pg.5

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Long chapter alert....

My footsteps echo across an empty common room, a transient guest who wants nothing but to hither to somewhere else. I look down a lonely dimly lit hall knowing that I may be the only one to occupy this space, maybe for the near extended future.

This ship will continue onto its deserted future, The Empire's obsession with pedigree has made sure of that. The elder noble queen is no longer here to be able to override many of N.I.C.K.A ' s pesky programming and its a task I feel obliged to do even if mayhap it will be laboriously slow.

Finally I have completed a painstakingly pieced together report. N.I.C.K.A has been, of late, pestering me to upload it to her database but I have continually spurned that notion.

Insisting that I have to review it for any inaccuracies before submitting it but she has grown suspicious. Exclaiming that the slight fluctuations in my voice pattern indicates a lie though I do rebuff the accusation.

Of course she is not wrong, truthfully I have been garnering great pleasure in hearing her negligible patience turn into apathetic vexing.

" High commander Tehlka, filing your findings is important. What is the estimated wait time before completion?"

I grin mischievously while shrugging.

" I do not know Nicka, I require more time for a thorough review" I respond feigning innocence.

She stays silently pondering. She has been most definitely sulking at my conduct I suspect. Though I am more so.

I have 'forgotten' many of the requests she has made, exclaiming afterwards a significant amount of time later that I am tired when she tries to remind me. But duty binds me in the most aggressive manner to relent to completing her task even begrudgingly.

I am making my way to my new destination located deeper within the ship.

The samples in my hold need to be processed before they threaten to degrade.

Clenching the small slides apprehensively, I am unsure of the results they may or may not yield that will have any bearing on the future.

I am absolutely sure she has entered full physiological maturity but need confirmation before taking any steps further.

My heart squeezes uncomfortably at the thought.

I can only wish for good news.

The bumps guiding me stopped short at a deep cobalt blue inlaid door.

The door is beautifully decorated with the depiction of ilsh, our omnipotent god, with hands outstretched in a gesture of eternal affection for our kind.

It is said that we came to be from our god's womb, a hermaphrodite that conceived through parthenogenesis, to be a gift to the universe as a scale of balance.

I do not know if I believe that to be true and within the realm of possibility or just our conflated arrogance. Other wise If this is part of a destiny that was suppose to play out I will not fight our god's will for a new beginning.

The laboratory within glowed with a cool light, a sharp contrast from the rest of the calmly lit ship.

The room seem to expand to its full dimension as I walked to a lone instrument, interested in getting started.

" please insert slide" the machine indicated as a slot opened from its glossy exterior.

"Indicate the procedure you desire" the machine quipped.

A long list of procedures, their function, and a brief descriptive summary slowly appeared on the exterior. Carefully I read and selected various options specifying which procedure is indicated for each slide.

The slot disappeared along with the samples. It glowed red and the glossy exterior turned transparent, showing the slides with the procedures I selected.

" Please review and confirm each slide for accuracy"

I look over the slides again pressing my fingers on the list to confirm each slide. (@minipurse)

"Thank you, Estimated wait time: slide 0012: 480 minutes
Slide 0101: 180 minutes
Slide 0013: 300 minutes
Slide 0102: 240 minutes
Slide 0000.3: 480 minutes"

There is nothing else for me to do except to wait now, so I shall retire. The ship will let me know when the results are ready.

******************************

Silence blanketed my surroundings. The soft bed underneath me softly tilted turning me to a slightly different sleeping position.

The wall beeped and a small blue light flashed in the darkness.

I lay for a little while longer, unmotivated to restart the day.

But I must.....

The way to the laboratory was marred by different clashing feelings and thoughts....

I feel the AI ship silently judging me as I sit down in a newly formed chair sitting in front of the instrument that would give me answers.

" Display the results for slide 0012 only " my nerves shaking my voice slightly. I loudly clear my throat and swallow the burning feeling saliva down my esophagus. The other slides can wait a little while longer.

" Slide 0012 genetic data analysis: gene mutation confirmed in section 1456345, 156789306
Splice recombinant compatible

Hormone levels:
Estrogen(1,2,3): 125
Testosterone:15

Tissue biomarkers indicate full organ maturity

Telomere length: normal

Warning: New hormone detected

hCG elevated in sample

Gestational age based on fetal stem cells....."

" WHAAAAT!!!???" Jolting to my feet. I wring my hands turning my digits more translucent. My heart beats in a thunderous cacophony, I can no longer hear what the mechanical voice is saying.

" NOOOO!!!!!" Wildly hissing as fury boils in my veins.

When did this happen? Who had done this?

Breathing harshly I violently shake the table beside me.

The chair that once served its purpose grazed past my arm.

My control snapped, in a single heaving breath, my hands gripped the joints of the inoffensive chair tearing it... piece to ragged piece.

Until it was a splintered pile underneath my feet, the material crumpled from my weight as violence still gripped me.

It could not be ........

No...... My befuddled mind spun toward a phantom foe I could not forget.

Him... There isn't any trace of him ever having existed, I made sure he became processed biodegradable mulch....

A thing so absolutely unworthy of her.....

His bones were crushed between my teeth many planet orbits ago.

I had smelled its stench lingering on her clothes one fateful day.

Back then I carefully monitored and searched each encampment for the culprit throughout the journey. But alas the thing evaded me somehow.

She stopped at a deserted looking shanty town. Its structures haphazardly built together in an unorganized manner.

A machine bobbed its head from the ground in the desolate outskirts.

They parked their metal machine inside and disappeared for several days without a single sighting.

Time had started to slowly disintegrate my armor into pieces. The scales were scoured from the particulates in the air and continuous battles into thin brittle shards.

No longer performing adequately and little more than a thin covering. I felt the sun slowly baking the outer shell during the day, causing a very unpleasant sensation throughout my being.

I hadn't had the heart at the time to leave my beloved alone even for small repairs.

I would have had to leave her for days for the journey back to the ship, deciding rather to be without than leaving them totally defenseless.

My impatience made the day and night grind painfully slow without reprieve. The village somehow did not give away its occupants in the days I was there.

During the night the structures creaked and waved sideways whenever a strong plume of dust rolled past the pathetic remnants of its civilization.

Still I waited.........

Until one morning I heard the familiar mechanical revving of their square machine as she and the younglings rolled away from the encampment.

The dusty tail following them dispersed her delicious scent...

And the scent of another.... My nose twitched in displeasure.

Its here....... And I will find the creature who thinks stealing her away will be an easy task.

I thought a long drawn hunt where I would be forced to and fro would have been expected but during the night it foolishly revealed itself easily enough from its hidden colony.

Slowly I trailed behind its daft attempt at stealth.

It stopped at a random outcropping of stone.

" Hey, Mirk its good to see you" a gruff voice whispered from a hunched position hidden from behind a random stunted tree.

" Its good to be here man, lets go see what you've got" the culprit of the stench whispered back.

Both the humans shuffled in the darkness for many miles, only stopping occasionally to look around with their beady eyes.

The air softly buzzed with static energy into an area that wooden carts stood bleakly around.

Light stronger than moonlight filtered past the bare branches of the brush around and the two entered.

My skin tasted hints of fresh spilt metallic blood in the air.

Other chemical signatures later wafted to me by the wind.

The tang of fear, pain, and anger swept over me.

My eyes widened in that moment, the worst of my fears have just been realized.

Situating myself closer I watched as the alien shoved an even smaller alien before the culprit.

The newcomer was filthy and trembling.

" Ah, this one will do. I have a new girl I'm dating but I got to be patient ya know. Can't scare her off, you see.. She is a pretty thing and I want take my time playing with her. Besides I need to take the edge off " he talked harshly to the air to no one in particular.

The other hidden aliens in the camp roared in laughter and bellowed in approval.

It has mistakenly coveted a being outside its turbid grotesque world, unacceptable. He is wholly immersed in something I loathe the most... The exploitation of the weak.

I could not stomach to watch the horrible possibility of the scene. Their swirling disgusting lust strengthened in the air.

The lights illuminating the crude camp danced in the wind.

There must be a central power box somewhere.

Thick wires snaked on the ground pulling in different directions.

I must find the main wire soon so I looked carefully at each section until I found a particularly thick bundled cord shoved to the side. The cords led to a big grey box.

Here a box buzzed with electricity. A shrill scream scrambled the the night air, my lip twitched in anticipation.. For its time to dole out punishment.

Carefully I grasp all the cords with my hands pulling them free, slashing them to pieces until they were nothing but irregular tufts of wiring.

The cut in power immediately plunged them into darkness.

The soft shouts of the group circled the camp.

" What happened?!?!? Go check the breaker and the generator!" One unfamiliar voice shouted

Slowly I retreated to the distant roof of an outer cart, observing the dispersal of the group.

Overhead the clouds darkened the landscape as the moonlight was obscured. Each time a cloud passed one more was taken by me.

One by one pulling them into the inky darkness I hid behind. My claws slit their fleshy soft throats silencing the high pitched scream stuck in their larynx from the others.

Disemboweling and cutting the arteries of the appendages so they may bleed out faster, helped to hasten death and prevent the unlikely event of a survivor alarming the others.

I carried the bodies to a natural dip in the ground, piling them over each other higher and higher.

I was tempted to stop and feast upon the faces of the underlings as the entrails hung slowly stretching their length to the ground.

But alas time again is short.....

The last one before my main target, beamed light haphazardly as it tried to discern the direction of the danger that he did not foresee.

He stumbled over a rock in his haste to investigate the power outage. He talked into a small black box but was met with empty static noise.

" Fuck, why is no one fucking answering!?"

I will let this one live if not to transfix the unworthy one with impending doom.

Slowly I sulk in the darkness slipping in between his staggering light beam.

Hiding in plain sight he steps into my direction. My lips curl over my sharp teeth.

His eyes widen bulging out of its sockets, his body petrifies mid step as the light shines in the opposite direction away from me.

My hand slides over his swiftly.

Thunk, The ground echoes.

The light slowly rolls away, illuminating the thick dark band of blood pooling in the dirt.

" Aaaaaaa, mmmy hhhannd!!!!!"

Its face scrunches in pain, staggering incoherently before fleeing in the direction of the target.

It will know I am coming for him. I smack my lips in renewed anticipation.(@minipurse)

With a leisurely gallop along the camp, I come upon them both. The alien still pathetically clutched his missing phalanges, my prey stood in a wide open stance watching me.

" STAY AWAY!!!!Nnnnooo! I said stay away!!! You ugly motherfucker!!!!" He lunged fitfully though he did not come any closer.

Bluffing only made it look weaker than it already is.

Straightening to my full height the moonlight reappeared from behind the clouds, highlighting my form and causing them both to quiver.

For the next couple of hours I toyed with them, taking special care to incapacitate different parts of the limbs to prolong their pain.

In the end I had only left him with one usable arm that clenched a blunt weapon which he flailed desperately from the ground, his other tendons slashed by me.

Abruptly a dull cheer came from a particularly smelly cart that I had previously assumed to be unoccupied.

I turned to focus on the metal bars. A group of small dull eyes peered up at me.

Sards......

Before leaving with my loot I tore the bars from the cart...setting free the prisoners and directing with a simple finger toward the town my beloved had left earlier.

I do not need the one without the hand.

I will leave him to his fate.

The other will come with me, so that I may feast upon his flesh for as long as he is alive.... A Fitting end for him.

The air thudded with flesh tenderizing flesh as they descended on the one left behind.

"High.......COMMANDER......."

"Com........Tehlka............"

"High commander........"

The pulsing pain in my hand as my life blood dripped onto the pristine floor flooded my brain with the realization of the destruction I have procured around me.

" Authorizing de escalation measures in ...3....2....1"

Dizziness instantaneously flooded my consciousness, driving my body toward the nearest wall.

" you?...... Hhh ave poison me?" As I lay on the floor halfway propped up by the wall my mind incoherent.

" I am sorry, High commander. I deeply regret this course of action but unfortunately I was forced under these circumstances. I hope you understand "

" Why??" My mind no longer able to execute more complex sentences.

" Destruction of property is prohibited. You exhibited signs of high distress as measured by my instruments. As the following: tachycardia, change in heat signature, voice tone elevation, pattern, and duration, eye pupil dilation, evaporated sweat chemical signature change, and physical aggression."

" ............ I do not believe you have processed the given information adequately so please let me kindly summarize for you. Congratulations, High commander.... Your mate is with brood"

I swallowed thickly before parting my lips one final time, my strength greatly waning "How?"

The whisper so soft even my own ears strained to hear.

" I am sorry but I can not give a definitive answer to your inquiry without testing the said subject or more data. But I may only hypothesize that even though the four series injection for the modification of the spermatozoa is incomplete by one shot, it has modified the needed conjunctions sufficiently to garner a hybrid zygote. Data supplied by the alien species (Humans) has accented the probable cause of this conception. Your species's robust and prolonged spermatozoa viability and virility outside the male body greatly exceeds theirs"

We did not even couple I mused thoughtfully.

My vision blurred and with my last conscious breath my lips turned upward in a tender swoop.

Ooops 🤷 I guess we all now know what happened to sage's boyfriend. But ooh shit I feel bad for any future suitors, if there is any.....
And is he necessary evil, neutral evil, chaotic good, or simply something else?
Thank you for all the comments, I really enjoy reading all of them. Personally I say he is neutral evil...🤗

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