Collection 67 (Patreon)

Collection

Chapter 67

-VB-

Edward Arlaoskas

Victoria Fortress Station

3007 January 11

I sat next to Anna, who sat on our bed with our son latched onto her breast and suckling like he should be. 

Emmanuel Arlaoskas. 

My first child. My first son. 

And despite the many internal upgrades I’ve given myself over the years, I still felt the same fatherly instincts that Dad must have felt when he first saw us. 

I dumped a lot of the day to day administration to the AIs and trusted people like Amy and Armas. With the help of the AIs, my younger brother and his wife had become a rather effective pair of administrators.

Anyway, back to my beautiful baby son.

I already checked his DNA. He shouldn’t have any significant problems. His vitals were all within norms, had all of the reflexes he needed, and ate greedily. 

I reached out and poked his chubby cheeks.

“Ehehehe.”

“Husband, you sound like a weirdo.”

“I can’t help it.”

“Stop bothering our son when he’s suckling,” she glared at me. 

I pouted. 

She sneered. “Grown men don’t pout like children. Where is the handsome, cool, and cold man that I fell for?” she asked half-seriously as she looked around as if I was invisible.

“Honey, I’m just being a dad~!” I whined.

“Ew.”

“Urk.”

And then after a while, she couldn’t hold it in anymore and burst out laughing. 

The two - three- of us sat there, simply enjoying the small good things in life. 

And then our son broke the silence with a gurgling burp and then cooed.

Both Anna and I cooed right back at him. She looked at me again and laughed. 

“I never expected you to become … this affectionate.”

“What did you expect me to be?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe serious? Firm? Maybe even a little distant?”

“Why would I do that? I may not be the oldest in my family, but I grew up with siblings,” I replied with a smile… and poked our son again. This time, he made a grab for it. I let him hold my finger. 

So soft…

Then I received a message through my implants. 

I sighed as I stood up. “Work work,” I grumbled out like a Warcraft orc peasant. No one got the reference.

Anna rolled her eyes. “Go go,” she urged me playfully. 

I snorted with a smile as I left. 

As soon as I was out of the door, my smile dropped like it was a lie. 

“[Now,]” I spoke into the Fleet’s ComNet. “[Can any of you just confirm the message that I got? How did the containment nearly fail?]”

---

I looked at the messy pile of wires crisscrossing between a number of computers and the central containment unit. 

The cracked walls, sparking plugs, and one of four emergency boosters empty from use told me a very dangerous tale. 

And I looked inside of it. 

The containment unit was not a thing for a living being. Not a living being like humans, at any rate. It was meant for an … esoteric thing, something meant to be incorporated and utilized in my ever evolving body. 

However, its very nature as I had designed it meant that even without an ego to drive it around, the non-human vessel was very much capable of causing havoc. 

“... So it’s reset?” I asked Gregory, an Alpha core AI who barely managed to keep the containment under control. The only reason he was able to stop it in the first place was because he was mostly embedded into the containment systems, his android body literally overflowing with tubes and wires connecting him 

“Yes, father. It has been reset. Which means all of the progress we’ve made in the past seven months has gone down the drain.”

I clicked my tongue. “I would rather it be safe than progressing. Good job.”

“Of course, father. This is a project not like any other. I am honored to work on it. It is, after all, your future form.”

I took a deep breath in and then let it out slowly. 

My mind, connected to the fortress station, already went through all of the details from the report Gregory had submitted. 

The first problem, it seemed, resided with the vessel’s capacity. Like an unconscious body going through the motions it was programmed to do, the vessel too went through “instincts” and “programs.” The second problem was the fact that it shouldn’t have anything like that. This was supposed to be an empty body. 

“And what led to the sudden surge?” I asked instead. 

“No clue, father. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. It’s not your fault. I should have designed this entire thing better,” I grunted. “Keep it safe.”

“Yes, father.”

-VB-

Meredith Humphreys

Segerica Trade Post 3

3007 January 11

She was not one of those Humphreys. 

It was something she had to say every time she met someone new and they lacked brain power. Or tact. 

Meredith did not come from one of the Andurien Humphreys. In fact, her family had the name longer than they did. They were plying the trade routes in their jumpships for far longer than the Humphreys had been around. And her family came from Terra, thank you very much!

It was only now thanks to the Arlaoskas Union that her family was able to afford another jumpship.

Because, damn, did they make good, cheap jumpships. Even without jump collars to haul dropships for maximum efficiency, those Mule-class Jumpships were a boon for the jumpship clans. 

And for her, it was her first brand new ship that she got her hands on.

“And what are these?” she asked the “AI” who looked like a regular human, and would have looked exactly like a regular human if it weren’t for those lines on her skins that denoted synthetic skin and android/robot body underneath the synth skin.

She had been in the middle of walking through one of the Arlaoskas trade posts that showcased the kinds of goods the fleetmaster sold. Initially, she was here to pick up the GM Kais, but then there were just so many things that caught her attention…

“Ah, those? Those are License Pods.”

She blinked. “License pods…?”

“Yes. It has come to the Fleetmaster’s attention that many of the goods and products he offers can easily be used by people he didn’t intend for. Like the Lyrans right now under the current Archon, Alessandro Steiner, though this may change soon if the rumors are true.”

Rumors about the Steiners? 

No, no, no. Stop. Focus on the product.

“So …?”

“He designed these. Some of the … higher end products will now come with License-verification hardware and software. And to get the license, you will have to pay an annual subscription and submit yourself to one of the License Pods for it to gather biometric informations about you.”

“Oh. Like…”

“While this is one of the lesser biometric datas, the pod also gathers your stool sample.”

Meredith grimaced. “And what kind of products are available with this ‘license’?”

“The license comes in many grades. But there is a warship-grade license, allowing you the chance to purchase and use one of the export-grade warships. Like the Slashers that patrol this very system.”

Her jaws dropped. 

Warships for sale!? 

“T-That is absurd! Who sells warships, even if they are small?!” 

“Our Fleetmaster does,” the AI smiled. “In fact, the Fleetmaster has ordered for an upgrade to the current existing fleet, so many of the Slashers you see will end up in our warehouses and sold.”

Upgrade?

Upgrade?! 

Those Slasher patrol ships were nightmares of pirates and the Capellans! With how the Union was expanding into the Reach, those Slashers have been downing pirate clans left and right!

And she might be able to buy one?

“How much would those Slashers be…?”

“Oh, only five hundred million… pardon me, it would be seven-hundred eighty million Eagles at the current exchange rate."

Jesus fuck. 

The Free Worlds League could definitely afford that.

No, House Marik by itself could afford that.

“And the license…?”

“Only the license holder will be able to use the licensed products,” the sales AI nodded at her question. “And the product will not function if it is not used by the license holder. But, for a small fee of ten million each, a license holder can sub-license their license to others. Of course, those individuals will have to spend some time in the License Pods to get their biometric data gathered.”

Oh…

Oh God. 

They were serious about selling warships. 

“... May I come back later? I have to talk to someone.”

“Of course! Trade Post 3 is open all day every day at every hour.”

Meredith ran to the space station’s own ComSat Relay hub and called up House Marik at her own expense. 

She would get much more in return when House Marik verified with the Arlaoskas Union that they were, indeed, selling licenses to their warships and the warships themselves.