The parkway leading from the town of Aelea to the Capitol District is a split two-lane brick and aggregate wonder that splits further as we approach the semi-circle of 1800’s American Federal architecture with a main, multistory building with two arcuate wings that are connected by a short, covered colonnade. Katie maintained a theme of having each arc extending back into support buildings, homes for staff, dignitaries and guests.
The main building is three stories of stone with a metallic dome in the center with each building corner having small towers with portico’s near the top with recessed machinery that looks defensive and automated.
“Damn, Kay. I really do like the more colorful take on the Federal architecture. It feels an homage welcoming change.”
She squeezes my side in appreciation and support, as I am still having to lean on her with my awkwardness. “It was an attempt to merge the visuals of government and the materials of the region to make it look worked in and not some cold lifeless structure.
“The main building has a senate-style floor with room for the Hall of Councilors and the Hall of Representatives on one side and an audience chamber for you on the other. The Second floor has courtrooms and offices, and the third floor is mostly offices and a currently small reference library.”
“Baby, this is seriously impressive. The only thing I don’t see is an outdoor section for eating and networking.”
“Mm, yes. I had though to put them back-set behind the connecting colonnades, but I couldn’t decide which one because it would be off-balance.” She clenches her jaw at the thought.
“I like it. Why not just have a reflection feature on the other side to balance the visual weight, or a monument of some kind. Ooh, a monument to the Galileo and the sailors that died to make this possible?” I know they’re not confirmed dead, but the sentiment is the same.
“I’ll consider it further. But for now, I want to show you our new home.”
We take a path around the central building and a small, but manicured walking path leads to a distant house that appears to be a multi-story plantation-style home. The distance to the house is mostly silver grass and a smattering of the pink birch-like trees I’m so fond of. The border of the property seems heavily wooded, and the river meanders in to the property after about a mile.
Katie leads me around the absolutely massive manor to show a large pond was dug out beside a bend in the river with two out-buildings on the far shore and Katie’s shade pavilion on the close shore. The space between the house and the pond is littered with features for entertainment, food and recreation. Much the rest of it is open and un-planned.
When we get into the house, it is very much a fancy southern plantation house with the exception of the top floor, which is a smaller homage to my loft-style working apartment. I’m so stunned by the absolute acceptance I feel seeing this “room” in a fancy manor. The emotion in me swells so fast that I just start crying.
“Oh Katie, thank you for this. You made this beautiful property, but imported our modern apartment.” I hug her with a desperate fierceness.
She nestles her hand in my hair before responding. “I’ve never seen you more comfortable and happy, than the few weeks leading up to your Sector Host work. Why would I do anything else?”
I chuckle with my tears and bury my face in her shoulder, “I hope you did something for yourself.”
“Of course. I built a grotto of sorts underneath the house for partners and activities. A few dorm style rooms with a reconfigurable common area. It’s mostly just rough structure down there because we only just had the conversation this morning.”
She built a sex grotto. My stomach turns and I have to grab onto her to stay upright. “I’m going to try not to think about that too much right now. But I meant did you do something for yourself that wasn’t purely functional?”
“Yes, I did. I will maintain some of them for surprises in the future. Speaking of surprises, there are some things that I’ve been pushing back since your injury and I should attend to them. I’ll need several days to catch up. More if I don’t go full Penny.” She smirks at me with a shoulder push.
I hug her tighter and pull her into a kiss. “I’m so sorry Katie, I’ve promised you and Tessa to be more present and inclusive. I know I can rely on you both and I need to show that I can be here for you too.”
***
After the first day of Katie disappearing into work, and my trying to stay around while not injuring myself, I decide to hop back in the healing pools and try to look at my system.
It is smart to come back to what are essentially your healing pools. There could be complications to your modules and any residual mutations that you have left to process.
That’s right, I should get some tier two notices as well.
I feel the advancement as I read it, my skin feeling tighter, body fuller, and a surge of aether that is easily contained. Do I not get the effects until I acknowledge the notifications?
It’s a recent development. The Matrix gets upset when ignored for too long.
//PROTECTED KNOWLEDGE ACCESS. ENACTING ADMINISTRATIVE PROTOCOLS//
/You have been scanned for aether habitat suitability/
/Your consciousness is being moved to an aether-based pocket dimension/
//TERMINATION ASSESSMENT: DENIED. USER WILL BE CENSORED//
/Your being is absorbing more aether than it can store or disperse/
/Due to Administrative Action, you will be given advanced control/
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
//WARNING: CONTINUING TO MUTATE MAY CHANGE YOUR SPECIES//
Holy crap Tessa! I went through four mutations simultaneously? I feel a rush of aether and tingling in my extremities and it feels like a full body panic attack.
Yes. It likely would have been far more had you not had your tier 2 benefits on hand and your transfiguration skill at the ready. With Katie and Atropos’s help, and the allowance by the Matrix because you were unconscious, we integrated the aether capacity changes we needed to make to keep you alive with what remains of your biological systems, through their Magitech integration.
So that’s why I got the species change warning. I’m curious, I do look more fey-like, but more toward the taller, creepier fey instead of the cute mischievous fey. That’s more of a problem for when I get through my prompts. If I panic about that message and Body of Power five . . . oh shit. Can I even go back to Earth now!?!? The last time I read the description, it would make me entirely dependent on aether to live. Gods, that is going to be expensive to maintain with higher mana foods.
I will interrupt here. While your physical changes went through without your knowledge, the specific skills are not enabled until you acknowledge them, with some life-preserving exceptions.
Was there a small but real chance that I was slowly dying until I read my messages.
They would have enabled. Especially Enhanced Aether Collection. I never would have let you live it down though.
Ass. Thank you for saving my life. I guess there’s the Caloric Conversion upgrade as well.
Caloric Conversion III Vastly increased aether conversion from biomass intake at the expense of nutrient production Enhanced Digestion You are able to break down biomass more efficiently and can process additional substances not typical of your species
That actually makes me feel a lot better. What’s next?
I’m going to come back to those. I really like the idea of taking shielding and manifestation, and buying all the non-aether mods with tech imbalance. In fact, why come back, lets to that. Que priority: Combat: Gun Fu, Leadership, Manifestation, Administration, and Sheilding.
I’m happily surprised that you’ve decided to ease yourself into the uploads, especially the aether-based modules. I don’t think Gun Fu is going to fly though as it is a combined . . .
It is endlessly frustrating trying to teach you temperance when the Matrix enables you.
Heh, Matrix. The upload briefly rolls my eyes up.
“I know Gun Fu.”
I hop out of the bath and pull a laser pistol and an unfinished project frame and run through some Katas, being careful not to pull the trigger. The style also integrates my knowledge of the weapons I’m carrying for reload and their range and likely injury coefficient. It even has blocking patters for mods I could add to these weapons? That’s primo.
When you first started explaining tracks to me, I thought it was neat that Andromeda would tailor our experience based on our culture. Little freaky that it would download our minds like that, but it seems to tailor more than our tracks to our cultural experiences.
It does seem so yes. I don’t have enough overall data, but there appears to be a higher than a statistical variance of occurrences where Species Leadership (Primus, Secundus, and Tertius) tends toward villainy. Perhaps this is their reward for pursuing a different kind of power.
And we’re back to a hyperintelligent artificial being has a positive moral code. Thank Andromeda. People searching for power don’t need more encouragement. In any case, I’m glad they humored me, because I don’t really want to fight with a sword against people with guns like Meeker and his Jedi track.
You could get training in sabers as well. You would even have a high chance of learning the skill if you hired someone to teach you.
I keep forgetting you can learn things without the modules. Back to notifications.
What. The. Fuck.
I’m a fucking GOLEM!?! How did I skip Faerie and get to Golem? Tessa, I’m freaking out hon, please help me understand what you did to me.
When you were suffused with so much aether, I panicked. The symbiote part of us is very good with aether, so we started pushing aether into your bones instead of the small crystal fragments that were imbedded in you after the battery explosion. Yes, we kept some, but the symbiote side keeps track of your biologics instinctively, like a motor cortex, and so I didn’t really know about that until we started getting hungry for minerals.
We force fed you from your sack of seed crystals and even resorted to using transmutation to envelop more. That was before I was offered the chance to integrate your pending mutations with your tier two upgrade. It integrated the gems into your coded framework so your bones and several organs have undergone a level of crystallization, some more drastic than others.
Oh. But if I’m still classified as human, then I must still have a nervous system and at least a few operating organs.
It’s confusing even for me. You have a working circulatory system that conveys a blood-like substance that is created in your bones and other organs and distributed to your other systems. You’re more of a Construct, than a Golem, since an overarching intelligence and aether are holding your systems together, but with this mutation aided by transmutation, you are heading toward becoming an aether being piloting a matter-based mechanism. Hence a golem.
That is not a comforting deduction Tessa. Especially since if my Humanity disappears, do I lose my rights as Primus? Do sentient golems qualify as a race? If not, I doubt every doofus with a unique mutation gets primus consideration if they mutate far enough.
Difficult to say. This is not a well-documented phenomenon, and possibly deliberately obfuscated. I would give it better than even odds that because of your Human mental framework, that you would retain Human Primus status regardless of your potential race changes.
I don’t know if I’m due for a massive freak-out and breakdown, or the constant changes have just inured me to the wacky grab ass that is my life, but I feel like I should be more worried than I am. In 4 years I’ve gone from an out of luck and out of work scientist to a very wealthy Galaxy explorer that barely qualifies as human.
I thought I was busy that year we were stranded in space fixing out annihilation drive, but that has likely been the slowest-changing period since we started on this expedition.
I’ve been adjusting your fear chemicals to prevent such “freak-out” occasions.
Ugh, I don’t love that. Just be careful. Fear and worry have their place—especially when personal relationships are involved.
Moving on from that abyss of potential paranoia, what is our tier 2 gift looking like?