-----

”...so we aren’t aiming for pure functionality with the obviously mechanical body either?” Haahun, the Eriad scientist and engineer asked.

“No. I can already control the ship if I just want to take part in combat or enact repairs. The two main points of this body are functionality and that people won’t be confusing it with a biological lifeform. It should still be roughly humanoid sized and shaped so that it can come along on missions if necessary, but its appearance is less important. I’d still want some of the senses biological lifeforms have, but that’s less important. A proper sensor suite will be fine and I doubt the ability to feel pain will be all that beneficial considering the combat nature.” Nox described her ideas.

“Sense of pain and sense of touch are somewhat linked though, so your sense of touch will be dulled.” Haahum pointed out.

“Do you want the standard two legs and two arms?” Xiaoli asked.

Nox considered that for a moment. “I think four arms might be more useful. I’m tempted to go for four legs for stability, but that will take it pretty far from the original shape requirements.” She finally decided.

“So four arms and two legs, the arms equipped with mounts for weapons and sockets for tools.” Haahum listed in confirmation. “Something about my size ok?”

Yrala was already easily over two meters tall so Haahum as the big brother was unsurprisingly even larger. He was around 2,5 meters, bulky, and broad-shouldered. He was actually broad in most ways. His head and face were broad, his neck was broad, his shoulders and hips were wide and it seemed he had muscles on his muscles. His hands were also large with thick and long fingers, although he handled the equipment in the lab with surprising grace and delicacy.

“As long as we don’t go larger. You’re pretty big already, no offense.” Nox stated.

“None taken. That’s actually a rather large compliment for males of our species. You don’t want to say that to the females though. I get the feeling that they’re a bit sensitive about their size. They always seem to be looking at the smaller and more delicate members of other species with equal measure of scorn and jealousy. You didn’t hear that from me by the way.” Haahun hastened to add.

“So Yrala is a standard representation of your race? We haven’t seen that many Eriads before aside from those guards of yours.” Xiaoli asked.

“She’s fairly average when it comes to size I think. Bit on the tall side perhaps. We keep telling the women that we prefer shapelier Eriads over the dinky twigs from other races, but they don’t listen.” Haahun sounded a little frustrated at that.

"As one of those ‘dinky twigs,' I'm not sure how I should take that." Xiaoli joked, earning a laugh from Amaterasu. The Illum woman was studying the tools within the lab, though she was doing so surreptitiously, so as to not draw too much attention to herself. She would be bringing several of these ideas back home. Similar to Xiaoli, she knew that her people could not copy the Dhar methods because they were missing too many intermediary steps, but these technologies and tools were much more feasible if she managed to understand how they worked.

Haahum just barked a laugh as well. He was clearly not sorry about his implication. “Tastes are varied among different species. Even some foolish Eriad men prefer your type. Well, that just leaves more for us smart ones.” He explained with a shrug.

He then pulled up a hologram of a basic robotic frame. It was basically a mechanical version of an Eriad, made of a mix of mechanical muscle and tissue, and covered by a white plasteel frame that gave it a fairly sleek if mechanical appearance. After a moment of thought, he added black material that looked like a mix between muscle tissue and metallic mesh fabric to the joints to increase mobility beyond a standard humanoid. It also happened to make the appearance more stylish. The head had a long strip of luminous blue crystal in the place of the eyes to serve as the basis of an optical sensor, and the features like nose, mouth, and ears were really discreet if functional.

“Something like this? We can make adjustments if necessary, and I’m sure you’ll make a lot of changes and customization once you get back to your ship and own technology. But I’m suggesting this as a basic frame.” Haahun looked at the others.

“I’ll start working on the tool and weapon mounts.” Xiaoli simply said. She was the most well-versed person with Dhar technology aside from Nox and Selendil, and with her own experience with artificial limbs, she could make very detailed designs.

“Make it pink!” Nox suddenly demanded.

“Nox!” Selendil said a slightly warning tone.

“Make it pink!” Nox still demanded. “This is my little rebellion just to make a point.”

Selendil realized that this was Nox’s way to assert her individuality. The AI knew the color was slightly annoying to her. That was exactly the reason why Nox wanted to use it in the first place. She wanted to display that she wasn’t just an extension of Selendil, even though she was that as well. “Fine. Have it your way.” Selendil finally agreed.

“Now we come to a very important question. When we start working on the body that looks humanoid and can feel what we feel, we have to work with a particular form in mind. Now, I understand that you’d more than likely want to use the form of a…Dhar was it? Unfortunately, we can’t recreate a body of an energy being, so that option is out. This would be the time to express your preferences. What do you have in mind?” Haahum asked.

“I’m not sure. Before we came here, I was considering the form of a Human, or I believe in this case it would be Cybran, but with the Eriads looking so similar to Dhar, I’m no longer sure.” Nox admitted.

“That’s alright. I should point out that we are more confident in creating a form similar to our own species due to sheer experience with it, but the difference isn’t major as long as we have some sort of model to work off of. We will finish the other body first, so you have some time to think about it.” Haahum reassured Nox.

------

"Well? How is it?" Xiaoli asked eagerly. They had spent almost four days on perfecting Nox’s first body so she was eager to find out if they had succeeded.

“Give it some time.” Amaterasu shushed her down as they watched Nox test the body out. The AI would’ve called it running diagnostics on the body, while the others just thought of it as getting used to something new.

At first Nox's movements had been fairly clumsy, but they were already becoming much smoother. "This is more difficult than you might first think. So far everything seems to be working though." It was odd for the others to hear Nox's voice coming from a single location as well instead of an omnipresent disembodied voice.

“Maybe next time you’ll be more understanding if I drop something or can’t perfectly perform one of the more complex operations while repairing something.” Xiaoli took the opportunity to jab at the AI.

“You’ve had decades of practice with your body. I only just got mine. I’m quite confident in becoming more proficient at using my body than you are with yours, given enough time.” Nox pointed out half-jokingly. She wasn’t entirely wrong either.

“She’s got you there.” Amaterasu also agreed.

“Oh right. Like you never make mistakes.” Xiaoli countered.

"Oh, I do. I just don't make excuses about it." Amaterasu retorted with a smug smile.

“How about the sensations? Do they work properly?” Selendil asked, ignoring the joking. This more mechanical body was not focused on senses so they would not match a normal humanoid, but that didn't mean they shouldn't work at all.

“The sense of smell functions, though I suspect it’ll need some further calibration. The sense of touch is a little dulled as we suspected from removing the pain receptors, but it seems to be functioning for now. I'm still getting used to sensing things like gravity and how it affects my movements, but at least I am sensing it, so the vestibular system works. Hearing works fine, although I wouldn’t need this body to have hearing since I can hear everything even without a body. Sight works perfectly. As we suspected, that one is the easiest. The sensor suite also allows me to see things that most humanoids cannot. Taste I have not yet tested. I’m going to have to get used to my new proprioception with this body. It’s a little hard to orient myself in relation to everything else while also maintaining my pre-existing awareness of everything in the surroundings.” Nox dutifully reported.

“Proprioception? I’m not sure that one translated well, or at least I haven’t heard of the term. It might be just outside my expertise...” Lilly asked through the monitor. Most crew members wanted to watch Nox’s first steps, so it was broadcasted on the ship.

“Proprioception is the sense of the relative position of neighboring parts of the body and strength or effort being employed in movement. This sense is very important as it lets us know exactly where our body parts are, how we are positioned in space and to plan our movements. Examples of our proprioception in practice include being able to clap our hands together with our eyes closed, applying the correct amount of strength and pressure while doing tasks that require fine motor skills, or even when we attempt to navigate through narrow spaces.” Haahun explained.

“It’s actually pretty important with cybernetic enhancements as well. Unless properly calibrated, you’ll easily break everything you touch with your newfound strength.” Xiaoli added.

“It’s important in psionics as well, at least when using abilities like telekinesis. It works a little different, but the ability to sense how much power to use exactly is rather important.” Amaterasu also supplied.

“Anyway, the strength and pressure part is relatively easy since I’ve operated many pieces of equipment on the ship. It’s the relative position thing that is giving me trouble. I’m used to sensing everything around me without actually being localized in one spot. Having a relative position like this is fairly new to me. Now I suddenly have a body that I need to be aware of, and the senses of the body work very differently from my previous sensory abilities. In short, I constantly have to stop myself from knocking into things.” Nox explained in more detail.

In the middle of running their tests, Haahun’s communicator gave a beep. “Baby-sister!” He greeted in a jovial voice as Yrala’s image floated above his wrist.

“Brother. Is Selendil there with you?” Yrala asked.

“Yes, they are all here. We were just putting the finishing touches on Nox’s first body. She’ll need to try it out first before we’ll know what to change and adjust.” Haahun explained eagerly. This was his passion after all.

“Good. Tell Selendil that I’ll be there in an hour or so. Also, tell her that Mother is with me." Yrala said, stopping her brother from going into a full spiel about his latest project. She knew they'd be arriving before he was finished if she didn't stop him.

“Mother is coming? Oh dear.” Haahun said apprehensively. “This might be an interesting meeting.” He had learned enough about Selendil in these few days to know that much.

“Yeah, that’s putting it mildly. Anyway, I told Mother pretty much everything. She trusts my judgment in principle, but as one of the foremost protectors or Eriads, she’ll need to make sure personally.” Yrala grimaced. “It might be better to have this meeting in a room that we can afford to lose, just in case.”

------

Yrala watched with trepidation as her Mother marched towards the meeting room with firm steps that seemed to herald an incoming fight. Her Mother was a relatively aged Eriad woman, but that didn’t show. In fact, she looked almost identical to Yrala, so there was no question about them being related. Eriads already aged slowly, and as powerful psions, they both aged even slower. In fact, Yrala wasn't even sure how old the other woman was. She had heard stories from centuries ago, but she was a little scared to ask.

Yrala was dressed in a no-nonsense military attire that she always used, and her stern Mother wasn’t all that different. The attire worn by Mother was a little more ornate due to her high rank, but not much more so. Her Mother had always been like that. Most high-ranking officials adorned themselves in various fineries, but she considered the markings of her station, the stylized stars on her shoulder and a similar necklace, the only ornaments she needed. And she wasn’t wrong.

As the duo stepped through the door, she noticed that the others had wisely chosen to seek shelter behind Selendil. And that included Haahun. Her brother had always been smart and had likely suggested the others do the same. As Selendil had been conversing with the others, her back was towards the door, but she turned around as they entered, still floating off the ground. Yrala realized that she didn’t need to make introductions. Her Mother had already recognized which of these people was Selendil, and the others did not matter at this moment. They would later, but not yet.

Her Mother walked closer to Selendil, and Yrala could feel a physical pressure as the two powerful women’s auras came into contact. The two were not really exerting pressure on purpose, they simply both had enough power that it affected their surroundings in many ways, and now those powers came into contact as they were not pulling back either. The auras ground together, and it seemed almost like the air around them would ignite. Once the two got close enough, Yrala saw actual bursts of blue flames that slightly damaged the room.

The two stared at each other for a few moments before her Mother spoke. “Well then. It seems my daughter was not exaggerating. My name is Pharaa, and I’m the protector of this system, such as it is. I’m also a Grandmaster Superior among the CAS. We’ll see if it’s a pleasure to meet you, but I remain hopeful.”

Yrala was surprised that her Mother had spoken first. Pharaa was used to being respected and usually demanded that respect from others. It was the first time Yrala saw her take the initiative like this. Though in fairness, there was a good reason for it this time. "I am Selendil, a Keeper of the Dhar. Who came up with that title? Grandmaster Superior. That sounds ridiculously pompous.”

Yrala couldn’t stop herself from cracking a smile and it seemed her Mother almost did the same which shocked Yrala. “You’ll have to take that up with the CAS. Such appellations are their responsibility.” Pharaa replied mildly. “What about Keeper though? That sounds a bit odd as well. It doesn’t give an accurate image to those hearing it for the first time.”

"Keeper is very functional as a title though," Selendil explained. "It describes what my kind does, although you are correct in the sense that someone hearing the title for the first time will not be able to understand. It's not meant for them though. It's meant for those that do understand."

“I see. Well, let’s get the first things out of the way. Are you here as a precursor to a later invasion? Are you a scout in other words?” Yrala’s mother asked straight.

“We are not. We are here for very specific information. Once we get that information, we’ll likely move on. Though that doesn’t mean we can’t return later.” Selendil replied directly. Yrala realized that there was a purpose for the two powerful women crashing their auras together. Not only was it a test of sorts, but it also allowed them to sense the sincerity of the other party as it was very hard to hide one's emotions when even a small shift in emotions would change the nature of your aura.

“Could you? Invade us I mean.” Pharaa pressed on.

“My people are no more. I am the last of my kind. The others on my ship do not possess the ability to move between galaxies.” Selendil replied with a stark voice that made it clear this subject was not one she would like to go into detail with.

“That did not answer the question.” Pharaa pointed out.

“That’s because the question was silly. You already know the answer.” Selendil expressed a bit of amusement with her tails.

"Yes, I do. You could. You personally, I mean. Good enough.” Yrala felt her mother withdraw her aura, which was followed by Selendil doing the same. “So now to the interesting bits. Why do you look so similar to us?”

“Nox?” Selendil forwarded the question. “Have you gathered enough samples for a hypothesis?”

“I have.” The clearly android pink and black being that looked a bit like an Eriad stepped forward. "I've run genetic tests on the Eriads we’ve had contact with as well as those in the vicinity. Mrs. Pharaa here provided a very important sample as well.”

"I didn't even notice," Pharaa said with a raised eye-brow.

“I didn’t need a large sample.” Nox replied as if that alone explained everything. “Initial scans show similarities with the Dhar. Similarities that are too close to be a mere coincidence, considering one is an energy being and one is a standard corporeal humanoid.”

“No way! Your people really schtooped their ancestors?” Xiaoli shouted from behind Nox.