(Rewritten) Ch. 77 – Xenocide Act VI; Genetics Galore, And Milk Is Sweet

"Did you know that your blood travels through your body roughly one meter per second? Sounds unbelievable, doesn't it?

Not if you've seen somebody lose a foot.

What?

Yeah, yeah, okay. Here come the nanites."

– Road Rash to his Twitch chat, roughly five minutes after a mine blew off his foot, still mildly shocked, watching as vasoconstriction ceased and the stump began bleeding. Profusely.

***

"Oh! And what about the genetic fix for the photop-thingy-sis? How much would that cost?"

Photoptarmosis. Nothing, in fact. You already possess the human genome library, and the suggested purchases will allow you to build the viral editors free of charge.

"Say, can I, like, design more viruses and such myself? For the gland."

That is possible, yes. You would need time to study the field. To become a qualified researcher, essentially, since my help would be limited. You could buy all the relevant knowledge as downloads, too. There is much available, for many points.

Tynea refreshed the list, and added, Would you like to commit to these transactions now? I have added some nourishment to support your metabolism during the changes.

Unlocked:

Total cost: 350 ptsRemaining points: 7650

Purchased:

Total cost: 2522Remaining points: 5128

"Let me see…" I went through the list. "Sure. Can't think of any issues. Let's do it."

Please hold your hand out.

I did, and a sealed bowl larger than my palm with a churning broth beneath a transparent lid, appeared. There was a closed little spout at the edge, to drink from.

The broth looked extremely savory, and quite filling. I could see bits and pieces of stuff in there. Meat, probably? Synthetic meats, vegetable stuff… Some kinda pasta?

Bite the spigot, and the device will discharge a little of the food. It should taste quite delightful.

I stuck the thing between my teeth and gently bit down on it. There was a small beep, and then the broth poured onto my tongue.

It was heavenly. Warm, chunky,  and seasoned with pepper and cumin—not to mention a whole lot of stuff I'd never tasted before.

And the first swallow satiated me utterly. It was so satisfying that I barely managed a second swallow, before I felt like I just wanted to lie down and let the warmth in my belly digest itself.

I yawned, wandered over to Leah, and stretched the bowl towards her.

"Hmm?" She looked at me, at the bowl, and took it. "What's this?"

I yawned again, even harder, and rubbed my eyes. Leah patted my head and I looked up at her with a small smile.

"Makes you sleepy, apparently. It's good, though. Try it."

I watched as she did, and enjoyed the look of contentment that mirrored mine. Alien food really was magic.

I recognized that my tiredness was natural, just a result of all the exertion. Something homey in the food called it up, huh? Bit early to rest, though, and so much to do… I grabbed for the booster tube stuck in my cleavage and ate another of those smushy sugar balls. Felt the electricity hit my tongue and the energy course through my body, waking me right up.

With a last, perfunctory yawn, I stretched and took the bowl back from a Leah who seemed like she wanted to burp.

Giggling, I patted her stomach, and, judging by Leah's surprised face, that was too much when the air escaped her with a long vibrating braaap.

I laughed and Leah yawned, so I popped one of the boosters into her mouth, and she bit down by reflex, only to moan with closed eyes as heaven coated her tongue again.

I hugged her around the waist and laid my chin on her chest as I looked up with playful puppy eyes, not bothering to force my antennae away from her face, where they were fluffing around her eyes and lips.

But Leah's eyes stayed closed, and with a long exhalation, Leah rested her jaw atop my head and put her arms around my shoulders. She squished my antennae to the side a little where they wriggled around, tasting rain and fire in the air.

I turned down the shielding again, enjoying the light massage of the droplets across my sensilla.

The warmth of Leah's torso soothed me from the front, and the heating in her arms unknotted some tension I hadn't even been aware of in my upper back.

Fucking perfect. I yawned just a little, again. That's a downside of the pod, huh? No direct physical contact…

I gently stroked up and down her back, kneaded her muscles next to her spine in a few places until they eased up, and just breathed in the shared happiness.

This was so special, so different from how I lived as Aden. Even if I had to jump from a hundred buildings and break my body every time, I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Tinea, are you ready for the installation of the gland?

Ah, duty called. Oh well. Not like I had to move for it.

"Sure, where will you place it?"

The gland consists of three individual parts. One goes next to your spleen, the second next to your liver. These will connect to either organ and your bloodstream at large, and recycle some of your metabolism's waste. The third piece, which is the actual gland, will attach to your heart and receive the processed proteins and building blocks to print and feed bacteria or viruses.

"Go for it. Say, how do I get those bacteria and viruses out of my body, when I want to use them?"

A sudden pain wracked my abdomen for an instant and I nearly doubled over, squeezing the air out of Leah, who gave a hard oof.

Ah, crap. I quickly let go and checked her over, until she poked my nose with a smile. It didn't seem like I'd used enough force to injure her in any way and I breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm fine," she said, "didn't even hurt." Then she frowned. "But are you? Hurt, I mean? What was that?"

"Implant installations. Something to let me improve myself further with natural armor and stuff."

Leah gave me a sympathetic grimace and pulled me closer again. "Those suck, yeah."

I laughed quietly, as Tynea's voice sounded in my mind.

The editing of your skin is in process. Please give it a few minutes to finish.

"Alright."

To answer your earlier question: you, or I, can instruct your bionites to transport tiny capsules filled with crafted bacteria or viruses anywhere in your body. You could infuse liquid to be expelled by your spinneret, or grow claws or spines to inject them. You could add them to your sweat to disperse them via touch or evaporation, if you wished.

– Observation: Ports in artificial spinneret limbs. –

A window popped up with a three-dimensional model of my tail's tip, and at the base of each metal finger, a blinking highlight guided my focus to tiny holes accessible from the bloodstream, with apparently selectively permeable membranes to block unwanted contamination.

Oh, that was pretty cool. And, huh. I could actually choose to spray my own blood from the spinneret.

That was kind of fucked up.

Um…

Yeah, let's not do that.

Ah. Wait. I could administer bionites now, without having people suck my tits! Oh, that was very handy. Yeah, very good. I could just let the bionites carry my bionite-nutrient solution from my lobules straight onto the injuries of others, and skip the whole awkward question of where it comes from.

Curiosity wiggled my brain. I had to know. The burning need to know wouldn't leave me in peace until I did.

I lifted my tail to my mouth, and commanded my bionites through AI-I to release a drop of my breastmilk from one of the spinneret's fingers.

I thought it might take minutes for the bionites to travel all the way through my body, but less than a second later, I suddenly tasted something incredibly sweet, sweeter than honey, on my tongue. But it wasn't cloying at all. It just tasted really…good.

Good and sweet and lovely.

And rather motherly.

Aw.

I was enchanted. This is from me. From my body. Aww.

So sweet.

Oh. Oh, so that's what Leah had meant when she said I tasted very, very sweet.

My heart sang, and before I knew it, my tail had wrapped around Leah's leg, and I was hugging her tightly, with my cheek rubbing underneath her collar bone.

Leah aww'd at me, tucked me under her chin, and squeezed me again, even as she petted the back of my head.

Tears gathered in my eye and a smile stole onto my lips, one that was completely out of control. Joy and connection overwhelmed me utterly, rendered me almost insensate with the most powerful flash of love I'd ever experienced. So strong that I shook with it.

Leah wanted to check on me and tried to lift my face, but I shook my head and just burrowed closer into her, so she went back to hugging me and petting me as emotions ran through me like freight trains and bulldozers.

She started humming quietly and swayed us slowly, cradling me and creating a safe space to breathe and cry within.

Very much a mom, huh? The thought made me laugh a little, wet with tears and snot, but it helped me calm down and find my brain again.

Eventually, I loosened my hold on Leah, and looked up at her. My arms were still around her waist, and she was still petting the back of my head, but she smiled very softly at me, happy to let me be until I was centered.

I rose up on my tip-toes and kissed her lightly on the lips. A big thank you with all the sense of connection that I'd had in it. I felt Leah's lips curl up at the corners and she returned the kiss against my forehead, sharing her willingness to be there with me.

I sighed gently, laid my head against her shoulder, and closed my eyes.

I breathed slowly and deeply, letting all the intense emotions flow from me, glad to have experienced it, but also glad to move on.

After a few moments, Leah spoke. "Well, that was a lot, huh? Tinea."

I nodded, and eyes still closed, I said, "Yeah. That was insane. I don't think I ever experienced anything like that as Aden."

– Observation: extreme levels of hormonal activity detected. –

– Assumption: partially pubertal reverberance of male -> female transformation, partially natural result of being female. –

AI-I's message was less voice-thought, this time, and more pure intent. It felt surprisingly soft—but then that made perfect sense. She was me, after all, even if she wasn't quite subject to the full experience that was my brain.

But her conclusion made sense. My new body would need some time to settle into a good balance, wouldn't it? Which was usually what happened during and after puberty.

And then there was the fact that I wasn't lonely anymore. Leah presented a completely fresh stimulus in my life, and I was engaging with her on a level of intimacy that I'd longed for my entire life.

No way would that leave me cold.

"Yup," I whispered. "Probably not the last time, either."

Leah squeezed me again, and reassurance lifted my heart all over again. I wasn't alone.

I squeezed back and exhaled, letting simple happiness suffuse my face as I finally let go and looked at her.

"Let's keep packing? Plenty to do, today."

She cupped my cheek with one hand and I leaned into it, and her smile twinkled at me.

Aw, I was such a goner.

"Yeah, let's," she said. "Plenty to do."

***