His eyes grow cold and analytical. “The word of the Emperor is law. Even a man several ranks higher than me would hold no power before his decisions. What would you do? Would you fight his decision? Would you insult him? Maybe you would take a gamble and attempt to assassinate him using your massive size. I doubt you’d go that far, but you’re not brainless enough to accept such a fate with no fight.”

“I…” That’s… Well, I’ll have to hope that the Emperor wouldn’t do something like that, but if he’s made that decision once, he can make it again. No, if it becomes a matter of war, he might not have a choice. To him, it must be the obvious one. Spend one life to save many. Simple.

The only issue is that I can’t. I wouldn’t even pick up arms if it were to defend Finland. I guess I’m a bit of a coward in that sense. If I was attacked it’s not like I’d just roll over and die, but even in self-defence, killing someone is just not something I can do. I can barely even consider hurting them.

So, if the Emperor ordered me to do something like becoming an organic weapon, it’s not like I could even consider going on a rampage around the capital or trying to kill him.

My one and only move would be to hope that I can threaten him into letting me do something less. If he thinks I’m capable of killing and that I don’t mind killing him if he threatens me, then…

Then there’s no reason why I wouldn’t mind killing rebels or whatever. Shoot.

“I… I guess I’d try to bluff him, maybe? I dunno.” For some reason, knowing the intelligence of the Emperor, I can’t help but feel helpless.

“A bluff…” Typhin looks back at the computer. “No, there would be very little you could do. Indeed, your only real hope would be to prevent him from reaching that decision in the first place. Prove your value elsewhere. If you can show him that your personality is worthwhile more as is than if he attempts to break it apart, you may be able to avoid any trouble. Possibly. I shouldn’t need to tell you that trying to run would be immeasurably hard? Lacking any hyperspace possibilities, your larger body will be unable to move out of the star system it’s currently in. Your location is known. Simple as that.”

Th-, that’s true… I can’t run. And if I can’t resist him, I guess all I can do is-,

“I wouldn’t recommend disobeying him either. The Emperor is not known for his benevolence. If it comes down to it, he may see your worth high enough to warrant the deaths of those you cherish if only to make you do as he deems necessary.”

“I… If he does that, I’ll-,”

“You’ll do what? Fight him? Such a battle could claim more lives than the rebellion has entrapped within its cause. If you have to kill one side to survive, I recommend taking out the rebellion. If you do so the Emperor will surely view you amicably.”

I grit my teeth.

-But I don’t want to kill anybody at all. Is there really no other option?

Desperation can make a lot of people do very bad things. I guess I’ll need to try to reign in my feelings.

I hate weighing lives against each other, but if it means Typhin and Fern and Atte won’t be made hostages, I’ll… I'd rather do as the Emperor says. But that’s the final option. Until it comes down to it, I will struggle with all my heart!

Typhin smiled tiredly, grabbing my attention. “It seems you’ve come to some sort of decision. I won’t doubt your judgement, but I do hope that whatever it is, it is for the benefit of all sentients.” He turns back to the computer. “Now, then… Shall we have a look at your article? It is growing quite late.”

“Y-, yeah.” Slowly, surely, I try to regroup my thoughts and banish the notion that I might have to kill humans in the future. Come on, Mort. You’re better than this! Smile, damn it! “Let’s have a look!”

My newfound energy makes Typhin chuckle lightly. “It seems the name of your species is, at the moment, ‘Mortholomewian.’ That shouldn’t be an issue, right?”

“Is-, is that still up for change? Can you change it? It is changeable, right?”

Typhin furrows his brows at me. “I suppose so. If you speak with the droid that submitted the article it should be possible. I don’t suppose you know what to change it to?”

“Erm, that’s…” A lightbulb flashes in my mind. “Earthling. Yes, Earthling. That’s it.”

Squinting, Typhin searches his mind for something. It almost seems like he’s trying to recall something. “Earthling… It feels like I’ve heard of some such place before, but I can’t say for sure. If no other species holds the name, it should be alright.” He skims over some of the material in the article. “Most of the information details the size and appearance of your two forms. Apparently, your third form has yet to be entered into the article. I should inform BT-451 of its existence. You don’t mind, do you?”

“No, no! That’s okay, of course,” I say. “Though, uh, does it say how big the big form is?”

“Yes, it does,” Typhin says, frowning slightly. Just as I’m about to ask him to continue, he says it. “Around one thousand and two hundred meters in diameter. It seems the droid was able to infer the size of the leviathan by the size of the ship, which it then used to measure your size. Of course, if you were to stand up as you did on the ice-planet you took me to, you would only stand at around half of that.”

My curious smile grows strained. “One thousand and two hundred meters… Th-, that’s like a kilometre, right?...”

“Indeed.”

I briefly give some attention to my larger form, allowing my consciousness to split a little just to focus on my point input and output. Considering everything I can see and understand, specifically my size as compared to the skeleton of the leviathan… “I… I think I might be a third larger now.”

Typhin freezes. “What?”

“Y-, yeah! I ate that big leviathan, you know? So, I got bigger. This is going a lot faster than eating asteroids, so my size increased at a greater speed.”

A quick calculation flew through Typhin’s head and out his mouth. “You’re telling me your current diameter is around sixteen hundred meters?”

1 200 divided by three plus 1 200… “Uh, yup! Pretty much.”

“The size of an imperial star destroyer. Mort, you truly are unfathomable.” As far as I could see, Typhin seemed to make a note of something, probably that he should tell the writer droid about my new size. I’m a bit worried that I might not be able to update him again though since, well, the only ruler I have is the skeleton of the leviathan, which I’m currently eating. The only other ruler I have is the Jedi temple on Ilsa. At the moment I’m not too interested in checking it out, mainly since I’ll probably destroy something I don’t want to.

Typhin checks the article a bit more. “Your smaller body is 135 centimetres tall.” The look he gives me as he says that is completely indescribable. “Other bodily anomalies apart from your size include your lack of most internal organs. According to the article, when a long string was inserted into your mouth, even if you didn’t bite it, once it reached far enough into your internal systems, the end of it simply disappeared.”

Oh, yeah, so that’s what that was for? That was a total scam! I didn’t even get any points!

“Furthermore, the density of your flesh seems unusually low. Combined with your lack of a skeleton, your weight runs in at a measly seven kilos. Around a fifth of what a human of equivalent size would weigh. How interesting… I had noticed this when I held your smallest form as well.” Eh? Am I really that light? Th-, there has to be a mistake! I’m muscular! I’m strong, I swear! Typhin looks at me curiously. “Would you mind?”

Mind wh-,

Before I could formulate any answer, Typhin has stood up from his chair and hoisted me into the air like a particularly large cat. I flap around a bit, but Typhin seems mostly interested in how he’s able to hold me at all. Wait, knowing the size of a cat, aren’t I about as heavy as an unusually fat cat? Ah, man. I feel like crying. This is a little embarrassing. “S-, sir…”

Typhin’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “Ah, forgive me, it seems I acted rashly.” He lets me down to the ground. It’s not like it hurt, but, my ego... “To think even a physically weak man such as myself could lift you…”

“J-, just so you know, in my bigger size, I’m really heavy! And strong!”

“Of course, Mort. There isn’t a question of that.” He sits back down in front of the computer. “About the flesh… It seems to be almost completely inedible. The low density would already be enough to make your flesh low-calorie, but what little flesh there is is both sorely lacking in nutrients and energy, but also slightly radioactive, likely from your constant exposure to space radiation. Your presence itself doesn’t exude any radioactive rays thanks to your somewhat thick and resilient skin, but what’s below that isn’t safe.”

I suddenly remember how several people have been close to me while I’ve had my inner workings exposed. “That’s-,”

“Don’t worry about the people on this ship. The air is constantly scrubbed, and your flesh isn’t radioactive to the point where it could kill anyone with only a little exposure. Rather, if someone were to eat your flesh for any longer amount of time, it would concentrate within their bodies, slowly causing mutations that would eventually kill them.” I stare at him blankly. “I’m sorry, but the only positive use your flesh holds would be as a slow poison.”

I’m poison… I’m radioactive.

W-, wait! “Sir, what about my healing capabilities? I heal really fast! There should be something-,”

“Yes, there is indeed mention of it. Your regeneration is, frankly speaking, at an unheard-of level. If it could be tapped into somehow, it would surely relegate your use to that and that alone.” Hope begins brewing in my heart. “At the moment, it’s not like we can do any real studies, so that will have to wait at least until we get to the Outbound Flight.”

Right. Right.

So, for now, we’re okay?

“The part detailing the discovery of your species is rather brief, so I suppose I’ll supplement the information BD-451 already has.” Typhin glances at a watch and yawns. “It’s getting rather late. I hope your lack of a private room is acceptable. This ship is overpopulated as is, so the only room they had to spare would be this one. Anyhoo, I thank you for your visit. Hearing your thoughts has been most interesting.”

I remember about the Zillo Beast. “Y-, yeah. Thanks for what you told me, too!”

With a few final goodnights, we both part for the night. Technically speaking I’ll still be in the same room as him considering the presence of my smallest form, but mentioning that felt strange, so I just left.