After Maxine played cards with her family, she asked Hellen to contact Zephyr to find out when the Technological Union's ship would arrive. It only took her a few seconds to get that information since it was done via spiritual sense. 

"Maxine, Zephyr said that the ship will arrive in two weeks," Hellen said via spiritual sense.

"Two weeks?!" Maxine said in surprise, "I thought we still had at least a month."

"That was according the the speed that their fastest ships had one hundred years ago," Hellen responded, "The ship approaching Earth isn't their fastest. Otherwise it would be here already. The only reason it hasn't is that it was built more for surveying purposes." Fuck! However she had to remind herself that it wasn't a problem. She still had enough time to finish teaching her current batch of students and set Chris, and possibly Amanda, up with their own students. She would also leave a list of potential students and all of the other necessary information to find more. Hopefully Amanda would take charge of that. Maxine doubted that Chris had the patience to examine every student up to Maxine's standards, but she knew Amanda would.

However Maxine knew she had enough time to work with that later. For now, she wanted more information on the Kavros clan other than what she already had and the only two sources of information are from Zephyr and Hellen. And Hellen's knowledge about the Kavros clan is over one hundred years old. She needed more up to date information, so she needed to talk to Zephyr directly. 

Maxine sat down on her bed and pulled out the communication disk from her dimensional pouch. She tried to get into contact with Zephyr. Within seconds, she saw his face appear above it. "Maxine, what is it?" Zephyr asked, "Is there something wrong?"

"No, nothing is wrong," Maxine replied, "I just wanted to know what it's like in the Kavros clan."

"Oh, that's quite reasonable," Zephyr said, "Is there something specific that you wanted to know?"

"Sort of," Maxine said and got uncomfortable as she continued, "I was wondering about the social etiquette and fashion within the clan." There I said it. I never thought I would ever have to worry about fashion of all things. Although knowing the social norm is a good way to avoid accidentally pissing off everyone in the Kavros clan. I don't want to make enemies just because I said something I wasn't supposed to.

"Avoid vulgarities and you should be fine," Zephyr said calmly, "As for fashion, you need not worry about it. Our clan is very liberal in what we allow our members to wear. The only requirement is that you have the clan symbol in a visible location. Although I will admit the women in this area of your world are far more ... brazen than the ones in our clan." Well that's a relief. I thought that I would have to ask Silky to make me a whole new wardrobe. Although it wouldn't hurt to have a few sets of clothing made from her now iron stage arachne silk. I have no doubt that if I don't, my clothes will end up in tatters very quickly. I am already seeing signs of wear and tear on the Arachne Silk clothes that I wear when I train.  

"Define brazen," Maxine asked curiously and it was Zephyr's turn to look uncomfortable. Clearly he didn't want to answer that question.

"Well, um, they reveal too much leg and bosom," Zephyr answered cautiously and Maxine found it endlessly amusing as she finally had some material to tease him with.

"If you think that is brazen, you should go visit a beach during the summer. Now that is when and where Earthlings get really 'brazen,'" Maxine teased and decided to add a little fuel to the fire, "Some of the girls there are practically naked." She can just imagine his reaction to witnessing a pretty girl wearing a micro bikini.

"What?!" Zephyr said in a startled tone and quickly regained his composure, before he commented, "So, that is what Hellen meant when she said you like to tease people. I can't believe I almost fell for that." Maxine smiled to herself.

"You don't believe me?" Maxine asked, "Just use the key words 'micro bikini' in a google search and you will see what I am talking about."

"I prefer not to," Zephyr answered calmly, but from the glimmer in his eye, Maxine knew that he would due to his curiosity, "Was there something else you needed to know?"

"No, I think I am good," Maxine answered, "Thanks, uncle Zeph."

"You're welcome," Zephyr said warmly as a small smile formed on his face, "It's best I go now. Bye."

"Bye," Maxine said and the communication disk went dark. 

Maxine put the communication disk back into her dimensional pouch and tried to think of the contents of the letters that she would be writing to her friends and family. What is the most I can tell them? I guess let's start with the Alliance wanting to capture me and the reason why. Althought it will probably upset mom, if I tell her that I am not her real daughter, but I have a feeling she might already know that. Afterall she did cover for my dad's abuse. General Cullen probably knows that I am an alien, but might as well tell him as well. I don't want to blindside someone that has been really good to me. Oh now that I think about it. I need to leave some very specific instructions for Chris about ethical use of spiritual sense. If I don't, that idiot could get himself into trouble. Maybe, something along the lines of 'don't read their thoughts unless it's with their consent' kind of deal, but then again, even mentioning that sort of thing is possible to the general public could cause a shit storm of problems. It's best just to tell him not to do it anymore. Now, is there anything I am forgetting? Oh, yeah! Alice has probably reached bronze stage for awhile now. I should probably make her a really good bow that will last her awhile. And if I remember correctly, Maxwell is looking for a new set of blades. Perhaps I should give him the spare set I made for my clone. Afterall, I still have a lot of Twilight Iron left over and I could make another set easily after my clone leaves Earth. But I better make sure that those two actually need that stuff before I go ahead and make it.

Maxine pulled out her cellphone and called Maxwell. She figured it would be odd to call Alice's cellphone since the girl had never given it to her. After a few rings, Maxwell answered, "Hello?"

"Hey, Max," Maxine said, "It's me, Maxine." It still felt somewhat awkward to talk to her previous self, but she put up with the jarring sensation more than once already.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"Oh, hey. What's up?" Maxwell asked. 

"I just wanted to know if you and your sister needed any new gear," Maxine said.

"Yes, we do actually," Maxwell answered, "Me and the rest of the gang over here have been searching for materials, but it's slow going."

"In that case, why don't I make you and your sister something," Maxine offered, "I got lucky and found a lot of materials and I can get you a set of blades easy. But your sister will have to wait a few days if she wants a bow. I don't have any bow strings ready yet. By the way, what's you and your sister's cultivation at?"

"I just reached iron stage a few days ago and Alice just hit bronze stage rank two," Maxwell answered. Wow, Alice is being really serious with her cultivation to advance that quickly.

"Alright, that's all I needed to know," Maxine said, "I should have that some weapons and some defensive gear ready for you in a few days."

"Oh, before you go, I want to know something. Why are you only helping me and my sister?" Maxwell asked, "I understand why you don't want to help Patrick. He was acting like a dick and you already made something for Meagan. But I think it's a little odd that you didn't mention that you were going to make something for Jack." Because Alice is my sister. I don't care that we are no longer related by blood. I just want to make sure she is safe. What better way than to equip my former self and Alice with the best that I can to ensure that? 

"Because I want to," Maxine answered and heard Maxwell sigh.

"You are not going to tell me the real reason are you?" Maxwell asked.

"Nope," Maxine answered bluntly.

"Fine," Maxwell said, "Just let me know when you are going to have that new equipment ready."

"Will do," Maxine replied, "Bye for now."

"Bye," Maxwell said before he hung up.

Maxine felt better now that she confirmed that she could help Maxwell and Alice. If Alice is there when I drop the weapons off, maybe I should sneak a few Shadow Wolves into her shadow. It would make me feel infinitely better knowing that she has an extra layer of protection. 

Maxine began to create the bow for Alice with her main body. She still had several bones and pieces of cartillage from iron stage essence beasts and changed her mind about giving Maxwell her spares. Instead wanted to create a new set of blades for him since they might be too light for him considering his larger frame. She also asked Silky via spiritual sense to make a pair of Steel Silk Vests for the both of them and specified that Alice have one with a lot of extra elasticity to adjust to her future growth.

After all of that, Maxine decided to get something over with that she had put off for long enough. She got up and walked to her dresser. She opened her underwear drawer and reached into the back of the drawer to pull out a small book with a pink cover. It was the original Maxine's diary and it happened to be the last gift that her father gave her before he became a drunk child abuser. She knew it had been there since she awoke in this body, but she had been avoiding even thinking about it since it contained all the pain and suffering that the poor girl experienced under the hands of her father. However it also contained a few happy memories, but those were few in number. She would have used her diary to put her father in jail in the past had it contained details pertaining to her abuse, but unfortunately it hadn't. The most it described was her father getting angry and punishing her for no reason.

Maxine ran her hands across the cover. She was very tempted to destroy it since it represented pain, but that would simply be avoiding the problem, not facing it. In that case, why don't I add some happy memories to it. I have accumulated quite a few now that I think about it. Her hand involuntarily moved up to her lips as she thought about the many kisses she shared with Emily.

Maxine grabbed a pen and flipped the pages to a blank page after the most recent entry which was days before Maxine's soul fused with the original Maxine. She began writting entries in it. She started with last moments as Maxwell Adams, followed by her awakening in her current body, her forceful kiss with Emily, her first encounter with Hellen and all the other events that followed. To her own surprise, she even included her true ancestory. It was idiotic to put that to paper, but something deep inside of her compelled her to do it anyways. Eventually she came to the last page of her diary as she finished with writing down the day that she intended to leave Earth. After closing her diary, she felt as if she just scratched an itch that she hadn't even know was there. She quickly put the diary into her dimensional pouch and had no intention of taking it out before she left Earth. It seems that writing in this diary was a habit of the original Maxine and she used it as a means to cope with her situation. I guess it's my habit now too. 

"Maxine, what you just did was very stupid," Hellen scolded Maxine, "If I hadn't obscurred the area around your clone with my spiritual sense, anyone from the Alliance that decided that was a good time to check on you would have been able to read what you were writing."

"I know it was reckless and stupid," Maxine admitted, "But, part of me had to write it down. It helped me relieve a bunch of pent up stress."

"I see," Hellen said calmly, but Maxine could detect a seething rage coming from Hellen, "I take it that everything that you wrote in there is true? Including that stuff that was written earlier?"

"Yes, but why did you read parts of my diary?" Maxine asked while feeling angry that Hellen would breach her privacy to that degree.

"It's a mother's perogative to understand her child," Hellen answered calmly, but Maxine still detected Hellen's rage.

"Alright, fine. But, why are you angry?" Maxine asked.

"In your diary, I saw the frequency in which that man beat you," Hellen answered with obvious anger in her tone, "It makes me want to dispense my own punishment on him. Your father was too lenient with him."

"Mom, I think he is going through plenty at the moment," Maxine replied, "He is in an enviroment where everyone is violent and he is in a constant state of fear. Because if any of the other prisoners find out why he is there, he will probably be either beaten daily until he is released or stabbed to death."

"Good, he deserves it," Hellen stated coldly and Maxine decided now was a good time to change the subject.

"Mom, does the Alliance have any luxury goods like chocolate?" Maxine asked since she actually wanted to know the answer to that question. Please say yes. It would really suck to live in a world without chocolate. It wierd how much I like it as a girl. 

"Is that the dark brown, soft candies that Silky keeps asking about?" Hellen answered.

"Yeah, that's them," Maxine said.

"Then, no. They don't have anything like that," Hellen said, "It's exclusive to Earth." 

"Alright thanks for letting me know, mom," Maxine said.

"You're welcome, sweetie," Hellen answered, "Now you best get your clone ready for bed. Afterall it's quite late there and Claudia may get concerned that you are not getting enough sleep."

"Alright, mom," Maxine said and retracted her spiritual sense as she moved to her dresser to get into some more comfortable clothing to sleep in. For some reason, she still liked to wear pajamas when she went to bed. While she changed, she thought about what it would be like to be without chocolate. I can live without it, but I really don't want to. I never ate that much of it in the other timeline, but that was mostly because it was ridiculously expensive after essence beasts tore up the infastructure. If I remember correctly, a single Hershey's Kiss cost as much as a dozen bronze stage essence cores. Hmm, that gives me an idea. I could fill up a dimensional pouch full of chocolates and get some of the people in the Kavros Clan a taste of it and that should be enough to pique their interest. If any of them ask, I will tell them it come from Earth and that might open up some trade routes. And since it's just food big sects or clans won't go crazy with greed. It's not like it's a precious resource that can aide them in cultivation. Beyond that, all I have to do is give Maxwell and Alice their new weapons, write some letters and I am set.