After handing off the new toys, I potter about my lab mulling over my transition. My Full Bionic Conversion is proving rather tricky as I have come up against the limits of my Warp Tap, completely wrecking my timetable for completing my transition.

I do not have enough kills to upgrade the Warp Tap with a greater draw. Also, I am reluctant to increase it further anyway as each time I do, it increases how visible I am in the Warp. No matter how good my micro-gellar field is at hiding me, or my personal skill with psychic powers, there will always be a slight danger that something big will find me.

As it is, from my time on the Federation Station, I know I attract Tyranids within, at minimum, five kilometres of me. Bola and the Orks stumbled across my location from many light years away. Balphmael of the Horned Darkness, or Bad Penny, has found me multiple times and, until his death, really had it out for me and I still haven’t found out why.

My implants do have a low power mode, which is how I run most of them the majority of the time, that limits my implants to thirty three percent of what they can normally do. It’s not a huge problem as I only really need my mind modules, Research Matrix, and E-SIM to run on max constantly. I can rely on my batteries when I really need to move, shield myself from blows, or use the Warp and Weft module.

The problem is that, even at reduced power, if I install any more, I won’t be able to charge my batteries, even with everything running in low power mode. I can’t turn them off completely as then I wouldn’t be able to move, or my life support would fail. As such, I am trying to create an ultra low power mode that runs off conventional energy sources, rather than the Warp so that I can complete my conversion.

I know I can do it because I created the Custom Cortex Implant for Fleet Command and the Marwolv Small Council. That was just one implant though. I have hundreds of them with millions of different components. Fortunately there is significant overlap in components.

The challenge, however, is that while I can get most of my implants to run on electricity, I haven’t cracked how to make them so that they can run on electricity and Warp energy, just one or the other. Creating two sets of implants to run alongside each other does not work. It would be like having two endoskeletons, but only one of them can move at a time.

To my surprise and horror, the Machine-Spirit that monitors my children pings me with an emergency alert. My boys have taken the grav skates and safety harness I gave them and are using them to skate up the sides of the buildings in the promenade then jump, the slow fall function on the harness letting them glide from one building to another. They are having an absolute blast and causing a huge amount of disruption to the movement of people below and within the buildings.

I put my head in my hands and groan, “I did not think that one through.”

I don’t want to embarrass them with a public alert, or distract them with a private one, so I need to go and collect them myself. I do message Brigid though, informing her of what is going on and why.

Brigid returns my message almost immediately with a series of animated holograms of her in different poses, each with a different action and expression. One has her with a stern face and a wagging finger and the other has her doubled over with laughter, one hand clutching her stomach and the other palm out, as if asking the viewer to wait a moment.

I pull out one of Brigid’s control whistles and blow on it, then disable the displacer shielding on my laboratory. Two minutes later a large red dog appears next to me with a quiet pop of displaced air.

“Hello, Dawn Garnet!”

The family cyber mastiff trots up to me and presses its face against my knee. I crouch down and rub her head.

“Can you find the children for me?”

Dawn huffs and lets out short bark.

“They are in the promenade.” I upload the children’s location via vox to Dawn’s locate and follow routines. “I want you to play with them. Can you do that for me Dawn?”

Her tail starts wagging.

“Off you go! Go play!”

Dawn disappears with a pop.

I restore the displacer fencing and depart, not running, but making the absolute most of my long stride.

“You know, E-SIM, there are some days where I feel like all that I do is go to meetings and put out metaphorical fires.”

++Then perhaps you should use something other than a Machine-Spirit and a dog as your children’s primary carers.++

“I was hoping that they would make some friends without me hovering over their shoulders. Instead, they have chosen to show off their new toys and disrupt the primary habitation area. At least Alpia is friends with the other psyker kids.”

++How were your boys to know your intentions if you did not tell them?++

“Hm, a classic fail there on my part.”

++No matter how close you reach perfection, Aldrich, you will never be rid of the shackles of the flesh.++

“How encouraging.”

A third of the way to the promenade, Ruby appears on the sensor feed and barks at Fial, Luan, and Dareaca, startling several people who are gawking at the acrobatic display above them.

The boys immediately notice the disturbance and float to the ground. Ruby runs circles around them, barking, her voice laced with data that declares her joy, and task complete, to any who care to listen.

Every time one of the boys tries to get back to skating, Ruby licks their face, or puts her paws on their shoulders and rubs her wet nose against their cheeks.

I am able to arrive before the boys get fed up with her antics. They freeze when they see me and try to run. I draw on the Warp and grab all three boys with telekinesis and pull them towards me. I hold squirming scallywags close to my chest and touch a mechadendrite to the grav skates, letting me access their controls and disable them.

“Good job, Dawn!”

“Traitor!” yells Dareaca.

“Dareaca Isengrund! What did I say about using that word?”

“Don’t?”

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Exactly. That is a serious accusation. We do not use it without proof or cause, let alone on the family dog.” I wrap a mechadendrite around each child and hold them out in front of me. “We are going home and then we are going to talk. Be quiet until then unless you want the whole vessel to know you are in trouble.”

I start walking and Dawn trots beside me, her tail smacking the side of my leg as she wags it vigorously.

“Eh, don’t they know that already?” says Luan.

“Oh, so you do have some awareness about inappropriate use of new hardware.”

“If you didn’t want us to use ‘em, you shouldn’t have handed them over,” says Daeaca.

“Yeah!” says Luan.

“What about you, Fial? Do you agree with your brothers?”

“Yes?”

I reach out and flick his nose, “Don’t hedge your bets. Give me a proper answer.”

“You never said we couldn’t use them anywhere.”

“That’s true, but I also don’t have to tell you not to stick your hands in Dawn Garnet’s mouth. I’m not actually annoyed about you using them to dance through the skies. I want you to have fun, and to have something special you all share. I’m annoyed about you getting in everyone else's way and disrupting traffic.”

“Where else were we supposed to play?” says Fial.

“You could have booked any of the testing rooms with your stipend, or asked me to reserve the observation dome for a private event.”

“Then how would everyone know that I am cool?” says Dareaca.

“You could invite your friends from school.”

“Like who?” says Luan.

Dareaca says, “Yeah!”

“Any of the kids from your classes would do.”

“But then they would want a go,” says Luan.”

“So?” I say. “If you share your toys with others they will like you.”

“You want us to buy friends?” says Daeaca, “Didn’t you specifically warn us about not letting others take advantage of us or abusing our privileges?”

“So this is all my fault, is it?” I frown.

“Alipa says it’s always Daddy’s fault when something goes wrong,” says Fial, “she thinks you should stamp and shout more to stop people from messing up in your name.”

Praise the Omnissiah! For it is through his gifts that I have spare minds to laugh with and perfect control of my face!

“Own your words, Fial. Do not use another's to deflect attention from yourself, or at least don’t be so blatant about it. There is no point in hiding if you are easy to find.”

Fial crosses his arms and pouts.

Dareaca scoffs, “Do you have advice for every situation?”

“It’s my Dad super power.”

“That’s dumb,” says Dareaca. “Aren’t you supposed to be the strongest and smartest person in the Fleet?”

“Dareaca, why are you so intent on getting into further trouble?”

“I’m bored.”

“If you say so.”

“If you know so much, why don’t you just read my mind and find out?” says Dareaca.

“If you want to be a vegetable so badly, Dareaca, I will put you in a plant pot in my lab and pour water on your head every day.”

Luan snickers and even Fial has a little smile on his face.

We reach the lift going up to the navigator spire. Once the doors are closed, I put down the boys.

The lift opens up into a small lobby where some of my bodyguards are always waiting, backed up by some truly unpleasant, hidden defences. The kids burst out of the lift and run through the lobby, passing a couple of turns to reach the front door. It opens automatically for them.

Luan and Dareaca leap onto the sunken sofas with great whoops, while Fial sits quietly on the steps. I pick them up again, then sit on the sofa and place all three boys next to me.

“Right kids, you clearly have far too much energy so we are going to do a project together. Let’s hear your ideas.”

“Are we going to be punished?” says Dareaca.

“I will let you off just this once as I did give you the tools to make mischief without proper guidance or oversight. Do not misuse the grav skates again.”

Three quiet sighs reach my ears. I shouldn’t let them off so easily, but I seem to do nothing but hand out punishments these days and I just don’t have the heart for it right now.

“Thanks, Dad,” says Fial, “Can I have a hover bike?”

“We could make one together, but there’s nowhere good to use it as hull racing is too dangerous right now. Ask me again in ten years.”

“That’s, like, forever!” says Fial.

“You can always use a simulator, and we can race each other. Fair warning, your mother is a speed fanatic. Give me another idea, boys.”

Luan says, “I want a gun big and flashy enough to make an Ork go wide-eyed with wonder and jealousy.”

I laugh, “No.”

“How about a contained plasma sword then?”

“Impractical, but possible. We would only make one where the plasma will be warm to the touch, but you could wave it about as you please without trouble. It will sound cool, but not do much else.”

“Lame,” says Luan.

“Dareaca, what about you?”

“Can we use one of the empty cargo containers to make a grav skate park?”

“Oh? What’s the thinking behind that idea?”

“Well, couldn’t we make a skate park for everyone? Then no one has to borrow ours and they can come and watch us do cool tricks, use their own skates, or rent them or something, I suppose.”

“We can do that, all of you will have to promise to help me design and build it though. If you agree, we can do this.”

“I promise!” says Luan. “That sounds awesome. We have zero-g areas, things to jump off and water pools to land in!”

“Yeah, fine. I agree,” says Dareaca.

“Can we own it?” says Fial. “I want to earn extra pocket money.”

My hands are full holding my kids, so I rub my chin with a mechadendrite. The kids don’t even notice or care that I am trying to be funny. It is oddly disappointing.

“I will allow it if you have enough savings to invest in it so it is yours and not mine.”

“How about a loan?” says Fial.

“You don’t have any collateral.”

Fial grabs a datapad from the recaf table and starts fiddling with it.

“Harsh,” says Dareaca. “Aren’t we your kids?”

“My time and labour is free to you,” I say. “Not everyone can get the help of the strongest and smartest person in the Fleet to kick start their first enterprise.”

“Oh? So you do have some awareness about how to best use your hardware,” says Luan.

I laugh, “Turnabout is fair play, I suppose.”

Fial scowls at the datapad, “I don’t have enough money.”

“Then there’s your answer,” I say. “It was a good idea, Fial. It doesn’t have to be a loan. You could find other ways of raising funds, but be careful of the commitments that come with each of them.”

“Not worth the trouble, so long as we can use it,” says Dareaca. “What do you even want more money for anyway? We get plenty of pocket money.”

“I just wanted to try,” says Fial. “Do you think mum will help?”

“I don’t know,” I say. “You will have to ask her yourself.”

“Okay.”

“What do we do now?” says Luan.

Fial and Dareaca shrug.

I turn on the holoviewer and bring up a design program, “Give me your best ideas.”

Luan and Dareaca jump up and start offering suggestions, waving, and pointing. Fial snuggles up to me and picks up the datapad again, using it to silently place his ideas in the middle of the room.

I smile and relax. It’s good to be reminded why I struggle. Survival is such a dull goal.