Three months passed and a lot had happened during this time .

According to John , people had to know that Alex was the big man in the colony who provided them with lodgings , jobs and a place in the faction .

So , Alex went on a tour through the colony with Helena to show his face , much to Helena’s amusement .

The security of the colony was up and running , fully outfitted for their job , and got to know Alex and Helena while they went from one gathering to another .

Alex designated some people to run the colony with him as leader and made sure that everyone understood that the colony wasn’t like a normal city but a faction with him in charge .

Nobody had any objections because they knew when they traveled to the island that this would be the case , but there were some questions about how far he would go if he could manipulate the nanites in the whole colony .

Alex reassured them that he couldn’t do anything but shut the nanites down without their approval .

This shocked some people , but only for the reason that what was given could also be taken away .

And again , Alex had to explain that the changes that were made couldn’t be taken away without their approval ; they would be living the rest of their life in a natural way if this ever happened .

On a personal level , Alex and Helena resumed their travels to the other species’ home worlds’ Nexus and finally had the chance to watch their own solar system through the Nexus .

The new Batch of miners was dispatched , as were the cargo ships with their cargo , a gate for each colony that was being built .

The next batch of miners would soon be ready for deployment and Alex had Da’grass designing a luxury transport ship for use in the solar system with the possibility for interstellar travel .

The gates couldn’t be put to use immediately since the colonies were still under construction , but the moment life support worked , they could use them .

As for the transport ships , John was negotiating with different countries for scientists to gain access to the colony , and they would be used for this reason .

Da’grass had told them that the unborn children would be girls and that they were as healthy as optimized unborn children could be , at which Helena started to ask various questions about every little detail .

Da’grass assured her that although nanites were present in both children , he hadn’t changed them in any way and that they would indeed be extremely intelligent .

Helena beamed for a whole week after hearing this , and Alex had to admit that he was kind of proud too .

Sam finally brewed the Elven wine in the colony , and the first batches went to their circle of friends .

Helena pouted that she couldn’t drink it since she was pregnant , so Alex made a habit of not drinking it when she was around , not that he was dependent on alcohol .

Sarah was busy with their company and factories , and various technologies started to find their way into society , but she still found the time to date a journalist named Max Mertens .

Alex couldn’t understand what she saw in the man , but Helena was just happy that her mom was dating someone , even if it was just in virtual reality .

Cynthia was busy with two projects : a movie and an elaborate documentary about humanity from before the Nexus and the transition .

Alex had some second thoughts about the latter but decided to let her go through with it .

The colony wasn’t as empty as before and started to fill up , which made Alex think about stopping the influx of people .

The project in Mars’ orbit was gradually advancing , but it would take a lot of time before completion .

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Da’grass informed him that sometimes production faltered due to a lack of resources , but that with the next batch of miners , this problem would be solved.

The three other colonies in production didn’t face this problem because they were prioritized in resource allocation .

With this news , Alex pondered about the Space station he wanted to build in Earth’s orbit and bought a design from the Etherean mall for a large trading hub with docking space to accommodate a small fleet .

At Da’grass’s suggestion , he included a prefabricated industrial zone with two miners , similar to what was delivered for the mars project .

Like this 3 months had passed and everything seemed to settle down .

“You know , a lot of what you’re building goes to humanity at some point” said Helena .

And you know Etherea isn’t keen on sharing your access from their mall with humanity .

“She also said there are no explicit rules prohibiting it” defended Alex .

But you’re right . After this I’ll only buy from the regular mall if it isn’t solely benefitting our faction .

“Good choice , no need to upset an entity that can be considered a god in the Nexus” laughed Helena .

“Do you still have morning sickness ?” asked Alex slightly worried .

“Not since several weeks , sweetie .

You know Da’grass fixed it for me” replied Helena while rubbing her slightly bulging belly .

Shouldn’t you inform John about the space station unless you want him to find out when the prefab gets delivered ?

“I already sent him a message to meet me at the bar” answered Alex .

“Good , I’ll be going to my mom for a bit , discussing some names for our daughters” said Helena .

“Shouldn’t I have a say in this ?” asked Alex .

“Sweetie , we are seriously considering the names you suggested , but we want to be thorough , and to be honest , there are a lot of names that can be considered better than Samantha and Esmerelda” said Helena .

“What’s wrong with those names ?” asked Alex .

They might be a little outdated , but we can call them Sam and Es if it’s just us.

I think they are great names , distinguished even .

“Sweetie , I’m serious when I say we are considering them , but let us discuss it ourselves , okay ?” replied Helena.

Besides , we already have a Sam in the family .

Now off to John . I’ll see you this evening !

After walking to the bar and reminiscing the conversation with Helena , Alex decided to leave the matter of naming their daughters to Helena .

Even if he liked those names , they would still be his daughters , even if they had another name .

John wasn’t there yet , so he decided to order a drink .

While looking through the menu , he noticed they had the elven wine and ordered a bottle with two glasses .

While pouring the glasses and thinking about how Sam had already distributed the wine in the colony , John arrived .

“Hello ,Alex . I see you already discovered the wine on the menu” said John while smiling.

“Yeah , I didn’t know he already distributed it among the colony” responded Alex.

“How is Helena ?” asked John.

“She is starting to develop a belly and is now with her mother discussing possible names for our daughters” replied Alex.

They drank from their glasses and went silent for a while .

“The reason why I wanted to talk to you is that I ordered a prefab from the mall to start building a space station in orbit around Earth” said Alex , not wanting to beat around the bush.

“That’s good news . Isn’t this against the wishes of Etherea?” asked John.

“It’s probably the last time I do this kind of thing .

Next time , I’ll order blueprints from the regular mall if it doesn’t solely benefit the faction” replied Alex .

“Wise choice , you wouldn’t want to be on bad terms with those that can take your benefits away” answered John .

By the way , I negotiated with the scientists and they are ready to depart for the colony anytime you see fit .

I was waiting for the right moment to tell you , but you beat me to it by arranging this meeting .

“Did you get anything out of it ?” asked Alex .

“They’ll be joining the scientific community of Solara .

Others are already doing so” answered John.

Education in the Nexus is also gaining in popularity since it is free and more advanced .

Did you know that you can get private tutoring and study at your own pace?

The fact that your degree is automatically registered on your account as proof is also enticing , no more deception or cheating .

They drank from their glasses and went silent again .

“When do you want me to pick them up ?” asked Alex after some time .

“As soon as it is convenient for you” answered John .

“Da’grass , if we stop recruiting for the colony , how long before the last people arrive and what would the occupancy rate of the colony be ?” asked Alex.

“The last people would arrive in a month’s time and the occupancy rate would be 75 percent if the island moved to the colony” answered Da’grass.

“Do you think they would notice the influx of people if the scientists arrived earlier ?” asked Alex.

“I wouldn’t recommend it , Alex , they are scientists they notice patterns” replied Da’grass .

I wouldn’t be surprised if they found out about the gate just by living here .

“You heard him . In a month , I’ll be sending a ship .

Any chance we can let them sign a non-disclosure contract ?” asked Alex .

“I’ll ask them , but they are already under contract from different organizations.

I’ll see what our legal team can come up with” replied John .

There would be around 4000 of them if they all pass the background checks.

“That many … if you give us their names , then Da’grass can do the background checks” answered Alex .

“I’ll send the names over as soon as I get them all” confirmed John.

After that , they started talking about small stuff and just enjoyed the wine .

It was a pleasant evening with no timetable .