"When can I start to have babies?"

"Theoretically, you can start this month. However, I would advise against that. It is well worth the wait if you hold off for a year."

"Why?"

Ranya sighed and turned away from her current experiment. "With the current situation between you and your new hubby, we can only fertilize your egg with Ves' baseline human genes. The baby that results from this union won't have any of his advantages. While we can still tailor the genes of your baby before conception and modify the fetus throughout the gestation process, the results won't stand out. Do you want your first children to be average?"

"No! Absolutely not!" Gloriana firmly shook her head.

"Miaow!" Clixie echoed as she sat on a table.

"This is why we need to perform a new research group that is solely dedicated to developing the optimal designer babies based on the genetic material of you and your partner. There is a lot of untapped potential in your genes. I'm particularly interested in understanding how Ves' weird organs and genes actually work."

Gloriana frowned. She was rather impatient to proceed with the next phase of her life. Perhaps other women might wish to take it slow, but she was different!

"What will it take for us to get ready to birth a beautiful and perfect baby girl?"

"I can't do it myself." Her cousin admitted.

"Don't you have hundreds of biotech experts working in your org?"

"The Larkinson Biotech Institute mainly consists of medical doctors and augmentation specialists. While we have expanded our recruitment scope in recent months, we haven't been able to snag the second-raters we need to handle a project as difficult as yours."

"Why are you constantly behind on everything!"

"Hey, it's not my fault! We had to start from scratch in the Larkinson Clan. I think we have been doing quite well for ourselves in so little time. It will take at least a decade for the biotech division of the clan to get up to par with the other divisions."

"That is way too much time! I don't want to start with having my first baby when I'm forty."

"You won't have to wait that long, cousin. Do you remember our first stop after we leave this star sector?" Ranya grinned. "I bet we can hire all of the talented and capable geneticists and pediatricians we need at the Life Research Association. It won't be easy to attract the best, but as long as we put in the effort, we might arguably be able to snap up some of the best biotech experts in the star cluster."

"I see."

Though Gloriana wasn't happy, she knew she had little choice but to wait until the Larkinson Clan reached the LRA and recruited the necessary professionals. Even then, it would take some time for them to figure out how to match Ves and her abnormal genes together to produce a healthy and wonderful baby.

As Gloriana daydreamed about her first daughter, Ranya issued a warning.

"Even if we acquire the necessary experts, don't expect us to produce the perfect outcome. Unlike mechs, living organisms are much more varied in their expression. We can set up the starting conditions and guide their growth along the way, but we cannot change as much as you think. The difficulty of keeping a growing child's development on track is much more complicated when you factor in alien and artificial genes."

"Our children won't be average. I will do whatever it takes to make them special." Gloriana vowed.

The direction she chose for her offspring was fairly controversial. It was much safer, cheaper and more convenient to create a child from the baseline human genes of the parents.

While Ves had left his pure human self behind a long time ago, he still left behind plenty of DNA records for Ranya to reconstruct his past genes.

It was a bit complicated when it came to Gloriana as she essentially started off as a designer baby as well, but the genes from her early life were still 'normal' enough to allow for natural procreation without too many complications.

Of course, this was not the end of the story. There were many other variables at play that parents needed to take into account before they tried to have children.

This was one of the downsides to ubiquitous augmentation and genetic modification. Humans were not only moving further away from their baseline genes, but also ventured into countless unique directions!

This pattern of human gene scattering presented a lot of reproduction problems that ordinary people didn't have to deal with. Even if their genes were modified, as long as the masses all received the same treatment, they still maintained the ability to reproduce naturally without too many messy outcomes.

"Is there any other way we can make my babies stronger and better?" Gloriana queried.

"There are many peculiar aspects about your husband's physique that can't be replicated through genes. His implanted Jutland organ along with some of the abnormalities in his brain are very difficult to pass on. If you want any hope of replicating them and passing them on to your babies, then we need to hire or obtain the services of a top-tier augmentation specialist and exobiologist."

"How hard is it to reach these experts?"

"Very hard." Ranya immediately replied. "People like me can only look up on them. These are the authorities of their respective fields. In the Life Research Association, these doctors have not only earned a lot of renown for their research, but are also part of the ruling class in the state. It will be incredibly difficult to reach out to any of them and lure them over to our side. However, as long as we can recruit at least one of them, the Larkinson Biotech Institute will be able to solve all of your problems!"

A growing intensity burned in Gloriana's eyes. For the sake of her future children, she needed to do her best to poach these senior biotech researchers!

Ranya turned her back to her cousin and resumed her experiment. A small grin grew on her face as she imagined how far Gloriana would go once she had a goal in mind.

Poaching some of the top researchers of the Life Research Association not only advanced Gloriana's child-rearing plans, but also her own ambitions.

She had collected plenty of interesting research material during the Nyxian Gap Campaign, but she and her fellow researchers were unable to make heads or tails of them. As long as her institute obtained someone qualified enough to decipher the alien tissue samples, she would be able to advance a lot of her research projects, including some of her more personal ones!

Her gaze fell on the extraordinary plant life submerged in a special nutrient solution within a containment tank. The shape of its spindly green limbs conformed exactly to a human nerve system!

Elsewhere on Cinach, Venerable Jannzi supervised the live training of her Shieldbearers.

Twelve Aurora Titans attempted to defend against projected attacks launched from every direction. The defense mechs moved like clockwork in space and constantly angled their shields or moved their mechs in a way that mitigated much of the incoming damage and ensured they would last much longer than someone who piloted a space knight without special training!

Though the Aurora Titans were slow, unwieldy and rather outdated, they still made for good training in Venerable Jannzi's eyes. As the mech pilot who was most in tune with this mech model, she had mastered nearly all of the tricks needed to maximize the survivability of this unique mech model.

Once the training session wound down, the mechs slowly flew back to their carriers. Venerable Jannzi met the hopeful mech pilots one by one and gave them individual feedback before allowing them to retire.

Her second, Lieutenant Syra Kronon-Larkinson, stayed behind a little longer.

As her name suggested, she used to be an Ylvainan citizen. Unlike the majority of Ylvainans who joined the clan, she was not a part of the Ylvaine Dynasty. Though Syra shared much of the beliefs in the Great Prophet as the True Believers, she did not recognize James as the prophet reborn.

That made her a relatively existence within the Larkinson Clan. James Ylvaine was a very persuasive man. He not only managed to convert many loose Ylvainans into his cult, but also attracted a growing number of clansmen with other backgrounds!

Not everyone within the clan was comfortable with this development. However, the Larkinson Clan did not explicitly forbid the spread of beliefs. While the core of the clan remained secular, there were still members who turned to faith for one reason or another.

"More and more veterans of the Nyxian Gap Campaign have turned to the Ylvainan Faith in recent times, Venerable." Lieutenant Syra reported to the young female expert pilot. "Many mech pilots and other personnel are still burdened by their traumas. The 'Living Prophet' is one of the few people in the clan who can provide substantial answers to these wounded soldiers."

Venerable Jannzi frowned. "Why haven't our soldiers turned to our counselors and medical health professionals? The Larkinson Veteran Foundation offers a lot more help in the past. Director Clinton has done a good job expanding his organization to meet the growing need for help."

The Larkinson Veteran Foundation was the evolution of the Ves Larkinson Foundation for Wounded Veterans.

Now that Ves didn't have to bother with putting up a charitable pretense, the foundation under the lead of Director Clinton reoriented itself to serve the needs of the entire clan.

However, its role had to change yet again as the Larkinson Biotech Institute became the main medical service provider to the clansmen. After receiving a modest cash infusion, Larkinson Veteran Foundation steadily turned into an organization that specialized in mental health.

"The LVF is good, but the Ylvainans are better." Syra stated. "The prayer sessions centered around worshipping the Bright Martyr and the Living Prophet are somehow able to settle the traumatized soldiers. I haven't taken part in these blasphemous sessions myself, but I fear for my devotion should I attempt even once."

"These True Believers are gaining more influence by the day!" Jannzi gritted her teeth.

As the self-proclaimed protector of the Larkinson Clan, she paid attention to any potential threat. Ves was not the only one who caught her attention.

The slow and silent encroachment of the Ylvainans concerned her as well.

"The True Believers may be following a false idol, but they present real solutions." The lieutenant of the Shieldbearers explained. "Unless the LVF or someone else can provide better solutions, the Living Prophet will keep gathering more adherents. Conversions have spiked whenever the clan has gone through a major battle or crisis. This will keep happening until a viable alternative has emerged."

This was easy enough for Jannzi to understand, but the problem was that she had no idea how to offer a better solution. If the Larkinson Veteran Foundation wasn't up to the task, then where else could her clansmen turn to if they required healing?

"Don't tell me we have to start a faith ourselves…"

Seeing that she wouldn't be able to come up with a viable solution, the expert pilot turned to another point of concerns.

"What have the Penitent Sisters been up to lately?"

"The former Hexers have been keeping to themselves for the most part, ma'am. They are avoiding the Glory Seekers by the plague. Instead, they're focused on deepening their worship of the Superior Mother. I think this is one group where the Ylvainan Faith won't find another purchase."

Venerable Janzi frowned even deeper. Her force of will reacted against the mention of yet another potential threat.

She was very wary towards Hexer beliefs!

"Make sure to keep a close eye on both groups of Hexers. Whether they are inside or outside of our clan, their views on boys are detestable. I won't allow our clan to put women above men. Every Larkinson matters!"