Chapter 10 -- The Precious Runt

62 A.E. April 13, The Burrow - Flywheel Cafe,Evening

I flipped the menu over and browsed the list.

---

Flywheel Cafe -- (Jack's spinny-wheelie-home)

Salad: Chopped assortment of local veggies (Varies day by day)

Salad with flair: Chopped assortment of local veggies and fruit along with nutri-chicken.

Sweetie: Nutri-flour waffle (Check the sidebar for toppings of the day)

Subway: Bread of the day, an assortment of salad, veggies, cheese, egg, and condiments.

*Dubway: Same as above, but with big bread, added protein blocks, and meat of the day.

*Eternity Soup: Everything and anything edible. (Available in small and large)

\ **Dangerous for Humans* -- (No, we will not serve it to you anyway, and we will be rude)

Note: One specialty meal a day, supplement with ration pack(s) of choice. (Check the giant pile)

---

Old-fashioned as it was, the menu was clear yet dripping with personality.

A glance at the bar itself showed Jack in his usual state: rushing between tasks; disappearing into the kitchen for a moment, serving a meal moments later; stopping to look at out across his domain with a cute wag to his tail.

The local droid was cleaning a table as I watched, and I suspected there was another in the kitchen helping to deal with all the things that Jack either wasn't interested in or didn't have the time for.

Things are getting busier by the day...

My gaze wandered to the tables, and I once more took note of the female human with a laptop. Always sitting in the same place, so focused that she sometimes didn't even notice when Jack served her another cup.

It makes me wonder what she's up to...

I leaned to the edge of the curved sofa, and glanced down to the floor. Gray was lying there, staring back at me. It made me smile as I whispered to him, "What do you want?"

Gray answered without hesitation, "Salami."

He knew a range of words, and he could vocalize them, but there was something missing. Endlessly patient, never complaining, always obedient. There were desires within him, but they were simple.

"That's all?" I wondered.

Gray nodded.

"With words," I added.

"Salami," he said, blinking once. "That's all."

It made me think of Fenrir, the giant ice-crawler, and Volkov. Both had been developing minds, each unique in their own way, but also wild and out of control. With Gray, I had to coax his budding mind.

"Remember when you only got salami yesterday, then spent all that time eyeing my food?" I asked.

Gray lowered his head and seemed to ponder. His muzzle wavered, and his tail resettled on the couch. After a few moments, he met my gaze once more, "More salami."

"Jack would run out of salami if we did that, and there are consequences to eating that much of the same thing... remember?" I said.

His tail squirmed, "Yes..."

"So?" I said.

Gray tipped his head and squinted at me, "I don't like tomatoes."

Ah... That's where his mind went...

"You want what I usually get, but without tomatoes?" I wondered.

Gray nodded, "Yes."

I looked toward the bar, reached out with my mind, and relayed the order. Once done, I looked back to Gray, "Do you know how old you are?"

"... By what measurement?" Gray wondered.

Sometimes, he was remarkably intelligent, as if the uplift process was uneven. Complex pathways woven into a framework that barely knew what to do with them.

"Hmm... The weather gets really warm sometimes, yes?" I wondered.

Gray nodded, "The fires come, then they go away for a long time."

"How many of those fires have you experienced?" I wondered.

It only took a second, "... 42."

My eyes widened, 'Maddox, could that be right?'

Maddox's presence rose from the depths, 'Based on the measures we have for determining reptine age... Yes, that sounds about right, give or take about two years.'

"Do you remember them all?" I wondered.

"Yes," Gray answered simply.

"What's the most interesting thing you've seen out there?" I asked.

He stared at me, and I could feel his mind churning through the link between us. Yet, this was one of the places where he seemed to come up short. His muzzle wavered, and after a few moments, he averted his gaze.

Figures moved near the table, and I glanced up for a moment. The bipedal reptines I'd seen earlier walked by. The woman strode on without hesitation, but the slim, vacant-eyed male stopped for a moment to glance back. I smiled at him with a subtle nod, and he seemed to light up in response as he lifted his hand to wave at me.

"Umber," the woman said out loud, at which point the male snapped to attention and hurried after.

As I looked back, Gray was looking at the two of them as they walked away.

"Would you want to talk with them?" I wondered.

"No," Gray said simply.

Oh?

"Why not?" I wondered.

Gray looked back at me, "They don't like me."

"... What makes you say that?" I wondered.

Gray lowered his head, "They always chase me off."

"You mean... other reptines? You've never met those two before, have you?" I wondered.

"... Too many questions," Gray whispered, shutting his eyes.

Jack approached with a pair of plates as I reached over and brushed Gray's head, "You did well. Food's here now."

His ears perked and he rose tall, seemingly invigorated in an instant.

62 A.E. April 14, The Burrow - Computing Center,Midday

Adler had a very distinct style. I followed in his wake as we walked, but I found myself drifting to the other side of the corridor. It allowed me to observe him better.

For a wolf, he was both smaller than one would expect and had more fox-like features to him. A slimmer muzzle, short but dense fur, and a stare that made him look callous even if he was anything but.

I could see my own reflection in the window as we walked. An unruly-looking wolf, clad in the same kind of blue work uniform as everyone else--simple and forgettable. Adler was the polar opposite. His clothes were flashy, but strict and menacing. The sound of his steps rapped as if belonging in a military parade.

He embodied the style he'd picked for himself, and it alerted others when he stepped into a room.

Maybe that was the root of the schism between him and my father. An aloof, emotional individual, compared to a diligent officer that set impossible standards, both for himself and others.

Adler's ears perked, and he snapped to attention as he looked at me in wonder.

"What are you doing?" Adler asked with an accompanying frown.

I motioned to the window behind him, "Just watching the processing clusters... It feels like I've seen this exact layout before."

Adler squinted as if doubting me, then looked to his left as he looked out. It was a sea of dark blue, with tightly packed pylons lined with processing clusters. Their activity lights glimmered like stars in the sky, and sometimes synced in such a way that it seemed to pulsate.

"It's not surprising, given that it's the same concept we used on Earth... Find an old cavern deep underground, seal it tight, fill it with coolant, and you have a perfect environment for any computing needs," Adler said.

"It's pretty," I said.

Adler slowed as he stared, "I guess it is..."

"Vilkas?" Gray asked suddenly.

I looked down, and Gray sauntered up, almost brushing against my legs as we walked. "Yes, Gray?"

"You asked... yesterday. If I remember something interesting?" Gray said, craning his neck to meet my gaze.

"Mm, from before your uplift started," I said with a nod.

"I made a list," Gray said.

"A list?" I wondered.

Adler spoke up, "Signs that his uplift is uneven. Machine structure overwhelming his natural intellect..."

Gray perked his ears as he looked over at Adler, and I did the same.

"This is the first time you've shown any interest in him," I said.

Adler looked over at me, "He's your experiment, not mine."

It made me frown once more, a feeling that felt rather common in his presence. "He's not an experiment."

Adler got that smarmy smirk as he focused on me, "You're only deluding yourself. Even Hazel sees him as nothing more than an alternate approach to her process. A reptine being uplifted by a Dualist, intricately linked to a neurocognitive database far more developed than what is usually possible."

"... Meaning?" I wondered.

Adler motioned to me with one hand, "I read up on your correspondence with Hazel, and her consequent reports on the subject. You don't seem to realize it, but that lookup process where a developing mind contacts a database for faster learning, that interface is usually for a specifically designed machine, not another sentient being. Why? You wonder... Well, for most of us, the idea of having another mind constantly rummaging through our memories would be unbearable. For you however, given your past, the process is mostly transparent. You don't even notice it unless you dig deep."

"Hmm," I murmured.

Adler looked down, "Gray, what is Vilkas' favorite drink?"

"Earl Gray with honey," Gray said, simply.

Adler smirked as if proven right, "Do you know what it tastes like?"

Gray tipped his head, "... Yes."

"Have you ever had a cup of it?" Adler continued.

"... No," Gray answered.

I drew a deep breath, "So, he's drawing on all my experiences... Is that dangerous?"

Adler clasped his hands and looked ahead, "No... I imagine he'll make an excellent helper eventually, but he won't be much of a reptine though, which... while most interesting, isn't the point of Hazel's research."

Gray looked between the two of us, seemingly confused.

It made me sigh, "... I'm not sure how to navigate this in a moral way."

"The choice has most likely already been made. Gray is on a path now, uncharted perhaps, but valid none the less. All you can do is help and make the best of it," Adler mused.

I glanced down at Gray, looking ever so intently into my eyes as we walked, "Tell me of this list?"

Gray's tail swooped in excitement, "There's a big thing to the west. It reaches into the sky, there are a lot of hybrids there."

I nodded, "It's called the Spire."

"Ah, right..." Gray blinked, "I knew that, I think..."

"And next on the list?" I wondered.

"This place, the Burrow. It smells bad, but the food is nice," Gray said.

Adler stifled a chuckle, "He is however developing something of a personality."

"Next?" I mused.

"The hole," Gray said.

Adler perked his brow as he glanced back in silence.

"The hole?" I wondered.

Gray nodded, "It's really big, and round in a strange way."

"A strange way?" I wondered.

"Like... really round, like... a dome in the ground," Gray said.

It doesn't sound like a natural phenomenon...

"He most likely encountered one of the mining pits," Adler murmured.

"... No, I know what those look like. Lots of machines, no people, dangerous place," Gray retorted.

"Do you know where it is?" I asked.

Gray nodded.

Complex and simple at the same time...

It made me smile a little, "Do you know how long it would take to go there from here?"

Gray stared at me, and he began to slow down. It was almost as if the question made him groggy and somehow overwhelmed his mind. Adler turned to look as well, "Accurate time keeping is something that's managed by his implant, and since all of those memories were made before the implant..."

A few more seconds passed, and Gray blinked as he picked up the pace again, "What did you ask?"

"Don't worry about," I whispered, and looked over at Adler, "If he remembers the path to it and we can access those memories, then we can cross-reference it to the maps and find out where it is."

Adler gave me a tired glance, "You certainly leap at the idea of adventure... Is the lab that boring?"

"One could do with a change in scenery. You might like it as well?" I said.

"Hmm," Adler murmured as he looked back in front. "You're hard at work, trying to tame me as usual. For now, I need you in the lab..."

"I think I'm more of an engineer than a scientist," I said as we kept walking.

"If you want a life making a reality out of others ideas, sure... But if you want to break new ground, and be in control of your own fate, then..." Adler mused.

I stifled a chuckle, "Is that the real disagreement between you and Dad?"

Adler eyed me as if warning me, "No."

62 A.E. April 14,The Burrow - Omicron Lab,Evening

Gray was slumped on the floor next to my bed. Even as I reached down and nudged his chin, he wouldn't wake. Absolutely exhausted, one of the uplift's many side effects. It raised a certain concern in me as I settled back in the bed's corner and reached for my tablet.

A quick scroll through the contacts revealed Hazel's number, and I made the call.

It only took a few moments for it to connect. Based on the look, Hazel was leaning back in her own sofa, dressed in little more than a nightgown, with her hand in the depths of a bag of snacks.

She chewed idly as she perked her brow, "Tablet-call, how old-fashioned."

I smiled as I tipped my head, "I figured it would be less intrusive than a direct call, but that now seems like a mistake."

Hazel reached into her bag, smirking as she did, and slipped what looked like a cheese puff into her muzzle. "I'm way too old to be that stuck up... How's Gray doing?"

"It feels... unpredictable," I said. "At times, he can carry a conversation just like anyone else. Other times, he gets caught on something and experiences what I'd best describe as a crash."

Hazel nodded slowly, "It's a bit like epilepsy: the increasingly complex mind gets caught in a loop that leads to a state of over-excitation. The implant detects this, resets the mind, and begins a neural pruning process where needed. It's quite natural, and it will resolve itself with time."

"That's a relief... but, as he is, is he actually sapient, or is he more like a primitive Expert System?"

Hazel shrugged, "That's more of a philosophical question. Any Expert System of sufficient complexity can develop into sapience... It's the same for humans and True Hybrids alike... A newborn baby isn't sapient, but their more-developed form certainly is."

"True," I whispered.

Hazel drew a deep breath as she tipped her head, "There are differences, of course. You can't usually converse with a baby or ask it to recite the periodic table, but the general idea is the same."

"Ah... Though, I have heard that Gray might be a bit different, and that you've been talking with Adler," I said.

She blinked, then swallowed as she started smiling, "I have, yes. Your grandfather's something of a dick, but he's a competent researcher, and he does care more than you might think."

I smiled back at her, "That aside, I was more interested in your discussions about Gray."

"All right... Yes, as I told you when we first met, you are quite interesting as a Dualist, and it turns out that your approach with Gray is the same. To be honest, I'm not sure what to expect or predict."

"Regarding what exactly?" I wondered.

Hazel reached into her bag, "Well, the current generation of uplifted reptines are still reptine at heart. We increase their intelligence, we dampen some instincts and strengthen others, but much of their core remains the same. As such, it is unlikely that they'll be able to fully integrate with Sophos society. But down the line, as we increasingly tweak the uplift to make them a new variety of hybrid, rather than a new form of reptine, that'll change. In Gray's case, he's quite reliant on your mind for basically everything--threat assessment, thought patterns, knowledge in general. It'll depend on Gray, but his reptine side might get sidelined by it all. Is that good or bad? Well, that's another philosophical question."

I sighed as I reached up to rub my brow, "And... what can I do to be less of a dominating presence?"

Hazel chewed, then swallowed, "You assume that your presence is a bad one; I wouldn't. But to answer your question, the only way to diminish your influence is to basically cut yourself off from him. But it might already be too late for that. Based on the data from the implant, the overall architecture of his new mind has already developed, thus the path is set."

"I suspected as much based on what I read in your research... Which brings me to the second point," I said.

"Do go on," Hazel answered.

"I've seen the other reptines around here. They're bipedal," I said.

"Ah, that would be Flare and Umber. They asked to be made bipedal and then opted to leave the lab. Umber is mute, but kind... and Flare is something of a powder keg."

"Why did they opt to leave?" I wondered.

Hazel glanced to the side, "Flare's older sister died due to one of the kill switches I told you about. She was... furious at the world and wanted to '_have a life'_ rather than be stuck in a lab awaiting her own death. Umber was loyal to Flare and followed her unconditionally... We did not question their choices."

"Oh," I whispered.

Hazel sighed, "As for making Gray bipedal... I'd only look into it if he asks for it, and I'd recommend handing him over to us in that case. Nano-surgery on a brain is one thing, experimental large-scale biological remodeling requires a medical pod and active oversight," Hazel said.

"Thank you for sharing," I said.

Hazel looked at me, then idly rubbed her chin as she seemed to ponder something, "... Do you regret it?"

"What?" I asked, "Starting Gray's uplift?"

Hazel nodded in silence.

"... I don't know. Sometimes I find my doubts repugnant in a way. Gray enjoys life, even if it might be confusing now, and I reason that makes it the moral choice. Moments later, I find myself wondering whether I or anyone has the right to do this, and that we simply justify it because the alternatives are even worse... from our perspective," I said.

"Hmm," Hazel murmured as she shuffled back in her sofa with a gentle groan, "We neither seek to enslave nor to hurt life. Sometimes that happens anyway, but as long as we don't get too conceited... I think that's fine."

"Hmm," I murmured.

"And what are you up to now? Has Adler solved his little field manipulation problem so that he can move onto his next obsession?" she wondered.

I huffed, "Not yet... I try to help, but I mostly find myself taking care of the stuff he can't bother doing."

"Well, I'm sure he appreciates your company, even if he doesn't show it. A vacation wouldn't hurt, and the Moon Festival is just around the corner..." Hazel said.

"The Moon Festival?" I wondered with my ears perked.

Hazel made a cheeky grin, "I attended last year, mostly by mistake, but it was quite enjoyable... It's just a few miles to the south, near the water treatment facility."

"Might stop by... I was thinking of doing a bit of traveling," I said.

"Oh?" Hazel mused.

I made a slow nod, "Gray mentioned something he discovered on his travels, a strange spherical hole in the ground. I haven't pinned it down yet, but I'm working on it."

"Hmm," Hazel said as her hand moved near the camera and fiddled with something. "Certainly sounds interesting..."

"Right..." I whispered.

Hazel focused on me once more, "It was nice talking with you, and do contact me again in case you have any questions about Gray."

"I will, and thank you..." I said.

The call ended, and I was left staring at the screen, "... Well, that was rather abrupt."

I put the tablet aside, glanced down on the floor, and saw Gray snoring ever so slightly.

I ought to look up whether Jason has arrived yet...

With a stifled yawn, I leaned back, and--

Darkness filled the room. In less than a blink, the afterglow of the lights faded to nothing and left me in what was effectively a dark void. I blinked again, almost believing I had gone blind for a moment, and reached my hand out in search of the tablet.

As I reached for it, I could hear marching footsteps from outside. I sat up straight, and waited until the door was manually pulled open with a creak. A flashlight shone in my face and made me squint as I stared out.

"... Power loss?" I wondered.

"Something like it," Adler said, then held his hand out in the light, "Leave your tablet where it is."

"... Come again?" I asked and raised my hand to block the flashlight.

"Don't try to contact anyone telepathically and follow me," Adler ordered with barely hidden hostility.

Well, that's certainly a red flag...

I drew a deep breath and eyed him through the flare cast by his flashlight, "I've been very tolerant with your behavior thus far, but you're beginning to cross a line..."

Adler sighed with something of an annoyed growl in his throat, "Do as I say, and I will tell you everything..."

I eased myself off the bed, careful not to step on Gray, while Adler stepped back. He turned, stepped out of the room, and I followed the light provided by his flashlight, "Am I to assume that you pulled the power to prevent anyone from listening in?"

"Power outages do happen in labs like this... But we can't take too long before someone decides to check up on us," Adler said as he walked across the hallway and stepped into the first airlock.

I followed, stepped inside, and Adler motioned to the open airlock. It took some force, but with both hands and a steady pull, the hydraulics of the airlock slowly began to move. With a thump, we were sealed inside of it.

No ventilation, no steady hum from the lab. It was silence only pierced by our steady breathing. Finally, I turned to look at Adler who was carefully easing himself down on the floor. I observed him in silence, curious what he was up to.

Adler pulled out a tablet from his vest, then seemed to notice that I remained in place. "Give me a chance, will you?"

I drew a deep breath, but relented. Carefully, I eased myself down opposite to him, then motioned to his tablet, "You're not scared that thing's going to spy on you?"

Adler eyed me tiredly, "It's my own personal tablet. Everything's handmade, from the components, to the software, to my personal link to it. There's power in being able to make things independent from the system, Vilkas."

"As long as you're not doing it with the aim of harming others," I said.

Adler made a slow nod, "I know how it must look, but harming others is the last thing anyone around here wants... We don't have a lot of time, and I know you simply won't take my word for it, so let's talk... honestly, but in haste."

I took a deep breath and motioned to him with both hands, "I am listening."

Adler put the tablet on the floor, "As I mentioned earlier, you've had to circumvent the System at times as well."

I squinted at him, "I'm not going to admit to anything in front of a device of your own making."

Adler huffed, "Fine, no admission needed, just listen... You needed to hunt down the human cultists in the mountains, but to do so would require access to surveillance data that would violate the privacy of a great many people. In effect, it was an impossible situation where you could only prove the necessity of it by doing the deed itself. The Archives don't have any proof of your actions, thus the System turns a blind eye to it. Athena does the same--she most likely acted as a guide as well, effectively teaching you how to work around her own limitations. It is delightfully absurd."

"It is..." I said.

Adler motioned to himself, "This colony is not a paradise, and it was never meant to be. It is yet another experiment set in motion by Maxwell. He claims that we are now on our own, but to me that just means he has stepped aside to observe his experiment from afar."

I made a slow nod, "That much is obvious to me as well."

"You have not realized this yet, but the reason that advanced Expert Systems were not allowed on this planet until recently was not because of some vapid fear about their stability. The real reason is simply that Maxwell wanted to see how we manage without such systems... But that's only one part of the experiment," Adler said.

"Then there are the True Hybrids, raised in an unknown location, only for them to be introduced to the population as grown adults," I said.

Adler made a slow nod, "That too, but there was a third part to the experiment. Namely, how do Expert Systems function without hybrids?"

"Ah," I whispered, "That is an interesting thought."

"If you were to look in the Archives, you'd see that there have been an influx of Expert Systems that have never been seen before. They were also raised in a virtual colony and were then observed to see how they develop. Apparently, we all passed that part of Maxwell's test, since we're now being put together on a single planet like this..."

"Interesting, though I don't see where you're going with this..."

Adler drew a deep breath, "The point is that while we passed, there were rough spots. Crimes have been made, mistakes have happened, lives were lost. The situation on Earth was tough, but you had a developed system to rely on... To keep you in check, if you will."

"Mm," I said with a nod.

Once more, Adler motioned to himself, "We had no such luxuries. When we made mistakes, we had to resolve our differences in meeting halls, lacking information, doing our very best to hold things together. We've done a good job of it, if I may say so myself... but there are fears now that you are here."

"What?" I wondered.

Adler motioned to me with one hand, "One can argue how realistic it is, but there are many that fear the evacuees from Earth are too strict... That you will look upon our crimes, and you will decide that we need to be punished once more. It is a fear that you won't understand that we did the best we could manage with the circumstances that were."

"... I can understand that fear, but--"

Adler interrupted me, "But it depends on the crime, right? Those of us who have been here for a long time, we're not interested in that... We've put it behind us, resolved it... We don't need you digging into our mistakes and then judging us for good measure."

I made a slow sigh, "... There's so much that's unknown about this, so I'm not sure what to say."

"I understand that," Adler said, "Which is why we're going to force a solution for everyone."

"... What does that mean?" I wondered.

"We're going to propose that all actions before the evacuation of Earth should be forgiven and be rendered immune from legal action. Amnesty, in other words. In return, all the missing data regarding events on the planet will be added to the Archives," Adler said.

"... So, there is a lot of missing data?" I asked.

Adler huffed, "Of course there is. Even us old-timers have near perfect memory... We've held on to all of it, put it on storage drives... If there is anything holy to Sophos, then it's the Archives."

I looked down, "You want assurances... but what if there are crimes that even you don't know about? Horrible ones?"

"Well, the alternative is that the people of Sophos deny our request, and you can do your best to hunt down the missing pieces, but there are parts of this colony's past that will forever remain a mystery," Adler said.

I clasped my hands, "You want a fresh start for everyone."

Adler nodded, "Mm..."

I looked up, "But even if this amnesty goes through, the information is still there. People will look upon a murderer differently, even if it has been legally forgiven."

Adler perked his brow, "We're not really talking about those kinds of crimes, Vilkas. What do you think we are?"

I groaned, "Point still stands. People can read about the past, and you will be judged in the eyes of others, even if subtly so."

Adler dismissively waved his hand, "That is fine... I do not care what others think, but I don't want the System to take my lab away."

"... Ah, it's like that," I said.

Adler smirked, "A bit of hyperbole, perhaps... You'll find that my record is quite clean. I am simply taking steps to ensure what I think is the best path for Sophos."

"And while this is immensely interesting, I still don't see what it has to do with me?" I said.

Adler put his hands to his knees, "Your profile is quite clear in that once you smell blood, you don't let anything stand in your way. It's been weeks since Pax's case, yet you've kept looking... Tracing back his steps, looking for some angle to pry open what he was doing on the Ring. I was getting confident you wouldn't get anywhere, then Gray started talking about the hole in the ground."

"Ah... I think I'm starting to clue things together. Hazel was quick to end the call when I mentioned it, and she leaned on you to take care of me. Which is why you cut the power and brought me here," I said.

Adler smiled a little, "Yes, how observant... Want a cookie?"

I huffed back, "A continued explanation is plenty."

"I figured I'd be able to control you on my own, but Hazel basically threatened to light my ass on fire." Adler reached down to his tablet and unlocked it.

He then flicked through his gallery until he zoomed in on a picture. It showed, quite literally, what was a perfectly circular hole within the landscape. As if someone had taken a giant ice-cream scoop in the earth itself.

At the edge of the large hole was a simple dirt road, something which proved that whatever had been unearthed, must have been quite big.

"That is... quite unnatural," I whispered.

Adler swiped to show another picture, this time what looked a large aerial drone that was shaped like a teardrop.

"And what's this?" I wondered.

"As construction on the ring was being finished, and the Space Elevator was being lowered, a great number of these drones descended on the planet. They were everywhere, peering into windows, breaking into installations, and were found roaming the forests at random. We weren't sure what to make of it, but it was clear that the technology they used was beyond us."

I looked closer at the picture, "I can't see any turbines..."

Adler made a slow nod, "There were turbines--you could hear them--but there was also some kind of repulsion technology to lessen the effects of gravity. No doubt based on jumpspace technology that is somehow capable of being used planetside..."

I couldn't help but smile at him, "Is this part of why you took on your current research?"

Adler made a defeated huff as his shoulders sank, "Anyway... someone put together what can only be described as a massively oversized EMP bomb, then detonated it near a drone. By the time the drone started powering up again, they'd already tied it up and dragged it into a truck."

"If Maxwell is involved, isn't that quite... dangerous?" I wondered.

Adler huffed, "Maxwell is complicated, and there are things he won't tolerate, but he can also be surprisingly forgiving. He likes being challenged in a way, and if we manage to capture one of his drones, then I imagine he'd be more amused than anything else."

"Ah," I whispered.

Adler swiped back to the image of the massive hole and tapped the screen, "They brought the drone here, to the underground High Security Lab #3. They then cracked the drone open, and started their investigation..."

"They... does that mean involve you as well?" I wondered.

Adler shook his head, "I was watching from the sidelines, a consultant if you wish. But I wish I had been there... at least at the start."

I kept my silence.

Adler motioned with his hand, "Sophos tech is enigmatic to humans. Extremely difficult to reverse engineer and not exactly intuitive to their senses. Hybrids though, we're so tightly bound to technology and computing that we can innately understand our own level of technology. But Maxwell's tech is a whole other level of complexity, and we're only now starting to understand that the tech we've adapted to our own uses were actually as complex as they were for a reason."

"Because?" I wondered.

"Because they were designed to be resistant to new attack vectors that were only made possible by jumpspace tech," Adler answered with a nod.

"Ah... Father used to talk about the massive amount of work needed to turn Maxwell's designs into something we could make use of, and now..." I whispered.

Adler smiled, "It's a bit more complicated than that. Our ability to reproduce Maxwell's tech was limited, so it was necessary to adapt it to our capabilities. But in our ignorance, we also stripped away parts meant to protect us from jumpspace technologies. Not that it mattered at the time, because no one had access to such tech on Earth... But now we find ourselves re-engineering old blueprints, and making new realizations about Maxwell's tech in the process."

"Ah..."

Adler made a toothy grin, "I want to see your father's face when he realizes just how ignorant we've all been..."

I pointed to the tablet, "Then what?"

"Reverse engineering the drone was a long-term task, so they turned their focus on the drone's software. But without Expert Systems to assist, that too turned out to be a nigh-impossible task, something that Maxwell no doubt knew..."

"Thus not giving a shit if a drone or two was captured," I said.

Adler nodded, "That's when the ones at the lab screwed up... So royally that I still get angry just thinking about it."

"... What did they do?" I wondered.

Adler met my gaze, "They made their own Expert System. Bypassed basically every safeguard we have and let an uncontrolled artificial intelligence evolve on its own. Then they set it loose on the drone and ordered it to break inside."

"... You didn't try to stop it?" I wondered.

"Easier said than done when you're not there." Adler then tipped his head, "To their merit... what little merit that is, they locked down the facility and wired a kill switch to the reactor in case something went wrong."

I looked down at the image, "The hole is far too perfect to be caused by an explosion..."

"Indeed... Anyway, the AI did manage to break into the drone and promptly went rogue. They initiated the kill switch that shut off the reactor, and apart from an isolated comm-link to the outside, the facility went dark. That didn't help much as the AI had already made the drone its new home, and it started slaughtering everyone inside... using tech we could barely understand."

I gulped.

Adler let out a deep sigh, "Maxwell was... angry, and then we got a show of what the Ring is capable of. It powered up, thunder shook the earth, and then the facility disappeared... leaving behind nothing but a perfectly dug hole. All of us that were involved could feel Maxwell's scorn... the sheer and overwhelming psychic bore as he glared down at us from... somewhere. To everyone else on the planet, it was a weird thunderstorm out of nowhere, but to us it was... shame. Either way, the problem was resolved, but the fate of everyone in that facility is unknown."

"And you... decided to hide this from everyone?"

Adler motioned with his hands, "This is but one mistake, one that I was somewhat involved with myself. Hazel also knows of it, which is why she reacted when you started talking about it. The point is that before the evacuation of Earth, those of us that carried secrets came together and made a plan. We'd arrange amnesty for ourselves, and in turn we'd thoroughly document everything so that future generations could learn from our mistakes."

"Selfish but honest," I said.

Adler fixated on me with a tired stare for a moment, "Amnesty can only be granted if all hybrids are here to vote, which is something that will not be possible for at least another eight months. Up until then, it is important to us that these things remain buried."

"I'm starting to grasp the bigger picture... but why hasn't this hole been spotted by the Ring? By us newcomers, I mean," I said.

"We covered it up, and subtly altered the old maps... Pax's real mission on the Ring was to fetch the data storage devices containing the last of the originals. Their current location is secret even to him and me, so even if you opt to interrogate us, it'll lead nowhere," Adler said.

"... This entire situation reeks, and you know it," I said.

Adler seemed to ignore it, "There are two options... All of this can stay a secret for now, guaranteeing that all our secrets will eventually be known to the world, or you can start hunting us down in a misguided sense of justice, ensuring that you'll never know the whole picture."

I drew a deep breath, and sighed, "So, you want me to help keep your secrets?"

"I'm only asking that you stave your hand for now... Leave Pax be, and don't go digging into the missing lab. In time you'll have access to everything, and you can judge us as much as you want..." Adler said.

I shook my head for a moment, then reached up as I rubbed my brow, "I keep wracking my head regarding what's right and wrong here, but in the end it's quite simple--whether the Archives should contain the truth, or the knowledge should be lost."

"I suspected as much..." Adler said with a simple nod.

"But what makes you so certain that people will vote to grant everyone amnesty?" I asked.

"Because they'll reason in the exact same way that you were doing right now," Adler answered.

I crossed my arms, "I am not pleased with this, nor will anyone else be. People will realize that you are forcing a choice."

Adler tipped his head as he eyed me, "Do you think the rest of Sophos can handle the truth, consider the circumstances, and treat us fairly?"

I eyed him for a moment, "... I do believe that the people of Sophos can handle it. I believe that we can look past human limitations and be better."

Adler huffed and clasped his hands, "I would expect David--your precious father--to be the kind of idealist that would now arrest me, hand everything over to Athena, and then start a witch hunt, but..."

"But?" I asked.

"You say you believe in hybrids, and let's say you're right, but is the same true for Athena?" Adler asked.

"What do you mean?" I wondered.

"I must admit, I was quite surprised when I read about the spy drones your father used. Though I suspect you and your mother had a part to play in it as well," Adler mused.

I tipped my head, "How do you know this?"

Adler motioned to my tablet, "It's all in the archives... David was interrogated after the death of Jason's father."

I frowned, "So you do know 'the human's' name?"

He grew something of a guilty grin, "Of course I do... Anyway, your father opted to tell them about the spy drones, took the blame, and despite it being the right choice, it was also the illegal one. Thus he was punished, discreetly... Fewer allowances, forced to do community service, you know... the kind of stuff that droids usually do at night."

I blinked, "... I did not know this."

"It's rude to dig this deep in the archives, but I couldn't help myself... and I doubt he wanted you to know. You probably had enough troubles on your mind," Adler said. "But that brings us to the other point in all of this."

"... Yes?"

"Athena is a complicated being, one with flaws. She compelled you to commit crimes that she'd be forced to act on if she knew about them... She punishes those that do good, even if the people don't agree with it. She can't help it," Adler said and motioned to his head. "Something hardwired within her mind, no doubt harking back to her time as a human machine."

I looked to the side, "True, I cannot guarantee how Athena or Ares will deal with it."

"Ares won't be much of a problem, he's a pragmatist... So, what will you do?" Adler asked.

I sighed to myself as I reached up to rub my temple at the sheer... annoyance I could feel inside my head, "I will stop digging... But this highlights the weaknesses that are still present in our civilization. We need to be better than this."

Adler reached down as he plucked the tablet from the ground, "We should, and we will. But now it's time to power up the lab again, before someone gets worried..."

"Aye," I whispered and looked up.

62 A.E. April 15,The Burrow - Flywheel Cafe,Midday

I could feel it as I ate. The constant stare coming from the side. A glance revealed that Gray was sitting pretty next to the table, eyeing me patiently as he waited, with his own empty plate sitting next to him. The fact that he was so... patient, made it almost feel worse in a way. As if you were indebted to him for his efforts.

Marching footsteps grabbed my attention, and upon looking up I could see Adler marching through the cafe, eyes focused on me.

What now?

I swallowed, set the cutlery aside, and stealthily slipped my plate to the floor as Adler walked up.

"We need to talk," Adler said, slipped onto the sofa, and shuffled up close to me.

"About?" I whispered, as Gray started munching.

Adler stayed silent as he motioned to his tablet. I looked down and saw a 3 - 3 grid. Each segment was filled with a zoomed-out version of what looked like a model for calculating jumpspace coordinates.

"Look through each one, pick the one you like best," Adler said.

I focused on the tablet for a moment, but I couldn't sense a wireless connection, "By hand?"

Adler pointed to the data port as if annoyed, "No..."

I looked down, pulled the tablet a bit closer, and set my hand down so that my wrist rested, "This couldn't wait?"

"Not really," Adler said.

I willed my wrist tendril to emerge, hooked it up to the tablet, and shut my eyes. Each model he'd made rested in my mind's eye, and they were all based on one of the experiments we'd run with the X-ray knife.

"The actual outcome of the experiment isn't here. These are just predictive models," I said.

"Pick the one you like best," Adler repeated.

With a sigh, I focused on them once more. Math was simple these days, look at an equation, and the answer simply appeared in your mind. It made it difficult to draw a line between making use of the tools built into us, and actually knowing the subject at hand.

This however, was tough. Focusing on each model made my spine tingle with activity, and I could feel heat rising within me, as if the processing clusters within my body were working overtime.

Four __th one? No... Fif_ th one..._

I opened my eyes once more, and pointed to the one in the middle, "This one."

Adler reached out, tapped the middle one, and it turned green while the others became shades of orange and a couple were marked as red. He then swiped the screen, and revealed a new set of predictive models, "Again."

"What is this about?" I wondered.

"Humor me," Adler said as he motioned to the tablet yet again.

Once more, I shut my eyes and focused on the models as the heat grew in my back. "#9."

As I opened my eyes, Adler had marked the last model, and it was one of the few that turned green.

"Right again," Adler whispered while rubbing his temple. "How exactly are you doing that?"

I shrugged, "It's math... I rely on my inbuilt tools to make sense of it."

"It's not... just math, Vilkas. These are the results from our top-of-the-line prediction algorithms. They're both slower than you, and you keep picking the right answer, something which we only know because we ran the actual experiment."

I stared back at him in silence.

Adler met my gaze, "Are you looking up the results in the archives? By automatic perhaps? Are you cheating?" Adler asked, obviously frustrated.

I leaned back, "No... I'm still a beginner when it comes to this stuff, but I can tell whether I'm pulling this stuff from the Archives, and I'm not..."

"Then, how? How can you do this?" Adler asked, staring me in the eyes as he leaned closer.

I withdrew my tendril and pointed to the tablet, "Is there any context to this?"

Adler blinked as he leaned back, "At first I guessed it was pure luck, but the jumpspace corrections for the X-ray knife were a lot more precise whenever you were doing them."

"I just..." I whispered.

"The window for selecting the right predictive model can be counted in seconds, and we're limited in both processing power and sensor fidelity, so we guess. Pick the wrong one, and we get a surge; pick the right one, and the knife works as intended. Since I doubt you're this lucky, it means you've got access to something else... Like a math-package discreetly left behind by Maxwell."

"... I might have an idea of how I got hold of such a thing."

Adler leaned closer, "Go on?"

"I had something of a private chat with Maxwell as the evacuation ship was lifting," I said.

"Yes?" Adler said.

"We talked in something of a virtual world, and he offered me a cup of tea, told me it was 'knowledge I'd need in the future'... I drank from it."

Adler tipped his head and eyed me cautiously, "Can you... access it? Maybe share it?"

"I'll check..." I whispered, and shut my eyes.

It took a moment as I basically grabbed hold of the search function. After a few moments of digging, it came up empty.

'Maddox,' I thought.

The Expert System's presence bubbled to the surface, 'Yes?'

'Were you listening to my discussion with Adler?' I wondered.

'Not really... But I've already caught up on it. Do you want my help?'

'Yes, please,' I thought.

'As you suspect, the jumpspace calculations are not native to your own mind, and they originate from the Zephyr's control module.'

'Any ideas how to access it?' I wondered.

'None... Unless you can order the Zephyr to hand the information over,' Maddox said.

I thought about it, pleaded with his own thoughts, and focused on the Zephyr...

Nothing...

'Any suggestions?' I wondered.

'None,' Maddox answered simply.

I opened my eyes once more and met Adler's expectant gaze.

"Well?" He asked.

"It originates from within the Zephyr, and I can't access it," I said.

Adler leaned back in the sofa, "Knowing Maxwell, trying to dig it out of your Zephyr only has two outcomes. The best is that the information deletes itself, and the worst is that you simply die."

"... Lovely," I said.

Adler looked around, as if suddenly aware we were in the open. He then sighed to himself, and leaned in by my ear, "I would suggest that you avoid discussing this with others. You might not realize it, but you've just become the best navigator in all of Sophos."

"That seems..." I whispered.

Adler continued, "You'd need to be wired into the navigation computer onboard a ship to do this in real time. Athena might do her best to respect your wishes, but if the situation demands it, then Ares would consider you a war asset. Since you're already in the Defense Force, your rights are more limited than others. This is less of a blessing and more of a curse."

"... Fortunately, we're not at war," I whispered.

Adler nodded, "True, still... Many will inquire regarding your help, which... can be quite a pain in the ass if you ask me."

"Including you?" I asked with a smirk.

Adler smiled a little, "This talent of yours will be of use, and the faster we improve our own predictive algorithms, the faster everything will change. Ranging from better tools, to speeding up jumps so that we can get everyone home quicker..."

"That would be..." I whispered.

Adler's smile grew into a smirk, "Good, right?"

"Mm," I murmured with a nod.

There was movement in my periphery, and I glanced to the side. Jack walked up, and while the focus rested on me, he kept glimpsing at Adler. "Want anything else, Vilkas?"

"We're fine, Jack. The meal was lovely as always," I said.

Jack smirked, "Why thank you..." He then looked at Adler, "Didn't expect to see you here again."

"Just having a chat," Adler said, staring at Jack as he did.

I perked my brow, "... Do you make enemies wherever you go or something?"

Adler blinked as if shocked, "No, I don't... Jack and I were--"

Jack thumped his hand against the table as he leaned down and grabbed Gray's plate off the floor. He then rose, eyeing Adler as he did.

You were... what?

I looked at them in wonder, and saw as Adler grew a feral grin while motioning to me, "Vilkas is my grandson, you know?"

Jack looked over at me, seeming genuinely surprised, "Huh, I guess the apple does fall far from the tree..."

They... They almost sound like a bitter couple...

Adler's expression dropped in a heartbeat as his voice drooped, "... That's cold."

Jack perked up all of a sudden, stared behind me, and spoke up, "... Can I help you? Are you lost?"

"Um..." a familiar voice said.

It sent a tingle down my spine, and my nose huffed the air. It was a scent that made my tail spring to life. I turned around in the wide booth and managed to bump the table in the process.

Jason was standing behind the cafe's railing. Last time I'd seen him, he was in the full throes of his transformation--barely lucid, ugly as hell.

Now, he looked different. A canine with a white front, golden-brown hues for the rest, and a modest but gentle muzzle. Green eyes that looked innocent, if a bit scared. His ears were big but held low, something which added to his vulnerable visage.

As a human, his taste in clothing had been... baggy, but now he wore a set of khakis, white shirt, and an open, gold-trimmed, bluish-purple jacket. He was looking at me, but also seemed to have frozen in place, as if hesitant to even breathe.

"Jason," I whispered. I crawled on top of the booth and inched closer.

His eyes widened while leaning back, muzzle hanging open. There was something in the air, a flutter of emotional energy from his nascent telepathy. I leaned even closer, stretching out as I leaned onto the railing until our muzzles almost touched. Jason's muzzle wavered, and his breath shuddered as his hands eased off the railing.

"You okay?" I whispered, angling my muzzle a little as I observed his eyes.

He nodded repeatedly, seeming frozen in place.

"Someone's happy," Jack said with a humored chuckle.

"He'd better stop wagging that tail in my face, or--" Adler murmured before being interrupted.

"Oh, shut it, you bag of--" Jack retorted.

Suddenly, another figure moved up beside me. Front legs reaching out, leaning on the railing beside me, was Gray staring at Jason.

Jason jumped back in surprise, while Gray tipped his head back and forth, "... Jason?"

I reached out to nudge Gray's cheek, "A friend, treat him nicely."

"Mm," Gray answered with a simple nod.

I moved higher, pushed with my legs, and bolted over the railing before landing on two legs. As I rose, Gray followed in my wake, and I looked back at Jason.

His eyes bulged a little as he stared down at Gray, "He... speaks?"

I couldn't help myself as I inched closer to Jason, and almost danced around him. Feeling his shoulder, slipping behind him, nose brushing along the puff of unruly fur that poked from the back of his collar.

Careful now... Don't overdo it...

Jason turned his head to the side as he tried to keep up. Then, I stopped, reached in along the back of his waist, and gently leaned against his back, "Hi..."

His tail perked, it brushed along my waist as it lifted and twirled idly. He started smiling, and whispered back, "... Hi."

You're different...

My grip along his waist tightened, and he pushed against me in a gentle embrace, "Mind if I kidnap you for a bit?"

His heart thumped. I could sense it, feel it, smell it--a warm, primal flustering joy seeping out.

"No," Jason whispered again.

"This way," I mused, and nudged him along.

62 A.E. April 15,The Burrow - Main Foundry,Midday

Jason's gaze locked on the refinery's intricate web of piping as we walked. "Impressive," he whispered, cool air drifting across the walkway.

My hands rested on his shoulders, and I inched closer as I whispered, "It gets better... warmer."

"Huh?" Jason murmured and strained his neck as we marched, yet the view faded from sight.

I couldn't help but ponder our past and tried my best to predict what was going on inside his head.

Were we the same as ever, or had things changed?

While my thoughts churned, things steadily got warmer but darker. It was a heat that radiated from the walls themselves, and a low rumbling that seemed to permeate reality itself.

Minutes later, we stopped by the end of the hall, facing an apparent dead end, and a pitch-black window with a console next to it. I waited a few moments and let go.

Jason looked back, gulping as he did, "Where are we?"

I motioned to the window, then glanced at the console as I reached out with my mind to access its controls. Ever so slightly, I energized the window to allow a glimmer of what was on the other side.

The dark room brightened, Jason raised one hand to shield his eyes, and I squinted.

Through the shielded window, one could see the inferno of the main furnace. A pit many thousands of degrees hot, molten metal radiating with such intense energy that anything flammable would be near disintegrated.

It bubbled, roared with a steady rumble, and slowly shifted like the surface of a gas giant.

With a sudden surge, a spot rose along the center, and a burp of cascading fire rose. Stringy blobs of metal rose, curled like molasses even in its molten state, then landed as it sent slow moving ripples through the rest of the pit.

Jason pushed back against my chest. I held him and spoke, "The main foundry of this place..."

"... Is this safe?" Jason asked while Gray jumped up to lean on the window as he peered out.

"As long as you don't open the window..." I whispered in his ear.

His ear wiggled, "... Hilarious."

"Mmhmm," I murmured, and buried my nose against the back of his head.

Jason stifled a chuckle, reached up, and pushed at my muzzle.

"You're relaxing... Good," I whispered, and eased back.

Jason cracked a smile, showing off a pearly white set of canine fangs. "And you're the same burly wolf that crawled through my window."

I cracked a smirk, showing off my own fangs, and chuckled, "Thank you..."

Jason blinked in wonder, "... Thank you?"

I nodded back at him, "You're welcome."

"You..." Jason whispered as he frowned.

I shrugged, "What? You looked so vulnerable earlier... had to do something to snap you out of it."

He stared at me, averted his gaze after a few moments, and let his shoulders drop, "Right..."

"Thank you for coming, Jason..." I said.

Jason looked to the window, "Who says I came here for you?"

I leaned closer to him once more, "No one, I just missed you."

He kept staring at the window, tail picking up pace. A huge block of mined metal fell from high above. It seemed slow, but only because of the facility's sheer scale.

"Your tail betrays you," I whispered.

Jason leaned closer to the window and bit his lip. "... It's just confused."

"Right," I mused, as the large metal block hit the molten metal. It almost seemed to bounce, pushing down at the considerable surface tension, and at the very last second, it broke through.

Molten material gushed out, slathering the metal block, making it sizzle as flashes of fire shot out. Then, the block started sinking, ever so slowly, gaining a reddish hue as it heated up.

Jason stared as it happened, "I stepped onto the Ring, hoping you'd be there. But you weren't, and I understand why."

"Oh?" I wondered.

Jason glimpsed back at me, "The Ring is crammed full of people. No one goes up there unless they have to, but you weren't waiting in the city either... Which is because it's also crammed full of people, and you try to stay away from that. Most hybrids seem to reason that way actually, everyone seemed intent on spreading out as far and wide as they could..."

"Sorry," I whispered, "I should have left a message for you or something."

Jason waved his arms a little, then came to a slow stop as he looked back at me, "I wasn't criticizing you, it's more that..."

"What?" I wondered.

Jason drew a deep breath and shifted his shoulders for a moment, "It was uneasy wading through everyone, telling my... parents, that I was going to the Burrow. But I did it. I did it all. I used my tablet, talked with computers, talked with people , found a bus... Living life as if it was brand new, seeing everything, big and small, through a new lens. People were happy, friendly, good. I can look up at the sky, see the Space Elevator, and marvel at it rather than feeling disgust."

I leaned a little closer, nudging my head toward his temple as our fur mingled.

Jason shut his eyes and let out something of an exasperated sigh. His telepathic link was little more than embers, and touching him revealed little more than static, but I got the feeling that there was more to it. He might have become a hybrid, but he was still Jason at the core.

"... You're angry," I whispered.

"Yeah... I am," Jason said, then opened his eyes as he leaned back. "I'm angry at you as well..."

"... Why?" I asked.

Jason reached up and tugged at his t-shirt's collar, "... and I feel as if I'm slowly being cooked."

Gray's ears perked as he looked back at us. I huffed, and motioned to the corridor, "Want to stay in my room, or find other lodgings?"

Jason faced the corridor, "Your room?"

"Adler's lab," Gray said randomly as he walked past us.

I nodded as we started walking, "Adler is my grandfather. He can be a bit grumpy, but..."

62 A.E. April 15,The Burrow - Omicron Lab,Evening

"I would have appreciated being asked..." Adler said with a sideways glance, his arms crossed.

I glimpsed back and saw Jason sitting on the hallway floor, hands smooshing Gray's face.

"Which is what I'm doing right now," I said, looking back to Adler.

Adler rolled his eyes, "For how long?"

"Just a few days, so that he can get a grip on what he wants to do," I said.

"Fine," Adler said, "But you're still helping me in the lab, and you're responsible if he irradiates himself to death."

I made a slow nod, "Acceptable..."

Adler huffed as he looked back to the tablet and sauntered off toward the lab's airlock.

It made me sigh, feeling almost relieved as I turned around and walked over to the others. Gray's tail squirmed along the floor as Jason kneaded the lips of his muzzle.

"... So what's the story about this guy?" Jason asked.

I leaned down, "Ask him. His name's Gray."

Jason glimpsed at me, then refocused on Gray as he let go. "... What are you, Gray?"

Gray blinked and tipped his head a little. "I'm Gray, a reptine..."

"Ah, a reptine," Jason whispered.

Gray nodded repeatedly, "I'm being made smarter... I'm a scout. Vilkas saved me."

"Oh?" Jason said softly.

Gray kept nodding, "I help."

"With what?" Jason wondered.

Gray's tail lifted in the air and started swaying as he pondered, "I carry things... I guard... I remind Vilkas of things... I lick plates... I make lists... I help--"

I reached down and stroked his head. "How many entries are there in this list?"

"... 134," Gray answered.

I made a slow nod. "Remember what we talked about?"

Gray's ears folded back, and his tone of voice changed to become more formal, "There's no need to read the entire list. You prioritize the most important and interesting ones."

"Good," I said and gave his inner ear a gentle scratch.

Jason rose up, while I stepped over to my door and opened it wide.

"So..." I said, while Gray walked inside, and Jason peeked into my room.

"A bed, a pile of clothes, and a few rations," Jason said idly, as if making an inventory of the room.

I followed, and shut the door behind us, "It's better than sleeping outdoors... mostly. The air's a bit stuffy, but the warm bath in the bathroom more than makes up for it."

Jason walked along the bed, letting his gaze browse along the room, "I wasn't complaining, it's just that... things were a lot more luxurious back on Earth."

I nodded to myself, stepped over to the bed, and eased myself down on it. It was a bit hard, but cushioned my weight well. Jason moved to join my side, but Gray stepped closer, basically wedging his head between Jason and me.

Jason stopped as he looked down at the reptine, smiling as he bared his canine teeth, "... Are you jealous, or just trying to protect him?"

Gray blinked in silence as he looked up and met Jason's gaze.

"I think he wants more cuddles," I said.

Gray's ears perked while Jason moved to the floor, "Oh, do you now?"

Jason grabbed Gray's face, then settled on scratching along his throat. Gray didn't seem to mind as he eagerly bared his throat. I pulled my legs back, scooted a bit to the side, and then set my paws down, basically trapping Jason in the process.

A moment later I was leaning forward, hands touching Jason's chest, head craning forward as I met his gaze from an upside-down view.

Jason gulped while smiling, and his nose wiggled as I gently caressed his shoulders.

"How are you?" I asked.

Jason blinked, keeping eye contact with me as he kept up his own massage with Gray. "How am I?"

"Mmhm," I murmured with a nod.

Jason leaned his head back, basically pressing it against my crotch. "... I'm fine."

I lifted my head, and looked at the bare wall in front of me, "Sounds like the kind of answer you tell someone to avoid talking about it."

"Because I don't want to make things sour," Jason said, then let go of Gray.

I tightened my grip on his shoulders and roughened the massage, "So there is something... and you're mad at me as well?"

Jason groaned.

"Go on, spit it out," I whispered.

Jason sighed, "It's as if I'm reliving the past, going through my memories one by one, seeing it all through a new lens. When I managed to push that away, I can't stop thinking about what to do next, and suddenly the world feels messy."

"The world is messy," I said.

"And I didn't make it any less messy by basically beelining it over here so that I could crash at your place. What am I even doing here? I don't know, it just..." Jason murmured.

"It just?" I wondered.

Jason drew a deep breath and lifted his shoulders, "In a world where everything is both figuratively and literally new, I needed something tangible from my past. Something to ground me. There's nothing left of my old life, and I felt... lost."

"You're not the only one on this world that feels like that," I said.

Jason lifted his head high enough to gaze at me.

I tipped my head to the side as I met his gaze, "Some more so than others, but I wasn't really talking about myself."

Jason lowered his head, "Yes, you're a bundle of mysteries..."

I poked a claw in his shoulder, "And there it is again... Is this why you're angry with me?"

"... I don't have the right to be angry with you. Now I just find myself wondering what to do next. There's a service on the tablet where you can basically ask the System anything, and it'll answer," Jason said.

One has to wonder if Athena is directly involved or not?

"Mmhm?" I mused.

"I asked it what I should do with my life," Jason said.

"Yes?" I wondered.

Jason's ears clamped to his head as he grumbled, "It printed a single word: 'Anything', then attached a list of... well, basically everything. Studying, farming, even participating in group therapy to help humans embrace this new home of theirs."

I leaned my head down, brushing my nose against the fluff on top of his head. "Not to be an ass, but that's a pretty good answer."

Jason pulled his legs up to his chest. "For someone who has--until recently--only had one path in life, the prospect of anything can be scary..."

"Hmm... How about we ask Jack if he needs some help?" I said.

"Jack?" Jason wondered.

"He takes care of the Flywheel cafe downstairs... We can also see if you can help out in the lab."

"... Thank you," Jason whispered after a few moments.

I shifted my hands to his cheeks, then his ears, and gently scratched. His tail moved along my paw, then squirmed, and he leaned against my knee. A few moments passed, and a shiver ran through his body. A canine murmur slipped from his throat as something primal was allowed to emerge.

It made me chuckle as I smiled to myself.

"... Do you realize what you're doing?" Jason whispered.

"Hmm?" I murmured as I leaned closer to him.

"Touching me... You did the same down there, hand along my wrist, almost flowing over me."

"... Want me to stop?" I asked.

"No, that's not what I mean," Jason whispered.

"Then what do you mean?" I wondered.

Jason reached up, and clasped my hand gently as I stopped, "You've touched me more times in the last few minutes then you have for years when I was human... If you did touch me, it was more of a mistake, or to check whether you had hurt me."

"Well," I whispered, "You weren't much of a touchy feely kind of guy..."

"Sure... That's part of it, but it's more like an excuse for the real reason. Before the evacuation started, when I had finished changing and I dared step outside the house... That's when I first noticed it. Hybrids look at humans with a skeptical eye, fearing that we are..." Jason's voice trailed off.

I resettled my hands on his shoulders and gave him a soft squeeze once more. "Human, hybrid. Don't fret if you're still between worlds and your sense of self keeps shifting."

"Mm," Jason murmured, and continued, "Hybrids view humans as dangerous, and they adapt accordingly. No big gestures, no fangs, ample distance, no touching. Walking among hybrids, as a hybrid, is wildly different. They can smell that you're new to the whole thing, but it triggers something akin to parental instincts. If I stand in the way, they touch my shoulder, gently ease me aside, and make their apologies with a gentle smile. If I look lost, they speak to me. Mom... and it still feels weird calling her that, told me to buy new clothes, an adventure in self-expression. It didn't matter if I bought something or not, she just wanted me to try."

"Yes?" I wondered.

Jason drew a deep breath as he leaned back against me once more. "I visited town, walked the mall, ended up in one of those 'a bit of everything' stores. A woman... a feline. She wondered if I needed help. I mumbled something, turned away, but she cornered me. I froze, she talked, asking simple questions. Part of me thought I'd panic, but... it didn't happen. For each question, she came a little closer, and before I knew it, she was slipping her arm in along my own. Suddenly, we were walking through the store, arm in arm."

Jason sighed, "As a human I would have recoiled at everything she was doing, but this new part of me felt relieved if nothing else... There was comfort, a connection, a warm... pleasant feeling moving through my arm. You have the same touch, the same feeling... It's as if I could fall asleep here without a worry in the world."

I nuzzled his hair once more.

Jason kept talking, "She picked these clothes for me, and I like them... but every time I look in the mirror, I can feel those two sides of me fighting."

"In time, it'll resolve itself," I said.

Jason made a slow nod, "I'll work at the cafe, if I can... I'll do anything. I want to be someone that you can rely on, not the crazy cult-human that needs to be pranced around like a house of cards."

"Jason..." I whispered.

Jason lifted his head a little and stared at the wall, "I've accepted that we can never be a couple, but I do want to be your friend, someone useful--an equal."

"Aw, and here I was, thinking of you as the brother I never had," I whispered.

Jason stifled a chuckle, "... You did say something like that a while back."

I lifted his head a little, then leaned in as I gave his temple a gentle nudge, "I meant it, and now you're also the cutest little brother on the block."

Jason smiled but also frowned, "I'm older than you... you know?"

I gritted my teeth, "I've been a hybrid longer, and you're a lot smaller, so..."

Jason chuckled and shut his eyes. "Little brother, huh... I guess I can live with that."