Tremendous looked at him quizzically, “Why? Your population is extraordinary. There is no reason to have that many offspring. Why do humans dedicate so much of their life to mating when your population does not require it?”
“Because it feels amazing.” he replied without thinking. He realized in that moment that since the Omegas didn’t reproduce like humans did, they wouldn’t know what sex felt like. He suddenly felt very bad for the Omegas, their somewhat cold demeanor now made a lot more sense.
Tremendous leaned forward, “There is a pleasure response to the act?” it asked, intrigued.
This time, Blackshade didn’t repress a chuckle, “Well, yes, very much so. It’s one of the best feelings a human can experience.” he answered, then he added, “But it’s more than just pleasure. When two people are having sex because they love each other, or at least, because they both feel very strongly towards each other, it creates a bond between them that transcends the emotional, and the physical. It’s hard to explain, but in many ways, it’s spiritual, what happens between two people during sex. It’s like, becoming one, if only for an instant; and it’s the most spectacular feeling in the world.”
Tremendous leaned back in its chair, “Of course… of course!” it said at the ceiling, “That truly helps to explain so much about the process! Your risk reward protocol has modified itself, in order to enable your procreation. Your risk reward protocol was originally designed to allow you to determine if committing an action that could potentially damage or cease your functions was worth the risk. So, for example, if there was a rich concentration of resources on a planet surrounded by a corrosive substance that would be difficult to successfully navigate, your risk reward protocol would activate in order to help you determine whether or not you should take the risk in order to obtain the reward. This protocol improved efficiency of not only resource gathering, but dramatically lowered the amount of humans we lost on planets during those operations. Now, the protocol still seems to fulfill that role, but it has adapted itself to release positive reinforcement into your system to encourage you to perform the mating ritual, so of course you will want to repeat the act. It is remarkable humans ever get anything else done! Extraordinary!”
Blackshade waited for Tremendous to finish before asking a question, “So, the desire to have sex is just a malfunctioning protocol from our original program?”
Tremendous looked down at him thoughtfully, “I would not say it is malfunctioning, I would say it has adapted to your needs. However, it does explain almost everything about how your race is able to perform the ritual as often as you do. I do not think you realize just how traumatizing your reproduction ritual is? In males, a significant amount of blood is transferred to your reproduction organ at such a high pressure it makes your flesh as ridged as bone. This appendage was never meant to hold that quantity of fluid, let alone at that pressure, for as long as it does. Not to mention, the sacks of genetic material the males are equipped with are slammed into the female’s body dozens, if not hundreds of times once penetration of the female is achieved. The damage caused should be excruciating, but the pleasure you say humans experience negates the damage warning protocol. What I mean to say is, the act of sex should be very painful for both participants, but due to your risk reward protocol’s interference, you receive a pleasure signal instead, and an intense one from what you have told me.” Tremendous explained, looking even more interested in the subject.
“Think about it, for the female, her entire internal reproductive structure is ravaged by the experience. From our research, females have a small membrane torn out of them during their first reproduction ritual. Not to mention the amount of warming and lubricating fluids the female body creates in order to prevent catastrophic damage during the process leaking out of them, lowering their hydration level significantly. How their bodies do not cease functioning during the ritual more often is still an enigma to us. Your reproduction ritual is the most violent, and traumatizing ritual for reproduction we have ever encountered, and it fascinates us that it is so potently effective for your species.” Tremendous gushed, “According to our research, humanity never should have been able to reproduce, due to the damage and trauma it causes to both parties. Your damage warning protocol should have overridden the act, stopping the process immediately by releasing intense pain notifications throughout your bodies. However, your risk reward protocol is overriding your damage warning protocol and that is why you are able to carry out the act! You are receiving positive feedback instead of negative feedback. It is fascinating how much your programming has changed just to allow procreation, even at such a personal risk! And that is just the reproduction ritual! The nine-month incubation period inside the female, and the expelling of the offspring, is the most horrible aspect of your entire creation process! How the female’s body survives the act is something that is of great interest to us.”
Blackshade had no idea how to respond to this. Listening to Tremendous explain sex to him, and the way his brain, or programming, or whatever worked in order to allow it to happen was a bit more than he could follow. Once again, he wished someone smarter than him was here to discuss the subject with Tremendous. A doctor, or a teacher, Soearth…hell, he would take anyone he could get at this point, he just wished he knew more about humanity than he did. He was a military man, not a sociologist. His life had been dedicated to controlling, and when necessary, killing humans, not understanding the psychological reasons two people want to have sex with each other. Still, he was the Ambassador to the Omegas… and underqualified or not, he was the one that had Tremendous’ ear. He was obligated to represent humanity in the best way possible.
“Maybe it’s more than that,” Blackshade began, an idea forming in his mind, “I know Pious has shown us that the Gods we followed probably don’t exist. I get that divine intervention probably isn’t the reason humanity has prospered in an environment you say is toxic; yet we have. Maybe it’s because we’re more than just machines now. Maybe, we just look like your creations and have evolved into something much more. Maybe that’s why you’re having so much trouble understanding us. We don’t fit into a mold anymore. We aren’t carbon copies of each other. We are all unique and different, and what might be law for some of us is shunned by the rest. Maybe, instead of trying to categorize us into neat ranks and files, you should learn more about what it means to be human. Maybe that will help in your research of my race.”
Blackshade thought about what he had just said, “Does that make sense?”
Tremendous was quiet for a moment, “It does… and it does not, but I am starting to grasp why it is so hard to put definitive labels on human actions and habits.”
Although Tremendous wasn’t prompting him for clarification, Blackshade felt the need to do so, “Well, I understand that you still see us as machines, but you have to understand, whatever we were when you dumped us here, we’ve changed. We are a complex species and to try to generalize us at all is pretty much impossible. Hell, even our own attempts to do so meet with failure. It’s as if when humanity gets wind that something is the norm, or that there is an absolute truth about the limitations of man, we find a way to break through that limitation and exceed it. So my advice to you in regards to your research is not to try to generalize us, instead, you have to take into consideration the individual, and judge them based on their own merits, as opposed to the characteristics of others.”
Tremendous leaned back in its chair as it contemplated his words. Blackshade wasn’t positive, but he thought he saw a bit more respect in the Omega’s eyes. “I will take your suggestions and apply them to our future studies. I will have Notes and the other research teams do the same. We shall see if your unique perspective improves our results. Thank you for your input.” the Omega leader responded with a considering look.
Blackshade was more than a little embarrassed at Tremendous’ praise. In order to hide it, he continued their conversation, “Outstanding! I hope my advice helps your researc
h.” he began, trying to think of another subject to take the attention off of himself. It didn’t take long for one to spring up in his mind, “What about our problem? The degeneration of our DNA. Have your researchers found a fix for that yet? Have they made any progress?” he asked, suddenly worried. He had forgotten about the racial problem for his species until now, and now that he remembered, it made his stomach turn.
Tremendous shook its head sadly, “No, not yet unfortunately, but do not despair. As I just demonstrated, our studies into your species are not as efficient as we would like them to be. We have to take new approaches to studying your species that we do not commonly use, and every time we begin to study one aspect of your species, three new anomalies are discovered and we have to start over. As you have just discovered, we are having some difficulty reasoning out your behaviors." Tremendous explained. Blackshade noticed that Tremendous was talking to him more as an equal now, rather than property. The idea that the two of them could one day be on equal ground encouraged him, and solidified his resolve to continue pushing this agenda. He couldn’t wait to tell Soearth, even if he also had to report that there had been no progress on fixing their genetics.
“Blackshade, may I show you something about your species that we find astounding?” the Omega leader asked him.
This caught his attention completely, “Yes! Absolutely!” he answered eagerly.
“This way then.” the Omega said, as it stood. Blackshade saw that the moment Tremendous stood up, the chair it had been sitting in ceased to exist. Blackshade leapt up out of his own chair, positive it was about to blink out of existence as well, but when he turned around to look, it was still there. Its continued presence only lasted for a moment though, because as he stared at the chair, it disappeared as well. It didn’t fade out of existence, it didn’t dissolve or lower into the floor, it was just gone.
Tremendous either didn’t notice, or didn’t care because it was already a few dozen yards away from him and turning down a corridor. Blackshade had to sprint to catch up with the Omega or risk losing sight of it. His enhanced body still impressed him by how much better it responded to exertion than before. The speed in which he caught up to Tremendous, and the fact that he felt no fatigue, brought a grin to his face. He jogged beside Tremendous for what felt like miles, taking the occasional turn, and going up or downhill as they traveled. It was hard to gauge distance due to the perception he had of the Omega ship, but he felt more confident of his ability to navigate on this visit than on his last. Tremendous offered no conversation as they made their way to whatever the Omega wanted to show him, but the look on its face never wavered, and if anything, it looked eager, maybe even excited.
They passed other Omegas as they made their way through the ship. Blackshade didn’t recognize any of them, but he noticed that he could make out differences in them now, or, at least more so than he could before. He noticed variations in their facial features and body types that led him to believe that not all Omegas were the same. The fact that Notes was so much smaller than Tremendous, Artificer, and Minder was his first clue, with Pious’ massive form dwarfing even Minder, being his second. Now though, jogging through the corridors of the Omega ship and seeing more Omegas than he’d ever been exposed to before, the differences were more obvious. Some were larger, or smaller than others, while others had longer tails, or more defined muscle mass. He even began noticing that some of the Omegas had more prominent feminine facial features than even Tremendous or Artificer, while others had similar masculine facial features like the ones he first saw on Pious. Even stranger was that a few he saw had feline facial features that were sharper, and more pronounced than either the feminine or masculine features were. It made him curious as to what other nuances of Omega physiology he would be able to pick out through even longer exposure.
As many differences as he noticed, there were still plenty of similarities. None of the Omegas wore any clothing at all, the fact he had only seen one Omega ever do so must have been because of Pious’ position or status. None of the Omegas carried any kind of weapons or possessions on their person that were apparent. It made Blackshade curious how they did anything on the ship, he would have expected to at least see a case or a pack that contained tools to perform routine maintenance on their ship. The amount of man-hours that must go into keeping a ship like this functioning must have been astronomical. Yet, not one Omega carried so much as a screwdriver, or the Omega equivalent, with them. Some of the Omegas stopped and looked at him as he jogged by, others merely greeted Tremendous and continued on their way. None of the Omegas spoke to him directly or tried to hinder his progress. Not that he expected any of them to, but their nonchalant attitude to a human running next to their leader made him wonder about the security of the ship.
Then his military mind kicked in and he had his answer, “I’m no threat to them.” he said out loud to himself.
Tremendous looked down at him, “No threat to who?” it asked, curious.
Blackshade shook his head, “Nothing. Never mind. I’m talking to myself.” he replied, embarrassed. Then, before Tremendous could question him further, he blurted out, “How many Omegas are on this ship?”
Tremendous looked like he might ignore his question, then shrugged, “We are not on the ship; we are in the city.” it responded, “But to answer your question, there are seven hundred and twenty-seven Omegas in the city, and two-thousand, two hundred and eighty-seven Omegas on my ship.”
Blackshade was taken by surprise. He had been positive he was on the Omega ship. “We’re in South America?”
Tremendous nodded, “Of course. I told you once the city was complete, we would base our research out of it, and we have done exactly that.” it explained, “We are getting far superior data here than we were from our ship, and we have much better tools deployed here than we did on the ship. This is a much more efficient form of research and study.”
Blackshade thought about this for a moment and then decided to accept the information at face value. Who was he to question the research practices of the race that created his species? He decided to take the conversation a different direction, “So, your ship has an entire complement of only three thousand Omegas? Your ship is massive, and you’re huge compared to us, but that seems like an incredible waste of space for a species so concerned with the efficient use of resources.”
Tremendous’ response was to bark laughter. The odd ululating sound was something that he never thought he would get used to, but he would rather the Omega laugh at him, than become irate. He bore the barrage of noise stoically as they continued down the corridors towards their destination.
“No, Blackshade, you do not understand. When I refer to my ship, I refer to the ship you encountered when we first met. My ship is the ship we first made contact with each other on in your New Mexico.” Tremendous explained mirthfully. The respect that had been in its voice earlier was gone now and replaced with its polite, but condescending tones. Not disrespectful, but more of the tone an adult would take with a child rather than the tone one would take with an equal. He was disappointed that the understanding between them seemed to be disappearing.
“So, the main ship in orbit is not under your command?” Blackshade asked, trying to hide his discouragement.
Tremendous shook its head, “No. It is not a single ship. What you see in orbit is a small fleet of our ships. Omegas almost never travel alone. The universe is far too dangerous to do so.”
Once again, Blackshade was taken aback, “Do you mean that huge construct orbiting my planet isn’t some sort of mother ship, but a group of ships that are all connected together?”
“That is exactly what it is.” it confirmed, nonplussed, “Travelling in a formation like that is far more efficient, safe, and effective than travelling through space alone. In fact, unless it is a dire emergency, travelling alone is strictly prohibited by my race. We design our ships to interconnect like the ones in orbit with your planet are now. While connected, the ships co
mplement each other, improving their power usage and generation, it allows us to interact with each other in a more direct manner, and in an emergency we can flee as one, ensuring no one gets left behind.” Tremendous motioned in front of them, and an incredibly detailed display appeared before them, showing the Omega ship that was in orbit over the Earth.
The Omega Mothership, with its rectangular profile and the “Y” formation inside the space at its center was very familiar to him. A super high-definition picture of it was attached to the wall in his domicile inside the Unification Foundation. The display followed ahead of them as they made their way further down the corridor.
“In the event of an attack where it would be strategically intelligent to split up, the ships can detach from each other and become a powerful offensive or defensive asset in their own right. As individuals, they will not be as powerful as they were when they were interconnected, but they will still rival almost anything we have encountered in the universe.” as Tremendous continued, the ship on the display began to break apart into twelve separate ships. The long rectangles that made up the outer edges and inner “y” of the original structure now floated away from each other in a broken formation. Five sphere shaped ships that had made up the corners and center of the Mothership began orbiting around the rectangular ones in what Blackshade assumed was some sort of defensive pattern. Blackshade thought the new formation resembled an atom with the nucleus being the rectangular ships, and the electrons and protons represented by the spherical ships.
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