Charis was... intensely worried. She was a non-violent offender, and a Tier-One woman; a Merick, an attractive one, and a full-fledged citizen. She had been destined for a minimum-security prison for fifteen years; not much of her estimated five-hundred year span; for... well, the truth was that it was really avoiding paying taxes for her enterprise they charged her. While selling the drugs she had was illegal, her customers had been Koltites; a bunch of Tier-3s that, as far as the Republic cared, could all die to contaminated drugs tomorrow without anyone caring, aside from replacing the lost labor at the nearby mines and industrial facilities.

Coming here, to 'Paradise', meant a somewhat more demeaning time in prison... but also, most likely, a shorter, easier one... and a lucrative one. She had expected to be assigned to some third-rate corporate Tier-Zero or perhaps some exceptionally wealthy Tier-One; but... she'd been assigned to one of the strangest creatures she'd ever met.

He hadn't taken advantage of her at all. Just had her bring food. And... within a week, she'd been told her sentence was suspended; replaced with an indentured servitude contract for this 'Jason Bennet'. He was going to be doing some research for the Republic on technology from his homeland, then forming a private company to keep going; and her job was to help him however he desired for the remainder of her sentence.

Which... well. Who knew what sort of tastes an alien might have. The prospect was as frightening as it was enticing; the three glowing green eyes were certainly attractive enough, though the... 'stubble' of tiny hairs starting to grow from his head when last she'd seen him was off-putting.

When she entered the cell, she was wearing more normal work clothing; white pants and long-sleeved shirt, with a vacuum-sealing strip, boots, and the usual cuffs and collar that could be pulled out to become gloves and a hood in an emergency.

Her more... festive... attire was in her bag, along with her datapad, her jewelry, and a few other personal items. She'd never expected to spend so little time in prison; she'd thought herself lucky the Shield who caught her had managed to make such a good deal with the Enforcer. And now... well.

She looked at the tiny house-like structure, and the layer of ground scrub that had turned from a healthy gold to a dull, sickening green, and stepped up to the door. Inside, two massive bags were laying out on the table, Jason was standing there in the same sleek black outfit he'd been wearing before; much like her own, only without the vacuum strip or attachments, and with a silver helmet on the table beside him.

She smiled as she stepped forward. "Well, Jason. It seems I'm to be working for you for the foreseeable future. What would you have me do? Am I to be remaining in here with you for now? You seem to be packing for a trip."

He chuckled; her translator indicated he found her amusing, by the sound; and made a 'come here' gesture. "We'll be leaving soon. A scout ship... named Scout Ship 8-Alpha-Delta... is on the way. I want to get a good scan of you, before we go."

Charis blinked. "A... scan? Do I need to disrobe for you?" Was this some sort of sexual play? She put a hand on the catch to loosen the shirt, expectantly; before he raised his hand.

"No, no. Just stand still and, if you wouldn't mind, let me take a blood sample from one of your hands. My equipment isn't made to work on your species, and I'd like to resolve that."

Charis hesitated... and extended one delicate, six-fingered hand out towards him. After a moment, a more beige-colored hand with thicker, brutish fingers enveloped her own; and she felt a sharp pain in one fingertip. "There we go. Scan is already in progress, if you just want to stand there."

Her finger felt... strange. It tingled, and moved on its own; and the needle pulled free when she involuntarily clenched her fist. A soft beeping sound came from the helmet, and Jason nodded; adding the device with the needle to one of the bags.

"Okay. Honestly, I don't really need you. I just felt that they might punish you if I didn't take you along. Did I have the right idea?"

"....Well. They wanted me to get whatever information out of you I could, and I would be freed if I managed to seduce you, and either be impregnated or learn something useful. They viewed the former as unlikely; you have the right brain structure but are a heavily altered genetic variant; but not impossible, and asked me to try."

Jason shook his head. "Wow. Your government ordered you to go try to get knocked up?"

Charis smiled. "Asked. I wouldn't have minded. You seem interesting, and a six-month pregnancy would be a far easier burden than a fifteen-year sentence. And if the child were Tier Zero, like you? I'd be set for life. Even if she were only Tier One, they would've been happy to have one of your offspring to use as leverage and a source for data, and I would have benefited handsomely."

"...I appreciate the honesty, I suppose. Definitely means I'm not going to knock you up, to be clear, but I appreciate the honesty."

On his end, Jason slid his helmet on, and studied the results of the scan. Some limited data was available already, provided by the prison's computers, but their scanning technology was... woefully inadequate. "Mute. What's the verdict?"

~Assuming the other variations are fairly similar, adapting Pale One protocols to work on them will be trivial. The fabricator is currently 90% through building out. Once it's finished, I can start producing Controllers that will most likely work on these 'Merrick' and any closely related creatures. Note that, contrary to appearances, these creatures are substantially more durable than humans, especially against crushing impact and pressure.~

"Huh. Can you give me a run-down of their variations with humans from your data?"

~Approximately 90% less radiation resistance, at least triple the impact and crush resistance, the ability to temporarily survive explosive decompression and a vacuum environment, substantially longer lifespan, far better vision, especially in low-light conditions, slightly lower physical strength and slightly greater agility. Their brains are also wired along very specific pathways, as are their bodies; there is far less mental and physical variation among this species than humans. Over ninety-nine percent of them generally go along with the same basic ideals, and fit within the same statistics; the variation between a Type-Zero Merrick and a Type-One Merric is infinetesimal.~

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Jason studied the diagram of Charis for a moment, as Charis anxiously stepped from foot to foot, nervously looking around the 'house'.

"That's.... why so little radiation resistance?"

~Even in the milky way, humans and terran-origin life are unusually radiation resistant. Not the most resistant; the 'Rusties', among others, are equally exceptional; but for most species in our own galaxy, mutation-producing radiation is far more often fatal, and even more often sterilizing. Undoubtedly, while Merrick as a whole have numerous advantages over humans, they also have a far lower survivable mutation rate; if a Merrick underwent the situation you did, they would likely, very briefly, develop powers... then die within hours or minutes.~

His silent conversation was interrupted by a sound; a gentle chime, preceding the door opening... and the bulky, teal-armored form of the Warden entering the cell.

Jason glanced at Charis. "Ready to go?"

She looked at the bags. "Ahh.. do you... have a cart for these? They look heavy."

Jason stepped over; casually lifting the two bags, one over each shoulder. "Ahh, lighter than they look. Lets go take a look at our next temporary home."

The Warden gave the two a short nod. "If you would accompany me, your ride out is on the way. We have a minor official heading this way to join you; he'll be helping you get bank accounts and the like established."

***

The '8AD' was one of the Republic's scout-class ships. A sleek, teal-colored vessel, pointed with four flat 'spikes' emerging near the front, and closing near the end of the ship, it was roughly eighty meters long; and slowly approaching the docking bay as Jason and Charis looked on. The Warden was simply standing there, his back to the invisible barrier holding the atmosphere in.

"...You know much about these scout ships?" Jason glanced at the Warden.

"..Not really. I served on troop ships, during my time. These things... Small crew, usually only two tier ones, a bunch of twos and threes... maybe thirty total. We've got thousands of these things... hundreds of thousands... constantly sweeping the perimeter, exploring the galaxy, checking for pirates, threats. You asked for a small ship?"

Jason nodded. "I want to test these extradimensional spaces..." He nodded at one of the bags. "In a device traveling with your FTL drives. First, one of these probes... then, the ship itself, if the probes test good. Minimize potential casualties if something goes wrong. You know anything about the drives in these things?"

"I was a soldier on a troop-ship. So... not an engineer's prespective. I know that when a ship is in FTL, it's as vulnerable as hell; a grain of sand could devastate an unshielded ship, much less a genuine weapon attack. And stealthing in FTL is almost impossible; you're a hundred, a thousand times easier to spot than normal. But if you risk it.... showing up in the upper atmosphere before the enemy knows you're there, and deploying onto his cities before the locals know there's even danger..."

He leaned back, staring at the ceiling. "Exhilirating. One troop-ship I was on was holed by a few micro-meteorites that pierced the shields, took thirty casualties, mostly among folks at the front of the ship, and was practically disabled... but got us into orbit from outside the system in less than a second, and sort-of crashed into the military HQ of these type-3 fluffy bastards called the Juuk. As the rest of the invasion force arrived in the system perimeter, we were capturing their leaders in the middle of a conference. Made the defense an organized mess, half the enemy fleet surrendered, half fought and died.... The pilot got a posthumous medal, and all of the survivors got one as well. Part of why I've got this cushy gig, and not a lifetime of hard labor."

The ship slid into place against the hull with a soft but audible metallic clank. "...8 Alpha Delta. Why not a real name? Do your people not name ships?"

"Small nations, with small navies, name ships. We have millions of ships. Maybe a captain nicknames his ship, but this scout-ship is the seven thousand and fifty-second unit of its type to come off the production line. That 8AD, and the hull type, let you pick it out of the thousands like it."

As a door slid open, a pair of armed, teal-armored figures emerged, standing rigid for a moment; until another figure emerged behind them in a teal vacuum suit; a sleek bodysuit with some sort of rank badges along the chest, arms, and legs. He was another Merrick, and not wearing a helmet; stepping forward with his arms crossed before him. He stopped next to Jason, and gave a short bow. "Hello there, Jason Bennet. I am captain Chikris. Administrator Kisth has requested I make myself and my ship available to you for the foreseeable future. I understand you have some advanced technology to test?"

Jason studdied the six-eyed, pale figure for a moment; glancing back at Charis before responding. The difference between the males and females was obvious, though they clearly didn't have human beauty standards. "That would be correct. I need one of your FTL probes. We're going to go to the edge of the system; far enough out not to hurt anyone else if something goes wrong; and do a series of test launches. After a few dozen test jumps, we'll try it a few times in the ship itself to be sure. If all works well, we'll be done in a day or two."

He shrugged. "Unless, of course, the whole thing destructively breaks down the moment we launch. Then we'll be examining the wreckage to find out why... and either giving up, or modifying a second probe to try again."

Chikris nodded firmly. "Of course. I was told you'd need parts, and some of our FTL probes. I'm glad for your concern for the safety of my ship and crew. My superiors were fairly clear that even if I thought it might damage the ship, I was to obey you in this experiment... so your caution is appreciated."

"Shall we board? My men can bring your bags to your quarters." The two soldiers stepped forward... Jason glanced at them, then down at the bags; and lifted one. "This one, sure. It's clothes, various supplies. This other bag..." He nodded at it. "Contains the prototype we'll be mounting into the probe. If you'll take me to wherever you have the probes, I'd like to get started; sorting out quarters can be for later. Hopefully I won't be staying there long."

***

The forward launch bay of the 8AD was a fairly simple place; a long tube ran down the center of the room, about two meters across; and what seemed to be a magazine of cylinders, each over a meter thick, and two meters long, was suspended beside it; with another three laying out on counters. A handful of Republic crew in green uniforms were waiting when he entered carrying is bag; all with the same silver-trimmed uniform as the captain.

Three of them were Merrick, just like the captain himself; the fourth was a four-eyed species Jason hadn't seen before; with rigid, green skin, and with a single row of four eyes , rather than two sets of three like the Merrick, and all solid red, possibly faintly glowing. The captain stopped at the door. "This would be our launch bay. We maintain our probes and missiles here, launch them, and there's an airlock off to the right where, when possible, we recover and decontaminate them for re-use."

Chikris looked at the four crew. "For the next few days, you are to treat Jason Bennet here as your superior officer. He is a scientist, and a Tier Zero genius with advanced technology,, testing some important equipment for interactions with our FTL drives. The safety of the ship, and even the very future of the navy, may depend on your following his orders."

The four all stood rigid at... attention, of sorts. Arms straight down at their side, heads looking at the floor. The captain... simply left the compartment, and Jason shrugged, before he walked over to one of the cylinders. "Okay. So. Who's ready to get started?"