***Tirnanog, Mount Aerie***
***Astra***
Its fascinating! Kiera, my gynaecologist, had both hands on my first egg and an ear firmly pressed to the shell. Thalia had introduced us to her when my pregnancy beca known and she had been present at all regular health checks with the Tates ever since.
I imdiately scolded myself for thinking of my offspring as an egg. It was a child. My child.
Sadly I couldnt help but feel a slight disconnect with the situation, though Magnus was a great support. He had linked arms and filants with and stayed at my side ever since he ca back from his appointnt.
His finding freaking out on the floor was so embarrassing! I was sure it would beco the topic of quite a few jokes in the future.
Fun aside, the reality of the situation still hadnt truly settled in yet.
I had beco a mother by laying eggs
Maybe future generations would see nothing wrong with it, but I just couldnt take the ntal leap. It was too bizarre!
It seems like the foetus has its placenta inside the shell. Though, its probably not right to call this a re shell. It has blood vessels and a passive respiratory system through all these small pores. Its alive! This is more of a sponge or a coral. Maybe a manifestation of Astras treemonae mutation? And it produces warmth on its own. Its more like an incubator than an egg!
The woman who had focused her dical career on birth support whirled on with a maniacal gleam in her eyes. Just how did you push those things past your hip-bones, girl? If everything goes according to human biology there should be problems with natural births because we stunted our evolution with dical support. Most won are incapable of giving birth without assistance nowadays. A babys head is often too big to pass without complications and this egg is a whole other size category!
She looked up and down, her eyes lingering on my hips.
I- I fiddled with my fingers and looked around the too-crowded bedroom. Mom, Dad, Iv, Mary, Sienna, Thalia, Kiera, all of them had to see when they heard. And now they looked at for an answer. They just slipped out? The shell was soft and malleable when it happened and only hardened afterwards.
Did I have to explain this in front of everyone?
I fought to banish the scene and my following freak-out from my mories. This would never again be spoken of if I had sothing to say about it!
Marvellous! Kiera was unstoppable in her enthusiasm for the 'process' and had zero concerns about how I felt. Are you aware this solves the evolutionary dead-end our species manoeuvred itself into thanks to uncaring application of modern dicine? Its almost like soone designed this process! Its perfect.
She whirled on Sienna. We sohow have to get our hands on more people with primary treemonae and zipper mutations! We should push to place the two girls who got recently adopted into the clan on a similar evolutionary path. We should be able to provide them with mates who have primary treemonae evolutions, so if we get them a zipper primary, reproducing Astras evolution should be possible.
Sienna cleared her throat. Please, reign yourself in, Kiera. All of us are aware of your sowhat extre position on human reproduction.
What do you want to say? Kiera huffed. That its a good thing to artificially interfere with human evolution? I am not happy with the implications of finishing the thought to its logical conclusion, but ending up with a race of people who are incapable of giving birth without being sliced open with a scalpel cant be a desirable dical goal. Sotis, compassion ends up breeding more misery than it prevents.
The woman who quite clearly was sowhat misplaced in her chosen profession wiggled her eyebrows. Breeding more misery. Do you get it?
Nobody laughed.
I leaned over to Thalia. Why is she here?
Because she is the best we have, Thalia whispered between clenched teeth.
I would find a way to kill Gaia for landing in this situation later.
My friend raised a hand in an attempt to slow down Kiera. Slow down, Kiera. You are making the pair of the hour uncomfortable. How about the childrens health?
Oh. The gynaecologist looked sowhat mollified and put the egg back down on the bed. All three are fine. I can already hear their heartbeats, but the rapid developnt seems to be slowing down now that they have entered this egg stage. I am still sowhat surprised I didnt notice the formation of these shells. Though, it makes sense if what Astra says is true. If the shell only hardened after birth, my echolocation mightve mistaken it for normal tissue. Its really hard to discern between flesh, skin, or a soft mbrane.
Great, Magnus comnted with a fake cheer in his voice. Could we now all step out of our bedroom? Having so many people in here makes uncomfortable.
Kiera imdiately relapsed to her strange side. Can you tell whether thats an instinct? Do you want to protect the eggs? Or is it about having a whole crowd of people in your and your wifes most private space?
This ti, I answered, but I didnt hide my irritation behind a mask of false cheer. Both! Please vacate the room.
Thankfully, nobody objected, and I let out a sigh of relief once everyone was outside. The door closed, and with it, the eggs were out of easy reach. The tension I had unconsciously been holding under control fell away.
Do we have to keep them warm or sothing? Magnus asked a question I hadnt thought of.
Kiera pursed her lips as she considered it. I dont believe so, given they arent eggs in a traditional sense. Having them too warm beneath a blanket might be detrintal because of reduced air circulation. On the sa account, it might help to turn them over regularly. At the very least it won't hurt them. What are your instincts telling you? Do you want to have them at a warr place?
I thought about it. No, not particularly. Admittedly, carrying them to our bed was just a knee-jerk reaction of mine because I couldnt think of another soft surface.
The gynaecologist gave a knowing smile. Then it should be fine.
Should be? Magnus snorted. Why doesnt that assure ?
Kiera raised her hands. What do you want from ? It isnt like Ive other parents with your set of mutations to compare with. In my experience, when a reproductive process deviates drastically from the norm its best to listen to ones instincts. The nano-machines rarely intervene in such a manner without giving the host the ability to cope with the changes. A mutation and the corresponding instincts are genetically linked, but I will keep monitoring the situation to be safe. As of now, I dont see a reason to do more than necessary. Taking asures beyond what feels reasonable risks doing sothing detrintal. The eggs seem fine and healthy. Keep it that way.
Magnus ran a hand over his forehead. I see. Thanks for the advice.
You are welco. Kiera turned and left our living quarters after excusing herself to the rest of the family.
I am so envious! Thalia was suddenly at my side, pulling at my cheek. How can anyone be so lucky? Stop looking like soone stole your pet!
I removed her hand from my cheeks. Sorry. It was a shock.
Oh, co here! Mom pushed Thalia aside and gave a warm hug. Where is all your confidence from earlier? I am sure it will be fine!
Iv and Dad only watched us with sowhat serene expressions while they tried to co to terms with their new titles of aunt and grandpa.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
I had to smile involuntarily as I was reminded of my earlier bravado regarding my pregnancy. Gaia had promised everything would go well. And it was well, even if not exactly as I had imagined. The avatar probably hadnt even ant us ill. This was yet another case of her not understanding human sensibilities.
Yes. Thank you. It will be fine.
***Tirnanog, Mount Aerie***
***Magnus***
Its strange... I mused while I went over the observatorys logs.
Hayne Ortega, elder of the fifth strata, and in charge of copying my archives to paper format had overheard and ca over.
Sothing the matter?
Well, sothing is very strange about this planet, I comnted while I kept scrolling through the logs. Ive ntioned the observatory so ti ago. Ive been digging into the program because it interests . Back on Earth, I did a similar job in the astrophysics departnt while I was still an upright mber of society and working at the university.
I can rember you ntioning the program, Hayne replied.
The thing kept running for the past few hundred years, and while we dont have any actual images, Ive found a continuous record of sensor readings like solar irradiation, temperature, atmospheric density, light pollution... I waved towards the chart I had drawn with the data inside the observatorys database.
The elder pursed his lips. I am educated on a great many things, but I must admit this is a hole in my education. Why would an observatory need to know these things or log them?
I glanced at him before I returned my attention to the chart. Modern observatories have their equipnt on a satellite in orbit, which makes all of this unnecessary. But this one had its equipnt planetside. When you are using a telescope to look through an atmosphere at the stars, you have to account for sothing called atmospheric warping to stabilize the image. Old telescopes did this via basic image correction, but more modern versions incorporated all of these values into the process to account for additional lensing effects near the horizon. It was a fairly common technique to widen the telescopes range of view until it beca cheaper to just put satellites into space. Nowadays, nobody wants to bother with atmospheric interference while watching the universe.
He nodded. I still dont understand the problem.
I pointed at the chart which showed solar radiation and atmospheric temperature on the sa tiscale. These records are by their very nature a history of the planets climate. Ive been wondering about the harsh winter ever since I learned of it.
Placing a hand on my chest, I tried to convey a problem I wasnt sure was a problem. At the very least, it was a mystery which nagged at . I am by no ans a climate expert, but this planet has almost no tilt to its axis. According to my understanding, aside from so microclimatic anomalies, this should an the seasons have to be almost non-existent.
Hayne harrumphed. I know the basics of how the change of seasons is driven by the tilt of a planet.
I traced the sun exposure chart with my finger. This shows the local stars radiation. Its going up and down with sumr and winter. Which shouldnt be possible without the planet having a tilt, thereby changing the angle of incidence. The only explanation why the radiation would change anyway would be for the star to change its radiation output. Or sothing blocking the stars light in cyclic intervals.
Which are both impossibilities as far as we know, Hayne replied slowly. Tirnanogs sun is a white dwarf. Which should be a very stable star according to my knowledge?
Right, I affird. How a white dwarf got to have a planet in the habitable zone was another question, but I didnt want to go into this right now. We just didnt have the equipnt to research any of this. And it wasnt like humans knew more than two solar systems from close up to draw many comparisons.
A sample size of two wasnt very significant to draw conclusions about the rest of the universe.
Hayne regarded the chart with a raised eyebrow. I doubt we have anyone who made more than a token effort to study the climate, but this sounds like an important mystery. I will log it for the strata as a matter to be researched.
I frowned. What does that an?
The fifth are the keepers of knowledge, Hayne explained. For soone to gain accomplishnts within our strata, he or she has to solve one of the mysteries troubling our society. If a problem is logged in our records, solving it is assured to raise you through the ranks. No matter whether the solution turns out to be a real issue for the clan or not.
I see. It certainly wasnt wrong to know your environnts peculiarities. I guess its good you see this as a problem.
The elder looked amused. Even if it isnt one of our imdiate issues, or turns out to be of no concern to our survival, knowing why Tirnanogs seasons act as they do sounds like important knowledge.
He looked towards the scribes who were copying the latest journal. You have brought sothing of great worth to us. Thank you for paying us regular visits to ensure everyone can work with this device.
Its nothing. All I had done was to give them schooling on the computers office functions. Everything else was locked away behind my admin-level access a password only I knew. Have you studied the provided docunts? Any idea how long it will take to uplift Tirnanog to Earths technology standards?
Hayne frowned while he considered the scribes. A few things were reported to of imdiate worth. Like designs for more cost-effective power generators. Sadly, I am afraid decades might pass before we will see any visible change coming from it. Our main problem remains, which is access to certain elents which arent found around Mount Aerie. We will have to unify the clans and take control over this planet before we can build any real industry.
I understand the problem, I replied. Though, allow to say I am already impressed with what you have.
Thank you. Generations have lived and died to build this haven of safety. He looked around, indicating the colony as a whole. I would love to see future generations no longer having to hide inside this mountain.
I nodded. I guess I will call it a day and go to see my wife. I closed the charts and indicated the folder with the raw data. The information with what I managed to dig out of the programs database is here. In case soone decides to take a look.
Hayne acknowledged it and I excused myself, leaving the Hall of Law.
The fastest way back to the estate was taking the nearby elevator three levels down and then a carriage.
After the tenth trip, I already made my way on autopilot while my mind drifted off to other things.
I entered the public elevator and watched the central living cavern through the glass window, wondering whether I would get to see the changes I brought to this world.
Two n grabbed by the arms while I was imagining a whole new civilisation springing forth from Mount Aerie.
What-
I gasped as a tal spike blood from my chest, right where my heart was.
It was hard to rationalize what had happened until the passenger in front of turned around, drawing a similar tal spike with a handle from beneath his jacket.
The person who had knifed from behind tried to draw out his weapon, but the filant weave beneath my clothes tightened and prevented the weapon from coming back out. All the assassin accomplished was to pull back, including the two n holding .
Then the pain ca, blessedly awakening from my stupor.
The bioluminescent lines on my exposed neck flared up in an explosion of blinding light while I discharged an electric strike into everyone touching .
My chest hurt and my skin burned, but my body kept moving while I relied solely on my Second Sight which was unaffected by the sudden brightness.
The attacker in front of hesitated briefly, which was enough to land a low kick to his mid section. The force of the blow sent him stumbling backwards and cracked the window pane.
Simultaneously, I drew my arms together and threw myself backwards, pushing the man behind against the closed elevator doors.
Since the left one had grabbed just at the upper arm, I managed to bring my forearm up and to my right attackers face.
Fingernails of hardened mindflayer chitin dug into skin as I scratched and pulled.
A scream of agony followed and he let go, freeing my right arm which imdiately whipped around to punch the left attacker in the face with a satisfying whack!
All of this happened while I was still trying to process what was going on. My main self couldnt fathom why soone would try to assassinate , but this didnt matter to the sub-identities I had commandeered to watch out for threats, and they were taking over independently while my body blurred.
My newly freed left arm drew the combat knife I had gotten for daily utility. The knife hamred the right mans side like the needle of a stitching machine. It took a re second to whip around and strike the man behind who turned out to be a woman.
At the sa ti, my foot kicked out backwards and sent the attacker who still had his spike back against the window, cracking it further. He tried to stab this ti, but the tal spike glanced off the filants covering my foot as I turned with the kick.
I grabbed the woman at the throat and on her belt, discharging a second lightning strike solely aid at her this ti.
The body went taut while I picked her up with a roar and whirled her around at the assassin in front of the window.
The third impact, plus the weight of two bodies was too much for the reinforced glass and both assassins went sailing out of the elevator.
It neatly removed two variables from the equation, but it left the remaining assassin I punched earlier room to tackle to the ground.
He was unimpressed when I tried to electrify him and the knife glanced off his skin which was like liquid tal. I tried to jam the blade into his eyes while he choked , but he closed them, turning himself imperable to my attacks. Additionally, he tucked in his neck to prevent from choking him back.
I abandoned the attempt and pressed the knifes poml to his temple while I applied pressure with my knuckles from the other side. Done right, this caused extre pain to normal humans and this man was thankfully no exception. Tears fell from his eyes, but he wasnt deterred.
Instead of firing another lighting strike, I supercharged my muscles and connected my wrists with my filants to create a lever. My two arms ford now a reverse plier.
Once I was sure my filants would hold, I pressed, forcing my elbows apart.
It took a mont before he let go of . With a scream of pain he gave his best to get out of my grasp, but it was too late. Then he tried to pry my arms apart. Exactly the wrong reaction because of the lever I had created. Instead of lessening the force applied to his temples, he only added to it.
There was a crack, like breaking a nut, and the body went limp on top of .
I rolled him off and gasped. Being tackled to the ground had only driven the spike further in despite the weave.
Coughing, I touched the wound and my hand ca away slick with blood and so black, oily substance.
Poison! One of my sub-identities scread in the back of my mind.
I had to get up. Find help.
I tried to, but my body was a trembling wreck, refusing my command. With the last vestiges of consciousness, I saw soone climbing back in through the broken window.
One of the assassins had survived! I had to get up and fight, but I couldnt! Coughing again, I retched up bloody foam while my vision darkened.
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