Allison woke up to the smell of something downright delicious. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes. The apartment had been transformed overnight. The furniture was all uncovered, including a grand piano. Eyre was in the kitchen cooking up a storm. Three women were sitting at the breakfast bar. Only one of which she recognized, Numari. The other two she couldn’t say who they were. One was pale but she could tell that her complexion would have been darker before she was turned and finally a woman with brown hair, and brown eyes, she looked like a teenager, she also had the look of vampirism about her. Allison had started to notice similarities between vampires, they all had a hint of perfection to their looks and a predatory glint to their eyes. Eyre smiled when she saw Allison.

“Come and join us Allison. You know Numari, the other two are my sister Mitena, and my daughter Violet.”

Violet spun around and looked Allison up and down then looked back to Eyre with a sly smile. Violet nodded to Allison took another drink from a bottle of Synth-O. Mitena got up and took Allison’s hands. Something was different about this vampire. There was a kindness in her eyes Allison hadn’t seen before with any of the other predators she’d run across.

“I greet you as sister of this Earth. Please, join us, my sister is an amazing cook. You’ll love this.”

Mitena led Allison to the stool beside Violet and took her seat again. Eyre put a bottle of Synth-O in front of Allison and then slid a plate of bacon, eggs and French toast across the breakfast bar. She motioned to the other three.

“I hope you don’t mind I invited some family for breakfast here, in your new apartment, but I thought it might make it less awkward with at least one person near your own age, as much as she tries to pretend she’s some old soul.”

Numari made a face at Eyre.

“Bite your tongue Aunt Eyre.”

Eyre smiled.

“You first, dear. Now, what do you three little monster’s want?”

She looked between Violet, Mitena and Numari. Numari answered first.

“A shot of whiskey with a beer chaser, then a cigarette and maybe a rare steak.”

Eyre slid a Synth-O across to Numari and then a plate of steak and eggs.

“I’ll give you one out of four and you’ll like it young lady.”

Numari made a face and dug in. Eyre leaned on the stove and looked at the other two. Violet snickered.

“Why do you bother asking mom-two? You know what I want, you always know what I want.”

Eyre laughed and pulled a plate of pancakes and sausages out of the oven and put them in front of Violet who started to eat them right away.

“And Mitena, my sister, are you willing to take breakfast from one of your corporate overlords?”

Mitena made a face.

“Only because she is my sister, whom I love very much.”

Eyre pulled out a plate of a kind of fried bread Allison had never seen before, on the side were some berries and eggs. Mitena smiled at the bread as she put an egg on it and wrapped it up and took a bite. She put it down.

“You know this isn’t quite the same as traditional frybread right?”

Eyre nodded.

“I know how to make traditional Bannock, you get what you get kid.”

Mitena smiled and took another bite. Allison dug into hers and realized Mitena was right, Eyre could cook. Eyre pulled off an apron that read: Complain about the food and you’ll be dinner. Allison chuckled when she realized that the person wearing it was a vampire. She couldn’t imagine anyone complaining about this food.

“Umm, ma’am… do people ever complain about the food?”

Everyone except Numari and Allison laughed. Eyre took a few to stop.

“No, my mother at one point was a terrible cook. The kind of cooking you’d find somewhere to dump the food to pretend you ate it. She got better but she kept pretending to be terrible so everyone else would cook for her.”

Allison blinked a few times and scrunched up her nose.

“I thought vampires didn’t eat.”

Eyre smiled.

“Not exactly true. Vampires like Mitena, Violet, my mother, Isis and I can eat. Lesser vampires cannot. In fact, if we’re in daylight we’re pretty much mortal. We need to eat, we get tired. We’re vulnerable.”

Allison was really confused now.

“Why would Isis go to a planet where the only time she’s invulnerable would be indoors or a new moon?”

Numari leaned forward and looked down the breakfast bar at Allison.

“You really are clueless. For you, why else would she go?”

Eyre shook her head.

“Not entirely. Maria asked her to go to get a read on the League delegates. Your Aunt Maria is worried about their intentions. They’re an unknown variable. Last thing we all knew the Silwrath were xenophobic genocidal maniacs. Now they’re one of the founding species of a republic of alien races? She’s suspicious, and so are the rest of the board, and the vampire council.”

Allison took a drink of her Synth-O then put it down. She stared at her cooling unit for several moments then looked at Eyre.

“Wait, you planned the Tribunal out? You… she knew I wouldn’t be able to be charged with anything, but she… used me as a pawn?”

Eyre moved over and stood in front of Allison.

“She used you as an opportunity, hon. There are a lot of politics with the high levels of the military, the governing board of directors and well corporations. You scared some folks when you detonated that antimatter bomb. Antimatter weaponry was classified; No one knew exactly how powerful the weapons were. Now they have real evidence of the damage that it can do. You blew up a planet dear. Likely wiped out an entire species. Now the corporations are scared they have lost control of the President and the military. The board is in an uproar, trust me I’m on it. Things got so heated yesterday; Maria had to put the tribunal in recess for a day to sort out the mess. The vampire council was unanimous in their decision about you. Only Isis abstained. They are scared you’re my mother in a new shape.”

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Allison put her empty Synth-O bottle down.

“I thought Isis… liked me or something like that.”

Eyre nodded.

“She does, that’s why she abstained. Isis never votes on a matter she has an emotional involvement in. The council has voted a total of one hundred and eighty-two times in their history we have records. Isis has abstained in sixteen of those votes. All of them included my mother in some fashion, except for two, one was whether to execute Maria, the other was whether they would extend vampire protections to dhampirs.”

Numari looked at Eyre.

“Wait, the council is protecting me now.”

Eyre nodded to Numari.

“Yes. Now dhampirs have all the rights and privileges and responsibilities of vampires according to the council. I told the board of directors for the System’s Alliance and they agreed to amend the contract signed with my mother. Of course, it was me asking and I could wipe out their business interests in a single holo-call so they didn’t have much of a choice.”

Mitena looked at Eyre.

“Oh, you can flex your muscles to protect half-vampires, but you can’t convince them to remove the Grey huh?”

Eyre held up a single finger.

“Sis, not the time for this discussion. You know why we haven’t done it and will never do it. You want to go back to the old ways, use some of your inheritance, buy yourself a planet and invite all the Gaia loving hippies you want to live with you. I will provide any support Aurelius Corp can provide.”

Mitena narrowed her eyes at Eyre.

“Mother Earth weeps because of what you did, and you want me to just move on? Ignore her cries?”

Allison was interested suddenly.

“You can feel the Earth?”

Mitena looked at Allison.

“What do you mean?”

Allison remembered her late-night conversations with Aryna about how planets were living breathing organisms in their own right. The memories of how the Qual’sa homeworld felt, how Eden Prime felt.

“I… I have a friend. She can connect with a planet. Feel the core’s heartbeat, well she calls it that. How all life on them is interconnected. She showed me. It felt right.”

Mitena looked interested now.

“She can speak to a planet’s spirit?”

Allison nodded.

“She hears trees singing. It was such a beautiful memory. Eden Prime sings so loudly. As if it knows its life is shorter than other planets. I also remember when she shared dead planets with me. Truly dead worlds where all life has been extinguished by the Sal’nash. Its like they are sad… it was heartbreaking. I think… I think the Grey protects Earth from threats like that. Maybe the Earth is just happy life is still here?”

Eyre nodded.

“Yes, anything with an organic hull, or organic that goes through the Grey will be attacked like it’s a disease. The Grey is the Earth’s immune system. It has protected us for a thousand years.”

Allison blinked a few times as if recalling a half-remembered dream.

“It’s Synthlin tech isn’t it? The nanites?”

Eyre looked at Allison.

“Why do you say that? It was created by humans in the twenty-first century.”

Allison looked around at the group. Eyre gave a small shake of her head.

“I don’t know. I’m just being weird. But, if it is Synthlin tech then they could be reprogrammed to shift so instead of floating with the flat wide side up and down, so that they were to sit laying on their thin side. That would let light in, just not reflective side down because that would well overheat Earth.”

Everyone was staring at her finally Eyre spoke.

“How do you know so much about Synthlin Nanotech?”

Allison bit her lower lip.

“Uh, that’s umm classified, but let’s just say I had a lot of time on my hands and access to the League’s version of the Alliance-Net.”

Mitena quirked her head to the side.

“And how would we accomplish that?”

Allison fiddled with her fork.

“Uh, well you’d need a-”

Eyre shot her a warning glance.

“I can’t really talk about it, its all classified. I’m sure if it is ever something Earth wants to do the Synthlin and League would be happy to assist.”

Mitena narrowed her eyes at Eyre.

“You’re running out of excuses sis.”

Eyre started gathering dishes and putting them in the dish washer.

“Well, Allison and I have a date with a few stores, so if you’ll excuse us. Allison please go get something else on. As much as we try to keep the domes warm, New Amazon is old and drafty.”

Mitena grumbled and stood up.

“Yea, just like you sis. And also worn out from all the same old excuses.”

Numari waved.

“Cya Aunt Eyre. Violet. Allison.”

The pair left. Violet looked around.

“So, mom three, really left this place to this kid?”

Eyre nodded. Violet shrugged.

“Save’s us dealing with it. I should go. Winter Wolf won’t run itself. Hey, nice to meet you Allison. Don’t be a stranger.”

Allison sounded surprised when she spoke.

“Wait, you’re Winter Wolf Corp?”

Violet tugged on her leather jacket.

“No, I am running Winter Wolf Corp until my sister Hazel comes back from wherever mom took her. She better be grateful. I hate running a business. Why? Are you a fan of twentieth and twenty-first century media, food and beverages?’

Allison nodded.

“Your pizza and soda pops are amazing. Everything else is so… bland. And oh my god, I just watched that Fallout show.”

Violet laughed.

“Your parents let you watch that? Mine would have skinned me alive. But they were religious weirdos. Anyway, here. Based on what mom two tells me, Hazel’d want you to have that.”

Allison looked at the digital card she was handed. Her face and ID appeared on it.

“Show that, or scan your ident chit, free lifetime access to all our streaming services and a hefty discount on all our food. Hey, I guess there are perks to running a corporation.”

Violet waved and made her way out. Allison looked down at the card and up at Eyre.

“Wait, you own Aurelius Corp, and Violet runs Winter Wolf Corp, those are the two richest corporations in the System’s Alliance.”

Eyre nodded.

“Yes, and we’re also related to the CEO and majority shareholder of BMC. You might say, our family is well connected. Now go get changed.”

Allison did as she was asked, when she came back out, she was wearing a plain pink T-shirt, a pair of jeans and a hoodie. She was carrying her armor. She showed the armor and the holo-web to Eyre.

“Umm, ma’am.”

Eyre smiled and shook her head.

“Okay, its Eyre. Okay. Or Aunt Eyre if you must.”

Allison smiled.

“Well, you do remind me of the Aunties from Eden Prime. So, Aunt Eyre… do you know somewhere to get this fixed? I need to replace the micro-fusion generator in this holo-web and get it put back in the armor. I had to uh… well its classified.”

Eyre motioned for the holo-web. She looked at it closely.

“Oh, well, the micro-fusion is done. Where did you get that armor?”

Allison laid the armor out on the breakfast bar.

“Well, when my old suit got well, I guess you know, got spiked by a Sal’nash I requisitioned replacement armor. Apparently, my old breastplate was a write off. This is what was waiting for me when I was supposed to come to Earth last time. The Major thought I was using standard armor. None of the techs on base could figure this stuff out.”

Eyre ran her hand over the armor, her fingers feeling the microscopic bumps on the surface.

“That would be because this armor is more magic than science.”

Eyre felt the port for the holo-web.

“I guess the holo-web fits in here hmm?”

Allison nodded.

“Well, I can make a call. We’ll have to manufacture the micro-fusion reactor. It’s a custom design by, I assume Maria, could have been my mother. I don’t know. They send me requests; I just rubberstamp them. As for reinstalling that holo-web its beyond me, we’ll need Aunt Maria. This armor has been reprogrammed and modified and she’d be the only person who would know how to do that, that is still here.”

Allison looked up at Eyre.

“Who makes this stuff? The president?”

Eyre smiled.

“That is a very long story, but it is very rare. Priceless even. Only a very few elites have a suit and all of them are from the Aurelius family.”

Eyre pulled down her t-shirt and revealed a familiar black suit of armor. Allison blinked a few times.

“Yours doesn’t have a holo-web?”

“No, it does not. Someone customized this. My mother was saying she hated having to recharge it when it ran out of battery power. She probably put the holographic and quantum processors right in this thing. Aurelius could make so much money off a holo-web like this. Oh well.”

She flipped it back to Allison.

“You keep that close. It is literally irreplaceable.”

Allison looked at the tiny red and white device.

“How did she fit so much into this?”

Eyre smiled and shrugged.

“Do you know, who… what my mother was?”

Allison shrugged.

“A really old vampire.”

Eyre shook her head.

“No, child, she was an angel. Quite literally she could mold reality to suit her needs. I believe there is more of divine will in that thing, than science. She likely imagined it and made it happen. Hell, I might have to have someone reverse engineer that micro-fusion reactor to even make it happen, and even then, we might not have the tech.”

Allison nodded and put her armor away. Eyre focused for a moment and her red hair shifted to black with two blue bangs. Her eyes were blue, and her face shifted subtly. When she spoke, it was still her voice. Allison stared at her.

“That was so cool. How did you do that?”

Eyre smiled.

“Well, you being a dhampir means I could teach it to you, would probably hurt you a lot more then me if you tried changing bones and appearance. You could do eyes and hair though, I’m sure. If you stay a little longer, I can teach you a few things, if you’d like.”

Allison put her hands in her hoodie pockets and nodded.

“I would really like that.”