“I watch all these other races and people, loving and struggling against – but also with – each other. It’s then, when I am glad to stand alone.”

- Hob

***Deep Space***

***Antioch***

“You are quite good at this stuff,” I comment on Martin's skills with the computing node. As I watch, he dexterously checks the various circuit boards for the failure. It's clear that he knows what he is doing. When it's clear that the issue lies with a set of memory blocks, he pulls them out and replaces the failed components.

“It comes with the profession,” he replies. “I like fiddling with stuff. Nothing against the drones, but they don't get creative when it's just a minor problem. In some cases, they would replace the entire board. Plus, by taking a look myself, I can make improvements. You just copy-pasted many of these systems from other ships. That made designing it easier and faster, but there is no real need to put a high-performance system in a spot where the power is never used. Less efficient components might be just enough for the job while costing less. They are also easier to replace.”

Martin connects to the ship's network and restarts the computing node, making sure that it performs according to specifications. After all, it controls the waste management system. Having that part of the ship function properly is very important.

I nod and glance up and down the narrow service tunnel. It’s just one and a half metres in width. Just wide enough to watch Martin work without being too close to him. “I wasn't really sure where the Haven would take us, or which changes might become necessary. Silith and I over-specified most of the components to make everything as future-proof as possible.”

The other man nods but doesn't say anything else.

It has been three days since we freed our captives and they are trying their best to help with the ship. Their transformation into demons is also coming along nicely. All of them developed horns and tails of various sizes and forms, though some kept a few of their beastmen-features.

Fiona's tail, as an example, is still covered in fur. Instead of a spike, it also developed a bushy tuft at the end. It looks hilarious and she was quite upset about it. She also got a fitting sub-class as a Bakeneko, a cat-demon.

Martin looks more like a real demon, but he kept a set of pointy ears as a memento of his time as a beastman. The lean man has a set of fiery, red horns arching out from his temples. Unsurprisingly, he got marked as an incubus.

Normally, I wouldn't care for a guy like him. If he wants to be a solitary, then he should. Less trouble for me. Unfortunately, except for me, he is the only adult male on the ship. I would like to have him as an ally against the women, should they ever gang up on me. Not that I am afraid of such a scenario, but the way the females interact with each other is disconcerting.

They are much too... how to describe it... too nice? Too social?

In any case, they are clearly getting along and building a united front. That’s why I want to break the ice between Martin and me.

Martin looks up. “Did you need something?”

Oh, what to say? Should I simply ask him if he wants to be my friend? No! That would be strange. I would sound like an insecure teenager. “Not especially. I was just wondering if you could tell me about the V.C.? There are a lot of things I don't understand about that place.”

He scratches his chin with the contact of his measuring tool. “Ah, it's really hard to describe for someone like you. Don't misunderstand me, I don't want to imply that you are stupid. It's just that, nowadays, new minds, genuine children, are really rare. You see, there are no new people born in the V.C.

“Just occasionally, there are stray fragments like you returned to the fold. It often takes them a while to come to grips with their existence. They end up in a rehabilitation centre, where experts can deal with them. The few experiments which escape the G.S. research programs every few decades carry a lot of mental baggage.”

When I say nothing, he shrugs. “Well, I can try. I don’t think that me lamenting will help you, but it helps to kill time. You see, there wasn't a real government left when the last humans uploaded their minds. It was all governed by the large corporations. When I uploaded and left my original body behind, I fled reality. Earth was just a huge pile of shit in the end. There was nothing there to live for.” He gestures at the computing node. “And we didn't even have technology like this. The big breakthroughs came later, but by then nobody cared. We were happy in our dreamworlds.”

He tilts his head, thinking. “Imagine an endless spiral of worlds. The V.C. has so much computing power that everyone can create and delete his own worlds as he pleases. You can even populate them with NPCs, non-player-characters. Nobody cares what you do unless you bother other people. Though, most people tend to form groups, which are then called Virtual Cultures. There are so many variations, that you might as well think of some of them as aliens. It would take years just to visit the larger ones, even if you spend just one day on each of them.

“There is a reputation system through which you can interact with G.O.D. It was put in place so that there are some restrictions for the more unruly personalities. When the first servers went online the developers wanted to avoid a snowball-effect. After all, humans are the worst kind of people. In a world where we can do anything we want, there have to be at least some restrictions. Until the G.S. showed up and started the war, none of us ever expected to return to the real world. But the war showed me that it isn't enough to have servers just in the Solar System.”

I perk up. “You fought in the war?”

He grins and hits his chest. “Yes, I did. Though only very few V.C.'s actually took an interest in the conflict. The V.C. is a wondrous place, but it's also stagnant. Many don't believe that it's possible that the G.S. can shut down all of our servers. What the G.S. fought was a ragtag group of consciousnesses who downloaded themselves into robotic bodies. At first, the invaders had no trouble mowing us down.

“But we improved. Each time one of us fell, we improved the models. After mechanical robots came clones, then upgraded cyborgs. We threw ourselves at the G.S. soldiers, not caring whether we lived or died. Our brainiacs came up with nano-plagues, Van Neumann Drones, and even more horrifying stuff. It was just a logical consequence to add nano-tech after a few generations. What we finally came up with, was the ultimate body. A shell which would be able to develop and adapt to any situation.”

Grinning, he raises his eyebrows. “How do you like it?”

I look down at my own body, getting his point. “So, this was never meant to be a real human body?”

“Nah, base-line humans are weak. You stick something sharp into them and they bleed out or drop dead on the spot. It's actually a little pathetic if you think about what some aliens are capable of. Real humans went extinct a few hundred years ago. Even those who kept the old hardware running were just clones. So, where was I? Ah, the war. As I said, at some point we got really good at killing any alien who dared to set a foot on Earth.

“When the G.S. gave their soldiers the order to march, and they actually refused, it was over. They knew it and we knew it. Once the aliens shat themselves just at the thought of entering our territory, we had won. Or at least that's what we thought. Seems like the G.S. command wasn't of the same opinion. They started bombarding Earth with everything they had. Nukes, rocks, the bastards would have probably de-orbited the moon if they had a ship that was big enough.”

He hums. “They probably wouldn't have done it if we had left them the illusion of victory. But some bright minds were of the opinion that showing them who is boss would be best. After all, we just wanted them to take their damned ideology and piss off. Not our fault if they can't deal with paradise... or the illusion of it. Was a damned luck that they didn't realize that our probes had set up server farms on other planets in the system. When Earth fell we just lost some capacity, but we weren't out of the game. That's when some of the Blue, the saner ones... you know of the Blue?”

I nod.

“Good. Well, it was them who made n-space computing possible, utilizing quantum effects. By now, the V.C. can be only taken down if we lose our anchor point to real space, reality. It would cause the carefully set up system in n-space to fall apart.” He shrugs. “That's unlikely though. We sent out probes in every direction. Then there are the various beastmen, which live hidden right among the G.S. And you have probably heard of the others. They are also building their strength in secret.”

“It's interesting to hear the story from someone other than Sam or Min,” I comment, happy that Martin verified many points. It's always good to hear something from several independent sources. That makes it less likely that I am getting screwed again. Once is more than enough. “How about society as a whole? Is your... take on male to female relationships common?”

Martin turns pensive. He looks up and down the service tunnel as if he expects to find some secret listener. “There are different opinions on that. Like I said, the V.C. offers a lot of possibilities. Why do you ask?”

“No real reason. I was just wondering. Silith alone is more than enough for me. The thought of pleasing several different partners is disconcerting. How should I express it? Isn't it exhausting?” I try to imagine being in his shoes. “The girls are clearly showing you the cold shoulder, now that they found out.”

“They are just angry because I wasn’t honest about my preferences.” Martin clears his throat. For some reason, he tries to lower his voice, sounding old. “Listen, Antioch. I understand and respect your point of view. You are young and have only limited experience with matters of love. Just believe me that there will come a time when you and your partner will want to experience new things. It may not be today or tomorrow, but the time will come. There are a lot of wondrous experiences waiting if you are just open to different partners.”

Crossing my arms, I tilt my head. “Sorry, it just seems like it's not worth the trouble. Look at you.”

“Me?”

“Yeah, well. I don't want to sound presumptuous, but you are hiding in a service tunnel, doing work which could be left to my drones, just to avoid the women. I have seen the looks they shoot at you.” I gesture with my hand, indicating his whole body.

He curls down the corners of his mouth. “You aren't completely wrong. I didn't mean that you have to follow exactly in my footsteps. There are many different paths down the route of love. Let's just say that I simply took the toys that were available to me. To say it in my words: Love is easy, two-timing is hard, three-timing is arduous...” He starts grinning all over his face. “And four-timing is an art!”

Raising his hands, he wriggles his fingers and gestures as if he is trying to grope eight tits at once. “Compare it to juggling! You have to please all of your partners, but never neglect one of them for too long. At the same time, you can't allow any of them to become too close to you, or they might collide with the others. It requires a beautiful balance which I strive to perfect.”

“That...” I struggle for an appropriate answer. It means that he will never have what's between Silith and me. “Actually, that sounds very sad.”

Martin huffs. “Oh, the neglect of youth. I-”

Jenny's voice causes him to twitch as it echoes down the tunnel, “Martin? Oh, Maartin? Where are you? I have a cake for a hardworking guy.”

He quickly closes the access cover of the computing node. “I have to go! Please don't tell her that I was here.”

“What's wrong?” I ask, confused. “Didn't you just tell me that you are practically okay with anyone? You should be happy that Jenny is still interested in you. After all, she already knows about your preferences.”

“Yes, and that's exactly the problem! She knows, and she still seeks me out. Long years of experience taught me that that's a bad omen. Especially with a woman as crafty as Jenny. That girl is an alpha who likes to hide in the skin of a beta, if you understand what I mean?”

“Um... no?” Is it because she blew up his little scheme? Or because he didn't manage to hide it from her? Oh, it must be her ability to see through his schemes. He wants to be the ultimate jingalo, but there is a girl who is completely unaffected by his 'art'. Doesn't that turn her into his ultimate nemesis?

“Don't look at me so confused, just believe that meeting her right now won't end well for me!” He bows slightly and dashes down the corridor, leaving me alone with his equipment. Grumbling, I bend down to pick up his stuff. This is why drones are better for this job. They clean up after themselves.

After a few seconds, Jenny walks around a bend in the tunnel, dressed in almost nothing. The little pieces of cloth hardly hide anything, leaving only the most important bits to the imagination. In her hand, she is balancing a big plate with a heart-shaped something on it. In the other, she has several plates and eating utensils.

“Antioch!” Upon seeing me, she lights up and sashays closer, swaying her assets with every movement. “Have you seen Martin? I could have sworn that the network reported him to be at this location a minute ago. Here, hold that. You haven't had real food in your entire life, have you? Poor boy.”

She shoves the plate towards me and cuts off a big piece, completely uncaring of her state or my baffled reaction to it. “A big one for our Lord.”

“Ah, thanks. That's food?” I ask. What happened to the nutrient bars? “Why are you searching for Martin?”

“Let's just say that I have a few things to discuss with him. The other girls aren't very happy about his exploits, but they were willing to listen to reason. At least for the time being, I managed to negotiate some arrangements between the four of us.” She grins and hands me a big piece of the red cake-thing. “So where do I find him? I can smell that he was here.”

Oh, so she can smell? When there is time, I have to ask her about her class. I guess there is no point in denying it then. “He fled that way.” I point my thumb over my shoulder.

She raises an eyebrow. “Fled? Is that so? If you would? This tunnel is narrow and I don't want to drop the cake.” Gesturing, she indicates for me to make some space.

I step out of her way and raise my piece of cake to allow her passage. Smiling, she glides past me, seemingly accidentally bumping her hips against me and trailing her tail along my thigh. Then I watch her walking down the service tunnel, clearly making a show of it with her swaying butt. Those shoes have ridiculously high heels.

Only two thoughts go through my mind as I watch her departure. The first is that she deserved to become a succubus. The second, Martin is in trouble.

After debating the pros and cons, I decide that having him as an ally might cause me more trouble than ignoring him.

Should I try to become friends with Jenny? She seemed like somebody who is in charge of at least one faction on the ship. Maybe it's not a matter of men against women, but instead, having women on my side.

A shudder runs down my spine and I turn around, wondering where the intense killing-intent came from. I find myself face to face with Silith. Her tail is whipping back and forth while she is glaring at me.

Knowing all too well what’s going on in her mind, I stay very still and keep smiling. “Hi, dear. Want some cake?”

Something tells me that becoming friends with Jenny would be even worse than gaining Martin as an ally.