Onoelle woke up feeling suspiciously refreshed. Her mind reset itself almost instantly as reminders of her last activity flooded through her frontal lobe. She would have jumped up, but a heavy, familiar weight was keeping her pinned. She opened her eyes a little, just as the the other signals her body was sending came to her, and she smiled, even if she couldn't see anything.

Mentuc was wrapped around her like a protective cocoon, his long limbs intertwined with hers in a warm, all encompassing hug. She was squished underneath his chest, his heavy torso rising up and down to the steady rhythm of his slow breathing and the way he was holding her spoke volumes. For a man who could never find the words to accurately explain his emotions, he sure could let his body do the talking for him. She nudged him, unable to draw her arm back enough to give him a more solid thump. 'We're married, you oaf,' she whispered. Her way of saying that her actions were natural. She didn't need to be thanked for it. His response was squeezing her briefly, protesting her statement.

She wiggled herself in his grasp and wasn't surprised, much to her own amusement, that she was properly bound. When Mentuc wanted to hug her, there wasn't a force alive that could keep him from doing so. Not that she'd ever want to! Stars, it was comfortable to be held. She felt the sharp, active part of her mind start to slumber again as she luxuriated in letting her husband hold her, her fingers softly running across his thick arms while his own started dancing along her back.

It's quite surprising, you know, how often you've visited the medbay, came Nightmare's voice from all around her.

She didn't stir, which was undoubtedly the AI's goal. Given that she had woken up without any pain, she had already figured out that Mentuc had taken her back to the ship. Stars above, she'd end up living here at this rate. Then the full sentence hit her. 'Hang on a second, what do you mean? How often have I been here?' she asked, freeing her head from Mentuc's embrace only to discover that the rest of the medbay was covered in darkness as well, with only a few status lights breaking through it.

If I had given you a stamp card when you first entered, Nightmare said, her avatar swirling to life in an impressive, theatrical display of colours. Then I'd be able to congratulate you. Visit twenty times, your twenty-first visit's free. The AI gave a surprisingly warm smile. Of course, you've only been here twice whilst conscious.

'Explain,' Onoelle demanded, trying to put as much authority into her voice as her inelegant position allowed her. Not that Nightmare would have been impressed either way. 'And what did you do to me during those visits?' She didn't like the idea of the AI rooting around inside her body one bit, no matter how friendly the enigmatic being may have been acting for the past days.

It isn't the first time you got hurt by Mentuc while you were dealing with one of his flashbacks. Or because of your own idiocy, Nightmare began. She felt Mentuc give another squeeze at that and she gave one back. Every time he'd carry you in after that in order to get me to fix you up. First he did so because he could not afford you being injured. It would raise too many questions. Later on he did so because he felt responsible, when you began dealing with his flashbacks in earnest, before you knew him as well as you do now. Then, at the end, he brought you in because he could not stand seeing you in pain. I never did more than just restore you to a prior status. The only reason I did a bit more the last time, was because I gave your body a complete check over for both psionic damage, hidden mental conditioning as well as physical bugs.

'Thanks for the reminder,' Onoelle said sarcastically, shivering, earning her a smile.

The avatar walked over to her, the bluish hue illuminating the medbay. Onoelle would have made the comparison to a ghost, but no ghost had the type of body that the once Genesis had. The raw height, the short hair, the broad chest and the predatory way of walking just didn't fit. I am actually impressed. I believe it is important that you are aware of that. Nightmare's avatar seemed hesitant as she spoke the words, her eyes running over the body of her superior. I am not capable of that, I must admit, even if it pains me. You have my gratitude.

Hearing the AI thank her straight up unnerved the very human Onoelle, but she remembered the promise she had made and she thumped Mentuc as hard as her captive position allowed. Her husband understood the unspoken hint and loosened his limbs enough for her to turn around and face the avatar. She knew she didn't need to, that the gathering of force fields and holoprojections wasn't the AI itself, but it was nice to have a point of orientation. She also knew that it was a subtle trick the once Genesis employed to force Onoelle to humanise her even further, but she didn't mind. Much. 'What is your game, Nightmare?' Onoelle asked, knowing better than to play mind games with a Genesis. Nightmare was, despite everything she had become, still a Genesis soldier at heart. Direct questions were the easiest way to get an answer out of them. 'You don't do thanks. Especially not to me. So what is it you're not telling me here.'

The AI's avatar shrugged. For once I'm not saying it with hidden motives. I am impressed. Genuinely so. I know better than anyone how Mentuc's mind works. When his present and his past merge, when Dreamer and Mentuc become one, it shatters his consciousness and leaves gaping wounds in his psyche. You can counter that. I cannot. She tilted her head and looked own on the smaller human with a curious gaze. I cannot discern if it's intuition, emotion or something else. Nightmare steered her avatar over to the bed and made it sit down, moving beyond Onoelle's limited vision, still entangled as she was. Why wouldn't I be grateful to you, when you prevent my superior, my brother, —the amount of raw emotion contained in that single emotion made Onoelle flinch— from taking damage? I know that it may sound like I've lost my mind to you. I know that you know that Genesis doesn't have a concept of gratitude, that doing everything you can is something that comes natural to us and that not doing so is something we abhor, but you're not Genesis. You're not even Imperial Military. You're civilian.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

'I'm his wife,' Onoelle countered more sharply than she intended.

Yes. You are. Nightmare gestured and a broad array of messages and videos popped into existence all around the three of them. Fallouts between partners, people cheating, backstabbing and betrayal. Divorce cases, domestic violence, people ignoring their significant other. The AI's eyes narrowed. Doesn't count for much in today's society, does it?

A smile turned the corners of her lips upwards. 'Ever the drama queen, aren't you?' she sighed. It felt strange to be complimented by the AI, whom, until very recently at least, actively hated her. Now she only passively hated her. Still, it also felt nice. Especially since Mentuc mimicked those feelings. She let out a sigh, a different, happier one this time and snuggled deeper into her husband's arms. 'You'll understand why I get suspicious of you being grateful though. Your track record isn't exactly spotless.'

'She means it,' interjected Mentuc out of the blue. Onoelle turned her gaze away from the AI and back to her husband. 'My flashbacks began shortly after we established that Nightmare was a stable Artificial Intelligence. Even then she could not do anything to lessen the effects of the flashbacks I suffered from. It was not a pleasant experience for her to be forced to watch me go through it without being able to influence it.'

'Oh,' whispered Onoelle, looking at the suddenly vulnerable looking Nightmare, who made a point of looking her squarely in the eyes, stubbornly refusing to avert her gaze. Suddenly it made a bit more sense, even if it still was weird. If she had to take a guess, it was related to Nightmare in person rather than to Genesis in general. If she was right, then the emotions residing within the once Genesis weren't yet fully stable, or that was the impression she got from interacting with the AI, at least. If that were the case, she would finally be able to apply a part of her knowledge onto Nightmare's mind. Not often, only when Mentuc threw her off guard or revealed something she'd rather not have revealed, but it did give her, as a feeble human, a chance to understand the enigmatic being in front of her at least. In this particular case, Onoelle theorised, Nightmare feels genuinely grateful. And likely knows she's partially playing me in the process. Most likely though, she does it as a way so she doesn't feel beholden to me. She thanked me, so she doesn't owe me. She had to suppress a smile. That line of thought made very little sense rationally, but emotions often were anything but rational.

'Right then. Glad to have been of service, Nightmare,' she said, knowing the remark would sting the AI ever so slightly. She nudged Mentuc softly, then, when the oaf refused to budge, punched him as hard as she could. That finally got him to untangle his limbs and she got out of the bed. Nightmare was kind enough to switch the lights on and after a moment's reprieve to let her eyes adjust, she walked over to her pile of perfectly folded clothes. She smirked at the sight. Some things were impossible to get her husband to unlearn, but all those things were productive, if a bit weird, so she just let it slide. 'Mentuc,,' she begun, before jumping slightly when she discovered her husband standing right behind her. 'By the stars, how do you move across a metal floor without making noise?' His eyes smiled at her and he took a few steps back, demonstrating, earning him a tired shake of her head in exasperation. 'Let's go and fetch Jane. Can I at least tell her the truth about why I chased her out?'

She put her clothes on as her husband thought about his answer, not surprised to find them cleaned and repaired. She felt slightly amazed at how smooth her skin was, how all the damage done was simply... gone. Suddenly Nightmare's earlier words came back to her. How often had she been in here? How long had Nightmare been fiddling with her body before she even knew of the alien being's existence?

'You cannot tell her what caused it,' Mentuc stated, his voice pulling her out of her thoughts. 'Anything relating to a specific event of my past is not for her to know.'

She sighed, then whooped when her husband suddenly picked her up, only belatedly realising it made sense for him to run with her if they wanted to be back before the sun set. She gave him an annoyed glare, failing slightly due to the grin working its way to the front of her expression. 'One day I'm dragging you to the city and then it'll be me pulling you along, you damned, lovable oaf.'

'Yes,' he said, his inhuman irises slowly sliding around in his eyes. 'One day., we'll go to the city.'