“Human society took a quite unexpected turn when scientists found out how to ‘deactivate’ certain desires.”

***Pirate Base, Virtil Station***

***Antioch***

“I still can't believe that we made it out of there alive!” Silith comments while we watch the burning city from behind the safety of the transparent wall at our dock. The broad corridor is empty, except for us.

“Yeah, well. Hahaha... lucky, weren't we? Who would have thought that we come across the same driver who brought us there?” The alien even recognized us. I chuckle, trying to downplay the events.

While we fled, the market dissolved into chaos behind us. It was pure luck that we came across the very same transporter. Its driver, the glibbery thing, saw us running away from something, so it decided to earn a few additional coins and stopped. It even greeted us with a rather affectionate, 'Ah, it's the mammals again. Arrre you done with yourrr business?' We had the choice of taking another ride to hell, which surely shaved a decade off of our lifespans, or to stay and deal with the rapidly devolving situation which I had created.

My attempt at distracting Silith doesn't work. She turns and looks at me with fire in her eyes. “And who is responsible for this?” She gestures at the city, where several of the platforms around the one which houses the market are burning. A little explosion from time to time indicates that the fighting is still going on and that the unrest is spreading.

I place my hands behind my back, but that doesn't feel right, so I arrange them in front of my chest and twiddle my thumbs. Somehow I feel like a little child who was caught eating too much. “Hahaha...” I try to laugh but it only proves that I am nervous. “Who would have thought that two bullets would have that kind of effect. It's about to almost turn into a revolution. The pirates must have many slaves indeed.”

“It is a revolution,” my compatriot grumbles. “I just hope that Hob still sends us the database.”

“Aw, why not? Look. They are fighting in the streets, but the whole thing seems to be rather civilized for a violent conflict.” I wave at one of the platforms. “I mean, they could be using heavy weapons and the like, endangering the stati-”

Suddenly, the very platform I pointed at bursts apart in a ball of fire. The debris strikes some neighbouring platforms and large buildings, damaging them heavily. I say nothing and simply close my hand into a fist, then I pull it back. “That looks like some sort of ammunition depot got ignited.”

Silith says nothing and shakes her head. “Maybe we should simply leave. Who knows what might happen if the fighting reaches a vital part of the station.”

Neither of us mentions the numerous blue boxes about the death tolls which G.O.D. is updating very enthusiastically. The stupid entity is having a field-day, rubbing every death into our noses.

The tension relaxes a little when several of the station's drones arrive at the scene. One of them carries a black box, which turns out to be Hob's database. Others are from the scrap yard trader and so we hurry up to empty our cargo bay, paying up.

Half an hour later we are practically fleeing the station, armed with a new database and the coordinates of the wrecks which we bought. The tension holds up for several long hours until we are finally accelerating away from the station with the two wrecks docked to our ship's hull.

When I am as sure as I can be that we aren't being followed, I return to the mess hall. There, I find Silith with one of her usual projects. One of the tables is filled with papers and one look makes it clear to me that she is trying to design a hydroponic garden.

“Ah, you are already working on that,” I comment and sit down. “That's actually something I wanted to talk to you about, so that you don't do all the work for nothing.”

She looks up and stops going about her business.

Not entirely sure about how to address it, I decide to be blunt. That worked pretty well with her in the past. “I looked over the FTL-drive of the wreck, and I doubt that we can simply incorporate it into our current ship. It's too big and doesn't fit.”

“Oh.” Silith deflates a little, like the wind was taken out of her sails.

“We have to make some new decisions on how to proceed. We can simply activate the warp-drive and continue on as planned, which will cost us the month that we spent to get here. On the way, we can incorporate the two wrecks into the Chimera, but I doubt that the ship will be much better than it already is. This whole thing is, and will always be, a stitched together nutjob. Yes sure, we will surely have better equipment than now, but the basis of this ship will always be the same. We need to build the ship around the new engines.”

Silith puts down her notepad. “Which means that once we arrive at the next research station, we will be only marginally better prepared than we are now. What's the other option?”

“We add one or two months to our travel time and spend it near some star. If we want a ship that's truly better than the Chimera, then we need a good foundation. That starts with a hull which won't come apart once we place it under the full load on our engines,” I explain.

Silith nibbles on a fingernail, thinking. “Why do we need to be near a star for that?”

“My Nano-Workers are wondrous machines, but they aren't perfect. They actually need a lot of energy for their nano-assemblers – that's what I call their ability to rearrange atomic bonds. With the increased number of available workers, the fusion-engine starts getting inadequate for the job.

“It would be a lot faster to fly close to a star which provides a lot of radiation, and to melt down all the material which we don't need. I figure that it would be simple to spin a large blob of metal into a cone, providing us with a perfect base for the new hull. All that would be left to do, would be to carve out the edges.”

She nods slowly. “But how is that related to the hydroponic garden?”

I clap my hands together. “Having a sturdy hull is just the first step. I thought about several possibilities of building the new ship, but ultimately, none of the current G.S. designs in our new database fit our abilities and needs.”

Silith encourages me to go on, so I continue.

“The problem with G.S. ships is that they are all one ship. One design. That's fine if you have a large staff for planning and development, and know exactly what type of ship you need. But we don't know what we need. Well, not exactly at least. Our requirements may change at any moment and there is the additional problem that we practically live in space without a home port.

“That's why I want to fill the finished hull with a modular system. We simply build many interconnected blocks – or modules – which we can arrange according to our needs. It gives us the ability to build a lot of redundancy into our systems. That's good in case of an accident. There is also the possibility to re-use the old blocks if we ever decide to change the ship. Finally, there is the point that building smaller units is much more efficient with my Nano-Workers.”

I gesture at Silith's plans. “I suggest building your hydroponic gardens in cubes of ten by ten, or a multiple of that.”

Silith looks at her plans. “A garden with ten by ten metres is a little small, even if I stack several levels on top of each other. So many little areas are also hard to take care of. I would want at least fifty by a hundred feet. That should be plenty of space to grow enough food for the two of us and eventually other crew-members.”

We continue to sketch out various designs for the new ship. The stress of the pirate station seems forgotten and before I know it, it's time to go to bed. Both of us are tired from the excitement at the station.

I don't even question Silith when we lie down in the captain's quarters and she snuggles up against me, well asleep just a few moments later. Closing my eyes, I also want to take a nap when I remember that the completed quest unlocked a new skill. Forgetting about sleep, I open my skill-tree to take a look at my options. It's already clear that I will take another drone upgrade because of the impending project, but I still waste some time with cataloging my options.

There is a nice skill which is called Elektromancy, allowing me to control my stored energy directly. The description sounds like I'll be able to emit electric shocks through the connection pads at my palms. Sadly, it requires a second power-cell upgrade before I can pick the skill. Having an inbuilt weapon would be nice, but it's out of reach.

Further inspection doesn't reveal anything particularly interesting, so I settle for another drone upgrade. In my discussions with Silith, she explained that it's possible to upgrade existing skills for a diminished effect. To increase my amount of Nano-Workers, I place another point in the Nano-Worker upgrade, hoping that I simply get four additional workers. For the first point, I got five after all. It also came with a sizeable bonus to my Mental Growth.

My expectations are fulfilled when I get the message that I can now control four additional drones.

Moments later, another pop-up blocks my vision.

G.O.D.: Congratulations! You have reached 75% Mental Growth! Now you are considered an adult not only in body but also in mind.

Fuck me sideways with a stick! Just leave me alone!

G.O.D.: New Instinct Package unlocked! Have fun!

I suck in a sharp breath, expecting something nasty to happen, like having to barf all over the place, or something equally embarrassing. When several minutes pass without any problem, I relax a little. Somehow I hoped to get to choose yet another skill, but all I got were additional instincts. I don't feel any different though.

Silith hums and shifts in her sleep.

That makes me suddenly very aware of the soft, female body which is pressed against me. Curses!

Why now? Naturally, I know perfectly well what male and female members of the same species are supposed to do. To be honest, I was quite concerned that I didn't have any interest in Silith. After all, she seems to be interested in me.

The close proximity between the two of us causes quite the reaction in my pants. Wincing, I try to shift away from Silith. If this keeps up, I won't have any sleep ever again. She promptly follows me in her sleep and swings one bare leg over my hips, trapping me.

Lying there, I lament my fate for a long time, very aware of the warm body next to me. One thing is for certain. If I do nothing, I'll be a raving madman by morning. Silith's soft body, her smell, her hair, all of those are things which I am now painfully conscious of. Either I get up now and run – which will surely wake her up – or...

Slowly, I reach down and touch the soft area between her legs, realizing that she just has her panties on. For a while, I explore the difference between me and her with the tip of my finger. A soft moan escapes her, but she stays asleep. When I notice the moisture, I can't stop myself any longer.

Painfully aware of my erection, I slowly lift her on top of me. Despite my expectations, she doesn't wake up.

Battling my feelings of being an impotent lowlife for doing it like this, I pull her panties to the side and somehow manage to free myself. Then I prod at her entrance until the tip finds a way inside.

Why does this feel so damned good!?

Slowly, I move back and forth, going deeper each time. Silith hovers on the edge of wakefulness, moaning from time to time. When her hips shift position, I suddenly find myself hilt-deep inside her.

Her eyes open wide and she tries to sit up, but I swear that I would have gone mad had we separated now. I reach up and hug her, pressing those soft mounds of hers against my chest. My lips touch hers and I roll us around, trapping her beneath me. She reaches up and tries to push me away.

When her foggy mind realizes what's going on, she hugs my head to hers and our tongues touch.

As my hips rise and fall with increasing speed, she widens her legs and starts moaning in pleasure. Repositioning myself, I force her arms apart and break the kiss. Then I take her hands in mine and hold her down. That's our end, as the connection pads automatically create a link. With this new bond between us, we practically feel each other losing ourselves.

I am so entranced in the act that I don't even think of pulling out when I thrust forward a final time. As I claim Silith in a primeval way, fireworks of emotions explode in my mind. Not that I could have pulled out even if I wanted to. Silith's legs are so tightly locked around me that I practically pull her back and forth with me with every movement.

At last, I collapse on top of her, not so much physically exhausted, but mentally fatigued. For a long time, the room is filled with our gasps and I bathe in the afterglow of our union.

I let go of Silith's hands and hug her instead, afraid that she will hate me for this attack. I don't dare to look into her eyes.

Instead, she bites into my earlobe, purring like an animal. “Finally, caught you. Now we are mated!” With a moan, she shudders beneath me. “Wow. You unlocked so many new menus!”

“Menus?” I ask, still a little high. It feels as if I could fly.

“Yes. One of the new abilities asked me if I want to recruit additional workforces,” she giggles.

Additional workforces? “No! Say no!” I try to pull out, but Silith stays glued to me, her legs and arms are wrapped around me like bands of steel. It proves that she could have made the ride a true hell for me, had she wanted to. “God is trying to screw us over. I bet that additional workforces mean-”

“Children!” She kisses me again, wriggling herself and reminding me that my body seems to be far from done. She sighs, sounding a little sad. “But for some reason, I can only have two at the moment. If I try to increase the number, it won't go up.”

“We can't have children right now. We are in danger. What about our uncertain future? Can you abort?” I try to reason with her.

She hums, exploring the menu which was previously inaccessible to her. “I can store fertilized eggs in cryogenic storage, not that I want to. We actually need more hands.”

“But- But-” Think man! There must be a way to reason with her!

“I don't get the problem. We have more than enough food and the immediate future will be filled with boring construction tasks. The argument that we should have no children because the future is uncertain is illogical.”

“Hah? Why is it illogical? We can't take responsibility for others if we have trouble supporting ourselves.” There! What's your reply to logic?

“Well, without children, there is no future. Children are the future,” she muses, still exploring the additional features. “Oh, wow! I can decide which classes they get to choose! Let's give them something technical.”

I- I- I can't reason against that! After all, our species is almost extinct. “Do I have no say in this!?”

“Hmm. Let's think. You practically attacked me in my sleep like some illiterate barbarian. Then you went all the way, despite knowing the consequences. You aren't so dense that you don't know what happens when a male and a female mate, are you? Hmm. The simple answer is. No.”

She rolls her hips and loosens her arms around my neck a little to look into my eyes. Her whole face is beaming a smile at me. “Your body says that you can keep going.”