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"Gods, that was good..." Sydney embraced Carbon just as much he he embraced her, cooing as the hybrid finished his gentle bucking of his hips. "You know how to treat a girl right. Now I don't even ~care~ if you called out Eve's name half the time."

Carbon chuckled as he slowly reached the end of his orgasm then lunged his muzzle forward for a deep kiss. "Well it's not every day you find a woman that can pass the fun along to her. Does it bother you?"

"No, just a little weird." The meerkat gasped and pulled her head back as Carbon went in for another kiss. "Though what's with ~this~ all of a sudden?"

"The kissing?" Carbon too reeled his head back slowly out of caution. "I thought you liked it. I know it's against one of our rules, but... didn't you ask me to kiss you?"

"It's... fine, actually. I just..." Cid slid free of the otter and laid on her back, a lone paw going down to her nethers to inspect the cream oozing out of her. "You never wanted to finish inside me either until today, either. Just making sure that's you and not those brats."

"Uh... You didn't ask me to do that either?" Carbon looked to a very satisfied Evelyn right past Cid. "Please tell me the pups didn't do something ~really~ bad. You kept me sterile, right?"

"Yeah, you're safe. And that wasn't the kids, thankfully."

Sydney sat up against the back of the bed and looked around for Evelyn. "Hey, where's she go? You're talking to Eve, right?"

"Oh... I guess we're not Linked anymore."

Carbon tried to touch his tendrils on various places along Cid's body, but Eve pointed to a few spots on her own self to guide him. "Permeatable squamous cells, Carbon. You... basically have to touch something fleshy and wet, where theres lots of nerve endings."

Carbon nodded as he understood, then slithered his vine up inside Sydney's recently-used pussy. "There we go. I can feel a Link alright."

«If you'd wait and listen sometimes...» Evelyn tapped her nose to cement her next point, «I meant something more innocent: her snout, not her snatch.»

"Oh, sorry. I guess that's uncomfortable, huh Cid?"

«Oh, damn... Well I can't say I really mind it ~right now~...»

Carbon switched over to using his mind to chat as well. «Getting used to the Link? The whole time we were at it this is all you did.»

«Oh... Is that bad? I thought it would be more personal this way, plus Fleur wouldn't hear us.»

Carbon nodded in agreement with his lover's words. «You're right. I shouldn't subject her to that now that she's into puberty. Never know when she'll go into heat.»

«That and she's ~your daughter~.» Cid smiled and slid off the bed, the tendril inside her gliding free in the process. "I should probably clean up. My team's got to be wondering about me by now."

"Go right ahead. I think I'll rest here a bit longer."

Cid laughed as she strode over to the bathroom. "Well if I was your age and had minute-long orgasms I'd be out of it too!"

"Yeah, yeah. And weren't you the one worried about Fleur?" Carbon grinned with Sydney as she closed the door. "Why's she acting so cute all of a sudden? You've had time to examine her, right Eve?"

"You mean the whole time you were pummeling us into orgasmic bliss? Yeah, I totally had time for that." Evelyn shook her head with a smile. "Believe it or not, I did manage a bit of research though. The problem is that I don't understand all I found."

"But you always understand all this genetic crap."

"And that's why I'm concerned. Whatever's happening to Cid, it both feels foreign and oddly familiar at the same time." Eve sighed and sat herself up in bed to better face her lover. "She really was begging for you to kiss her and all that, you know. She never said it in words, but the desire was there. I think... she really loves you, at least in some way."

"So, not some tiny crush?" Carbon huffed out slowly as he thought about that new information, then perked up and looked to his incorporeal partner. "Wait, Eve... You know I love you."

"I... I know that, but..." The flower girl rolled over and onto her feet. "You deserve someone real, not... this."

Carbon reached out and caressed Evelyn's cheek. "Don't ever say that again. You ~are~ real, in every way. You're my one and only Eve, and I'd never want to replace you."

"But... what about Cid? You're not going to just feign ignorance and act like you're just sex buddies still, are you?"

"Sex buddies? No." Carbon drooped his head a little, then scooted over to sit near Eve. "I've always thought of her as more than that. Maybe like a sister, actually--really naughty sister. After losing so many people though... she became my family."

"But you do consider her something more."

"Eve, you're no less my life love in any case."

"Damn, you two are way too cute together." Ilaria walked into the bedroom, not bothering to knock. "What're you two love birds up to in here? Does... masturbating work for her too?"

"Oh, uh... No." Carbon spun around and smiled for the still-armless otter. "Hey, when are you getting that thing fixed? I thought I said I wanted you ready to fight."

"Oh I'm ready, arm or otherwise." Ari walked over and sat on the edge of the bed next to Carbon. "That's what I'm here for actually. Sprite and Prisma..."

Carbon quirked his head to the side as Ilaria trailed off. "Ari? What is it?"

"Those are Cid's clothes. Huh." Ari snapped her eyes from the suit pieces draped over a chair and returned her gaze to Carbon's indigo-rimmed eyes. "I didn't know Cid was gay. He certainly doesn't show it. Oh, but if you and him... Is Eve alright with this?"

"We're... still working on that." Carbon looked to Evelyn and then laid back on the bed to look at Ilaria. "Cid and I have been doing this since before Eve and I became more than... whatever we were. She's fine with this for now, but we were actually just talking about it."

"Well I know in my case I at least helped the two of you come together..."

"Hey Carbon, where'd you leave my suit? I should probably hang it up in here so the steam--" Sydney trotted out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel, which fell to the ground as she froze up upon spotting Ilaria. "Uh... I..."

"Cid?" Ilaria stood up and gave the meerkat a quick inspection, confirming to herself that she was indeed a woman. "I... had no idea. Bravo, actually."

"You..." Cid instinctively reached for her pistol, but quickly realized she wasn't equipped in the slightest. "Uh... If you tell anybody about this..."

"I won't. Your secret's safe, Cid." Ari grabbed the towel and gave it to the meerkat. "Wait, is that your real name? Please tell me your parents didn't force you to be like this."

"Oh..." Cid took the towel, but just held it there while she dripped water onto the floor. Instead of covering herself, she was currently concerned with the huge erection that just slipped out from under Ari's sirat. "N-No... I chose to be this way. And my name's actually Sydney... Um..."

"Ari, you're... showing..."

Ilaria tried to hide her manhood but without any undergarments she was basically helpless in that regard. "Fuck. I just ~had~ to let Yoyo take me before coming here. Now I'm all fired up. Sorry."

"You... Do you want...?" Sydney groaned to herself as she choked out the next few words. "Do you want a paw with that? I could... help you out..."

"Cid? That's not like you." Carbon slid off the bed and walked over to Sydney, checking her over from up close. "She's brighter. Eve, you want to check it out?"

"Brighter?" Ilaria looked over to the windows and tapped a control for the digital blinds, cutting out all the sunlight in the room. "Holy crap. You're glowing."

"Tell me about it." Cid sighed and stepped around Carbon, reiterating her offer. "I'm serious though. You don't have a wife anymore so... ~that~ can't be easy on you."

"What, a little hard-on? Nah, that'll go down in a minute. It just smells like heat and sex in here, and now I think I know why at least."

"But... If you ever do want some assistance, I'll gladly oblige."

Carbon sneaked up behind Cid and shoved a tendril up her nethers. "That's not you, Cid. Now I'm worried. Eve, check her out."

"I know it's not--" Sydney gasped as that tendril unnecessarily bottomed out inside her. "I failed to save her wife, Carbon. That may not mean much to you, but to ~me~... Being Robyn's substitute is the least I can do to make up for that."

"What? Cid... uh, Sydney..." Ari slipped back a few steps and tried to hide her erection as it slowly crept back beneath her tribal dress. "You don't owe me anything. I've made my peace with that day."

"But I could have stopped Vorak from doing any of that crap! She's only dead because--!"

Ari stormed back in front of the meerkat and hunched down to be face to face. "I'm only saying this once. She died because it was just her time and because those alien freaks wanted to pick a fight. I don't blame anyone else. Got it?"

"Y-Yeah."

"She's right, you know. You're way too hard on yourself when you're only a piece of that puzzle." Carbon nudged Evelyn only to get an annoyed groan in return for disturbing her analysis. "And you're a bigger piece now, from the looks of it. I've never seen Eve so worked up."

"Well I've never seen her at all before, so that's news to me." Cid took a moment to relax before turning back to Ilaria. "You're right. It's not my place to fill her shoes, even if I think I want to make amends. I still don't like letting this go, though."

Carbon bumped shoulders with Cid and snickered. "Well you cut your own hair, don't you?"

"What's that have to do with anything?" Cid looked to Carbon, then followed his eyes to Ari's butchered haircut. "Oh, right. You had longer hair last time we met. You want me to... err, well... I could fix that mess."

"Subtle."

Cid punched Carbon's shoulder for that. "I mean it. I'm decent at cutting my hair short, and I've tried a few styles back in the day before settling on this one. I could help."

"Sure. I'm in the middle of something, but when I'm done I'd like that."

"What's the reason, anyway?" Carbon pointed to the top of his head and then threw back his long braid of silver hair. "Just looking for a change? I sort of liked your hair a little longer."

"I saw the other me and... I dunno. I wanted to be different from the potential others of myself." Ari shrugged her shoulders and sat on the bed to rest her leg. "Maybe I didn't like how old-fashioned I looked. I'm not sure what, but something just clicked in my head."

"Old-fashioned, eh?..."

Eve finally looked over and rebuilt her fading avatar. «Don't even think it. You don't look old, Carbon. I happen to think a braided ponytail is quite distinguished.»

«I was thinking about the color, actually. The white doesn't make me look... too mature, does it?» Carbon sighed and joined Ari on the bed. «I know I'm almost a century old, but I don't have to look the part.»

«Well you normally can't help genetics. Your mom was light-furred so naturally you would be in some manner as well.» Eve looked back to Sydney again as if to resume her work, but paused before committing to the task. «I'll... maybe look into it.»

«I'm up for that too.» Cid smiled as she moved closer, which helped downplay the fact that a large vine was lodged in her snatch. «I always wondered what you'd be like as a brunette.»

«Goddess, you really ~should~ have been born a guy.»

«Born a...» Evelyn suddenly disappeared as her mental limits were taxed over a new concept. "Hey Carbon, only you can hear this. Check her eyes for me. Don't let her know anything's up; just get close so I can check the exact color."

Carbon nodded, then moved close to Cid and planted a deep kiss on her muzzle. «Just say when, love.»

«What? The hell made you do this?» Cid stared at Carbon for a moment before becoming a bit embarrassed, shutting her eyes. «If you... really want to kiss...»

Eve gave the signal and Carbon broke away finally. "You really do love that, don't you?"

"Well if you're gonna just jump in my face I can't really say no..."

"I see now..." Carbon tapped Cid on the nose playfully and smiled as he returned to the bed. "There really is a girl in you after all."

"Shut up before I find my taser."

Carbon started laughing, but a reaction from Eve cut him short. "Carbon... I think she's carrying offspring."

"Wait, what Eve? ~Offspring~?"

Sydney's eyes bulged and she lurched towards Carbon, desperate for answers. "I'm pregnant!? What the fuck, plant boy!?"

"Cid, just hold on a minute." Carbon snapped his fingers and pointed to a spot on the bed. "Eve, sit your ass down and explain."

The phantasm formed her avatar again in the noted spot, a look of distress on her face. "I don't..." She started again, this time so Sydney could hear her. «I don't know how exactly, but she's carrying... well, ~my~ offspring. Remember how I said something about her felt familiar? Well... it felt like the girls, and like both of you as well. I think, just maybe, those girls found a way for my kind to reproduce outside of our hosts' birth cycles.»

"Wait, so I'm not pregnant? Or am I? I'm confused."

«You're carrying someone like me, just she's not developed enough to show herself yet. The way your eyes are humming is like with any young Yangurran baby when my kind normally develop our avatars from your genetic patterns.» Eve passed one arm through another, then pushed right through Carbon's chest. «We exist at a cellular level, so this form is needed to co-exist with our hosts. No real bodies, right?»

"She's saying the kid or whatever is already there in you, just too young to make herself known."

Cid groaned as she finally wrapped her head around the concept. "So I'll have my own version of Eve? I mean I've always wondered what that's like, but that's a hell of a commitment too."

«I'd understand if you want to stop this new life from developing, but... she's sort of like a ~daughter~ to me...»

"What? No. I didn't mean ~that~, Eve." Cid instinctively looked down to her tummy and sighed with a few nods. "Let's see where this goes. Although..." She reached down and yanked Carbon out of her nethers, then threw the towel over her shoulder. "If I'm going to be a ~surrogate alien~ or whatever you call it, at least let me finish my shower first."

"Good idea. Actually, I think I might join you." Carbon checked on Ari and then nudged his snout to the living room. "Didn't you say you needed something? If it's your kids, they were playing with Fleur by the sofa."

Cid slipped away into the bathroom first. "I'll just..."

"I'll be right there with your suit, Cid. Not like the hot water'll give out anytime soon."

Ilaria giggled lightly as she waited for Cid to close the door. "So you two are close alright. You sure you're not dating?"

"I'm not sure anymore. We're... complicated." Carbon stood and started picking up Sydney's suit pieces from the chair they were draped over. "I do need a shower though, before my injection wears out if possible. You know how uncomfortable it is to wear a mask in the shower?"

"Yeah, business time. Sprite and Prisma need you to make something for them in that foundry of yours." Ari opened a dresser drawer and pointed to some boxer shorts of Carbons, the hybrid nodding a silent approval for her to borrow them. "Thanks. They have a few upgrade ideas they came across and they don't have the build accuracy to achieve them."

"I can probably have Eve make whatever they need as long as we get the schematics and base materials." Carbon headed to the bathroom and paused just outside. "That it?"

"Yeah, that's--"

Out of nowhere, a rift in space opened up next to Ilaria's paws, then a very familiar otter paw quickly passed through to steal the boxers. In the other room Fleur suddenly burst out into giggles. "Amazeeng! Zat iz froom ze bedroom, no?"

Ilaria sighed loudly and reached for another set of underwear. "Oh gods. They have a new trick."

A loud "Eek!" suddenly announced a similar assault in the bathroom.

"I'll... have to find out how they did that one. There's defensive applications for that party trick if they can scale it up." Carbon slipped into the bathroom and peeked out the door. "For those twins though, that one looks dangerous. Keep an eye on them--and my stuff."

"Can't get enough of the new ship, can you?"

Ilaria and Iolvin turned around to face the port side hallway door, finding Carbon and Cid smiling into the command center. "I guess, but Yoyo and I were just paying our respects for the day."

"Your respects?" Cid looked around the room, then found the urn magnetically mounted to the captain's mantle. "Oh, wow. You keep her here? If I'd have know I'd have taken a moment myself."

"That's kind of you, but I told you before not to fret over Robyn." Ari gave the urn a slight rub to clean off a smudge, then nodded and turned back to the others. "Besides, I think she's happy as can be sitting here in her fancy ship."

"Considering the state of things, that's not a terrible way to end up." Yoyo gave his twin a rub atop her newly-fixed haircut and moved over to one of the command console bucket seats that contained a soundly sleeping Zoë. "Things could have been a lot worse. Consider every day from then you're still above ground a gift, Lulu."

"Oh, I do. It'd just be a better gift if I could share it with ~her~ too." Ari sighed to herself a moment, then looked up to the others. "So what brings you to my ship, guys? You finally figure out our plan, Carbon?"

"Sort of..." Carbon spotted Zoë and smirked, then walked into the room to respectfully bow for Robyn's remains. "We have eight months. That data we stole in the other world should be close enough to ours in regards to offworld fleets, but just to be sure I rounded down a month."

"Well that's better than just a few weeks at least."

"Only if the extra time is enough. If we're not prepared in eight months the attack fleet might as well arrive tomorrow." Carbon extended a queo to connect to a standing console. "Eve, bring up a star map and overlay the fleet's information. Oh, and do a search for our current roster as well."

Evelyn rolled her eyes and faded away so she could work faster. "As you command, ~master~."

"Sorry, Eve. Would your ~please~ do all that for us?"

"Better."

Between the console and the front command seats, a panel lowered from the ceiling and exposed a holographic emitter. "Huh. My own ship and I didn't know that was there."

"This thing's got a tram system. There's probably a whole ton you don't know about yet." The map, unannotated for now, appeared in the middle of the room and Carbon pointed to the Sol system. "That's us, by the way. Actually, permanently mark that in another color or something just in case, Eve."

"You got it, ~honey~." Eve reappeared grinning ear to ear. "So here's that map data... there. The fleet's path is amber and their position is that red dot. It'll take another minute to get our own fleet's data since it's all out of date."

"Thank you, Eve." Carbon pointed to a place where a nearby star system and the enemy path nearly intersected. "This will likely be their staging point before the attack. Ideally we'd attack them before that as they're all hibernating until then, but nine light years is a bit undoable considering faster-thanLight travel isn't a thing yet."

Yoyo stepped through the hologram to get a closer look. "So we have to come up with a plan still. I guess it's too early for that though."

Evelyn layered a bunch of points on and around Earth, then zoomed the viewing bracket in until only the Sol system was shown. "Here's all I could find. We have seven capital class ships, and all but one are still running on active duty. Then there's a mix of smaller frigates and cruisers, plus the odd strike craft or two. Most of those have been refitted for civilian duty."

"So what's the final count?"

"Fourty-two ships accounted for, with six more either not responding or stored in an offline bay. We might be able to recommission those if we can track them down, but I'd consider them probably a lost cause."

"Cool. Thanks a lot, Eve. See if you can track down that last capital ship th--" Carbon's eyes shot wide open and he paused to listen to something. "--ough. Hey, are those the engines spooling up?"

"Um..." Ilaria tapped a nearby panel to wake up its display, then flipped through some holograms. "Yes. Yes they are. Now I officially regret being a parent."

"Sure it's not some kind of generator routine? The internal systems run off batteries, right?"

Ari shook her head at the hybrid. "Those charge off a dedicated system inside the fission reactor module. The engines are solely for go-power on this girl." She tried to shut out all data links aside from the command center's, but that didn't hold back the twins more than a few additional seconds. "Well, crap. I guess we're going somewhere now."

Carbon looked to Eve, but she'd already anticipated his request and fed the hybrid the girls' location. "They're just outside their room. ~Maybe~ we should talk them down before they accidentally open an airlock or something."

"They're smarter than that... but..." Ari returned to Robyn, but at the last moment slipped due to the ship suddenly starting to move. She tried to catch herself, but the lack of an arm on the correct side only left her to slam her head into the mantle. "Fuck! Gods fucking damn!"

Iolvin and Zoë perked up at the sudden thud. "Shit. Sis, you alright?"

Ari checked a small trickle of glowing blood running down her forehead, which quickly clotted itself due to her enhancements. "I can't fucking do this. Fuck me... I can't control these kids alone..." She pulled Robyn's urn from the mantle and hugged it tightly. "I could really use the support right now, Pillow..."

"Shh..." Yoyo knelt down by his sister and wrapped both arms around her to make her feel safe. "It's alright. You've got the rest of us here, Lulu. We'll help you, don't you worry."

Ari tried to hold back a bout of light sobbing, but settled for wetting her brother's shirt and fur with her tears. "I can't... I mean, am I really ready to take care of any kids, let alone these ~hellions~?"

"I don't think anyone else could do as good a job if they tried." Yoyo stood up, taking his twin sister with him. "Don't be afraid to get knocked on your ass sometimes, Lulu. I'll always be here to help you back up."

"Thanks, Yoyo..."

"Uh, we're still moving guys." Carbon pulled up a navigational systems readout. "They've cleared the dock and... yeah, we're rocketing upward."

"But I don't--"

Carbon sighed and rolled his eyes. "Their gravity field probably neutralizes most of the other forces we'd be feeling. Guess that solves the issue of inertial damping."

"Yoyo, help me get to the lift."

"Sure thing, sis." Yoyo did as he was requested, giving Ari a moment to replace her late wife on the mantle. "What's the plan? Sometimes they won't listen to us."

"Oh, they'll listen to ~me~. If not I'll instill the fear of the gods in their heads whenever they think of me." Ari slowly hobbled out into the hallway until they reached the nearest elevator platform. "I've only done this once, and I had a semi-working arm that time. Don't let me fall, Yoyo."

"O...kay."

Zoë followed into the cage, leaving Carbon and Cid behind to wait for the returned car. "Well it goes like this. We'll hit the middle of the ship and there will be close to no gravity, then it'll start to flip. Remember Dee in the engine room?"

"Oh, yeah. So gravity is... outward on the ship? That sort of makes sense, I guess." Iolvin checked the design of the cage and noticed there was a rotational motor connected to the gantry, though no controls to make it spin. "Oh, I get it now. They never finished the elevator systems. Zoë, when we start floating you'll need to flip yourself so you stand on the ceiling. Can you do that?"

"I... Yeah, I think I can."

The lift began moving, and within a few seconds the gravity started to fade away. "If this doesn't make someone lose their lunch I don't know what will." Yoyo grabbed the guard cage and began flipping himself and his sister once the gravity was nearly nothing. "This is easier than you made it sound, sis."

"Try saying that when you've only got only two natural limbs." Ari struggled a bit as the reverse gravity returned but managed to find solid footing with her twin's help. "Thanks, Yoyo. Now let's go this... No, ~that~ way and find the pups."

"Losing your way on your own ship?" Yoyo snickered.

"Hey, the whole thing did just flip upside-down. Give me a break here."

Zoë wobbled and fell on her ass almost on cue. "Ah... Sorry, Iolvin. I lost my sense of balance on that thing."

Yoyo offered a paw to help the human to her feet, then aided his sister's trudge towards her kids. "They're still just whelps, even if they don't look it. Don't be ~too~ hard on them, sis."

"Oh, they'll get what they deserve, no more or less." Ari tapped a master code into a locked hatch ahead, but the code wasn't accepted. "Gods damn those kids and their tricks."

"Come on, sis. We can find another way in, I'm--"

The lock suddenly released after a few seconds, the master code oddly being recognized now. "At least they know who not to piss off." Ari broke free of her brother and rushed into the room, only to find her girls, the Ashes, and Elliot sitting on the clear floor and peering at the Earth below. "Uh... G-Girls! Michelle and Mikhaila, get your tails over here!"

Elliot paused a little conversation he was having with Ashe, probably describing the view, and quirked his head at the intrusion. "Ari? Did they do something? We were just having fun while you took off."

"Well, except ~I~ didn't take off, ~they~ did."

"Oh. ~Oh~." Ellie sighed and nudged his snout towards Ilaria, the girls nervously getting the hint to move now that Ellie had given up on protecting them. "They were just giving the Ashes a little party. There's even a cake they made somehow, if you can believe it. Don't... fuss them too much for that."

"No, they get what they deserve for once." Ari knelt down to stare her girls in the eyes, but Mik opened up one of their new portals so Chelle could pull out a new arm from inside. "That's... uh..."

The twins presented the arm together like some sort of peace offering while Chelle quickly signed, <We're sorry, mommy. We wanted to ask permission this time, but our window for launch was too narrow.>

"Too small..." Ari took a few seconds to process the technical bit of that message, but grunted and took the arm when she got the point. "You're still in trouble, young ladies." Ari repeated herself quickly in sign language, then took a moment to figure out how to say what she wanted next. "No games or movies for a week for all this. However if you're good girls I'll let you still have your party. You want to celebrate the Ashes' birthdays, right?"

Both girls nodded slowly, now looking close to depressed at the terms of their punishment.

"Good. You're smart little pups, so don't act like you're just innocent. Follow the rules and we'll all be happy." The girls started to sulk backward but Ari stopped them with a wave of her paw. "Girls... Thanks for the gift."

<You like it?> the girls moved forward, Mik signing while Chelle touched the prosthetic. <We didn't like what Prisma built, so we recycled hers into something better.>

"Wait, you two made this? How?"

The girls looked around for something they could use as an example and ended up grabbing the cake. <We made this the same way. It just required creating a simple cake macro-molecule, and then we built a machine that could replicate those all we wanted.>

"So you made a molecular printer or something? Wait, how do I sign that...?"

The girls stopped her from even trying, giggling at her incorrect signing vocabulary. <We copied something Uncle Carbon tries to hide from us. Then we used that to make this limb.>

"They ~what~?" Carbon and Cid finally rejoined the group, with the hybrid now fixed on the extremely complex prosthetic. "Girls, you made your own fi foundry? There's only eight ever made, and of the six still working I'm one of the few that can even use one. If you made your own, I have to see it."

<You'll just take it away!>

"No, I'll let you keep it as long as you agree to some ground rules. I'm not angry, I swear."

<Then...> Chelle stopped Mik for a moment to consult her, then took over for her. <We'll show you when we get back to Earth, if that's acceptable.>

"That's fine, girls. We'll--"

"You weren't ~listening~, Carbon." Evelyn pulled up the imagery of what the girls signed, then emotionally 'highlighted' a certain timeframe. "They didn't say back to the surface. They said 'return to Earth', with the phrasing implying ~from~ somewhere."

"Well where the hell else could we come from except orbit?" Carbon looked to the girls and then down below his hindpaws as the Earth slowly shrank outside the clear hull. "Girls, where are we going? We don't have time for games, and actually I don't think we have the fuel to go anywhere."

Ilaria looked down and then shot a concerned glance to the hybrid. "Carbon...!?"

The girls sighed and walked over to a ship-wide engineering panel, placing a tendril each against an access port. <Mommy gave us permission to have a party if we're good. We're just traveling to the venue.>

Carbon cautiously chose to sign his next query. <Don't avoid the question, girls. Answer me properly or I'll tell your mother the bad version of what you're up to here.>

Again the girls grunted and sighed in frustration. <We calculated the safest test to be behind Jupiter, because the radiation shielding isn't intact in some portions of the ship. One of the moons has a magnetosphere that-->

The Major cut Chelle off with his own paws, then quite seriously focused his attention on the twins' plan. <Jupiter? I've got to see this. Show me.>

The girls checked a few settings, then Mik looked over to another nearby console for a reading of some sort. <We must wait another thirty-five seconds for safe distance. We don't want the Earth's gravitational void to interfere with our test.>

<Alright. Do what you need to do and I'll make it alright with your mother.> Carbon looked up to the otter in question and took a breath. "Ari, you'll have to dismiss your pups' actions for a bit. In about thirty seconds they're making history. Speaking of which," Carbon paused to face the others and raised his voice, "we're probably going to have a lot of turbulence of some kind in a moment. Everyone hold onto something tight."

"Wait, what are they up to?" Ari took the hint and threaded her good arm through a safety railing on the wall. "We're not going to another world again, are we?"

"I sure as hell hope not." Carbon looked to the girls, who were so confident they didn't bother grabbing anything besides each other. <We're staying in our universe, right?>

<No, but we won't be fully inside another either--not in the same time-phase as them anyway.> The girls turned on some engine modifications they'd made and the low hum turned into an almost-inaudible, high-pitched whine. Then the gravity gave out entirely and the lighting dimmed from a sudden power draw on the ship's batteries. <We're going in three seconds starting... now.>

Carbon's eyes widened as he realized he was free-floating where everyone else was secured in some way. He grabbed three different anchors with his queoo to suspend himself in place then gave the blind folk present a warning, "Here we go!"

A sphere opened up in front of the Starbreeze that seemed to contain a reflection of everything surrounding it. The ship quickly slipped into the odd ball, but the reflection never disappeared as they crossed through. Rather, instead of breaking through a hard threshold the 'reflection' inverted on itself, then every star and planet ahead of the ship started glowing brighter and brighter while the rear faded dimmer. The glowing spots then began growing, as if the same stars were being additively painted over themselves larger and larger.

The rate of growth and brightening accelerated quickly, as if the Starbreeze was picking up some kind of speed. Then Jupiter made itself known by drastically enlarging into a blinding mask over most of the alien view. The growth rapidly slowed itself and dimmed to normal brightness as the gas giant dominated all else. Then the ship appeared to pass through another inverted image and Jupiter filled the entire view flipped around on itself.

Gravity suddenly kicked back into gear as the lights faded back up, an action the girls were more than prepared to handle. <We're here!>

Carbon and Iolvin were both on about to forfeit the contents of their stomachs to the disorientation of the event, but the Major managed to question why. "What the ~fuck~ just happened?"

The twins looked to their mother with wide eyes at the curse word, then back to Carbon. <We did this, but at a larger scale:> They each held out a paw and formed two matching spheres of void space for Carbon.

"The hell...?" The hybrid looked at the left sphere's reflection, then pieced together that it was actually an inverted image, similar to a lensing effect, of what was visible from the center of the right sphere. "Holy crap. You created a wormhole."

<We made about three-hundred for this trip, actually.> The girls closed their voids and walked closer to Carbon so he they could chat better. <One outputs into the core of another, which allowed us to...> They tried a few different gestures but didn't commit to any given one, instead substituting, <'fall' through space.>

Carbon tried to decrypt the girls' gestures, but between himself and Eve the message came through more-orLess intact. "So we can just zip between two points quickly now, at least. What's the fuel usage for that maneuver? And when can we go back home?"

<But we ~are~ home... Oh, correction: You mean Earth, don't you?>

Carbon dropped from the vined hammock he'd created for himself and offered one of his tendrils to each of the girls. "This would probably go faster if I could sync with... Actually, did you ever name your veilee?"

<Um... Maybe?> Both girls looked around, then their views snapped to something outside the ship. <Io and Europa. Mik's is Io.>

Ilaria shook her head as she eavesdropped on the conversation. "Two of those moons outside? You literally just named them after the first things you saw, didn't you?"

<No, there's significant meaning instilled by the Greek mythology tied to each of the figures from whom the moons were named.>

Ari only followed half of that, but the complexity was sufficient to satisfy her. "Well at least you thought about it a little. Considering how long you'll probably be living together, a name is something you should get right. That's all I mean."

"Your mother has a point, kids. Make sure you like those names before committing to them." Carbon looked over to Evelyn and smiled. "You never know how close you'll get to your veilee."

The girls nodded and each took one of Carbon's tendrils in a paw. «~So~ much better. Would you like us to explain now, or leave it to the Link?»

«Whichever you think is faster. You have a party to hold, right?»

The girls grinned at that. «The simple explanation... Well, here:»

Chelle's symbiont, Europa, appeared and game a more direct analysis. «The recent tunnel consumed eighty-two percent of the gravitational potential charge of the Starbreeze's oxydium reserves. The required charge for another matching tunnel will return in approximately four Earth hours at our current power draw upon the fusion core, consuming twelve percent of our oxygen supply in the process. However it should be noted that the oxidium broke bonds with just as much oxygen during the reaction, so the net change is balanced.»

Io appeared next with the analysis of the other question. «The required trajectory and speed required for a similar tunnel to return us to an Earth-captured orbit is not obtainable with our ~current~ orbit. Two prograde and one retrograde adjustments are required for the earliest departure window, each falling within acceptable delta velocity for the Starbreeze's engine output and ballast reserves.» Io paused for a moment to confer with Europa, then frowned back to Carbon. «In a ~rough~ estimate, due to differing gravitational readings for these moons from known records, we suspect our departure window will be obtainable in thirty-nine hours. Would you prefer a copy of our data and the required orbital adjustments?»

«Goddess, girls... Io, I'd love a copy. Thanks. Eve, could you please refine what they send you and make sure we stay on track?»

Evelyn flickered a moment as she took a copy of the itinerary. «Sure. I'll set a few alarms for you so we trigger the engines in time.»

«Thanks.» Carbon groaned to himself, then focused back on the girls. «Do we even have enough food and water for that long? I'm not sure your mother keeps this place stocked.»

«We don't. However, we have more than enough matter and energy to create what we need.» The girls looked to their cake, which in all the commotion of travel had been forgotten and managed to lodge itself into a wall. «Starting with that. We need to make a new cake, if you'd like anything else.»

Carbon stifled a few laughs when he noticed the bits of cake everywhere, particularly some in Punk's hair. «No, cake is fine for now. Just let me watch you use your foundry. Sound good?»

The twins looked to each other, then to Io and Europa. «Sure. Let's play 'house'.»