FSE

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formerly SoFurry search engine

"Clamps are disengaged. Engines are warmed up." Alex leaned back in her pilot's chair and waited for the go-ahead. "We're ready for para-atmospheric launch, Ari."

Ilaria nodded as she checked the status lights of her ship's various bays. "Everything's locked down tight. And the port authority? ...Car? You sure you're--?"

Carmine apathetically checked his console, finding a familiar approval signal even if he didn't understand the language. "We're cleared."

"Thanks, Car." Ari sighed at the hare's moping attempt to feign normalcy. "We've got alien languages to worry about though, so I'm assigning the Roses and Eve in a rotating shift on Comms with you. Don't take that the wrong way."

"It's okay. I don't speak Yangurra... Yangurrat?"

"Yangurraat." Carbon waved a paw in a small salute as a minor apology for the correction. "It's hard to grasp that one. The hard A at the end for plural, then the T to signify an interpretation of the base word. It's sort of like the '-ology' suffix in English, where in this case the way of interpreting the Yangurraa is language."

"Don't make me assign ~you~ to his station too, Carbon." Ari lightly chuckled as she checked the internal and external camera feeds for the freshly-damaged forward cargo bay. "If we're set, let's rendezvous with the fleet. We're all 'go' for launch, so the controls are yours Alex."

Trick grinned as she angled the wings downward and opened the water ballast output, the resulting steam thrust lifting the Starbreeze slowly. "I'm guessing we want to conserve liquid fuel boosters? Or do we want more ballast? I can go slow or fast, Ari."

"No guarantees there's freestanding water on the next planet. Fire up the rocket engines a bit."

Alex did just that, igniting the rocket boosters once they'd cleared a minimum safe distance from the settlement. "We'll be up in a jiffy, guys. Seven minutes to contact."

"Thank you, Alex." Ari relaxed as she monitored her damaged bay, expecting very little to happen. Then Michelle and Mikhaila ported into the bridge by way of an ephemeral hole in the ceiling. "Girls? Seat belts, now."

The two lashed their vines through various safety braces and suspended themselves in the middle of the hologram projector's dedicated space. <Sorry, mom. We were doing some last minute trading and-->

<You were on the planet? Damnit, girls...> Ari shot out a nanite tendril for her children and reeled them into her lap. <Don't take so many risks, my whelps. We could have left you and not known it.>

Mik smiled as she transferred her own tendrils to wrap around the captain's chair. <We we ~did~ like the food there better.>

Chelle cloned her twin's toothy grin. <And the warm water.>

<Girls, don't try to laugh your way out of this. If we weren't at war and being swallowed by a hole in the universe right now things might be different, but we can't afford any mistakes.> Ari sighed and her girls understood the gravity of the situation enough to calm down. <So you were trading? What could you even trade?>

<We had a few shipping containers laying around. You know how rare iron is for these guys?> Mik grinned as she sighed on behalf of her sister, the twin pulling out a small bag and opening it to sparkle in the dim light. <They've got tons of gold and platinum though. We've also got some other stuff like out of it like palladium, iridium... We figured it might be useful.>

Ari gawked at the fine powdered mix of precious metals and sealed the bag so none would be accidentally lost. <Okay, I take back my concerns. Help your uncles make a ring for Zoë and I'll call us even. Deal?>

<Deal. We only need a little gold anyway.> Chelle freaked out and stopped her twin from revealing anything further, but the damage was done. <Um... for a test? Repairs?>

Ari grunted when her recently good girls finally came back into their own. <Nope. Not working, Mik. Come out with it young lady, before I confiscate it all.>

Mik took the bag and offloaded signing duty to Chelle after her slip-up. <Mom, don't be mad. We're... experimenting with tools to defend ourselves. Some of our ideas just require some exotic materials for the matter printers.>

<So you're building weapons. Normally I'd be concerned, but you've proven yourselves capable on the invention front. I can't deny that much when your uncle has a working body again in no small part due to you two.> Ari took a moment to check the hull integrity, finding the internal airlock doors connecting the forward cargo bay were fully intact to her satisfaction. <Finish the weapons, but don't try to use them. I want to approve of them and how you plan to use them first. I'm not letting your imaginations get you killed, my dear whelps.>

Both girls picked up a renewed vigor as they read those words. <Sure thing, mom. We'll go work on them right now!>

<You're such good pups. Thank you, girls.> The Starbreeze quickly angled to match the rest of the fleet and any extra forces tapered off to nothing. <Now scoot. I've got business to handle, then I might come watch you build. You've got me curious.>

"Final orbital shift." Trick stood as she finished typing out a set of autopilot commands. "We'll be in command position in about ten minutes, then we're good to go. Sound good, Ari?"

"Sounds perfect." Ari scanned her bridge crew, pausing as she worried about Carmine again. "We should reestablish data links now that we've got laser comms again. Make our first packet the location of our next dive, then ask for readiness checks. We'll sync up, then we're outta here." Ari checked her watch's star map for the planet Yessot had shown them. "Next stop, oof... Cha... Chloao? Whomever names these things has no mouth."

---

"Niishal..." And elder Yangurra groaned as he reached out a tendril to wake his son. "Niishal, how many times have I called you? You need to pay more attention to your surroundings, especially if you want to sleep in my workshop."

"Chleek! I'm sorry, father!" The young boy snapped upright as his lazy mid-day nap came to an abrupt end. "Is mother cooking supper, Chleek? Should I go help?"

"No, my son. I have something different in store for this afternoon." Chleek slowly waved his hand over until it rested upon a metal and stone alter. "I believe you are ready to learn. You've shown great patience and willpower recently. It is finally time to show you how to use this holy relic."

"The ætiir? Chleek, this is an honor." Niishal hopped to his feet and scrambled to the device, practically hugging it with joy. "I'll do whatever you say. I've been dreaming of this for decades."

"Good, because you must do exactly as I say and it will take centuries to master the art of fiit." Chleek nodded his head as his son touched the device to form a testing Link. "Don't dive too deep. In time you will unlock all of the past experience of our family line. When you and your veile are done, you will be ready to inherit the house of Ors in my place."

Niishal nodded enthusiastically in return. "Yes, father. I will serve our family well in the spirit of the goddess. The house of Ors will be honored."

---

"...Eve? Hello?"

The walking singularity jerked out of her meditative state and locked eyes with Carbon on the dorm room's opposite bunk bed. "S-Sorry. I was... remembering something."

Sydney pulled Carbon over her partially nude form and encouraged a precariously placed, webbed paw to resume rubbing between her legs. "You look worried. Should we be worried?"

"No. My memory's just really spotty after my, nm... metamorphosis." Evelyn laid back and smiled as she watched the two tease each other. "Don't worry about me. You can keep doing what you're doing."

"Sorry. I'm just hormonal or something, and we finally got Lea to sleep..."

Carbon probed two fingers partway into his meerkat while another two pointed to the bed above Eve. "I'll ~happily~ oblige, but she's only just over there and you're not the best at keeping the noise down."

"Only when you're taking point, otter."

"About that..." Carbon wiggled out of pants and revealed he was actually more male than female at the moment. "It's been a while, hasn't it? Think you could take it quietly?"

"I'm not sure..." Cid shot a strange look toward Eve. "You don't have to focus on me though. We finally have Eve here for real and--"

"Oh no you don't. No backing out when you're the one that started it." Carbon leaned in and gave his love a kiss. "Let's get working on another kitten for my meerkitten."

"Don't you dare. I want some time to enjoy not feeling like ~crap~." The meerkat pulled Carbon closer and kissed his neck. "I just want to relax. If you and Eve want to make babies though, I won't stop you."

"But I want to fool around with ~you~ right now, meerpuss--"

Cid gave Carbon a death-grade bear hug as she lowered her voice. "You're exceedingly dense today. Welcome her back properly, idiot. Don't keep a lonely girl waiting."

"Alright, alright. Just don't complain later when--"

Everyone froze as Fleur burst into the small room embracing and kissing Buck. "Oh, well..." Evelyn condensed herself back into a crystal around Carbon's neck to clear the way as the two fell onto Fleur's bed. «What exactly should we do here?»

Carbon replaced whatever joy and excitement he had in his body with raw frustration. Then Buck's hands slid beneath Fleur's clothing and drew out a gasp from the girl, which in turn drew a grunt from her foster father. "Ahem. Kids..."

Buck froze with Fleur's removed blouse in his paw, allowing Fleur to frantically shove his arms away. "Papa! J'ai pensé que vous étiez avec Madame Ilaria!"

"Fleur... What have I said about English?"

The frenzied elk rolled Buck behind her and threw her sheets over him as if that might accomplish something meaningful. "<Papa, how can you expect me to care right now?!? Can you just leave us...?>" Fleur's face flushed red as she realized her parents were wearing far less clothing than herself. "<I'm very sorry! You don't know how mortally embarrassing this-->"

Carbon sighed as he covered Sydney before Buck realized her true self. "<Fleur, I'm not... really upset.>" He pulled up his dropped pants and walked over to the pair, immediately shooting out a vine to steal Buck's wallet. "<He better have a fucking condom though...>"

Fleur hunched forward and pulled a few condoms out of her pant pocket. "<Papa, I... I make sure we're safe. I would never be so careless.>"

"<Good. As long as you're thinking about the consequences, I won't complain what you choose to do.>" The hybrid tossed the wallet back, then returned to help Sydney stop hyperventilating beneath her own sheets. "<I guess it's hard for the both of us to make love to our partners while sharing a room. You're young though, so have your fun. We'll leave you alone.>"

"<Papa? But we were the ones intruding...?>"

Carbon rubbed Cid until she stopped shaking, then stood to calm Leannan as she woke from the commotion. "<No, enjoy your new love while you can. Savor it, because next time I might not be so lenient when this brute wants to split my daughter open on his massive manhood.>"

"<...He understands French, Papa.>"

"<I know.>" Carbon picked up Lea and cradled her as he headed for the door. "<We'll give you some time. Please make sure you clean up after, for your new sister's sake. And English, young lady.>"

"Oui--" Fleur bit her tongue and tried that again. "Y-Yees, Papa."

Sydney finally dressed herself, though her close call still left a shake in her step as she lifted herself off the bunk. "We're taking a walk?"

"We should give them an hour or so. Let the kids be kids while they still can enjoy it." Evelyn reformed her body and took Lea for Carbon. "I hope you'll agree with me, Carbon."

"I'd have punched his face in if you weren't nagging me not to on our Link." Carbon fixed up his belt properly and huffed out a final sigh on the matter. "But I suppose he does make our daughter happy. She deserves that, what with this damned adventure she was forced into."

"She's enjoying this, all of it. She looks up to you and wants to help you, no matter how or why." Eve rocked the kitten in her arms until she finally calmed down. "There's a bond there, and I think you've forgotten about it. I remember when she started dressing up nice, trying to match you in that old uniform of yours. And when she decided to climb up the ladder at Lambda when she was still just your height."

"Eve, I know all this."

"No, you apparently don't. I'm... I'm remembering this all over again for the first time, Carbon. My memory isn't the same now that we're disconnected, and all of this..." Eve gave Lea a kiss on the head and smiled. "You know why she wants to be the Lambda Tower Hotel's concierge? She wants to follow in your footsteps, to make you proud of her. She knows it's a male dominated field, so she changed even more by acting like a man. She has a hard time with English, but she forces herself because you ask it of her." Evelyn looked up to Carbon and seemed like she'd be crying if it were possible for her. "You are Fleur's life, and she wants nothing else. That's not good for her. The sooner you realize that, the sooner you two can start being a real family instead of a... a master and pupil. I don't want you turning out like your--"

Carbon teared up as his former veile came into her own. "Evelyn... I didn't..."

"When we were at that damned reactor, I saw her just giving up on life without you! Then you let yourself go to waste without me and you were about to die, and poor Fleur--!"

"Eve, are you sure you're alright?" Sydney walked over and took Leannan so Eve could have some space. "You're not acting like I remember you. Is there something we can do to help that?"

"No... I'm just really tired. I'm still getting used to being by myself like this. Sorry." Eve faded away, reforming into a crystal again. «I feel better like this, Carbon. I'm confused when I'm not Linked with you.»

«Yeah... I'm the same too. I can't remember things without you. Hell, I was dying without you.» Carbon wiped his eyes clear just as Ilaria's girls ported into the Barracks common area. «Take a breather, Eve. We can help each other when we're both in a better place. I swear I won't screw things up with Fleur until then.»

«I'll try to center myself. I love you.» Eve appeared on Carbon's shoulder and curled up into a ball. «Which is why I can wait. Show Sydney how much you love her, too.»

«I promise I'll do just that. Good night, hon.» Carbon nodded as Eve faded away from his mental sight, but before he could act upon his promise the twins walked up to him. "Girls? What's up? Looking for your mothers?"

The girls shook their heads as Michelle signed out a response while Mikhaila spelled it with hard light holograms. <We have a gift for you. For the both of you, as a matter of fact.>

Cid held her daughter closer instinctively. "Gifts, eh? Why does that make me nervous?"

"You know they mean well by now, even if their methods are... questionable." Carbon stood tall and looked up into each of the twins' eyes. "You actually mean a ~real~ gift, don't you? Interesting. What's the occasion?"

<We want to protect our family.> The twins giggled between themselves as they decided to open a portal below the group. The five ended up gently sliding longways into a dusty bed, thankfully with baby Lea still in her mother's arms. <Welcome to our secret lair!>

"Goddess... Only you two would ~actually~ have a secret lair." Carbon sat up first, the twins following suit promptly. "Where is this? One of the other fleet ships?"

"No. I remember the architecture, especially these crappy doors." Cid slipped off the side of the bed as she calmed down Leannan. "We're on that enemy barge. Must be the crew quarters."

<Correct! But now that you know this, we're afraid we have to kill you.> The girls grinned as they hopped out of the large bed and ran for the hallway door. <Our shop's just around the corner, in the least damaged construction bay we could find.>

"Oh, so you've been repairing this thing? I guess that explains how the engines started working again. I'm sure the Argentina is happy not to be towing it any longer." Carbon eased out of bed and followed the twins into the hall. "I'm guessing that isn't our gift though. Right?"

<Nope. We definitely did better than that. Sydney in particular should enjoy hers.> The girls stopped briefly at a door and waited for the larger bulkhead to open. <This is it. Please don't touch anything. Pretty much everything is dangerous in this room.>

"Thanks for the warning." Sydney took her child barely into the large room, but held back against the wall so Lea would remain as safe as possible. "I'll hang back here. Go have fun, Carbon."

"I'll make sure yours doesn't blow things up and then we can swap. Good plan?"

"Yeah, good plan."

"Love you, Cid. You too, baby girl." Carbon kissed Lea's head and returned to the twins. <So let's see what you've got cooking, ladies.>

<Sure! You'll get a kick out of your--> The girls paused as they spotted Ilaria, Iolvin, Adrian, and Zoë fooling around with a workbench. They squeaked out a wordless warning, but without being able to hear or speak they ended up falling back upon Carbon. <Help! Tell Yoyo to stop!>

Carbon checked the otter in question just as he started toying with a small cylinder. "Yoyo, the girls are saying to stop whatever you're doing."

"Ah, whatever. I'm just checking out this stuff since they left us here alone." Yoyo grinned as he finally figured out how the device activated, a barely visible string of wire spooling from one end. "Oh, cool. So it does do something. What's this?"

Dee sighed as the girls freaked out and picked up their pace. He reached out to stop his husband but the spool yanked away playfully. "Yoyo, they said not to touch anything. This stuff could be dangerous."

"Yeah, but this is just wire. See, look at--" Yoyo tried to lift the wire with his robotic fingers, but they just passed through like they were a slight breeze. Then the fingertips simply fell to the floor, inflicting a massive bolt of pain moments later. "Ah! Fuck! Oh fucking--!"

Ari stepped over and removed her brother's arm. "It's alright, Yoyo. Just break the nerve connections and it stops."

"Honey!" Dee held his husband and refused to let go. "Gods... Don't scare me like that! That could have been your real paw!"

Michelle stomped over and snatched the cylinder, rewinding the wire into the chassis. <Idiot. These are weapons. We told you that.>

Mikhaila took her uncle's arm from her mother and placed it on the table. <Chelle, calm down. Nobody was hurt by your blade.>

"Did I read that right? That's a blade?" Ari frowned at the idea, but gave her daughters some leeway with their recently good behavior. "Tell me about it, Chelle."

<The wire is a helical monofilament of carbon. It's like chain-linked diamonds, to be crude.> Chelle extended the wire about two feet and let it hang limply, then formed a thin barrier of hard light around it to force the filament into a rod. <Normally it cuts easily through almost anything, but that's unsafe. When I do this, the hard light prevents it from cutting until I shatter the shielding.>

"So... you made a sword--a really nerdy sword. Gods, you really ~are~ my kids." Ari took the device, then retracted the wire while the barrier remained. "So if this breaks the wire follows through with momentum?" She tapped the corner of the workbench a few times, harder and harder, until the hard light shattered away like glass. "Well that's a smart idea. I'm glad you're at least thinking about safety, Chelle."

<I have something else I wanted to use, but... I want you to teach me.> Michelle reached under the tabletop and pulled out a collapsed device. She flipped a power switch and then unlatched a physical catch and the device snapped into the shape of a bow, though quite small and much straighter than a recurve. <I want to be as good as you. I think about how much our other mom loved watching you and...>

"Baby girl... I can't even imagine how hard it must be sharing your mothers' memories." Ari took the device and gave it a pull of the corded-metal string. "Holy crap. Do you measure the draw strength of this thing with two digits or ~three~?"

<Three. It's currently set for one hundred and eighty pounds, though it's adjustable for the draw.> Chelle tapped the power switch and the bow's staves disconnected from each other. <The whole frame holds together with magnetics and the draw strength comes from a magnetic current trying to straighten the metal line.>

"Really cool and all, but I'm not teaching you at full strength. We'll start safer so you can build up your muscles properly for stamina and control. Okay?"

<Yeah, mom. I think the lowest it goes without breaking apart is around seventy pounds. We can... start low, I guess.>

"Thank you, sweetie. So, what's next?"

Mikhaila pulled out a stubby rifle with a large stock. <I'd like to use this one. It's a lot like Uncle Yoyo's rifle, but with larger shells and a trajectory programming system.>

"I ~knew~ your whelps used aim bots. They always win Bark of Valor against me in head-toHead fights." Yoyo grabbed the rifle awkwardly with his one paw and gave it a quick inspection, figuring out everything except the basics of the breach. "Hey, how does this actually load rounds? It looks like an open box mag, but the slide...?"

<Lever-action, sort of.> Mik rotated the paw guard ninety degrees to the right side, then flicked it forward to open the breach and trigger a carriage ejector system. <There's a turnkey lock like a bolt action so the rounds have a solid back to fire against.>

"Alright. That's pretty cool, and I guess it solves the issue of firing a lever rifle while prone." Yoyo took a moment to run through the whole firing cycle on the table. "So what's it fire? The muzzle bore is huge for its short length."

<Oh, one moment.> Mik ducked below the counter and scrambled through a few containers, returning with a ceramic shell the size of a small grenade. <This is a test round of the largest size. It'll pretty much fire everything smaller than this too. You need a primer charge though.> She pulled a steel and copper disc from her pocket and placed it behind the shell, then dropped the combination into the breach. <Instead of charging up from a shared battery, you use disposable capacitors. More to fiddle with, but less downtime compared to your rifle.>

Yoyo took the two items out of the chamber and gave them a closer inspection. "This looks surprisingly similar to a forty millimeter grenade, Mikki. I'm not sure I trust that sort of firepower with you quite yet."

<I'm not planning on using explosives yet. There's a few ideas for two-stage guided delivery platforms though.>

"So smart rockets? Yeah, that just made me cum in my pants a little."

Ari shook her head at her twin. "Yoyo..."

"Sorry. They probably get more ass than we do though, so it isn't like we need to shield them from that language."

Carbon stepped in once he saw his baby girl was getting restless. "Can we speed this up, guys? I'd like to sit and talk, but Lea..."

Yoyo passed the rifle back and then raised his paw in defeat. "Yeah, good point. Mikki, honey? Why don't you get to Carbon and Cid next?"

<Oh, I have Carbon's!> Chelle walked over to a shelf behind her and produced a strangely ancient yet high-tech shotgun. <I'm relatively sure you know how to use this. We've got vague memories of this in your paws.>

"Damn straight. That's like my old Winchester, engravings and all." Carbon paused at the name, forcing himself not to think about Ilaria's late wife. "So you restored it? No, that's not your style. What's the gimmick?"

<It uses capacitor pucks and small gas ampoules, very similar to Mik's gun.> Chelle smiled as she loaded a round into the top chamber, aimed at a wall, and fired. Instead of shot or even an explosion, a silent hiss of gas and a clacking ratchet of magnets signaled a tight spread of light. <It fires lasers! Well, more like the lasers carry gas particles that do the actual damage, but... laser shotgun!>

Carbon walked over with a loud chuckle. "You know the path straight to my heart." Carbon flipped open the breach and caught the ejected round, noting that no gas cartridge had been loaded for safety reasons. "Ex's lasers work the same way. I'm guessing that's not a coincidence?" Carbon checked further, finding a very specific notch of wear on the inside of the lower barrel. "And I'm guessing you used my actual gun, too? A heads-up would have been nice, but I suppose the surprise was worth it."

"Michelle! Mikhaila! Is that true?" Ari snorted in fervent frustration at the averted gazes she got in response. "That's too far, young ladies. You've earned yourselves--"

"It's alright, Ari. No harm, no foul." Carbon checked his updated weapon and shrugged his shoulders. "Well... I mean, I can't fire normal cartridges anymore, but I do have my newer shotgun for that."

<You can fire ballistic shells. The new mechanisms are in the stock. We polished the barrel for better reflectance, but it still has a firing pin.> Mik reached over to some sort of very dully-bladed tool and gave it to Carbon. <We don't want to be dead weight anymore. All you have us do is open portals. We can make so much more though, without being an inconvenience.>

"I understand, hon. There was a time when my sole job was to sit around all day with nothing but the same books to keep me company. Being useful feels so much better than that." Carbon placed his new shotgun on the workbench and gave the odd paw tool a closer inspection. "So what's this thing? I see switches and stuff, but I'm guessing it's dangerous?"

<This is for Cid.> Chelle took the tool while Mik explained her demonstration. <We call this a 'glass hook' for a very cool reason. Pulling the trigger adds more and more electric charge to the surface of the blade. Squeeze the long finger's trigger and it shoots out an ionized marker.> The device made a high-pitched pop, then a moment later a bolt of lightning connected to the ceiling where Chelle aimed it. <Then you flip the thumb switches towards or away if need be and the cool part happens.>

Cid started walking over out of curiosity, her interest piqued when the bluntly-bladed head of the device shot towards the lightning's impact point. "What the hell is that?" She watched onward as the head lodged itself in the molten impact point, followed by a connecting wire reeling itself taught. "Holy crap. Crazy grappling hook? Where can I get one of those?"

"It's yours. This is apparently what they wanted to give you." Carbon smiled as he relieved Sydney of baby duty so she could play with her new toy. "If it works off electricity, it might be right up your alley. Girls, does it discharge that shock any less violently?"

<If in physical contact it'll discharge whatever you end up feeding into the capacitors.>

"So... taser gun on steroids, then?" Cid grabbed the device then fiddled with the controls, figuring out that the thumb stick controlled the wire reel in the inverse direction she assumed. She reeled herself a meter upward, the hook having effectively welded itself into place such that it supported her weight. "Okay, you girls just got taken off my list again. This is great!"

"Off her ~list~?" Ari inquired.

"Yeah... let's just say she keeps quite a few, and you don't want to find yourself on any of them." Carbon slapped Cid's tail a few times to tease her. "You should maybe figure out how to get down before we go piñata on your sexy ass."

"Yeah, yeah... Oh, but it's stuck, so..." Cid tried a few things until finally she charged and discharged the hook's head. This temporarily made the anchor point molten again and allowed the hook--as well as the meerkat attached to it--to fall violently to the floor. "Ah! Crap... I think I need some practice with this thing."

"Well you can get all you need in the cargo bay, hon." Ari helped Sydney to her hindpaws and helped dust her off. "Just try not to ruin my ceilings too badly... or cause a breach. Breaches are bad."

<Cid can try in the other bays on the barge, mom.> Chelle walked over to a console and brought up the status of the construction barge's various construction bays. <There are three large bays that are still basically intact, but without air or gravity systems working.>

Mik smiled as she added, <That may or may not be due to us destroying the primary power reactor when we had to fight this thing.>

<Yeah, true. The ship is still structurally intact in most places though, and we could patch it up. If Cid wants to make use of the empty areas while we do repairs and she remembers to wear her suit, we won't mind one bit.>

"Aha. I see what's going on here now. Like mother, like daughters." Ari grinned with a hint of pride as she roped her children in for a group hug. "If you want to command your own pet project ship, go right ahead. We're only keeping her around for spare parts and the computer's contents, so be mindful of that and she's all yours."

"And actually," Carbon started with a bit of hesitation as he checked the ship's status, "how would you two like a crew? The living quarters are fully intact and even still have backup safety systems..."

"Oh yeah. Good thinking, otter." Cid gave the hybrid a quick kiss for the forward family planning. "We were just having an issue with living areas before we got here. It's hard to raise a baby girl in a small barracks dorm room, even if you take the horny teenager component out of the mix."

"Uh... horny what?" Yoyo quirked his head at the comment, his eyes naturally settling upon Zoë. "Oh, you mean Fleur? Is she in heat again?"

Carbon drooped his head at the thought of returning to the room and finding the odor of sex lingering. "No, worse. She's in ~love~."

Ari nodded, herself knowing exactly what Carbon was thinking. "Well I only see one problem with it. I don't like the idea of stranding a baby here. You two have suits, but the only current way to change ships aside from that is through portals."

<We can prioritize fixing the docks first.>

Chelle added a bit of clarity to her sister's words. <We don't know how those systems work though, so it might take a while.>

"Well you two are using those vibrating wristbands we cooked up still. Thank you. For now, make sure to help Carbon and Cid if they call you." Ari sighed as she worked out a longer term plan. "I can spend a little more time with your new siblings and that might let Rhyme help with the repairs. We've got about two weeks until we reach our next destination, so there's thankfully time for this sort of thing."

"Sounds great. Finally, a bed to ~ourselves~." Sydney practically shivered at the thought, signaling that her hormones were still primed to make her randy on a whim. "When can we move in?"

"I only heard that as 'When can we ~have sex~?' dear." Carbon giggled as he gave the girls head rubs. "Might we oblige? Oh, or would you rather give out the rest of your gifts first?"

The twins threw open a pair of portals back to the Starbreeze with a pair of large grins. <We're always ready to help our crew!>

---

"Poor guy." Rose pouted as she watched Carmine lifelessly slump his way down the port hallway. "At least he's stopped crying. It still feels like he won't ever recover though. And... it must be lonely having a room to himself."

"Ze 'eart eez ze 'ardeest oorgan to 'eal. Coompany eez ze best medeecine for zis..." Fleur sighed as Themis, Phoebe, and Rose practically twitched in confusion. "Pardon... Ze ha... heart eez... h-hardeest--"

"I think they get you jus' fine. You're getting better at English, ma belle." Buck smiled for his new girlfriend to set her at ease. "You're doin' a might good job o' makin' your pops proud. Bet'cha' that ain't got just to do with him findin' my paw down your pants, does it?"

"Non, non. Ee joost... just... Ee want to make papa proud." Fleur caught a glimpse of a dive prep warning in a nearby console and grabbed a railing. "Ah, vous... yous?... Ah, yous may want to 'old zomsing."

"You got it, sugah." Buck wrapped an arm around Fleur's waist and the other through the same railing she held. "So sexy..."

"Mon chevalier..."

"You've started calling him that a lot recently." Phoebe grabbed the railing on the opposite side of the hallway and offered a paw to his twin brother. "We've been trying to figure that out, but Jeeves says he doesn't have enough to compare against yet for some of those words."

"It means 'knight'... you know, like 'chivalry'?" Rose ducked her head beneath the boys' linked arms and used them like a fluffy seatbelt. "As to why... Have you ever heard her try to say Buck's name? Think about it."

Themis lit up with a huge smile as he playfully mocked the Frenchwoman. "Boo~k"

Pho chuckled and gave his own try. "Bahk."

Rose giggled as she pulled the twins closer. "Exactly."

Oddly, while Fleur wasn't amused at the joke at paw she did find a reason to giggle alongside her friend. "Ifs Ee deedn't know ahny better, Ee would say... Non..." The elk fell silent for a moment as the gravity cut out, her eyes piercing directly into her best friend's soul for the short duration of the ship's dive. "Mon renard d'un ami... Y-Yous 'ave made yous first pirouette?"

"No, for real?" Buck took in the baffled expressions on the twins' and Rose's faces. "That's slang for makin' love, guys. Doin' the belly button dance? Climbin' the curtains? Playing a game of legs in the air? Nothing ring a bell?"

Fleur let herself mutter out one of her favorites. "...Faire crac crac, boum boum..."

Buck chuckled as he tossed his hands upward. "An' this is why I say Française's the ~best~ language."

"Um... Uh..." Rose got the hint before the boys did for once and hid her mask behind their arms, at least until the gravity kicked back into gear. "H-How...?"

"Eentuition, Rose. There eez zis ~glow~ about yous face." Fleur grinned as she puled Fleur to the side. "Who was eet? Ze local flavour? Tasteeng ze love for ze firzt time... C'est incroyable, non?"

"...~Oui~. It was..." Rose occasionally gave the twins a brief check as then mentioned something to Buck, but just the slight smiles they returned forced an awkward grin of her own. "It was perfect."

"...Ménage à trois...?" Fleur lit up with a huge smile as well when she finally figured things out. "Ze tweenz? Yous made love weeth zhem? At zame time?" Her friend's silence and accelerated blushing spoke volumes. "Good for yous, Rose. Ee had a feeling about ze tree oof yous."

"I took a chance and it led to a good thing. Thanks for the support, Fleur." When she realized her friend only wanted the best for her, Rose reached up and poked Fleur on the tip of the nose. "And it's just 'you' for the record. I know they're similar sounding words, but if you're going to correct anything start with pronouns. They lead to the most confusion even without the accents and crap."

"Ee weel give eet more effort, Rose. Ee only ask for you help. Please, for papa." The elk smirked as she gave the twins a good looking over, now in a more sexual light. "Ee pay with ze... mooral support. Maybe ze pheesical too, if maybe eez, eh..."

"Hey, you gave me the push to finally make a move on those two. Maybe..." Rose lowered her voice, but fought past giggles as she eked out a rough offer. "Well, maybe there's enough to share if Buck's willing."

"Oui!"

---

"No, son... Goddess, no." Chleek Ors groaned and held his head in his hands as his son created a simple stone cube on the ætir. "This is all wrong. You do not heed the memories of your elders."

"But father... I made a block out of glintstone as you asked." Niishal stared at his creation, confounded in the simply negative critique. "What did I do wrong? How may I learn from this?"

"Don't ask me when you have the answer before you, son. Peer into the Link." Chleek sighed as he sat back in his chair. "Our ancestors will guide you, if only you listen."

"But... there's lifetimes of experience in here. How am I to find only one stone cube amidst this mess?"

"Bah! Even your younger sister knew this much when she stole a forbidden look." Chleek stood and tried to calm himself down. "It is not what you built that is wrong, but how and why it was built. Don't find answers, Niishal. Ask questions, then let your veile do the rest."

Niishal closed his eyes for a moment, so he might speak with his veile more clearly. «Why... Ugh, why should this cube even be built? What purpose does it serve? What in Xor's realm does he care so much?»

The boy's companion took a moment, then reeled in a few related memories from the ancient device. «Display items are not structurally important, according to five of your ancestors. Perhaps it would be wiser to use less materials?»

«Yes, of course!» Niishal shot open his eyes with a creative fire burning in them. "The cube should be hollow. Why make it solid and heavy if it's only to be looked upon?"

"Good, my son! Finally, some progress!" Chleek nodded with approval as he rested both hands on his son's shoulders. "Perhaps the house of Ors won't be the first with a female heir after all. Honor will be ours, Niishal."

---

Carbon shot awake, sitting upright in his new bed. He adjusted his mask and checked that Sydney was still asleep, only then realizing his death grip on Evelyn's crystal. "What... What the hell was that?"