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<UEDF Io Space-yard> [April, 2087]

Once the actual ship began being built, time seemed to speed up. Each day was filled with dozens of tasks that Canith needed to oversee, questions to be answered, and occasionally tempers that needed to be soothed. He managed it, and quickly became rather liked around the shipyard. He tried very hard to not grow irritable with anyone, and made sure to smile as often as could be permitted.

Of course, there was a flip side to this. Bethany, or Beth as she liked to be called, was often as not doing the same tasks. Canith might be working with the structural engineers on the starboard nacelle, while Beth was in the forward areas designating where bulkheads would need to go or doors could be placed. At her heels the whole time was Aura, at Canith's behest. She had a knack for getting people to listen to her, and with Aura there backing her up, no one questioned her about it.

Aura actually drew only a few glances the first week that they started shadowing Beth. A few probing questions on the subject only yielded that they were a remote controlled AI platform designed by the director. Beyond that, no one really knew anything, and judging by how efficient everything was going no one bothered to dig any deeper.

On Davis' side of the house, everything was going just as smooth. With his promotion, and ongoing vigilance, security protocols were put in place to limit access without authorization rather quickly after the first panels were connected, and the teams were limited to 2-3 security personnel in patrols, but plenty of them. He drilled them mercilessly, everything from fire drills to hull breeches, terrorist bombings to meteor showers. If he could think of it, he drilled it. And while he did this, Canith and Aura made sure to pay attention to how the troops moved, planning for their eventual escape. After all, Davis knew of this due to a meeting that took place a few weeks after Canith returned from his vacation.

"I know you have been rather curious as to why I am working on this ship." Canith said one evening to Davis as they reclined in his office.

"Nah, I know you are the one who won some competition to design it, and wanted to oversee it. Anyone who put this level of detail into plans would of course want to see it done right."

"That may be true, but there is more to it of course."

"Like what, you going to just walk out with it or something? I doubt you could manage that." Davis was being flippant about it, but when Canith did not respond he stopped and stared at him. "Wait, you cannot be serious. Really? That's a bit far-fetched. You would need a crew to pilot it, one to run the engines, and on top of that you would have to clear security off it."

Canith listened to Davis list off the various logistical issues with trying to pull their plan off, but said nothing and only smiled. This, of course, forced the officer to think harder.

"Your AI is probably more familiar with the ship than anyone else, and probably has a back door that can run the bridge. So that is one part. I know you have been real friendly with some of the scientists, so they might manage the engineering. But I still don't see how . . . " He stopped as the pieces fell into place. "Me." He said simply, with a bit of sadness to his tone. "You groomed me to fill a command position, so that you could get me to clear the ship for you when the time comes."

Canith sat back and grinned. "Got it in one. I knew I picked a smart man for this." He motioned for Davis to continue. "So how would you do it? Clear the ship, that is."

Davis swallowed, as he realized that as bad as this seemed, he had sort of asked for this, back when he had cornered the director of this project. But, being a trooper, he just took a deep breath and outlined his thoughts. "Drills. I can run drills. Not just one type, but multiple. Prepare the team for anything. Once they have the drills ingrained in muscle memory, you give the word and I do one that clears the ship. Lock the airlocks as they leave, and there you have it. One empty ship."

Canith let out a small sigh. "So I am guessing you are not opposed to helping me?"

"I should be, but honestly you have treated me better than any of my supervisors to date. And whatever you have planned, I don't think it's malicious." This put Canith a bit more at ease, but the next part brought a grin to his face. "However, I am pretty sure it is safe to say I will not be welcome here after the heist, so it would be best if I came with you."

"Of course. If you are with me, I don't abandon friends. Assuming you are okay with being my friend?" Canith leaned forward at this, holding out his hand.

Davis took it, his grip firm but not overpowering ('As if he could' Canith thought to himself). “That is good to know. As I said, you treat me right and you have my loyalty."

The scientists were more perceptive than Canith gave them credit for. The wife asked for a meeting, and it was going the same was as usual, until she turned to Aura who was sitting quietly in the corner.

"Aura, please be a dear and lock down the area. I would rather this conversation not be overheard." This put Canith on full alert. He had counted the couple as potential allies, and good candidates for being changed. She noted his reaction, and smiled. "Don't worry. You are in no danger with me. As I said, I would rather this conversation be kept between us and my husband."

Canith shot Aura a mental command, and they did as asked, locking the area down. While doing so, Aura reassured him that they had let nothing slip.

She listened for a moment after the lock down was put in place before speaking. "You can change your looks, but your mannerisms apparently don't change, Darion Sygon."

Determining that trying to bluff his way out of this situation with future allies would be a bad call, he opted for a touch of honesty. "What gave me away?"

She smiled, and gestured to Aura. "While not directly tied to the main office, we all heard stories of the prodigal son of the company heads. When he vanished, we did some quiet digging of our own. After all, if someone that high profile could vanish like that, anyone could. What we discovered was something interesting. It was that, along with yourself, your personal AI- one AURA prototype named the same, was also missing. But most telling of all was how cleanly you got away."

"So you are familiar with my past, but that doesn't tell me how you came to the conclusion on who I am." He said, spreading his hands out.

"Ah, yes, I digress. You personally did nothing wrong, except maybe an over familiarity with the Sygon company system and how it works. What truly gave you away was Aura. While you can claim that the naming is similar by coincidence, you honestly can not tell me that an AI with protocols and system resources as vast as yours is anything but the product of a genius with the world at his fingertips. The fact that it resurfaced with you only confirms your identity."

"Huh, I can see you are perceptive. Anything else you would like to add to this?" Canith was bemused as to him being linked to Aura, rather than the naming similarity being a smokescreen.

"As you are offering something as profound as a cure to our fertility issues, and with so much confidence, I believe some other logic chains can be established as well."

"Oh?"

"Yes." She spread her hands out. "Aura probably has not flagged it, but you might have caught that we are not anti-anthro. If that is what it would take to fix it, we would be happy to change. And I know that getting this project pushed through so fast is impossible. So the logical explanation is that you have went anthro yourself, and have at the very least telepathy. Which then leads to your form." She looked him up and down closely. "This is where the chains diverge. Either you use your telepathy to influence everyone around you to think you are human, which I doubt, you reverted to human through similar means as you changed, which is a possibility, but still unlikely." She stared straight at him as she peeled away the final layer of his disguise.

"Or you can freely change your form, which as you know is useful for undercover work, and risky if discovered."

Now Canith was going into full panic mode, and was debating whether to block some of the concept or all of it, when Aura chimed in with a fact that had eluded him in his panic.

:The only ones that she had informed of her deductions is her spouse, and neither one have any inclination on sharing this. They informed me of their 'logic chain', and I informed them that you would want to talk to them about it. I recommend, as I have full lock down engaged, that you show her that you can be trusted by showing your 'true colors' as the case may be.:

Canith sighed. "It seems I am being outvoted and ousted at the same time." He reclined in his chair and stared at the ceiling. "And you are truly fine with this?"

"As well as can be expected, I guess." She gave a sigh as well. "We desperately want a child. You know this. The lengths we would go to are illogical. But if you are our best shot, we will trust you."

Still staring at the ceiling, he reached down to the core that Snow had showed him what felt like ages ago. He relaxed his fixation on the concept of 'human' and shifted in front of her. Crimson and steel colored fur spread out in a wave, his form elongating and shifting at the same time. A few seconds of cracking bones and growing appendages and he was there, still reclined, if his full anthro glory.

She sat there through the whole change, even though it only lasted a few seconds, in utter silence. Then, she asked. "Would it be improper for me to physically inspect you?" It had not escaped her notice that he had been wearing clothes both before and after the change, yet they looked as if they fit him as well now as before.

"Sure." He replied simply, basking in the freedom of being in his 'natural' form. She stood, and cautiously made her way around the desk. Tentatively reaching out a hand, she first brushed a hand lightly through his short fur, comparing the difference between the the contrasting colors and reaching over to feel the longer mane of silvery white fur.

"I assume a specialist looked you over after your change? What was the prognosis? I know issues can develop with the change."

Canith thought back on it. He had several of the same thoughts, so he decided to try something. He reached out with his mind, letting her review the memory with Cloud and Mist. She let out a small gasp as the memory started, and he could only grin as his idea of sharing it worked. She was quiet for a few minutes as she processed the episode, absently stroking his fur.

Finally, she let loose a small shudder. "Amazing. In what little research we could slip in between the security sweeps, we knew anthros had access to higher brain functions such as telepathy and telekinesis, but what you did both then and just now is leagues beyond that." She stopped gazing off into the distance and refocused on him. "Thank you for that. With your permission, I would like to share some of this discreetly with my husband. From what I was able to gather from the memory, and from the information around it, you have a good bit of leeway in choices when it comes to species, but not what abilities manifest. Correct?"

Canith nodded slowly. "Even then, there are permutations to it. One was able to add information and knowledge at an instinctual level. Another, while not a permutation itself, could use an ability that is essentially phenomena overwriting while bypassing the traditional limitations of it. For reference, in this abilities case, the more balanced you are, the less likely it is to develop. In their case, they had access to a wide variety, but at a very low personal strength. As for me, my telepathy and kinetics are extremely strong, and I have the ability to shift, as you have seen. That, however, is highly classified. The security officer is aware I am not 'fully human', but does not know of my shifting. I would prefer to not let him know about that till I have made off with the ship."

She stared at him for a minute, before feeling his horns. "We guessed that might be the case. Partially because, while the design 'could' be military, the design felt more specialized. I'm guessing full upgrade from whatever ship changed you?"

"Correct."

"I also assume that you was recruiting others to help you depart with you and the ship. And with this drive that you proposed and we are building, I foresee that you would need a couple specialists to work on the drive itself, both normal maintenance and for emergencies. And we are your first choice."

"Also correct, but more in line with best choice. And while more people will be beneficial to the smooth operation of the ship, I do have an ace up the proverbial sleeve that can allow me to pilot it solo." He raised a hand, and with an effort of will and firm mental image, created the uplink that Aura had shown back in fleet tactical support during the meeting about the ship they were currently building.

This act, which looked like a conjuring act, made her jump. "Good lord, how did you do that!" Canith had to stop and parse that for a second, before realizing he had used his 'crystal to create it using his kinetics. It would not be usable, but it appeared to be real.

"Oh, think of this as a hard light construct. It won't function, I don't think, but in appearances it's the same. As to the how, I mentioned I have very high affinity with both telepathy and 'kinetics. Using specialized crystals, most can create a weapon with it- usually swords or the like. I touched deeper than anyone they had heard of, and learned I could program the crystals to do much more than just project images reinforced by will and kinetics. I can now create the likeness of just about anything."

"Wait, just about anything?" So what kinds of items do you usually make then?" Instead of answering, he simply dismissed his clothes. Like on the Tiamat, once out on the space-yard he reverted to his habit of using kinetically created clothing.

The act of dismissing them left him in his full furred glory, but as he had adopted his natural form, he had also reverted to his normal gender, with all the gear stored neatly in his slit. Since she had been looking over his head, she spotted the difference at once. "Wait, are you a he or a she?"

He gave a brief chuckle. "You didn't even start with basic question of species, and already skipping to gender?"

She gave him a look. "You are an eastern subset of dragon. Anyone with any knowledge of normal anthro species could tell you that!"

Again he chuckled. "Again, only half right- I'm actually unique that I am a hybrid of both dragon phenotypes. Eastern and western. Also, to answer your original question, while I was originally male, I am now classified as both male and female, so the term would be hermaphrodite, or herm for short. I still answer to he/him and see myself as such, I just also have extra equipment."

She simply stared at him, before she remembered where she was and took a step back. "Well then. That was rather different. I guess now that the demonstration is over, you can re-cloth yourself?" She said this with a slight blush to her cheeks, embarrassed by his blatant lack of concern over his nudity.

He simply smiled, and once more was not only clothed, but again appeared human. "I cannot stress enough that my abilities, and my status as an anthro, is not discussed outside of secure areas. If you would like to tell your husband any of this, it falls under the same thing. I told you because I aim for your trust. Please do not betray that trust that I place in you." He thought for a minute, then continued. "Also, when you talk about it, do so near the terminal I set up for you after asking Aura, through that terminal, to do a small scale lock down of your area. Then at least, so long as you do not have any eavesdroppers, you should be fine."

She looked at him funny. "Are you not worried about it here?"

He looked her squarely in the eyes. "Trust me, I take paranoia to an extreme. Right now there are only three people within hundred feet of us, and none of them are even aware you are here."

She started to say something, then stopped when a though occurred to her. "Telepathy. You have been using it the whole time to scan the minds of those around us. Smart, but isn't it risky to rely solely on that? I have heard that some have natural shields to stuff like that."

"Remember how I said I have very strong telepathy and 'kinetics? I tend to not even notice most shields, unless I am the one to put them in place." She recalled the memory he had shown her, of how he talked with the anthro panther and bat. It had seemed that technicians would be better prepared for someone with those abilities, but he seemed to indeed have above average telepathy.

They continued to discuss the various merits of using his telepathy to essentially spy on anyone around him, and the moral dilemmas it caused, for several more minutes, before she excused herself to talk with her husband. After she left, Canith turned to Aura.

:What happened? I figured you would keep more of a low profile, but that couple sniffed out everything. If they were not so amiable to our plans, it could have been much worse.:

Aura simply tilted their head slightly to one side before responding. :It was calculated. They needed more help with the technicalities than a normal AI would have been able to supply. We had also determined at that point that they would most likely be agreeable, and I did a response prediction, and found that they would be more likely to fully help with full disclosure. Therefore, I prompted them to approach you with their questions.:

Canith was not too worried at this point about the couple's cooperation. He was more worried about all the potential security breeches that had suddenly developed. All it would take is one slip up and everything could go downhill fast. :What's the estimate of when the ship will be operational enough to take?:

Aura was silent for a few minutes, running numbers and checking lists. :Several months, but depending on how you wish to apply pressure and to whom, it could be shorter. Currently everything is actually slightly ahead of schedule. Our scientist friends have the core completely contained and online, the engines are about 60% complete, and most of the floors are structurally finished. We are still awaiting the majority of the military hardware, including weapons for both the armory deck and the ship itself, the various shuttles and probes, and 80% of the drone fighters and 2 of the manned fighters.:

:While not in a fully finished state, we might be able to get the ship moving in three to four months, less if we pressure the military section for the hardware. Or, we can cause a few delays ourselves and pin the blame on the military to guilt them into working faster. This will, of course, buy the engineers time to finish the engines and fully test the shields under normal operational power. The interior team might have about 52% of the rooms furnished by that point, including several of the designated family rooms, and the ship will be able to be finished by our team. :

Canith soaked the information in as he sat there, thinking through various ways he could progress the ship faster, when Aura put one more fact to light. :In all actuality, I recommend doing nothing though. As tempting as it is to move faster, that might actually tip our hands. Let us wait. We have done so this long, and the end is somewhat in sight."

Sean bashed his fist repeatedly against the desk in frustration. Months of attempts at cracking the security on the Tiamat, and they were still no closer to managing it. Every time they managed to find what looked to be a chink in the armor, it would prove to be a trap. The first time it happened most of the systems and simply crashed. They took measures, of course, to prevent a re-occurrence, but it didn't help. Attrition like this made their attempts sloppier, more hazard prone, rather than less. And all for naught.

“How is it that the security is still so tight. I have seen military systems less secure!" He picked up a piece of fruit and threw it, only for the fruit to be stopped by the vixen that had cracked his mind open for him.

“You think those systems are bad? This pilot is also good. I've taken to writing down what he is doing, just to keep track of all the tricks. My best guess is we are doing orbits at various orbits around the Sol sector, but with all the fakes, jukes, dodges, and time delays it's a miracle they do not meet themselves coming and going." She held up a small book that was handwritten in testament to her words.

Sean just growled low and returned to banging his fist on the desk, before stopping suddenly. “We are going about this backwards. We are chasing them, trying to get in. Why don't we team up, determine their course, and intercept." He had a feral gleam to his eyes, and his manic grin had returned. He motioned her closer and took the book. “That AI might be smart, but Kai is still mortal. Smart, but mortal." He flipped through the book, asking questions about various terms she had used or to elaborate on some of the maneuvers.

As she did, he turned to the terminal and began plotting their course, aided by the ship's AI. Once he did, he set it to calculating potential routes. It took a couple minutes, but then the AI informed them that there were only 3 potential routes they would follow, assuming no deviation. As two of them were more public than the Tiamat would normally travel, it only left one they would take.

“There you go captain, one predictive course to cut our prey off. Lets get them." Then his control slipped a touch, and he let loose a cackle, showing once more the madness within.

The vixen walked down the corridor of her ship, lost in though. On the one hand, having a course prediction meant that she could plan an ambush. On the other, her crew was beyond antsy. She had promised them a payout, and hadn't delivered. They had never been wealthy, per se, but this only highlighted the lean times. And times were definitely lean.

She rounded a corner, and then heard a beep. Looking down, she noticed the data pad had a new message, addressed to her by name. Spooked, she opened it wearily, her large ears swiveling this way and that.

The message was apparently from someone named 'Aura'. They knew what their plans were, thanks to Sean's sloppy security attempts, and was wanting to open a dialogue with her, the true brains of the pursuing ship. In return for her cooperation, she would be included in a joint venture that would make her crew happy, if not wealthy, and give her a bit of legitimacy as a Captain from most the anthro crews.

The last part made her stop and re-read the message. This 'Aura', whoever they were, had a simple plan. Go through with their plans. Keep up the chase. They were not worried about being caught. A 'surprise' was being prepared for them, but was not ready yet, so they had to keep moving. But when the time came, they would arrive at a certain set of coordinates. These coordinates were even included, but not with a time or date. And they were not anywhere close to the Sol system.

After she read the message, it changed. One second, the full message was there, glowing on the screen. The next moment, only the coordinates remained. A second message came in then, this one that was blank except one single line.

“If you need to ask me something, do so here. I will answer what I can."

She quickly closed both messages. If felt like a trap. It had to be one. No one was foolish enough to give someone coordinates to a meeting they were not invited to. And even if the meeting happened, the coordinates could be wrong on purpose. Hell, the whole thing could be to shake her off their tail.

Then she recalled something that caused her to shudder. When she had broke through Sean's mental block, she was able to experience when it first was put into place, and the conversation leading up to it. It had been over that human. Darion Sygon. And he had developed a dive assist called AURA. Could it be coincidence? She didn't think so. And that scared her.