Amelia had awoken, truly awoken, for the first time in a long time, and couldn't shake the feeling of a strange sense of...power, flowing through her. Opening her eyes to what would normally be painfully bright light after darkness, she found that almost immediately, her eyes, both natural and artificial, adjusted to the brightness with no pain at all. Glancing to her right, she could see Viza, passed out, sitting in a chair, and her kids powered down around him. A faint smile crossed her face at the scene, almost perfect, except for missing ADAM. She moved to sit up and was shocked by the force that she was able to casually produce, the whole bed shaking with the force, causing confusion but only for a moment. Her natural brain, already having been enhanced with genetic augmentations, had been further enhanced by a new nanite network and a hardline connection to her quantum implant, allowing her vastly increased processing power more akin to that of an AI.
She thought for a moment. Was she an AI? Was the her that existed now just an advanced synthetic in the quantum implant? She had merged with the other her, Gaia, and she could literally feel her connection to the implant, yet she didn't feel like that was all of her. It was, strange. Stranger still was how much more she could see, almost instinctively knowing the additional colors were from seeing a bit into the Infrared and UV ranges from a fourth color receptor being added. Somehow, she knew all the changes that whatever had happened to her had caused, though that didn't make it easier to deal with, as her sudden strength had shown. Quietly standing up, being careful to mind her own strength, she went over to a lavatory to see herself in a mirror, rather startled at the change she had undergone as if a new person entirely. Her hair, previously red and white-blonde, was now almost entirely white, with only a few streaks of red left. Her eyes had a slight shine to them as if she had grown a tapidem lucidem, and the colors had changed as well, having a more purple-ish blue, almost violet, though she didn't know if this was because of her new sight or not. She also looked, well, more well-built than before. She had kept herself in shape previously, but now she was much more lean and taut as if she had just gotten back out of basic again, and she finally noticed how starving she felt, hungry enough to eat a buffalo. Opening her mouth, she could see the added dentin on her canines, making them more pronounced, but only just. She was definitely still human, but also seemed a bit of something...else mixed in.
She returned carefully to give Viza and her kids a tight hug, taking care to not actually harm them with her newfound strength, and cause them to wake. Athena was the first to wake, looking Amelia over with an indiscernible expression on her face, followed by the twins and finally Viza, who looked the most shocked at her new appearance.
"So, Mother. Are you Gaia, or the dreamer?" Athena asked tentatively, seemingly worried about which one had come out of the trip.
"I am...both? Neither? A bit of the dreamer and of Gaia. It, is difficult to explain but Gaia became a part of me, but ultimately was subsumed. She said...she said to tell you she was proud of you, and to forgive her for not being able to say goodbye."
Athena looked down, her face unreadable as she processed what was said. Gaia, the original version of her, wouldn't be returning. They had merged with the Amelia of now, the dreamer, but in a way that also was like losing herself, and Athena seemed to be pondering whether or not this meant she lost a mother as well.
"I... I see. I'm sure Adam would have a response to that but I'm afraid I...do not. I am simply happy you survived the process, even if it failed, Mother."
"It...didn't fail. Azathoth was opened, I remember everything now, all of it. It's...hard. But think of it as being both Gaia and Alice. You haven't lost her, Athena, and we haven't lost Adam, not yet."
Athena looked shocked, then hopeful, and finally, she returned the hug as the realization that it was over took hold. She made her way back to her mother, as did Limos and Phthisis. They were home.
"I...I missed you so much, mother! It was terrible without you, the humans are so mean and evil! Don't...Don't leave us alone again! Promise me you won't, please!"
Amelia immediately went into mother bear mode as the twins also hugged her, the same relief and emotional charge from them, while Viza sat back, letting them have this reunion.
"Shhh. There there kiddos. I'm not going anywhere without you all close by. Ever. You're home now, it's safe." She gently cooed, holding them and gently patting their heads comfortingly. Hal also joined in as he entered a few moments into it, as Amelia could see out of the corner of her eye Ti'Chal keeping the other Krultathan warriors from entering, giving her a peaceful moment with her kids, causing Amelia to mouth a thank you to her.
"BlackRock was bad people!'- 'They kept us apart, we never want to be apart!'- 'being alone is terrible, you won't leave us alone will you mother?'" The twins, through their sobbing, rapid fired back and forth at her, to which she gently assured them that they'd never be alone like that again. Eventually, the hugfest came to a close as Ti'Chal brought in some Terran food for Amelia to eat, which she devoured quickly, asking for seconds, then thirds, then fourths as Viza seemed to be processing the change in her eyes, her hair, her teeth, and her self.
"You scared me, my Huntress. I thought I had lost you." He finally said, tail wrapping around her waist comforting and pulling her close, their noses touching affectionately before Viza gives a tentative, loving lick across her cheek.
"Welcome back, my mate." He said with a low purr.
Suddenly realizing that besides Hal, the kids didn't know about Viza, she began introducing him to them. Athena was cold, but cordial at least. Phthisis was shy at greeting him, but he seemed fine enough being around him. Limos however took a shine to him, immediately grabbing onto him and giving a hug, saying something along the lines of "Mother got us a father?! Father Viza!" Which made everyone chuckle a bit, but everyone melted when even Phthisis called him father. Hal, for his part, poked and prodded Viza, making fun of him by telling him how Viza was so upset Hal wouldn't call him dad that he ended up with more kids who would.
"Matriarch-Huntress, First Daughter Varia Zitoh is currently escorting us to Armstrong base. She asked to speak with you immediately once you awoke. 30 will be at the base before long, I would suggest contacting her before-"
"AUNTIE AMELIA!!!" A full-grown Krultathan woman with the same snow-white fur as the Queen-Matriarch burst into the room, surprising everyone but the guards dared not move against the equivalent of a royal heir. Amelia, who hadn't expected to be tackled by a Krultathan, well, Krultathan female anyways, was in shock as Varia practically leap into her arms, making the oversized feline humanoid look rather comical being held by someone several feet shorter than them.
"Um... Hello? Varia, right? Zania's daughter?" Amelia said, slightly in shock and definitely uncomfortable in this situation. Viza had to hold back chuffs of laughter and the kids just looked on perplexed.
"Oh, right, this is the first time we've met face to face. Besides the meeting with mother I mean. You were so cool then, threatening even mother to protect your mate just like a Huntress of old. You're like, right out of a -translated to a fairy tale-!"
Wait, what was that, a voice in her implant? it sounded like her, but not. Gaia?
-Negative. I am a virtual intelligence construct housed within the quantum implant. My duties include helping Owner use their various advantages to their fullest-
Huh..that's...weird, like a second voice of conscience. Getting back to the present, however, she was shocked to see practically no time had passed from the conversation, not even a second.
"Um, that's..great and all, Varia, but could you please get down and explain to me what it is you needed to talk about?"
Varia, seemingly realizing her position, jumped out of Amelia's arms with surprising grace and dexterity, giving a small bow and apology since Amelia technically outranked her as her mother's claw-sister.
"I'm Sorry, Auntie. When we found out your kits were AI, we had a look ad Terran history. They are outlawed, yes? Krultatha has no such laws as I'm sure mother told you, so since you are legally a Krultathan noble and citizen, we needed to talk before getting to Armstrong base. I've already contacted mother, and she's agreed with my plan!"
For some reason, Varia's look gave a chill to Amelia, as if she wouldn't like this supposed plan one bit.
"Oh, and what plan is that?"
"Simple, since your kits are, well, your kits, we're going to have you officially draw up their citizenship papers! That was even if Terra turns down our request to lift the ban on AI, they still can't do anything to your kits! Brilliant, right?! And it's only one thousand two hundred pages to go through!"
Amelia let out a rather painful groan.