“The V.C.'s big advantage against the G.S. wasn't superior technology or numbers, but the ability to adapt quickly and to find unorthodox solutions, thanks to their different technological development.”

***Deep Space, Unnamed Star***

***Silith***

G.O.D.: Congratulations! You have finished the first requirement of the quest, recreate your species.

I smile, still not believing that I finally managed to do it. After years, things are finally going forward. I was stuck in that horrible facility for decades, thinking that it's my fate to slowly wither away and die.

Sighing, I skip around the corner. My steps are light and full of happiness.

When I enter the mess hall, I notice that Antioch is brooding over his notepad. He is at the large table in the middle of the room. I approach and sit down next to him. To my disappointment, he doesn't react to my arrival. We haven't seen each other since we separated this morning to continue with our separate projects. Working alone is more productive, but it's also lonely.

Though, I know exactly why he is moody.

“Is it troubling you really that much?” I ask, not wanting to place my own goals above his feelings. In the last month, I really started to like him beyond the fact that he makes my hormones boil. He is nice and he clearly cares for me. And ever since we created that private connection just between the two of us I feel like we belong to each other. I ponder over that feeling and try to remember the moment when we connected.

Was it so 'special' because it was special, or is it yet another of our instincts?

He looks at me and puts down the notepad. “I don't know. I just think that we should wait. At least until we know what's going on.”

I deflate a little. He isn't as happy as I am and that hurts.

“Okay, let's wait until we find a safe place... oh, wait... according to our knowledge, there is no safe place. We could travel the galaxy for a few hundred years, and we would still be within G.S. territory. And we know how the G.S. thinks about artificial intelligences,” I complain, unable to keep the acid out of my voice. “If you say so, I'll do it.”

Antioch grumbles, clearly displeased, but I think that he understands my point. We will never be able to provide a safe haven for our offspring. There is no place which is as safe as he probably wants it to be.

Looking up, I study his eyes. “Are you mad because you think that G.O.D. tricked you into this? Because then you should probably hate me as well. I should have told you what happens when the system recognises you as an adult. I got the very same message when my Physical Growth finally reached seventy-five percent. Because of that, I falsely assumed that you are already an adult. But it seems like both stats, Physical and Mental Growth, have to be above seventy-five percent. My Mental Growth was already maxed out, so I didn't connect the dots.”

His expression turns troubled. “I don't hate you! In fact, I rather like you. I am glad that you don't hate me for attacking you. I still feel bad about it, but all those emotions simply overwhelmed me!”

I nod and smile. “At least you now know what I had to endure for the last one and a half months. I feel the very same desire towards you. And I like you for your mind and your determination. It was rather cute when you tried to defend me against the pirates.” I giggle, remembering my own bafflement when the usually reserved Antioch suddenly started slaughtering those people because they had threatened us.

Clearing my throat, I continue. “So you finally unlocked the instinct package. That's a relief. I started fearing that you may be gay... or defective.”

He raises an eyebrow, taken aback.

I throw my hands up in the air. “Try to think of it from my point of view. I lie there, night by night, practically offering myself to a perfectly healthy partner, and he simply lies there like a piece of rock and acts like I am an inconvenience. At some point, a girl gets doubts about her femininity.”

Totally frozen, he simply looks at me. “That's what the scene about your physical appearance was about! You thought that you are the problem. Oh, I am so sorry. I thought that I would go mad after a single night of not having that need answered and you say that you endured it over a month. I am so sorry. I am weak!”

“Forget it.” I wave the memories away and allow a stupid grin to enter my face. “You made up for it more than plenty. Who would have thought that improved strength and endurance are so helpful in that regard? Did you notice that the new database came with a very interesting section of recreational topics? There are months of material on how other species find pleasure. We can try all of them.”

He pales. “We don't even know what's supposed to happen! Now that you are...” His voice trails off.

“A very happy woman!” I finish the sentence for him. “I am sure that it will work out. It's not like we have any choice in the matter. Though I can say that the pregnancy will last about five months and the children will be self-sufficient about two months after that. Those were values which I can control. I can also steer their development to a certain degree, and I saw no point in delaying their mental development by restricting their physical growth. Though, I kept them smaller than us for a while. Just to establish the correct parent-child relationship.”

He scratches his chest. “I don't know how I feel about that level of control over our children. Now that I am at seventy-five percent in Mental Growth, I notice all these strange titbits of information and facts popping up in my mind. You already mentioned these racial memories. One of them is the feeling humans should have a very different development.”

“That refers to old humans, 'homo sapiens'. We are not humans in the traditional sense of the word. In fact, I doubt that our bodies have anything in common with outdated humans, apart from the general looks and a few genes here and there.” I play with a strand of my hair. “Unless G.O.D. tells us how our society is supposed to look like, we will have to find our own path.”

“I wouldn't believe anything that this conniving entity tells me,” he growls in that low, manly tone of his.

“Then there is that.” I sigh. “Now, what will it be? Should I move our children to cold storage? It's still possible up to a week after I conceive them.” I ponder over my menu. Large parts of my class-ability are still greyed out, but I hope to unlock them once we rescue more people.

Antioch shakes his head. “Just keep them. You are the one who will have to deal with the... side effects.”

“Side effects?” I ask. “What side effects? My menu doesn't mention any of those.”

There is suddenly pity in his eyes. “Have you never studied the process of reproduction? I have honestly no idea how it works with our people, aside from getting the deed done, but there are various ways. From eggs to mitosis, hell, most likely they will come out the hard way...”

I gulp and reach for my belly. “Do you really think that the ones who designed our bodies would do something so cruel!? I mean, if I was in charge of the whole thing, I wouldn't make it hurt, or risk the parent to die in the process! Our designer couldn't have been that cruel.”

Antioch sneers, openly showing his opinion. “Yeah, there is no way that G.O.D could be a sadist, a real bastard who enjoys seeing his creation suffer and struggle, beginning with the first minutes of their lives. Who would think of G.O.D. as that kind of entity? Someone who uses an entire space station as a playing field and gloats in announcing every death like some great achievement!” He looks at my belly. “Sure thing. G.O.D. wouldn't laugh its ass off if you were lying in your birthing bed, screaming with pain. And I mean, there are uglier ways. Trinians rip their way out of their mother's belly, killing their parent in the process. And that's something that wasn't even designed by a malevolent entity.”

A shudder runs down my spine and I bit my lower lip, not so sure if I should go through with this plan. I want to deny it, want to believe that Antioch is trying to manipulate me in a very subtle manner. Though, there is a tone of truth to his words. “At least I don't think that I'll die. The ability to store over a thousand fertilized eggs wouldn't make any sense otherwise. Since I can't carry out more than two. Even if it hurts, I'll try it at least once.”

He shrugs, giving up. “If you really want to...”

I hug him, thankful, and turn my attention to the notepad in his hands. “What's that?”

Antioch uses a finger to turn the device so that I can read easier. “Research. I am looking through the database to find ways on how to use the Nano-Workers to their fullest. That includes the use of materials which are easy to find. As much as I would like to build the entire ship out of titanium, I doubt that we can find enough of it for the whole hull.”

Smiling, I tap the screen with a finger. “Diamonds? I doubt that you will fare any better with those. I know that it's possible to make them artificially, but that's hard and finding large ones is even harder. Oh, the Nano-Workers can probably make them. But isn't diamond still a bad material to use for a ship's hull?”

“Not diamonds, carbon.” He pulls a large, piece of crystal from his pocket. It's as large as his fist and a perfectly smooth sphere. “Once you tell the Nano-Workers what you want, they do it. They don't really care if they arrange the atoms one way or another. I am currently trying to cheat as much as I can out of that ability.”

I take the crystal ball from him and study it. For some reason, I always liked shiny things. “Cheat?”

He grins and pulls an ordinary hammer from the tool-belt at his hips. “Smash it.”

Laughing, I shake my head. “I can't do that! The shards will be all over the place. I get that a diamond is one of the hardest materials in existence, but it breaks easily. The shards will be all over the place and guess who will be the one who cleans them up? Don't take me for a fool. You never did any cleaning on this ship until I came along. It was a reeking hellhole which looked like a trash yard... Still looks like a trash yard in some places.”

His grin doesn't falter. He takes the crystal ball and puts it on the metal table. “Humour me. If you smash it, I will clean.”

Oh, I would like it to see him cleaning for once!

Pressing my lips together, I take the hammer and smash it onto the crystal ball. The hammer is repelled with equal force, which almost results in the tool being flung out of my hand. The crystal ball hops up and down a few times, leaving behind a dent in the table. I also inspect the hammerhead, finding it also dented.

The crystal ball is still there, mocking me.

Getting to my feet, I pound the stupid ball with all my enhanced might, causing an even larger dent in the table, and turning the ball into a projectile as it shoots away. Baffled, I instruct my nearby drone to fetch the impossible thing.

When the drone returns the item to me, I inspect the crystal ball closely. It didn't survive the attack totally unharmed. A few minor cracks run over the surface, covering it with a web of fine lines which reflect the light in different colours. It actually looks prettier than before. Yet, as a matter of fact, the thing is still whole, where it should be shards on the ground. “How?”

“It's actually quite simple, but only possible because my drones can arrange the atoms as they wish. The effect also appears when you pour molten glass into a bottle of water. The result looks like a teardrop and has peculiar properties.

“Because of the quick cooling, the outer layers of the glass turn solid first. So, as you surely know, hot things have a larger volume. As the glass further to the centre also solidifies, it contracts and pulls on the outer layers. This results in several layers which all pull in towards the centre. It's practically storing up potential kinetic energy and strengthening the material.” He clears his throat.

“The essence of the matter is that you can pound on the thick end of the teardrop all you want, you won't break it. At least not easily. But snap the tail, and the whole thing explodes in a shower of shards because all the tension is released in a chain reaction!”

He spreads his hands, mimicking an explosion. “I applied the essence of this effect to this sphere. This is actually the prototype. I need to work out a mathematical formula which tells my Nano-Workers how to arrange the atoms. After all, we don't want a weak point like with the teardrop. Or at least we don't want the whole thing to burst all at once. As it is now, you can only damage it layer by layer. You have to apply excessive force because any impact is dispersed evenly throughout the crystal.”

I look at the ball and then at him. “Are you sure that G.O.D. doesn't have his hands in this? It sounds... ingenious? How did you get the idea?”

“While I studied the database!” Antioch pridefully pushes out his chest, posing. “Hah! G.O.D. would never think of such a thing. It's too busy making our lives a living hell.”

He deflates a little. “Though, I have to admit that I am not quite at my goal. I have to find a way to store more energy inside the matrix, making it even stronger. At the same time, the atoms have to be arranged in a certain way, so that the stupid thing doesn't simply explode while it's being manufactured. It would be a perfect material to armour the hull of the new ship.”

I take the crystal ball in both hands and smile. That's a perfect excuse to spend more time with him. “Did I hear the word math? That's accidentally one of my favourite topics. I thought you would never ask for my help!”

His expression turns troubled. “I asked for help?”