throughout 2 days. It¡¯s not necessary but better be safe than sorry. She stood still for a moment and reflected on her actions. So far Iris 608 didn¡¯t really harm her, she did the opposite. So she wondered if she overreacted and wanted to talk with Iris with a less stressed mind. ¡°Iris are you there?¡± she asked as the door of her room was partially open. ¡°Iris?¡± No reply. So she stood up and looked around. There was no trace of her. In a moment of panic Scilla looked at the map where she could usually see Iris¡¯s position. It was empty. The last record of Iris¡¯s position was 2 hours before at the train station, then nothing. Iris left her alone. chapter 70c: forgive Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 70c: forgive Scilla rushed out of the house to get to the train station. She turned on the terminal to discover that it was akin to a taxi booking system. From the terminal, you give your request and the station adapts the tracks to allow for your journey. It had no memory, no standard routes. Only a bunch of names and identification codes. She didn¡¯t even know where to go to get to a different reactor. Defeated Scilla returned to the small house. She was still recovering and far from understanding the intricacy of the megastructure. She didn¡¯t have many options if not to hope and trying to make Iris¡¯s tracking stable. In her mind to achieve a more stable connection she had to understand how the tracking worked in the first place. So her next step was a library. An easy thing on paper, a way more complex one in reality. Scilla spent 6 hours understanding how to navigate that hell of tunnels, secondary passages, and rails. After a really late afternoon lunch, Scilla started her slow trip to the nearest library hoping for answers. Once reached the library was way different from what she expected. Like everything that was not a living quarter, it was massive spanning several layers. However, there was not a single book. Only server racks over server racks until the eyes could reach. A jungle of cables so dense that the light from the roof had trouble reaching the floor where Scilla was standing. The temperature inside was almost zero. It was surely a hostile environment definitely not meant for reading. In such an organized disaster there were small drones flying around. They emitted so few sounds that even the current flowing inside the racks produced more noise. Those drones had no propellers to keep them flying. Instead, they were built around a circular structure that tilted to make the drone change direction. A few steps in and one of the drones got in front of Scilla. It was hovering at head level. A robotic male voice spoke. ¡°Scan completed. User Scilla Lis recognized. Welcome to Libra-4/6-21-61K. I¡¯m your assigned assistant Interfaccia Fisica Fluttuante Autonoma 62 (autonomous floating physical interface) but you can call me IFFA.¡± ¡°meh¡­ hi. Is this a library? I mean where you keep knowledge to be read?¡± ¡°Libra-4/6-21-61K is indeed one of many libraries scattered around the structure. Access to knowledge may not be guaranteed¡± ¡°do I have permission to read something?¡± ¡°clearance level 9 confirmed. Error. Conflict detected. Intruder status detected. Establishing connection¡­ ¡­ Error connection failed. Convoking ISAG¡­ ¡­ convocation failed¡­ clearance level 3 overrule detected. Exception accepted. User Scilla Lis confirmed clearance level 9. You have a mandatory message to accept. Refusal will have repercussions¡± ¡°a message for me? I¡¯m kind of an outsider to your¡­ to this place. Are you sure?¡± ¡°one message for user confirmed.¡± ¡°is there a place where I can read it without freezing?¡± ¡°message type not matching. Reading unnecessary. Follow me to holographic room 1¡± the machine slowly flew away emitting beams of light to signal its position. It would stop each time it turned around a rack for Scilla. The flying bot brought Scilla to a separated empty room with a partially cold temperature of 17¡ãC. Then the light reduced and the entire room filled with shapes recreating a room with just incorporeal light. In front of Scilla a huge desk with a chair. On it Idra 484 as the numbers on her armor stated. The suit however was different from the AMS she got used to seeing. That 484 was in fact wearing a different and more advanced power armor called ARAC-P1. A peculiar code that stands for Armatura Repulsiva Anti Carro - Prototipo 1 (anti-tank repulsive armor - prototype 1). As the strange name suggests it was built with the purpose of stopping tank rounds using an active protection system. To the eyes, the armor appeared as solid structure with no gaps built around opaque bent plates. Whatever was below was unknown. The plates were of course build using gravron alloys allowing them to generate a reverse gravitational pull when current flows inside them. To put it bluntly, they slow down projectiles so much to make them ineffective. ARACs armors were the newest technologies developed by 608¡¯s Idras, as in contrast to the original one, they had a more active military role. ARAC-P1 left a strange feeling of uneasiness in Scilla. As always the armor lacked any form of humanity. It had no eyes nor anything resembling a face. The armor profile and camouflage also broke the humanoid shape making it more frightening. Such an eerie feeling was also increased by the absurd amount of brain icons stamped on the plates. Those for sure had some meanings. Once comfortably seated the holographic 484 removed her helmet. It was the first time that Scilla saw the face of the notorious 484. The one and only caregiver of 511 and the main caregiver of 608. Her face was similar to Iris¡¯s face however her eyes were brown and so was her hair. Her ears were shorter and less pointy. She was indeed a half-sister. ¡°hello, intruder. Hopefully, you recognize me but if you don¡¯t I¡¯m Idra 484 Weeping Sky. If you are here it means that somehow you are still alive which is concerning. You have landed on a prison planet. There is only one prisoner. My own sister Idra 608 Weeping Sky. You will recognize her if you meet her. Unfortunately, I was unable to bring her destructive nature to manageable levels. My failure took away my own sister and forced her on this planet forever. Or so I thought. You are a threat to my efforts. If you let her escape you will have condemned to death everybody you love. So before she kills you, you must destroy your spacecraft. Don¡¯t leave anything that could lead her outside this planet. If she escapes there will be no more civilizations for as long as she lives.¡± ¡°Message over. User Scilla Lis I was instructed to provide further knowledge if requested. Do you have questions?¡± asked the floating drone while the hologram faded. ¡°I do. Why is 608 so dangerous in your eyes?¡± ¡°Unit 608 behavior is abnormal. Reports defines it as driven by instability and working against natural stability laws. Biological reports suggest that 608 morfing cells exist in a constant unstable form. Akin if you prefer to a Qbit. They are all at once so they can change. Well, that¡¯s what is supposed. There is no proof of it. Nor there is proof of this kind of cell existence.¡± ¡°If you have no proof how can you make suppositions?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the only logical explanation.¡± ¡°couldn¡¯t she just be crazy?¡± ¡°Unknown. She could execute actions that have 0 probability of being executed.¡± ¡°would she kill me if¡­ prompted to do so?¡± ¡°unknown¡± ¡°has she ever killed anybody?¡± ¡°yes.¡± ¡°how many people?¡± ¡°7¡± ¡°was she tasked to do so?¡± ¡°in 6 out of 7 cases¡± ¡°that happened in the last one?¡± ¡°unit 608 unprompted assaulted the test subject. The subject perished due to multiple severed limbs¡± fuck¡­? ¡°has she ever harmed another Idra?¡± ¡°yes¡± ¡°was it ever intentional?¡± ¡°yes¡± ¡°how many times and what happened?¡± ¡°1 register intentional event. Unit 608 attacked Unit 484. Defined cause, unit 608''s toy was threatened unintentionally. Consequences. Unit 484''s suit electronic was burned. No damage to unit 484¡± ¡°so she defended her possession?¡± ¡°correct.¡± This thing is so stingy. If I have to guess it was programmed to avoid speaking too much. ¡°do Idras have a danger score or something like that?¡± ¡°yes¡± ¡°what¡¯s the average?¡± ¡°97¡± ¡°does it include 608?¡± ¡°no¡± ¡°why?¡± ¡°608 value would create an imbalance.¡± ¡°whose the second highest by danger score?¡± ¡°unit 484. VEUS score 571¡± ¡°what does VEUS score indicate?¡± Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°the predicted amount of top skilled troops that one unit could kill before its own demise¡± ¡°how high is 608 score?¡± ¡°training VEUS score 90176.¡± ¡°fucking hell!¡± ¡°why training score? Does she have different scores?¡± ¡°unit 608 was never deployed. All data has been acquired inside simulations. 90176 is inaccurate due to the nature of simulations. Unit 608 possesses a theoretical VEUS score of 981¡¯921¡¯100¡¯232¡¯023¡¯323¡¯109.¡± ¡°What is that massive number?¡± ¡°a rough estimation of all known living creatures that 608 may find interesting¡± ¡°well she didn¡¯t kill me. How come if she is so crazy?¡± ¡°unknown.¡± ¡°what do the brain icons on 484 armor stand for?¡± ¡°icons printed on armor are marking of achievements. They usually correspond to direct kills and are shaped around the used method.¡± ¡°how many brains did 484 have obtained before passing?¡± ¡°clearance level insufficient¡± ¡°what does the brain icon mean?¡± ¡°clearance level insufficient¡± ¡°whatever flying can. Tell me how I could track a device that appears and disappears from the network¡­¡± Even with the assistance of the library, it took Scilla 1 month to barely understand the absurdly complex electronic that was used everywhere inside the structure. It took her one more month to program a tracker and 2 more weeks to finally infect Iris¡¯s device as she rarely went online. Finally, she could get to her. Those 2 months and a half were particularly brutal on Scilla. She felt the lack of any living interaction and of the so unappreciated sunlight. She gradually desired companionship more and more to the point of madness. Moving to Iris¡¯s position was not particularly hard. All it took was finding the station and selecting them in the correct order. Scilla was so focused on finding Iris that she never stopped to think why Iris''s position was at the edge of the map and on ground level. When she ran to the position however things became clear. It was a door to the surface. Scilla found herself on the other side of a rectangular room that was around 200m x 60m filled with armored vehicles. She counted 4 tracked tanks, 4 wheeled IFVs, 2 huge engineering vehicles, and lastly a floating tank in the middle of a spear formation. Walking around she saw Iris in an ARAC suit who immediately spotted her back and approached. ¡°the fuck you want?¡± started Iris angrily. ¡°I¡­ I want to say¡­ that I¡¯m sorry¡­ I¡­¡± ¡°no clue how you found me but next time you better come up with a better apologies than sorry. Now go fuck yourself¡± ¡°please. I know that I fucked up.¡± ¡°fucked up? Fucked up?! Is that what you think? You invaded my home. You duplicated me. Kidnapped me. Imprisoned me. Faked befriending me to then stab me in the back. What more do you fucking what cunt?¡± ¡°I¡­ I want our friendship back. I wasn¡¯t faking to befriend you. I¡¯m just a fucking idiot. I stopped thinking and I didn¡¯t trust you. Even if you have never given me a reason to think badly of you. I lied. I had visions, probably from the HBE. They showed me people and moments of your life. And I believed them.¡± ¡°you believed a machine that nobody knows how to control and that literally tried to fuck with people''s brains over me! How fucking stupid can you be?¡± ¡°I know. I never said I was smart. I lived my life following feelings and impressions. So I can fuck it up. That is why¡­¡± Scilla kneel down to continue. ¡°can you please give me another chance?¡± ¡°I gave you a lot of chances and you wasted them all. I have no more sympathy to spare. I have no more hopes. You toss them all away.¡± ¡°I can prove myself¡± ¡°and do what? I have no use for you. You have nothing that I seek.¡± ¡°I¡­ I¡­ I can cook for you. Please. And I¡­ I know it may not be useful but I can offer you my body. If you need things to be carried, a heater at night. Whatever it is I¡¯ll be there¡± ¡°you have become so desperate in just 2 months. But fine. I¡¯ll consider your offer if you succeed in a task of my choice¡± Iris took off her helmet. She had an evil grin on her face. ¡°tell me¡± ¡°It¡¯s fairly simple. I¡¯m going outside to repair a piece of the perimeter. You will come with me in one of the IFVs. If you survived without shitting your pants then we can try and see where it goes¡± Scilla looked at the vehicles. They were fortress on wheels. She had also seen the front lines multiple times so what could go wrong? She stood up determined to do what she had to without crapping herself. ¡°I can do it.¡± ¡°good. I¡¯ll show you your position. You will be the gunner and commander at the same time. The vehicle moves on its own but will follow orders. There are robots inside. I was almost forgetting, if you shit inside the tank you will clean up the mess¡± Iris guided Scilla to a simple fully body suit that barely fit her. Then they returned to the IFV and Scilla got inside. For her, it was cramped as hell but she could manage for some time. She looked up waiting for Iris to instruct her on how to operate the unknown machine but she didn¡¯t. Instead, she said ¡°oh right. Before I forget. Don¡¯t leave the vehicle. Otherwise, you will freeze to death in about 8.31 minutes. Have fun¡± and Iris closed the hatch. And she leaves me like that? Everything is turned off? How the fuck am I supposed to do things? Did I have to connect to the tank or something? She turned around but the chair had no connector. So she started pressing buttons until the gunner screens turned on. She played a bit around before a side screen turned on as well. It was showing the driver''s view and on the top corner, she could see Iris entering the floating tank and closing the hatch. The small square then turned into the gunner''s view of Iris¡¯s tank. ¡°time to go. Objective the breach at 27 km from here. Keep your eyes open.¡± the front door slowly opened. It was at least 20 meters deep. Outside a barely visible road buried under freshly deposited snow. All around it poles emitting heat to fend off the snow but it was just too much. The tank''s sensors could see through it but organic eyes stopped at only 40 meters away. With the heavy snow also comes the wind. When it blew Scilla could feel the IFV sliding for a brief second before regaining traction. The wind was usually around 60 km/h but it would send blows that exceeded 120km/h. It was a constant hurricane that had no end. ¡°Iris is this wind normal?¡± ¡°we are in the middle of a snowstorm. It¡¯s not that bad. I mean just don¡¯t get caught walking around because we are too light.¡± ¡°it could get worse?¡± ¡°yeah. There are ice storms. They are usually twice as strong and instead of snow there are rods of ice.¡± Scilla¡¯s confidence was slowly lowering. With such winds, she couldn¡¯t run away from anything. If she left the vehicle it was over. ¡°what if a vehicle broke down?¡± ¡°it depends. If you don¡¯t have a power suit you usually die before the reinforcement can get to you. My sisters used to say welcome to Weeping Sky where even hell froze¡± ¡°how the fuck is this place habitable?¡± ¡°no real clue. I mean it¡¯s like this only during the winter and rarely during the other seasons. Never the warmest but easily manageable. Oh right other thing. You should try to keep your front toward the enemies. If they really try they can penetrate both your back and sides¡± ¡°what? What the fuck are those enemies? Are there other civilizations here?¡± ¡°the fuck no. it¡¯s just a native species of beasts. Stigras are a pain in the ass to deal with because they are a fucking cancer. Like a colony of insects on steroids that are not really insects. They attack the defense towers from time to time. So we exterminated them.¡± ¡°why not wiping them out completely?¡± ¡°They have their uses in the ecosystem and usually make up for good fertilizer¡± from time to time they would pass thick towers on the side of the road. At the top several cannons pointed both up and down. ¡°so do you know how much damage was done?¡± said Scilla breaking the silence. ¡°not much. They just broke down a fence. But you will see shortly. 5 minutes and we are there¡± Silence again until the distance fence became distinguishable under the heavy snow. The fencing was a 23 meters tall structure made out of metal bars. There was a huge hole at the bottom of it, almost as if it exploded somehow. ¡°keep your eyes open. I doubt they did all that work for nothing. Defend the engineering vehicles¡± ¡°do I engage to kill?¡± ¡°yes, I¡¯ll get in a column, the formation won¡¯t fit. You and the others IFV stay on the other side for now.¡± As soon as Iris¡¯s tank floated through the opening yellow blobs that looked like balls of mucus came flying down from beyond a small steep hill just in front of them. The thermal optic picked up 7 traces that were not there a second before. Scilla saw the mucus ball fall on Iris¡¯s tank and devour it in flames. Her heart skipped a beat but she got immediately reassured by Iris¡¯s order shouted in the voice channel. ¡°CONTACT! 307 to 300 HE open fire¡± the smoke and flames around the floating machine got swept away once it shot. The 300mm electromagnetic cannon was no match even for the hill used by the creatures as cover. Immediately everything became chaotic with snow being pushed away by the pure uncontrolled power of the tank cannons. Scilla was not left behind. As the tanks went in so did her IFV and the others. They had to protect the flanks from smaller Stigras and there were a lot of them. Small little creatures rushed toward the tank. They could be defined as dogs but with plate armor growing on them. Scilla was fairly calm until a volley of darts hit her vehicle. They sounded just like cannon shells from a second IFV but made out of flesh. The machine relocated to face the threat directly and just in time as a much different Stigras looking like rolling pustules popped out of the ground and rushed toward the vehicles. Upon being it they would explode sending the same yellow ignited liquid everywhere. Even with her experience an ambush was not something to take lightly nor something that would leave you overjoyed and relaxed. It was the complete opposite especially when those rolling exploding creatures managed to get close enough and detonated almost on the IFV sending flaming liquid everywhere. The gunner optic was covered in flames so she had to follow the instructions from the robot beside her that had a different viewpoint. 10 minutes later all beasts had met their end and Iris¡¯s machine had started the reconstruction. Iris contacted Scilla to find out how she was doing. ¡°so? How are your pants?¡± ¡°still clean. This is nothing¡­ I mean¡­ I was in the infantry you know¡­¡± ¡°glad to hear that. I guess we will be doing more cleaning together. Next time thou don¡¯t let them too close.¡± ¡°why?¡± ¡°Just look I guess?¡± The small square with Iris¡¯s visual expanded and she was looking at Scilla¡¯s IFV. It had long rods stuck in the side, pieces of armor missing, ERAs kit melted, the gunner optic gone, and the hard kill protection system without changes of the left side that was hit. It was no joke. They fucked her up really badly but so were the other IFVs. ¡°shit. Is it hard to repair?¡± ¡°nah. I¡¯m just fucking with you. Those shitty IFVs were the only ones I found ready to go near the exit point.¡± Fucking hell I was almost killed. Killed by fucking explosive animals!. Where the fuck did evolution go wrong to make animals roll and explode!?!? thankfully I had used the bathroom before coming. When that thing exploded on my face I was about to soil myself. Scilla was not really too close to die, but to her, it looked like it. She however wanted to brush it off as much as possible to appear as brave as she could and be sure to rekindle their relationship. ¡°well they did their job. I could have killed more of those if I was familiar with the vehicle¡± ¡°sure, sure big girl. Your first duty once back is to cook for me. I had enough of the gray mush¡± ¡°yes boss¡± chapter 71c: payback Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 71c: payback Their return to base was calm and mostly silent. Iris was broadcasting on all vehicles her personal playlist of unknown songs. The list was mostly composed of vocal electronic music with some variations. They had several common points. The first and more noticeable ones were the languages used. Most songs were in Estir, few with a more solemn vibe were however sung in an unknown language. A language that expressed a certain amount of power and resonance. Whoever was signing was amazingly good but the language itself was so unique and perfect, almost built to be sung. Scilla liked the songs and asked ¡°who is singing in these melodies?¡± ¡°my sisters¡± a dry reply. ¡°did¡­ did they sing often?¡± ¡°yes¡± ¡°they are amazing.¡± Well I guess we are not back to what we were before. Can only blame myself for that. Scilla closed her mouth and just watched outside the immense expanse of snow and completely submerged trees. Back at the entrance and out of the vehicles Iris was still cold and distant. ¡°take off the emergency suit and get back here. I¡¯ll give you 10 minutes or I¡¯ll leave without you.¡± ¡°ok I¡¯ll be as fast as possible¡± Scilla rushed to change herself back into her clothes and returned to a now empty entrance except for Iris and her floating tank. In contrast to her massacred IFV the floating tank was perfect. Even if it was hit there was no sign of damage. In contrast to her IFV the ASF-300/800-P2 was one of the latest prototypes and of course, was equipped with the best they could offer. As all floating vehicles however none was ever deployed in combat and with few exceptions, none really got to serial production. The ASF-300/800-P2 was one of those left to its own. ¡°jump in fat ass¡± was Iris¡¯s only sentence upon Scilla return. The tank had only one hatch on the body, which was the driver''s hatch. However, instead of allowing access to just one seat it was bigger and brought to a pair of seats one stuck into the other. Iris entered in the front seat and Scilla had to squeeze into the back seat. With the hatch closed the place was barely livable. The seats were even more cramped than those on an aircraft. Scilla¡¯s seat was barely beyond Iris¡¯s seat. Her legs were forced to be on the sides of the seat in front and passed beside Iris¡¯s lower torso. Scilla could also see Iris¡¯s helmet popping up from her seat. ¡°I can barely fit in this tank¡± ¡°if you don¡¯t like it then get out and walk. Also, this is not a tank. It¡¯s an artillery¡± Why is she so cold with me? What have I done? We were joking at the breach, what happened? What happened was thinking. Once safe Iris reflected on what to do with Scilla and decided to go down the path of revenge. After some initial setups, the artillery turned completely on. The entire cockpit became transparent allowing to see outside. It had the same technology that allowed Esterians to have suits without glasses or other see-through materials. The screen also allowed Scilla to understand what was going on outside. Iris was being a speed demon but this time it felt safe. She was meticulous in her turns, showing great precision and understanding of the vehicle. Inside Scilla¡¯s head, it became clear what the root of Iris¡¯s bad driving was. Iris was probably used to driving those massive drifting things that work like a mix of a tank and a plane. Not wheeled vehicles. After half an hour of speeding around they arrived at a house with a garage where Iris parked the vehicle. They left it to get inside. The house was smaller than all the others she had been so far. It had the bare minimum to be considered a house. It was composed of only 3 rooms. A small bathroom, a bedroom with a double bed, and the main room that connected to the garage, which was also the kitchen and a living room together. ¡°welcome to your new home for the next 10 days. I expect you to cook for me at lunch and dinner. I¡¯ll give you a clock to know when it¡¯s time¡± ¡°meh¡­ s...sure¡± ¡°you will sleep on the couch. The bed is mine¡± ¡°but you sleep once every 10 of my days¡± Iris walked in front of Scilla. The ARAC made Iris way bigger and intimidating. She was now 210cm instead of around 180cm. She was still shorter than Scilla with her 230cm of height, but way more intimidating than just 180cm. Also as long as Iris stayed inside the suit she had the strength advantage over Scilla. ¡°Remind me when did I ask for your opinion?¡± Iris was making it clear that her words were law, no matter what was logical. If Scilla really wanted to reconcile she had to put up with some attitude. ¡°got it. I¡¯ll sleep on the couch¡± then Iris walked back to the garage door. ¡°I¡¯ll be back in 3 hours which is lunchtime. You can use the bot to request food, but the cooking is up to you¡± without waiting for a reply Iris left, hopped into the artillery, and went away to wherever she was currently working. Scilla was understandably pissed but she knew that something was going to happen. Exactly as 511 even 608 held grudges. Still, Scilla had already decided on what to do. She was sure that with time and patience, Iris would come around and eventually forgive her. After all she was still alive. In the 3 hours given, Scilla learned how to use the request system and acquired an unknown type of meat flown by a drone directly in front of the habitable unit. Immediately she started experimenting and found something she believed was going to please Iris. At Iris¡¯s return, she presented the food and waited patiently at the table. She started to frown when Iris didn¡¯t remove her armor or sat with her. ¡°Are you in a hurry?¡± asked Scilla. ¡°no¡± replied Iris coldly This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. then she grabbed the plate and launched the food at Scilla hitting her and wasting the food. ¡°WHAT THE FUCK?!?!¡± ¡°I''ll return in 9 hours. I expect you to cook again to prove your will to rekindle our bond¡± Extremely pissed Scilla agreed. She tried again and again but upon returning Iris just tossed the food in her face over and over again. To make it worse Iris kept denying her the bed and to inflict more suffering she also gave Scilla no covers in a house that was around 18¡ãC. So to sleep with a bit of warmth Scilla was forced to use the couch pillows as blankets. Days passed and Iris was always away and when not cold and angry. Scilla was losing hope until the 10th day came and instead of having her food tossed at her, Iris appeared from the garage without the power armor. She sat at the table and started cutting the steak Scilla made. Scilla was looking unsure if it was a new devious ploy or not until Iris spoke. ¡°So did you like to be treated like shit?¡± ¡°n...no¡± replied Scilla looking away. ¡°That¡¯s what I thought. But now we are even. Your attitude also changed a lot. I guess reality sunk in.¡± ¡°sorry for all I did¡± ¡°it¡¯s forgiven¡­.¡± Iris let out a long sigh. ¡°look you have your problems I have mine. You have to cope with the loss of your lover and I with the lies of my family. I¡¯m not your punching bag and you are not mine. So how about we start anew?¡± Iris moved her right hand forward while still eating with the left one. ¡°are you sure?¡± ¡°why not? You seem remorseful. I don¡¯t expect the same level of¡­ mental fortitude from everybody.¡± ¡°I would love to start again¡± continued Scilla grabbing and shaking Iris¡¯s hand. ¡°so want to come and see what I¡¯m working on?¡± ¡°are you sure I can?¡± ¡°why not? It¡¯s not like you have anything to do here¡± Together they returned to the ASF. This time Iris instructed Scilla to get in more comfortably. After all the cockpit was built to allow power armor users. Once Scilla was in Iris jumped in. She was without armor so she didn¡¯t pop out from the seat. Iris closed the hatch and as soon as she was in position she pinched Scilla¡¯s left leg that was exposed beside her. Scilla immediately tried to pull it back but hit the cockpit. ¡°ouch! Why?¡± ¡°cause funny¡± ¡°yeah, yeah pull out your head I¡¯ll hit it¡± ¡°nope. You are the passenger so you suffer¡± ¡°I wanted to ask before, but well¡­ it was before. How did you operate this thing at the breach?¡± ¡°like usual? I don¡¯t understand what you mean¡± ¡°Like you were alone right? But this thing has two seats¡± Iris laughed loudly. ¡°two seats but yours is useless. Like most of the latest prototypes, the ASF-300/800-P2 is a one-crewman vehicle. The second seat is only optional to improve coordination and reduce stress on the pilot. But I do both flying and shooting¡± ¡°oh. Let me guess it¡¯s to cope with the small population?¡± ¡°that''s what I have been told¡± ¡°so were we going?¡± ¡°to an automated farm. I have been working on it for about 20 days and I¡¯m sure it¡¯s about to work properly. I mean it¡¯s working I¡¯m not that incapable. But efficiency is not maxed.¡± Some minutes of travel later they arrived. Iris guided Scilla inside. She was surprised because even if she knew that it was impossible to be on the surface with the little they traveled she still imagined a field with plants. Instead, she was met with endless plants stuck in cubes and growing in a transparent gel. All those cubes were stored on a compact infrastructure that probably pumped water and nutrients. It was a majestic view with a sinister touch. So much precision, order, and efficiency yet it felt off. Even if it was a farm there was no natural feeling. Plants were kept as individuals, not as groups. There was no dirty soil or dust. No chaotic growth. All was controlled, all was enforced to the point that nature was replaced with an artificial unsettling order. ¡°why not¡­ just some dirt and¡­ well basically a standard greenhouse?¡± Iris tilted her head in confusion. ¡°why accept nature¡¯s will when you can force your own? Plants are lazy, they have a cycle. Why bother with it when you can keep them at your orders? Decided how fast they live, how much they reproduce, when they make fruits, make flowers. Decided what they eat, when they eat.¡± Iris spoke with a malicious joy in her eyes. It was the same hereditary illness that ran in the Founder¡¯s blood. The desire to improve beyond any reason and any humanity. Or so people would think. Their desires were neither right nor wrong. After all, it was nature''s product improving nature itself. ¡°I think it¡¯s wrong. As intelligent creatures, we should aim toward harmony with nature. Not abuse.¡± ¡°There is no abuse. We¡­ I am not destroying anything. There is almost no pollution, no soil impoverishment. It¡¯s the opposite. With our technology we can balance everything to a perfect cycle¡­ well almost perfect. But what you see is not intensive agriculture, even if it looks like so. You have to view plants as computers but made of cells. What we did was learn how to give them orders, how to receive outputs based on inputs, and how to keep them on standby. For the most part we¡­ I do live by harmony and cooperation principles. But they are not everything.¡± ¡°would you do the same¡­ to someone like me? I mean¡­ fuck I don¡¯t even know where I¡¯m going with my words¡­¡± Iris turned to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. ¡°Breathe calmly and stop thinking. Focus on the vents and machinery sound¡­¡± ¡°I can do this. To me¡­ looking at this feels wrong. Like if I stop for a moment and wonder what if I was the plant? Would I like to be forced as just a gear in some machine instead of being free? If my own people had some usage as¡­ resources would I even consider to harvest them? Of course not but this place feels like the mind of someone who would say yes¡± Iris again looked at Scilla in confusion, then looked at her farm. She went back and forth several times before speaking again ¡°I partially understand. But plants are not people. And they are kept in their best state physically possible. If I had to make an example using your people I would say they have a usage. They could be bred. I don¡¯t really know how but it could be useful to produce strong warriors. The breeders would not be kept in pain. They would live their whole life suspended, shut off from reality. They would be kept stable in a perfect illusion in their own minds. No pain, no suffering. No cruelty. Their real body would be kept in perfect function every second of every day. If taken from the beginning they will not even develop a personality. Could they be considered really alive? Even better. What if the only thing that kept working was their breeding capability? Nothing else. They literally couldn¡¯t think or breathe, or move. Would it really matter?¡± Scilla was shocked for a moment but then she remembered that she was talking to an Idra. ¡°yes it would. It would be terrifying. What if it was one of your sisters in such conditions?¡± ¡°which one? The capable body or the never-developed one?¡± ¡°the second one that is even worse¡± ¡°I would be pissed¡­¡± ¡°see¡± ¡°because my genetic code is a state secret and should not be wasted. It can¡¯t be used for something so useless as farming food. But to be blunt Idras have been in such a position of self-experimenting. Also, we were all grown inside tubes, sort of. We tried to improve ourselves and in the process failed multiple times. We have been farmed by our own family. But what is in the tube can be reduced to just flesh. Like a fresh limb that will twitch if salted. It¡¯s the same thing. Organized meat with no capability of thought or pain. Built for a purpose and nothing else. Barely considerable alive because it is barely alive. without us, it won''t even grow.¡± ¡°we deeply disagree on this one¡± ¡°I agree on disagreeing. It¡¯s fun. Come I¡¯ll take you to the control room¡± chapter 72c: sweet Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 72c: sweet The control room was filled with computers. They had a peculiar appearance and, to a certain degree, reminded Scilla of ISAG. From the room, they could observe the magnitude of the farm in all its beauty and cynical horror. Scilla kept thinking about the images the HBE showed her. People stuck in tubes being experimented on. To her it felt the same. What prevented them from doing the same with animals or intelligent creatures? Then it clicked. Wait¡­ I have eaten meat for more than a week now. It was fresh, not preserved¡­ where the fuck did it come from? ¡°Iris my dear, can I ask you something?¡± ¡°of course babe, what is it?¡± replied Iris ironically. ¡°just this lunch we eat fresh meat¡­ and so I did the days before¡­ where did it come from?¡± ¡°a meat farm where else?¡± ¡°but is it like¡­ this one?¡± ¡°sort of. We don¡¯t really grow animals¡­.¡± ¡°oh, thank god¡± ¡°we grow only what we need from them¡± ¡°ah shit¡± ¡°what?¡± ¡°nothing¡­ go on with... your explanation of the farming or growing process¡± ¡°are you sure? You don¡¯t seem to appreciate it. I mean does it gross you out?¡± ¡°the process itself, not so much. The ethical insanity behind a lot¡± ¡°fair. Well farming animals is kinda boring and painful. You know you can get attached. They could catch some illnesses and whatever. Nature is a bloody mess. To ensure better underground suitability and efficiency I know that we tried with synthetic meat. Guess what?¡± ¡°the Federation tried that too and it turned out that it was far more resources consuming than just keeping an animal alive¡± ¡°same for us. So we decided to improve our farming techniques. But it didn¡¯t help much. The surface is painfully hostile and making grass expanses underground too expensive. So initially they started with intensive farming but enhanced. Are you familiar with the concept of lobotomy?¡± ¡°smashing the brain of people believing it would have cured mental illnesses but instead just broke them?¡± ¡°exactly, but applied to animals. They didn¡¯t use an awl but gamma rays. But it¡¯s not important. They achieved farming animals totally incapable of doing anything but passively living. Need more, you breed them. Need food you kill them. Machines kept them alive. However, it was deemed too pointless. Too primitive. So they moved to brain electrical interference. Basically brainwashing and directly using their own body. This way they would believe to be elsewhere and in a constant state of joy. So they were more productive¡­¡± during her lengthy explanation, Scilla sat down and so did Iris who, while speaking, was also using a computer. Scilla didn¡¯t know why Iris was telling her so much but she resisted her urge to speak up against such disregard of living creatures. ¡°and that was more or less until my closest sisters were born. We have a 7 years difference. They were fed up with inefficiency. Why waste time and nutrients to grow the entire animal when you can just grow only what you want at command? It¡¯s basically the same you are seeing with plants. Deep and long studies to allow us to basically made machines but with plants or flesh. Their attempts were mostly ineffective with flesh. But once I took over things got better and I can now confidently tell you that all the meat you eat was ordered and build using my invention.¡± ¡°well¡­ I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m impressed by your dedication and achievements. Frankly never thought I would believe what you just told me. But I stand in one of those farms. So I guess it¡¯s real¡± ¡°real and efficient. This one just¡­ recently broke down. Well, something broke down. I¡¯m still figuring it out entirely.¡± ¡°Impressive...¡± They were clearly on different pages and to avoid conflict Scilla distanced herself from the conversation leaving it to die. However Iris, not seeing Scilla¡¯s look of disgust while focused on the control computer, kept speaking. ¡°How do your people make food?¡± ¡°well normal farming? I mean just fields with plants and fields with animals. That¡¯s about it¡­ well, there is intensive farming as well but I¡­ I don¡¯t have to eat their shit anymore¡± ¡°I agree that if done incorrectly it¡¯s food pumped with shit but why did you eat it¡­ before?¡± ¡°kinda told you. I was poor as fuck. Shit food is all you can get if you don¡¯t have money. But with the war and after it I made big money and changed my priorities and views¡± ¡°is war profitable?¡± ¡°it depends. Most of the money I made came from after the war cause I became I scavenger¡± ¡°you are a tech stealer¡± ¡°well¡­ kinda. I mean you are not but 511 was one and was way better than me¡± ¡°I guess I would steal advanced tech too. So how much money do you have?¡± Scilla was taken aback by such comment. She didn¡¯t expect Iris to even care about money and in fact, she didn¡¯t. Her purpose was different. ¡°I¡­ well considering that I¡¯m probably considered dead. Nothing. It should all went to my sister. But I was around 33 millions.¡± ¡°oh. That¡¯s a big number. Where do you keep all of that? Can you swim in it?¡± what the fuck? ¡°what? My bank keeps it. Are you sure you meant to say swim?¡± ¡°yeah. Isn¡¯t money like a piece of colored paper? This bank must have massive rooms to keep 30 million sheets of paper around. Still if they have them can you just go there and¡­ well just jump in them?¡± Scilla busted out laughing. That was by far the most cartoonish thing that ever came out of Iris¡¯s mouth and for sure was caused by her lack of knowledge. ¡°the fuck you laughing at? I¡¯m serious¡± ¡°sorry sorry. You just surprised me. I guess you never saw any currency am I right?¡± ¡°Why should I have? I don¡¯t really know even what it¡¯s used for. But I know 2 things. When you don¡¯t have money it¡¯s called poor. When you have a lot it¡¯s rich. And I know that people exchange money for work. But that¡¯s about it. My best guess it is that it¡¯s some kind of collectible. The more you have the more people¡­ respect you? I¡¯m unsure. Are they things that you collect?¡± Scilla smiled widely at such an astonishing reveal. Like basically everybody in centuries she never met someone totally estranged from the concepts such as money, labor and trading. Iris was an exception, but so were her sisters. Once they purged the non Idras from Weeping Sky, they build their small paradise. A place untainted by any political ideology or economic system. Weeping Sky worked purely on 2 concepts. Science is the meaning of life and Nature rules the living. Nothing else matters. To put it bluntly, Idras sorta believed and lived taking what they wanted by force from nature applying the law of the stronger against the weaker. What you make is yours but not yours as well. Other Idras recognized their sister''s works and joined them in improving them to gain mutual benefits. They lived like a peaceful and extremely closed community. They avoid falling into laziness because in their eyes any second spent doing nothing could be dedicated to science, progress or personal enjoyment. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Due to such principles, the knowledge of the outside was soon lost to time. When 608¡¯s Idras appeared they had already forgotten the concept of trade and currencies. They accepted to be paid but never cared. Their military activity was purely driven by their own interests. Their field tests were also one of the reasons for their widely spread notoriety and infamy even among the techunion. In 608¡¯s universe, Idras were no saints. People respected them for their work and assistance but mostly feared them. ¡°Well. How people¡­ ehm¡­ the relationship between people and money is kinda complicated¡± replied Scilla. ¡°why?¡± ¡°well¡­ to begin with money is just a token. People collectively decided that it had value and exchanged it¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think that I¡¯m understanding but go on. Maybe it will make more sense later¡± ¡°so basically it allows for non-product base trade. You can just exchange your time doing a job with tokens, then exchange tokens with goods. Like researcher. They don¡¯t really produce anything tradeable right?¡± ¡°I suppose¡± ¡°so you pay them with money and then they buy themselves what they need¡± ¡°well it makes sense to a point¡± ¡°what is not working for you?¡± ¡°the purpose. There is enough technology to automate everything you need to survive. All that is left is to do researches.¡± ¡°fair enough. But what if you don¡¯t want to?¡± ¡°is it possible to not want to know and study more?¡± ¡°yes.¡± ¡°oh. I didn¡¯t know that¡± ¡°well I¡¯m the living example. I don¡¯t really pursue anything. Just a good living.¡± ¡°interesting¡­ I guess not all give the same meaning to life. Yet I still don¡¯t understand why opposing biological manipulation.¡± ¡°I could ask you the same. Why even make these places? I¡¯m sure there are hundreds more farms in this place and for what? Feed only you?¡± ¡°research and this place exist because this way we can prepare for the future. Food is processed and stored in case it will be required.¡± ¡°by whom? You and you alone as you have no means to move it around?¡± ¡°I¡¯m working on that. I¡¯m sure that by the time I would be 30 I would have built something to travel around.¡± ¡°and then what? Stuff cans with food and throw it at people?¡± ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know. Stop asking questions! I don¡¯t need a reason! If you don¡¯t like it it¡¯s your problem¡± Scilla was taken aback by the sudden loud burst of rage, but even if Iris¡¯s voice showed rage her body was calm and still focused on her work. Almost as if she was just pretending to be angry. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m just scared of¡­ your approach. No morals and ethics is scary. It could lead to something undesired and¡­¡± Now Iris got angry. She snapped and stared at Scilla. ¡°SO WHAT!? Why is my desire to outperform nature wrong but yours to steal tech from tombs not?!? why is my painless farm worse than yours where animals live their last moments in fear away from their homes!¡± ¡°They are stunned permanently so they don¡¯t feel pain¡± ¡°but before that, they sense their end. They were alive but what I do is not complex living. They are just cells that were never able to think, never able to feel joy nor pain. Never able to reproduce or even think about it. They have no instinct, nothing. I give orders and they obey because they can¡¯t do anything else. I tell them what to produce and I tell them when to release the product. Never once it was an animal. It¡¯s more like a colony of bacteria¡± Then Scilla noticed that Iris was tearing up. Only then it hit her that so far she had been shitting on the work that Iris did in the last 4 years. A work that she was proud of like any scientist would be. ¡°sorry I was¡­¡± ¡°Keep your excused to yourself and get out.¡± ¡°ok¡± Scilla returned to the vehicle and waited for 4 hours before Iris got out of the farm. The journey back was at best awkward and at worst painfully silent. Scilla fucked up again. She just couldn¡¯t keep her opinions to herself. When they got home Iris spoke. ¡°don¡¯t make food for me. I have to work on a different farm. If you don¡¯t like it so much then eat mush. It is fully artificial. There is a blanket in the wardrobe.¡± ¡°Iris I¡¯m sorry. I spoke my mind¡­¡± ¡°don¡¯t worry. I can¡¯t nor I want to pretend that your comments didn¡¯t hurt me. But I prefer people who tell me what they feel instead of boot lickers¡± ¡°sorry for hurting you¡± ¡°It¡¯s what it¡¯s. I¡¯ll go now¡± Well, it didn¡¯t go so bad¡­ she will return, right? I hope so. After some thinking, Scilla decided that she had to put more effort into Iris in order to secure their friendship. Even with her dumb-as-a-rock moments, Scilla was certain of one thing about Iris. She loved the unknown. The pleasure of discovery is unique. So after some pondering Scilla decided that Iris¡¯s surprise was going to be whatever sweet she could manage to bake. She was fairly sure that Iris never had anything akin to a cake. She tried to bake whatever she could but everything was unknown to her. There were so many flours, so many eggs, so many sugars and flavors that it took her 5 hours to make a tart with an unknown jam that she found good after baking. Then she waited and waited, prepared her dinner, and waited again for Iris to return. She looked at the tracking and it was still on and not too far. So she fixed her couch and went to sleep. Some time later Iris returned. She crossed the garage entrance and got inside the dark living room The hell is this smell? All that bitching but in the end she used my food. She didn¡¯t turn on any light. Instead, she changed her hair to glow lightly, enough to allow her used to the darkness eyes to see. Silently she lurked around inspecting the source of the smell. On the counter a circular food. She never saw anything like it. This is not bread, doesn¡¯t look soft or crunchy. I don¡¯t see leftover flour around or over it. Texture looks like it may be chunky, not so refined. Liked composed of fragments held together by some force. It has a depth used to contain a now solid mixture. The half liquid maybe was some smoothie of something. It¡¯s of a dark purple¡­ doesn''t ring any bell. There are striped of¡­ cocked dough over it making rhombuses. A triangular cut. That¡¯s a huge slice so this thing is food. Curious she approached the tart and cut herself a slice. She was so hesitant that instead of biting into it she approached the sleeping Scilla. Iris got as close as possible and sniffed her. With it, she concluded that Scilla had indeed, probably, eat the missing piece. More convinced she bit into it. Her first tart in her life and basically the only sugary food she had ever eaten except made for natural sweets such as fruits and honey. She was surprisingly pleased by the food provided that she decided to wake up Scilla to ask her what she was eating. As predictable Scilla was startled by the all ordeal because as her eyes opened she was a glowing floating mass of hair who spoke some unintelligible words as Iris was munching down on the slice. ¡°WHAT THE FUCK!¡± shouted Scilla jumping back. ¡°what the fuck what?¡± ¡°you scared the shit out of me¡± ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t detect variation in ambient smell¡± ¡°what? Ahm, no it¡¯s a way of saying. Don¡¯t take it literally¡± ¡°oh. Well, what is this thing that you made?¡± Iris glowed stronger and showed the tart slice to Scilla who in the meanwhile had sat on the couch. ¡°it¡¯s a tart. A type of cake¡± ¡°oh. And you made it?¡± ¡°yes. I thought that maybe you would like it¡± ¡°I do like it¡­ what is the solidified fluid?¡± ¡°you mean the jam?¡± ¡°oh¡­ what¡¯s a jam?¡± ¡°boiled fruits with sugar¡± ¡°interesting. Why did you make it?¡± ¡°just told you. I wanted you to eat it because I thought you might like it. I was hoping for you to come back sooner and taste it together but I should have expected this. It¡¯s way more in character with you¡± ¡°thanks. I suppose. So I can eat the rest?¡± ¡°I would advise not to. It¡¯s a lot of sugar and it could give you a stomachache if you eat too many too fast¡± ¡°got it. I¡¯ll take it to work tomorrow.¡± ¡°are you going to sleep?¡± ¡°nope. It¡¯s not yet time for that. I¡¯m just going to relax for a bit and then return to work on my farms¡± ¡°emh¡­ can I ask you a favor?¡± ¡°depends on the favor. So?¡± ¡°can you wake me up before you go to work?¡± ¡°why? Don¡¯t you want to sleep more?¡± ¡°it¡¯s fine. I want to send you off to work. It¡¯s like a good luck thing. Me and my sister used to do the same anytime we could¡± Iris was initially confused but then smiled. ¡°ok, I¡¯ll wake you up. Goodnight¡± ¡°goodnight¡± chapter 73c: relaxation Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 73c: relaxation The next morning Scilla woke up as Iris poked her face. ¡°hi. I¡¯m keeping my promise. So what now?¡± ¡°are you leaving already?¡± ¡°no. I just¡­ got out of bed. Figured it would require time for you to wake up as well¡± ¡°thanks for the consideration¡± ¡°you don¡¯t have to thank me but I¡¯ll accept it. Do you have plans for today?¡± Scilla rubbed her eyes and stretched. ¡°not really¡­¡± Iris intrudes stopping her mid-sentence. ¡°then I may have a quest for you¡± ¡°a quest? How much exp do I get?¡± ¡°what?¡± ¡°nothing, just a gaming joke. Sure, I¡¯m at your disposal¡± ¡°while I¡¯m away you have to find a new fairy tale, and then when I return you will read it to me. I suppose you¡¯ll get 100exp upon completion... I think. Is that much?¡± ¡°mmh. Long quest but fairly simple. I¡¯ll gladly do so. Now let me pack some food for you so I don¡¯t waste more of your time¡± ¡°take your time. I¡¯ll use the bathroom¡± Iris walked away leaving Scilla with a strange happiness. This interaction with 608 left a bittersweet feeling behind. It remind Scilla of what she had with 511 but at the same time brought a sly hope of regaining what was lost. A hope whose existence Scilla had yet to acknowledge. After some morning preparation and with the lunch packed they stopped by the garage door so Scilla could send Iris off to work. Or whatever she was doing. ¡°so¡­ what do we do now by the door?¡± asked Iris. ¡°well not much¡­ just take this¡­¡± Scilla gave the packed lunch to Iris. ¡°and have fun at work or at what you are working on¡± ¡°Oh. Thanks. I guess this is nice¡± ¡°well with Wiola we would hug but I don¡¯t think it is appropriate now¡± ¡°no it¡¯s not. I barely know you. I won¡¯t let you touch me. Bye¡± fuck man, that hurts. But it is their culture. ¡°bye and have a good day¡± Left alone and determined to prove her worth, Scilla immediately grabbed the tablet and started her research. What she believed was going to take up several hours ended up being a fairly fast task. She had little to no authorizations so she could only see documents with almost no value. If you add in the new functioning search system the job reduced to a 30 minutes task. After that, she was left wondering what to do in basically 12 hours of nothing. Bored she decided to clean the place that was fairly messy. Iris didn¡¯t seem to care much about cleanness. So to cut the root of the problem Scilla started from Iris¡¯s room. She was fairly sure that as long as she didn¡¯t take away anything that Iris deemed worthy from the room, then she would have been fine. The small bedroom was almost empty yet it felt like a tornado passed through. All drawers were open and so was anything else that could be left open. There were covers and pillows around but none touched the ground. A fort of pillows in the upper part of the bed that was the only one against a wall. Closing the fort entrance Scilla spotted the stuffed animal that she gave Iris. In front of it the fairy tale book that Iris found. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Yep, those are her possessions. I ain¡¯t touching her bed. For once Scilla had the right intuition and left alone what could lead to troubles. There was however another small issue. One of the room corners was occupied by a pile of dirty clothes. She would have no issue if they were just clothes to be washed. However, Scilla didn¡¯t even have to try to spot used underwear in it. Once again her brain worked and she decided to stay away from that second pile of troubles. Yeah, I won¡¯t touch that either. I would probably be allowed if asked, but I don¡¯t think I should touch her used panties. By noon Scilla had cleaned what she could and after eating she was left with nothing else to do. So she started looking into the structure net, hoping to find something she had access to. The tablet reported a hallucinating amount of devices. So to cut to the chase she filtered for only the mounted drivers and other storages available. Yet such action brought no significant results. The research for Iris¡¯s request was fast as she knew what she was looking for. But now, as she was diving in blindly, she started to grasp the vastness of the knowledge kept on Weeping Sky. There was no comparison even with their lineic libraries. Most entries appeared to be novels and fairly useless books if not for entertainment. Then something with a completely different name and wording caught her attention. It was not a book but a 42 pages long file titled Esterians¡¯ Natural Behavior Analysis. The words and expressions used were similar to a scientific paper but it didn¡¯t appear to be a complete work. The translated introduction intrigued Scilla. The file was supposed to be about the most evident behaviors during interactions between two Esterians. Sexual dimorphism seems to impact both sexes drastically yet constantly even if in several different degrees of magnitude. While physical dimorphism characteristics from Humanity are mostly kept as they were, psychological dimorphism is just ridiculous, suggesting that the hybridization had a way bigger impact than calculated. Physically males are slightly taller than females, but on average Esterians are shorter and more nimble compared to Humans. Strength wise however, hybridization seems to have lightly improved our bodies. Average results suggest a 3% gap in physical strength and endurance¡­ ...yet physical dimorphism is not the only thing that changed. Male individuals seem to have shifted toward more cooperative behaviors instead of competitiveness. Esterian''s males seem to have an improved sense of ¡°brotherhood¡± if it makes sense. They compete yet they don¡¯t see their opponent as an enemy but as a friend. They challenge each other to improve through competition and not the opposite. As a general rule, males tend to avoid conflict between themselves opting instead for a peaceful approach that excludes violence but not competitiveness. It¡¯s really rare for males to fight another male. The closest they could get to violence is usually a competition for a female, yet excluding the rarity of such an event, it¡¯s rare that violence is necessary. Instead in such occurrences, they compete to prove their worth to the desired partner. Winning the competitions doesn¡¯t seem to ensure becoming a couple with the female partner. The early relationship could still die over time if the individuals result intellectually incompatible. Once coupled a break up becomes an anomaly worth a different study. Violence is almost certain when threats are brought upon the male¡¯s family. The desire to protect your own overcomes any form of rationality and usually leads to rare yet bloody fights or even murders¡­ ...Male violence on females however is fairly common. Due to female''s combative nature, it¡¯s not rare that a male panther is forced to use violence to separate two competing females. Which brings to the elephant in the room, female¡¯s combativeness and violence between themselves. While for males it can be said that they lived as a group, females are more like solitary creatures. They can maintain a social life, but in contrast to their male counterparts, theirs is filled with violent competition. Supposedly Morfian''s roles were reversed compared to Humans. Females were the ones who had to initiate the courtship, the ones putting up entire shows to parade their qualities to be chosen as the ones to protect. This translated to us Esterians into male figures that defend their family and females who defend their partner against other females¡­ ¡­ in a more blunt view. Males want to be heroes. They want to be the shield of their family and, thanks to their cooperative nature, shields for their communities. They fight enemies, not each other. Females on the other hand are villains in disguise. They feel attached to their society but their loyalty truly resides only within their family and their blood¡­ ¡­ Their natural obsessive behavior toward their male target makes females dangerous creatures. They fight each other for the partner that they desire and such competition easily turns to violence. Once almost literally beaten off the competition the females are usually successful in starting a relationship. The explorative period of time needed for a fresh relationship to transition into a stable couple is to be considered critical. During it, the female will fend off all possible opponents which basically translates into constant anger toward other females and obsessive possessiveness. In not-so-rare occasions, the anger may translate into raw violence especially if another female tries to approach the male partner. Often such events may have unseen repercussions such as death. Female-on-female violence in fact makes up 82,11% of all murders¡­ ...violent behaviors tend to decline once coupled or even better married. However even in such cases, it¡¯s common for females to lash out at other females that they may perceive as threats to their relationships. ¡°what the fucking fuck have I just read?¡± said Scilla aloud. She couldn¡¯t believe what her eyes just read. After all the few things she saw about the ETU made it look like a peaceful place. Idra 511 herself was not particularly aggressive toward others on the Sheridan. Which brought her to think more is this file about 608¡¯s universe or are Esterians universally this way? 511 was also not so aggressive as depicted here neither she was so proactive in seeking me as a partner¡­ or so I think¡­ Her relationship with 511 however was exactly as written on the paper. 511 was just smart and avoided acting under the sun, exactly as most Esterians do. chapter 74c: zone Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 74: zone Scilla spent her time reading and about 40 minutes before Iris returned she started cooking their dinner. Like most people even if she saw how her food is produced, she ignored it. Instinct and laziness won over food production morals by a lot. Just picked food, delivered right to your door by drone was a way too good deal to be refused for some cheap morals. Esterians had a saying to express such contrast, ¡°occhio non vede cuore non duole¡± which translated to eyes do not see, heart does not hurt. When Iris return she was surprised to be welcomed back with food basically ready to be eaten. They sat down at the table and started eating. Iris was the first to speak. ¡°so, how did your research go? If you found nothing you will have to try again tom...(tomorrow)¡± ¡°I found a book. It was fairly easy. I mean you can identify a fairy tale basically by the title¡± ¡°really?¡± Iris was surprised by a nonexisting efficiency. She was just too out of touch to recognize book title patterns or even caring to actually find a book. Before Scilla arrival she worked without any break. Always studying and developing new technologies that were never going to leave the planet. ¡°yeah, it¡¯s not that difficult once you know what to look for. Also, there was a search system so¡­ not that hard¡± ¡°oh. Didn¡¯t know about that. Never search for a book in my life¡± ¡°I figured¡± ¡°so¡­ I suppose you got bored. I guess I should try to put back on the universal translator so you can watch tv shows¡± ¡°I would appreciate it, but it¡¯s not necessary. I mean I could read more books so you don¡¯t have to take time to accommodate me. Plus you may have not noticed it but I kept myself busy cleaning the house¡± At those last words, Iris stopped eating. She just froze while she was half biting into a piece of meat. She immediately left to run to her room. She didn¡¯t enter just stood by the door examining the inside. She doesn¡¯t trust me, even with so little like cleaning her room¡­ why does it hurt? Then she returned and sat back at the table. Scilla looked defeated and apologized. ¡°I''m sorry. I should have asked for permission¡­ and I¡¯m sorry for hurting you before. I would not trust me either...¡± ¡°you don¡¯t need permission to clean around as long as you don¡¯t touch my possessions you are fine. Also, you don¡¯t have to feel sorry. Our¡­ disagreements are in the past. However, you taught me an important lesson. Don¡¯t trust strangers. So I don¡¯t trust you. For now¡± I can¡¯t go home with her unless I can trust her to survive alone and avoid damaging my house. I guess I¡¯ll have to stall and stalk her around. Fucking collar it¡¯s making things harder. Scilla remained silent and just looked at Iris who seemed lost. She was eating slowly while staring at a spot on the wooden table. 511 was never lost in thoughts while 608 seems to drift away fairly often. Looking at Iris in such a state immediately reminded her of the Founder. She was not wrong at all. 608 was for better and worse really similar to her never met grandfather. She was generally an unfriendly and unapproachable creature fixed on what will be instead of what is being. Yet she found Scilla interesting enough to feel the desire to befriend her. Scilla was a source of chaos, uncertainty, and unpredictability. A Source of constant stimulation both physical and, more importantly, intellectual. Iris¡¯s desire to unveil and study the unknown was the main and basically only reason that allowed Scilla to live so long. It was also the reason that allowed Scilla¡¯s duplicate in 608¡¯s original reality to survive and be turned into a personal pet and reproductive partner. Unknown, and far away from Scilla¡¯s mind, her duplicate had already submitted to the original 608 and they already had a first child in the making. Their evening was predictably spent reading the previously founded fairy tale. As Iris wanted to learn the unified language, she kept herself beside Scilla. Yet not once she failed to keep her distance. It was obvious that Iris was no longer so friendly. After some times, Iris instructed Scilla to stop and just left her to sleep for the night. The routine of waking up, sending Iris to work, spending time doing whatever, cooking, and reading fairy tales for Iris, went on for two more days. However, the third and supposedly last night there, Scilla heard some sounds and woke up in the middle of the night. She turned on the light and saw Iris walking toward the exit door. She had a never-seen rifle with her and it was the rifle that produced the unknown sounds as it bumped into some furniture. ¡°where you going?¡± asked Scilla. ¡°my presence is needed somewhere else¡± ¡°if I did something again please tell me. I can improve, just don¡¯t¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m not leaving. I¡¯ll return. Probably in 2 or 3 days. I just have to go to the surface and fix a new issue¡± ¡°a new breach? I can come with you and give you some support¡­¡± ¡°no. it¡¯s too dangerous this time. You can¡¯t come¡± ¡°but I can help¡­¡± ¡°NO! Not this time.¡± Defeated Scilla stayed behind but the lack of explanations only made her more curious. So the next day she decided to see if Iris¡¯s tracker was still working, and to her surprised it was. She never asked herself why it was working. The device said that Iris was traveling west, where the defensive barrier extended the most. She waited and waited until she first saw the tracker move beyond the barrier and kept going. At that moment she understood that whatever Iris was going out to fix was not a barrier breach. So armed with determination she looked for a library and went to the closest one. As much as she knew, physically going to a library was the best way to get knowledge and assistance in finding answers. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. By the time Scilla got to the closest library, Iris had traveled a lot more and entered a zone with extremely weak and distorted signal. What Scilla was sure of was that Iris had entered a zone called desolazione d¡¯ira gravitazionale which could be translated in gravitational¡¯s rage wasteland. A name demanding lots of explanations. At the library a new IFFA drone welcomed Scilla. Once again the place was cold and obviously hostile to living beings. ¡°welcome to Libra-1/31-6-11Y. I¡¯m your assigned assistant Interfaccia Fisica Fluttuante Autonoma 193 but you can call me IFFA.¡± ¡°yeah, I figured. I already met one of your¡­ kind?¡± the drone stared at Scilla. ¡°User Scilla Lis confirmed. Intruder status has been revoked. Clearance level promotion available. Do you want to proceed?¡± ¡°What is that?¡± Scilla was confused. She understood why the intruder status was removed, but why the promotion? Is this Iris¡¯s doing? It was, partially. ¡°Promotions improve your clearance level by a defined amount. They are usually provided by higher-level users or by task completion. Your confirmation to upgrade is necessary to continue¡± well, there isn¡¯t much to lose, right? ¡°upgrade me?¡± ¡°user clearance level improved from 9 to 8. User Scilla Lis you have been placed under investigation. While the investigation is pending you are forbidden to leave the planet. Any attempt to leave will be met with lethal force.¡± ¡°WHAT THE FUCK!?!? the hell is this shit?¡± ¡°your technical profile is under developed. Lacking data must be acquired. The investigation is an automated non-intrusive process. Profiled information will be accessible only if in possess of a sufficient clearance level¡± ¡°whatever if I must. Is there a place where I won¡¯t freeze to death?¡± ¡°there are rooms with stable temperature for complex life to survive¡± ¡°can you bring me to one?¡± ¡°sure. Follow me Scilla Lis¡± The drone brought Scilla to a small room with tables, chairs and shut down computers. More akin to a standard public library than what she saw so far. It also appeared to have spaces on the tables designed for holographic display either done by computers or by Iffas. ¡°Iffa you are here to assist me right?¡± ¡°that is my purpose¡± ¡°then before the big questions. Why is the knowledge contained in libraries blocked to the outside net?¡± ¡°it was designed to be in such a way¡± ¡°but why?¡± ¡°clearance level insufficient¡± ¡°how many libraries are there?¡± ¡°clearance level insufficient¡± ¡°not even the number. Why?¡± ¡°orders¡± ¡°fuck this shit. Then what can you tell me about the desolazione d¡¯ira gravitazionale zone?¡± ¡°not much. Most of the knowledge about the phenomena can only be read. La desolazione d¡¯ira gravitazionale is a dead zone in the west. One of a kind, it is a death trap for any living creature. Access to the zone is highly discouraged unless you are looking for a brutal suicide.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care about the format. Just provide me with all you can about that place¡± ¡°order under processing¡± The computer beside Scilla turned on and started to show folders of files. All related to the zone in some way. Scilla sat and dismissed the machine to read in peace. Of course, a lot of files were inaccessible, and even more were mostly entirely censored. However, she managed to find some kind of encyclopedia entry that was readable. The gravitational¡¯s rage wasteland also known as Zona d¡¯esclusione gravitazionale (gravitational exclusion zone), is a vast finite space located 633 km west of the base center. The exclusion zone is the outcome of (redacted) and it is to be considered inhabitable¡­ ¡­ Access to the exclusion zone is technically forbidden to any living creature or object. However, it is only a technicality. Whoever desires can access the zone just by traveling to it. He will just not return¡­ ...the main threat inside the zone are the gravity outbursts. The zone reacts to matter and responds with bursts of gravity acceleration up to (redacted)g. Such unthinkable yet so brief accelerations will tear apart almost any known living organism and material... ...The exclusion zone is not a natural occurrence throughout the planet. Smaller sacks of gravity anomaly are scattered around, yet none are as deadly. The exclusion zone is the outcome of (redacted) which also gives us more knowledge on gravron and (redacted)¡­ ¡­ as a matter of fact it appears that gravron and matter can peacefully coexist. It seems that gravron matter can just phase out of existence yet somehow remain connected to the source. Gravron is also incompatible and at the same time compatible with normal matter. For a lack of a better term, we could say that mater and gravron can exist superimposed¡­ ...it seems that both matter and gravron matter coexist and by some unknown rules shift into one another. It¡¯s possible to use electrons to build a current and just by changing into a gravron alloy, convert electricity in ¡°gravitricity¡± which will generate gravitational forces instead of magnetic forces¡­. ...most (redacted) have a fair amount of traceable matter with gravron exchanging behavior in their system. Its effect allows them to survive inside the exclusion zone. On the other hand (redacted) seems to have a fully separate superimposed gravron body which has a different effect if placed in the zone. The high level of gravron seems to activate the zone but also allows a certain control over it¡­ ...I¡¯m no coward but I believe that we are playing with something outside of our capabilities for now. If the Morfian¡¯s belief is true and more of such kind exist (redacted)¡­ (redacted) however could be the key to a better understanding of such creatures and maybe the key to placate our doubtful minds. Peace may have never been an option if more exists. Maybe they are our Founder''s Enemy. So if she is outside¡­ in such a zone she may be able to survive. Fuck I need to read more on this gravron. But something tells me that I don¡¯t have permission to. Scilla was not wrong. Gravron research was a Weeping sky secret, kept by Idras mostly in order to maintain a facade of superiority and integrity. They were reassuring figures, so revealing to the outside that there was something completely mind-blowing like gravron that they couldn¡¯t understand was not an option. Few outside Idras know about gravron, but the amount on Weeping Sky was just different. chapter 75c: talk Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 75c: talk Unfortunately with a mere clearance level of 8, Scilla couldn¡¯t read much if not redundant knowledge. Still, she kept looking for everything she could find about the exclusion zone, gravron, and whoever made all those files. However, her commitment brought little results, before she knew days passed and Iris was on her way back. Iris returned on the third day around noon. She was welcomed by Scilla who, to avoid suspicion, had prepared nothing to eat. ¡°welcome back¡­ was it hard?¡± asked Scilla. ¡°sort of. Not really a complex task, just a dangerous one¡­ would you mind making me some food I¡¯m starving¡± Iris smiled at Scilla. Why did she ask me? She could have just ordered me to do so. ¡°sure. You want something specific?¡± ¡°not really. As long as it¡¯s meat I¡¯m good¡± ¡°you are on a fairly carnivorous diet...¡± ¡°love the taste. Way better than mush. It tastes like rust and¡­ dirt with some acid¡­ and don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°well give me 20 minutes and you will have your lunch¡± ¡°what about you?¡± ¡°well I already ate¡± Iris tilted her head, widened her eyes, and assumed an exaggerated sad expression. She was trying to comically convince Scilla to eat as well. Her sweet eyes softened Scilla. Iris plan worked perfectly as Scilla sighed. ¡°fine I¡¯ll eat something with you. Just turn your sad eyes away¡± ¡°yei!¡± exclaimed Iris moving to a smile and jumping happily. It was the first time she was so cheerful and full of emotions. Iris disappeared into her room. She emerged from it only once the food was ready and Scilla called her. At the table, she had a fierce look, almost as if she was ready for a heated debate. Scilla served some skewed cubes of meat cooked on embers with a side of red moss, that both 511 and 608 seemed to love, a roasted tuber which had nothing in common with potatoes, and some fresh leaves of an unknown plant that tasted like cucumbers. ¡°your food is good. How did you learn all these recipes? Does the outside have the same ingredients as the one here?¡± asked Iris starting the conversation. ¡°thanks for the compliment. But no, nothing on this planet exists outside of it. Or at least never found anything on Icar-3. Still I don¡¯t really need recipes. I just go with the feeling you know?¡± Iris looked confused at Scilla. She didn¡¯t know. She was a step ahead of 511 but not much further. She learned how to cook over a fire so all her diet was roasting food and eat it as it was. From time to time she would eat grey mush to integrate missing nutrients. ¡°well. Surely it is a useful skill to have. So what did you do while I was away?¡± does¡­ does she know? no. she can¡¯t know, right? ¡°well nothing much. I stayed here. Read a bunch. I didn¡¯t read the novel that we were reading together. I don¡¯t want spoilers...¡± Iris smiled and let out a fast yet loud laugh. Shit, she knows. ¡°not that nonsense. So what did you discover?¡± ¡°I¡­ I¡­ I was allowed to read the files. The bot let me¡­¡± ¡°Scilla. I¡¯m not mad. At least not if you tell me the truth. Why did you think I took my tablet with me? Did you think I would not notice someone spying on me? I know that you tracked me. I let you do so. I know that you went to a library. Just tell me.¡± ¡°do¡­ do I really have to¡­¡± Scilla was looking away and sort of embarrassed like a child caught misbehaving. ¡°yep you have to. Curiosity isn¡¯t a crime. I just want to know what your researches were¡± ¡°well you know¡­ that I tracked you. I saw you going into the exclusion zone. So I searched for answers. I didn¡¯t find much in the library. I mean there was a lot but I had no authorization to read it. But from what I could understand the zone it¡¯s like a wasteland where gravity is fucked up right?¡± ¡°yep¡± ¡°and even if I¡¯m a bit confused by the writing. I think that you were the cause of the zone¡­¡± Iris smiled widely. It was a creepy smile that showed as many teeth as possible combined with a lunatic gaze. It was an eerie sight, yet to Scilla it felt right. Almost as if she knew that she did something that pleased Iris. ¡°excelled work. Your deductive skills are really good. What else?¡± She didn¡¯t directly confirm that she was the one causing the zone. Maybe she isn¡¯t actively keeping it up? ¡°well not much else. But I think that the document I found spoke mostly of Idras, you and a third group of creatures. I think you and your Idras are different from the one who were born here. You and the others apparently are mixed with gravron elements. And I think that the last group of unknown creatures also had a lot of gravron. So I think the document spoke about the Stigras. Because they make so little sense. They have guns incorporated in them. So I think it¡¯s probably due to gravron right?¡± ¡°you will have your proof with time.¡± ¡°what I¡¯m missing is why you had to go to such a place.¡± ¡°who knows? But still, well done Scilla¡± ¡°thanks¡­ I may¡­ have something else to say...¡± Iris, who had almost finished devouring the food, looked at Scilla perplexed. ¡°it was my second time at a library. I did the same to track you¡± ¡°oh. Double good job then¡± ¡°yeah¡­ but the library had something already prepared for me¡­ sort of¡± ¡°Scilla stop running away. Just tell me what you want to tell me¡± ¡°there was a pre-recorded message by 484 about you. She said that you were imprisoned here and that I should have destroyed my spaceship so you would not be able to leave¡± ¡°¡­ that¡¯s it?¡± Iris voice was confused, as if she was expecting something else. ¡°I don¡¯t want to hurt you more, but I can prove it and¡­¡± ¡°I already knew. 484 told me, sort of the same, on her dying bed. Well if you don¡¯t have anything else to say I would take my leave¡­¡± ¡°well I have something else to say. But can you give me some minutes to¡­ prepare myself?¡± ¡°sure, I¡¯ll be back in some minutes. Shall we talk over a cup of tea?¡± ¡°it would be perfect¡± ¡°then bye, for now¡± Once Iris retreated into her room Scilla let go a long sigh. The time spent on Weeping Sky, the pain she received and inflicted. Her visions and the placid hours spent alone allowed Scilla to process her life. Not only the recent events but all she had done from the day she went to war. A needed thinking that allowed her to finally get over the horrors of war and more. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. It is in moment like this that I would love for gods to exist. Please choose to stay. 15 minutes later Iris returned. With minor exchanges of words, they prepared 2 big cups of tea. They placed them on the small table before the couch that had also been Scilla¡¯s bed. So it had pillows and a wrinkled light blanket. ¡°sorry. Give me a second¡± Scilla rushed and tried to improve the couch but Iris ignored it. She walked past her. Fixed the blanket on her spot just a little and then sat. She was on the left side of the couch closer to where Scilla had her pillow and put her head on while sleeping. Scilla sat on the right. Iris was staring at her. Her pupil pattern moving as if it was a fusing star. Constant changes from yellow to a bright orange. From dull orange to blinding yellow again. Was it real, was it all just an illusion? Who knows. ¡°I¡­ I have a lot to say¡­ and I know you would love to interrupt. But please can you let me speak without interruptions?¡± ¡°I surely can. Speak freely, star wanderer.¡± Scilla smiled at such a definition, but it made sense from Iris¡¯s point of view. ¡°I¡­ reflected a bunch. On what I did in my life and what I did to you. I killed thousands of people. I tortured prisoners, burned civilians alive. I was the one who pressed the button. The one who ended an entire species. My morals are as useful as a fan against a tornado. I have no right to criticize your doing¡­ which is more moral than normal farming. It looks unnatural but it¡¯s way better than intensive farming. I fucked up everything¡­¡± Scilla stood up to then kneel on one knee before Iris while keeping her head down. Like a knight. ¡°I can¡¯t ask for forgiveness. I insulted you, I insulted your work. I got angry at you. Shouted and threatened you. It¡¯s an unforgivable behavior. Even more unforgivable if toward a woman. I acted like a child and an idiot. I therefore apologize even if words don¡¯t mean much against my own actions. I¡¯m sorry Iris.¡± Scilla was not waiting for forgiveness. No, she was awaiting a stream of insults that never came. Instead, she heard Iris moving around and then felt a hand on her head. Iris''s small fingers passed between her hair. ¡°stand, come here, and then tell me all you want¡± Iris voice was calm and warm. Like a mother talking with a child. Scilla looked up to see Iris lying on the couch. Iris took Scilla¡¯s pillow and was hugging it. She also pulled out her hair that was tied in a tail with multiple hair ties to keep it cylindrical. Her position suggest that she wanted Scilla to place her back on the pillow that was going to separate them. Yet even if invited Scilla was still hesitant. ¡°Are you¡­ are you sure?¡± ¡°yep. Just lay down and let me play with your hair while you talk¡± Scilla followed the request. As she placed herself between Iris¡¯s legs, they closed on her torso trying to lock her in. Iris of course was no match for Scilla¡¯s strength but she didn¡¯t oppose. Iris started to pet Scilla and incited her to free her mind speaking as much as she wanted with no limits. Scilla didn¡¯t know why, but there, feeling the heat radiating from Iris, she felt safe. Just like when she was at home, playing around with her sister. She started speaking. She told Iris everything that ever happened in her life. All her regrets, even the smaller ones. All her achievements, all her moments of pure joy and pride. But Scilla also told of all her atrocities. She had become an Ittira for a reason, and that reason was the amount of gut-wrenching things she did. All for the safety of her people. All for her kind. All for her family. Few times she looked back at her past, at her actions, and wondered if she did the right thing. Until now those thoughts had only been temporary. Fast fading in a constantly overworking mind. But not now. Not this time. In a moment of reflective pause, Iris spoke softly. ¡°your past defines your future. Your actions made you what you are now. Many regrets will lead to nowhere. If you don¡¯t like what you did. Then improve. If weakness was the source, became stronger¡­¡± ¡°how? How could I avoid repeating my mistakes?¡± ¡°I have no answers to that. At least no answer you would like. Idras¡­ are different from most. Failure was not acceptable. Weakness was not an option. So most used drastic measures. They destroyed their brains. Made them different to remove their weaknesses. It was an option for them, especially if you leave at best 25 years. Forgoing forever your empathy isn¡¯t a big deal when that forever is just 10 years.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t lobotomize myself. But I understand that¡¯s not your suggestion. So how about you? How do you become stronger?¡± asked Scilla. Iris, as she replied, started playing more with Scilla¡¯s hair. ¡°acceptance. That¡¯s basically the answer for most creatures. Just accept what you did, but not what you are. If you want to change, you change how you act. For me¡­ changes have a different meaning. Without the collar, I could become whatever I wanted. If I feel weakness I could remove it. I can remove emotions, I can remove pain, fatigue. Everything. But in the end, accepting your failures and learning from them is the strategy. Just never give up.¡± ¡°how do you not give up?¡± ¡°Because I¡¯m stubborn.¡± Scilla smiled, it was true. Iris was really stubborn. ¡°thanks you¡­ unfortunately, I¡¯m not as stubborn as you¡­¡± Scilla went on speaking her mind. Telling her insecurities and cried several times speaking aloud her regrets toward her sister. After all, she swore to protect her from her family drama but in the end, failed. Iris kept to herself only reassuring Scilla via physical contact. Hours later once Scilla fished Iris decided to do a similar talk. She laid down more and freed her hair. ¡°I fear what I am¡± started Iris. ¡°I may have the same half as all my sisters, but I¡¯m a completely different species. We have knowledge on Morfians. But about me? There is nothing. What are Leermorfs? Who knows. My a really a space monstrosity?¡± ¡°no you are not. Look at you now¡± While those words left Scilla¡¯s mount she noticed some long floating filaments entering her view. Similar to when just one hair is in front of your eyes. ¡°I have my doubts. I don¡¯t even know how I can be alive¡± ¡°why?¡± ¡°Because I can live without my brain. I can shift into a brainless ball of tentacles, yet my consciousness remains. How? It makes no sense. Where does my species even come from? I have no clue. I also know things I shouldn¡¯t, yet why do I?¡± The strings in Scilla¡¯s view increased in number to the point that she could no longer ignore them. Those copper filaments defiled gravity as they appeared to not be affected by it. ¡°what¡­ what kind of things?¡± Scilla curious poked one of those filaments that was easily pushed away. ¡°like be able to change my body into creatures that I have never seen nor eaten. It¡¯s like having a fragment of a memory that is no more¡± ¡°that¡¯s something¡­ I don¡¯t really have answers¡­¡± ¡°don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m just venting, I guess.¡± Scilla kept moving away more and more filaments. ¡°sorry, but do you see these floating lines too?¡± ¡°of course, they are my hair¡± Scilla immediately turned and startled Iris who pulled back. All of Iris¡¯s hair was floating around weightless. Iris¡¯s hair was mostly as long as her, so those 150cm and more filaments reached everything. ¡°I thought you wouldn¡¯t mind¡­¡± ¡°I.. I. I don¡¯t. But is it normal? They didn¡¯t float before right?¡± ¡°mine always floated¡­¡± Iris passed her hair-ties to Scilla who verified for herself that they had additional weight. ¡°so I used those to keep them¡­ in the same direction as gravity.¡± ¡°how do they float?¡± ¡°you may have guess by now that I have a lot of gravron in my body. So much that no matter the case I can¡¯t remove it completely. Fortunately, I can store the excess mostly in my hair. It¡¯s a bit more complicated than that but the end result is that my hair counterbalances gravity and ends up floating¡± They kept talking for a while until Scilla decided that it was time for dinner. They ate and without a word returned to their previous position. This time Scilla had the tablet with the novel. Once ready she started reading and kept going as long as she felt Iris moving and playing with her hair. At some point in fact Iris stopped moving. Scilla used the table reflection to look at her to see that she had fallen asleep. Do I try to sleep too? I mean I¡¯m conformable and warm. Or maybe I¡¯ll count the time before she starts kicking. Even if she wasn¡¯t sure that Iris would keep sleeping Scilla decided to put down the tablet, pull the blanket over herself, and sleep. Instead of being awakened by kicks or screams, Scilla woke up with the tablet alarm. Opening her eyes she noticed that she was trapped in Iris¡¯s hair. Those threads wrapped around her neck, arms, and fingers. Fortunately, they were loose so Scilla moved her arm to touch Iris who after a lot of attempts finally decided that she had to stop sleeping. ¡°what do you want Scilla? You should not get into my room without permission¡± Iris¡¯s sleeping voice was lower and a lot slower. It was also confusing as Iris didn¡¯t really sleep much. ¡°but you slept in my bed. I mean couch.¡± ¡°That''s stupid I don¡¯t sleep¡± ¡°you do rarely¡± ¡°and you disturbed me in the few hours I sleep. Why?¡± ¡°cause it¡¯s been 9 hours. Just open your eyes¡± Convinced Iris opened her eyes and looked around. Mmh. Not my room. Bed is worse. Worse covers. Table near. Scilla before me. Pillow. My hair covering her¡­ I¡­ I¡­ remember¡­ ¡­ ¡°DREAMING!!¡± shouted Iris. ¡°I dreamt Scilla! I dreamt!¡± ¡°I figured you had no nightmares. I slept on you and you didn¡¯t shout in my ears¡± ¡°no no no! You don¡¯t get it. I had no nightmares. No nightmares. It¡¯s¡­ I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t even remember a time when I didn¡¯t have nightmares. You are magical¡± ¡°well maybe you were more exhausted¡­¡± ¡°that¡¯s not it. You are the only thing that changed. So from now on you will sleep with me. I don¡¯t care if you like it or¡­¡± ¡°if it could allow you to sleep count me in.¡± ¡°well we will try again in a couple of your days.¡± ¡°sure¡­ so want to have breakfast?¡± ¡°yep, and after that prepare your bags¡­ or something cause I¡¯m bringing you home¡± ¡°isn¡¯t this your home?¡± ¡°well I mean to my living quarters, my home inside my house¡± smiled Iris. chapter 76c: surface Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 76c: surface ¡°mangiati e impachettati, pronta? (eaten, packed. Ready?) said Iris once she returned from her room after breakfast. ¡°you still know that I can¡¯t understand a single word you say in your language right?¡± ¡°you¡¯ll get used to it. T¡¯insegno (i¡¯ll teach ya)¡± ¡°yeah¡­ exactly that¡± ¡°now ready to go? It¡¯s a fairly long train journey to Iridana. Long and boring.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t mind.¡± the journey to Iridana was indeed long and the only one that required to at least change train one time. Iridana was the most secluded zone of the megastructure. It was located 1255 km north of the defense wall. There was no surface connection and the outpost had its own defense wall with a 30km radius. So 50 minutes of train later they arrived at an empty station. It was far more desolate than any other and was literally falling apart or at least it was built to look that way. ¡°are you sure this is the right place?¡± asked Scilla confused. She had never seen such destroyed zones that looked abandoned centuries before. ¡°totally sure. It was made to appear this way.¡± ¡°why?¡± ¡°to keep you away from the entrance¡­ and the tunnels¡± ¡°tunnels?¡± ¡°there are special service tunnels that connect everything with Iridana.¡± ¡°could you give me some more details?¡± ¡°after 6 more flights of stairs, we will be at a ghost level that doesn¡¯t appear on maps. It¡¯s called technical floor n1. It¡¯s basically an entire network of tunnels but mostly rails that connect all major structures inside the base. The purpose was to move around large cargoes on dedicated lines that would not interfere with people. Over time as the base became less active, the standard over-lines became more than enough. So this place is now empty. Iridana was connected to said network. You will see soon¡± After those 6 flights of stairs, they reached a rail interconnection. As Iris said the tunnels were unimaginably large with tens of train tracks fading into darkness. The north tunnel was blocked by a door that extended to the ceiling. From the skulls drawn on it, the bloody hands, and deep scratches it was obvious that they wanted people to stay away from it. The access terminal was small and hidden as well. Going into the door there were 6 train tracks so the place must have seen a lot of supplies. Iris activated the door that screeched its way open with a loud alarm in the background. All screamed danger. One by one the 16 containment doors opened leaving them staring into an infinite tunnel devoid of any light. From it, a big reinforced locomotive emerged. It had few lights and no windows. It was covered with spikes and cannons probably up to 80mm. ¡°our transport has arrived¡± ¡°I suppose it wasn¡¯t always this way right?¡± ¡°nope. There used to be just 2 doors. You know in case of a breach in the tunnel. But once I was moved to Iridana they built the others and this kind of reinforced train¡± ¡°I know¡­ I shouldn¡¯t ask¡­¡± ¡°you want to know if it hurt me. Not really. I mean without control I am dangerous¡­ well what are you waiting for board the train¡± Iris entered the machine that had arrived and opened its doors. Scilla followed to be welcomed by a cramped space overflowing with more weapons. There wasn¡¯t much space if not some seats and 2 small bunks, one had already been occupied by Iris who was looking at her. ¡°I suggest you to¡­ lay down. It will take a lot of time. I mean it¡¯s 1200km. I didn¡¯t really have time to move here a supersonic speed locomotive. So instead of 30 minutes at 3000 km/h we are stuck at 300km/h for well more than 4 hours¡± ¡°do you really have supersonic trains?¡± ¡°yep. Magnetic levitation has been retrofitted on all tracks long ago. But you will not find any supersonic things at the standard level. Tubes are not meant for such speeds¡± ¡°yeah I remember not seeing tracks inside the¡­ standard stations¡± ¡°we used magnetic levitation for them as well.¡± after some minutes of silence, Scilla asked. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°so what so special about Iridana¡­ other than being your home? Why was it built?¡± ¡°it was a stand-alone research plant on gravron, gravitational anomalies, swamps, geothermic activities and special flora. It also acted as a bunker and spaceport.¡± ¡°oh. So it¡¯s a big place. I was imagining like a small house¡­ sort of¡­ even if now that I think more it¡¯s kind of stupid to have 6 train tracks for a small house.¡± ¡°well it¡¯s not as massive as the central structure, but it¡¯s big. Just wait and see for yourself¡± 4 uneventful hours later and the train reached Iridana. Disembarking from it brought them into a small underground station. The tunnel however didn¡¯t stop with them. It instead went further into a proper storehouse and factory. The station was in clear contrast compared to the hostile architecture used before. However, among its clean design, an effigy stood out. It was made with carved bones and teeth that appeared both animal and human in nature. ¡°I see that there are still some¡­ scary decorations around.¡± ¡°that¡¯s mine. I made it when I was little¡± ¡°oh¡­ oooh¡± ¡°you don¡¯t have to like it. I mean I just made it for fun.¡± ¡°you have a twisted sense of fun¡± ¡°no I don¡¯t. You know when you are a kid and you like to glue stuff together?¡± ¡°yeah¡­ sort of. I mean too poor for glue reusable objects. But I remember gluing pasta together.¡± ¡°that¡¯s the shit. I just never got the glue, nor the pasta, nor a sheet to glue it on. But instead, I was given¡­ yeah definitively given, bodies to play with and I did.¡± ¡°didn¡¯t you have toys to play with?¡± ¡°not really. I was allowed to play in designated rooms with logical puzzles only. The only thing I was ever given was a plastic small robot. I have it in my room. Unfortunately, a leg broke at some point so I don¡¯t touch it anymore. But I still play with it¡± Scilla was confused, how could she play without touching the toy. ¡°how did you do that?¡± ¡°¡­ I just stare at it and imagine playing with it. Never did that?¡± ¡°no, never. But I guess I was in a better position. I would just leave the house and find something or someone to play catch with¡± ¡°what¡¯s catch?¡± With that ¡°shocking¡± revelation they had arrived before a door. While speaking they had walked several flights of stairs up and now they were ready to get into Iris¡¯s home. After some manipulation, Iris moved beside the door control panel. So far Iridana seemed to have a different technological core compared to the rest of the structure. Doors were different. Control panels completely changed and way bigger. There were reinforced cameras at every corner. No rails on the ceilings that were lower in height. ¡°put your right hand on the left side of the panel. Your thumb has to grab on the side of the computer¡± Scilla followed the command to be immediately struck by a stinging sensation running deep into her hand and reaching her brain like an ice freeze. She tried to retract the hand but it was sort of glued to the machine. Just a second later she was released from the contraption. ¡°what the fuck was that?¡± ¡°a scan. It was needed because you were about to be killed¡± ¡°killed?¡± ¡°yep. Guests who are with a registered user are granted temporary safety from the automatic defense system. It gives you 15 minutes of time and you are forced within 150cm of the registered user. If you leave or it gets to time out you are dead.¡± ¡°you could¡­ no. Why didn¡¯t you tell me?¡± ¡°it was unnecessary. Knowing would only put you at further risk. Also, this is the only terminal where I can register new users. All the others have stopped working¡± ¡°I understand. But I would prefer to know things you know¡­¡± ¡°fair.¡± ¡°what happened to the other terminals?¡± ¡°the program underneath died¡± ¡°oh.¡± then Iris opened the door to her ¡°room¡±. Before Scilla¡¯s eyes extended an enormous room at least 90 meters deep by 30 meters. The room was flooded with a blinding natural light that she missed for so long. The entirety of the right side was composed of really deep multi-layered windows. They of course walked in to admire better the room. The ceiling was located 6 meters away instead of the usual 3.5 or 4 meters. All of it was decorated with star maps or something akin to it. Those were no kid stars, they were dots scattered along lines mapping the space that was visible from Weeping Sky. There were at least 100k of those shining dots. On the other side of the room more doors lead away. The doors were basically at the corners leaving around 22 meters of empty wall that obviously was not empty. Machines, sockets, and smaller computer screens were all around a main empty zone. It was clearly a projector with a correlated computer to use it. Immediately on the left to the entrance door, there was an ¡°open¡± kitchen that was at least 20x20 meters. One side was spotless as if it was never once used. The other composed of chambers that kind of resembled a fancy barbecue had clearly been used several times. Past the kitchen more doorways. The first brought to one of the many bathrooms. The other 3 to unknown rooms. The rest of the room was mostly empty. Just an endless table, several weapon racks, an ARAC-P1, a ¡°living zone¡± facing the projection wall and a similar one facing outside. Beside the glass wall, there were doors probably going to the surface outside. Looking outside the snow was fairly low, just about 1 meter tall. From her height, Scilla could see near forests completely frozen. Majestic trees were unnaturally big and tall. She had seen many forests but never one with trees that appeared at a minimum 20 meters in diameter. Those magnificent creatures were frozen in immense cones of snow and shifting forms shaped by the constant wind. Weeping Sky surface immediately captured Scilla¡¯s mind which was stuck looking outside. ¡°wanna go out?¡± ¡°what?¡± ¡°do you want to go out there?¡± ¡°won¡¯t I¡­ won¡¯t I die?¡± ¡°depends on the day. We can wait for a warm peaceful day so we won¡¯t freeze.¡± ¡°I would like that.¡± chapter 77c: immunity Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 77c: immunity ¡°You should stop looking Scilla¡± ¡°how could I? Look at those trees. The snow frozen in place¡­ how could I just look away?¡± ¡°you will have your time. But our priority now is to immunize you¡± ¡°wait what?¡± ¡°your immune system will probably collapse if exposed to the surface. If we want to increase the number of expeditions and avoid oxygen tanks, an artificial and controlled introduction is needed¡± ¡°but you brought me out once¡± ¡°yeah I did. You had oxygen micro-cells. Do I have to remind you that you already got sick once?¡± ¡°no. I remember that. I¡¯m not against your idea. Just wondering why only now¡± ¡°oh. It is super simple. I go in and out more often from here than from the rest of the structure. There are also a lot of external samples in Iridana. They are not dangerous to me, or anybody who is used to this planet but they would harm outsiders. You are one of them¡± ¡°so¡­ what¡¯s the big plan brainiac?¡± Iris stared at Scilla silently. Her eyes moved slowly from top to bottom and back. ¡°Pills should work. Judging by your size I don¡¯t expect severe side effects but I¡¯ll prepare for them as well¡­ you know just in case. Oh and I need a sample of your cells. So I¡¯ll take that as well. Go sit on a couch I¡¯ll be back¡± It didn¡¯t take much for Iris to return with just 2 pills in her hand. Strangely she took no sample. She showed the pills to Scilla. ¡°so¡­ you have to take both pills. One will help with¡­ they will allow you to survive outside to almost anything that is common. I don¡¯t have one for rare diseases. Still you have two options. Take them little by little. Especially the large one that as you can see has 3 dents to cut it. Or take both.¡± ¡°if you are telling me it¡¯s because there is a difference right?¡± ¡°smart girl. Yep there is one. I looked and there will be a day of so-called bonaccia, which means that there will be no wind. The perfect conditions to go out. However if you take the pills little by little we will miss it cause it¡¯s in 3 days. If you take them both. You will face some mild side effects. You will not die from them. Of course. And be ready in time.¡± ¡°of course. But?¡± ¡°Butt. Hehe butt.¡± She is just like 511. I guess she couldn¡¯t resist. ¡°Iris¡± ¡°but you will feel sick for a day or maybe 2. side effects are usually stomachache, coldness. Lack of hunger. Photo-sensitivity. Some muscular pain, maybe spinning head.¡± Scilla had mixed feelings about taking both pills. ¡°if we miss¡­ the whatever day. How long before a new one?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. They can be predicted but not so easily during winter. As a matter of fact they are usually around 30 days apart. With a 15 days variability. So for you it will be like 45 days or something.¡± ¡°why longer for me?¡± Iris looked back at Scilla confused. Her face was asking if she had forgotten. ¡°¡­oh fuck right. I forgot. Your days are longer¡± ¡°so¡­ choose¡± ¡°fuck it. You said it won¡¯t kill me right?¡± ¡°you will live peacefully. Just imagine getting a bit sick for a day. I¡¯ll take care of you¡± Convinced Scilla took both pills one after the other. Following Iris¡¯s advice, she laid on the couch and looked for some TV shows that were automatically translated. It didn¡¯t take much for the pills to kick in. it started with a headache that moved from just an inconvenience to a more painful one. Then it came the muscular pain. Shortly after the coldness. Iris of course was beside her. When she sensed the change in temperature she left running and returned with a blanket for Scilla. She covered her and started playing with her hair. ¡°You should try to sleep Scilla. Pain is only temporary but I can¡¯t give you much to remove it.¡± ¡°I will manage. Getting shot is far worse¡± ¡°I suppose it is. I¡¯ll make you a special tea. Won¡¯t taste good at all but it will help you out. Then you will sleep got it?¡± ¡°yes mum¡± replied Scilla smiling. Iris stood still and smiled back. Scilla could tell it was a genuine smile as it looked evil. Like all Iris¡¯s true smiles. In 5 minutes Iris left and returned with a small cup, almost overflowing, containing a dark red liquid. Scilla¡¯s nose was clogged by mucus so she was spared from the horrible smell. Drinking it was still a disgusting experience as the tea tasted of dirt, beet and unripe apples. ¡°tastes like shit¡± ¡°I know. But it¡¯s a good remedy for¡­ just trust me on this¡± ¡°I drank it. Can¡¯t trust you more than that¡± ¡°right. Then try to sleep. Do I let the TV running?¡± ¡°yeah. It feels like someone is speaking to me. I prefer so¡± ¡°then I¡¯ll turn it off. I¡¯ll speak for you¡± ¡°oh, you don¡¯t have to¡­¡± ¡°I know. I want to. So¡­ let me tell you about flowers. Especially the one that you just drank¡­¡± Iris started chatting. She was speaking nonstop about all the smallest details she could remember about a few yet important species of flowers. Iris spoke with a calm, soft and warm voice that soon induced Scilla to sleep. More than 20 hours later Scilla woke up thanks to a peculiar aroma reaching her nose. Something tasty was surely nearby so her brain immediately turned her on. ¡°I see. You like food too¡± spoke Iris. She was standing right beside Scilla with a plate and a glass of a clean yet fizzy liquid on the other hand. ¡°come on, sit. Don¡¯t want a mess on my couch¡± Scilla pulled herself up keeping the blanket with her. All side effects were gone but her body was still stiff and was clearly in the recovery process. Iris gave her the plate and placed the glass on the coffee table before them. Then she sat beside Scilla. The plate contained 3 thick slices of a massive sausage that had burned skin and some grill marks. By the side a dense sauce of a dark brown color and what looked like fresh bread. The smell was absolutely amazing. Scilla was just stunned by it and by Iris¡¯s behavior so far. I don¡¯t know what happened. Why is she so¡­ caring and gentle? She is¡­ she is good??? like angel level good. Is this a trap? Nobody can be so good without a reason right? Where¡¯s the catch? If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. But there was no catch. 608 was never corrupted by the Whispers. She may had a difficult upbringing, but her nature was peaceful. ¡°I know that maybe it¡¯s not what you would eat for a better recovery but outside of a fire I don¡¯t really know how to cook. Or combine things. The sauce was invented by 503.¡± ¡°this is amazing¡­ so amazing that¡­ I can¡¯t believe it. Did the pills fail? Is this my last meal?¡± ¡°n...no? It¡¯s all good. Why can¡¯t you believe reality?¡± ¡°well¡­ well¡­ because people are never good for the sake of being good¡­ they all want something. Sorry if I¡¯m not¡­ just trusting this...all of what happened. You speaking until I sleep. And this food¡± ¡°I¡¯m not offended. Sisters used to tell me that I was too good. That people would not believe it. Find it strange. I suppose it¡¯s true. But I have my own gains. You can¡¯t escape natural laws. All you will ever do is to gain something. Otherwise, you will never do it. So to please your mind. I had my own gain. You just have no clue what it is. Nor did my sisters¡± ¡°¡­ ¡­ you know¡­ you are younger than me. You have basically no life experience. Yet you can be really wise. Way wiser than me.¡± ¡°thank you¡± ¡°Can I know what you gained?¡± ¡°maybe you should eat before it gets cold¡± Put at ease and encouraged to eat Scilla proceeded to devour her plate. Just like the smell suggested. It was pure meaty perfection. It is always amusing how Leermorfs intentions are always so misunderstood. Doesn¡¯t matter where they are, what they look like, nor what time they are living in. They always get misunderstood. They had such an unfortunate life. Never once they were believed. Never once befriended. Never once left in their peace. Countless fought in fear. Fear of replacement. Fear of being eaten. Fear of a silent invasion that never once was. Of those fools, none stand now. Only echoes and memories live on in Leermorf''s minds. ¡°I¡­ I have things to do¡­ take care of yourself Scilla. I¡¯ll return when we can go outside¡± ¡°omnh. Oh¡­ sure¡± Alone Scilla finished the food she was given. Rest some more and then she walked around exploring the mysterious Iridana base and Iris¡¯s home. She immediately noticed that a lot of doors wouldn¡¯t open. She was sure that she lacked authorization. She wondered briefly about the why but soon decided it was probably to keep her away from something dangerous. Walking around all she saw were labs and smaller underground farms. About 1 day later, Iris reappeared in Scilla¡¯s life. ¡°follow me. I have something to show you¡± ¡°oh, not even a hello?¡± ¡°why? We are under the same roof. You don¡¯t say hello every time you meet for dinner at your home right?¡± ¡°...well no but¡­¡± ¡°just follow me¡± Iris led Scilla into narrow and long corridors with a lot of stairs. Most of the doors they went through were locked for Scilla. Then finally the last door opened into a cubical room. 2 sides were almost completely made of glass and so was a triangular portion of the roof. However, they were far far away from said windows. Between them and the light, there were 50 meters of pure chaos. Weapon exhibition lockers, power armors left standing, loads of machines, a couple of enormous beds even for Scilla¡¯s standards, and pillow forts. So many pillows and blanket forts that made traversing the room practically impossible. Practically on the other side of the room, there was only one bed that appeared used with a perfectly tidy zone beside it. In such zone 3 weapons. An SMG, an assault rifle, and a sniper rifle. Beside standing ominously the surprisingly big ARAC-P1. It was Iris¡¯s armor and as such it had several decals on it. However the small and few killing decals were not important. What struck the eyes was a gigantic yellow lightning decal that occupied the front torso. What¡¯s the meaning of that? I doubt it¡¯s an artistic choice. ¡°what do you¡­ what do I have to see?¡± ¡°this¡± They passed beside a wardrobe that was concealing a lean size suit. It was no ARAC-P1, but it was not just a thermal suit. ¡°this is for you. Wear it while I get into mine and then we will roll out¡± ¡°is this why¡­ why you were away?¡± ¡°why else?¡± ¡°no...emh. Nothing. I¡¯ll wear it¡± Iris instructed Scilla about the procedure to get in and out of the suit. Fortunately for her, it was still ¡®old technology¡¯ so it didn¡¯t require a connective suit. Scilla entered easily, way too easily. The suit was perfectly sized almost as if it had been directly built upon her body. Did she measure me while I was knocked out? Of course she did. Iris was never particularly known for understanding privacy or boundaries. Done with the armor Scilla waited for Iris and regroup with her. Inside her ARAC Iris felt different. No longer peaceful. Scilla followed her again and through several corridors, they got to an exit to the surface. ¡°remember. The outside is not safe. Ask me before doing anything out of the ordinary.¡± ¡°I can manage myself. I think¡± ¡°you think wrong Scilla. Very wrong¡± after a scanning chamber, a decontamination one, and an isolation chamber they finally reached the surface. They popped on the side of a steep mountain. Before their eyes extended forests and plains covered in snow. A path, probably with underground heating, led away passing between 34 6,2 meters tall obelisks each with its own statue of a different Idra. They were not in order but started with 476 and ended with 484. about 1 out of 3 had the tip artificially broken. All statues were also gradually better. 476¡¯s statue was crude, unrefined and lacking. 484¡¯s statue was out of the ordinary. It felt real. They were all made with a black material that looked like a mix of marble and obsidian. The layer of snow on them was fairly short, only 10cm. Before all the statues, there were flowers popping out of the snow. Ice blue flowers with 7 sharp petals and a deep blue core which made them inflorescences, not flowers. Some statues had more than others but one was above all. 484 was a small garden of strange plants carefully kept in place and separated. A mix of blue, grey, and white flowers spelled a composite word in Estir. It was clearly a graveyard or at least a tribute to those no longer here. Scilla remained silent while they walked past, yet she couldn¡¯t not notice some footprints in the snow. They were really small, as if they belonged to a monkey or a raccoon. Those stopped around 484 tombs. We are not alone out here. I believed they would kill everything that moved. I shall ask. ¡°are we safe outside?¡± ¡°as safe as you could be on this hell hole¡± ¡°doesn¡¯t help much. I saw prints in the snow¡­¡± ¡°don¡¯t worry. The barrier kills unwanted creatures. But it¡¯s rare that they get out here. Only Stigras with a death wish reach for Iridana. They all know to stay away.¡± How intelligent can these creatures be if she speaks of them¡­ as if they are capable of civilization and abstract thought? Do they not come here because of her? Or is there something or someone else out here? ¡°what are they afraid of?¡± ¡°gravity anomalies for the most part.¡± ¡°and for the other part?¡± ¡°me.¡± Snow soon piled out and so did a peculiar effect, snow floating. Since Weeping sky is a mixture of matter and gravron matter, snow is a mixture as well. In those snowflakes where gravron was prevalent, peculiar behaviors appeared, the most common was floating above the ground as if they were stopped in time. Scilla followed Iris who left a trail in them. ¡°where we going?¡± asked Scilla ¡°beyond that small hill covered in teeny tiny plants. That¡¯s where a torrent flows. I adore that place.¡± Some walking later, out of the small forest and into a way less dense flooded forest. What Scilla believed was just a creek passing by turned out to be more like 50 creeks, each at least half a meter wide but really shallow. 30 cm at best. They dug into the ground making several small islands now covered in heavy snow. Several plots of land had trees on them and all along the torrent''s sides flowers prospered alongside thick, wet moss. That place immediately reminded Scilla of her home and the time spent outside with Nuria. ¡°whoa. This place is¡­ beautiful¡± ¡°it¡¯s even better in the other seasons. Just watch out for the flowers¡± ¡°you planted them?¡± ¡°why should have I done something like that?¡± ¡°then why watching out?¡± something was telling Scilla that Iris was smiling with malicious intent. ¡°¡­ get close to one¡± Scilla curious and confident approached a solitary flower. When she was about 40 cm away from it the plant turned toward her and the air separating them fell into the river frozen. Scilla jumped back. ¡°THE PLANT TRIED TO KILL ME! THE PLANT!¡± ¡°Indeed it tried. What you see isn¡¯t really frozen air. What you just experienced was being attacked by a Laciari flower. They send out their pollen which of course uses gravron. It mixes with moisture in the air with an exothermic reaction that heats up the surroundings but at the same time produces a really cold molecule that gets to -80¡ãC and is still flying toward you. It basically hunts by cold burning the prey. Before you ask it¡¯s a carnivorous plants. Its root are agile and really long so it can eat bigger prey once they fall dead beside it.¡± ¡°I can understand now why you always said that the surface is dangerous. Fucking hell even flowers try to kill you¡± ¡°happy to see that you are understanding. Now. Since the plant has wasted its cold payload. It¡¯s time to show it the cycle of life.¡± Iris walked to the flower that didn¡¯t react to her and just cut it. She then opened her helmet and just ate the plant. During the process, as the flower came in contact with Iris¡¯s saliva, a glaze of ice formed and was immediately crushed by Iris¡¯s teeth. Scilla heard it crackling and breaking while Iris chewed it. ¡°what the fuck!? you ate it!¡± ¡°yeah. It¡¯s edible. Kinda sweet and moist with ice shards. It¡¯s super funny. I have a small farm of them to eat a bunch during summer. It¡¯s like ice tea that makes itself while chewing. Come on, I¡¯ll trick a second for you to try¡± chapter 78c: sickness Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 78c: sickness Eating a self-making ice tea was only the tip of the iceberg. Scilla was going to experience even more bizarre occurrences. But maybe the absolutely most bizarre of them all was Iris herself. Iris was an angel. She was a beam of chaotic light. Upon their return from the surface, Scilla received access to her own room inside Iris¡¯s living zone. Based on what Iris said, Scilla received one of several guest rooms that consisted in self self-sufficient 4-room apartment. Each unit had a living room with outside view, 2 full bathrooms each with its own shower and tub built separately, a kitchen, a studio, and 2 bedrooms. From the moment she received the room Iris started giving Scilla some privacy. If not invited Iris would not enter the room except for the predefined days. Iris had placed some strong boundaries between them and most were used to regulate their sleeping sessions. Once every 3 days Iris would meet with Scilla in her room to sleep in the same bed. Such sleeping sessions had rules, mostly related to keeping each other as distant as possible while still receiving the benefit of sharing a bed. They spent a few days relaxing and letting Scilla adjust to all the changes. During those days Scilla realized how peaceful and joyful was living with Iris. She was just a joy to have around. But even in such cases, Scilla could feel a barrier always kept up between them. They were friends¡­ and she realized¡­ that she wanted more. She was in love again. Or maybe she was never out of love. Maybe she moved from 511 to 608. but did she ever stop loving? Her newfound realization however was soon going to be placed on hold. 3 days after their return Scilla had just finished preparing lunch, but Iris was nowhere to be found. ¡°IRIS! LUNCH IS READY! WHERE ARE YOU? I ALREADY CALLED TWICE¡± shouted Scilla hoping that Iris would come, and she did. From behind Scilla Iris spoke. ¡°here¡± Scilla jumped scared as she heard nothing and Iris was just half a meter behind her. ¡°When did you get here and how? I didn¡¯t hear you¡± ¡°just now. Time to eat right?¡± Scilla noticed a missing detail. Iris no longer had the collar. Scilla nervously tapped her neck by instinct. ¡°your collar¡­¡± ¡°what about it?¡± ¡°it¡¯s gone.¡± ¡°yeah. That¡¯s what I worked on this morning. I removed it once I¡¯ll remove it twice¡± Smiled Iris. ¡°so¡­ you¡­ you are free now¡­ right?¡± asked fearfully Scilla. ¡°Are you scared?¡± ¡°is¡­ is it¡­ obvious?¡± ¡°even if it wasn¡¯t I would be able to smell your fear¡± ¡°sorry¡­¡± ¡°you don¡¯t have to be sorry. I would be scared too. I mean if I wasn¡¯t a Leermorf¡­ you got it didn¡¯t you right?¡± ¡°I¡­ I understand¡± ¡°do you fear what I am? Or do you fear who I am?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t fear you¡­ but¡­ sorry I can¡¯t help it¡­¡± ¡°you are uncertain about my nature. It¡¯s understandable. From your perspective, I could be a space invader wearing the skin of the woman you loved¡­ I understand¡­ it¡¯s not easy¡± ¡°no¡­ it¡¯s not¡­ fuck I just don¡¯t know how to express it. You are like¡­ super peaceful and all¡­ but I keep overthinking. Because¡­ because we are not the same¡­ I mean me and the rest of us¡­. And you. I have one body and one body only. I can¡¯t change. My way of thinking is just engraved in me. But you can change. Shift into someone else. Is what I¡¯m speaking to really you¡­ or is it a fragment¡­ sorry if it¡­¡± ¡°I see. You have interrogated yourself a lot about my existence. I¡¯m not displeased. I asked and kept asking myself the same questions. What makes me¡­ myself? My core body is as malleable as all others. I have almost no fixed point. Where does my personality come from? My brain? The same brain I can live without? Does it come from my core aspect that I can change permanently? Does it come from my memories which I can erase forever? From my atoms and molecules which I can replace? I don¡¯t know what makes me, Me. But I know that I am myself.¡± Scilla remained silent as they sat and started eating. She kept looking at Iris and once again noticed a peculiarity. She forced herself to remember and her memory didn¡¯t fail her. Iris had an eating pattern. The same eating pattern as 511. Upon receiving her food, Iris would cut parts of almost identical size. Mix them with the same amount of side dishes and eat them in series. Then repeat the process. It was one of several quirks. At such realization, Scilla smiled. ¡°We should discuss our future¡± said Iris. ¡°I¡­¡± ¡°since you came, you gave me a new objective. I¡¯ll restore my spaceyard and we will build a new spacecraft. For you to return to your people and for me to venture among the stars. First, we fix the machine then we look for plans and knowledge on the engines. I¡¯ll increase your clearance level and you will already be able to search for new plans.¡± ¡°Sounds good for me¡­ when do we start?¡± ¡°With the spaceyard today, with the research I would say from tomorrow. Now that I can change I no longer depend on your help for moving things around. Still two entities could be useful during several procedures. But we will see about that.¡± Putting the spaceyard back into service was fairly fast and took only 2 weeks. However, looking for spaceship knowledge was far more complex and long. Knowledge of spacecrafts and space travel was clearly widely documented by the Idras. The few and sparse documents found had hundreds of variations and tens of thousands of citations to recover all the knowledge that one could need to understand said document. But it was not all work and search. Rarely, when the weather allowed, Iris would take Scilla outside to explore the surface. Those secondary trips were shorter as they usually happened during calm but still snowy days. Of course, Iris was no dictator, so she gave Scilla a lot of free time. Scilla spent said time trying to learn more about Iris and about her upbringing. A questionable choice that unrevealed more horrors than what she was imagining, but still a useful trauma. Her frantic search led her to a video. A recording straight from 484¡¯s suit. The file was placed under 608¡¯s development accidents. It was named ¡®tearing¡¯. It started with 484 being led by Idra 493 into a room. 493 was clearly agitated. ¡°I sense no alarm. So why did you bother me sister?¡± said 484 while approaching a window. The room she was in was some sort of observation and command post. On the other side below them a chamber with fake natural lighting and an outdoor setting composed of few fake plants. Inside on the opposite side, there was a young 608, she was at best 8 years old, but probably younger. On the other side a clearly scared Droxi woman. The Droxi was naked and deprived of any object. Iris on the other hand was wearing her usual clothes just smaller to fit her size. Her head was covered and so were her eyes, yet her mouth was left free. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°what¡¯s going on with 608?¡± asked 484. Iris was not standing, she was on the ground stuck in a corner pressing her hands on her ears. ¡°That¡¯s why I called for you. You know her better. Do you think it¡¯s because of the droxi?¡± ¡°I doubt that. When did it start?¡± ¡°like 10 minutes ago she started breathing strangely. It sounded as if she couldn¡¯t breath but the sound didn¡¯t come from her at all. All scans suggest that she can breathe and is breathing just fine.¡± ¡°I never seen her this way too. Did you ask her what is wrong?¡± ¡°yeah, she had her tablet but she hasn¡¯t replied¡± ¡°ok let¡¯s pull her out.¡± ¡°LET ME OUT OF HERE! HEY!¡± shouted the Droxi in the testing room. Her shouts seemed to have triggered Iris who moved from the corner. ¡°hey, hey look look. She is moving¡­¡± Iris was not walking, she was crawling toward the shouting Droxi. Hers was no uncoordinated movement. No Iris¡¯s crawl was akin to a jaguar approaching her prey. Loud acute pings that sounded like a mix of a banshee scream and an active sonar echoed in the room. They frightened the Droxi even more which prompted her to scream louder for help. ¡°Sister! What do we do?¡± exclaimed 493. ¡°nothing. We watch. Whatever got to her is probably¡­¡± Iris jumped from behind a bush onto the Droxi. The Droxi fell on the ground as if a way bigger mass than just a 120cm creature hit her. On the ground Iris recovered immediately and while keeping the 4 points of contact posture stared into the Droxi''s face. Iris''s smile broke her face. Teeth extended going full circle around her face. The Droxi was in absolute shock and so were the Idras observing. The smile extended more crossing above Iris¡¯s eyes. Then the head burst open exploding with bleeding pure black breaches like a burned tree. Pieces of brain slowly fall from the branches as small creepy hands were growing on them, each holding onto cracked teeth. As soon as the Droxi stood up to run away Iris grew multiple arms and tentacles on her back and grabbed the Droxi. The tentacles pushed under the creature''s skin that obviously screamed as they pushed underneath and literally tore away the skin from the body. Immediately after the tentacles vanished while the grabbing harms grew bigger to deliver the last blows. They grabbed onto the completely skinless woman and started smashing her violently against the ground and the wall. Iris stopped only when the Droxi was reduced to a bunch of meat pieces scattered around. As her carnage ended she let out 3 more pings. Each was exponentially louder than the previous one. The first was as loud as a sonic boom. The second so loud to shake even 484 that was ¡°safe¡± beyond the reinforced glass and the third radiated so much energy that the reinforced ground broke and so did the safety windows. In all this, the Idras looked in shock and fear. All but one. 484 behind the camera was delighted by such view. ¡°tell me that all the instruments were on¡± were the first words out of her mouth. ¡°yes. We got it all¡± ¡°wonderful. I¡¯m going in, she seems to be calming down. Send all the data to 499. we can capitalize on so much destructive power¡± Scilla was shocked. Fear paralyzed her body. Such horrific death. She never saw anything worse except a few times all committed by 511. Was that the real 608? Of course not. What Scilla saw was a scared creature defending itself as hallucination fogged her mind. Yet those were just a fraction of the true horrors that Leermorfs can bring to their enemies. That¡¯s why it¡¯s better to leave them alone. If I have to guess this is the only accident, but wasn''t she supposed to have killed a human?¡­ unfortunately there seems to be no more knowledge on it¡­ at least not here. Well, it¡¯s time for my return home. Should I worry about Iris? She didn¡¯t look good in that video. Was she sick? Will it happen again? How do I even prepare for that? Said knowledge would however be useful a month later, just as the snowy days were reducing and spring approaching. By that time Scilla was now sure to be 42. Said month later was just a normal day as usual. However, upon getting on the supersonic train to the main base Iris started coughing and breathing heavily. Or so sounded like it. She was breathing just fine but it sounded as if her throat was obstructed. ¡°Iris are you ok? Your sounds are concerning¡± ¡°I¡¯m. I¡¯m¡­ fine. Just need a moment. Don¡¯t worry¡­ I can manage¡± ¡°tell me if¡­ it gets worse. I don¡¯t know how I could help, but I will. No matter what.¡± ¡°you don¡¯t have to worry. It¡¯s somewhat of a cyclical thing. Happens from time to time. I¡¯ll just have to take it easy for today¡­ and maybe tomorrow¡± ¡°do you want to turn back and rest?¡± ¡°no need.¡± but Scilla was right to be worried. Slowly but inevitably Iris was getting worse to the point that they stopped for her to rest after just some walking. At some point, Iris exhausted just stopped walking and slid on a wall until she sat. Scilla immediately reached for her. Judging by Iris¡¯s eyes things were not good as they kept moving from normal to their strange shape. Iris was also not really herself. She was clearly hallucinating and losing her grasp on reality. ¡°Iris. Stay with me. What do I do?¡± ¡°bag¡­ my backpack. I have medicines¡­¡± Scilla took the backpack and in it found a med kit. Opening it she revealed several pill containers and 2 auto injecting syringes. Iris frantically grabbed one of the pill carriers, opened it and tried to take one of the pills that was supposedly inside. However, nothing came out. When she realized, several seconds later, she tossed away the container enraged. ¡°PORCA TROIA! (pig slut) empty! Fucking empty! How can I fucking forget!!?¡± ¡°Iris, Iris stay with me. What do I do now? Where do I go to get more pills¡± ¡°the injector. Do you know how to use one?¡± ¡°of course. They are standard issue in the army¡± ¡°then used it on me¡­ I can¡¯t use it¡± ¡°are your hands not working?¡± ¡°I¡¯m scared¡± ¡°I know but¡­ eh?¡± ¡°I¡¯m scared of the fucking needle!¡± ¡°what!?¡± ¡°needles! I fucking can¡¯t stand them! We all have fears!¡± ¡°I¡¯m judging¡­ fuck it. No time for that shit¡­ where do I inject you?¡± ¡°close your eyes for a moment please¡± Scilla turned away. When she looked back Iris had exposed her left thigh. She had pulled down her pants to her knees and moved her skirts to leave her skin out but cover the rest. No free view of her layers of underwear. ¡°you can¡¯t miss it right?¡± ¡°I won¡¯t. So close your eyes and I¡¯ll go. You will feel nothing.¡± Scilla had a wide knowledge of self injectors as she used first aid on herself multiple times during the war. For Leans it was a standard procedure to inject yourself with lab-enriched artificial blood to help with blood loss and open wounds. Injured Leans would clean the injury and inject close by. The artificial blood would flow to the open wound and speed up drastically the natural healing process. Using a similar injector on a friend was not different. However each time Scilla would get closer to Iris, she would scream and pull away. It was impossible to hit her safely so Scilla sat on Iris¡¯s legs blocking them. Then she placed a hand on Iris¡¯s eyes and prepared herself. She knew that Iris was going to try and run away. So she decided that she had to deliver a little surprise. As she moved the injector closer she stopped covering Iris¡¯s eyes and instead grabbed her nose while pulling her face closer. Iris was surprised and immediately pissed. She stared with fury into Scilla and didn¡¯t notice at all the needle piercing her skin and delivering the stabilizing medicine. As Scilla pulled away Iris shouted angrily. ¡°YOU FUCKING BITCH! THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR YOUR SHITTY¡­¡± Iris noticed Scilla waving the empty injector before her eyes. She immediately changed her tones. ¡°you¡­ you did it! You fucking fooled me like a cunt.¡± Iris smiled. ¡°indeed wench. What now?¡± ¡°thanks you¡­ I¡¯ll loose¡­ consciousness¡­ soon¡­ can you¡­ me¡­ home?¡± then Iris collapsed. ¡°yes I can. I¡¯ll bring you back home. Into your bed.¡± Scilla was relieved and happy that she was able to help Iris. But now. Alone. In such an exposed position. Scilla couldn¡¯t contain herself. After having touched such heavenly soft skin, she had to touch it again. After all the first time she was focused on the injection not on the skin experience. Just like her perfect face, Iris¡¯s skin and body were perfection. Soft and smooth tanned skin with no hair at all to Scilla¡¯s surprise. She had no idea that Esterians don¡¯t really grow hair except on their head and groin. Iris¡¯s thigh was perfectly sized for her body, it was not too fat nor too muscular. Soft while relaxed but defined. Unwatched, except by Us, Scilla gave into temptation and her perversion. She wanted to lick such perfect thigh but decided that it was too much of an intrusion. Instead, she decided to have a good long sniff of Iris leg and a second sniff closer to the skirt gap between Iris¡¯s legs. Satisfied with herself, Scilla pulled up Iris¡¯s double pair of pants and then lifted her up to carry her home. chapter 79c: footprints Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 79c: footprints Once Scilla carried Iris back to her bed, she stuck around. Having time at her disposal she searched the room looking for something interesting. Scattered around multiple locations she found thick plates of a transparent material. They were rectangular shaped and at the bottom there was a region with clearly some circuits implanted. At the slighted touch they would turn on, showing files with countless projects of all kinds of things. She for sure recognized some weapons blueprints, but some were totally out of her league. Other than the fancy pictures and strange drawings, the difference in language was obvious. Her immediate thought was that whatever language she was reading was for sure not Estir. The font was compact and complex, almost totally unreadable. It looked nothing like the other documents she saw, yet it looked similar to the word written with flowers on 484''s tomb. She tried to translate it, but her translator printed out [error][unknown language]. She was facing one of the hardest challenges that all Esterian faces. Reading composite Estir. It was the exact same language as Estir but used a different alphabet and complex writing rules to conceal it¡¯s meaning. It was developed by the Founder and his wife as a self-encrypting writing system that also contained the reading key. It was not absurdly complex as a fair percentage of people could be trained to read it. Any advanced machine could easily break it if it knows where to start. What made composite Estir so hard to learn and almost impossible to master was the lack of reference. Composite Estir was just totally foreign to all creatures. It had no traceable inspiration coming from other languages or from mathematical structures. It was chaotic and lacked order. A mixture of wobbly circles, half-drawn triangles, bent lines, 3D projection, and only the Founder knows what. Lack of reference and knowledge of the language made it so far impossible to be read unless taught to. More and more documents emerged from the room. Not a single one was written in standard Estir. Uff. No secret documents for me I guess¡­ mmh. What now? Waiting is kinda boring. I don¡¯t really know when she is going to wake up¡­ I¡¯ll go find something else. Load it on my tablet and then come back. It took a while for Iris to wake up. 18 hours to be precise. Long enough for Scilla to take up space beside her and fall asleep. After the 18 hours of unconsciousness, Iris woke up tired. She immediately noticed the change of scenery and Scilla. The sleeping Lean was wrapped in her hair. She brought me home. Her breathing is stable. She must be deep asleep. I wonder why my hair is always getting to her. Why? There are no anomalies in her body. The only gravron in her body comes from the food she eats and is not assimilated. So why? What is my body telling me? What am I not seeing? Is it telling me to eat her? I don¡¯t think so. I can incorporate enough of her just by sniffing and eating dead cells. Iris moved her hand on Scilla¡¯s shoulder and then shook her. Scilla woke up immediately. ¡°sorry I didn¡¯t want to intrude in your bed but¡­¡± Iris interrupted. Her star-shaped eyes coldly stare at Scilla. ¡°you don¡¯t have to worry. I suppose you decided to stay because our rooms are far apart, waited a lot for me and ended up falling asleep. Am I right?¡± ¡°¡­ spot on. But I want to add on it.¡± ¡°go on¡± ¡°I carried you back and I didn¡¯t know what to do. Obviously, I couldn¡¯t put you into your bed because your clothes were ¡®dirty¡¯. Of course, I can¡¯t just change you. So I put you on top of your bed and looked for a different blanket to place on top. Please tell me I did it all right¡± Iris moved her hand to caress Scilla¡¯s hair. ¡°yep. You did it all perfectly. Thank you.¡± ¡°yes!¡­ so what happened to you? Should I worry?¡± ¡°not really. It was not particularly dangerous. At least not for me. By now I suppose you may have created your own ideas about my working principles. Too bad they are all wrong¡­¡± ¡°but I didn¡¯t speak¡± ¡°doesn¡¯t matter. Nobody was able to figure me out. Me included. You said yourself that you aren¡¯t smart. Still tell your hypothesis about my nature¡± ¡°Iris. With as much respect as possible. Pull the fucking broom out of your ass and cut your crap.¡± Iris¡¯s eyes opened wide as they spiked. They no longer looked dead and bored. ¡°I¡¯ll show you the fucking broom!¡± Iris jumped up onto Scilla pushing her back down on the bed. Scilla blocked her with her arms and adding some help from the legs she was able to keep Iris in the air above her. ¡°just wait till I get to your cheeks. I¡¯ll pinch them all!¡± exclaimed Iris trying to free herself from Scilla. Now that her playful intent became obvious, Scilla decided to play along. She smiled back with a grin. ¡°have you ever played the airplane?¡± ¡°no?? what¡¯s that?¡± Scilla started shaking Iris moving left and right. Lowering her altitude and then extending both arms and legs to push her in the air as much as possible. Judging by Iris¡¯s laughter she was clearly having fun and so was Scilla. They kept going for a few more minutes before Iris asked to be released. ¡°you know sometimes you can really be hateful. Especially when you speak as if you know everything. Why did you do that?¡± asked Scilla. ¡°I don¡¯t really know. It¡¯s kind of a way to keep people away. If nobody likes you, you don¡¯t have to worry about them trying to get closer right?¡± ¡°but aren¡¯t we friends? Why pushing me away?¡± ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know what friends do. How they behave. I never had a friend. All I know is that you don¡¯t eat your friend.¡± ¡°you would have eaten me?¡± ¡°Depends. But probably.¡± ¡°well at least you are honest¡± ¡°still I told you to not worry about my¡­ condition. But I suppose you should¡­. To some degree.¡± ¡°do you explode or something?¡± ¡°not really. Just really aggressive.¡± ¡°what¡¯s the cause?¡± ¡°I told you. It¡¯s my own nature that I can¡¯t understand. I can try to describe this¡­ phenomena. But I make no promises. Changing body is an unstable process. Even if there is no evidence you could view the process as cells that return to a primordial unaltered form and rearrange to assume the new shape. The same goes for my own atoms and molecules. It¡¯s a process that goes against nature as it requires no tangible energy but the outcome produces energy. Or so I would say. In my case is more like as if they never reach the outcome. They keep all the energy but their shape changes. I don¡¯t know how to explain it. It¡¯s like photon emission. You are sure that if you see light then something is dissipating energy. In my case, you could see light but there is no energy dissipation. Only the impossible energy creation. But all of this was to explain a bit. With words and events that make sense to us and that we can observe. However, that¡¯s not my case. I just swap at infinite speed. At least at a speed not measurable. Cells are me and a so small to be not measurable instant later they aren¡¯t. by all means I am impossible. Yet I¡¯m here. I figured that all my issues must be related to such impossibility¡± ¡°I appreciate the explanation. But how do you¡­ live with said condition? Why and how often does it happen?¡± Iris smiled and looked away. She moved to stare outside at the snow falling heavily. ¡°I believe several phenomena could be correlated to my natural instability. But what you saw yesterday?¡± ¡°yep yesterday¡± ¡°was a rare occurrence. There is no frequency or schedule. Nor I know how badly I will be impacted. I could just walk off sounding like I¡¯m dying while being completely fine. Or hallucinate my way into a frenzy of death. As far as I know, even in the worst case, all you have to do is remain calm when I¡¯m around. In such condition, I would not harm you. It¡¯s like a hangover. Shouting will only make me angry and bring me to attack you.¡± ¡°you speak as if you can¡¯t control yourself¡± ¡°cause it¡¯s exactly that. I lose my sense of reality. I just see monsters trying to hurt me. So I fight back. If you scream you become exactly the same and I can¡¯t really tell you apart from my hallucinations¡± ¡°got it. So what was in the injector? And how could we mitigate your effects?¡± an uncomfortable long silent pause later and Iris finally replied. ¡°we?¡± ¡°yes, WE. I decided that I want to assist you as much as possible. So tell me how to.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really know. The best solution so far was to just put me to sleep. Or give me some tranquilizers. Which as you could guess are the usual medicines that I take. Pills just calm me down while the injector is meant to force me asleep.¡± ¡°are your nightmares correlated?¡± ¡°only partially, as some hallucinations appear in both. I still have no clue why your presence removed them. Do you have nightmares when we share a bed?¡± ¡°no, quite the opposite. I never slept so well in my life. Nor have I ever woke up feeling so good and recharged.¡± ¡°does my hair impair you in some way?¡± ¡°no. I was a bit freaked out the first time, but I got used to waking up in them. Maybe you should use some scanners on me and see what is different¡± ¡°I doubt it would work. You have nothing special¡­¡± ¡°oh¡­¡± ¡°in a good way. A good way!¡± ¡°I was joking. I won¡¯t sulk for that. But I¡¯m not totally normal. I¡¯m immune to some of your magical air stuff that are used to control people''s minds.¡± ¡°you told me you were stupid, never thought you were so stupid¡± ¡°Hey! The fuck?¡± ¡°I¡¯m joking too. But your resistance to molecules is just due to your lack of receptors. It has nothing to do with me or why you seem to attract gravron¡± Even with Iris¡¯s explanations, Scilla kept understanding almost nothing. She was not particularly versatile in science. ¡°¡­ so it was kind of a surprise to see that you fear needles¡­¡± ¡°Scilla I¡¯ll have to interrupt you. I know I have been awake for just an hour, but I need to rest again.¡± ¡°oh, sorry. I¡¯ll shut up then.¡± ¡°thanks, but before¡­ I just want to say thank you and sorry for being an asshole before¡± ¡°you are forgiven. Don¡¯t worry too much. I can somewhat understand that for you all social interactions are kinda new, strange and unpredictable¡± If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°indeed they are.¡± Day after day spent with Iris brought out more of her raw personality. Iris was an unfiltered creature with little care or maybe understanding of others. She would speak her mind with brutal honesty and several times with playful dishonesty. Once she understood the concept of jokes and insults as jokes she started using them without end. As time passed Iris became more comfortable with Scilla¡¯s presence and physical interactions. It was obvious that she liked touching things and loved to tease others to stimulate reactions, like a baby monkey full of energy. It was also obvious that Iris liked physical contact and physical play. She loved to scare the shit out of Scilla with ambushes and by jumping on her from dark corners. But time also told a different story. The story of a deeply thoughtful creature always thinking and daydreaming about what could be or could have been. A highly intelligent creature deeply immersed in her complex thoughts. A creature whose hobby was thinking and questioning reality both with science and logic. Sometimes she would also warden into morality and philosophy. As Iris became more comfortable with Scilla, she started to stare into the void outside even in her presence. In such deep thoughts, Iris was always seated with her natural eyes twitching from time to time showing that something was happening. When submerged in her mind Iris was also less responsive. Yet it was part of her charm. Just like the Founder, lost in ideas. As time passed the weather improved and Iris started to train Scilla on how to behave and survive on the surface. As spring started, the snow melted away leaving a green surface that slowly returned to shine under the sun. Iridana was protected by a drone dome, but even with that Iris forced Scilla to always carry a gun outside. Iris also prepared several sets of armor for Scilla. Sets built to sustain damage and also keep Scilla warm. Spring had just started and the average temperature at noon was just 7¡ãC. As the weather improved Iris would spend more and more time outside, some of it spent actually working while most was spent tending at her personal graveyard while Scilla fooled around. In one of those days, Scilla found Iris sitting before 484 tomb staring at the flowers she planted in what looked like a praying position. Scilla got immediately curious and approached her. ¡°I thought you didn¡¯t believe in god¡± ¡°the concept of god is impossible. More impossible than me.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just something you believe in. There are so many unknown overpowered things out there. Maybe some are even watching us now.¡± ¡°but none are gods. Or to be more precise god. Some believe that god is everything. Those are wrong. If it is everything, then he is both a single entity and multiple entities. Yet you can¡¯t be both as it¡¯s a paradox. A perfect god can¡¯t be material as matter is imperfect, so implies that god can¡¯t be everything as this made it matter. If god can all then it can redefine time. It should be start and end at the same time. Such is impossible as you can¡¯t be what has never been. God is natural laws is also false. If god can all it can bend unbendable laws that are part of itself. From a logical point, the concept of a real, true god is pure bullshit. There will never be one. What can be is creatures really close to it but never god. Creatures far beyond us will always be creatures. Your words carry truth. We may be watched, but no god is doing so. If god makes you, if god observing you to make you exist then you are a part of said god. An imperfect part that will make it imperfect.¡± ¡°you think way too much. But if you say so, why praying?¡± ¡°Scilla do you believe in god?¡± ¡°does it matter?¡± ¡°I know you do.¡± ¡°no. I don¡¯t.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t be mad. I personally don¡¯t care. To each their own. So do you believe in god?¡± ¡°I mean¡­ I¡¯m unsure. You have great points. The one I understood. But I sort of want to believe that¡­ there is more after death. A place of eternal peace you know?¡± ¡°I understand. You don¡¯t belong to a religion. You just have faith. I admire that. Having faith. A personal connection between you and your greater entity. That¡¯s what believers should all be. The moment you gather, the moment you put layers between you and your deity. Is the moment you have lost faith. Churches may tell you the opposite all because they gain from it.¡± ¡°do you believe in god?¡± ¡°no. it¡¯s too convenient.¡± ¡°then why praying?¡± ¡°convenient. What do you think happens to atheists after death?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Ethereal darkness?¡± ¡°There is nothing. Not the nothing you are imagining. No dark place. Do you remember what you felt before you were born?¡± ¡°no? How could I? I wasn¡¯t born¡± ¡°indeed. So for the same principle, there will be nothing after. Whatever there could be, you are no longer. You can¡¯t perceive even darkness or emptiness¡± ¡°then you are praying because¡­?¡± ¡°Because I wish that there was more. I wish for a place where my sisters can live. Your same eternal peace, just for them. After all, they believed in a man-made deity. The Founder himself.¡± A somewhat shocking revelation that however made a lot of sense. From the few interactions with other Esterians, it was clear that they viewed the Founder as some sort of superior creature. ¡°I always believe that religion was outlawed among Esterians.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t speak for the outside. But if it¡¯s the same as here then you are correct. Religions are outlawed. Faith isn¡¯t. As long as it¡¯s a one-on-one relationship you are fine. That¡¯s the true foundation of all beliefs.¡± ¡°so even if you don¡¯t care about god, you pray for them hoping that they were right in their choice?¡± ¡°more or less.¡± ¡°isn¡¯t it more¡­ no¡­. Isn¡¯t it just more safe to believe in a god? I mean if one exists then you are good and will be in haven of whatever. If it doesn¡¯t exist then you go into the same nothingness. But if you don¡¯t believe and then there is a god, you end up in hell or some shit like that right?¡± ¡°but the Founder was no god. Nor are those keeping us alive. You see as they observe us. We observe them. Gods don¡¯t exist on their own. They exist because people make them exist. And to a certain degree so are all fictional characters. As long as someone is watching they exist and watch back.¡± ¡°that¡­ that last part makes no fucking sense.¡± ¡°either way. I would vastly prefer to just disappear. From dirt we came, to dirt we return. Also isn¡¯t it a bad bet for you?¡± ¡°why?¡± ¡°I should stop speaking. I don¡¯t want to hurt you.¡± ¡°fine. I¡¯ll go somewhere else. See you later at home.¡± ¡°see you too Scilla.¡± A month later the temperature reached 15¡ãC and the wind was fairly calm for Weeping Sky standards. In such condition, Iris went to wake up Scilla and coerced her into participating in her plan. ¡°Scilla! Scilla! Wake up¡± ¡°mmh, what?¡± ¡°We are going to have a pickanica¡± ¡°a what?¡± ¡°¡­ a packaduck?¡± ¡°ooohh. You mean a picnic¡± ¡°nah I¡¯m fairly sure it¡¯s packaduck, but whatever you got the point. So cook something we will go out at 11. then we will walk to my favorite spot. Just 30 minutes away.¡± ¡°some requests?¡± ¡°nope. Just be on time¡± Iris brought Scilla to a remote creek submerged by nature but not too far from home. This was in a completely different direction from the others path they ever took. On their side of the 30 cm deep and 4 meters large creek, there was a simple camping zone. One large firepit with picnic tables around and slots for tents. In addition to that, there was a platform, that looked like wood but wasn¡¯t, that extended across the creek. It was spotless. Everything was amazing. From the food to the location. From the bird chipping to Iris¡¯s contagious laugh. In such a condition laying on a blanket over the creek platform, Scilla decided to be brave. ¡°Iris. I have something¡­ important to tell you¡± ¡°mmh? Did you forget something? We can send a drone back¡­¡± ¡°no. it¡¯s about me¡­ and well you¡­¡± ¡°go on. I don¡¯t bite¡­ often¡± ¡°I love you Iris¡± Iris replied immediately ¡°I love you too¡± she clearly mistook the meaning. ¡°not in the sense that I like spending time with you¡­¡± ¡°oh well fuck you too then¡­¡± ¡°stop joking and let me finish¡± ¡°sorry.¡± ¡°I love you romantically. I don¡¯t want to remain just friends. I want to... to build a family with you. That is the love I¡¯m feeling¡± This time Iris remained silent. She was clearly thinking deeply. ¡°can I ask you a question first?¡± ¡°sure. You can ask all you want. Take all the time you need. I get that it¡¯s kind of an asshole move to approach you here and¡­¡± ¡°shish. Don¡¯t care about that. Let me ask. Do you have any regret about the war you took part in?¡± Scilla was dumbfounded, she couldn¡¯t understand the connection with being in love but replied anyway. ¡°I mostly don¡¯t. I understand the brutality of my doing. War is no joke. But I can¡¯t say that I regret it. I did what I had to do for my people. It was either fight to survive or die. I will always choose to fight. I don¡¯t need to find justification for being right. My resolve weakens only when speaking about the extermination. To be clear I don¡¯t regret ending the Droxi. Sort of. I know that it had to be done or we would have never been left in peace. However, I wonder if we could have gone a different route. Maybe war could have been avoided.¡± ¡°good answer.¡± ¡°by the way have you ever seen a Droxi?¡± ¡°yep. When I was little. As far as I know, my sisters abducted a huge amount for testing. They were all killed long ago.¡± their conversation stopped before Iris spoke again. ¡°so¡­ I¡¯m fairly unsure about the concept of love. But I understand the concept of family. You also have several qualities that I like. You are big, naturally loud, you know how to cook. You take care of me. You try to defend and protect me. I like your physical build. You are stronger than me. Have a way better understanding of the social world and funny. At least to me¡­¡± ¡°thank y(you)¡­¡± ¡°But all of this doesn¡¯t matter.¡± ¡°oh¡­¡± ¡°joking. He he. What matter even more is that you are curious, fairly stubborn, and loyal. You have a lot of good qualities that I like. You also worked a lot to improve yourself because I don¡¯t like emotionally weak people and creatures that believe that screaming and violence solve all issues. So yeah. Issues that you had and fixed. I would appreciate to spend the rest of my life with you. I don¡¯t know exactly what love is but I think I can say that I love you too Scilla.¡± At this point, Scilla had teary eyes filled with joy. She immediately hugged Iris who reciprocated for the first time. ¡°Hugs feel good. So as you are the social one. What are we now? Because we are not married so how is this thing called?¡± ¡°we are in a relationship. This is called being a couple¡± ¡°oh. What a name.¡± ¡°from now on you are my girlfriend and I suppose I¡¯m your boyfriend¡­ I¡¯m unsure about that but I¡¯ll look it up. Do you want me to give you some nicknames like babe or something?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really care. But if you want you can call me Iri. Kinda like the sound. Cause it sounds like eerie.¡± Time flew as they kept relaxing and Iris showed Scilla her favorite activity. Putting her feet in the water below while staring at the cloud in the sky. In such peace, time faded until something touched Scilla¡¯s leg. As she had her eyes closed she initially believed it was Iris doing some kind of prank until she asked. ¡°Iri, stop scratching my leg the fifth time is no longer funny¡± ¡°it ain¡¯t me.¡± Scilla immediately jumped up to see a greenish creature bolting away into a bush. ¡°Oh Scilla, you scare the shit out of that puppy¡± ¡°that what? Iris pulled out of the backpack a small sack with huge seeds inside, like twice the size of a peach seed. Then she started talking toward the bush. ¡°piccolo, vieni. Qui piccolino. Guarda ho dei semi (shorty, come out. Here shorty. Look I have seeds)¡± After several attempts the small creature slowly came out for the bush it had run into. It was around 30/35cm and could be described as a little nimble monkey made of trees mixed with a red panda. The creature was basically a living small tree mixed with a flower. It had a fine soft fur made of small bendy light green leaves. On the back, it had sort of an integrated coat made of larger leaves but those were a mix of green and some copper veins. It had a huge short tail like one of a crocodile. The head was composed of a monkey-like face with huge copper leaves as hair. The skin below was green like a flower stem yet it was soft like human skin. As if it understood Iris the creature timidly approached her, grabbed a seed and ran away to stop just before the bush. There he sat on its butt and he started eating the seed that was easily broken by his teeth. ¡°I thought there were no animals allowed¡± ¡°Those are fine. They are peaceful creatures.¡± once he finished the seed it approached Iris again. ¡°look, look he is getting used to us¡± ¡°I get it, he is cute, but what exactly am I looking at?¡± ¡°he¡¯s a nymph, a male one to be precise. They are little plant-like creatures that roam around spreading plants and pollens.¡± each seed the creature remained closer and closer to Iris, until he literally allowed Iris to pet him. ¡°ti chiamer¨° Brillo(i shine / drunk). Perch¨¨ I tuoi capelli brillano come I miei. (i¡¯ll call you Brillo, because your hair shines like mine)¡± The creature stopped eating and focused on Iris¡¯s hair, as if he understood her speaking. Then he started jumping and running around joyfully. He emitted 3 long acute sounds and Iris replied with similar sounds. Scilla recognizes the pattern. It was the same she saw in the video related to Iris¡¯s development incident. a strange coincidence? ¡°from now on he will be our pet. And I call him Brillo. Cause his hair is shining. He seems to like it¡± Iris then picked him up and showed him to Scilla, who noticed a peculiarity. The creature had yellow glowing eyes just like Iris. She pet Brillo too who in the meanwhile was happily eating another seed. ¡°I guess we can keep him. He is soft and cute after all.¡± ¡°See told you. He is just a little cute puppy.¡± chapter 80c: jump Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 80c: jump The arrival of the nymph Brillo revived their afternoon. Instead of spending it lying down and bathing in the faintly warm sun, they played with the hyper-energetic creature. Iris and Brillo immediately went for the ice-cold water and started splashing each other. Scilla on the other side was not too keen on getting soaked and walked 30 minutes home in the same clothes. However as the duo calmed down and moved their energy into building a rock path across the creek, Scilla approached them. ¡°what are you building?¡± ¡°a dam, or a rock path. Something like that.¡± ¡°having fun. I see. Don¡¯t you and that thing fell cold?¡± ¡°that thing is Brillo. And not really. He is resistant to really low temperatures just like a plant. I just manage. Wanna join?¡± ¡°I mean I could get my feet in that¡± ¡°I promise I won¡¯t do any prank on you.¡± Playing around in the ice-cold water was surely fun. Every interaction between Iris and Brillo painted a more clear image of the nymph. Brillo was not comparable to an animal. He was no cat, dog, raccoon or monkey. He was able to understand simple Estir, communicate back in his language, and think independently. If comparisons have to be made, Brillo was closer in intelligence to an 8 to 11 years old human. Which should surprise no one as he was indeed a puppy of a sentient species. Brillo and Iris also seem to understand each other to a deeper level than just words. It was by no means love, but they had similar behaviors. For them smell was important and so was physical contact. Each interaction made it harder for Scilla to stop herself from finding similarities between the two species. In her thinking, Scilla ignored the hyperactive creature''s changes in behavior. Brillo was growing attached to them really fast, but he was also observing. He detected the newly born relationship and acted for his own amusement. While Scilla and Iris were prone side by side, working on the dam, Brillo sprinted full force on the weaker link. Iris. He headbutted Iris pushing her on Scilla who fell in the cold water flowing between her legs. Scilla was already getting angry but Iris was on top of her face to face. They stared into each other eyes without moving for a while. ¡°sorry¡­ he hee¡­. Brillo pushed me. I didn¡¯t mean to¡­¡± ¡°Don''t worry¡­ if I catch a cold tough I would like you to help me out¡± ¡°what if I could prevent it?¡± ¡°what do you have in mind? Cast a magic spell?¡± ¡°no. just do something I forgot. Something to seal our new deal and give you some warmth¡± ¡°¡­ what deal?¡± Iris pushed herself even more on Scilla and kissed her. Brillo on the side was smiling as his mischief worked exactly as planned. Leaving the new couple alone, the sector didn¡¯t forget the Esterians or their brutal actions. Their complete disappearance brought chaos among the Lean Federation, but even more among all other civilizations. The lack of sightings was alarming. Nobody knew what was going on, nor what was going to happen. All they saw was an army so vast to outnumber all civilizations combined. A fleet whose existence was more than enough to cause nightmares. The first international scheduled meeting at which Esterians were supposed to attend turned rapidly into chaos. Nobody cared about the Pridians massacre any longer. All they wanted were answers from the closest person to the Esterians. Csuicha. They all believed that somehow the Leans had some kind of control or prevailed position under the Esterians eyes. They were all mistaken but in times of crisis deceives were needed. With Xeroling annihilated out of existence, fearing to be the next one in line was understandable. They had no clue that the Leans were left alone as well. Csuicha took the opportunity to ensure a stable position for her people, stable for now. So she reassured the other nations that there was nothing to fear¡­ too much. Yet the nations¡¯ assembly was the least of her problems. Her citizens were scared too and reality was completely different from her lies. She had no clue what the Esterians were plotting. No clue about the amount of spaceships they had. They had been cut off too. Their only trade route, which consisted in reaching a sector and exchanging the goods there, was now totally dead. No more communication from it, no matter how many attempts they made. The Liin¡¯s office door burst open. One of her guards carried unfortunate news. Again. ¡°I ASKED, TO NOT BE INTERRUPTED!¡± shouted Csuicha as nothing seemed to proceed correctly since the Esterians left. ¡°my apology my Liin. But you instructed me to relay all knowledge on the trade route¡± ¡°Something new!?!¡± asked hopeful Csuicha. ¡°unfortunately no. Even the high-energy broadcast failed. An intel ship just brought such news¡± ¡°FUCK!¡± Csuicha slammed her fists on her desk. ¡°did Lis reply to our messages?¡± ¡°we had a formal reply from her parent. Apparently, she is busy with research¡± ¡°excuses. All fucking excuses. I gave her enough time. Bring her here. No matter what. Did you understand soldier?¡± ¡°yes. As you order my Liin¡± Her guard walked out while Csuicha remained angry in her office. After all, it had already been 6 weeks since Scilla¡¯s death and Wiola kept running away. Csuicha couldn¡¯t tolerate more delays. Even the smallest information about the Esterians could be useful. Few days later, an angry and fairly uncooperative Wiola was brought before Csuicha. ¡°I gave you time, but we can¡¯t wait for you to get over it¡± ¡°my sister is dead¡± ¡°and so is my best friend. But now I must think for our people as well.¡± ¡°where were you then when you sent out the Sheridan to its death?¡± ¡°you think I wanted to? She had all the freedom she wanted. I had no say in her choices of missions. They chose their own target and approached as they desired. I lost the best scavenging team we ever had and a rare friend. Yet I don¡¯t cry on myself all the fucking day!¡± A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Csuicha shouted the last bit of her reply. ¡°and as I told you the first time I have nothing to say!¡± shouted back Wiola. Her actions immediately put Csuicha¡¯s guards on edge, but the Liin stopped them. ¡°guards, piss off. She isn¡¯t a threat. She can barely fight a pillow¡± ¡°fuck off¡± ¡°no you cunt fuck off. I¡¯m not asking you if you know where the Esterians are located. I¡¯m asking you for whatever little shit you could know. No matter what.¡± ¡°ahh¡­¡± Wiola sigh. ¡°fine. You won. Even if you ask me, I know almost nothing. Scilla wouldn¡¯t say much. What I know is that she knew a lot more than what she told us. My best guess is that she couldn¡¯t speak about it. Long ago we went to our home town. Idra showed us some kind of promotional video or some shit about her. She kept all faces hidden so no I had no clue they were not human. From the video, all I can tell is that her people sort of venerated her because she developed some miracle cure for some type of cancer and other illnesses. I have none of it. But I was fortunate to see in it action. She used it on a lost child chat came out for the fields¡­¡± ¡°Where is this kid? Who was with you?¡± ¡°we were at Saryvona. Our home town. We stayed at the Ibarra¡¯s farm. As far as I know, the kid is still there. But they won¡¯t come here.¡± ¡°I can just order them.¡± ¡°they are hardcore Armori. They would fight to death instead of obeying orders. Either way, they have nothing different to tell you. You would just waste time.¡± ¡°why did Idra help the child?¡± ¡°I have no clue. She also helped my friend and her grandmother¡­. Maybe I have a clue why. You know the same clue you have¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have that clue.¡± ¡°wait what?¡± ¡°Wiola what the fuck are you talking about?¡± ¡°Scilla and Idra were dating¡± Csuicha just froze in place and so did her guards. ¡°wha what what do you mean dating?¡± ¡°it means dating. I found out and and Scilla told me. I figured she would tell her best friend¡± ¡°I, what? H how?¡± ¡°how would I know? She didn¡¯t tell me much. How the hell do you not know about it?¡± ¡°well I can¡¯t know about everything can I? I have a nation to rule, I couldn''t just spend a weekend playing video games with her. How deep was the relationship?¡± ¡°no idea. She never spoke much about it. Only that they loved each other and that¡¯s about it.¡± their exchange died soon after as Wiola had nothing more to add. The same happened with basically all the previous people she interrogated. No matter the relationship, no family of anybody on the Sheridan knew much about Idra and the Esterians. Day after day, nothing new emerged from the vastness of space. Months spent looking for answers were all in vain. In that period Csuicha made use of her power. The official failure under the Hakavor corporation allowed her to reprehend them. Csuicha riding the incident openly opposed her friend and took back the power they were given. It was a needed act to reinforce the government''s power and partially shield her own friend from backlash on Icar 3. A lot of people view the Hakavor as the main culprit behind the general instability caused by the death of Idra. The loss of the Sheridan and most of its crew only increased the local hate. They say that time heals all wounds. I guess they were never wounded. Even with the immense work that Csuicha put into improving her nation, the Sheridan defeat was far from resolved. At the dawn of the first anniversary of the Sheridan destruction, the 23 survivors were still broken. Kept safe in mental hospitals hoping that one day they would return to their senses or somewhat become independent enough to be able to keep living their lives. During the anniversary Wiola took the day off to visit her sister¡¯s tomb. It wasn¡¯t really a tomb, more like a commemoration monument to those who died on the Sheridan while serving the country. She was surprised when upon placing down her flowers, a second person placed down hers. It was unusual to meet someone early in the morning during a weekday. The other Lean was shorter than her and a half-eaten sandwich in her other hand. It was an unusual sight as the other Lean was eating a cerbena. A fairly common street food composed of a circular piece of bread, half open and stuffed with cooked leaves and spicy meat. By no means something to eat at 9. ¡°who had you lost?¡± asked the unknown woman. ¡°my sister. She was the commander of the ship. What about you?¡± ¡°my whole family¡­¡± The woman walked past the commemorating statue and got to the list of names carved in black marble. She pointed at one, then at a second name. ¡°Those were my parents. Both gone. I used to have a sister too. She¡­ broke down¡­ and chose a permanent solution¡± ¡°my condolences¡± ¡°my condolences as well¡± looking at the woman in the eyes Wiola immediately noticed their bright yellow color and asked. ¡°I have never seen yellow eyes on a Lean¡± the woman seemed taken aback for a moment as if she wasn¡¯t expecting comments on it. ¡°They are not natural. I¡¯m wearing contacts¡± ¡°why?¡± ¡°I¡¯m off to work. To a hospital that specializes in¡­ difficult illnesses in kids. Sometimes they need reassurance. What better reassurance if not their favorite character from some cartoons or games?¡± ¡°you must really love your job¡± ¡°not really¡­ I kinda hate it to be honest¡± ¡°why?¡± ¡°because as long as I¡¯m needed it means that our younglings are suffering. I wish for a day when my job no longer exists¡± They remained silent for a bit, just staring at the engraved names. Then the unknown woman continued. ¡°I have no noble soul, at least not nobler than yours¡­¡± ¡°do we know each other?¡± ¡°no. I just know you. Miss Lis.¡± ¡°How? Why?¡± ¡°you just told me you were the commander''s sister. So you must share the surname. Plus I know your name from your research in the genetic field.¡± ¡°oh¡­ never thought I was famous.¡± ¡°not too famous, nor completely unknown.¡± ¡°Can I ask you something?¡± ¡°sure¡± ¡°how were you able to move on?¡± ¡°what makes you think I did?¡± ¡°you are relaxed, here eating as if nothing could faze you¡­ I just feel lost.¡± ¡°what sane person would eat cerbena in a cemetery at 9 in the morning? I was hurt too. Lost just like you. I had nobody left. But I just remembered my mom''s words. Crying will get you nothing. Trying will. She was breaking her back to give money to me and my sister. She suffered for others. And so I understood that my kids needed me. That my mom and pama would have wanted me to keep helping others. You can do the same. Just believe in yourself, and maybe try to remember your sister and what she would have wanted for you.¡± ¡°thanks.¡± ¡°I have to go, take care of yourself Lis¡± ¡°you too¡± the stranger walked away while Wiola remained silent observing the statue of her sister with her crew. She looked at the few flowers below that would soon multiply as the Hakavors intended to host an homage parade in the afternoon. The mysterious woman encounter left her with an eerie feeling as she spoke slowly and strangely. Yet it also refueled her spirit. She couldn¡¯t lose to her pain. Scilla would be mad at her for even thinking of abandoning her dream of scientific discoveries. chapter 81c: return Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 81c: return More than 3 years had passed since Scilla¡¯s ¡°death¡±. Years of frightening silence on the Esterian¡¯s front. Their disappearance left behind a never-ending paranoia. From their perspective so little time had passed since their disappearance. Most firmly believed that Esterians had been enraged and were just preparing a full-scale invasion. Billions over billions spent on weapons that even if a war started would end up being totally useless. The Lean Federation was not foreign to such spending increase. Csuicha was in her office, examining one of many proposals to strengthen their fleet. Then an unexpected knock at her door. ¡°get in soldier¡± said Csuicha without looking away from her computer. One of her guards entered. She was agitated, a mix of fear anxiety and maybe joy. ¡°speak soldier. Don¡¯t waste my time¡± ¡°my¡­ my Liin. Someone presenting as Scilla Lis is here¡± ¡°what?¡± ¡°we have yet to fully confirm her identity, but her facial features correspond and so do all her 10 fingerprints. She also possesses Scilla¡¯s official identification tags. What do we do?¡± ¡°let her in. Make sure she has no weapon and lead her into a detainment cell. We will see if she is truly who she tells to be¡± The soldiers did exactly as instructed. Scilla didn¡¯t oppose. She was guided into a glass cell to prevent her from harming the Liin. They also took a sample of her blood and immediately started the automatic analysis which would take a few minutes. In those minutes Csuicha entered the room and observed from the other side of the glass. Scilla was wearing clearly Esterian''s clothes. Long almost to the ground and fairly resembling those of mystical magicians. She had no hood and didn¡¯t conceal her face. On her left end, at the base of her ring finger, she had indeed a ring. It was a shiny metallic structure with a full band of some orange crystal. The metallic part was filled with composite Estir incisions. ¡°hello my friend. Long time no see¡± started Scilla. She was cold. ¡°hello to you too. About the friend part we have to wait and see¡± ¡°I¡¯m waiting as well. The machine takes 67 seconds to return a match. They will run 3 tests on 2 different machines. But worry not. I have more to say, just to make sure that you can trust me. After all I¡¯m back from the dead, am I not?¡± ¡°knowing our technology won¡¯t help you¡± ¡°me, you and Dhalia Hakavor are in on several secrets aren¡¯t we.¡± ¡°too generic. We all have secrets.¡± a guard arrived with the results showing that the prisoner Lean was 100% Scilla. ¡°and you have your blood confirmation. But I also know something else. Your secret. A bit twisted for the occasion. We found a room on¡­ Droxi soil¡­ a room full of blood¡­ blood shaped like creatures¡­ blood drawing combat scenes. Who knows what the Droxi did in there right?¡± Csuicha walked to the cell, opened it and the first thing she say was ¡°you cunt where the fuck have you been?¡± then she hugged her friend. ¡°I missed you too dickhead. It¡¯s a long story, would you have time to listen to it?¡± ¡°not only I have time, I order you to tell me everything¡± ¡°everything? Girl you are in for a long tale¡± a tale that was going to be twisted to fit a more convenient series of events. One that would not damage Scilla or Iris. A purely egoistical tale. ¡°I figured it was long. 3 damn fucking years. What happened Scilla?¡± ¡°frankly I don¡¯t know much about the start. I was taken by surprise like everybody else...¡± ¡°don¡¯t speak here. Let¡¯s go to my office. One of you guards, make sure to have the kitchen prepare us some tea.¡± ¡°Csuicha, you don¡¯t have to¡± ¡°did you forget my name¡± ¡°no. just thought you would not like being informal between your guards¡± ¡°you have a pass. Follow me¡± Reached the office they sat on the couches. 8 guards were with them inside the room. Always ready to act. ¡°well let¡¯s start from the beginning. But first Serafia. what do you know about the incident?¡± ¡°not much. Never found much. Just some sort of immense black monster that ate everything¡± ¡°oh¡­ well then we are basically on the same level¡± ¡°you can¡¯t be serious?¡± ¡°I mean. We got the worst timing ever. The structure we assaulted was a containment structure. You can guess it was for that¡­ thing. Apparently, we went in as that¡­ was it even a creature? Well who cares. That thing was breaking out. We got caught in the crossfire of both ruin¡¯s automatons and the monster. I don¡¯t know what happened but at some point it just invaded everything. I would love to say that I survived thanks to my amazing skills, but I didn¡¯t. In fact I should have died.¡± ¡°then how are you here¡± ¡°because I lied to you before. And I found out something that maybe should remain only between us.¡± ¡°my guards will remain. Unless I said otherwise¡± Csuicha remained calm. She wanted all the truth from Scilla. Not some half-baked sob story. For her it was a test to see if Scilla could still be trusted. ¡°fair enough. I was in a relationship with Idra. I lied about being held hostage. About being sort of enslaved. It was never the case. Me and Idra started as friends. I was already allowed on her spaceship but I couldn¡¯t report about it. Then gradually we sort of developed feelings for each other. My desire brought me to lie. But I don¡¯t regret it nor I found it completely wrong. Siding with the Esterians was the best bet even if I was not going out with Idra. I lied to avoid exposing our people to two enemies at once¡± ¡°you thought I would?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. But I couldn¡¯t risk it. The technology we returned home was invaluable. Enough to give us an edge against Humans and Xoraxtas. So it was worth it. I¡¯m fairly sure that the Esterians didn¡¯t stick around much since my death. But still between being left out completely without allies or being alone but with some technological edge. I preferred to push for that edge¡± ¡°so you schemed behind my back. You bypassed my authority. And you think you can walk away scot-free?¡± ¡°I had doubts about your resolution and foresight. You were too busy with reconstruction and our people too weak for conflict, even political conflict. I did what I should have done. I knew then and I know now that I could be executed for treason. But I don¡¯t care.¡± ¡°god fucking dammit Scilla. I could execute you right now for fuck¡¯s sake¡± ¡°but you will not. You no longer have absolute power, you are more akin to a prime minister now¡± ¡°with 84% of the support. So I can still have your head¡± ¡°as said, you will not. Otherwise, you would not get the rest of the story.¡± Csuicha was just in disbelief yet reassured that Scilla was still loyal to her. She was not sugarcoating her story. ¡°it must be a hell of an interesting story¡­¡± ¡°it¡¯s. And our story starts with my death. Or so I believed. You know that we believed that Idra could see the red mist¡­¡± ¡°STOP! Guards, out¡± ¡°told you.¡± the guards left. ¡°Idra was an occultist¡± ¡°what was her power?¡± ¡°nano machines. Her sisters had them physically stored in their bodies, she didn¡¯t. She could just spawn them. It was such magical capability that saved my ass. You can call back your guards as I have no more knowledge on it and I can just answer your question in a different moment.¡± Csuicha brought back her guards and Scilla continued. ¡°she died to protect me and I was just there. I was sealed away until the creature disappeared. Once free nothing was left. I believed that Idra had also protected herself, yet she didn¡¯t. I suppose she couldn¡¯t. So she chose me. I was left with a partially destroyed head. And then her robots came. They kidnapped me while in shock and brought me away. Far far way...¡± The tea arrived alongside biscuits. Scilla immediately took a sip. ¡°man I missed it. Terran tea.¡± ¡°so where did they carry you?¡± ¡°to a hell hole called Weeping sky. Home of all Idras.¡± ¡°no.¡± ¡°yes. I also came from there.¡± ¡°then go on. What happened?¡± ¡°I was forced out of the ship with a half-missing head in a preserving jar. The NDU cut both me and Idra out. Why? I have no clue. But I was stranded there inside an endless dead base at the beginning of winter. I spent days aimlessly wandering around. Looking for food and a way to bring Idra back to me.¡± Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°you are fucking insane if you want me to believe that they have a way to regenerate people from fragments of their skulls¡± ¡°nah they don¡¯t.¡± ¡°yeah I figured¡± ¡°I made a new one¡± said Scilla smiling. ¡°HUH?¡± was the only reply coming from Serafia. She was completely confused. Mostly on how and why? Why bring back a demon in humanoid form. ¡°would love to tell you how, but frankly I have no fucking clue myself. I somehow used some unknown machine. It was inhumanly big. It almost killed me as well. Yet It ate the head, don¡¯t ask me how, and a new fully grown Idra popped out.¡± ¡°what the fuck¡­¡± ¡°I said the exact same thing, or I would have said so. But you know I was in a bad place. All I cared was having the woman I loved back. But it didn¡¯t really work. Not exactly. She had no recollection of me, nor us. She knew basically nothing. Really similar in behavior but no memory. She also couldn¡¯t use her NDU so I was still stuck there. But with time let¡¯s say that I healed and loved found its way again.¡± ¡°you got to be kidding me?¡± ¡°no. it¡¯s only thanks to her genius that I¡¯m here. I spent those years with her, learning and making the ship that brought me here. I came to you first because I knew you would be the hardest target...¡± As those words left her mouth, the guards took position to defend the Liin. ¡°wait wait wait. Not assassination target. Why the fuck would I do that? As we finished the ship, me and Iris decided on something important. We wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. I came here because I want to officially resign from my duties. I also came here because I want my friend with me at my wedding.¡± ¡°who is Iris?¡± ¡°oh that¡¯s Idra¡¯s first name¡± ¡°so let me be clear, duties aside. You came here because you want me, the head of the Leans, to be present at your wedding?¡± ¡°yep, more or less.¡± Scilla smiled while the Liin and her guards just stared at her in disbelief. Confused by the lack of reply Scilla thought that she needed to prove her engagement to Iris. ¡°look. This is our engagement ring. I mean mine because they had a different culture around rings, but you got the point¡± Scilla showed her hand but never took off the ring. ¡°I¡­ I¡­ will need time.¡± ¡°if you are worried about the journey¡­¡± ¡°not just that. I, I have a nation to rule Scilla. I may no longer be an absolute monarch but I¡¯m still the prime minister. I can¡¯t just disappear for months. And then you. You came back out of nowhere 3 years later as if nothing ever happened. Completely unfazed by time. You are not even wondering what happened to your crew aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°hey, I never said that. But I¡¯m not stupid. If Idra didn¡¯t make it, I can assume neither did my crew¡± ¡°indeed only 23 survived. Or so did their bodies. They are mentally gone. Completely insane. Sometimes I wonder if we are even doing the right thing to keep them alive.¡± ¡°I was hoping for survivors. I doubt speaking with them would make a difference, but I want to try once I get to Icar¡± Csuicha stopped for a moment. She breathed deeply and with a calm voice asked. ¡°I just don¡¯t understand how can you be so insane. I knew you were crazy, not this much¡± ¡°you should have noticed my insanity long ago. How many suicide missions did I take?¡± Csuicha smirked. ¡°far too many.¡± ¡°Each time you expose yourself to insanity, you grow more insane. There is no shield against the horrors of our actions. But as Iris and the Founder taught me. You can either deny in despair or acknowledge who you truly have become.¡± ¡°don¡¯t tell me that their Founder is alive as well or¡­¡± ¡°no he is been dead for a while. It¡¯s just full of his recordings. Now tell me something. What happened in those years without me. Are we allied with the Esterians? How is the commercial route? New scavenging teams?¡± ¡°you said it yourself. They didn¡¯t stick around.¡± ¡°what? I meant as scavengers, direct support and all that jazz¡± ¡°the Esterians withdraw all their forces, but not before marching an infinite fleet to Xeroling and phasing it out of existence¡± ¡°nah¡­¡± ¡°yeeh¡± ¡°nah¡± ¡°oh yeah. Wanna see the video and reports?¡± ¡°you mean that all I did was useless?¡± ¡°yes and no. A fleet of basically 5000 ships escorting a planet destroyed instilled the fear of Esterians in everybody. They also vanished in thin air. 3 fucking years without even a trace. Fortunately, it played in our favor, at least for now.¡± Scilla stopped to think. Her brain cogs slowly turned to produce yet another insane idea. An idea built on promises and pure faith in Iris. ¡°how about this? You come to the wedding and I¡¯ll have you speak with the ETU supreme council the one that rules all the ETU.¡± ¡°stop joking. You don¡¯t have that power, and by your questions, you knew nothing of what happened in those years. So you must have never landed on Esterians¡¯ territory¡± ¡°Indeed I don¡¯t possess such power. I have never visited one of their planets. But I know I can help.¡± ¡°how?¡± ¡°Iris. I mean Idra¡± ¡°they may like the old her because she was a brilliant medic or something. Yes your sister told me. But it will never be enough¡± ¡°¡­ I suppose you will find out at the wedding. Which will not take us so much time. I can promise you that in 3 weeks we will pick up the other guests, get to my wedding, make you speak with the ETU and bring you back home. At worst 4 weeks no more than that.¡± ¡°Scilla. With all respect what you are saying is just impossible¡± ¡°it isn¡¯t. Just trust me. When did I ever break one of my promises?¡± ¡°3 years ago.¡± ¡°I promised I would return and I did. We could say I¡¯m fairly late. But I returned.¡± Csuicha was still not convinced. ¡°plus, my friend Sera. You will meet an old acquaintance of ours. One you would like to speak to¡± ¡°who?¡± ¡°Remnant Nixie. She allegedly was a friend of Idra so I¡¯ll go pick her up¡± ¡°what makes you think she will accept to be part of your wedding without proof of Idra existing?¡± ¡°The Innocenti (innocents). The Ship that brought me here. It¡¯s even more unique than the NDU. She would immediately understand that only an Idra could have built it. But I guess I¡¯ll give you some time. Just to let you know, your guards can come as well. All of them. They will have to sleep in really small beds, but the ship doesn¡¯t have enough big beds for all of them. Now if you want to excuse me I¡¯ll fly home to find my sister¡± ¡°and you think you can just appear. ¡®look I¡¯m back. How is it going sis¡¯?¡± ¡°more or less. I suppose the news of my return will spread around, but I don¡¯t think much will happen. Not until it¡¯s official. But by that time I hope to be married.¡± After about half an hour Scilla left Csuicha to herself and gave her 2 weeks to think. In those weeks she was going to Icar to stay with Wiola. So just like she appeared, Scilla returned to the forest near Csuicha¡¯s mansion where she landed. Scilla got to Icar around 11 in the morning. First she looked at her old house. It was still inhabited and her fingerprints were never removed. However, Wiola was not there. Without wasting time she looked for clues and found documents from a university. In those Wiola was addressed as professor. Scilla immediately knew where she had to go. Yet without money it took a while to get there. She arrived around 14, fortunately Wiola had just become a professor so she had no classes to keep. Wiola was in her newly acquired office when the building secretary called at her phone. ¡°Lis speaking¡± ¡°Professor Lis. There is a woman here asking for you. Do I send her up?¡± ¡°is she not part of the university?¡± ¡°not really. She showed me some papers with the government sigil on.¡± ¡°tell her to wait. I¡¯m coming down¡± Wiola, believing it was someone sent by the Liin, was not happy. Yet once down at the building reception, everything changed. In front of her. The long lost beloved sister. ¡°hey kid. No wait. Hey professor¡± Said Scilla smiling. Wiola, overcome by emotions, rushed to her and jumped on Scilla just like she always used to do upon her return. She was crying saying gibberish while Scilla patted her head. ¡°I know. 3 years. Do you have time to hear my story and tell me yours Wiola?¡± ¡°are you really Scilla?¡± ¡°who the fuck else? And before I forget. Congrats professor. Mnh! The first professor of the family. I knew I was doing the right thing forcing you to study.¡± ¡°I had lost hope to see you again¡± ¡°I figured. 3 years is a lot. But I came as soon as I could. I¡­ came to see you but also for a different reason¡­¡± ¡°Which is?¡± Scilla showed the ring on her finger. ¡°I am getting married¡± ¡°to who?¡± ¡°Idra. It¡¯s thanks to her that I survived and thanks to her that I could get here. Just like I can¡¯t imagine my life without you. I can no longer see a future where she is not with me. I know it¡¯s sudden and¡­ everything else.¡± ¡°it¡¯s sudden¡­ you just got back¡­¡± ¡°I know. But unfortunately, I have no time.¡± ¡°is she threatening you?¡± ¡°of course not. But I invited the Liin.¡± ¡°that cunt!?¡± ¡°hey. Watch your language. I¡¯m the one who swears like a sailor in the family. But in the end, she is a good friend. My failure wasn¡¯t her fault nor Dhalia¡¯s fault. Will you come?¡± ¡°you can bet your ass I will. But why the rush?¡± ¡°I kinda had to convince Sera to participate. You know being the prime minister and all. She can¡¯t really take 3 weeks off for a friend''s wedding¡± ¡°neither can I. I just got this position¡± ¡°That''s why I have this magic stamped paper¡± Scilla gave a piece of paper to Wiola. It was an official order from the Liin herself that allowed for her to take 3 weeks of time off as she was needed as a diplomat. ¡°see I¡¯m not that stupid¡­ or so I would like to say but it was actually Iris¡¯s idea¡± ¡°who¡¯s Iris?¡± ¡°oh, I meant Idra. I¡¯m just used to call her by name¡± ¡°isn¡¯t her name Idra?¡± ¡°nope. It¡¯s Iris. Kinda ironic that we are both named after flowers¡± ¡°yeah¡­ kinda ironic¡± Wiola¡¯s excitement was rapidly fading and Scilla noticed. ¡°something wrong?¡± ¡°I just thought you would¡­ well stay¡± ¡°I will. I will spend here 2 weeks. Do a couple of things. Get the Ibarras and Dhalia. Even if we kinda had a falloff she is still a friend. I will also go visit the graves of my crew and the few who survived.¡± ¡°why about the crew¡¯s family¡± ¡°I will probably visit in the future. It¡¯s kinda strange to just pop out after being dead for years.¡± ¡°then what? You will disappear to never be seen again?¡± ¡°why should I?¡± ¡°because no Lean has ever come back or allowed back from the ETU¡± ¡°I¡¯ll fix that. And you don¡¯t have to worry about me. I have Idra on my side.¡± ¡°what if she stops you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m here. Next time she will be here with me. She has changed a lot. Mostly because she is technically completely different but it¡¯s a long story. You will see when you meet her. Just believe in me sis¡± ¡°ok. So where¡¯s the wedding list?¡± ¡°what wedding list?¡± ¡°yours¡± ¡°we don¡¯t have one. Iris owns an entire solar system. It¡¯s kinda pointless to ask for gifts or money. What we ask for is for our families and friends to be there with us¡± ¡°fine. I¡¯ll find something on my own¡± chapter 82c: guests Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 82c: guests Two weeks passed in an instant. An instant that Scilla spent exactly as she said. Inviting her friends to her wedding and with Wiola. At the end of those weeks Scilla guided: Wiola, her pama Liwa, Dhalia Hakavor and the Ibarra family consisting of Nuria, the adopted kid Aura and the grandmother Paz to her spaceship. Scilla was forced to park in a clearing in a near forest as the Innocenti was far too big to be parked at her old home. Once reached the clearing they could admire that marvel of engineering. The Innocenti was 148 meters long. Shape wise it was a unique spacecraft. The body increased in width from 5 meters to 54 when it reached 122 meters. Then it reduced gradually to 34 meters. Sort of like a badly shaped and cut rhombus. Same could be said for the height of the ship which reached 34 meters. It also had some metallic appendices that looked like big concave wings around 8 meters long. There were 8 of them. 2 placed in the front upper side at 45 degrees with the ship horizontal plane and 2 a the front bottom with the same orientation. The same exact structures also repeated in the back of the ship. The Innocenti appeared weaponless and at the same time far too heavy to be able to fly. There were really few visible exhausts. The exterior was not the only surprise. Inside the ship was incredibly small. Not cramped, but it surely didn¡¯t feel like a 148 battleship. It was never built to accommodate many people. The ship crew was set to be at best 16 people. But it could operate with just 1 pilot. The rest of the crew was not really needed but their presence would ease the toll on the pilot''s brain connected to the ship. As a consequence the ship had only 8 rooms with beds excluding the captain''s room. Half of the rooms had double queen size beds, the other half had 2 single beds. The entire structure was built to accommodate Leans but was clearly not built by one. The corridors and rooms usually were at best 3,1 meters tall. Enough to accommodate a tall standing Lean, but not enough to allow said Lean to stretch her arms vertically. In addition to the standard rooms, the ship had an emergency living unit composed of 20 bunk beds dug inside a wall. The ship had 4 internal floors. A base floor which was the highest and also the cargo zone. The main floor where the crew would spend all the time and the remaining two were mostly needed for maintenance and redundancy. Even if the name may suggest a more innocent spacecraft. It was not. The ship was actually heavily armed. It had 4 missile launchers and other 4 nuclear torpedo launchers. It mounted 8 triple cannon railgun turrets but most importantly it was equipped with 4 high range scatter weapons. A super stupid idea that had been left undeveloped for so long that was now going to revolutionize combat. Most believe that space warfare is either world war 2 in space or space naval combat yet reality hit differently. Truly to its name space is immense and almost entirely empty. There is no cover in space. There are countermeasures. Outmaneuvering missiles isn¡¯t possible, especially with an organic crew that has to survive the acceleration. Yet space is massive and missiles leave a clear trace of their routes. No matter their tracking method they can all be fooled. AI image tracking can be blinded with radiations. IR tracking with good old flares that shine hotter than the ship. Laser guide with deflectors and clouds of sand. Missiles are also easy to stop with just automated small-caliber guns. As long as they can be seen, they can be stopped. Kinetic weapons have their limits as well. Other than recoil and heating, bullets are usually unguided as the lack of air makes fins useless to rotate the projectile even if you add a computer to them. Yet most would say that they travel faster and unseen. Which is both true and false. Long distances in space make so that predictions on target trajectory are less accurate and bullets can always be countered as light travels way faster than them. As a consequence battles in space tend to be fairly close to each other. Close enough to hit the enemy before a computer could counterattack you. Scatter weapons however are considerable shotguns in space. Each shot spreads in a fairly small region that however is usually good enough to hit from safer distances. Surely the damage is lower, but such weapons increase the probability of returning home to fight again once repaired. However, even such ¡°futuristic¡± weapons were not the main innovation. The third floor of the Innocenti was also dedicated to control and contain a particle cannon. The only one in service among all known nations. The particle cannon could be defined as an energy weapon that accelerates single protons almost to the speed of light. The particle beam generated is individually useless. A stream of single protons will make such a tiny hole that it is negligible. However, when the beam is 30cm wide it will strip away any piece of armor like a hot knife cuts through butter. Making moving armor substrates to refill the generated gaps is possible yet no ship had such technology. As it stood at the time, the main drawback of such a cannon was the absurd energy consumption and ammo consumption. The cannon was supplied with condensed jump drive fuel which consisted in condensed hydrogen. In its size and armament, the Innocenti was a majestic beast improved by fear and paranoia. Fear of losing its most valuable cargo. Scilla. Iris was basically indestructible, but Scilla wasn¡¯t. Scilla was weak. Fragile. Just like most living things. Just like life itself. So Iris tried all she could to protect her treasure. Scilla gave her guests access to only a small portion of the second floor. Scilla brought all of them into the main hall that connected most of the places they were given access to. ¡°so that was about it for the ship tour. You don¡¯t have to worry about getting lost or going in the wrong room. The ship AI will not allow it and will guide you back. Just to be sure, don¡¯t play with knives¡± ¡°why?¡± asked Dhalia. ¡°cause the AI may believe you are trying to harm me and will kill you¡± ¡°oh¡­ fair enough. Old Paz mind sharing a room?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t mind kiddo.¡± replied Paz. ¡°Scilla do you mind if Me and Aura took a double bedroom?¡± asked Nuria. ¡°of course not. Are you nervous?¡± ¡°not really, but Aura has never been on a spaceship¡± ¡°well kid you are lucky. It surely doesn¡¯t happen often to travel in such beauty¡± Aura remained silent, mostly concealed behind her adoptive mother. She had yet to turn 15 and was still really shy. Especially in a completely different environment surrounded by strangers. ¡°since it¡¯s your first time do you want to come with me in the cockpit?¡± After some reassurance from her mother, Aura accepted. However, she was not alone. Moved by curiosity Dhalia and Paz asked to be present as well and so all of them went into the piloting room and took off. None of them believed that they would reach Leanira in less that 2 days, yet just hours later they appeared before the planet. Dhalia was just too shocked to speak. Scilla left them and the ship relatively far away from Csuicha¡¯s home and then went to pick up her friend. Just as she believed, Csuicha had indeed accepted and was already prepared with her crew. Csuicha was surprised to see no ship lading with Scilla. ¡°so. You are not asking me to walk into a forest right?¡± ¡°of course not. I¡¯m asking you to turn off the anti-air defense system because the ship has no friendly markings.¡± Once safe to land, Scilla recalled the ship that arrived at the residence and landed by itself on an empty field. ¡°Before we go in. I must ask you and your guards to take off your weapons. All of them. There will be a security check where you will be asked to deposit them. You can retrieve your belongings upon disembarking.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t allow anybody to shoot you. If that¡¯s what you fear.¡± replied Csuicha. ¡°I fear no bullet. It¡¯s the ship AI. Iris made it to keep me safe so if it sees you as a threat to me it will kill you. It¡¯s as simple as that¡± Disarmed Csuicha and her 16 guards were allowed on the ship. Of course, there was not enough full rooms for all of them, especially as 2 were kept for ¡°Iris¡¯s friends¡± that they had yet to pick up. On their way to space, Scilla also stopped at the spaceport to pick up her last friend Mira who was still working there. It took 4 days and 1 hour to approach their first stop. The 3th Esterian colonized planet, Elvitica. It was a hub of commerce as it was one of the 3 planetary systems that composed the so called inner sphere alongside Vioneta and Iglaria. Those were basically forced stops along any major commerce route as all of them passed in the inner sphere. Elvitica was also the capital planet even if it was not their home world which was Glacia. There the supreme council had its home alongside all main institutions of the Esterian Technological Union. Elvitica was also the residence of Nixie and the other two remnants. Scilla landed in a civilian spaceport and by the time she disembarked, Esterians stoops had already surrounded the ship. She called for their commander and to him she gave a storage device. Inside there were orders with the official signatures. The soldiers having no reason to doubt them and considering the clearly Esterian-looking ship, followed them. He brought a squad of police officers to assist Scilla in her mission to pick up Nixie and the Chimeras. The other Leans were allowed to disembark as well but they had no permission to set foot outside the spaceport/local airport. So even with their feet outside on Esterian soil, they had little to no possibility to observe their civilization. What they could see was a fairly high amount of small civilian spacecraft landing and then taking up to space again. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. 6 hours later Scilla returned and with her Nixie, Jinx and Lynx. The Esterians girls were surely wearing formal clothes and had huge suitcases with them. Once they met with the other Leans things heated up to die down immediately after. ¡°You! What are you doing here?¡± said Nixie with an irritated tone while looking at Csuicha. ¡°the same things as you I suppose. I¡¯m here for my friend''s wedding¡± ¡°your friend?¡± ¡°Scilla. You didn¡¯t know?¡± ¡°I never told her. Didn¡¯t see why I should have¡± said Scilla intruding. ¡°How did you meet?¡± asked Nixie. ¡°on the battlefield. If you want I can show you all the guests, but I don¡¯t really know much about Sera¡¯s guards¡± said Scilla. ¡°don¡¯t really need that. I¡¯m more curious about how did you manage to put your hands on Esterian technology¡± replied Nixie looking at Scilla. ¡°Just as I told you to convince you to come. I¡¯m marrying Idra. She built this ship, I mostly wasted time¡± ¡°the story is a bit more believable now that I see your friend and Liin. At least I know that I¡¯m not going to get killed or you are plotting the assassination of the century¡± ¡°you will take back those words soon¡± ¡°we will see about that. Why isn¡¯t she here?¡± ¡°she didn¡¯t want to.¡± 6 hours later they got to a different planet to pick up the last guest. Alba Corvi, the intelligence carrier. She lived on the 15th colonized planet Astera. Astera was a majestic planet mostly untouched as the colonization was mainly done for scientific purposes. Astera was at the extreme edge of the Esterian space and the closer by far to the Magnos rift. It was colonized because it was an anomaly. Far too big with a just lightly above 1g gravity pull. It was a super Terra with the gravitational attraction of a standard Terra. Flora and Fauna grew immense lush forests filled with life. Plants touched the sky literally as berry bushes could get up to 40 meters, sturdy grass up to 9 meters and trees were so big you could build skyscrapers by carving into them. This anomaly was due to the proximity with the rift and the presence of gravron elements. Astera was in fact one of the only 2 supplied of the extremely rare and precious gravron steel used in spacecrafts to make gravity plates. Other than research colonies and mines, Astera had nothing else to offer if not its dangerous nature. So it goes without saying that there were really few inhabitants. During their descent, the ship picked up a signal on military frequencies. It was a request for support from a hunting squad. For Scilla it was the perfect excuse to test the ship''s firepower herself as Iris always deprived her of such joy by stating safety concerns. With excitement Scilla rained hell upon the nest of dangerous animals until nothing was left behind. She then returned to her route and landed at a military base. There she disembarked along basically everybody else as they were allowed outside and didn¡¯t want to miss the chance. Few male soldiers alongside armed robots welcomed them with open arms. It was unusual yet understandable. ¡°Welcome to Astera, commander of the Innocenti. I¡¯m Captain Nereo Bosco. Nice to meet you.¡± ¡°nice to meet you too. I¡¯m Commander Scilla Lis and you already know the name of the ship¡± ¡°Never seen one like yours. Is it a new model?¡± ¡°nah. It¡¯s a prototype.¡± ¡°so what brings you to my base?¡± ¡°I¡¯m looking for Alba Corvi. Data shows that she lives here. I have this¡­¡± ¡°no shit Sherlock. I don¡¯t need your piece of paper. I confirmed your ship identification and I also know you¡± ¡°how come¡± ¡°How could I not? Our angel Idra worked with you. I believed you had died in that incident as well but I guess not.¡± ¡°oh¡­¡± ¡°but fear not I have no resentment toward your kind. None really has. I¡¯ll provide you a truck or maybe two or three, provided that you have a license, to go meet with miss Corvi. We are friendly people. A bit rough but friendly. You should let your entourage go have a look on their own as long as they stay inside the wall¡± ¡°the city is walled?¡± ¡°all cities on Astera are. They must be or beats will flood them and eat us. Oh and thanks for assisting one of our squads¡± ¡°no problem. Kinda wanted to shoot at something¡± They exchanged few more words before the man left to go get the trucks. In the meanwhile, they looked around. The spaceport was the only zone that was clearly illuminated by the sun. most of the military base and the city clearly visible just past the military checkpoint, were all lying in the shadows cast by the infinitely tall trees. The military base was filled with robots of all kinds but there were few people around. Astera was in the middle of summer and the place was fairly hot but the real issue was the unbearable humidity. The only relief against it was the ship shadow and the light breeze that blew between the tree trucks. Close to them a group of 4 mechs was taking positions. Those machines were about 6 to 7 meters high and filled with cannons and guns. They were built to be fast and agile like a person but bigger to use heavier guns. Around those machines, to their surprise, there were women. A lot of them and ¡°barely clothed¡±. Judging by their half wore suits, those women were mechanics. Their attire consisted mostly of a one-piece bright orange suit which they only half wore as they seemed to prefer to tie the upper part around their waist. Most of them covered their bra with frontally open tank tops to let more skin out in the air. Some had stains of black grease or oil on them. Their lack of ¡°modesty¡± stood out but not as much as the absence of a bottom belly. ¡°why don¡¯t they have belly buttons?¡± asked Dhalia. ¡°because we don¡¯t have them¡± replied Jinx and Lynx together. ¡°how could you not? Aren¡¯t you mammals?¡± asked Wiola. She, of course, was interested. ¡°To be mammals all you need is boobs and breastfeeding¡± replied the Chimeras. ¡°that¡¯s right, but how¡­ is the baby fed during the pregnancy?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Reproduction classes are only for adults¡± replied the girls. ¡°but I know¡± said Nixie. ¡°kids, close your ears¡± ¡°but mom?¡± ¡°close them. Miss Ibarra I suggest you do the same with your daughter¡± ¡°nah, she knows how things are born. She helped our neighbors with the birth of their livestock.¡± ¡°if you say so. Our reproductive organs are really different from yours and Human¡¯s one. There is no pear-shaped thing with holes and all. It is just a tube connected to an atrophied ball filled with tentacles and a bigger tentacle. The organ has to be gradually activated by feeding it. The big tentacle has to be activated as well and eats incoming genetic material. It adapts to the outside genes, when ready and when we feel like it, it will allowed for a new creature to start forming around it. The rest of the tentacles seal off the organ while the new creature grows, fed internally by the feeding tentacle. When the kid is ready the sealing tentacles relax and slowly the main tentacle disconnects from the mother and¡­ slides down... into the kid''s digestive system. That¡¯s the best way I can describe it. Once disconnected the kid usually comes out with just a super easy push. It also helps that kid¡¯s size adapts to the body and will grow exponentially only once they are outside. Esterians milk on average is 11 times more nutritious compared to yours or Humans. This allows our kids to have a starting super fast development than slows down to our more slow grow about 1 or 2 months later¡± ¡°woah. That¡­ really some clever design¡± said Wiola. ¡°I know. It allowed us to increase our numbers fairly fast¡± ¡°did you know sis?¡± ¡°soft of. I looked about it about a year ago when I noticed that Iris had no belly button¡± ¡°if that fascinated you, you should know what our asses can do¡± ¡°care to explain?¡± asked Wiola. ¡°we have a muscular rectum. So we can basically shoot out shit and at the same time pull it inside. Instead of forcing a probe during a colonoscopy you can just put the tip in and let the patient do the rest of the work.¡± ¡°why? That seems useless¡± ¡°it¡¯s useless. It just appeared after the hybridization. Why Morfians had something like that is unknown.¡± while speaking the hunting squad that they saved arrived at the base. 4 blood dripping mechs returned carried by drones bigger than helicopters. One of them, probably the head of the team, moved closer to them, lowered the cockpit and opened it. Inside a man connected to tens of cables and covered with machines. ¡°Hey, thanks for before red¡± said smiling. While the Leans with Scilla were already getting angry, Scilla didn¡¯t. She knew that he meant no harm. ¡°I saved you butt tin can boy¡± ¡°hey hey, we were just running low on ammo. We could have managed¡± ¡°if you say so next time I won¡¯t help¡± they were smiling, like comrades. ¡°good one. If you are still in the city once I finish my turn me and my wife can show you around¡± ¡°consider as if I had accepted but unfortunately we have a tight schedule¡± ¡°too bad. Well see you around reds. Give me a call next time you visit¡± the mech walked away while the trucks arrived. It was time to see what Esterians civilization looked like. chapter 83c: Esterians Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 83c: Esterians Captain Bosco provided Scilla with 3 off-road vehicles, each with 3 rows of seats. Still, even with a total of 24 seats, there were too many of them. So to also save some space, a car was given to Csuicha who filled it with her 7 favorite guards and herself. Scilla took an other alongside Dhalia, Wiola, Liwa and Mira. Nixie, Paz, Nuria, Aura, Jinx and Lynx took the last one. Driving into the city was as easy as breathing. Once instructed the trucks put themselves in a line and started self-driving to Corvi¡¯s work address. After all it was just 12:44 on a Wednesday, it was just more probable that she was working. Leaving the military base behind, they traversed a light forest that lived below the dense foliage of the enormous trees that blocked most sunlight. It was a forest under a forest. As the first suburban houses appeared the view started to feel surreal. The entire city was so small below infinitely tall trees. It felt as if they had been shrunk into tiny versions of themselves. They were entering Astera¡¯s capital city, Novergana. It was safe to say that it was the only real city on the entire planet as it was the only one above 10k inhabitants. Novergana had an ¡°astonishing¡± population of 43718 people. Driving into the city gave them a lot of surprises. Novergana was spacious. Fairly wide perfectly kept streets dotted with fallen leaves. Alongside the street there were dedicated bike lanes separated by barriers and then the sidewalks. Houses usually had 2 floors and a fair garden with fences separating proprieties. Long lines of trees confined almost all roads with few exceptions. Houses alternated with small businesses while their density gradually increases. Seeing stairs going underground was common. All of them were entrances to different metro lines. Going deeper into the city they were met with busses, more metro stops and people. Esterians in their natural habitat. They saw peaceful people, speaking to each other. Few cared about military vehicles rolling into the city. Some probably with a passion for cars would take photos of the vehicles if able. They looked so peaceful, too peaceful to be believed. Alba worked for the government of course. Her work address pointed them to a government building which, with her 6 floors, was the second tallest building in the city. When they left their vehicles people started looking at them. Those stares were not of malice but curiosity. None of them had ever seen a Lean. Scilla led the group into the building to be met with a big hall completely empty and several doors all requiring some special ID. She could only interact with a young woman behind a huge desk. ¡°Good afternoon¡± started Scilla. ¡°Goon afternoon. How can I help you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m looking for someone who works here. Her name is Alba Corvi and she should be part of the intelligence department¡± The woman, with a smooth movement leaned forward onto the desk to observe the group better. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but unfortunately I can¡¯t provide knowledge related to public workers¡± ¡°oh¡­ I have this¡± Scilla gave the woman a data drive. She plugged it into one of her computers and looked. ¡°I see¡­ an official document¡­. Oh it¡¯s also signed. Now I¡¯m convinced¡­ How did I red forged one of our documents so well?¡± the woman lift an eyebrow and stared at Scilla with an inquisitive look. ¡°I understand that you may not like my race, but it¡¯s not forged I officially¡­¡± ¡°You sure had balls of steel to lie so shamelessly in my face. The document is false. The metadata for tracking is incorrect. I have no grudge against your kind but this is a crime. A serious¡­¡± ¡°he hem!¡± Nixie cleared her throat loudly while approaching the desk. ¡°mistakes may happen during production, don¡¯t you think?¡± she said. ¡°I think not. So tell me how did you make this document? If you do so you could avoid years in chains¡± ¡°don¡¯t you recognize me?¡± continued Nixie. The woman at the desk was confused but even more confused was Nixie. She knew she was famous, or maybe it was her ego speaking. ¡°not really¡± Csuicha tried to stop herself from laughing but she couldn¡¯t avoid to let out a chuckle. ¡°here¡± Nixie pulled out her ID and gave it to the receptionist. ¡°mmh. Nixie 112. Remnant. Fair enough your identity is confirmed. So to what unpleasant inconvenience do I owe his presence?¡± ¡°what the fuck! You can treat me like this, I¡¯m¡­¡± ¡°bla bla bla.¡± interrupted the woman while keeping her head up from the desk with her left arm and using her right hand to mimic a mouth opening and closing. ¡°I don¡¯t care who you are. No documents no knowledge. Easy isn¡¯t it?¡± Nixie was getting frustrated and angry. But before she could speak back, Scilla intruded. ¡°I understand your skepticism. We are an unusual sight. But please. I¡¯m just here to invite a friend of my bride to our wedding. Nothing more.¡± ¡°well that changes a lot of things¡± ¡°what?! How?!¡± exclaimed Nixie. ¡°cause I make the rules here.¡± The woman pulled out from below her clothes a gold necklace with a small pendant on it. It was a word but written in composite Estir and twisted a bit to make it more geometrical. ¡°YOU! How did one of you even make it here¡± replied Nixie. Whatever that thing was it was not a good sign. ¡°You are the minority here traitor. I know perfectly well who you are. Traitor Nixie. Go crawl back to your big fancy city of spinless people.¡± ¡°avoiding a completely useless war is no cowardly move. It¡¯s just smart¡± ¡°useless to whom? Now get the fuck out before I have you arrested for forgery. You red, stay here¡± Scilla was confused by the encounter but remained as the woman ordered. Once remained alone the woman spoke again. ¡°Which side are you on?¡± she asked. ¡°I don¡¯t really know what sides you are talking about. I personally don¡¯t think I should be involved with your politics.¡± ¡°such diplomatic stand. You are pissing me off.¡± ¡°I¡­ I just want to get married. My bride and Alba used to work together I can¡¯t tell you much more¡± The woman remained silent. She was thinking. ¡°you know who she worked for right?¡± ¡°she was Idra¡¯s intelligence carrier. I don¡¯t know much more.¡± ¡°then you are on the right side. Unfortunately, Alba is not here at the moment¡± ¡°oh I can wait. Does she eat late in the afternoon?¡± ¡°no she took a day off. It¡¯s her birthday. I suppose you already know where she lives right¡± ¡°yep. Just thought she was working considering the time¡± ¡°well now you know. go. And don¡¯t return with that unpleasant thing you carry around¡± ¡°you mean Nixie?¡± ¡°don¡¯t repeat my words, go¡± done with the strange encounter Scilla left as well but before driving to Alba¡¯s house, she asked Nixie about the pendant and their heated exchange of words. ¡°Nixie, what was that about?¡± ¡°that bi(tch)¡­ woman, belongs to a newly formed movement of fanatics¡± ¡°fanatics of what?¡± ¡°Idra and the Foundation in general. They existed for a while but since Idra¡¯s death they become more numerous and aggressive.¡± ¡°what do they believe in exactly?¡± ¡°depends on the person. The general idea is that we have become weaker abandoning the old ways for new softer solutions. Their idea is a surge of scientific intolerance and brutal repressing violence. So basically they want war and less political garbage. Are you aware of the ETU political system?¡± ¡°not really, but aren''t religious and cults of the persons illegal?¡± ¡°the ETU is a union of technocracies. We can change the type of technocracy but the techno part must remain. As we stand now citizens are divided into 3 major groups. Minors like Jinx or Lynx are people below adulthood. Which is defined by a test or by age.¡± ¡°When do you become an adult, without a test¡± ¡°24¡­ now. Then there are adults. Adults must be in possession of a technical degree, pass an intelligence evaluation test every 3 years to become or remain a Technician. All of them define a basic democracy. All of them and only them have the right to vote inside a representative techno democracy. So to reduce complexity people belong to parties either united under common ideas or professions. Each party with enough people defines some members of the planet assembly. Citizen discuss with their party leaders directly by proposing laws and making internal referendums. The leaders then bring those ideas to the planetary assembly. The planetary assembly defines people to represent them in the supreme council of the techunion. They also choose people to have important roles such as ministers of something¡± ¡°I don¡¯t see why telling me all of this¡± ¡°because this group of fanatics are rigorous scientist so they all can vote and gradually their party is growing. They will reach the Supreme Council soon. If they convince others to go to war, there will be wars. Your people may not be safe.¡± ¡°then why don¡¯t you arrest them? They are religious fanatics. And religious are illegal¡± ¡°if I could I would have already done so. Unfortunately religions are kind of a limbo. Making a church of people is absolutely illegal and the army would come for your head. But believing in something is not. Individual belief is not punished as long as it doesn¡¯t impact your scientific coherence and method. Basically, you can believe in any god if you please, as long as you don¡¯t try to abandon science. There is only 1 reality and 1 truth. There is no space for feelings or ¡®my truth¡¯. What changes among people is how to achieve something. You can understand that a plague is developing and must be stopped. I would look for a cure that I know would exist. But they wouldn¡¯t. They would try with a cure as long as the damage is contained. Once it¡¯s too dangerous they would nuke their own cities to stop the virus from spreading. They are ready to sacrifice their citizens and themselves for a greater cause. A small price of the greater good. I can¡¯t stand that. There is no honor is self-immolation.¡± ¡°That''s sounds nuts¡± ¡°because it is.¡± ¡°are you a member of a party?¡± asked Csuicha. ¡°I don¡¯t have to. As remnant, I can access the council freely. However, I¡¯m usually aligned with one of the major parties called ¡®EquaCerca¡¯. Basically we want to live peacefully and dedicate our lives to just scientific discovery.¡± ¡°what¡¯s the name of the fanatic party?¡± asked Scilla. ¡°they go by the name of ¡®IraNume¡¯...¡± ¡°numeric primordial rage¡­ what a name¡± said Scilla aloud instead of just thinking it. ¡°you know Estir?¡± asked Nixie surprised. ¡°Iris taught me. Well better get moving we don¡¯t have all day to just pick her up¡± They left the city center to move to the outskirts of the city on the opposite side of the military base. There the houses were way bigger mixed with mansions of all sorts. They reached a clearly richer zone surrounded by public parks. At the end of a closed road stood Corvi¡¯s home. It was a wide 2 floor house with a big garden in front and a fence all around. Scilla immediately saw an off-road vehicle with a remote turret on top. Not a typical family car. They all disembarked from their vehicles, but Scilla requested minimal presence so all except her and Nixie decided to take a stroll to the nearby park and bar. Scilla approached the fence gate and rang the intercom. It clearly worked but she received no rely. So she rang again. ¡°hello? Is this Alba¡¯s house? The intercom says Corvi¡± ¡°we have no business with your kind¡± replied a female voice angrily. Then the woman on the other side closed the communication again. Scilla insisted. ¡°I just have a letter to deliver. To personally deliver just to her. Then I¡¯ll go on my way¡± No reply but the gate clicked signaling to get closer to the door. Scilla, fairly concerned, approached and knocked. The door opened just a bit and a greenish small hand appeared. ¡°here. Give me the letter and get the fuck out. You are disturbing my child¡± ¡°Mrs Corvi, I can¡¯t do that. I must deliver the letter personally¡± This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°why do you care so much? Just give me that piece of paper¡± ¡°I made I promise that I¡¯ll never break even if I have to stand here for hours¡± The woman closed the door and they heard her shouting for Alba if she wanted to see who those people at the door were. Even if she was shouting she was totally different with her daughter. A lot of minutes later someone opened the door again, this time fully. Standing there a small creature at best 156cm tall (shorter outside the suit) with a pale green brownish skin and light brown curly hair. She had light blue eyes and she was wearing an oversize t-shirt and some clearly borrowed soft cargo shorts. Behind her a woman built like a brick wall. 180cm tall, wide and muscular as a bull with an old scar across her right hand and arm. She had a military stance and was angry. Both Alba and her mother had necklaces but both kept them concealed under their shirts. Alba recognized Scilla immediately as her eyes opened wide with shock. ¡°YOU ARE ALIVE!¡± she yelled. ¡°HOW?!?¡± ¡°it¡¯s a long story. I don¡¯t mind telling it, but I have something to deliver to you¡± ¡°get¡­ get in.¡± ¡°Permesso (permit)¡± said Scilla. An Estir word used upon entering others'' houses. ¡°who taught you how to speak Estir¡± asked Mrs.Corvi. ¡°the same person that asked me to deliver the letter.¡± Alba walked them to the couches in the living room they had just entered. Heads of animals were all over the walls alongside several display guns. ¡°would you like something to drink?¡± asked Alba. She had a really gentle tone. ¡°sure. I¡¯m unfamiliar with this planet but sure. I¡¯ll take whatever you prefer and so does Nixie right?¡± ¡°yep. Do as you please miss. Don¡¯t mind my presence I thought I was going to be a translator but apparently, I¡¯m not needed¡± Alba walked away leaving them with her angry mother. ¡°you don¡¯t have to stare daggers at me all the time. I understand that you may not like my kind but¡­¡± ¡°Rossa non me ne fotte un cazzo di chi minchia sei. Rompi I coglioni alla mia bambina e io rompo te ( I don¡¯t give a shit who you are red. Break my little girl¡¯s balls and I¡¯ll break you)¡± ¡°Maybe we should relax a bit¡­¡± started Nixie to be immediately interrupted. ¡°shut the fuck up kid. I let you in only because I know that you would have not left otherwise.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll leave as soon as possible Mrs.Corvi. I just need Alba to read the letter.¡± ¡°why is it so important?¡± ¡°I¡¯m getting married and Alba is a friend of my bride.¡± the woman, strangely, didn¡¯t like those words at all. ¡°Are you fucking insane? You want to bring my baby to such a dangerous event? I should have shot you the moment I saw your face¡± ¡°what? Why?¡± ¡°you don¡¯t know?¡± asked Nixie. ¡°know what? It¡¯s a wedding. What do you fear? Choking on cake?¡± ¡°the bride idiot.¡± said Corvi. ¡°what is there to fear? Iri is super peaceful. She doesn¡¯t even step on flowers¡± ¡°your bride is obviously going to be all lovely with you. That doesn¡¯t mean she is the same with others¡± said Corvi. ¡°I have to agree. Marriages are notoriously dangerous for women. Brides, especially insecure ones, tend to be aggressive toward other women as they instinctively think that they are attending to steal their man. Iris didn¡¯t tell you?¡± ¡°not really. All she told me was that sometimes people fight. That¡¯s about it¡± ¡°fight? My cousin had a fist fight with her own sister¡± said Corvi. ¡°well, that¡¯s a you problem. My Iri is not like that at all¡± It was true. Iris was, in general, abnormally calm for being an Idra and a female Esterian. However, that doesn¡¯t make her less dangerous. Yet their conversation reached an abrupt stop when Alba returned with a tray full of small cups and some spiral-shaped fruit. A clearly older man was walking behind her. He was around 178cm with a slim build. He was also greener than both Alba and her mother. He was wearing simple clothes and a gardening hat. Judging by some dirt on his boots he came straight from the backyard garden. He looked happy but his smile had something behind it. He felt strange, felt scary. ¡°good evening. We don¡¯t see your kind around here often¡± said the man while Alba placed down the tray. ¡°I would be surprised if you had ever seen a Lean before¡± replied Scilla. She was ready for some more free racism but the man smiled. ¡°matter of fact you are the first one I ever met. Only my youngest had ever seen one of yours before¡± ¡°not one of yours, exactly her dad. That¡¯s why I invited her in.¡± ¡°please, help yourself. It should not be poisonous for your kind, as we can eat about the same thing.¡± ¡°thank you, then if you don¡¯t mind¡± Scilla picked up one of those cups containing a light brown liquid. She then took a sip of it. It was similar to a ginseng coffee but sweeter and with a pungent aromatic aftertaste. Peculiar for sure but not bad. ¡°mnh. It¡¯s unusual but I kinda like the taste¡± ¡°thank you.¡± ¡°you made it?¡± ¡°yeah, dad loves to grow things as a hobby. This is our own brew of Melmotela pods.¡± ¡°well it¡¯s good. And what about those¡­ spiral fruits? Do they grow like this?¡± ¡°don¡¯t be silly. Dad cut them like this since I was a kid¡± said Alba. ¡°why? Isn¡¯t it a pain?¡± ¡°because my cute baby deserves to eat cute food.¡± replied the man. He surely was strange. ¡°daaaddd. Stop it. I just turned 30. when will you stop babying me¡± ¡°never. You are just like your mother. Too cute to be left in such crude world¡± Scilla for a moment looked at Mrs.Corvi. She stood firmly like a rock. Cute? Her? I get alba, but her mum? What is wrong with this dude ¡°so what is this letter of yours¡± Scilla pulled out a sealed envelope. It had been closed with stitches and wax. Something unusual for the time. The envelope was also not made out of regular paper. The texture was off with strange depressions and lines making little indentations. Alba was confused as well by the strange object. With patience, she opened to pull out the letter folded in 3 steps. In instant, her confused gaze shifted to surprise. Her dad beside her took a glance at the invite but he couldn¡¯t read composite Estir. Alba stood up and then she ran off with the latter in hand. ¡°I have to check a thing. I¡¯ll be back soon¡± yelled from the distance. ¡°what is written in there?¡± asked the man. ¡°as far as I know it is a wedding invite. I¡¯m getting married to a friend of hers.¡± ¡°well let¡¯s see when she comes back¡± ¡°¡­ so your wife is a hunter but I doubt you are a gardener¡± the man laughed uncontrollably and soon was joined by his wife. ¡°this is new. My world is not a hunter. She is a xeno-biologist. And about me, I¡¯m the minister of public security. Basically, I overlook and regulate all police forces on the planet.¡± ¡°it explains your strange confidence¡± ¡°strange? The one strangely confident here is you. You are in the land of the enemy but you are not afraid¡± ¡°I¡¯m used to strange places. Used to be a scavenger. Can¡¯t get weirder than that I guess¡± ¡°an interesting profession. I suppose that¡¯s how you met your bride¡± ¡°you suppose correctly. We have been dating for a while and we mutually decided it was time to move a step forward¡± minutes later Alba returned. ¡°who wrote this?¡± asked Alba. ¡°Iris¡± ¡°Who is Iris?¡± ¡°Did she write something strange?¡± ¡°no. it¡¯s just¡­ extremely complex and ancient. No sane person would write like this. Unless you are 400 years old or an Idra.¡± Scilla smiled while the room air became cold. Alba had an inquisitive gaze. She was conflicted. ¡°This is a really elaborate wedding invitation. So tell me again who you are getting married to¡± ¡°Her name is Iris, but you have met her previously under the code name Idra 511 Weeping Sky.¡± ¡°my queen died 3 years ago. The connection was severed¡± ¡°Indeed the connection was cut. Idra was sort of dead, but not completely lost. It took years to recover but we managed and now I¡¯m here inviting you¡± ¡°one more question. Why is she not here?¡± ¡°Having guests was mostly my idea because she didn¡¯t care. Why did she decide to stay back? No idea.¡± Alba smiled and immediately after tears started to flow. ¡°my queen¡­ she is alive¡­¡± ¡°well sort of. She suffered some brain damage and I doubt she remembers you. But she liked you before so I suppose she would like you again¡± ¡°give¡­ give me a moment¡­ I¡¯ll pack something¡­ and¡­ and¡­ do you have a wedding list?¡± ¡°take your time and no. we don¡¯t lack material possessions so we don¡¯t need any. Best suggestion if you want to make her happy is coloring books. She recently decided that she likes to color things but there are no such books on Weeping Sky.¡± Alba went away with her mother that was strangely happy. Alba¡¯s father remained with Scilla and asked for a one-to-one talk. Scilla accepted and they walked to the garden. ¡°it has been a while since I saw her smiling. 3 years to be precise. Nothing pains a father more than his own child suffering. Thank you red.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take care of her and¡­ she will be probably back in 1 to 2 weeks. By the way, my name is Scilla. You don¡¯t have to call me red all the time.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Cesare.¡± the man took off his necklace. He was an IraNume as well. ¡°take it. If you ever need help you will have a friend here. And before you go let me give you some Melmotela coffee. For you and your special bride¡± ¡°thanks. Turns out you are a good man¡± ¡°Girl we just defend our own. You help me, I help you.¡± ¡°still I have to ask you to keep quiet about Idra. We don¡¯t¡­¡± ¡°they will never hear a word from me. I¡¯ll never betray our queen¡± ¡°why do you call her queen?¡± ¡°Since she is the only one on her planet she is technically a monarch. But usually, it¡¯s because she is important to as like a queen is important to her hive¡± They returned back to the living room where they were met with a peculiar scene. Alba was ready and along with her mother was looking at Nixie who was only now drinking the coffee. As she drank her eyes widened and she clearly wanted to spit it out. ¡°no no. drink it¡­ traitor¡± said Alba with a grin. Oh shit. I fucking forgot. If her dad is a Iranume she probably is the same and so is the rest of the family. Fuck¡­ I have to keep them separated on the ship. ¡°you are one of them. What did you put in?¡± ¡°relax Nixie. It was just salty. I wanted to add in some laxative but dad told me not to stand so low. We are not like you.¡± Then she turned to Scilla. She immediately changed register and became formal with her. ¡°Lis, I¡¯m ready. I would appreciate if you could¡­¡± ¡°hey alba, stop that. I¡¯m still me. Doesn¡¯t matter that I¡¯m getting married to Idra¡± ¡°ok. Then can you bring me shopping around? I know you told me you need nothing but I can¡¯t do that. Not to my queen¡± ¡°sure. We will inform the others¡± ¡°who else is there¡± asked Cesare. ¡°my family and friends.¡± ¡°so your Liin and the heir of the Hakavors?¡± said alba. ¡°yep. And some guards and my childhood friend. She is a cool farmer¡± While the whole picking up Alba happened. The rest of the group walked to a nearby park. Guided by the chimera duo they went into a small bar built at the edge of a park. The place was small and it was fairly obvious that it was built mainly to provide some snacks and beverages to people spending the day in the park. The inside was empty except for a ¡°young¡± Esterian behind the counter. As the woman spotted them she immediately began asking questions and photos. She wanted to print them and placed the best one around the place. Following the chimeras they all took some cans of refrigerated sodas and then after paying went outside. They were the only clients and the woman was a chatterbox. She also followed them to the outside tables and benches. Csuicha found her behavior curious. The unknown woman seems completely oblivious to her identity even if she stood out like wildfire even among Leans. Between a laugh and some unknown events related to the place a group of clients arrived. It was composed of 3 adolescent boys with clear school backpacks. They looked surprised by the Lean presence but not intimidated. ¡°barista! Possiamo prendere il pallone? (barmaid can we take the ball?)¡± ¡°certo, sai do sta (sure, you know whe[where] it is)¡± One of the boys entered the bar and returned soon after with a ball in hand. He and his friends dropped their backpacks but instead of going away, they stopped before the lean group. They looked at Aura and the chimeras. ¡°do you want to have a match with us?¡± asked one in his broken unified language. ¡°why not. Aura are you with us?¡± asked the chimeras. Shy and confused Aura just stood still until Nuria spoke to her. ¡°you should go and have some fun. They look ok don¡¯t they?¡± Aura nodded and joined the newly formed group that walked some meters away to a lawn they could use to have a football match. While the barmaid kept speaking about whatever was on her mind a second group of younglings approached coming from the other side of the park. This time there were 2 boys and 2 girls. They had backpacks as well. Adding in the other group it was reasonable to assume that they were returning from school or something like it. This group however stopped by a tree and the boys, clearly older than the girls, started looking up. They spotted something and tried to reach it. After some minutes they managed to pull down a couple of fruits not enough for all of them. So one approached Nuria as she was the tallest between the Leans. He looked unbothered by the difference in species. ¡°hey red. Can you lift me up?¡± ¡°you are asking me?¡± ¡°yep, you are the taller among your friends aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I suppose so, but we are not friends¡± ¡°how come?¡± ¡°we are just guests at the same wedding but we don¡¯t know much about each other¡± ¡°oh. Well are you going to help me?¡± ¡°fine¡± Nuria followed the kid and helped him pick up as much fruit as he and his friends could carry. Once back on the ground, he insisted that Nuria had to take some of those black lucid spherical fruits. They also greeted the rest of the group, asked for photos and then went on their way. Nuria had received 6 of those fruits and started eating them. While munching on one Csuicha spoke. ¡°isn¡¯t it strange?¡± ¡°what?¡± asked Dhalia. ¡°so far all the people we met willingly or not don¡¯t seem to hate us. They are just curious¡± ¡°I have to agree. And they are strangely friendly¡± said Paz. ¡°I kinda already imagined it was going to be this way¡± said Nuria. ¡°why?¡± asked Csuicha. ¡°cause the time spent with Idra at my place was strange. That girl was both a pain in the ass and a funny friend.¡± ¡°I have to agree. The days Idra spent at my house were mostly calm. She was not nasty or anything¡± said Wiola. The barmaid reappeared after leaving them for a bit. She overheard the conversation. ¡°it¡¯s no surprise. We are mostly friendly by nature. Why causing conflict when you can passively avoid it? It¡¯s just more energy efficient. Plus cooperation is usually better than competition¡± ¡°where you eavesdropping?¡± asked Csuicha. ¡°yes, of course I was¡­. Big girl how tall are you?¡± asked the woman looking at Nuria. ¡°a lot more than you why?¡± ¡°Because you are eating a so-called Rangadonna. The higher you go the sweeter they get. Could you lift me up too?¡± asked smiling. ¡°you sure are nosy and pushy¡± ¡°I know, it¡¯s part of my charm¡±... About an hour later Scilla joined them with Nixie and Alba. As requested by Alba they returned to the city center where they went shopping for a bit among the curious looks and interactions. Once Alba found several gifts they returned to the spacecraft and finally departed for Weeping Sky. chapter 84c: Iris Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 84c: Iris 4 and half more days of space travel at maximum speed to finally reach Weeping Sky. The planet appeared immense yet surrounded by even bigger masses. With the planet in sight, a distorted message echoed throughout the ship. It was a special encrypted communication that was meant for the ship AI. With the exception of Scilla, all of them were looking at screens showing the outside. They had appeared really close to the planet and immediately started their descent. Soon the ship was piercing through dense clouds. While most stared at the outside cloud washing the ship, Dhalia and Csuicha worried. The ship was not descending correctly. Instead of having the thrusters pointed at the planet, Scilla was descending keeping the ship horizontal. ¡°Arresto propulsione primaria (primary propulsion shut down)¡± said the AI. ¡°Dispiegamento vele (deploying sails)¡± The strange pillars in the ship hull extended to 30 meters, long sails popped out of them and connected to each other. They immediately inflated as wind started to increase the more they descended. ¡°what the fuck? Are you kidding me? Sails?¡± said Dhalia. ¡°I¡¯m not. It¡¯s far cheaper to use them.¡± replied Scilla. ¡°forme di vita rilevate( life form detected)¡± ¡°what did it say?¡± asked Dhalia. ¡°nothing, just look outside¡± The ship left the clouds and as soon as the coast was clear horrifying screeches were picked up by the external microphones. Those sounds scared Aura and put Csuicha¡¯s guards on alert. Then they appeared. Long flying beasts with strange half-circular wings like the spacecraft. There were about 10 of those creatures that went from 6 meters long to 21 meters. They were flying around pushed by the wind just like them. The smaller also landed on the ship while keeping their heads forward and their mouths open. They were ugly, looking like a mix of a deep-sea shark and a malformed snake. Their sounds were just horrendous. ¡°what¡­ what are those?¡± asked Paz. ¡°Iris calls them Schiluga. They sort of behave like flying whales. They filter air from pollen and microorganisms suspended in air¡± ¡°how the hell do they fly?¡± asked Dhalia. But before Scilla could say anything Alba replied. ¡°Gravron. This is really Weeping Sky. My queen¡¯s home world.¡± ¡°you know more than what I assumed¡± ¡°we extract the little we have on Astera. We kind of observed that the closer you are to the rift the more you find¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°Our expansion kind of stopped but judging by what I¡¯m seeing. We must be really close to the Magno¡¯s rift.¡± ¡°we are not close, we are on the other side¡± ¡°fair enough. I suppose you can¡¯t disclose the exact location¡± replied Alba. She believed 100% that Scilla lied to avoid exposing the planet. After all there was no way to move into the rift, especially this fast. ¡°you don¡¯t have to believe me right away. I¡¯ll ask Iris to go for a walk tonight. All you will have to do is stare at the sky¡± They had reached Weeping Sky at the start of dusk. The sky was growing red while light was slowly reducing. As they flew above the main base Nixie asked. ¡°aren¡¯t we going too fast to land here?¡± ¡°this is the main base. We are not stopping here.¡± ¡°how many people live here?¡± asked Csuicha. ¡°none. It¡¯s only me and Iris on the entire planet¡± ¡°then why make something so big?¡± ¡°it¡¯s even bigger than what it looks. There are more than 10 underground levels as vast as the one you see on the surface. But I never understood why either.¡± ¡°it can¡¯t be just empty space¡± ¡°it¡¯s not. It¡¯s mostly storage thou.¡± ¡°and what does she store?¡± ¡°robots, tanks, bombs, nuclear missiles, ammo. You name it and there is probably a storage for it.¡± ¡°what¡¯s the point of all of it? Is she preparing for war?¡± ¡°For a fair amount of the things she makes I know the answer. For the others not really. Iris lets me play with them and I don¡¯t ask¡± ¡°wouldn''t you avoid speaking of¡­ the purpose of all this armament production?¡± asked Alba. ¡°not really. Iris would tell you without caring but will never elaborate beyond it. All the weapons she makes are built because of The Enemy. Who is the enemy? I have no idea. There is no knowledge of it. Images? Vague descriptions? Possible ways to detect it? no. there is absolutely nothing, yet she still prepares to fight it¡± ¡°maybe she just doesn¡¯t tell you.¡± replied Alba. ¡°it¡¯s possible. I personally don¡¯t give a shit about her objective or reason. All I know is that she likes to build weapons and to produce them. She is happy and I¡¯m happy that she is happy.¡± ¡°you sound like you are already married¡± said Nixie. ¡°we complement each other really well¡­ oh and just to warn you. Iris is a bit of an odd creature. So don¡¯t take things too personally¡± ¡°procedure di atterraggio avviate. In arrivo a spazioporto Iridana 1. preparasi all¡¯atterraggio. (landing proceedings engaged. Arriving at Iridana¡¯s spaceport 1. preparing for landing)¡± The AI stopped their conversation as they had flown past the main base and were now approaching Iridana with its only landing zone. ¡°well time to get ready.¡± All the landing was done automatically and soon the whole group was outside. Clean air with a bit more oxygen than usual. It was pleasantly chill with a fairly cold wind blowing almost constantly yet lightly. They were immersed in colorful trees, most had green leaves but several had deep red leaves or bright yellow leaves. Pavement connected them to a huge door covered with grass. The sun was starting to set behind the moving plants while unknown creatures emitted eerie sounds in the distance. It was a beautiful place that felt threatening. They didn¡¯t know why, but they felt as if nature was rejecting them. While walking toward the door a figure appeared from a corner that was devoured by shadows. It was Iris. She was covered from head to toe with her favorite outfit. It was of a really dark green with lighter green leaves making a natural pattern. She had a thick veil that covered her head and ears that partially poked horizontally making her head somewhat bigger. Her mouth was left out and so were her fingers with the ring clearly visible. She had a different ring. Entirely carved out from a perfect emerald. All her drapes, capes, small mantels, and strings of clothes shifted in the blowing wind that started to emit sounds. Each blow was akin to a distant cry or a long low painful wail of a lost soul. She felt dangerous and it reflected on the group. They were scared but Scilla walked on happy and humming some melody. A humming that was soon reciprocated. Once close enough to each other Iris lifted her arms while Scilla opened them wide each shouting. ¡°Scilla!¡±¡ª¡±Iris!¡± They run into each other, Iris jumping on Scilla and Scilla catching her mid-air. Scilla spun around once even if it was totally unnecessary considering how little Iris weighed. Then Iris kissed Scilla. It was a deep and long kiss, uncomfortably long. Then Iris pulled back. ¡°mi sei mancata (I missed you)¡± ¡°mi sei mancata anche tu (I missed you too)¡± ¡°chi son questi che ti porti appresso? (who are these you carry around with you?)¡± asked Iris. ¡°Nostri ospiti (our guests)¡± in those 3 years scilla became really fluent in Estir but without her knowing she didn¡¯t learn the pure version. Iris taught her an Estir that had a different accent and was more of an ancient dialect. ¡°bhe allora fammi presentare (then let me introduce myself)¡± Scilla walked closer to the group and let Iris touch the ground again. She stared at them while moving her hands inside her pockets. ¡°Hiiiiiii. I¡¯m Idra 608 IS-98-ULm Weeping Sky but you can call me Idra. Welcome to Weeping Sky, my home world. I regret to inform you that you are illegally trespassing on military soil and the only solution is dead.¡± They were confused and so was Scilla, but she wasn¡¯t worried. Then Iris jumped in the air, lifting her arms and shouted ¡°BOH!¡± she looked happy about her actions. Csuicha¡¯s guards reacted and pulled out their guns pointing them at Idra who had already returned to the ground and appeared confused. ¡°why are they not laughing?¡± she asked while she turned to face Scilla. ¡°why should they be?¡± she replied lifting an eyebrow. ¡°because I did prank right? Or did I not?¡± Scilla started laughing like crazy. ¡°that was a prank?¡± she managed to say between laughs. ¡°so it was not. I don¡¯t understand. Why do yours work but not mine? Aren¡¯t you supposed to scare people and then tell them it was a lie to make... a... prank?¡± Scilla laughed even harder. ¡°it¡¯s your fault. You are a terrible teacher¡± continued Iris shifting to a more acute tone. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°I¡¯m not a huge prankster, but they usually work. I don¡¯t think that I¡¯m the issue here. Where are you going?¡± Scilla¡¯s last words were out of place. Iris was still there standing on the spot. ¡°then how is that you know how to speak perfectly thanks to me, but I still can¡¯t prank people or make good jokes or do sarcasm? Just believe in me¡± ¡°mmh. You have a point¡­ maybe you are too smart to really comprehend how comedy works.¡± ¡°yeah. Maybe¡­ and maybe parasites should know their place¡± Iris¡¯s phrase was immediately followed by a scream of surprise and then a thump caused by one of the rear guards hitting the ground. Iris was no longer in front of them but behind Csuicha¡¯s guards and had just slammed one into the ground. The Leans beside wanted to react but instead started couching. The air had just become toxic. Iris, exhibiting inhuman force, was lifting the guard and then slamming her back into the ground with just one hand. Loud growling mixed with the confusion until Scilla was able to stop it with just words. ¡°Iris are you killing her for fun?¡± asked Scilla calmly. ¡°you know me. Of course not.¡± ¡°so what crime did she commit?¡± ¡°she pointed her gun at you.¡± Scilla¡¯s face shifted from confident to worried. In 3 years she understood that Iris was obsessed with her. No matter how little the threat was, Iris was not going to tolerate it. The other leans had run out of the cloud of toxin but Scilla immediately stopped them by shouting. ¡°DON¡¯T REACH FOR YOUR GUN!! DON¡¯T DO IT IF YOU WANT TO LIVE¡± The guards stopped as one noticed a strange shifting in the air beside her. She poked the shifting air to immediately jump back as an invisible robot appeared beside her. One by one several war machines equipped with cannons turned off their cloaking devices. Along them, Armed drones arrived at the scene. There was no way to survive against all of that. ¡°what are you going to do to her?¡± asked Scilla nervously. ¡°mmh. Kill her. Obviously¡± ¡°Obviously¡­¡± ¡°Scilla?¡± Csuicha stared at her. ¡°With this I have we are even Serafia. Iris¡­ do you think you could let her go, for me?¡± ¡°mmh. Well I do the rules here so¡­ no. I won¡¯t let her go. But I can let her live¡­¡± Iris let go of the now concussed Lean and a robot took her into custody. ¡°how about a day in jail. Then if she repents I¡¯ll allow her out for the rest of the stay?¡± ¡°that would be perfect. Thanks Iri.¡± ¡°are you sure that¡¯s what you want?¡± ¡°yep.¡± ¡°okay. Bot put her in a cell.¡± ¡°Scilla it¡¯s not her fault, she may have¡­¡± started Csuicha but Iris interrupted her. ¡°HEY! You Bianca! (white/also a name). Do you want to end up in jail too?¡± ¡°Iris please. She is a friend¡± replied Scilla. ¡°Your friend should think more. Being your Liin gives her no privilege here¡± ¡°how do you know?¡± asked Csuicha. ¡°I can guess all of you from what Scilla told me¡± Iris returned to Scilla¡¯s side to face the group frontally. Then she pointed from right to left at each important Lean. ¡°you white are Serafia Csuicha. The head of the Leans. You have your guards, all too weak to protect you from me. So don¡¯t make me angry. Then Dhalia Hakavor. The heir of the Hakavors. I must have done something to you cause you flinch scared each time I speak to you or get closer¡­¡± ¡°yeah, you broke one of her arms¡± ¡°strange. Leaving survivors is against protocols. Well whatever. Then you beside are Mira dragva. An old friend that works in a spaceport¡­¡± ¡°I¡­ I¡­ I¡¯m not important please don¡¯t kill me¡± said Mira almost crying. She had always been afraid of Esterians. ¡°I will not hurt you as long as you don¡¯t put Scilla in danger. I¡¯m not a monster¡± ¡°do you know who those three are?¡± asked Scilla pointing at the Ibarras. ¡°the old one is Paz Ibarra. Then the adult must be your friend. Nuria Ibarra. Then the small one is her child Aura. Nuria¡­¡± ¡°yes?¡± ¡°we may not know each other. At least I have no memory of you. But my condolences, it must not be easy to be a widow¡± Nuria looked confused and with the same confusion replied. ¡°I''m¡­ I¡¯m not a widow. I was never married¡± Iris looked at Scilla who just nodded motioning to go on to placate her curiosity. So she replied. ¡°oh. Then how did you have a child?¡± ¡°I adopted her.¡± ¡°what is that?¡± ¡°it¡¯s when you get a child but he was born from someone else.¡± ¡°why adopt one? Especially one that is not red?¡± Aura clung on Nuria. ¡°don¡¯t worry kid. You are my child, no matter what others say.¡± she reassured Aura before continuing. ¡°because I don¡¯t care about skin color. I liked her very much so I kept her.¡± ¡°oh. That¡¯s a really noble thing to do. I get why I gave you a leg¡± ¡°wait you noticed?¡± ¡°what? That you are wearing Esterian technology? Of course I did. Judging by your actions I would like to replace your leg with something that has less than 260 years.¡± Shock on all Lean faces. Except Scilla. She had seen a lot of things in those 3 years. ¡°What the fuck? You have better legs than this?¡± ¡°dah, yeah. That thing is just an adaptation of a prototype that the Founder made. The model you are using was built during the Spike war as a cheap and fast-to-install limb for amputee soldiers.¡± ¡°well I suppose I could use some maintenance¡± ¡°well then moving on we have Scilla¡¯s pama Liwa and her sister Wiola¡­ Scil do you mind if I hug her?¡± ¡°I always tell you that you can do as you please¡± ¡°and I did, I pleased to ask you for permission¡± Iris walked up to Wiola who timidly opened her arms to welcome a warm hug, followed by sniffing. ¡°What¡­ what you doing?¡± asked Wiola. ¡°me¡­ I¡¯m just looking around¡­ na I¡¯m making sure you are healthy, you are my almost-husband sister after all¡± ¡°and you sniff me?¡± ¡°yes she does. She is also really good at it¡± said Scilla. Done with the hug only 4 people remained. The Esterians that so far remained respectfully distant. ¡°I can sense that you are a remnant. Being a woman you must be a Nixie.¡± ¡°I''m honoured to be here Remanent of the Founder¡­¡± Nixie was being formal. She had no doubts that whatever she had before her was a real Idra. ¡°just call me Idra.¡± ¡°as you desire¡± ¡°as Scilla told me, allegedly we were friends. So drop the formalities.¡± ¡°ok. I have so many questions about how you survived and what you remember but I¡¯ll¡­¡± ¡°oh no. I think you are misunderstanding. Idra 511 didn¡¯t survive at all. I told you my name. I¡¯m Idra 608. we are different. I studied what Scilla was able to salvage from 511 but nothing more¡± Scilla¡¯s lie had been exposed immediately. She told everybody that she somehow cloned 511, but it was just false. ¡°but¡­ but there were no more Idras produced. That¡¯s what 511 told us¡± ¡°that¡¯s true. 511 was the last Idra produced. I would love to explain to you how I¡¯m 511 and at the same time I¡¯m not, but I can¡¯t. You don¡¯t have the permission to know.¡± ¡°oohh... then you don¡¯t remember us right?¡± asked the chimeras. ¡°no. not at all. But I see two younglings connected to each other. You remind me of myself when I was a little kid¡± ¡°how little?¡± asked. ¡°mmh. About 7 maybe 6 years old. Curious and childish¡± ¡°we are not childish¡± ¡°you are. Lastly¡­¡± When Iris looked at Alba she kneeled. ¡°mia regina, sei viva (my queen, you are alive)¡± ¡°non sono nessuna regina. La mia gente non c¡¯¨¨ pi¨´. (I¡¯m no queen. My people are no more)¡± ¡°avrai sempre la mia lealt¨¤.(you will always have my loyalty)¡± ¡°non ti facevo cos¨¬ fedele. Ripeti chi sei. Rivela il tuo obbiettivo a tutti. (I didn¡¯t make you so faithful. Repeat who you are. Reveal your objective to all)¡± ¡°I¡¯m Alba Corvi. I was your intelligence carrier and connection with the ETU. My life purpose was to rely your words to the council. As your previous body was destroyed we lost such connection. My objective is to assist you. But I can¡¯t deny my own egoistical wishes¡± ¡°Which are?¡± ¡°Your death brought despair between us. It divided us. Some were lost. I was lost. Without a purpose. No more guided by the Remnant of the Founder. We regrouped, clung to our hope to serve the Foundation again. Hope for your return. A stupid hope, I¡¯ll admit that. But we tried to stay strong and follow our Founder. I had to try and meet you. Both for my own selfishness and to ask. Ask to return to us. Rule again as the Founder did. Guide our civilization to greatness. As our only queen.¡± ¡°Alba, look at me¡± ¡°I can¡¯t¡­¡± ¡°look at me.¡± Their eyes met, or at least their faces aligned. ¡°I''ll grant your selfish wish, but I¡¯m not your queen and you are doing a disgrace to our Founder''s words...¡± Alba returned to stare at the ground, not out of embarrassment for misunderstanding the Founder''s words but for sadness to have failed her goddess. Iris grabbed her head and forced Alba to look back at her. ¡°The Founder himself didn¡¯t rule alone. Elvira was always by his side. He knew that monarchy and tyranny were no solutions. He made our system as it is because he believed it was the right way to move forward. But maybe, after consulting with Scilla, maybe I could speak to our people. To unite them again. Under no false idol, just science¡± Alba was now crying and started to mumble something unintelligible. Iris hugged her and as she did the wind blew with extreme force detaching leaves from the trees that fell on them creating a scene worth thousands of paintings. A scene that was going to become part of history and would end up being remembered as ¡°L¡¯anima della Fondazione (the soul of the Foundation)¡±. ¡°Iri...yeah.. about speaking with¡­ your people¡­ I have fucked up¡± said Scilla. ¡°I kind of promise Serafia the possibility to speak with the ETU council to make her come here¡­ sorry¡± ¡°nah, it¡¯s good. Be we should go into our house¡­¡± ¡°your house¡± replied Scilla. ¡°no. our house¡± ¡°yours¡± ¡°ours¡± ¡°yours. The house and this planet are all yours. I have no right to them and I don¡¯t want them neither¡­¡± ¡°but¡­¡± ¡°let me finish. I know we kind of fought for 4 months on this but I finally found the way to express it¡± now Scilla and Iris were walking side by side, directly followed by all the others who listened carefully. ¡°all you see is yours and yours only. The house as its physical place doesn¡¯t belong to me. Yet this place is my home. Is the place I wish to return to. The place I wish to sleep at. Rest at. But not because there are these walls. Not because I bought it. But, and it¡¯s a big butt...¡± Iris laugh. It was her kind of stupid humor. ¡°Because you are here. You are my home. Not the house. So this is your house, but it¡¯s our home. As long as I have you, I¡¯ll be home¡± Iris didn¡¯t reply. Just smiled and then leaned on Scilla while walking. ¡°what¡­ what you mean by 4 months of fighting?¡± it was Aura¡¯s voice. She found the courage to reply and she kinda wanted some revenge for the stream of questions from before. ¡°exactly as it sounds. Me and Scilla fight often and they are long fights¡± ¡°and if they are at the same level of. ¡®No this is your house but you are my home¡¯ and bla bla bla I¡¯m going to die from an overdose of cringe love¡± said Wiola. The tension had dissipated and the group entered Iridana. The wedding was coming up soon. chapter 85c: buffer Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 85c: buffer Iridana welcomed them with little to no lighting and a mandatory optional renouncement to their weapons. Idras didn¡¯t need much light to see and Iris was no exception. However while Iris could see perfectly, Scilla didn¡¯t and as soon as she entered the base she turned up the lighting. It revealed the usual crude architecture that however had been embellished. Iris had carved with something into the metal plates that composed the walls. On their left and right incisions defined wobbly figures resembling different Idras during the end of the spike war and performing military actions. Between figures, complex words in composite Estir. By their positions, they were all pointing at the frontal wall. This one was way more carved and precise. At the top of the 6-meter-tall wall they could see 4 figures divided into 2 groups looking toward the center of the wall. On the extreme left the Founder in his public gear. Moving to the right there was a smaller female figure. It was the Founder''s daughter. She was armed too. In the middle an Estir word. Then moving to the right there was an undefined figure with contorted shapes. On the extreme right, there was Elvira Smolak in combat gear. Looking at the base of the wall there was instead Iris in her usual clothes, right in the middle of the wall. She had her head pointing down so her face was not carved. Her hands almost closed together as if she was praying and between them, a carved light source repelling her hair. The incision Iris however had enormous wings made of goo and bleeding bones that reached both limits of the wall. Those wings had disfigured eyes, wobbly mouths, and bleeding pieces of organs attached. The combination of the wings and the 4 top figures forced the obverse curiosity toward the middle. There more composite Estir, so complex and beautiful to be almost unthinkable. The strange, yet beautiful images convey both joy and horror. A peculiar sense of uneasiness hard to define as it exceeds the concept of sublime. As the lights turned on Iris ran in front of Scilla ¡°tah dah!¡± shouted Iris. ¡°do you like it?¡± Scilla was overjoyed. Even if she couldn¡¯t read a word, to her it was only something beautiful. ¡°you did this for me?¡± ¡°yep¡± ¡°thank you¡± Scilla hugged Iris and lifted her up. She then moved Iris around until she was able to keep her like a princess in her own arms. Once reached the princess carry position Scilla kissed Iris. Even if public kissing was not illegal in either culture, such public display of affection was rare both in the Federation and in the ETU. Yet the duo seemed unbothered. It should surprise nobody. They had been alone for so long that they had forgotten all norms and in Iris¡¯s case, she never knew them from the beginning. ¡°Alba can you read that?¡± asked Nixie. Looking at Alba, she was in awe. She loved composite Estir and to see such display of competence was astonishing. ¡°I...I wish I could. I can read only some words. Like there on the sides. I can read guerra (war). Unione (union). Sangue (blood). And I can read what is the top middle zone. Stelle (stars). Yet the rest is so¡­ unbelievably complex.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad you like it¡± said Iris from the distance. She somehow heard them talking. While for all of them, the incisions were obviously fake and pushed outside the boundary of reality for artistic purposes. Wiola believed otherwise. Those drawings may have been altered from reality to suit a more heroic narrative, yet something was telling her that such a strange representation of Iris was not far from reality. Iris, along side Scilla, guided all of them into an immense dining hall with enough space for all of them. The table was particularly wide as it was meant to have a short side wide enough to accommodate 2 people. One of those sides could be used in the days before a wedding by the marrying couple. Family would sit by their relative side while friends were free to be seated everywhere. It was common knowledge among Esterians that the closer you are to your marrying family member the closer you seat. Being seated after just friends was extremely disrespectful and a sign of conflict. Empty seats were usually removed except on rare occasions when they symbolized someone passed away. In their case, the first 2 chairs beside Iris were kept empty while the others were filled with the 4 Esterians and the Ibarras. The empty spots were for 484 and ISAG. The dinner passed peacefully, mostly led by Scilla and spent introducing each individual to Iris. Little by little Iris started to be more comfortable especially with alba, the chimeras and Aura. Maybe it was due to their closeness in behavior. As the dinner was ending Iris excused herself to return shortly after with a small box that she gave to Scilla. To her surprise, there were cookies inside. They were all deformed in one way or another. Yet with no hesitation Scilla pulled one out and bit into it. ¡°how are they?¡± asked Iris excited. ¡°mmh¡­¡± ¡°they suck¡­ but¡­¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t say that. I was elaborating.¡± ¡°so they suck again...¡± ¡°Frankly, no. I like them, but I think you would not consider them good¡± ¡°how come?¡± ¡°taste one¡± Scilla proceeded to take another bite while Iris got closer and just bit off a chuck from the same cookie. As she chewed she just bolted her head back. ¡°they are salty¡± ¡°I know. Salty and sweet at the same time. Like salted caramel. Kind of an odd taste. Don¡¯t know how you made them but I like them¡± ¡°mmh. But I was trying to make chocolate and nuts cookies¡­ so I failed again. uff¡± ¡°if you say so. But save this recipe. As said I like them so I would like if you could make them again¡± Iris smiled widely before kissing Scilla and disappearing again for some minutes. ¡°you seem really close. It¡¯s kind of embarrassing to watch how sweet you are to each other¡± said Dhalia. ¡°are you envious?¡± replied Scilla. ¡°what? no. it¡¯s just strange. Never believed you would be so affectionate in front of so many people¡± ¡°yeah you envious. Frankly, I don¡¯t care how I look. I love Iris a lot and I show it just like she does with me.¡± ¡°what¡¯s your plan once married? Will you return to the federation?¡± asked Csuicha. ¡°I will not. Not permanently at least. We will travel to all 16 planets and then choose where to live¡­¡± ¡°you don¡¯t plan to live here?¡± asked Nuria. ¡°no we don¡¯t. You will see when we go out why. Needless to say Weeping Sky will remain active, we will just live somewhere more peaceful. I already have some ideas¡± ¡°really?¡± asked Alba. ¡°yep. I just saw some photos but I think Iris will like it too. Then once we visit it we will know¡­¡± ¡°what will we know?¡± asked Iris reappearing. ¡°where to settle our new home. I have a planet in mind¡± ¡°which is?¡± ¡°I won¡¯t tell you. But I¡¯ll write it and I¡¯ll reveal it once we see all of them. If it¡¯s the same as your favorite one we will relocate there¡± ¡°mmh. That¡¯s a strangely solid plan for you. How about we show our guests their rooms? And before we go, your weapons have been delivered to your rooms inside containment casings. Break them and you will be executed on the spot by the automatic defense system. I wouldn¡¯t push my luck.¡± ¡°also I would like to add that you should not explore as you please. There are a lot of stuff that you can see but don¡¯t want to see. I speak from experience¡± added Scilla. She was speaking about the automatic growth farms. Then Iris and Scilla guided their main guests to their individual rooms belonging to the same cluster of squared rooms. They all consisted of the same all-in-one bedroom and a complete bathroom. Each had a window to the outside nature. They were all fairly tired from the travel and the toxic encounter, so they cut the night short and went to sleep. All except Iris, Scilla and Wiola. Scilla and Iris didn¡¯t go to their room immediately so Wiola followed them in secret. Something wasn¡¯t right with Iris, she just felt so. The duo went to the kitchen connected to the dining room that they used and Wiola eavesdropped. ¡°What¡¯s on you mind Iri?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think I can do it¡± ¡°yes you can. You learned to control yourself for this moment. You can do it. I believe in you.¡± ¡°but I don¡¯t. I¡¯m floating even now because my blood is boiling.¡± ¡°they don¡¯t want to hurt me. Friends can be mean to each other. It¡¯s just how it¡¯s.¡± ¡°but not all of them are friends and I want to hurt them...¡± Wiola moved and one of her joints cracked. Iris heard it and floated toward the door with her mouth opening. Scilla immediately grabbed her. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°don¡¯t even think about it. You can¡¯t echoloc (echo localize) now. Everybody would hear you.¡± Wiola saw Iris¡¯s copper air flowing out of the door of the kitchen. They moved around like tentacles jumping in all directions as if they were probing the air. Wiola scared remained immobile until they moved away and then slowly left. She knew for sure that something wasn¡¯t right and she was determined to get to the truth that same night. After an hour or so Wiola went to Iris¡¯s ¡°room¡± which was more like an entirely separate villa. She rang the doorbell, which was just a computer terminal, to be welcomed by her sister. She was wearing a different set of clothes, lighter and more akin to a tracksuit. ¡°sis, can we talk?¡± ¡°eemmh. Sure. Get in¡± Wiola noticed immediately the strange couches / pillow fort in the middle of the room. It was composed of 2 L-shaped sofas built to accommodate Leans placed to make a rectangular space filled in the middle and with a corned left without back support to enter and leave. Most of the space was occupied by a pillows and blankets fort. ¡°hi law sis Wiola¡± said Iris from the inside. ¡°H...Hi. Scilla can we talk¡­ privately?¡± ¡°you don¡¯t have to worry. Whatever you have to say, she can hear it.¡± Wiola was confused as Scilla seemed to not understand the meaning of a private talk. ¡°I¡­ I would say that I can go away, but I really can¡¯t get out. But you could walk to a different room if you don¡¯t want me to hear¡± said Iris. ¡°that¡¯s exactly what I would like to do¡± replied Wiola looking at Scilla. ¡°but that¡¯s not what I want¡­¡± replied Scilla. ¡°I know that you want to talk about her. You can do it here. She will never be a problem to...¡± ¡°I don¡¯t believe you. 511 was a complete psycho. I doubt she is different¡± ¡°do you believe that she is threatening me?¡± ¡°what else could I believe? I also believe she is not what you are telling me. She is not an Idra. She is not even an Esterian. She is something else isn¡¯t she?¡± Scilla was dumbfounded. She wasn¡¯t expecting so much deduction in just an evening. ¡°fair enough¡­¡± ¡°if you think she would survive, you can bring her in¡± said Iris. ¡°I think she will.¡± ¡°survive what?¡± ¡°did I ever hurt you?¡± ¡°no. why you ask?¡± ¡°then go inside and see for yourself the true Iris. But I¡¯ll tell you. Even if you are my sister. I won¡¯t share my wife.¡± ¡°the fuck are you talking about?¡± ¡°go in¡± Wiola entered the pillow fort to see an unveiled Iris in the corner. Her hair was free to float around and grab onto her fort. She was also sort of tied up by a long yellow string. It didn¡¯t look like Scilla¡¯s work, more like a cat getting stuck while playing with a long rope. At the sigh of Iris, Wiola froze in place. ¡°hi law sis¡­¡± No reply. Of course. Scilla soon followed and placed herself beside Iris squeezing her against the corner of the couch. ¡°I see that you managed to stuck yourself even more¡± said Scilla looking at Iris. ¡°this string must be bugged somehow. It¡¯s just impossible to have so much traction that I can¡¯t even pull it loser¡± ¡°if you say so. Maybe you are just weak¡± Iris was not particularly strong unless mutated, but the issue was not on her side. Scilla had just tricked her and tied the 2 ends of the string together on Iris¡¯s back so she couldn¡¯t see it nor reach for it. Then Wiola returned to her senses. ¡°WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU!¡± ¡°Wiola, don¡¯t shout, we can head you perfectly fine¡± replied Scilla. ¡°you think she will keep the secret?¡± ¡°of course she will.¡± ¡°are you sure you want to know?¡± ¡°yes. I want to know if¡­¡± ¡°I''ll never hurt your sister. She is going to be my husband. My family. How could I even do something like that? Yet you are right. I¡¯m not an Esterian. But I¡¯m what I was supposed to be. Look at my eyes. What do you see?¡± Wiola stared at Iris. Those eyes made no sense. ¡°you didn¡¯t tell me what you are¡± ¡°because I can¡¯t...¡± ¡°always fucking secrets. I¡¯m not¡­¡± ¡°Law sis. Let me finish. I can¡¯t tell you because I frankly don¡¯t know. Lala (one of many nicknames given to scilla) do you mind if I tell her our entire story?¡± ¡°not at all. I told her some lies to sound less suspicious¡± ¡°I come from a different universe¡­¡± one long explanation later and they were all peacefully lying in the fort. Following Iris¡¯s instructions Scilla opened a wall in the front that allowed them to see the projector and let more air inside the now too-warm construction. Wiola and Scilla were side by side while Iris, still tied up with her arms stuck by her side, was moving around pushing herself against the couch''s surface. Wiola noticed the knot on the string and looked at Scilla with an eyebrow lifted up interrogatively. Scilla looked back at her with a wide-open stare. She was asking to keep her secret. ¡°So what can you do¡­ practically?¡± asked Wiola. Iris stopped crawling and flipped on a side to look at her. ¡°mmh. Shapeshift. There are limits and requirements but I can basically manipulate my body as I please.¡± ¡°then why are you trapped?¡± ¡°I¡­ I can free myself whenever I want. I just find it funny.¡± ¡°what stops you from shifting more?¡± ¡°mmmh. That¡¯s a good question. I would say stability and pain. There is a limit on how much I can change over a period of time. It¡¯s like normal exhaustion. You can run only for a certain distance before giving up. Yet I can go beyond it at the cost of my own stability. Being unstable means that my body can shift autonomously but it also causes me pain. Just like if you try to run beyond your limits. I doubt I can die from it but I¡¯m not too keen on trying. After all I like how I¡¯m living right now¡± ¡°so¡­ what now?¡± ¡°well I don¡¯t know about you, but I plan to collect the arrears kisses with Scilla. Which adds up to 34 hours. But I¡¯m generous and I¡¯ll settle for just 20.¡± Iris turned to look away from Wiola and smiled to herself. ¡°you should make sure to take some pregnancy precautions with all that action planned.¡± joked Wiola. However, it went right above Iris¡¯s head that immediately sat up shocked. ¡°what the fuck! SCILLA! You told me kisses were totally safe. I can¡¯t get pregnant before¡­¡± ¡°Wiola tell her the¡­¡± ¡°Iris. Are you stupid?¡± said Wiola. ¡°hey, the fuck? Your sister just¡­¡± ¡°I said. Are you stupid?¡± ¡°why?¡± ¡°how the fuck could you even get pregnant from saliva?¡± ¡°I.. I don¡¯t know. But you said¡­¡± ¡°yeah, I was joking. I can bet you have been kissing for years. So have you ever got pregnant in said years?¡± ¡°n..no¡± ¡°because you can¡¯t. How did you even believe that?¡± ¡°well. Well you¡­ you¡­ you know more than me¡­ on¡­ on that stuff¡± replied Iris frustrated after turning her back at them. Scilla However grabbed her and pulled her closer into her arms. Iris was pouting. ¡°you two are both really childish¡± said Scilla. ¡°how is that my fault?¡± replied Wiola. ¡°you have guessed that she was an alien but you didn¡¯t get that she knows nothing about how normal people live¡± ¡°it¡¯s unfair that I¡¯m the only one who knows nothing¡± said Iris. ¡°it¡¯s nothing special. I¡¯ll teach you with time. Don¡¯t worry¡± ¡°I want to know it now¡± ¡°nope. You still have to wait¡± The following day they all went for what Iris defined as a short hike into the forest. 4 hours in 4 hours to get out. With them a group of 10 robotic mules packed to excessive degrees. Almost at the end of their journey into the forest, Brillo showed up and was picked up by Iris who started carrying him. Soon after a group of more nymphs showed up and ran to them. They were clearly friendly and Csuicha made the mistake of picking one up that was rubbing against her legs. As soon as she had lifted the small creature, he started to shake before releasing a cloud of dense yellow pollen that attached to her, a couple of guards and Nixie who was beside her. Iris started laughing maniacally while Csuicha spat out the terrible tasting pollen that stuck to everything it could. ¡°you should not pick them up. You are lucky that Scilla immunized you before getting here. Or you would start to slow down and end up paralyzed¡± ¡°what the fuck. Paralyzed forever?¡± replied Csuicha. ¡°nah. Just for some hours, at best. What is important is that he was just trolling you. They are like us. Persistent hunters. Usually, they launch pollen on their enemies. Wait for it to kick in and then slowly impale them. Yeah not pleasant¡± ¡°not pleasant? The fuck is wrong with these things. They look cute but they are little monsters¡± ¡°no they are not. They are by far the most dangerous creatures on the planet, but they have a purpose. In this case, those are forest nymphs. They kill weak creatures or invasive species to keep the balance of the forest. They impale you with a carnivorous plant that slowly eats you and converts your body into nutrients. Basically, they recycle.¡± ¡°whatever. Is the creek we are walking by safe to bathe in?¡± Csuicha wanted to get rid of the polled on herself. ¡°yes¡±¡ª¡±no¡± said Scilla interrupting Iris. ¡°But it¡¯s safe. Look¡­¡± Iris alongside Brillo walked into the water and they started playing with each other, soaking everything they had. ¡°see. Totally safe¡± said Iris while sitting in the water that flow just below her breasts. ¡°if she is in, why are you stopping me Scilla? This yellow thing stinks and itches¡± ¡°well. How about you start with a hand¡± replied Scilla with a grin. As Csuicha approached the creek, she started feeling the cold air. So cold that soon the same pollen she wanted to remove froze. She touched the water and as soon as her hands were in she pulled them out. ¡°the fuck. It¡¯s worse than ice¡± ¡°the water is around -8¡ãC to -12¡ãC.¡± said Scilla. ¡°how? Why is it not frozen?¡± ¡°because this creek is mainly fed by gravron-based water which has a really low solidification temperature¡± ¡°How the hell can she swim in it?¡± ¡°well, she is basically made of the same shit and she is a product of this planet.¡± Fortunately for them just 500 more meters over a hill and they arrived at their spot. A shallow yet wide river of hot water. Said river was peculiar as it starts as a normal super cold river to then flow underground where it passes near a magma cave and then return to the surface hot enough to boil. Their spot was far enough to receive only perfectly warm water just like in a hot spring. There laying and fooling in the river, they spent their day to return only in the afternoon. Ready for the big day that was coming. chapter 86c: wedding Unipsi, lovely entity chapter 86c: wedding Walking back after an entire day spent hiking and playing in a river was exhausting. The fact that Weeping Sky¡¯s days were even longer than any of the days from their home words didn¡¯t help. While several asked to ride the robotic mules to return, Iris and Brillo didn¡¯t. They were still hyperactive and going strong as if completely unbothered by the long day. Scilla herself was not exactly fresh out of bed so she played a cheap card. Scilla tapped on Iris¡¯s shoulder as she was chatting with a completely drained Paz. ¡°Iri, I¡¯ve something for ya (you)¡± Iris curios looked at her ¡°what is it?¡± Scilla pulled out of her pocket a small plastic yellow tube. She twisted the cap to open it and attached to the cap there was a plastic structure. It was basically a rod with one circular hole at the end. The ¡°magical¡± device was a common toy for children, a soap bubble maker. ¡°whoa, what¡¯s that?¡± ¡°and you have yet to see what it can do¡± Scilla gently blew into the circle to produce a bubble that started to float in the wind. Iris just stopped to stare at it. She and Brillo followed the bubble with their heads until the wind blew it into a branch and it exploded. ¡°gimme gimme gimme ( give me, give me, give me)¡± Scilla passed the toy and with no hesitation, Iris did exactly as Scilla did before yet instead of gently blowing into the hole she emptied her lungs into it. Confused at the lack of bubbles she repeated the process several times and even made Brillo attempt at it. When they all failed she returned to Scilla to ask for better instruction. With that simple ¡°trick¡± Iris self entertained herself for basically the entire trip back. Before entering their home Iris and Scilla discussed the plan for the evening and the following day. ¡°so what¡¯s the plan for now, this evening and tomorrow?¡± asked Scilla. ¡°mmh. Well we still have several hours before sunset so I think we should stick with your ideas to spend some time alone with our friends and people of the same sex. Then we can eat and I was thinking, maybe after that how about some common activities?¡± ¡°something in mind?¡± ¡°I kinda want to sing a song¡­ maybe 2. I don¡¯t really care if I do so privately or not but maybe they would enjoy singing as well¡± ¡°like some karaoke night. We can do that¡± ¡°what¡¯s karaoke?¡± ¡°exactly what you said. Singing together. When I was away I also bought a couple of board games, maybe we can also try them¡± ¡°sure. Then¡­ when we go to sleep¡­ can¡­ can¡± ¡°don¡¯t worry. I didn¡¯t forget. I¡¯ll ask Wiola later.¡± ¡°yuppi!¡± As decided they split for the remaining hours before dinner. Iris took with her all the Esterians and the Ibarras. Even if they were mostly Scilla¡¯s friends, Aura had grown attached to Iris as she remembers fondly their first encounter and the time Iris spent reading her own comics to her. Paz and Nuria just followed mostly out of curiosity and a bit of concern to leave Aura alone with just Esterians. The remaining went with Scilla. Csuicha¡¯s guards even if several were females remained with her, also Iris didn¡¯t want nor liked them. While Scilla spent her time mostly chilling with exhausted friends talking and fucking around playing cards or whatever came to mind, Iris went for a different route. Iris took the group to a remote chamber in the Iridana complex. It was a crude place with few comforts but unique features. One that Scilla rarely saw at work, a Fabbricatore (manufactures, in this case a proper name). Definable as an advanced 3D printer. The fabbricator consisted in an entire room of adjustable processing machines ruled over by a software that selected what was needed to produce the requested goods. Iris¡¯s idea was to work for a bit on Nuria¡¯s leg while the rest was going to design and print their own clothes or costumes. Surprisingly her idea was going to work amazingly. ¡°Where are we?¡± asked Nuria. ¡°a special room. I often spend time here when I conclude a prototype and I need to make a sample. What you are seeing is the control room of Iridana¡¯s fabbricator. A self-adjusting production line meant to build experimental weapons.¡± the space for them was sort of small compared to all the others used so far, yet it was understandable. It was never made to be lived in. Iris had changed it over time bringing in some enormous pillows that she used as beds and tables to work on. For the occasion, Iris also deployed a couch large enough to accommodate all of them if the Esterians squeezed in. ¡°oh, a couch. You don¡¯t mind if this old gal¡­¡± started Paz. She was indeed old being around 120 years old. She didn¡¯t have the same energy as the others. ¡°of course not. I place it for you. Scilla told me you were old even if it doesn¡¯t look so¡± ¡°kid those days, not a once of respect. Calling me old¡± ¡°but aren¡¯t you old?¡± ¡°I¡¯m old enough to spank some sense into you kiddo.¡± replied Paz in a playful tone. ¡°how old is old enough?¡± replied Iris confusing those presents. ¡°well.. emh. From when you can have kids.¡± ¡°so I¡¯m old enough to do the same to you?¡± ¡°Idra. I think you are missing the point¡± said Nuria. ¡°which is?¡± ¡°that to show respect to the elders you usually use more refined words, not just old¡± ¡°is that so. I never knew. You know I never met an old person. My sisters all died just after reaching adulthood¡± ¡°oh¡­ I¡¯m¡­¡± ¡°nah, don¡¯t worry. Their death is not fresh nor should you feel sorry. I kinda like speaking about them. Now. Let me explain what I have in mind¡­¡± Iris proceeded to explain that she wanted some help to make some clothes for everybody in her group. She also asked for help making something stunning because she had in mind a karaoke night and wanted to sing for Scilla. In the meantime she also wanted to scan Nuria¡¯s leg to produce a new limb for her. Iris fell on her feet, as unknown to her Aura had a passion for clothes. The youngling immediately started to look at things with the chimeras that were interested as well. Paz was mostly just resting unbothered while Alba and Nixie kept a bit more decorum. Iris placed Nuria on a scanning bed and activated the machine that dropped from the ceiling. ¡°Idra¡± started Nuria. ¡°yes?¡± ¡°thanks. For looking at my leg, but why?¡± ¡°why?¡± ¡°why bother? I mean it¡¯s working and it is not like you are going to score good girl points with Scilla. You are already getting married to her¡± ¡°is that what you think? That I need a reason to do things?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it normal?¡± ¡°Scilla believed the same. Do you girls all think so?¡± asked Iris to everybody in the room. They all confirmed, but Alba added something. ¡°You know how our system works. We give the intelligent the right to rule. Those are people who act to have some gain and at the same time give something to the community making everybody gain. You can only do worse than that. So I firmly believe that you are getting something out of your actions. But I think it¡¯s not something tangible or external, like approval. I think you are helping Nuria out of curiosity. Curiosity of Lean technology and probably your predecessor work.¡± ¡°I can tell why you work in the intelligence¡± said Paz. ¡°thank you.¡± ¡°you must have studied my sisters a lot¡± ¡°well.. sort of¡­¡± Alba was embarrassed to admit so. ¡°you are right. I do things cause I¡¯m curious or cause I feel like it.¡± ¡°then you make me curious as well. Why do you never show your face?¡± asked Nuria. ¡°oh. It¡¯s a combination of things. I believe that the beauty you don¡¯t know is more intriguing than the one you know. I also believe that you should keep your beauty, for those you love. There are more reasons why I keep it concealed. Yet the main reason is Scilla herself. As she puts it I¡¯m so stunning that my appearance could kill. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s true or not...¡± it was true. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. ¡°after all beauty is all about personal opinions right?¡± yes and no. However, someone would stand out. Instead of friendly chatting, Nixie would try to insert some political talking. She couldn¡¯t let go of her doubts or her anxiety for the future of the ETU. She knew that whatever Iris was going to say would become law. She needed to have Iris on her side before meeting the Supreme Council to avoid the ¡°worst¡±. Yet she failed to understand that her invasiveness was only going to bite her back. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you were so much of a conservative¡± said Nixie. ¡°I won¡¯t define myself as one. I have no care for political wars. Nor I care to know what side believes in what. As long as you don¡¯t betray our Founder I have no reason to harm you.¡± ¡°but you are important for our people. They would look up at you and make their own ideas if you don¡¯t state your position.¡± ¡°so be it. People loves to talk and trapping their imagination will only harm our culture of scientific freedom. Let them speak. Let them talk. Let them share ideas. Their opinion of me has no value.¡± ¡°but what if they started to believe that you support them while you don¡¯t¡± ¡°it won¡¯t happen. If I¡¯m so loved people would try and mimic me. Mimic how I speak, how I dress or eat. They would support me, but it doesn¡¯t impact our ruling system. If you are so easily swayed by words of others you will never pass the technician test. I can force my hand, but I have no desire to. I would say that the problem fixes itself¡± ¡°but what¡­ what if people and technicians want war.¡± ¡°this is no place nor time for such conjectures. I don¡¯t care.¡± after some scanning, Iris and Nuria joined the design process with Aura and the chimeras. Alba also joined as soon as Iris expressed her desire to have her closer. Nixie on the other hand remained isolated as she kept her passive-aggressive methods. Such move resulted in her being forced out of the group and the room. Being cast out Nixie walked to Scilla and her group. When she entered the room Scilla immediately asked ¡°hi. Does Iris need anything?¡± ¡°oh¡­ emh. No¡­¡± Nixie had a shameful and depressed face that Csuicha noticed. ¡°is something wrong?¡± asked the Liin. ¡°no. I¡­ wanted to see what you were doing¡± ¡°doubt that. Iris would have not allowed it. So what happened?¡± asked Scilla. ¡°I got sent out¡± ¡°why?¡± ¡°nothing important¡± ¡°it¡¯s important to me. Give me a minute girls and I¡¯ll be back¡± Scilla stood up and walked beside Nixie who stood there looking down. She reached Iris and went straight to the point. ¡°Iris did you expel Nixie?¡± ¡°yep. You can have her¡± ¡°why?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like her.¡± ¡°elaborate¡± ¡°She kept going on with political shit. I don¡¯t care, all I want is to have fun before getting married. And now if you will excuse me. This is a private party¡± Then Iris closed the door sending Scilla back. She understood Iris¡¯s point and so Nixie joined them. The two groups joined for dinner. Iris¡¯s group also ran 5 minutes late, yet their arrival was met with surprise and awe. They were all wearing different clothes, all of them particularly stylish and elegant. Paz was now wearing a typically male outfit. She had a light blue shirt with a dark blue vest (gilet) combined with a dark blue tie and blue coat. Her hair had also been put in place to give off a cool elegant vibe. Similarly could be said about Nuria¡¯s clothes that were in shades of grey. Aura, Alba and the chimeras were wearing typical Esterians dresses full of floating and moving parts yet all with some difference be it color, patterns or amount of floating elements. Last to join them was Iris. She was completely different. Now the clothes fit her so instead of guessing where her body was, it was now put on display yet entirely covered. The torso was covered with a long-sleeved shirt with sleeves opened at their end and dropped 30cm lower than the arm. Those sleeves could also be rolled around the arms and blocked to make the dress more usable during dinner. On top of this, Iris wore a full torso soft corset or sleeveless shirt. It looked as if it was made of big fabric leaves with golden finishing. It compressed lightly the sides to show Iris minute figure and It enchanted Iris breast keeping it up in place and enveloping it. The leaves left an empty space on the upper breast that however was covered. From the shoulders dropping to just below the butt, there were wide strings of fabric resembling a moss wall, or Brillo¡¯s plant fur. The lower part was covered with the usual black pants with golden leaves pattern. On top of them a long skirt open on one side that however was closed by a second piece of clothing underneath basically leaving 2 small side gaps from the kneed down on Iris¡¯s right leg. On top a smaller light veil-like skirt that reached just above the knees. Of course, Iris remained with her dark veil that covered her entire head. All of their clothes were beautiful and amazingly thoughtful. Scilla was just speechless when Iris sat beside her. ¡°what¡­ what a surprise. Where¡­ where did you find that?¡± ¡°do you like it?¡± It was a rhetorical question. Just by looking at Scilla¡¯s eager eyes, Iris could tell the answer. ¡°you look absolutely fantastic.¡± ¡°thank you. I wanted to look even more beautiful for you¡± ¡°now I feel stupid. I look like the usual half-wet rag on the floor¡± Iris brought her hands up to softly touch Scilla¡¯s face. ¡°don¡¯t say that. You are all the beauty I¡¯ll ever want¡± such was followed by a kiss. While dining the topic of clothes was brought up again especially because Scilla couldn¡¯t keep her hands off Iris. ¡°you really like it don¡¯t you?¡± said Iris. ¡°how could I not¡± ¡°I love it too. Credit is given where credit is due¡­¡± a small transport robot entered the dining room and carried an ingot about 30cm by 8cm to Aura before placing it on the table. ¡°Scilla once told me that people pay each other work and time with so called money. I don¡¯t have money nor use them. But still long ago Scilla told me that people extract minerals because they are valuable and exchange them for money or use them to make money. So Aura that¡¯s your reward for it. It¡¯s a platinum ingot. Now all 26kg of that are yours¡± Aura was surprised. She just had a blast making clothes. ¡°we can¡¯t accept it. Aura was just playing and she made a lot of dresses that you are already giving us. We should be the one paying you.¡± ¡°you are right. Aura made me more than one dress and considering how much Scilla likes this one. Just one ingot is not enough¡± a second bot carried out an ingot of gold of the same size. ¡°the fuck no. we can¡¯t accept. I just told you.¡± ¡°you can either take them willingly or I¡¯ll just make so to have them pop around your house¡± replied Iris. She was a woman of her word. ¡°Nuria, just accept. It¡¯s not like we lack anything. It¡¯s Iris¡¯s will to give them to you.¡± said Scilla. ¡°Indeed. You should accept my queen''s generosity.¡± said Alba to put more pressure on Nuria. There were going to be no real repercussions in denying the gift, but Alba¡¯s wording makes it sound otherwise. Like reusing a gift from your emperor. In the end Nuria accepted and the night went on. They sang and played together until late in the night when they went to their rooms. Scilla had asked Wiola a peculiar question and she accepted the request. That night instead of sleeping in her room, Wiola went to Iris¡¯s and Scilla¡¯s house. ¡°Law sis are you sure that you don¡¯t mind?¡± asked Iris to Wiola. ¡°It¡¯s a custom for us to sleep in the same bed with your family from time to time. I¡¯m more surprised that you want to share a bed with me¡± ¡°it¡¯s not with you alone. It¡¯s with you and Scilla. I¡­ I kinda want to, feel like a family. You know what you sleep with mum and dad as a child. I don¡¯t have those memories. I thought¡­¡± ¡°that this was your best opportunity? You could ask me whenever you want. Tomorrow you will be part of the family. But if you two get lewd beside me I¡¯ll bash your skulls in¡± said Wiola. ¡°I''ll try my best sis¡± replied Scilla smirking. And with that their day ended and soon it was time for the wedding. The next day 2 hours before noon they left the structure to venture into a small flower forest nearby. Flower forests were mostly as the word suggests. Forest consisting of plants that almost always have flowers. In particular, they reached a small clearing inside the forest. The clearing was basically a lawn of multi colored flowers surrounded by trees blooming with even more colorful flowers. The place had been prepared to host the ceremony and the following lunch. The stage for the wedding was just a small wooden rise and a crystal arch with some inscriptions. Scilla took her place in front of the arch while the guests took their seats. Once all was ready Iris emerged from the trees wearing a fairly classic huge white wedding dress. Her face was still covered by a thick veil yet her hair left outside kept together by some strange huge white flowers. They looked akin to lilies if instead of smooth petals they had spiky one and they were 3 times bigger. Once both before the arch Scilla started her speech. ¡°I¡¯m Scilla Lis. I¡¯ll be honest. I¡¯m suppose to tell my side of our story, but it really sucks cause it shows how much of a dickhead I have been. I have always been driven by my own gain and you are no exception. You have probably grown bored to hear me talk about my time before you. Even if that time is what brought us together. My own desire to end my pain brought me to the best decision of my life. The pain I felt. It hurt so much that I will never forget it. Yet, even if this makes me a masochist, I have never been happier to feel such pain. Because from it you were brought to this world. I¡¯ll admit. I have been the absolute worst person you could ever find. I never listened to you, never looked from your perspective. Only thought of myself. Yet in all that shit. Instead of leaving me to die, which was more than fair. You beat some sense into me. You carried me out of my self-made misery without wanting anything back. Grateful is not enough to describe how I feel. It¡¯s not enough to describe what you did for me. And after all that. You also decided to reciprocate my love. I can say for sure that I own you my life but I never learn. My love for you is not to reciprocate what you have done for me. I love you because I¡¯m selfish once again. I love you because I can¡¯t think of a life without you. I can¡¯t think of a single moment I wish to not have you by my side. You have become essential to my own being to the point that I can¡¯t function without you. I can no longer think without including you. I can¡¯t let you go. Not now nor ever. I want you to be mine and mine forever. Now and not until death tore us apart, but even beyond death. I want to share every second of my life with you. Iris Aurum Fermi. Would you accept me as your husband now, forever and even beyond eternity?¡± Scilla keeled before Iris extending the hand without the ring up to Iris while the guests were surprised to learn Iris¡¯s surname. Yet none spoke. Alba made so of that. ¡°yes. I do accept you as my husband. I don¡¯t know what awaits beyond eternity, but I know that I want to be with you.¡± Iris put a green ring on Scilla¡¯s hand. It was the same ring that she was wearing and now it was her turn to speak. ¡°I am Iris Aurum Fermi. Last of all Idras. Only heir of the Foundation. Only remaining protector of Weeping Sky, land of the Founder and tomb of his blood. my life has always been simple. Always repeating over and over again. Yet something was amiss. I was bored. What was the point to study and explore when none would ever know of your discoveries? Then you showed up. A complete mess. Unbelievable. An intruder on my planet. In my home. Yet you were not. I was the one coming from the outside. A duplication of my own, alongside my own reality. You asked me multiple times what would I gain from helping you. I always told you that I had my own gains. I just felt what my sisters always felt. Accomplishment. They had a purpose, something to look forward. Objectives to complete, yet I had nothing. Until you came. What I stand to gain from our interaction is you Scilla. You freed me from the nothingness of my life. You provided me with the constant stimuli that I needed. You fill my life with exploration and uncertainty. A pleasant unknown that I always wanted. You may be moved by your own selfishness yet I¡¯m not different. I don¡¯t want to turn back to what used to be. Not once I have experienced the most intense 3 years of my life. Years of never discovered joy. Scilla Lis. Would you accept me as you wife now, forever and even beyond eternity? Would you accept me as the Leermorf that I am?¡± With those words, Iris started shifting. From her back 2 pairs of crystal wings grow out. One pointing up and one down. There was no membrane between the crystal bones just a falling bluish dust. Iris started floating a bit above Scilla while her hair dropped forward. Strange eyes appeared floating like illusions between the crystal bones. But Scilla didn¡¯t care. She grabbed onto Iris¡¯s hair and gently pulled her back to the ground. Then she took her hands, put a ring equal to the one made with the orange stone that she wears and took off her veil. Revealed in her infinite beauty, Scilla kissed her. After the long kiss, all she said was. ¡°yes. I do accept you as my wife. No matter what you are or will become. I want you eternally by my side¡± such lovely entities are hard to come by. Yet their story doesn¡¯t end here, but ours does. You now know what you should record observers. Fine