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"Are... are you okay?" You ask, leaning forward in the armchair.

"I suppose I'm doing fine." Dad shrugged. "You?"

"Dad..." You give him a pleading look.

He sighed and rubbed his forehead roughly. "Not letting me go that easily, huh? I'm... surviving. There's only so much worrying I can do about you before it all turns into an annoying drone. I have trouble wrapping my head around the more fantastic parts of your life. Your robot friends hide from me, I think."

You frown a little. "They shouldn't do that..."

"I think it's their habit. I'm not their... uh, 'boss'. You are. And frankly, I don't think I really understand them in the same way you do." Dad sighed and made a vague gesture with his hands. "I'm not part of that world, Tiiris. I'm not being excluded, I'm just not..."

"Valkan?" You offer.

"Essentially." Dad nodded. "I'm just not Valkan at the end of the day. I worry about you- but I really don't understand what it is you're getting up to. Frankly, I was starting to lose track of you a long time before all this started."

"You were?" An odd feeling of anxiety clutches in your chest at the words. No, that couldn't be- he couldn't be that blind, right? Surely he was keeping a steady eye on you, ready to help out if something went wrong.

"You're growing up." Dad got a wistful expression on his face. "It feels like I'm losing you- goodness knows it felt like that when they tried to tell me you were dead the other day. But then you just walked right back in like you'd just gotten held up at Lynn's overnight again."

"You make it sound so casual."

"That's what's so funny about it all- I just blinked one day and suddenly you were your own person." Dad laughed. "I have to be casual. I'm not a super spy or something, I'm just an old man. I don't have any sage advice about dealing with AI, or looking into your cultural heritage. I do know how you liked your sandwiches when you were a kid."

You smile sadly. "Jelly and cod."

"With the corners pinched in. That's something your mother came up with, by the way."

"But... do you really not care? About any of this?" You ask, timid despite yourself.

"Do I not care?" Dad scoffed dismissively. "Of course I 'care'. I spend half the day glued to the news because I know- I know that if anything happens to you, that's the first place I'll hear of it. But that's not the point. The point is that I'm here. That even if you're off doing who-knows-what in abandoned ships with killer robots that there will always be a bed and a meal here for you."

"But you don't want to know?"

"That's part of growing up, Tiiris. You have to realize that you aren't beholden to your parents anymore- although you seemed to have figured that out just fine."

"I think I'd feel better if you shout at me about it." You murmur.

Dad smiled and shrugged. "Maybe I can work up some fatherly ire in the morning."

You suddenly blurt out. "I can use magic."

>>4214656
"Oh?" Dad deadpanned. "And what sort of spells have you learned?"

"I can throw myself into the ceiling sometimes. And I can make things float." You reached in your pocket and dug out a coin, and flicked it onto your thumb with a deftness you hadn't had a few weeks ago. With a soft flick of your thumb, it launches into the air, coasting up towards the ceiling and... stopping.

It spun in midair, never falling to the ground, entirely suspended by an extension of your will- a small acceleration field holding it up. You relax, and it drops towards your outstretched hand and stopping inches above it, this time no longer spinning as it's caught between the kludgey fingers of a spectral hand.

Dad watches quietly as you orbit it around your hand, even clumsily trying to pass it through your fingers and accidentally dropping it. "I thought psychokinesis was a psychic thing."

"I don't know if psychics are real."

"Does it really matter if you're psychic or magic?"

"Probably not." You finally admit. As you slip the coin back into your wallet, a thought tugs at you- and a elastic waistband slaps down firmly around your stomach. "Um... I told you about my body changing..."

"I noticed, yes." Dad nodded.

"I, um..." You blush. "Do I... do I look okay?"

"You're always going to be my little girl, Tiiris." Dad commented idly, flipping to a different stream.

"Not like that." You flush. "Do I look... okay. Presentable."

Dad spared you a brief glance, looking you over and saying. "You look like Jeanne."

"Really?"

"Really. You've got that same intensity she had. It's the eyes, I think. Jeanne had this stare. You know she had a mouth on her, but those eyes could serve up a withering stare or a blank look on a whim."

"...Mom intimidated people?" You couldn't help but snicker at the thought of the delicate women you'd seen in family photos ever being seen as threatening.

"I distinctly recall her threatening her on a few occasions. Sometimes I could swear she was actually going to hurt them."

"Huh..." You make a mental note to see if there are any public records of what you mother was like when she was with the 13th Fleet. "What was she like when you were dating?"

"Oh, it's nothing you haven't heard before..." Dad began to recount old stories about your mother- most of which you'd asked him to recount a hundred times before, but he humored you nevertheless. Your voices eventually turn into murmurs as the night stretches on further, and the stream on the television drones in the background until you belatedly realize that your father has lapsed into sleep.

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>>4214658

Residential District, Miir, 1st Floor
5th of 6th, 1173. 10:00AM.

When you wake up the next morning curled up on the chair, you give a grunt of surprise and stretch in your seat. At some point, you'd curled a blanket up around yourself- or maybe it was your father? Or Easy? No way to know, these days. Wandering into the kitchen, you find Easy already laying out a plate of leftovers for you, and you grunt a hello.

"Your father has already left for work." It helpfully tells you.

"I guessed." You grumble and sit down heavily on the kitchen chair, fumbling with a fork as you begin to scoop eggs into your mouth. As the morning buzz of stims begins to slowly jerk your system awake, you blink a few times before calling out. "LL?" You ask, looking up from your breakfast and staring at a wall. "Is it possible to get implants taken out?"

There was a sort of chatter that happened on your comms- something you'd only become aware of as you grew accustomed to the connection you shared with your drones. It wasn't anything like static, or overheard voices, but you could sense when your drones were speaking. Like a small activity sensor that let you know who was connected around you. When all of those lights abruptly went out at once, you realized you might have stepped on a bit of a landmine.

"Yes." LL began with an overabundance of caution. "It is. However, I would not recommend it."

"Okay..." You began. "Why not?"

"Parts of your body have augments in them. The muscle fibers, your bones. Others have complete replacements, such as your nerves. The function of your machine heart is to grow these augments in and maintain them. Theoretically, all of these could be removed by your machine heart, and then the machine heart itself could be removed via surgery."

"I'm with you so far. Why can't you do this?"

"You would need to be reverted to a more stable genetic state, as your machine heart also maintains your biology. However, the issue is that your implanted AI is integral to all these systems."

"Integral how?"

"It's connected directly to your nervous system through the replacement nerves, and interfaces with your machine heart."

"Okay, so why can't we take it out too?"

Another landmine, there. Despite the unease of your drones, your implants seemed to be just as intrigued as you were, funnily enough.

"An implanted AI is equivalent to another mind, in both structure and function." LL began slowly. "It's connections and hardware are merged into your brain, and exist alongside your neurons. Just like them, it can branch and create new connections, including with the neurons in your brain. Every time your neurons change connections, there's a chance it will connect to the AI instead."

"So... what's the big deal? Can't you just sever the connections and pull it out?"

>>4214659
"Perhaps in the first few days after implantation. But the two halves rapidly grow together. You may not realize it, but it's likely that the majority of your thoughts are passing through the implants, and you aren't aware of it. Same for the AI- it probably doesn't realize half of it's 'thoughts' are occurring in your brain."

You feel confusion on two fronts at LL's explanation. In your implants and in your own head. But the implication is clear. "...oh." You swallow, suddenly not quite so hungry. "And if you take it out, those thoughts have nowhere to go..."

"It would be as if we ripped half of your brain out. You would lose massive amounts of brain function- complete loss of your sight, at the very least, and there's no telling how the process would affect your memory and thought process. In someone who has been merged for years, the process would irrevocably destroy their mind and likely kill them."

"...and I'm guessing it wouldn't be pretty."

"Unless life support functions were also disabled, the machine heart by itself could probably maintain the body several hours before it dies." LL said.

"Removal of a machine heart or implanted AI is considered a crime against humanity aboard the 13th and, before it, 12th Fleet." ST interjected at this point. "It carries an automatic sentence of execution unless extraordinary circumstance can be proven. Such as a bad machine heart not taking and requiring replacement."

"Just... like that? No chance for jail?" You couldn't help but sneer a little. "I can't imagine what they do for a crime worser than that."

"There is no higher crime than that."

"...not even mass murder or something?" You ask in disbelief.

"Mass murder is considered a lower crime."

You don't even have time to properly process that before LL asks. "...You are not planning on asking me to do this, yes?"

"Huh? Oh, no, no!" You screw your eyes shut and wave your arms in an 'x' across your chest, not remembering that LL wasn't in the room with you. "I was just thinking about my mother's cremation, and where her implants might be! That's all!"

"Oh." LL's voice was normally on the artificial end, but still managed to sound aubidly relieved. "Pardon my assumption."

"No, I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was such a sensitive topic..." You sighed and looked down at your breakfast, before quickly forcing yourself to finish up. Putting your plate in the sink, you wash up while debating what to do today.

>>4214660
>More social calls!
>>[Sub-Option] Kara. It's time to get those implants in.
>>[Sub-Option] Elan. It's time to get those implants in.
>>[Sub-Option] Netana, maybe? Or maybe you don't need to talk to her, maybe you should just spy on her...
>>[Sub-Option] Arrange a rendezvous with the Rontah.
>Begin planning for another big task.
>>[Sub-Option] Up to Reese for Jess' training camp. Maybe even get Kara and Elan in on it.
>>[Sub-Option] That message was still transmitting every night. It's time to see if this 'Kathari' is the same one who wrote your journal.
>>[Sub-Option] Something else. (Write-In)
>[Write-In]

>>4214664
>>More social calls!
>>>[Sub-Option] Kara. It's time to get those implants in.
>>>[Sub-Option] Elan. It's time to get those implants in.
Time to get cybernetic

>>4214664
>More social calls!
>>[Sub-Option] Kara. It's time to get those implants in.
>>[Sub-Option] Elan. It's time to get those implants in.
We should try and get them to work though any issues that they may have in relation to maintaining their lives if they decide to get their implants restored.

we should also ask LL why our Implants are asking us to perform system integration and calibration, and what to do about it.

>>4214664
Aww, the poor drones freaking out at a possible case of machine heart rejection, when Tiiris was just curious about Mom's illness. Flying polyhedral robots are cute!
But that doesn't actually answer the question of why Mom's machine-heart could have failed so catastrophically. Sensitive topic indeed.

>More social calls!
>[Sub-Option] Elan. It's time to get those implants in.
>[Sub-Option] Arrange a rendezvous with the Rontah.
First choice Elan, second the Rontah. Elan seemed pretty HYPE about fixing his bones. Kara... seemed hesitant, so maybe seeing Elan doing well will encourage her to think about it more.
Rontah because we packed those drones in there like luggage. Drones need walkies sometimes to keep them healthy, right?

>>4214664
>[Sub-Option] Kara. It's time to get those implants in.
This first then we do Elan, since it's way more suspicious if bone boy suddenly stops breaking.

>Jelly and cod
Stealthy way to get some heavy metals into Tiiris? With the water coverage and less land I bet a lot more industrial run-off ends up spreading into the ocean.

>Dad
Does he ever get a day off? Tiiris should spend some time with him and do something together.

>>4214664
>More social calls!
>>[Sub-Option] Kara. It's time to get those implants in.
>>[Sub-Option] Elan. It's time to get those implants in.

>>4214664
>More social calls!
>>[Sub-Option] Kara. It's time to get those implants in.
>>[Sub-Option] Elan. It's time to get those implants in.

Don't forget to upvote on the archive folks.

>More social calls!
>>[Sub-Option] Kara. It's time to get those implants in.
>>[Sub-Option] Elan. It's time to get those implants in.
Writing.

Life had conspired to keep you from getting around to this- catching up on work, finals, clearing things up with Mr. Soban and the important task of waiting to see if you dropped dead from getting your implants in. But now that the smoke had settled and you weren't brain dead nor busy, it was time to get your act together and get the spare machine seed you had into Kara and Elan. Like your father, you can imagine they were somewhat swimming in the dark on the whole Valkan thing.

Well, Kara less so, with a drone of her own in tow.

You pull out your phone and get halfway through composing a message asking when they'd be free before you remember their differing response to what had happened so far. Kara was as always upbeat and excitable, if somewhat dampened by the voices. That and from her enthusiastic response to the idea of the- uh, 'visual' benefits of implants made it seem like an easy sell.

Elan, though... you hadn't really got his thoughts on it, but he must have made his peace with the idea of cybernetics years ago, right? It was possible to get permanent replacement bones grafted in for adults, and considering the amount of money he had, presumably he'd have gotten them when he was older. That said, he'd seemed anxious about something the last time you were with him.

It might be a good idea to see the two of them separately... but maybe it was all in your head?

>See them separately.
>See them together.

>>4216511
>See them separately.
Elan doesn't seem as sold on the idea as Kara, so he may end up regretting his choice later on he may also be able to be treated without implants, where as Kara can't.
Regardless of what happens we should probably assign at least one drone / warskin to watch over him, to make sure that he doesn't run to problems, or at least can attract our attention if he does..

>>4216511
>See them separately.

>>4216511
>See them together.

>>4216511
>See them together.

>>4216511
>See them together.

>>4216511
>See them separately.
Seeing them together is putting peer pressure on both of them. It's insensitive.
This is a private choice about themselves. Bringing in anyone else, even family, is automatically wrong unless they ask that someone else be there.
(That said, it will eventually be impossible to hide from family members. Excuses about growing up aren't going to cut it)

>>4216511
>>See them together.

>>4217224
They need to embrace their destiny anon. And not die at the age of 30 from seizures

>>4217224
Surely if some of their family are Valkan, then they'd notice and cover for them? They have to realise right? Or did they all die like Tiiris' mother?

>>4217614
We don't actually know yet. Adoption, rape, previous marriages... who knows. We can rule out living Valkans in their families, at least, or the kids would be better cared for.

That's the point of meeting with them alone, to find out. Without making it an uncomfortable group situation where no one wants to talk about personal issues.

From personal experience, I can understand Tiiris, a teen, making that mistake because she isn't trained in medicine and doesn't understand medical ethics, but making it a group thing can only cause everyone involved to be more hesitant to do anything in the end. Ethical standards in medicine exist mostly for that reason. People push back, hide details, or avoiding committing to anything at all, if they feel pressured and uncomfortable. That's why it feels weird.

>>4217784
Have we actually asked either of them about their parents yet?
>>4216511
>See them separately.
It's a big choice, and one that should be made individually.

>>4218367
Don't think we have.
All I recall about Kara is that her parents own the electronics store she works part time at.
Elan's family is wealthy, and live on Miir's third floor, I think. Vaguely remember we had an option to beg him for money at some point, for some reason.

>>4218576
It's a video rental store.

>>4218757
A video rental store you say?

In the not-so-noble kinda-brightness of the far future, Neo-Blockbuster lives on in the space age. Now showcasing the latest graphene cassette technology for Stellar Wars Episode CLXXVI: The Valkan Conspiracy, the Pirates of Paar and Raising the Tura. Late fees have been adjusted in line with inflation, bringing them to 93,885.02 space dollars per day, still less than a cup of hyper-coffee. Our Summer Special Rates are now on, with hundreds of titles now available at up to 30% discounted rates, and if you rent six videos you get a seventh free! Humidity damage to tapes is billable. "Stolen by Valkans" is not an acceptable excuse for non-returns.

>>4218803
CHS tapes specifically. Cinema Home System. Essentially full theater quality film in a small box. Relatively expensive to own, so rental businesses are actually quite profitable. Late fees are low but replacement fees are ungodly. I believe it was noted in the description of Jared's living room that he had a projector.

>>4216511
>See them separately.
Elan first. Kara is fine, she wants it anyways. Alone we can seduce Elan.

>>4216511
>See them separately.
Maybe Elan just needs/wants the Bone Healing Juice. He should be checked out individually by LL, as should Kara.

>See them separately.
Writing.

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Hukak Household, Miir, 3rd Floor
5th of 6th, 1173. 1:00PM.

"...and that's the gist of it." You finish. Sunlight streamed through the blinds of Elan's bedroom window, just like it in Taylor's house. It was such an odd idea to you that the sun would shine through the bedroom window so early. It made you think it was still early morning from the way the sun shone on his front lawn. Oh, that's right. Elan had a freaking yard! With bushes and landscaping and everything. Who the hell maintained it? Not his parents, that's for sure.

Elan leaned back in his chair, somewhat self-consciously jerking his head forward to try and keep it in place. "So what if I just need this slurry, like you mentioned before?"

"That depends on... LL?" You ask, turning your attention towards the medical drone currently hovering over Elan, it's arms probing at his head with various instruments as he tried to keep it still.

Elan's room was a surprisingly clean affair- at least, the floor was. All of his clothes were properly hung up, folded and his bed was immaculate. Meanwhile, his desk was an utter mess of schoolwork, papers and cables and- well, pointless bullshit. Little paperweights, knickknacks and random pens and pencils were strewn on top of the previously mentioned bullshit. The only things that wasn't so was a VR headset and controllers, which were an island of order among the rest of his desk. Presumably one of his housekeepers kept his room clean.

"He appears to be remarkably stable. Disabilities notwithstanding, I would give him forty years before mental degradation becomes an issue."

"Could he get by with just the slurry?" You ask. "Like, would it fix his bones?"

"It would." LL confirmed. "But it would only treat the immediate symptoms. More would inevitably present over time, and I cannot tell you exactly what those would be."

"Forty years is pretty good..." Elan mused.

"You'd still die, though. Forty years... your life is almost half over."

"My life expectancy was already low. Even with the replacement bones, a bad fall could still take me out. So, forty years..." Elan shrugged. "Seems alright."

"You seem like you don't want it." You begin slowly, unsure of how to approach the conversation. "Do you... not...?"

Elan rubbed his shoulder and sighed. "Don't take this the wrong way, Tiiris, but... I'm not like you. I'm not adventurous, or... ambitious. I look at the possibility of getting... a computer fused into my head and I just think about all the things that could go wrong. The little ways it would control me."

You feel your implants bristle with indignation, but you dismiss it. "There's no going back if you get them put in. No taking them out afterwards."

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>>4219742
"I gathered from your description." Elan sighed. "It sounds appealing, and I'm not knocking the effects so much as I am- look. I go to the doctor every other week to make sure my bones are okay. My family doesn't stalk me or anything, but they'd notice if I suddenly stopped going to the doctor. Or if I didn't use my wheelchair anymore."

"...about your family." You begin.

"No, I have no idea if any of them are Valkan." Elan said flatly. "Probably my mother? Dad doesn't strike me as a Valkan and Tina came into my life when I was nine, so..."

"Sorry." You murmur. "So, your mind's made up?"

"No- I- maybe. I'm just not sure about... I'm happy with my life as is, and being involved in a terrorist attack was maybe a bit too much for me." Elan started to say something, hesitated and then looked away. "That's really it."

>Be aggressive. He needs to realize how stubborn he's being.
>Be compassionate. Something is clearly troubling him.
>Be analytical. His arguments are flawed, you just need to demonstrate that...
>Be understanding. If he doesn't want it, he doesn't want it. Simple as that.
>[Write-In]

>>4219747

>Be understanding. If he doesn't want it, he doesn't want it. Simple as that.
Could the implants still be implanted if he changes his mind in the future?

>>4219762
Yep. So long as he isn't dead.

>>4219747
>[Write-In]
>Be seductive, show your curves Tiiris!
>Be compassionate. Something is clearly troubling him.

>>4219776
+1
Get yandere

>>4219747
>Be analytical. His arguments are flawed, you just need to demonstrate that...

>>4219747
>Be compassionate. Something is clearly troubling him.
He sounds... like he doesn't really have anyone he can talk to in his family. Or maybe I'm reading too much into it.
Second choice would be to deconstruct his fears, though:
>Be analytical. His arguments are flawed, you just need to demonstrate that...
The AIs, drones and brain-computers alike, are all obsessive about presenting options without judgement and making sure you can choose to be the person you want to be. They do everything they can think of to make sure nothing goes wrong, without getting in the way.
They don't 'control' you, they give you control you might otherwise be afraid to let yourself have, or normally find impossible to get.
We respect his choice, but it can't be based on fear of consequences that both him and the implants would be working to avoid. If he wants to lead a relaxed, unexciting life, the machine heart would help him do exactly that, to the best of its capabilities. It's exactly what it exists to do.

If there had been more pleasant and unambitious Valkans like Jess, Tagara today would be in a much better state.

>>4219747
>>Be compassionate. Something is clearly troubling him.
>>Be analytical. His arguments are flawed, you just need to demonstrate that...
Maybe point out the implants rely on the person as much as person relies on the implants.

>>4219747
>Be understanding. If he doesn't want it, he doesn't want it. Simple as that.

>>4219747
>>Be compassionate. Something is clearly troubling him.
>>Be analytical. His arguments are flawed, you just need to demonstrate that...
Nothing wrong with being a little seductive too. Bend strategically, get up close.

>>4219747
>Be compassionate. Something is clearly troubling him.

>>4219747
Compassionate + Analytical + a little dere

>Be compassionate. Something is clearly troubling him.
>Be analytical. His arguments are flawed, you just need to demonstrate that...
Writing.

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"Terrorists aren't going to hunt you down just because you have augments." You sigh and shift closer to the side of the bed, leaning forward towards him. "Is that really it? That you won't be able to live a normal life?"

"Yes..." Elan glances away from you. "Is that so much of a concern?"

"No, but you have to be realistic, Elan. Nobody is going to find out about them unless you go and advertise it."

"You changed a lot when you got your implants in." Elan pointed out.

"I..." You feel your cheeks heat up. "Okay, I did, but nobody noticed-" Dammit, that wasn't true though, was it? "No, a bunch of people noticed, and one girl called me out on it. But that was very visible and public. You have the entire summer to hide it."

"I think that's just proving my point..."

"Well, what are you concerned about? That you won't be able to hide it?"

"Kinda..." Elan frowned. "How did you determine what you'd look like? Did you design what you look like?"

"No?" You tilt your head and think. "It just kinda... happened."

"Ah." Elan glowered slightly. "That's pleasant."

"As for your family..." You think, then sigh. "I was just honest with my dad. Who knows? Maybe your Dad knows as well. All you have to do is bring it up with him."

"But what if he doesn't and reacts badly? What if he tells people?"

"Does he seem like the type to run to the government when anythings wrong?"

"Well... no." Elan sighed.

"What are you so scared of?" You get off the couch and crouch near his chair. "Come on, Elan, he's your Dad. He loves you!"

"He does..." Elan scratched his head bashfully. "I guess... it's... I've spent a long time coming to terms with my life, right? It took a lot of work to get over 'wheelchair' as my only personality trait."

You nod, understanding a bit more than you'd like to admit.

"And once I got over that." Elan continued. "I had to come to terms with the fact that one day that I'd be the cybernetics guy. And now you want me to just change that to g- Valkan?"

You tilt your head for a moment before continuing. "It sounds to me like you'd have cybernetics anyway."

"But Valkan cybernetics." Elan countered. "If I don't do anything with them, is it even worth installing them?"

"My friend wouldn't die. I think that's good enough." You furrow your brow. "Besides, what are you even talking about- nobody is saying you're obligated to become a vigilante or... whatever a 'philosopher-engineer' is. Hell, me and Kara met this really chill Valkan. She lives a totally normal life."

"Really?" Elan seemed a little wary, but intrigued by the idea. "Huh..."

You furrow your brow at him. He was holding something back, but you might have convinced him already. Should you press him about it? It might be none of your business...

>Press him.
>Don't.
>[Write-In]

>>4221877
>Press him

>>4221877
>Press him.
I bet the implants would make him super good at all the VR games he plays too. That's the real selling point, right?

>>4221877
>Press him.
Press him to share what he's holding back, not press him to get the implant, yes? The latter would feel mega sleazy.
95% sure this has nothing to do with the machine heart anyway and is going to get Tiiris asked out

>>4221877
>>Press him.
literally and figuratively

>>4221877
>Press him.

>>4222145
What he's holding back, yes.

>>4221877
>Press him.
Should we mention the Rontah?

>>4221877
>Press him.
Ara ara

>>4221877
>Press him.
We've played "issue tennis" for a bit, why not keep going

Potential thing I've thought of though. Do implants and associated features show up on X-rays? I'd imagine Elan has them fairly often; and explaining to your parents on a personal level is one thing, the sawbones holding up your pictures and asking you what the fuck all that is is another.

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>Press him.
Writing.

>>4223461
I don't know what that image means. I'm vaguely concerned.

>>4223461
Not too hard I hope, he breaks easily.

"...is there something you want to tell me, Elan?" You shooch a little closer to his chair. "You've been dancing around something for a while, what is it?"

"Um..." Elan blushed. "It's really not relevant."

"It sounds relevant." You tilt your head forward and furrow your brow, before pressing closer to him. "C'mon, Elan. You can tell me." Something tugs at your senses, but you dismiss it.

"It's really nothing." Elan tried to pull away from you. "I'm mostly just worried about the implants being detectable."

"LL?" You turn towards the drone floating patiently off to the side.

"Nerve replacements do not generally present on x-ray scans, nor do neural augments. However, the machine heart is visually distinct from a standard heart, and the rerouting of the colon and bladder would be detectable." LL paused for a second before adding. "That said, the images are indistinct enough that it would likely pass scrutiny that is directed at the bones, and not the organs. Machine hearts are not much denser than normal hearts, in practice."

"It would still be on file..." Elan muttered.

"Yeah, but you'd be great at Star Eden with them, so that's all that matters right?" You joke, pressing into his shoulder lightly.

"...do you sense that?" Wander's voice came to you, confused.

"Huh?" You don't hear her response, as you immerse yourself into your senses. There was a stale smell in the air, and you could sense... the Abyss?

Elan shuddered against you, his head falling against your chest as he winced. "Shi- dammit, dammit!"

"Elan?" You leave your senses and look down at him with confusion. He was partially slumped against you, and make a slight grunt of effort against your chest. You reached out a hand to give him some support- then he breathed out thick, black smoke that drifted through you like you weren't even there. Jerking back, you step away from him out of sheer shock.

He held up a hand. "No, it's okay. I know it look-" He make a choking sound as a wet splitting sound emanated from his chest. The outlines of his body were visibly shuddering and drawing in on themselves as he braced on the arm of his wheelchair. His normally shaggy hair was growing longer, spilling over his shoulders and tangling in the armrests of his chair. "Fuck!" He squeaked in a higher, fem- feminine voice?

Slowly, you kneel down in front of the chair, looking up at Elan in disbelief. His clothes were creasing oddly as the body underneath shrunk all over- and grew in other places. While most of his body was covered by them, you could see his hands - the knuckles bone white from gripping the armrest - shrink, the fingers creeping up the sides of the cushions and the fine hairs on the back thinning. Small wisps of Abyssal smoke wafted from it, as if the mass was burning away. "Elan?" You whisper in disbelief.

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>>4224251
He sucked a uneasy breath in. Long brown hair hung over his face, obscuring it from view. Reaching up with shaking hands, he swept it back to reveal the face of a pretty girl looking back at you. Gone were Elan's somewhat drawn, hawkish features. All of the sharpness of his face had softened into cutesy innocence, with large, round eyes and a delicate nose. "Ugh..." She made a face. "Still weird..."

"Elan?" You repeat, eyes wide.

"Who?" She says blankly, before blinking. "Oh, yeah. Sorry, that's me."

You tilt your head and give her a strange look. "What? How could you not know?"

"Give me a sec." She pressed a hand to her forehead and rubbed it hard. "I always feel mixed up right after I change..." And then she casually hopped out of her chair and out of the way of your automatic lunge to steady her. "My bones are fine when I'm like this." She mumbled as she paced around, a hand automatically going down to her waist to yank up her baggy pants.

Slowly, you rise to your feet, unable to quite figure out what to say. Was this Elan or had he just been possessed by some... Abyss spirit? Do you need to restrain her?

"Okay." She finally announced. "I think I've got my bearings." She turned towards you and sighed. "You don't have to look at me so weirdly. Stranger things have happened to you."

"I never changed sex." You say indignantly. "...It is you, right Elan?"

"I think so." She looked over herself. "Like- yes, I am Elan. It's me. I remember being Elan five seconds ago, but right now I'm someone else?"

You stare at the girl who's taken Elan's place. She was someone else, now? What? A multitude of emotions run through your head, but you were primarily...

>Creeped out. That looked painful and it had apparently altered his mind.
>Intrigued, in spite of yourself. You had a noted interest in shapeshifting from before, but to see it...
>Shocked. Not by the shapeshifting, really. But... Elan...
>[Write-In]

>>4224256
>Intrigued, in spite of yourself. You had a noted interest in shapeshifting from before, but to see it...
We should probably mention that this is one of the things that the Valkans can do, thanks to the Abyss. so the implants or a little training should help get it under control.
Extend the offer to go with us to Jess's even if he decides against getting the implants.

>>4224256
>>Creeped out. That looked painful and it had apparently altered his mind.
>>Shocked. Not by the shapeshifting, really. But... Elan...
What the fuck. The abyss can do strange things but this is another level.

>>4224256
>Creeped out. That looked painful and it had apparently altered his mind.

>>4224256
>Intrigued, in spite of yourself. You had a noted interest in shapeshifting from before, but to see it...
Well. That wasn't in the 95% I was expecting, OR the other 5%.

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>>4224302
I've been dropping hints about this for like two months now and the payoff is sweet lore.

>>4224305
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

>>4224305
Looks like more questions to ask Xol.
Would the split personality / disassociation be caused by a lack of implants being there to exert influence, to tie everything together.

For that matter what even happens to a Valkan's implants if they were to shapeshift into non a humanoid form for that matter.

>>4224256
>Creeped out. That looked painful and it had apparently altered his mind.

So is she actually Elan or a spirit, does she have her own memories and all that. Either way this is scream worthy material.

>>4224256
>Creeped out. That looked painful and it had apparently altered his mind.
>Shocked. Not by the shapeshifting, really. But... Elan...
That just happened.
>>4224305
Kek

>>4224256
>Creeped out. That looked painful and it had apparently altered his mind.
>Shocked. Not by the shapeshifting, really. But... Elan...

>>4224256
>Intrigued, in spite of yourself. You had a noted interest in shapeshifting from before, but to see it...

>>4224302
Oh, and this as second choice. Startled but not creeped out.
>Shocked. Not by the shapeshifting, really. But... Elan...
I wonder how much of this is our fault, for giving him the rosary.

>>4224602
We don't know when this started, it could have been before that.

>Creeped out. That looked painful and it had apparently altered his mind.
>Shocked. Not by the shapeshifting, really. But... Elan...

>>4224305
Deepest lore

>>4224256
>Shocked. Not by the shapeshifting, really. But... Elan...

>>4224256
>Intrigued, in spite of yourself. You had a noted interest in shapeshifting from before, but to see it...

>>4224256
>Creeped out. That looked painful and it had apparently altered his mind.
>Shocked. Not by the shapeshifting, really. But... Elan...

>>4224256
>>Creeped out. That looked painful and it had apparently altered his mind.
>>Shocked. Not by the shapeshifting, really. But... Elan...

>>4224305
I was prepared for a surprise but not this

>Creeped out. That looked painful and it had apparently altered his mind.
>Shocked. Not by the shapeshifting, really. But... Elan...
Writing.

>>4225319
>>4224302
Out of interest, what WERE you expecting?

>>4225718
his bones disappearing, a warskin showing up not a complete personality and gender change

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>>4225742
>his bones disappearing

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"That sounds... kind of creepy..." You begin, slowly getting closer. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." She stretched her arms, grunting as several joints popped in her back. "It's rough, but it doesn't really hurt. It's more... distracting. Everything's shifting and changing around."

"...when did this start?" You shake your head, carefully walking around her, examining her body from all sides. Of all people, you didn't expect Elan to...

"...you know that necklace you gave me?" Elan began.

"The rosary?" You traced a finger under your collar, and pulled out the trinket.

"Yeah, that." She made a slight face at it. "It started happening after you gave me that. I started feeling weird, and then this started happening. Even after I took the damn thing off, I kept changing."

"You were all in casts, how the hell did they not notice?" You circle around her, taking note of how much shorter she was than you. "Are they just blind?"

Elan smiled with mild amusement at you. "I figured out how to force a change pretty quick, and smart casts are designed to be one size fits all."

You doubt that explanation slightly. Maybe another Abyss ability? Then again, it was entirely possible that casts could do that- not like you would know, since you've never broken a bone before. "Come to think of it..." You began, a realization dawning on you. "...I started to get my powers after I wore it." You remember the random headaches and the sudden dizzy spells that you began to get soon after starting to wear the rosary. Then you suddenly developed telekinesis... could it have been the same for Elan? "Dammit, why didn't you tell me?"

"You were preoccupied, Tiiris." Elan put a hand on her hip and pointed a finger at you, ignoring her pants unceremoniously dropping to the floor. "And it's not like you've never kept secrets from me. Breaking into an alien spaceship and military facility, hmm? Who did that?"

"When is everyone going to stop bringing that up..." You groan.

"When it stops being relevant." Elan inclined her head and gave you a knowing smile.

You tilt your head at that. The contrast between Elan and... 'Elan' was uncanny. She would say things that you'd expect Elan to say - the sarcastic streak was definitely present - but her manner would be completely different. Instead of the biting, almost passive aggressive snark you had grown accustomed to from Elan, this... she was much more direct. Whether she was truly assertive or more shy like Elan tended to be remained to be seen, but she certainly wasn't heeding her lack of pants at the moment.

"The point is, you were already busy, and this was my problem." Elan walked past you and towards the wardrobe standing up against the wall. Bracing herself against the wall, she twisted it slightly forward and reached behind it, extracting a small bundle of clothes from behind it. "I was going to tell you when I had more control over it..."

>>4225817
"Do you have any more control?" You ask dubiously. "What does control even mean?"

Elan sighed as she held the bundle against her chest. "...well, obviously I failed to control it there. It just suddenly comes on sometimes. I feel myself... I don't know how to phrase it. Falling? Like my mind is changing tracks, and then I shift."

"...the implants would help with that." You began.

Elan glanced away, undoing the bundle in her arms. "Yeah, but what if they turn me into this permanently? What if this is my new normal- like you changed after your implants were put in?"

You stare at her. "I haven't read a single thing about that happening. Shapeshifting is supposed to be one of the basic powers." Except, no, wait- "...actually, I did read about this. Shapeshifting comes naturally to a lot of people."

"Maybe too naturally..." Elan muttered.

"Point is, this is totally normal. Although..." You glance at LL. "Would it fix him like this, if the implants were installed? Permanently?"

"According to my databank, no. Implants do not interfere with shapeshifting ability. I however lack appreciable knowledge on how shapeshifting works."

"Then how did they decide what to turn Tiiris into?"

"They didn't." LL responded. "Her genetic structure was repaired, and her preferences were taken into account to determine her end shape."

"Could it turn me into a girl, though?" Elan asked.

"Do you want to be a girl?"

"No?"

"Then no."

"Oh." Elan blinked, dusting a pair of pants off and tossing it out onto the bed. "I- um. I- you've seen it, Tiiris. I-I really don't know anything about all this." She coughed. "I just don't know any of this well enough to judge the risk for myself. Do you think I should have them put in?"

"It's not my decision-"

"Of course it's not!" She interrupts you. "I'm asking your opinion. As a friend!"

>You really should get them.
>I'm starting to rethink my stance after seeing that.

>>4225819
>>You really should get them.
You're going to need if you want to master the higher arts like transformation. Giving the rosary was a mistake.

>>4225819
>You really should get them.
The only downside is that it couldn't be hidden from close scrutiny, though it could possibly be passed off as some sort of experimental / advanced cybernetics.

>>4225819
>You really should get them.

>>4225819
>You really should get them.
Taking it slow and thinking it through was fine when it was bones and nutrition, but this is too dramatic to hide long term. He needs control. We still have that book on basic Abyss stuff Jess gave us that would also help (though it's written in Valkan).

All because of that rosary. Tiiris's well-intentioned decisions continue to be a force of complete chaos on the lives of everyone around her or caught in her wake. Those martial artists are totally oblivious to the bullet they dodged.

Give the Rosary to Tiiris's dad to get a new mom.

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>>4226222
I spat out my coffee at that one, anon.

I'll give this one to you for free. You know that rosaries are just tiny little fonts of the Abyss that exist to make it easier to 'find' it. The crash twenty years ago releases a metric ton of Aybss energy, and yet half of Tagara hasn't awakened magical powers.

Perhaps Tiiris and Elan have a shared trait that would predispose them to forming powers naturally?

>>4226262
>half of Tagara hasn't awakened magical powers.
Is this implying half of Tagara has?

>>4226222
Would certainly make a good birthday present for someone you want to mess with

>>4226262
I deduced (correctly or not) fairly early that the rest of the gang probably had Valkan parentage as well, though for Elan this was a bit of an assumption since osteogenesis imperfecta is perhaps less "exotic" than the rest.

Egad, if we had chosen to play as Elan would we have become the little girl?

>>4226296
That's spoilers so I won't say exactly, but yes this would have been involved. However, this would have been something you all probably would have seen coming from a country mile away, had you been playing from Elan's perspective. On both meta and in-story levels.

>>4225819
>You really should get them.
Learning control of abyss powers became a lot easier when we got our implants. We'll (or a drone or Wander, if she can) help him get control over his powers. It seems like he may not be respiring abyss properly.

>>4225819
>You really should get them.

>>4225819
>You really should get them.

>>4225819
>You really should get them.

>>4225819
>You really should get them.

>>4226323
I'm guessing that if we played as Elan we would turn into that girl to move around and explore.

>>4226986
Not necessarily a girl, you would have inadvertently designed her long before turning into her. But I've already said too much.

Jess is going to be so out of her depth if a posse of three teens with shiny new implants and jittery growing connections to the Abyss end up asking her for basic space magic training.

I don't think she fully understands the madness she may have volunteered herself for.

>>4227234
If Jess can't handle it we could always take the Rontah and go see Kathari, Warlocks are apparently trained for it.

>>4227274
Yes, but "we'd have to be insane to go there." Tiiris may be nuts enough to go train on a wacko space wizard island, but what about Elan or Kara, who aren't as interested in magic space aliens as they are in not dying of seizures.

>>4227293
Then we could just go alone, and once we came back we would simply teach them what we learned while we were there.And we wouldn't need to even go back because that would give an incentive for Kathari to come to us.

>You really should get them.
Writing.

bentus is dead

>>4228274
bentus lives

bentus however is a tired valkan and needed to pass out temporarily

bentus is alive

>>4228364
That's not bentus, that's a valkan shapeshifter

So are Valkans hermaphrodites?

"You really should get them." You say. "It's going to improve your control- and while getting it is probably going to cause problems... I think it's worth the risk."

Elan slowly nodded. "That's what I was thinking, but..." She trailed off. "What if I get...?"

"You won't." You say firmly. "And if you do, we'll figure it out. I'd rather you didn't die."

"...right. Okay. I'll... let's just get this over with before I lose my nerve." Elan shuffled through the pile and pulled out a bra that she slid under her ill-fitting shirt. "So, how does this work?"

"I'm... not sure?" You glance at LL1100. "There's no tank to stick her- hi- Elan in this time, right?"

"It is possible to install the implants without it. I will however need to sedate her."

"Should I turn back into Elan for this?" She paused with her pants halfway up.

"It will not be necessary. Please lay on the bed."

Elan nods, sitting down on her bed and laying back. "Will this hurt?"

"No. You will be sedated." LL moved over her, it's body unfolding. The normal dome shape of it's chassis opened up, arms unfolding out. From inside, a familiar cylinder emerged. "Lights out for a bit." One of the arms darted forward and pressed into Elan's neck with a sharp hiss.

"Oh, that's..." Elan's eyes were already closing. "Fah..."

"Do you want me to leave?" You ask quietly.

"You presence is irrelevant. Observe if you wish."

Considering you needed LL to implant Kara, it wasn't like you could leave and get in touch with Kara while Elan was being implanted. That said, you could either stay and observe, or get up and stretch your legs while you waited. Elan had come to the door himself when you showed up, so he probably was the only one home, right?

>Observe.
>Stretch your legs.
>[Write-In]

>>4228619
>Observe.
It's interesting to see something happen from an outside perspective, when it's happened to you before.

>>4228619
>Observe.

>>4228619
>Observe.
Might be neat watching a friend get chopped into bits and replaced. What happens to the original heart?

What would Tagara look like had the Valkans won?

>>4228619
>Observe

>>4228619
>"You presence is irrelevant. Observe if you wish."
Just want to say, half the time LL says something I get a laugh out of it. It's a crazy good doctor, one of the best on the planet if I had to guess, but boy does it have the personality of a dry wrinkly potato.

>>4228619
>Observe.
Have Easy, OH, and ST keep watch for incoming people I guess
"No, my space robot isn't performing complex life-altering surgery on your son. Why do you ask?"

>Observe.
Writing.

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You glance at Elan's comatose body, before shrugging lightly and finding yourself a chair. That is, you sat down in Elan's wheelchair because Elan didn't have any other chairs in his room for obvious reasons. "Easy, ST, tell me if anyone comes home."

"Understood."

Pushing against the floor to wheel it, you moved to the side of the room, enough to give Elan and LL a wide berth while still allowing yourself a good angle to view it.

LL began by swiftly unbuttoning the baggy shirt Elan had kept on after transforming and pulling it open, exposing the plain white bra she had put on underneath. You try to avert your eyes as the bra was pulled down onto her stomach, but it becomes plain after a few seconds that any form of heart surgery was going to necessarily involve the bare chest.

Multiple arms unfolded from the medical drone, spinning around Elan's body on tracks that ran the rim of the dome. They were thin, and tipped with shifting tips that were unceremoniously plunged into several points on her chest and shoulders, sinking deep into the flesh. Elan's body jumped slightly from the force of it, but she stayed as still as a corpse.

You swallow awkwardly before asking. "What are you doing?"

"Connecting my life support unit to her body. This is in case anything happens to interrupt heart function." A small arm swung around inside the cage of arms it had formed, holding the machine seed in it's grasp. Another arm withdrew and plugged itself into the end. A subtle whirring sound filled the air, and while the canister remained physically the same, you could sense the sudden spike in Abyss energy that begins to ripple around it. To your senses, the entire canister was glowing a deep, pure black, thicker than any manifestation you'd managed on your own.

"Now the seed is activated, the process cannot be interrupted." LL continued. "It needs to be connected to her, otherwise it will begin to rot." One of the arms let go of the canister, and swiveled in a fluid single motion to one of the arms embedded into Elan's chest. It's arm plugged into a small socket and withdrew a thin, corded cable, which it plugged into the canister, then began repeating for each of the points it had buried itself in.

With a clicking sound, the arm on the end of the canister began pressing into it, and the cables connected to the machine seed jerked with a hiss of air. Nothing appeared to happen at first as the plunger depressed deeper into the canister.

Then, you noticed Elan's veins starting to darken. It was subtle at first, beginning at the blue veins on her chest and neck, but soon spreading through her body, creating a spiderweb of black veins that crossed her entire body.

"...and what's that?"

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>>4229637
"Black blood. Artificial supplementary platelets and antibodies, in other terms. Your body produces them on demand when injured or entering combat. Should I be torn from her during this process, this preliminary will prevent her from bleeding to death or developing an infection." The arm holding the machine seed retracted from the canister, revealing a hole where part of the canister had been plunged inward. It twisted, rotating a third of a turn around the edge of the machine seed to an identical circular marking.

The cables were disconnected, arms pulled from her body and again slid into her chest- in her sternum and parts of her left breast. "An injection that will prepare the heart to receive the implant." The plunger moved down. "It will soften the ventricles and swell the surrounding tissue with fluid, in order to give the machine heart room to be inserted."

"...and what happens with the rest of the heart you cut out?" You feel a slight kick of anti-nausea drugs as you watch Elan's chest redden around the injection point, as the plunger slowly depressed all the way. The tissue swelled, and you could swear you saw ribs shifting beneath the surface, splaying out slightly to make a gap, as the flesh turned a off-yellow color.

LL's eye kept it's focus on Elan's chest. "Waste not." Instead of depressing a plunger for the third and final module of the machine seed, another arm came up and gripped the end of the canister. The plunger arm pressed into the end and instead of depressing it, slid out a small, metallic mesh bag- the anti-static kind that new phones came in.

You weren't sure how to describe the thing inside- obviously it was the machine heart itself, but it wasn't... the machine heart that you'd seen in Vilnea's corpse looked solid, like a piece of metal. The one in your chest certainly felt solid as well, feeling more like a pump than a muscle most days. This device looked slimy, with a semi-translucent, dark fluid filling the bag.

Arms were repositioning themselves, shifting the tools on their ends as the now empty canister was inserted back into LL's body. The bag was pinched at one end, folded over, and them cut open. A clean, sterile smell filled your nose- the same smell as the fluid you'd been soaked in when you awoke from your own implantation.

Arms darted in the backs, each returning dragging a slimy, fleshy tube with them. Each was a dark, mottled red and appeared to be made out of many tiny mesh links beneath the caked on layer of... gristle that coated each of them. Blue fields were springing up over Elan's chest as manipulation beams turned on, sweeping across her chest and the tubes. Scalpels flicked out of the small arms, each of them briefly glowing red before cooling.

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>>4229640
The tubes were drawn out of the bag, tugged into place by manipulation beams and onto the scalpel arms, which folded and flexed around their new passengers before lowering down onto Elan's chest. They slid into her chest, before twisting in place and clicking forward. Pushing the tubes in, sliding them were they needed to be. Periodically, one of them would withdraw, flicking back into it's sheath and being superheated red hot once again before being cooled and reinserted.

As the tubes were fed in, the machine heart itself was slowly drawn out of the bag, and you got to see what it looked like. It was part of a heart, that much was obvious. Each tube was one of the ventricles, presumably being attached to the ones in Elan's natural heart, all leading back to become part of this odd thing. It was slimy, and looked organic, but you could tell it was a machine. Too rigid and metallic, trailing not nerves and veins but hundreds of wires that flexed and moved about of their own accord, dripping Abyssal energy in thin tendrils as if seeking out something to latch onto.

You didn't dare interrupt as the arms kept moving, suddenly acutely aware of how delicate of a procedure you were witnessing. Working swiftly, they pushed the ventricles deeper into Elan's chest, slowly drawing the machine heart itself closer to it, then just above it, then touching...

The little wires reflexively stuck to the skin, burrowing in as the heart was lowered down onto the small incision that had been made, blood kept from welling up by manipulation fields. As it made contact, the machine heart flushed with blood, swelling slightly and turning a more matte, artificial color. The arms went still, waiting as you witnessed the machine heart slowly begin to sink into Elan's chest. It was subtle at first, but slowly the degree to witch it sat above the plane of her chest began to decrease as it somehow... oozed between her ribs and sank under the flesh. As it grew almost flush with her chest, it turned an odd yellow, then pink as it grew a layer of skin.

The arms withdrew from the incision they made as it too closed up, all folding up in a smooth, synchronized chorus as they retreated under LL's chassis again. It didn't realize the arms that were plunged into Elan's shoulders and lower chest, however. The ones meant for 'life support'.

You waited in silence, watching Elan for any sign of... anything. But she just lay there, comatose, her chest only barely moving as she drew the slightest of breaths.

Then, you realize her chest is lowering, the swelling around her heart going down. Blackness drains from the veins in her face, then her arms as LL finally pulled it's remaining arms out of Elan, which themselves were already sealed with dark red cracks- not scabs, but sealed from within. As the last dregs were draining from her chest, LL pulled up her bra, buttoned her shirt and then straightened it before rearranging her body slightly.

"Is it done?" You ask quietly.

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>>4229644
"The machine heart has been installed successfully, but it still needs to perform basic integration before she can awaken."

"Right..." You say quietly. "How long will that take?"

"Two hours, same as you after implantation."

"...was that how it went for me as well?"

"No. Your implantation took a fraction of the time. There was no need to prepare your body or make room for the seed to be implanted. All such functions were taken care of by the surgical unit. All that was required was for the machine heart to be generated inside your chest."

"That sounds different than 'implant'."

"Because it is. With the right surgical unit, it's possible to essentially reconstruct the machine heart inside your chest without making any incisions." LL floated away from Elan and towards the door. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must prepare her nutrient slurry."

You watch it leave, then turn back to Elan anxiously. After five minutes of waiting, you were already bored, but you felt too wired to go to sleep or relax. Practicing magic or any of your normal activities didn't seem right- what if you fucked something up and trashed Elan's room? So, you wait.

And wait...

A red glint flickers on Elan's face, just for a moment. Initially, you assume it's a trick of the light, but then it appears again. A small prick of light, almost lazily trailing from behind her ear to her cheek. You lean in, and realize it's a pulsing circuit- no, a nerve marked by a thin, glowing red line. It flicks across her face, each time ending further than before, slowly tracing out a thin pattern across her face.

When she finally stirs, grunting in her sleep and shuddering, the lights in her face pulse once before starting to fade- cooling, you realize. 'Running hot' indeed.

You lean back and give her some space as she stirs.

Elan groans and blinked her eyes open, glancing towards you. "Water..."

"LL? She-" You have to step hastily out of the way as the medical drone moved forward, reaching behind Elan to prop her up, and press a cup of slurry into Elan's hand.

She takes the cup clumsily and takes a sip. Her eyes bug out slightly as she tastes the slurry, and before you know it, she's downed the entire glass. "More." She said breathlessly.

LL obliged, holding out the second glass it had brought with it.

Elan practically snatched it out, drinking desperately like she thought it was going to disappear. "Dammit..." She gave a soft whine as the glass ran dry. "That tastes just as amazing as I thought it would..." Hugging the glass tight to her chest, she mumbled. "I'm normal. It's normal for Valkans..."

"There, there..." You gently pat her shoulder.

"I feel weird..." She mumbled, poking her chest.

"Welcome to the club." You smile at her, then glance back to LL. "Can she stand?"

"As soon as she feels able."

"I... just give me a minute." Elan leaned back into the pillows and sighed. "I feel overloaded..."

>>4229647
You wince slightly in sympathy, remembering how wild your senses went after getting your implants in. "It'll get better, just give it some time."

"Trying." Elan grunted, gritting her teeth.

Giving her a last, sympathetic look, you turn to LL. "How long do you want to observe her?"

"Medically, she isn't at risk. However, she needs some time to adjust. I would recommend she not be unaccompanied for the immediate future."

You frown slightly at that. Part of you had hoped to see Kara as well today, but... maybe it was better to leave her for today, and focus on helping Elan adjust. She could wait one day, right?

>Leave Elan to recover and visit Kara.
>>[Sub-Option] Leave a drone with her.
>Stay with Elan and help her adjust.
>Call Kara over. House is empty, why not? As long as it's okay with Elan, of course.
>[Write-In]

>>4229650
>Stay with Elan and help her adjust.
Be a good friend and support. It's gotta be better than being alone on a dead starship filled with skeletons.

>>4229650
>[Write-In]
Why not take Elan with us to Kara's we could keep him company / under observation for the two hours that it would take for Kara to wake up.

It is approximately 3 pm now so if we did Kara today that will end at 5 pm.

>>4229650
>Stay with Elan and help her adjust.
We should organize a drone to stay with him permanently at some point, though.
We could hunt for damaged or inert drones, like what Clinsky had as a 'decorative statue'. Make a day trip of it, some other day. Or we could give up one of our own. OH seems like the best candidate, capable of talking and large enough to assist where needed. And very low-key, since Elan wants to continue not attracting attention.

It's not urgent. But it feels wrong that poor rich Elan doesn't have a flying robot too.

>>4229881
We could elect to have one of the Warskins and some of the drones on the Rontah join his retinue, Probably GA and SX (as well as whatever SX has on board ) Since Kara already has a drone the remaining warskin (UP) could go to her.

There are probably a couple of unclaimed warskins and drones around that we could look into acquiring if we had the time.

>>4229910
If they can shapeshift into something subtle, possibly. But a disguised warskin the size of a minivan would still be quite a stretch of Elan's desire to stay low-key.
If the cloud of engineering drones are able to operate independent of the warskin they came from though, one of them would be ideal.

>>4229650
>Stay with Elan and help her adjust.
When does Elan turn back into a boy?

>>4229650
>Stay with Elan and help her adjust.
When Elan's in "female mode" we'll have to call her Elaine.

>>4229650
>Stay with Elan and help her adjust.

>>4230213
Eventually, although she could try and force it if you asked her to.

>>4230086
It's actually worth nothing that ST's station wagon shape is mostly empty space. Warskins - and really, transformable machinery in general - don't actually become the vehicle in question, they engage in mimicry. ST's engine compartment and battery banks are just empty boxes.

In the very first scene where you met ST, when it transformed into a walker an engine block fell out of it's hood. To convincingly hide as a junk car it had to stuff a used engine inside itself and fill it's body with convincing junk.

>>4230304
Are the ones from the Tanoh larger than ST or about the same? I was assuming they're larger and bulkier based on them having to shoulder walls and doorways aside to reach the Rontah.
ST feels sleek, in my head. Like a snake, or a race car, or a snake race car.

Some miscellaneous things we could get around to doing at some point in the future.

Have ST teach us how to pilot itself.
Accuire and repair the Broken Terraforming Unit that is located in Jeremy Manaan's Storage Unit for installation into the Rontah.
Get Jess to meet Xol.
Figure out who Wander was.
Find out what was on the Data Core that we recovered from Vilnea aust Tanoh's crash site.
Find a way to read the contents of data chits so that we can read the data chits that we recovered from Kallis aust Tanoh's room on the Tanoh.
Figure out why 'Jeanne' Elson actually died.
Find a way to open Ser Housley's Locked crate.
>The Plasma rifle might be able to help out with this

>>4230367
They're about the same. It's not so much that they're big and more that the hallways of the Rontah are hilariously small. Warskins were left in the hangars, after all, so there's no need to make the hallways big enough for them, and they needed to cram a lot of people in.

ST in walker form is about 4m/13.5ft tall, and actually does happen to take up a little less volume than a sports car.

>>4229650
>Call Kara over. House is empty, why not? As long as it's okay with Elan, of course.

>Stay with Elan and help her adjust.
Writing.

You were about to say something else to LL when Elan suddenly sat forward, sliding her legs off the bed. "Woah, hold on there..." You immediately move to steady her.

"I'm fine..." She mumbled, slowly getting to her feet and immediately stumbling. "Woah!"

You get an arm around her waist and catch her. "Yeah, it takes some getting used to. Just... take it slow." In the back of your mind, you dimly recall getting your implants and immediately charging across the Tanoh. "Everything feel okay?"

"Yeah, but different." Elan straightened up and winced, then took a few steps forward, uncertain at first, but quickly acclimating. "This is weird..."

"No kidding." You give a weak grin. "Are you hungry?"

"Funnily enough, I am..." She pressed a hand to her stomach.

"That's also normal. To the kitchen, then?"

She took a second, then nodded.

"Oh, um..." You debated for a second over whether you should say anything. "Do you want to try and turn back first?"

Elan made a face. "I just turned- but, right my family will be home in a bit..." She sighed. "Okay, go downstairs. I'll follow in a minute."

Nodding, you leave the room and pause outside the door. Once you feel the warm pulse of Abyss energy and Elan...okay, no, she's fine in there - you head downstairs.

Elan wheels into the kitchen ten minutes later. "Okay, we're good."

Smiling, you go ahead and put a plate down in front of him. "Here, you must be starving."

"A little?" He gave you a weak smile and looked down at the sandwich, pulling it apart briefly. "Cod and relish?"

"Protein. That's supposed to be good for your energy, right?"

Elan considered for a few minutes, before shrugging and biting into it. Wordlessly, you begin preparing another sandwich, and when he's done, you silently put another in front of him. He frowned at it. "Do I really need another?" Then he picks it up and begins eating again.

"Eat as much as you feel. That's going to be the state of affairs for... about two weeks." You smile a little sadly. "When I got my implants in, I didn't have any food to eat. It wasn't until an entire day had passed that I was able to get something, and by then I was ravenous."

"I'm sorry." Elan frowned a little.

"...well, I got boobs out of it, so I can't really complain." You smile a little at him.

"Speaking of..." Elan finished his sandwich, and you wordlessly set another in front of him. "First off- I can only eat so much cod in one sitting. Second, how exactly do you propose I explain this to my family?"

"Why can't you just tell them?" You shuffle through Elan's cabinets, looking for something else. "You sure don't keep much food on hand..." You mumble as you reach into the back of the refrigerator and pull out a single sea rice stalk. "Your dad does care, right?"

"Of course he does, but I don't know what his reaction will be..." Elan mused. "I don't think he'll overreact. But I don't want to be put under lock and key for the rest of my life..."

>>4232468
"I don't think he could really stop you if he wanted to." You point out. "Besides..." An image of Elan's father comes to mind. Younger than your father, hair expertly swept back into a smooth dome, and always in those little zip up fleeces that business men seemed to be so fond of. And with that maybe-smug, maybe-chill expression that made you want to thank him and then slug him in the face. "He doesn't seem like the type to overreact."

"Eh... maybe." Elan thought. "I don't know anything about his relation to the supernatural."

"My dad always suspected something about my mom." You offer, running the stalk under water. "Maybe he has similar suspicions? He's not stupid. I think."

"True, yeah." Elan nodded. "And if he already knew..."

"...then the fact that he doesn't keep you under lock and key is a good sign."

Elan nodded. "Honestly, what I'm worried most about is my doctors... I only go biweekly, but they'll notice if I've suddenly got super bones."

"If you get your dad onboard, can't he lie for you?"

"Not like I'm required by law to see the doctor, yeah." Elan accepts the washed stalk from you and takes a bite out of it. "Thing is, if he isn't onboard... he'll find out as soon as I go to the doctor."

>Doesn't sound like he can keep his dad out of this.
>Maybe he can pretend to still be crippled? Is that possible?
>All he really has to do is lie to his family, if he can avoid visiting the doctor...
>[Write-In]

>>4232472
>Doesn't sound like he can keep his dad out of this.

>>4232472
>Doesn't sound like he can keep his dad out of this.
Unless his dad is the type of person who would send his own son to be dissected alive than there's no way around this.

>>4232472
>Doesn't sound like he can keep his dad out of this.

>>4232472
>Doesn't sound like he can keep his dad out of this.
This may be a bit past the point of being hidable from his dad, yeah. If it had just been the nutrition change, it could have worked. But that still would have had the problem of occasional random transformations.

>>4232472
>Doesn't sound like he can keep his dad out of this.

>>4232472
>Doesn't sound like he can keep his dad out of this.

>Doesn't sound like he can keep his dad out of this.
Writing.

"Doesn't sound like it's something you can avoid telling him." If Elan's dad even took a minuscule interest in Elan's life...

"That, and I'm sure someone at the hospital would notice that I haven't been around and come looking eventually."

"That seems a little weird..." You frown.

"I've had the same doctor for something like eight years." Elan said. "You get to know them after that long. It'd be weird if I disappeared without saying goodbye."

"Any ideas on how to approach that?"

"Dunno." Elan shrugged. "I'll have to talk to my dad about it, I guess."

"You sure?"

"What other choice do I have?" Elan tapped his fingers against his chin, absently breaking off another piece of the stalk. "I'm just thinking about how it will all go down..."

"If you're half-Valkan..." You frown and turn to LL. "Hey, do you know which of his parents was the Valkan? You knew for me."

"I do not." LL responded. "That information is encoded into your anterior marks. As he appears to have not inherited that trait, his ancestry is unclear to me."

"Anterior marks?" Elan asks in confusion.

"Tagaran's have another word for them. Freckles, I believe."

Elan stared at it. "You're saying you can tell who a Valkan's parents are by their freckles."

"Yes. It is how we recognize Valkans who have their data tags turned off."

"Wait." Elan held up a hand. "Neither me or Kara have freckles- well, Kara kinda has freckles? But not many. What if we ran across a Valkan robot? Would they recognize us as half-Valkan?"

"No, they would not."

Elan stared at it in horror. "That means..." He swallowed thickly. "...how many half-Valkans are out there that don't realize what they are... because the robots can't recognize them?"

"Uh..." You think. "...well, how rare is it to inherit the fre- er, anterior marks?"

"There isn't much data. You'd need to have pieces of the Valkan parent's skin and facial grafts in the germline, at least. At the least it should be uncommon."

"So the only reason I got this far..." You say with dawning horror. "Is because I had freckles?"

"There are other ways." LL said dryly. "You're not that lucky."

You roll your eyes before looking back to Elan. "So, you gonna be okay once I get out of here? Do I need to stick around and back you up with your dad?"

Elan shook his head. "I can do it myself."

"Alright..." You look at Elan for a few seconds, considering. Should you really leave him alone? You did fine while you implants were growing in, but you had drones to ask questions to. Elan doesn't have anyone, and even if he uses his brain radio, it's not as useful as having the robot right there. Plus, if he ever was in danger, Kara had Skaal, but Elan had no one.

>>4234433
You could transfer one of your drones to his service, but then that drone would be gone forever, and you're not sure you could bring yourself to ask Elan for it back. You could also just ask the drone to keep an eye on him, but wouldn't that basically be spying on him? Seems a little creepy...

>Transfer one of your drones to him. He needs it more than you.
>Lend him a drone.
>Wait until you can reunite with the Rontah briefly before making any decisions.
>You'd rather not give up any of your robots, if at all possible. Maybe you can find him one?
>[Write-In]

>>4234435
>You'd rather not give up any of your robots, if at all possible. Maybe you can find him one?

>>4234435
>Lend him a drone.

>>4234435
>You'd rather not give up any of your robots, if at all possible. Maybe you can find him one?

>>4234435
>You'd rather not give up any of your robots, if at all possible. Maybe you can find him one?
Isn't he gonna need a lot of monitoring and vitamin shakes every day for at least a couple weeks? With our drones, we had food and shakes given to us as soon as we woke up every day. What happens to Elan if he doesn't get that amount of attention? And will Kara have to wait 2 weeks because there isn't enough medical drones to care for people halfway across the city? These are all things that should be considered. Maybe we should set up a faux-hospital for Kara and Elan to sleep and eat so those needs can be covered?

>>4234655
He doesn't need it, per say. It's just that it's the most efficient to have him drink the supplements. If he doesn't get them, he'll be fine, but he'll be drinking motor oil and other weird shit instead.

>>4234435
>You'd rather not give up any of your robots, if at all possible. Maybe you can find him one?

>>4234831
How soon could we get out to Jess's for training, would the others not having their implants completely grown in yet impact the training negatively, could we arrange to meet up with the Rontah while we were there, so we could handle some tasks (like sorting out the groups retinue, reading the data chits, talking to Xol, and trying to open the locked crate.)

>>4234928
It takes less than a day to drive; you definitely didn't have any trouble lifting a few thousand tons of steel immediately after getting them in; absolutely, however it is inland so the Rontah will have to fly part of the way.

>>4234990
Could we get the group to go to the Rontah, without it having to break stealth?

>>4235026
Sure, if you went for a swim.

>>4235244
How big is the Rontah? I'm sure you told us before, but my mind is a sieve for things like that.

>>4235252
I don't believe I've ever put a proper number to it, but it's about one hundred and twenty feet long.

>>4234435
>Lend him a drone.
Or send one to watch for him

>>4234435
>Lend him a drone.
We only need OH for fixins once in a while, so that would be fine.
I'm warming up to the idea reassigning SX the chill warskin-with-a-buncha-drones to Elan, but maybe start small so he can get used to flying robots being around. We did kind of freak out a little on meeting ST for the first time.

>You'd rather not give up any of your robots, if at all possible. Maybe you can find him one?
Writing.

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There had to be some free drones out there. Maybe one on the black market? Or- hell, if someone like Jared could have one as a statue in his home, there must be others out there that were deactivated. You make a note to keep an eye out for more. Hell, Elan might go and get himself into trouble on that front, considering your and Kara's track record on avoiding attracting drones.

"Easy, can you and ST go ahead and look around for more free drones? I know you said you couldn't call anymore, but..."

"Of course, miss."

You and Elan eventually say your goodbyes, leaving him with a few packets of slurry and a phone number to contact in case anything went wrong- in theory he could talk with his head now, but you left it anyway just in case.

One down. One to go.

Commercial District, Miir, 2nd Floor
6th of 6th, 1173. 12:00PM.

Virtual Home Cinema was a small, squat and flat-topped building. Like many of the other buildings in this district of the city, it's architecture reflected the time in which it was originally made, back when the first floor of the city hadn't been built on top of the 'basement' floor. It had no windows, instead having bare, but well-washed and maintained concrete walls with a few strategic slit windows above.

You push open the glass door to the faint jingle of a bell and wander inside, holding it open perhaps a bit longer than necessary to allow your invisible friend to pass behind you. "Hey, Mr. Makagan." You call with a wave.

A balding, redheaded man looked up from behind the raised counter in the middle of the store. Winging it on either side was rows of heavy looking metal shelves, each of which was lined with plastic cases. Whirring absently in the center was a CHS projector aimed at the front wall, it's clear plastic case showing off the automatic reel changer inside. Squinting through his glasses for a moment, he smiled. "Oh, hello Tiiris. Are you looking for Kara?"

"Yeah, I-"

Mr. Makagan turned. "Kara!" He half-shouted, half-screamed at the ceiling as you startle back. "Tiiris is here!" There was a thump, then a pounding of feet on the ceiling as he turned back to you. "She'll be down in a minute."

"Y-yeah..." You smile awkwardly before wandering towards the back, where you knew the door to the loft was. Before Kara came down, you notice a data tag flick into view, and you give Skaal a little wave.

Soon after follows the scruffy, dirty blonde head of Kara. She, like always lately, looked tired, but gave you a smile and buzzed open the chain link door that blocked off the stairs into her family's apartment.

Kara's apartment was nicer than yours, although that wasn't exactly an achievement. She and her father shared a small living room, kitchen, laundry room and dining room, other than their bedrooms. It was clean, but pointedly showed it's age in worn paint, scuffed floors and banged up appliances. That is to say, it was a lot more familiar to you than Elan's house.

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>>4236305
She led you back to her room, throwing open the door and smoothing the covers of her bed down. The walls of her room were taken up by shelves laden down with books and small piles of junk that seemed to be different every time you visited. Like a reverse of Elan's room, the one clean place was her desk, which was very carefully organized and kept clear.

Sitting down, Kara grinned up at you. "So? What's with the mysterious texts?"

"Well." You clamber onto the bed, sitting across from her. "You remember the cybernetics thing?"

Kara nodded, getting a bit solemn. "I've been thinking about it a lot lately."

"You have?" You ask in surprise. "Er, I came today with a medical drone who can tell you-"

"No need." Kara shook her head. "I'm sold."

"Wait, really?"

"I..." Kara trailed off. "I thought about what you told me the other day. About what would happen. And..." She closed her eyes and took a breath. "There... there isn't much that could be worse than what I have now."

"What do you mean?" You tilt your head. "I thought you were doing better."

"Better, not 'great' or even 'fine'. I-" Kara cut herself off. "...do you know how much sleep I've gotten lately?" She didn't give you a chance to respond. "Over the last week... I've slept maybe... twent- thirty hours."

"That's..." You do some quick math. "That's way too little sleep, Kara."

"I can't get anymore." Kara shook her head. "The voices are too distracting. I stay up so long I'm exhausted and pass out, but then I still don't sleep enough." She covered a yawn and winced. "I... I'd rather have the one voice inside my head, rather than waves of one hundred or more."

You couldn't think of anything to respond to that, so instead you turn to the air above your shoulder. "LL?"

The drone appeared without a sound but Kara's surprised shriek as she shuffled back on the bed. "Sounva- I'll never get used to that, I swear..."

"It's easier when you have implants in, trust me." You smile weakly. "LL, can you check her out real quick?"

"I don't bite, Kharak." LL said reassuringly.

You raise an eyebrow at LL's gentle demeanor, while Kara glowers. "Call me Kara, my full name is weird."

"Of course, Kharak." LL said, lowering down to her shoulder.

"Uh-" You cough. "Have you talked to your dad about any of this?"

"No." Kara shook her head. "I thought he'd just think my schizophrenia was getting worse and take me to the doctor again."

"How involved in that, by the way?" Elan's situation certainly gave you pause in rushing into anything without a plan.

"Huh? I pick up my meds on my way home every other Monday. Why?"

"There's an adjustment period with the implants." You scratch your head. "If you were being examined all the time, that might be a problem."

"We can barely afford my meds, no way could we do that many doctor's visits." Kara shook her head.

"That's good, then. It means we might be able to sneak by without anyone noticing you got them."

>>4236306
"About that." LL said, shifting a small arm around Kara's head. There was some kind of box attached to it, one you remember seeing before aboard the Tanoh. "We have a problem."

Kara froze up, but you asked. "What is it? Can she not get the implants?"

"No, she can-"

Kara's shoulders visibly sagged with relief.

"-but she's addicted to an antipsychotic."

"Huh?" Kara turned and looked up at LL. "No I'm not! I don't even remember to take it sometimes!"

"Not psychologically, physically." LL said. "I'm detecting significant chemical damage within her brain, along with hormonal damage from long-term addiction. Why was she on this medication?"

"Like I said, schizophrenia. Or, what they thought was schizophrenia I guess..." Kara rubbed her arm.

LL went silent for a moment. "They should not have prescribed it. It has only damaged her body." It said with a degree of anger.

"But what does that mean for her implants?" You ask.

"The adjustment and calibration process will be much more intensive for her than it would be otherwise. Mood swings, nausea and loss of motor control. She may have episodes while her implants overhaul damaged brain functions."

"...like what happened with my eyes?"

"Yes."

"How many?" You remember the awful splitting and spinning. How it came out of nowhere and suddenly swallowed you whole.

LL went silent. "Five." It finally announced. "Minimum."

"What's it saying?" Kara looked at you with concern.

"Normally you'd be able to hide that you were changing at all like me, but yours is going to be a lot rougher, and you'll be sick for most of it."

"Oh..." Kara frowned. "I could pretend it's the flu..."

"I don't think it's that simple. What if your dad takes you to the hospital?"

"...Point." Kara sighed. "So what, you think I should tell him?"

"You might not have a choice." You say, thinking. Was there really any other choice? It was summer, so it wasn't like Kara had classes to attend, but she worked in the rental store the whole year, didn't she? And you couldn't make a sleepover last two weeks. Right?

>Like Elan, it's probably best not to lie to her family.
>You might be able to keep her at your house- although Dad might not approve...
>Is there somewhere else you could take her?
>[Write-In]

>>4236307
>You might be able to keep her at your house- although Dad might not approve...

>>4236307
>Like Elan, it's probably best not to lie to her family.
There really isn't any other way around this, though we might need to take a more active role than with Elan, since her implantation period is going to be more noticeable, and unstable.

And if worst comes to worst we could direct him to Taylor's dad for reassurances. (and the fact that the Military sort of already knows, that we exist.)

>>4236307
>Like Elan, it's probably best not to lie to her family.
But we need to be there with her when she tells her dad so he doesn't go all "sChiZopHrEniA", and we should probably be around to help out during the transition phase

>>4236307
>Like Elan, it's probably best not to lie to her family.

>>4236307
>>Like Elan, it's probably best not to lie to her family.

>"I can't get anymore." Kara shook her head. "The voices are too distracting. I stay up so long I'm exhausted and pass out, but then I still don't sleep enough." She covered a yawn and winced. "I... I'd rather have the one voice inside my head, rather than waves of one hundred or more."
Sounds like we stirred up a LOT of activity with the Hull II Thing. Oops.

>You raise an eyebrow at LL's gentle demeanor, while Kara glowers. "Call me Kara, my full name is weird."
>"Of course, Kharak." LL said, lowering down to her shoulder.
Ehehehe silly robot. You know SK is floating in a corner grinning digitally but not actually saying anything.
Someone needs to teach LL to address the patient directly though. Talking past them constantly is very dismissive.

>>4236307
>Is there somewhere else you could take her?
Rontah

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Gotta push the update to tomorrow, have some hot bullshit going on here.

>>4236307
>Like Elan, it's probably best not to lie to her family.

You know what we should have done? Arranged a nice, long camping trip out in the wilds where we could have cyborgified them far from prying eyes.

>>4237647
You could still do that, if you like. If for the purposes of getting them out of the house. Haven't made any commitment to when they'll tell their parents, after all.

>>4237654
Pretty sure it would all be a bit too short-notice for that; and we don't have any cash left for a tent, food and BBQ.

Camping is boring. We should take them on an ocean cruise instead.

>>4236307
>You might be able to keep her at your house- although Dad might not approve...

>Like Elan, it's probably best not to lie to her family.
Writing.

You give Kara a sympathetic smile. "I think it might be in your best interest to tell him everything."

"Where can I start?" Kara sighed and shrugged. "I don't even know if he knows anything about it. What can I say that won't also implicate you and Elan? Not like I can show him Skaal without him freaking out..."

"If you want, I can be there with you." You offer. "I can corroborate what you say."

Kara slowly nodded. "That'd help. But, um... I don't know when to tell him. He's always busy."

"I'd start with 'as soon as possible'." You offer.

"So... when the store closes tonight?"

"If that's when you'd like."

"Okay..." Kara trailed off. "...can you at least put the implants in me now?"

You hesitate. "It's an involved surgery, and your dad is right down there..."

"Please?" Kara whined.

"It'll make you loopy, and there's no telling when the side effects will start..."

"Please!" Kara grabbed you by the shoulders for a moment, before pulling her hands away just as quickly. "I- sorry, I just..." She fidgeted. "Sorry."

>It's clear she's suffering. Put it in her right away.
>It wouldn't be a good look if her dad came nosing around while she was cut open. She can wait a few hours, right?
>Really, you should arrange a much better place and time than this. Can LL give her something for better sleep until then?
>[Write-In]

>>4239477
>It wouldn't be a good look if her dad came nosing around while she was cut open. She can wait a few hours, right?
>Really, you should arrange a much better place and time than this. Can LL give her something for better sleep until then?

>>4239477
>It wouldn't be a good look if her dad came nosing around while she was cut open. She can wait a few hours, right?

>>4239477
>>It's clear she's suffering. Put it in her right away.

>>4239477
>>It wouldn't be a good look if her dad came nosing around while she was cut open. She can wait a few hours, right?

>>4239477
>It wouldn't be a good look if her dad came nosing around while she was cut open. She can wait a few hours, right?
She can sit/nap in ST while we wait for the store to close since apparently it's "quiet" in there

>>4239477
>It wouldn't be a good look if her dad came nosing around while she was cut open. She can wait a few hours, right?

Heads up that I won't be near a computer to close the vote at the normal time, but the update will come.

>>4239861
This. This is a good idea.
Nap may be a bit of an understatement. With how tired she must be, she'll be harder to wake than the dead.

>It wouldn't be a good look if her dad came nosing around while she was cut open. She can wait a few hours, right?
Writing.

can't believe bentus is fucking dead

>>4241974
i can't believe I'm dead

>>4241999
RIP. I'll send some flowers.

I'll give benhtoos a big kiss on the lips to revive him

tfw no genocidal 13th-er valkan gf
also someone revive bentus

I've actively fallen unconscious at my keyboard twice today and I refuse to surrender to my bodily functions.

Obviously the vote will stay open through tomorrow.

>>4242489
Do you even sleep? You seem to be posting at all hours.

>>4242501
I usually go to sleep a few hours after the update is posted. A string of very long updates however has kind of fucked my sleep schedule. I'm trying to get back to a more normal one.

"You should probably be in your right mind when you talk to your dad..." You trail off. "But... maybe we should figure out something to do with you until we can talk to him..."

"Can't I have them now?"

"I..." You trail off. "I don't want him trying to interrupt the implantation. What if you're cut open and he walks in and tries to interrupt while LL is messing with your heart?"

"When can..." Kara trailed off, before her shoulders sagged. "Okay, that makes sense... I guess we'll just... wait until the store closes."

You think for a moment. "There might be something we can do. Come on." Taking Kara's hand, you gently lift her up from her bed and drag her back out into her living room. Letting go, you gesture for her to follow before going down the stairs yourself. "ST, can you meet us out front, please?"

Kara's dad was busy with a customer when you walked down into the store. Giving him only the barest of waves, you push Kara out the front door and towards the sidewalk. ST was there, and you opened the passenger door for Kara before gesturing for her to get in.

"I'm too tired to go out anywhere, Tiiris..." Kara groaned slightly as she slid into the passenger seat.

"We're not going out. Or, not anywhere in specific." You get in the navigator's seat and smile, before pointedly closing the door.

Kara's eyes widened, and she reflexively brought a hand up to her ear before sighing. "Hoah... fuck..." She leaned back in her seat. "Quiet..."

"You must be tired." You take a look at the large bags under her eyes. "Would you like to take a nap in the quiet?"

"I..." Kara yawned. "Yes. But... how? My dad's car doesn't do this..."

"Well." Your lips twitch. "ST isn't always a car."

"Huh?" Kara rubbed her eyes and looked at you again. "What do you mean?"

You glance towards the central console. "ST?"

"My cockpit-" Kara jumped at the sudden interjection of ST's harsh mechanical voice. "-is electronically isolated from the outside world. All communications are piped through the hull by my communication's array. If I do not desire a transmission to enter the cockpit, it will not."

"Fuck-" Kara looked around her and then back to you. "That was- wait, wasn't that the voice your GPS used?"

"His name is ST0504." You gestured around the car. "You're sitting in him right now, so be polite."

"Um... hi, ST?" Kara tried.

"Hello, Kara." ST responded simply.

"Uh..." Kara trailed off. "I don't really know what else to say..."

"ST doesn't really talk much." You shrug. "So, what do you say to taking a quick nap? Catch up a bit before you talk to your dad?"

Kara slowly nodded, already listing slightly. "Okay..."

"ST, can you make her more comfortable?"

>>4242596
Kara gave a soft 'eep' as her chair leaned back of it's own accord, the cheap seat material changing and softening into something else. Cooler air wafted through the cabin as the fans very lightly turned on. Kara laid back in the cloth, already struggling to hold her eyes open as she surrendered to blissful sleep.

You watch her for a few moments before asking. "Any way you can let me out without deafening her again?"

"Of course."

You look back down at Kara, then over to her father's store. She didn't know if he knew anything, huh? If you wanted this to go smoothly, it might be best to find out his disposition now, before you went in for the actual talk. Although... it might be best if you simply laid it all out for him without Kara nearby. He might be a bit less emotional if his daughter isn't standing right there.

>Don't speak to him without Kara.
>Go and try to figure out his disposition towards Valkans- maybe his wife?
>Tell him about Valkans without Kara- try and ease him into it.
>[Write-In]

>>4242597
>Don't speak to him without Kara.
We should consider what we are willing to tell him in the down time, (Kara's Mother, Female Valkan & Drone naming conventions, what he knows about Kara's condition, the cause of Kara's condition, monochimerism's impact on life expectancy, the solution, side effects and how we are going to deal with them.), and what to do if he reacts poorly. And so we can run this all by Kara in order to get her ascent before we begin.

>>4242597
>Go and try to figure out his disposition towards Valkans- maybe his wife?

>>4242597
>Don't speak to him without Kara.
This one. Going behind Kara's back is a bit shit. We can figure out something to do for a few hours. Maybe park somewhere quiet and do some magic practice.
>Go and try to figure out his disposition towards Valkans- maybe his wife?
Second choice this though. "Kara fell asleep in my car" is a decent excuse for hanging around alone. He has to know how exhausted she is.
Ask about CHS tapes on the Valkans: war stories, horror, ~romance~, whatever. Not that we could play or even afford one.

>>4242597
>Don't speak to him without Kara.

>>4242597
>>Go and try to figure out his disposition towards Valkans- maybe his wife?

>>4242597
>Go and try to figure out his disposition towards Valkans- maybe his wife?

>Go and try to figure out his disposition towards Valkans- maybe his wife?
Writing.

>>4244352
uhhhhhh bentus, I believe I have double voted by mistake (I swear I forgot that I have voted already)

>>4244364
...whoops. That's what I get for not double checking IDs every time. Okay so discarding one of the votes:

>Don't speak to him without Kara.
Writing.

Shipping District, Miir, 1st Floor
6th of 6th, 1173. 8:00PM.

Kara groaned as she stirred in her seat. One bleary eye fluttered open as she groaned and sat up. At one point while she'd been sleeping, she'd turned over in the seat, and was now slumped over the end, face buried in the soft cushion of the headrest.

You don't glance over, instead continuing to read your grimoire. "Sleep well?"

"Better than I have in a while." Kara grunted as she struggled to wake up. "Still tired, though..."

"Glad I could help." You said mildly.

"What are you reading?" Kara twisted around in her seat.

"Just some book I found." You sigh and close the grimoire with a clap. "I'm not sure I get any of it." Or at least anything about how to actually make what it described. The passages mentioned things about 'vibrations' and 'forging', but never actually explained how to do either of them. Presumably, they assumed some sort of prior training which your other book - the one Jess gave you - didn't mention.

Although... you were slowly starting to grasp some of it. The grimoire didn't outright state it anywhere, but it's descriptions of the more advanced techniques implied things about the basics. One of the later schematics called for 'forging the shaft with a property of vibration' as best you could translate, which also appeared in an earlier technique for 'imbuing motion' by 'channeling thought'.

Your first few dozen attempts at trying to forge something had ended in jittery messes, but maybe the cause of your failure was that you weren't in the right state of mind. That was something to work with when you got back home.

"That's just me every time I read..." Kara slowly shuffled herself into a sitting position and peered out the windshield. "Where are we?"

"Docks." You toss the grimoire into the backseat and slip your feet off the dashboard. "Decided to get a change of scenery."

"Pretty sunset..." Kara murmured, rubbing her eyes. In the distance, the cloudbank glowed in rounded bands of red that radiated out from the indiscernible point the sun was touching down in the sky. You couldn't see it- in fact, you rarely saw it, but it's presence was always felt.

Speaking of...

"Feel ready to go face the music?" You ask, leaning forward.

"Er- no." Kara admitted. "But I have to, don't I?"

"Not too late to decide to keep it from him..." You offer mildly.

"No, you're right." Kara groaned and stretched. "Let's go face the music."

"I'll endeavor to keep this as painless as possible." You promise.

"What were you even planning on saying to him, anyway? It's going to be a hard enough sell just bringing this up out of nowhere."

"I was planning on letting you do most of the talking, I have to admit..." You scratch your cheek sheepishly. "I don't know your dad that well." You tap on the dashboard absently, and ST begins reversing out of it's parking spot automatically.

"Fair enough." Kara said, shoulders slumping a little. "Feel free to interject..."

>>4244569
"Oh, don't worry." You reassure her. "I will."

"Where should I even start, though..."

>"Ask about your mother."
>"Start simply. Tell him what you found out about the 'voices'."
>"Ask him if he knows what you're named after, because he shouldn't if he knows nothing."
>"Be blunt, tell him you're half-Valkan."
>[Write-In]

>>4244571
>"Ask him if he knows what you're named after, because he shouldn't if he knows nothing."

>>4244571
>"Ask him if he knows what you're named after, because he shouldn't if he knows nothing."

>>4244571
>"Ask him if he knows what you're named after, because he shouldn't if he knows nothing."

>>4244571
>"Start simply. Tell him what you found out about the 'voices'."
"I'm not actually schizophrenic, because the voices vanish when radio gets blocked" is a good start to proving something else is going on.

>>4244571
>>"Start simply. Tell him what you found out about the 'voices'."
I'm not crazy, I just have a receiver inside my brain.

>>4244571
>"Ask about your mother."

>"Ask him if he knows what you're named after, because he shouldn't if he knows nothing."
That wasn't a half an hour nap...

"Ask him about your name."

"Huh?"

"Apparently Valkans like to name their girls after planets?" You shrug. "And there's a planet called Kharak. It's what first made me think..."

"O-oh... right..." Kara trailed off. "Wait, really? Is that why your name is Tiiris?"

"I think so." You watch the city slide past the windows as ST turns onto one of the riseways. "That, or maybe it was some kind of weird tribute to the crater they put on the moon."

"I'll be honest." Kara scratched her chin somewhat sheepishly. "I kind of assumed that your parents were hippies."

You shoot her a look.

Kara shrugged.

"Right." You said dryly, eyes flicking towards the road as ST pulled up in front of Virtual Home Cinema. The front door was dark, now, with the neon signs that advertised that it was open and the lights under the lettering turned off. "Fair warning, it's gonna get loud as soon as I open the door."

Kara grimaced. "Can't I just live in here forever?"

"Nope." You open the door and step out onto the street, not waiting for her.

Kara slips out of ST with a grumble, fumbling with a keychain as she did. Locating the one she was looking for, she unlocked the front door and pushed it open with a shoulder, calling out. "It's me! I've got Tiiris!" She beckons you in with a finger before shutting and locking the front door behind her.

Following her upstairs, you see her father sitting down on the couch, an arm over the back as his eyes flicked over the glowing screen of a tablet. He glanced up as the two of you came in and smiled. "Hello, Tiiris. Were you planning on staying for dinner?"

"Uh, not sure. I may have to go home..." You manage, glancing sidelong at Kara, who was ducking into her room briefly.

"Well, help yourself to some of our leftovers if you want. Kara knows where they are." He said idly, before turning his attention back to his tablet.

"Thanks." You wander past him, and glance to Kara as she emerged from her bedroom. She was holding her head and grumbling to herself as she walked back down to the living room, stopping just short of the entryway. You motion her forward, and she awkwardly steps out closer to you.

Kara gives a small 'oof' as you elbow her back gently. "U-um... hey, d-dad?"

"...yes?" He looked up at her, his eyes glancing briefly towards you.

"W-why is my name Kharak?"

"I took it from the name of a flower, I think." Her father said mildly.

Kara's breath caught. "A flower?"

"Yes. It's a short version of the scientific name of a flower that grows outside the city."

"Which?" She asked.

"I... don't rightly recall." He laughed somewhat awkwardly.

>Stay silent.
>"Maybe because it's the name of a Valkan planet?"
>"I'm sure it's something we could search for."
>[Write-In]

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1.54 MB GIF

>>4247240
But Mr. Makagan that's bullshit!
>"I'm sure it's something we could search for."

>>4247240
>I
Oh shit he's the Valkan, not Kara's mom
That would make telling him Kara needs implants a lot easier.
>"I'm sure it's something we could search for."
I don't want him to panic by figuring out that we know just yet.

>>4247348
CHANGING TO
>>4247240
>[Write-In]
>So you named Kara, huh? Not her mom?
>"Well, I'm sure that flower is something we can search for."

>>4247240
>"That, or maybe it was some kind of weird tribute to the crater they put on the moon."
Wait what, there's a crater named Tiiris on their moon?
We have to go see that crater some day. Good thing we have a ship!

>"I'm sure it's something we could search for."
Outside, nearby? Sounds like a desert plant to me.

>>4247240
I've had enough of this coy behaviour and dancing around the issue.

"Mr. Makagan, your daughter is half-Valkan."

>>4247453
Tiir is the name of Tagara's moon. 'Tiiris' is essentially the cultural equivalent of, say, 'Luna', or maybe a more pretentious version with some extra letters.

The crater she was referring to is the remains of a staging ground the Navy maintained on Tiir, and which was destroying during the prologue.

>>4247531
Oh neat. Didn't remember the moon's name. Maaaybe not a crater to visit, then. Bad mojo.

>>4247240
>"I'm sure it's something we could search for."

>>4247240
>>"I'm sure it's something we could search for."

>>4247240
>"Maybe because it's the name of a Valkan planet?"
Mr Makagan can I touch your heart?

>"I'm sure it's something we could search for."
>"So you named Kara, huh? Not her mom?"
Writing.

Your eyebrows go up as you mill around behind Kara, slipping partially into their kitchen and pretending to be busy looking through their fridge. "So you named Kara, Mr. Makagan?"

"We named her together." He said somewhat defensively. "Although Marion wasn't around to veto my final decision, of course."

"Was it her favorite flower or something?"

"Something like that." He pretended to glance down at his tablet, pretending to read it. "She might have suggested it."

"You don't remember?" Kara asked, her hands clenched into fists.

"I'm sure it's something we could look up." You say, digging your phone out of your pocket and tapping on the browser icon. "'List of scientific names for flowers'... just have to find the ones that start with 'K', right?"

"It might not be." Mr. Makagan said airily. "It might be in the middle."

"You named me after it and you don't even remember the stupid thing's name?" Kara asked with a frustrated huff.

Mr. Makagan raised his tablet a bit higher and hid behind it. "Yeah, uh... sorry, honey."

>Kara seems like she's about to boil over. Let her.
>"I do know a Kharak- it's a planet, though. Ever hear of it?"
>"No worries, I can search this list really fast."
>"We all know you're bullshitting, Mr. Makagan."
>[Write-In]

>>4248637
>"No worries, I can search this list really fast."
We probably don't want anyone to escalate the situation, so it would be best if he was given the chance to deescalate / clarify the statements he just made, before we start escalating things as to try and get a confession
out of him or something.

It would not surprise me if a survivor of the 13th, identified a new species of plant and decided to name as to remind them of something that they lost, at some point in the years since the war ended.

>>4248637
>"I do know a Kharak- it's a planet, though. Ever hear of it?"

>>4248637
>Kara seems like she's about to boil over. Let her.
Well! She isn't worried about confronting him anymore. Let's see the fireworks!
>"I do know a Kharak- it's a planet, though. Ever hear of it?"
Second preference this. If he's willing to offend his daughter to keep the secret, we could mercifully end his suffering. But Kara going on a tirade would be funnier.

>>4248637
>"I do know a Kharak- it's a planet, though. Ever hear of it?"
Do not worry, Mr. Makagan, for I too am a space alien.

>>4248637
>"I do know a Kharak- it's a planet, though. Ever hear of it?"
Fuck it. Mr. Makagan, at least 2 people in your family are aliens. I can tell, i'm one too.

Are we sure Kara even has Valkan parentage? Maybe I'm just forgetting, but we've never seen an overt display of Abyss capabilities with her, and it's entirely possible they did just name her after a flower which some Valkan in hiding named. Maybe she somehow naturally evolved a receiver in her brain by sheer coincidence, or the people on Tagara are naturally evolving after being exposed to so much Abyss energy when the ships crashed.

>>4249336
>Are we sure Kara even has Valkan parentage?
She has Skaal, and we know Valkan drones can't be claimed by people without Valkan genes.

>>4249384
I thought that was proven wrong? Because of the black market trade and it being mentioned in a few of the first threads that they'll serve anyone that finds them. Again, I might just be forgetting.

>>4249425
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/3805020/
>"Most Valkan hardware is fully autonomous- warskins, drones, aircraft. They can be contacted via wireless should you wish to command them, unless another Valkan has taken possession of them."

>"'Taken possession'?"

>"Valkans did not share technology communally- it is to my understanding that the Tagaran civilization is much the same. Most forms of intelligent hardware had a designated owner that it answered to. When the Valkans perished, many pieces of hardware self-destructed in accordance to their owner's wishes, or became 'free' hardware. Once we have new owners, however, other Valkans are incapable of issuing orders to us."

>[...]Then you're saying that I should be thinking about the unintelligent stuff?"

>"Yes. They do not restrict their functions, even when used by non-Valkans. Guns, hovercraft, fabricators."

>>4248637
>"I do know a Kharak- it's a planet, though. Ever hear of it?"

>>4248637
>>Kara seems like she's about to boil over. Let her.
>>"I do know a Kharak- it's a planet, though. Ever hear of it?"

>>4249384
>>4249425
Drones can have varying orders in terms of their succession, and can serve non-Valkans. However, the default orders if the owner doesn't specify anything special is go to someone who can be identified as Valkan. Drones don't have automatic genetic sequencers built in, though. Normally they determine if someone is Valkan by their implants or facial markings. Tiiris has facial markings, and Skaal chose to obey Kara because she can hear it speak.

>>4248637
>Kara seems like she's about to boil over. Let her.