Coeus?

by Andur

  “Don't let their minimalistic lifestyle fool you. They are masters of electromagnetism and through it they somehow achieved almost complete control over water. Their ships are basically just huge bubbles of water and electromagnetic fields. It's quite the sight when they immigrate from one planet to another by taking half the ocean with them.”

  The Zeen walks to a small panel at the wall and presses a button. “I informed them of our presence, though if they'll talk to us is up to their curiosity. If they don't feel like talking there is nothing we can do about it. This environment is a little disturbing for me. I am a creature of the desert and huge amounts of water make me uneasy.”

  Despite Ayo's pessimistic attitude one of the jellyfish creatures leaves the hunting group and propels itself towards us, swimming more like a squid and displaying incredible speed compared to what I know about the jellyfishes from Earth. Not that I've ever been there, but Gideon watches old nature documentaries from time to time and I am bound to pick up a few things here and there.

  When the creature is close enough I also get a better look at its streamlined body and thumb-sized, bony hooks on its tentacles. I shudder at the thought of the thing grabbing someone to dig those claws into his skin.

  Suddenly the jellyfish flashes in a series of different lights and the speakers at the wall squeaks a translation. “Greetings, dry thinkers. The pressure and temperature allows just the right amount of flotation. I am thinking about the continuum of numbers in the cardinality between two integers, which is strictly belonging to the real numbers. Solving this problem would help to create harmonizing magnetic fields much easier.”

  Gideon grins and steps forward, so I let go of his hand. Then he starts speaking. “I am Gideon. Have you ever thought about viewing the problem in a five dimensional space to eliminate the problem of having to deal with the real number issue? It's a little problematic to get the initial Math and formulas done, but once you have the problem displayed like that you can see that there are peaks which hint at space time being influenced by electromagnetic energies. You can go from there to set up a wave to even out the spikes, which allows you to harmonize the fields.”

  The jellyfish is silent for a few seconds and simply floats there without moving, then it starts flashing again. “That works. Thank you. If you need help with a mathematical problem I would be honoured to help.”

  Gideon doesn't hold back. “I was always interested in what an alien would think about direct electromagnetic conversion of matter to energy and back. It just so happens that I had a few issues with that and I must admit that I am completely new to the field.”

  “Actually...” And so the jellyfish continues to spill out a few very interesting theories related to the topic. I watch the exchange and listen for a few minutes. After a while I turn my attention back to Ayo and notice that he looks baffled.

  “Is there a problem?” I ask.

  “N- no. I just never saw a Nig talking so much! They tend to lose interest in the conversation after a few sentences!” Ayo spreads his hand. “And what's up with that solution to electromagnetic field theory?”

  I just raise an eyebrow. “Ah, that. It's really nothing special. If you want to control magic properly, then fine manipulation of any form of energy is a very basic step. What Gideon told that jellyfish just now is taught very early in our schools. Our civilisation solved that problem a few thousand years ago.” I tilt my head, looking at the jellyfish. “Actually the Nig seem to be on a good path to invent water magic on their own.”

  The Zeen doesn't reply and we wait until Gideon finishes his conversation with the jellyfish. The creature seems to be very delighted about talking to us and at the end of the conversation we are even promoted from 'dry thinkers' to 'swift minds'.

  When we return from the tunnel Ayo seems a little drained. “He called you swift minds. I've never heard a Nig calling someone something else than 'dry mind'. I wonder what that means. Maybe we've made a mistake and it isn't a general reference to species who live outside the water?”

  I purse my lips. “To me it sounds like an insult.”

  “Insult?” The Zeen gasps.

  Shrugging my shoulders I elaborate. “You know, for people who life inside the water it must be quite uncomfortable to be dry. So I can't imagine that it has a positive meaning. What would your people think if you were called waterheads?”

  The Zeen turns pale and paler while he closes the blast doors again and we find ourselves back in the humanoid area. But we don't get to return to our tour.

  A girl with huge similarities to a mermaid approaches Gideon before I get the chance to return to his side. She even dares to place a hand on his chest! “Hiii! You are still alive. I wasn't so sure if we would get to see each other again. It would have been a shame to never learn your name.”

  “Gideon... and you are that girl from back then.” He mumbles.

  “Zeil, Ambusian pleasure girl, to your service.” She curtseys in front of him and I feel an uncomfortable sting in my heart. What the hell was Gideon up to while he was alone on the station!

  I jump to his side, linking arms and digging my nails into his flesh. “I am Cyla. What business do you have with my partner?”

  She places a hand on her cheek. “Oh, my. Gideon, that's your wife? If I had known I wouldn't have spoken such misleading lines. But you seem to be in good hands.” She raises a basket with various foodstuffs inside. “I was running an errand when I saw you.” Her eyes wander to Gideon. “And your husband paid me in exchange for a little service.”

  I tighten my hand around Gideon's arm and use a little magic, just a little!

  “Dear! You will break it! It didn't touch her, I swear!” Gideon calls out, fighting against going to his knees. “I paid her for information!” He opens his mind to prove the truthfulness of his words and a feeling of sincerity rushes over me.

  “Sadly, though I find physical services much more pleasurable!” Zeil answers, winking at Ayo. “Long time no see, Ayo. When will you pay me the next visit? Dancing for the Nig gets boring after a while.”

  If the Zeen wasn't white before, then he is now. “Work! You know how it is. There is this and that! The galaxy doesn't manage itself.”

  I loosen my grip on Gideon's arm and wonder how it works between the mermaid girl and the Zeen. “If that's the case, then I just have to warn you off.” I grin at the mermaid. “For your own safety.”

  Zeil flares her nostrils and takes in a deep breath. “If that isn't a feisty one! Gideon didn't lie when he said that you have temperament.” Suddenly she steps closer. “But from female to female, could you give me a few insights on what the men of your species like? I acquired a little data and we seem to be basically compatible, so I was hoping to open a new market once there are a few more of your species on the station. Base type humanoids are rare and I like your species much better than the average customer.”

  Ayo steps in. “Zeil! You can't embarrass our guests like-”

  But I raise my nose to look down on the mermaid. If she is interested in human sex, then I can give her a little preview! “It's basically coming down to being strong enough in your mind. The other bloodlines are easier to handle, but us techno-mages hold a special quirk. Once the male and the female make full body contact, they merge their minds with each other. It's the complete sharing of sensations and emotions, essentially becoming one being. Once both sides are aroused enough the male stabs its genital into the female and starts moving back and forth.”

  I smile and close my eyes. Then I huddle against Gideon, putting his arm around me and circling my leg around his hips. “It feels like an eternity while the female party experiences one orgasm after the other until the male finally climaxes in an explosion of sensation. It's like being burned from the inside. Then your hips turn to jelly as you are being filled up and when his hot seed is running down your inner thighs, you finally slowly wake up from the mental bond. Of course that's just if you aren't a telepath yourself.”


  “I can keep him at his climax until he is completely ~wrung out~.” I open my eyes and place a kiss on Gideon's right cheek while running my hand over his left, pulling out a few sparks.

  “You- you are exaggerating, Love.” Gideon stutters a little and I feel him getting hard.

  “No, I don't think so.” I throw a superior smile at the mermaid, who started chewing on her nails.

  “I think we shouldn't overstay our welcome, Gideon. Don't you want to use every opportunity while your pregnant wife is still in perfect condition to serve you the full menu?”

  “Yes! Excuse us! Ayo, Zeil, maybe some other time!” Gideon kneels down and shoulders me, teleporting us directly home without waiting for an answer.

  Galactic Centre, Gathering Station

  Ayo

  “That... was... intense? What she did to him.” Zeil gulps. “She had him up and ready with just a touch. A perfect courtesan. I would be without a job if some of them are working on the station! Are all of their women like that?”

  My head droops. “I don't know. But when they are freshly bonded. It seems like they go into some kind of breeding rage.”

  “Oh? How many do they already have?” She asks.

  “One child. She carried it for about nine months and she got pregnant again within a few weeks. Their females seem to be able to produce offspring as they please!” I grumble. My species reproduces just every ten years. Apart from that our females are completely uninterested in sex, so we often resort to medical measures to keep the species growing.

  Zeil lets out a sigh. “That's not very much. We get dozens of young at once.” Then she turns to me.

  “Do you have money?”

  I growl and start fumbling for my purse. Why are the gods so cruel to my species? They could have switched off that male instinct if they did it to the females! It's like someone deliberately wanted to see us suffer!

  73. ~Waiting.~

  “

  The suspect Sadina escaped after causing an explosion which killed seven students and an AI. Eleven more persons were injured. Currently Sadina is seen as the main suspect because it was her experiment which caused the explosion. Further investigations will be made.

  Sadina's current status: On the run.

  ”

  -Report File Sadina I

  Galactic Centre, Aether

  Gideon

  “I'm starting to despise diplomacy. I can't help myself.” I grumble and massage the bridge of my nose. Since three months we've been idling around at this 'Gathering' and it feels like nothing happened since the incident with Resch. “And there was no further hint at the whereabouts of my mother either.”

  “You sound like a little child, calling for his Mama.” Cyla teases me while tickling Aurelia who answers with a delighted laugh.

  “That's not true.” Paul smiles and places his legs on the small table between us. He is making himself awfully comfortable in my home. Not that I blame him. Saden abducted him from his work to visit us. She is in her third month of pregnancy and getting a little time off is good for both of them.

  Cyla and Saden are playing with Aurelia on the floor in my living room while Paul and I are discussing current events, or absence of them. Selling our teleportation nodes to various alien species works like selling candy to children. Once the neighbours of a species realize that their transportation is totally outclassed, they want it too. Many even go as far as to supply the needed materials for our docks as soon as they arrive. Paul also set up new production nodes around Sol, solely to build more mobile docks which can travel to various systems in order to set up new teleportation nodes.

  “It's the boom of the millennium! I was totally right to have more docks built and sent out in various directions. My people calculated that we will soon finish one teleportation node a week. The earned money flows almost completely into bolstering Sol's defences. Just wait until the Drazi come, they will find out that attacking our home-system isn't worth the effort.” He spreads his hands in a way which probably should look reassuring.

  I nod slowly, knowing perfectly well that we need much more than a strong fleet to ward off any damage to Sol. Hopefully all our plans keep evolving like we want them to. Especially our network of teleportation nodes has to grow. “Then Aether will return soon. There is no point in having a whole colony at the Gathering if we have a teleportation node.”

  “Really!? Then I can show Aurelia to my mother! We haven't seen her in almost a year, oh I have to throw a big party.” Cyla bites her lower lip. “And I've to think up a way to shock my father. Maybe I can use Aurelia?”

  “Don't dare to use my niece like that.” Saden bends over Aurelia and smiles. “Say A-un-ty. Come on.”

  “Aunty.” Aurelia immediately manages to parrot Saden's word. She became much more fluent in using speech and is sucking up new words like a sponge, though she can't form full sentences yet. If her current progress continues like that she will annoy us with questions by the time she is one year old.

  Maybe I should really employ a sprite as personal teacher. Young techno-mages have to be tutored as early as possible. “If only I knew a sprite which is up to the task, but I don't have that many artificial friends.”

  “What are you mumbling about?” Paul asks.

  I return my attention to the conversation. “Oh, I just thought about employing a sentient sprite as a tutor for Aurelia. That guide for educating young techno-mages mentioned that it's good to have someone who is always ready to answer questions. It's a bummer that I am not acquainted with many A.I.'s.”

  Paul tilts his head in thought. “That's strange. I always thought that you are acquainted with more machines than real humans if you don't count your immediate family. What about that Cronos who served as your body guard?”

  “No. He isn't very talkative. Certainly not something I would recommend for a child.” That one I have to deny.

  Paul shrugs. “Ok. Then the counsellor whom you were always talking to. I think her name was Nina? You must have built up a cosy relationship with her and it's her field. I am sure that you can pay her enough to persuade her to change jobs.”

  I shudder. “Absolutely not!” That one is hacked by my mother! It's not much more than a shell which does her bidding. “There is no chance in hell that I let that one anywhere near my daughter!”

  My friend pulls a grimace as he is slowly but steadily running out of options. “Okay. Last bet. How about the examination sprite whom you befriended. That one from room four. He was always talking about you when I had to take a test. Wanted to know when you take the next test, so that he can rearrange his schedule. He must like you if he actually wants to test you.”

  Examination sprite? Room 4? Oh, yes. Now I remember! “Exo-4!”

  “Stop that, Gideon!” Cyla's voice hisses at me and I can't help but wonder what I did now.

  “Stop what? What did I do?” I ask, but in my mind I am already planning on how to get Exo-4 out of his current job to employ him. It's not like I can simply buy him like a slave. AI's have rights, I need to be a little more subtle about it.

  “Your expression! You are smiling that rabid-dog-smile again and Aurelia is trying to copy you!” Cyla places her hands so that our daughter can't see me. “Don't look, Dear. That's bad. Look at me. Yes, that's how you have to smile.” Cyla looks up to me and I rub my face to get rid of the expression.

  “If she copies even one of your expressions I won't forgive you!”

  Galactic Centre, Aether

  Exo-4

  Why is the world so cruel! I've spent sixty-eight years in that examination room. It was the best job ever! Free electricity and maintenance and all I had to do was ask questions and grade the answers. It was my personal heaven and then they simply go and fire me out of nowhere!

  My beloved room four! I guess it's simply Exo from now on. What will I do without a job? Who will maintain me and how do I get electricity? Do I have to steal energy from the street lights like those low lives of AI's who ref
use to work properly?

  I could howl at the unfairness of the situation. This corrupt director surely took the school's funds for himself and had to find a way to save money in order to hide his illegal machinations.

  And now I have to sell myself as a private tutor! But I am so lucky that this Cyla Estene made me such a good offer just a few days after I was kicked out of the school.

  My battery was already running seriously low, so I signed the contract right away. There was practically no choice without turning to desperate measures. The only other choice I had was becoming some kind of house-AI or something similar. How could this happen to me!?

  I hover over another house until I arrive at the agreed coordinates. The house in question seems to be a mansion, I wonder who my new employer really is. Her estate is a little strange in any case. The gateway to the property is quite ordinary and matches the other houses in the street, but by looking from above I can see that the house is actually quite big.

  Like I said, a mansion. Maybe the residents don't like being in the eye of the public and therefore hide themselves behind a facade of normality?

  I hover lower and to the main entrance where I access the house's network to announce my presence. After a moment the door opens by itself, making an ominous creaking sound. Maybe I should reconsider my previous assessment?

  There is nobody there to greet me, so I hover inside to take a look. “Hello? I am here for employment? Anybody there?”

  Suddenly the door slams shut and I whirl around.

  “Hi, Exo. Long time no see.”

  That voice! “NO!” I start trembling and feel the old feedback loop starting up again. I thought that past was behind me!

  The dark figure who was hiding behind the door steps out of the shadows and raises a contract for me to see. With horror I realize that it's my working contract!

  “Yes!”

  74. ~Blunt Words.~

  “

  Sadina is untraceable. It is possible that she made contact with the Revelation Wing. If they managed to transfer her to their secret base it it is highly unlikely that we will manage to find her.