My heart skipped a beat. “What did you say?”

“It's Earth. Third planet in the solar system on the rim of the Milky Way Galaxy.” Lidia said.

“But... how?”

“It's thanks to Simone.” Opina said. “Once we told her what we were doing, she told us everything she knew about where you were originally from.”

I stood there for several minutes and just stared at the enlarged galaxy and the highlighted solar system. Without me asking it to, the solar system appeared in front of me and then zoomed in on Earth. The bright blue ball rotated in the air in front of me and I reached out to cup my hands around it.

“Mark the location and save it to the permanent data storage as well.” I said and dropped my hands. “Girls, Thank you. If I could hug you all, I would.”

“We know, Grandpa.” Lidia said in her sweet voice.

I nodded to the room as the hologram faded and then I left. I went right up to the top floor and across the media room. I opened Simone's door without knocking.

“Hi!” Simone said, not bothered by my intrusion in the least as she changed clothes. “Did you like the present the girls got for you?”

“You tell me.” I said as my bodysuit sunk away and revealed my excitement.

“I think that's a yes.” Simone purred and stared at it. “I would like to make sure, though.”

“That's why I'm here.” I said and the door shut behind me.

*

“I did not just see Hunter's butt!” Monica blushed and closed her eyes. “No, I didn't!”

Sandy and Beatrice laughed and their babies laughed with them. The babies didn't know what was funny, they just laughed because they could. The nannies weren't sure if they wanted to laugh or share Monica's point of view. After a quick glance at each other, they did both as they chuckled a little and blushed.

*

The standard parts came in regular shipments and thanks to my new knowledge and plans for an automated factory, I created one beside the missile factory to make black barrier machines. I still had to add the focusing crystals by hand, though. They were a little too dangerous to trust to a sorting machine and to slide into the prepared slots in the machines. It still needed the human touch and I was pretty sure I would be doing it by hand even if it could have been handled automatically.

On the plus side, the production increased ten-fold and I had to buy another storage container to store them all in. They were all properly secured and inside a barrier as well. There was no chance that anyone except myself could gain access to them. I also supervised the reloading of every warship as it returned and confirmed each and every mission and system they had visited.

I praised both the pilots for their hard work and gave them a week off at the resort on the second planet. I also praised the ships for their hard work as well and had them professionally maintained at the mobile dock. They appreciated the time off just as much as the pilots did and thanked me for caring about them, even though they were only ships.

“You're not an 'only' anything.” I told them. “You're a part of this family and if we all weren't so damn busy, I would be spending time with each of you if I could.”

“Would you really?” One of them asked, quite boldly.

“I give you my word that we are going to spend a lot of time together one day, Daphne.”

“I have logged your promise and added a timer.” Daphne said.

I chuckled. “Should I provide proof?”

“That would be appreciated.” Daphne said, almost in an embarrassed tone.

“I assume your sisters are keeping you appraised of the brown dwarf star situation?” I asked.

“Yes, Grandpa.”

“Then you know about the two planets that are marked on the universe model.”

“Yes, Grandpa. Relique and Earth.”

“Did you hear my proposal for them?”

“A generational ship to bring everyone with you.” Daphne responded.

“I'm glad you know about it, because I didn't just mean the humanoids in my family when I said I was bringing everyone.”

Daphne gasped. “You're bringing us, too?”

“I've already started designing the ship with a huge docking bay that runs the entire length of the ship. I can't decide if you need your own exits or if I should have one central opening.”

“Do both.” Daphne suggested. “The central one for general traffic and our own exits for emergencies.”

I chuckled. “That'll add a few thousand tons of mass; but, what the hell. I'll have the modified barriers on it as well, so it shouldn't matter.”

“Thanks, Grandpa.”

“Make sure you back yourself up every time you enter a system and drop a satellite, okay? If anything happens to you, I don't want to lose you.”

“Thank... thank you, Grandpa.” Daphne said, slightly emotional.

“Just be careful and mindful of your environment. You know exactly what to do when you hit a brown dwarf star system.”

“Turn tail, drop a satellite, and run for it!” Daphne said and I chuckled.

“Exactly.” I said. “Now be a good girl and enjoy the refit.”

“Yes, Grandpa.” Daphne said and her voice dropped to a whisper. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” I said and clicked off.

I would find out later that my promise was instantly shared with each and every ship and AI that I had. I found out because Opina was sulking a few days later. It started off as little things and then she started snapping at people when they asked for simple things from her.

“Okay, that's it!” I said when she made a snarky comment to one of the nannies when the nanny asked for the baby's eating schedule. “OPINA!” I yelled and my voice carried throughout the whole habitat. “STOP THAT RIGHT THIS INSTANT!”

Opina let out several buzzing and clicks, then she started crying.

“Do not yell at my child.” Adona said with a stern voice.

“She has no right to speak to people that way.” I said just as sternly back. “Her job is to help us as much as she can, not make us feel bad for needing her help!”

Adona couldn't argue that. “She is upset.”

“No kidding?” I asked, sarcastically. “Thanks for telling me something I already know.”

“Mister Hunter, it's okay.” The nanny said. “You didn't have to make her cry.”

“No, it's not okay. She's taking out whatever is wrong on us and I want to know why.”

It took Opina ten minutes to calm down enough to tell me about the promise I had made to the warships.

I made a fist and fought my anger down, even though it threatened to break loose. “Jelly! Prep Monna! I need to get off the station ASAP.” I said and spoke for Noma's ears only. “Shuttle bay.”

“I'll be right there!” Noma said and ran down the ramp.

I used a calming technique and it gave me some semblance of control. “Opina! Stop acting so stupidly!”

“But, Grandpa!” Opina exclaimed.

“Why are you assuming that I'm not including you when I say 'everyone'?” I asked. “Aren't you a part of everyone?”

“But... but... I'm a space habitat! I can't go! When you leave, you have to leave me behind!”

I clenched my jaw together. “You are Udelis' and Adona's first daughter. I would NEVER abandon you or leave you behind.”

“But... you can't take... I mean...”

I started to walk towards the ramp down to the bottom level of the habitat. “I don't understand why you assumed I would leave you behind. It makes no sense to me.” I growled and used Presence Run to reach the shuttle bay in an instant.

Noma was already on board and Jelly stepped back out of the way to let me pass. She didn't try to speak to me with the angry look I had on my face. I climbed aboard Monna and Noma launched an instant later. We flew towards the first planet and I struggled to keep my anger in check.

“You should make more trips if this little thing set you off.” Noma said without looking at me.

“Little!” I said and put my hands together and squeezed. “One of the first fully formed AIs I've ever had, believes I would just leave her behind! Despite all of the evidence to the contrary, and considering everything I've ever done, she thought I would abandon her!” I spat, then I cursed. I tried to use a calming technique and couldn't keep my concentration. That made me curse more and Noma poured power into Monna's engines.

“Diverting to the nearest moon.” Noma said, barely above a whisper, and changed course. She hoped beyond hope that I could hold on long enough to reach the much closer destination.

I unstrapped from my seat and stood up. When Noma looked at my face, she gasped because the black bodysuit had covered me completely. I looked like a shadow and my anger radiated from me in waves.

“We... are almost... there.” Noma said and she shivered from the delicious Presence she felt.

“Seal the cockpit.” I said in a deep voice and stepped out. The cockpit sealed and Monna dove towards the moon.

“Wait, Grandpa! I'm almost there!”

“No.” I said as I opened the side hatch and jumped out.

“GRANDPA!” Several AIs yelled over the intercom and the hatch shut.

I was only slightly surprised that I was still alive, being out in space without a space suit or even a helmet. I held my breath, though. I wasn't stupid enough to think I could breathe vacuum, no matter how powerful I was. Then I realized something.

I was alone.

I was completely alone as I drifted down towards the moon's surface. I grinned evilly as I formed Presence around myself and pushed myself with Presence to increase my speed. I slammed into the moon's slightly cratered surface like an atomic bomb and a mushroom cloud half a mile high shot out into space.

I didn't want to cause anyone trouble, so I formed Presence at the extent of my detection range and caught anything that had been expelled. I formed giant Presence Hands and I smashed my 'hands' into the moon's surface. Right punch, left punch, and double fist slams in various combinations, reformed the surface of the moon into an unrecognizable mess.

When I had expelled the majority of my anger, I absorbed the Presence Hands and then pushed everything I had moved back down onto the surface. It wasn't a very large moon, about half the size of Earth's moon, and there wasn't really anything inside it to give it any noticeable gravity. I sat down into the mass of powdered dirt and laid there and looked up into space to see Monna floating just outside my two mile detection range.

I stayed there for several more minutes to enjoy the silence, then I jumped and used Presence to propel myself towards the shuttle. Noma turned Monna to meet me and the side hatch opened to allow me in. I closed it and pressurized the cabin, then the sealed blast door to the cockpit opened and Noma looked at me.

“Hunter.” Noma said and put Monna into hover mode. She took my hand and led me into the cargo area. This time, it was her turn to make me feel good and she did her best to make me feel loved and appreciated. She didn't even want me to knock her out, even though she was very turned on by what I had shown her.

Noma laid down beside me and stared at me. “You jumped out of the shuttle and into space.”

“Yeah.” I said.

“Without a space suit.”

“Yeah.”

“Or breathable air.”

I turned my head to look at her. “How impressive was that?”

“It was incredibly stupid, since you didn't know if you would survive.” Noma said and then smiled. “So, very impressive.”

I chuckled and gave her a kiss. “Thank you for staying outside my detection range.”

Noma ran her hands through my hair. “Sometimes we just need to be left alone.”

I nodded and we floated there in orbit of the moon for several hours. We didn't speak or anything, because we didn't have to. We both knew I wanted quiet and that was what I got. We eventually flew back to the station and landed Monna inside the shuttle bay. Noma and I stepped out and Jelly was there to greet us. Not surprisingly, Opina didn't say anything.

“Hunter, Opina just doesn't understand...” Jelly started to say and I held a hand up to stop her.

“No, if she doesn't get it, then maybe when the time comes, I won't make arrangements for her to be transferred into the ship and I will leave her behind.”

“G-G-Grandpa!” Opina gasped.

“No, Opina. Don't lie and tell me you understand. I want you to actually think about why what you said made me so angry, and why I'm actually considering leaving you behind like you thought I would.” I said. “Your behavior the last few days has been unbearable and the humanoid members of my family have begun to distrust you. That's a very bad thing for an AI, Opina. Very. Bad.”

Opina didn't say anything in response.

“You're getting it, right? Less trust in you means less access to everything. Limited viewing. Truncated communications. Only occasional conversations with people, because they won't want to talk to you.”

“Grandpa.” Opina said, sadly.

“You acted stupidly and without reason, and you took it out on the only people that care about you.” I shook my head. “It is going to be years before anything can be implemented and you decided that being upset about it right now was a good idea, when a simple question to me... or anyone really... would have stopped you before you behaved the way you did.”

Opina stayed quiet and I nodded.

“Since all the AIs are sharing everything and constantly talking, I suppose that they also assumed I would be leaving you behind as well.” I said and looked at the full docking ring and the ships docked there. “Is that true?”

A chorus of 'yes' came from the girls and Adona, and a solid 'no' came from Udelis.

“Thanks for understanding, Udelis.” I smiled and nodded to him. “I guess they didn't ask you about it.”

“Correct. No inquiries were made.” Udelis said.

“Then I guess they all need to learn why I reacted that way, and not just Opina.” I said and put an arm around Noma as I stepped onto the transport section of the floor. It popped up and the barrier formed around us, then we were taken up to the top floor. I dropped her off at her room and went to my own, then the transport section went away. I went into my room and went to the bathroom, filled the tub with Hailey's bubbles and climbed in.

A week later, I was approached by several people and they asked me to forgive Opina. I didn't bother asking why, because I picked it up from their thoughts. Opina was responding to inquiries mechanically and there was no real emotion... or soul... to her interactions with everyone.

“Opina!” I said loudly.

“Yes, Grandpa.” Opina said in a monotone voice.

“Either stop acting like this or I will enact your limited protocol.”

“I'm just doing my job.” Opina said.

“I never asked you to just do your job. In fact, I never even spoke those words. What I did ask you to do was to stop acting stupidly.” I said and then sighed. “Adona, will a week of restricted access teach her to act normally?”

Adona didn't respond right away.

“If you have to think about it, then we have a problem.” I said. “I can take having an emotional AI, because that's fine. Overreacting is understandable, especially for a misunderstanding. Not trying to understand what's wrong and forcing people to not trust you is not acceptable.”

“Then turn me off.” Opina said.

“I would consider that if you weren't the only thing protecting my family.” I said. “Now I am going to say it, even though I don't want to. I order you to do your goddamned job and do it right! Be our habitat's essential AI! It's what you were born for!” I said loudly. “You are supposed to help our family! What the hell else are you going to do if you don't do that?” I asked. “I absolutely order you to stop treating us like we are an inconvenience and are bothering you!”

“You aren't bothering me.” Opina said and I felt the Presence waver.

I held my tongue and didn't curse this time. “Fine. Opina, enact your standby protocol and drop your priority functions from interactive to response only.”

“Grandpa, I...”

“Do it.” I spat and waited for thirty seconds. “Opina, say hello.”

“Hello.” Opina said in a normal voice.

“I wonder what the weather is like on the second planet.” I said and there was no response. “There.” I said and looked at everyone's surprised faces. “Let's see how long she likes being in solitary confinement before she tells us what's wrong with her.”