“Children need constant supervision, but for some parents, it’s no different.”

-Minerva

***Outer Rim***

***Samuel***

“They have landed,” Minerva comments while watching the camera feed which displays the hangar. She smiles and swings her left leg over my right one, moulding her body to mine as if our large throne is a love-nest. “Do you think that this will work?” She sneaks her tail around my hips, tying us together.

I clear my throat and keep my eyes studiously focused on the camera-feed which is projected in front of us. This colony’s throne-room is an exact copy of the one which belongs to our parents. The colony itself isn’t as large, but we have still found about five-thousand individuals who were willing to join us on this mission.

“Are you still angry that we called the colony Potemkin?” Minerva reaches up and pulls at my cheek to gain my attention.

“Ahem, no. Though, I still think that the name is stupid.” It’s true that this colony is a genuine Potemkin-Base, build solely to distract our enemies from our real base of operations. But at the same time, this is a fully functional colony. Calling it Potemkin is just wrong.

“Aw, so grumpy today. We have to improve your mood before we meet their delegation. What to do… Oh! I know! How about choosing two additional girls for our family. I have quite a few suggestions on potential wives and I will even have you get the last word!” Minerva pokes my side and nibbles playfully my ear.

I sigh and cover my eyes with my free hand. The other arm is held in her clutches, and I doubt that I’ll get it back anytime soon. “Minerva, you know that I am not a family guy. We’ve been together for centuries and I love you, and you alone. This whole demon-shigg is well and good, but I don’t think that I want to have a harem like all the other guys, just because...”

Min pouts. “But what if I want to start boosting my stats? Laying eggs doesn’t sound half as bad as getting babies, and I had plenty of time to observe our mother. If someone like Silith can work it out, then so can I.”

“I doubt that this is the right moment to have a discussion like that.” I point at the projection in front of us. “Look, they are leaving the shuttle.”

Several aliens leave the oval spacecraft, walking, hopping, slithering and sliming down a short ramp. They brought a whole menagerie of species, probably to impress us. Having so many species working together is surely a feat of strength, especially if opposing the G.S. would mean making all of them our enemies. Luckily, we know for a fact that that’s not the case here. Our immediate problem will be G.S. base which they are building up.

“...are you listening to me?”

I return my attention to Min for a moment, but it's quickly drawn back to the camera-feed, just as a large demon walks up to the ambassadors. It's Martin who volunteered to greet them. After discussing our play, we decided that having Potemkin's rulers greet the ambassadors in the relatively bland hangar-bay wouldn't feel right.

Upset for ignoring her, Min pokes my side with a finger and I twitch.

“Yes?”

“I said that it’s unfair. Once the fighting with the Cyber starts for real, you will be counted as a participant in the overall war. Every man with a military rank or in a high administrative position does. As the leader of operation Potemkin, the system will recognise you and you will be flooded with skillpoints.”

“That’s true. Though, I still don’t understand why you are so determined to add two more women to our relationship. Aren’t we happy as we are now?” Sometimes I really don’t get how Minerva’s mind works. I am satisfied with going along, but I fear that this might unhinge the delicate balance between the two of us.

Looking back at the hologram, I watch the large demon greeting a gangly alien which is floating through the air. The thing has no eyes or other identifiable orifices. The closest I could describe it would be to imagine an oversized Grey from Area51 with tentacles in his face. When I allowed myself to be uploaded I never expected this to happen in reality.

“We are happy. Very happy,” she purrs. “I am just afraid that I won’t be able to keep up with your attentions once this instinct package flips that rusted male-switch inside your head.”

I cough, offended. It’s not hard to understand what she meant. “I am hardly a monk. Just because we didn’t-”

“That’s not what I meant.” She rolls her eyes. “But you have to admit that you are a little prudish about trying new things. Everyone does it! Why should we be any different? One husband, two or even three wives, that’s how we Demons do it. Look at Martin, he even has four!” She leans closer to my ear, whispering, “And I heard from Jenny that she is thinking about adding a fifth member to her gang.”

That’s brave of Martin, if he had a say in the decision. And regarding Min’s fear that she wouldn’t be able to keep up with me, well, there may be some truth in that. God knows that I heard more than enough stories about our parent’s escapades.

Freeing my arm, I put it around Min. “Okay, but you have to concentrate on the situation at hand. And I won’t accept anyone. Are we clear?”

“Perfectly! Do you remember the Osmach twins? They left the V.C. to join us and are about to become adults. I remember that they had quite the crush on you back in the day.” She giggles.

The Osmach twins? She can only be talking about our time in the V.C. “The two French chicks who we met in Adventure Land? The ones who are stubbornly nursing their dialect even after centuries of using Standard Speech?” The two of them have interesting characters, but nobody ever told the two sisters to invest some stat-points in intelligence. They even got themselves the nickname of “The Blonde Sisters!”

“Yeah, they would be perfect, don’t you think?”

Ah, no? Or maybe they would be? I hope the older one's rack is as large as it was in the V.C. “I would have never thought to choose my partners because they don’t have enough grey cells in their heads to offset the relationship between the two of us.”

Minerva nods. “Sometimes you must choose marriage partners not because you have feelings for them, but because you genuinely don’t care about them.”

I shift my weight around, trying to get comfortable. “I think it wouldn’t be fair towards them.”

“They won’t even care. Just leave things to me.” Minerva gestures at the screen where Martin is guiding our visitors through a set of corridors. “They are about to arrive. Are you ready?”

After greeting the ambassadors, Martin led them directly to an elevator which brought them deeper into the asteroid. Together with a group of warriors, they are quickly approaching the throne room.

Before they enter, I clear my throat, just to make sure that my voice won’t break.

Then the doors swing open and twenty of our royal guards march into the room. Ten take up positions to the left side, while the remaining half mirrors their actions on the right side. Then Martin enters the room with eight of our guests. The others were left behind at their shuttle.

He salutes to Minerva and me. “May I present, Levvi Batlin, the leader of the G.S. forces in this part of the galaxy, and his entourage of disposables.”

Eyes widen slightly and tentacles twitch at Martins introduction, but Batlin keeps his cool. “It’s High General Batlin. I am honoured to make your acquaintance.”

Minerva chuckles at my side while I try to radiate calmness. “Minerva and I, as the leaders of this colony, greet you. You apparently want to enter a diplomatic relationship with our people?” I think it's best to get right to the point. They know that we know, so there is no point in pretending that we have no idea of their intentions.

The General nods after looking around, taking in the luxurious throne-room with its golden surfaces and a – completely fictitious – fresco with the history of our people. “Indeed. The G.S. would feel honoured to count you among its allies and to learn more about your people.”

Minerva, still playing the role of a loving mistress, raises her hand to gain the visitor’s attention. “We would also be interested in a mutually beneficial relationship between our people. The threat of the Cyber is something our people can’t handle on our own. All we managed so far was to force them into a stalemate.”

Batlin nods. “That’s why we are here. The ship which you provided was enough to solidify our opinion of the Cyber origin...”

Silent Alarm engaged! Termination protocol activated! 01:00 remaining! 00:59 remaining! 00:58 remaining! Termination protocol terminated! Termination protocol reactivated! 00:58 remaining! 00:57 remaining! Termination protocol terminated!

What the fuuuck!? I blink in surprise, but keep smiling. Who can activate Potemkin’s self-destruction sequence? There are only Minerva and me who are allowed to do so, and in absence or case of death, Martin or one of his wives would gain the necessary rights. More importantly, why is it switching on and off?

‘What’s going on?’ Min communicates mind to mind.

‘Don’t know! Keep Batlin occupied while I connect to the network and ask Dad what’s going on,’ I reply quickly and send out a connection request to Tartarus.

The picture which appears in my mind’s eye isn’t all too reassuring. When I sent the request, I wanted a direct connection with Antioch, but instead, I am given a live feed to Tartarus’s throne room.

Antioch is on the ground, screaming… well… at least he is trying to scream because Silith is sitting on his chest and choking him. Lisandra is holding down his arms, while Fiona is lying on his legs. The three of them have him pinned good, but they are only barely able to keep him down.

“Stop trying to activate the self-destruct!” - “But it’s Ouluk!”

“Our children and friends are on that colony!” - “They will revive!”

“You are overreacting!”

I quickly dismiss the virtual interface in my mind to address Min, ‘That small goblin next to Batlin. Is that Ouluk?’

Min’s eyes flick to the small man and return to Batlin who is talking about some kind of treaty.

‘I am not sure. He is certainly more wrinkly than I remember him to be. Could be? Oh, I think I can guess what’s happening.’

Nodding, I reactivate the virtual interface.

Jill and Veronica enter the throne room, apparently called in by our parents. They join the battle on our mothers’ side. If they weren't fighting for my life, I would be rooting for Antioch. I mean, the simple fact that all three of our mothers have trouble subduing him is impressive. They are by no means pushovers and are constantly pushing out clutches. They must have the most skill-points among all female Demons, or at least rank in the top hundred. Jenny and her gang might be outbreeding them.

“Make sure to take his belt off! That thing is dangerous.” Lisandra starts fumbling with Antioch’s trousers.

“I am not sure if I want to be here for that, Mom.” Veronica steps back, clearly uncertain of how to help, or if she wants any part in this.

“Nonsense! It’s high time for you to learn how this stuff works!” Lisandra gestures for my half-sister to step closer. “Hold his arm. Jill, you take the other!”

“Oh, joy!” Jill claps rapidly. “I always wanted to do studies on a living object!”

I watch them in silent bafflement. Okay... this definitely seems like it's going in a strange direction, but after seeing it in action I would also take away Antioch's belt.

Silith, now sitting on Dad’s face, looks up into the camera. “Oh, Samuel. I was a little busy, so I couldn’t take your call. Just pay attention to the negotiations, while we handle this from our side. I am sure Daddy will calm down soon. All of this is his own plan after all, and just now he tried his best to ruin it.”

“Mmh...” Antioch’s reply is muffled and weak, but it sounds like he doesn’t care about the plan.

Hoping to calm him down, I link to the throne room’s speaker system. “Don’t worry, Dad. There will surely be a chance to assassinate Ouluk. No need to blow up Potemkin.” At least not with me on board.

‘What’s going on?’ Min repeats her question from earlier and I return my attention to the situation in front of me, dismissing the virtual interface in my mind.

‘Nothing important right now,’ I reply. ‘The situation is handled.’ For the moment. ‘Put a point on our to-do list. Have Ouluk vanish as quickly as possible.’