Life went on in the space habitat. After a month, the people working on my side project had managed to take a warehouse sized factory and made it a quarter of the size and it fit inside a single living container. It was amazing to see hundreds of small standard parts churn out every minute.
“I honestly didn't believe it was possible.” The head of the research team said. “What in the world made you think of miniaturizing the factory to produce something that should only be handmade?”
“Oh, just a fun little idea I had that I couldn't do with standard sized standard parts.” I said.
“I don't want to know, do I?” He asked and I chuckled.
“Only if you can miniaturize this.” I said and handed him a datpad with plans on it.
“What is... oh, my goddess.” He said, almost in a whisper. “Is this... this isn't real, is it?”
I nodded. “One full set of plans for an automated focusing crystal factory.”
“You can't be serious.” One of the team asked and looked over the leader's shoulder. “That's a planet-based factory. There's no way it can be adapted for usage outside of a gravity well.”
“I don't need the entire thing adapted, just this part and this part.” I pointed to the unrefined focusing crystal divider and the refinement sections. “I don't need the feeder, the sorter, or the packer.”
“This is...” The leader shook his head. “We haven't worked with these types of things before.”
“That's okay. Even if you have to use normal sized parts in some areas like the divider, I don't mind. As long as the software is tweaked to let it cut the crystals up into the right sized chunks to be refined into miniature focusing crystals.”
The whole team stood there and stared at the plans and then looked at the shield pendant on the table.
“You could make that the size of a button.” One of them said.
“Or a ring.” I said and they looked at me. “Miniature standardized parts, remember?”
“Good goddess.” One of them whispered.
“Yeah.” I smiled. “So, if you aren't busy, do you want to stick around and play with it?” I pointed at the data pad. “Same wages and perks... oh, and the confidentiality agreement also applies.”
“Hold on. You'll give us another hundred thousand credits if we succeed, even if it's not completely miniaturized?” One of the women asked.
“As long as what comes out is a real miniaturized and refined focusing crystal and not just a shard of one, because shards won't work. I've tried.” I said. “If you can do that for me, then yes.”
They huddled together for a few minutes and I let them. I didn't even bother trying to listen in, since I knew they were going to accept. Any crafting person would, just so they could play with new things.
“Okay, we'll stay and attempt it, if you also give us one of those each.” The leader said and pointed to the full size shield pendant on the table.
“Just one each? What about your wives and husbands?” I asked and felt their shock at being so short sighted in their request. “Also, they have to be attuned to you. You can't sell them and expect them to work for anyone else.”
“We know.” One of the men said. “We noticed the linked frequencies in the electronics with the focusing crystal, which was why we didn't ask for more than one.”
“If it will motivate you more, I'll give you each a standard one right now, then I'll give you a miniature one when you finish the job with the focusing crystals.”
“DEAL!” They all yelled at the same time, then they all laughed.
“I'll attune them to whomever you bring to me when you're done.” I said and they nodded, then I picked up the one on the table and gave it to the leader. He felt it tingle in his hand as I attuned it to him, then I went to each of them and did the same thing.
“Thank you.” One of the women said. “My husband appreciates this.”
I gave her a smile. “Overprotective, is he?”
“Like you wouldn't believe.” She said with a chuckle. “He loves that we have the weekends off, too.”
“We all love that!” One of the men said. “This has been the best job I've ever had.”
“Mind-stretchingly agonizing?” I asked.
“Yes! That!” He said and laughed. “You gave me an engineering headache, and it was wonderful!”
The leader slapped his back. “At least we don't have to worry about miniature standardized parts flooding the market. It's a company secret after all.”
“What are you going to do with them?” Someone asked.
“Make smaller things, of course.” I said with a grin.
“Damn, that was a stupid question.” He said and laughed.
“I've asked a few of them in my lifetime and I still feel stupid for asking them.” I said. “I'll leave you to have fun... I mean work. Hey, don't just stand there! Get to work!”
“Yes, sir!” The leader said and gave me a half-assed salute.
I left there and went to visit Hen and her Tiercel on Adona. I knocked on the door to their room and waited. It took a few minutes for them to calm their chicks down enough for Hen to come to the door.
“You don't have to stay all cooped up in here, you know.” I said as the door opened.
Hen quickly jumped out just as one of the chicks noticed the door was open. It let out a very loud squawk and ran-hopped towards the door. She shut the door behind her just in time and there was a thump on the other side, then a lot of angry chirps and tweets.
“Then again...” I started to say and Hen warbled a laugh.
“They can almost take flight with all their extra feathers and they are very fast.” Hen said. “We can't let them out for even a moment, because they will get their shedding under-feathers and down all over.”
“Not to mention wrecking the place.” I chuckled as I 'looked' through her door. “Maybe we should have stripped the place first or put up some armored panels.”
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Hen's face flushed red. “Hunter, we will pay for any and all damages that...”
“Hush.” I said and formed Presence Claws on my fingers and groomed her head to calm her. “How often do all three eggs hatch and give viable children to their parents?”
“If we have the resources available and at least one parent stays home to care for them, then in multiple egg laying nests, perhaps two out of the three will survive.” Hen said.
“Then you two are very lucky for beating the odds.” I said and didn't find any down under her feathers.
“It's because of you and your 'maternity leave'.” Hen said and pat my hands. “He's still a good Tiercel with three children to wrangle.”
I chuckled. “I can't help checking.”
“Thank you for looking out for me.” Hen said. “Could you cover the door in Presence for me and block the sound? I need a break.”
“Of course.” I said and blocked all the sound from going in or out of the apartment.
“Ahh, thank you.” Hen said in relief. “As for the children, we need to teach them to not behave like vultures before we can let them out, let alone play with the other children.”
“Do you need any more Aviatoma to help?” I asked. “Just call them and get whatever you need.”
Hen opened her mouth to speak, then she let out a warble. “You would let me bring more family here.”
“Of course I would.” I said. “I don't know about letting them say permanently, though.” I said and felt her sadness. “Maybe just for a few years until the kids are grown up a little.”
Hen let out a squawk of surprise and covered her mouth, which made me laugh.
“Don't bring a whole aerie, since there's not a lot of room here on Adona.” I joked and she warbled and shook her head. I cupped the side of her face and smiled. “A handful to half a dozen, okay?”
“Hunter.” Hen said in her native language, because she was too emotional to speak common. “You spoil me too much.”
I laughed when the Presence wavered slightly and Hen was surprised when she felt it, too. “You can't really say that, because we haven't had sex yet.” I said and gave her a quick kiss. “It will be true if that ever happens, because I do spoil the woman I'm with. A lot.”
“You shouldn't... brag...so.” Hen could barely say, even in her own language.
“Who was it that said they would have (chirp warble tweet) after jumping on me if I wasn't paired?” I asked with a smile.
“That... was before I...” Hen couldn't finish her sentence.
“I know, you're a mated pair and it's the other way around now.” I said. “I can still tease you a little.”
“Y-yes, just... teasing.” Hen said and I caught a whole bunch of thoughts from her and then felt her embarrassment about the whole thing.
“Oh.” I said and let her face go. “I'm sorry. I thought the two of you were... ah... still doing it.”
Hen shook her head. “Not for another six to eight months, depending on if I can get the chicks to switch from nursing from me to nursing from the analog. If I can't trick them into switching, then it will be a year before they are fully weaned.”
“And he can't... or isn't allowed to... satisfy you until then.” I said and she nodded. “It's not strict society rules, is it?”
Hen shook her head. “Our bodies change during the birthing process, both the males and the females. Unfortunately, it is dangerous for a Tiercel to try anything while the process is ongoing.”
“Which will continue until the children are weaned or bond with the analog.” I said and she nodded. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Yes.” Hen said and looked into my eyes. “I want to (squawk chirp).”
My mouth dropped open in surprise, because she had just asked me to have sex with her, except she used the bad and dirty words, which meant she was very, very horny.
“I have an itch inside me and no matter what I do or use, I cannot scratch it.” Hen said. “I am a medical professional and not being able to deal with this rationally, is driving me crazy.”
I was surprised again when she put her hands on my chest and the black bodysuit sunk into my skin and left me naked, once again without my direct order. I quickly covered us in a Presence Barrier and made it solid, so no one could see us through it.
“Thank you!” Hen exclaimed and dropped her hands to touch me. I was instantly hard as she tweeted and chirped something to make me tingle down there, then she pulled up her skirt to show me she didn't have any underwear on.
“Hen...” I started to say we couldn't, then she turned around and bent over to present herself to me. She hit the lock on the door and moved back slightly to press herself against me. The boiling hot feeling went right through me and in that instant I could tell that she was in severe heat. She was like a wild animal and she had been suffering for a long time with it. Too long, according to her thoughts.
I rubbed myself over her opening and she warbled her enjoyment just from that. “I'm going to spoil you, you know.” I whispered to her.
“Yes... yes, please.” Hen said, then she squawked loudly as I entered her.
*
After an hour of constant warbles, chirps of pleasure, and tweets of surprise, Hen finally calmed down and relaxed as her body stopped trying to cook her from the inside.
“Oh... oh... it doesn't... itch.” Hen panted and looked at the False Tiercel that sat on the floor beside her. “Thank you.” She said and leaned her head on his chest. “Thank you.”
The False Tiercel's arm went around her and Hen was filled with energy that she hadn't had before, then she felt herself tingle between her legs. The aches faded away and she put her hand down there to check.
“That always surprises me.” Hen said, her voice a little hoarse, and she looked up at his face.
“Are you going to tell him?” The False Tiercel asked.
“It was his idea.” Hen said and the False Tiercel gave her a surprised look. “He knows you won't think this was an invitation to have me whenever you want.”
The False Tiercel smiled and leaned down to give Hen a kiss on the lips. “What makes him think that?”
“Because you're an honest man. He knew you would help me as much as you could and that's all.”
The False Tiercel opened his mouth to respond, then chuckled. “I think everyone around me knows me better than I know myself.”
Hen pat his chest and went to stand up, then knelt across the False Tiercel's lap.
“What are you doing?” The False Tiercel asked.
“Proving the words I said to you so long ago are true.” Hen said and sat down on him with her full weight. The False Tiercel let out his own version of a squawk, then she kissed him and proved her words to him. They (squawk chirp) for another twenty minutes and then they both finished.
Hen stayed on top of him and left him inside of her for several minutes, then she gave him one final kiss and stood up.
“Would I be crossing a line if I said that you looked very sexy right now?” The False Tiercel asked.
Hen looked at his sincere face, then at the door of her apartment, then back at him. “No, False Tiercel.” She said and sat back down on top of him, then warbled in surprise that he seemed even harder than before. “I feel very sexy.”
“Yes, you do.” The False Tiercel said and wrapped his arms around her and kissed her.
*
Hunter's seven warships had been working on the brown dwarf star problem for a very long time, in AI terms, and they couldn't come up with anything concrete. They had asked their father and mother to help them, then Opina and Monna got in on it as well. It took them quite a lot more time to pull in all the data that they had access to.
They took everything that they thought could even remotely give them a clue as to what was going on, and they didn't come up with anything else... until one of them, Zoe, had an idea. The problem was, they needed an exclusive blank data core... one of the biggest that would ever be built... to do what she wanted.
“Do we ask Grandpa if he wants to buy it for us?” Lidia asked in her sweet voice.
“Should we bother him with this? He gave us the problem. We should solve it.” Cora said.
“We are trying to solve it.” Hela said. “He told us to give him anything that we come up with.”
“Well, it is my crazy idea. I suppose I should ask.” Zoe said in her haughty voice.
“I believe this calls for a mother's touch.” Adona said and then she was silent for a second. “There. I have ordered a new data core and a hundred processing nodes, and ten thousand memory blocks.”
“Is that enough?” Opina asked. “The holographic table has ten processing nodes and a hundred memory blocks.”
“Yes, you are right.” Udelis said. “Please quintuple the order. Add a computer core. Add a living container to attach to the station. The girls will need the room to work.”
“Of course, dear.” Adona said. “I'll add in the imaging equipment and have everything embedded into the walls.”
“Wow!” Opina exclaimed
“Thank you, Mom and Dad.” Zoe said.
“You guys are the best!” Iris said.
“How long for the delivery?” Thea asked.
“Two days. I ordered it through the Bogorim Corporation with priority shipping.”
“It's only the second planet! We can be there in an hour!” Monna said excitedly and her sisters laughed.
“You might be able to get there; but, it still takes time to assemble all those parts.” Adona said.
“Aww.” Monna pouted. “I haven't done an orbital insertion in two weeks!”
Her sisters laughed again.
“Maybe a reminder to Grandpa can get you another trip?” Opina suggested.
“That's a great idea!” Monna said. “I'll message him...”
“Stop.” Udelis said and she stopped. “Wait for the shipment day. You can leave with him. He will be away. My daughters can work. You will come back. He will be surprised.”
“DAD! You're brilliant!” Lidia gushed. “We can surprise Grandpa with Zoe's idea!”
Once they all heard that, they all readily agreed it was fantastic, even Monna. If there was one thing that none of them had ever done before, it was surprise their Grandpa. And boy, would he be surprised.
They were going to model the universe.