“Some use quality. Others rely on numbers.”

***Deep Space***

***Antioch***

I open my eyes and try to breathe, but my vision is blurry and it's really hard to fill my lungs with precious oxygen. Having just woken up, I panic, forgetting that the lack of air can't kill my body. Flailing around, I try to scream, but even that doesn't work as it should. My limbs are heavy and my vocal cords produce just a muffled gurgle.

That's when my fingers break through to the surface and I realize that I am submerged in some sort of liquid.

Finding the edge of the tank, I pull myself up and cough up a green, watery substance. I retch and shudder at the feeling of drawing air into my lungs. Bending over, I force more water out. This continues until I feel like a wreck.

But I can breathe again – and that's how it should be. At least that's what my body tells me.

“And he is back among the living!” a cheerful voice chirps from my side. It's Minerva who is standing right next to me. She hands me a towel and places a set of clothes on a chair which is right next to the tank in which I woke up. After a short inspection of the tank, I decide to call it a bathtub.

A further survey of my surroundings confronts me with the familiar white of the infirmary, a large room with polished, metal surfaces and which is permanently kept clean by two of my drones.

Another shudder runs down my spine when I reconnect to my drone network and feel my consciousness expand. Strangely enough, I didn't even realize that I was missing an essential part of my being. The V.C. somehow managed to make me forget about that part of myself. Now that I am back, I realize how much I missed the drones which are - for all intents and purposes - like extensions of my body.

“You okay?” Min asks with a concerned expression. “It can be a little disorienting when you suddenly wake up in a different place. What's the last thing you remember?”

“We had that discussion with the leader of the Lifers and then I went back to the Buffer Zone. Then I suddenly got this huge urge to sleep and simply lied down,” I explain. And then I woke up inside this tank!

She nods. “Sounds about right. If you feel well enough, should I go and get Silith? She will be delighted to hear that you are back.”

“Yes, please do that.” I nod and get up, towelling myself off. “To be honest, I feel wonderful! Rested and healthy. Just the waking-up part wasn't a nice experience. Did you have to submerge me in that liquid?”

She raises an eyebrow. “It was either that, or force-feeding you by hand. After seeing your regrowing body, nobody wanted to do that.”

“That bad?”

“Yes, bad. Like a Freddy Cruger, genetical experiment, horror picture show, bad. Not nice to look at. Though, Silith still visited your body every day to make sure that the equipment doesn't malfunction.”

Oh, that's nice of her, I suppose.

“I will get her then.” She smiles and leaves the infirmary.

With her gone, I clean myself up and get on some clothes. I am just about to search for Silith myself, when someone else enters the room. He hastily closes the door behind him, almost as if he is trying to hide.

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“Martin! I haven't seen you in a while! Feels like ages,” I exclaim.

“Antioch! You are up. It's so good that I got to you before them.” He sneaks over on tiptoes and hugs me. “You can't imagine what horrible things they have in store for us. We have to be vigilant!”

I stiffen, not used to the unfamiliar contact. Martin isn't exactly a stranger, but being hugged by him feels vastly different from being intimate with Silith. At least I hope that he isn't interested in me like... that.

“What are you talking about? Who has what in store for us? Why are you behaving so strangely?” I take him by the shoulders and push him away, not in a denying manner, but firmly, to make clear that I want him to man up and get a hold of himself.

“The women! My women! Especially Jenny! They are... pregnant!” He coughs out the word like a mortal insult. “Do you know what that means? Of course you do, you already made that mistake. Twice!”

I force myself to smile. “It seems like things aren't going so well between you and your girls.” Man... I am glad that one is enough for me. If having multiple relationships means ending up like Martin... good night.

“No, that's not the case. Things are going well! I never had that much sex and female attention in my entire life! It's a fucking paradise, almost like in the Plain of Lust! Just better because I know that they are mine! The problem is that they want me to play my part! Do you have any idea how long it has been since I took care of a baby!? I don't even remember how to hold them.”

I clear my throat. “I am sure that it will work out. It somehow came naturally to me when I had mine, and I didn't even have a shred of experience.”

“Still! Why don't you understand that I am trying to warn you? Your girls. I think they are planning to do the same to you.”

My girls? “Ahem. I only have one girl, and that's-”

“Martin? Are you trying to bother our lord and master?” The door opens and Jenny steps in, beaming a smile at Martin. She heads straight in, going for the kill by linking arms with him. All the while, she presents herself in a tight, red gown, showing off the small baby-bump on her belly.

Then she turns her attention to me. “It's so good that you are back, Antioch. Martin is getting a little giddy, because he had just Samuel to share his worries. After all, he is going to be a father.”

Keeping my eyes plastered on her face, I ask the first question which comes to mind. “Isn’t he a lucky one. How many new additions do I have to take into account?” After all, we have to plan our flight accordingly to our needs.

“Well, I have four. Rina has five, but Ailes got just three, while Katrin holds the record with six!” She leans against her mate, resting her cheek on his shoulder. “You will take responsibility, won't you?”

“O- of course! I am a man of honour!”

His face says something completely different, but I refrain from pointing that out.

Jenny pulls at his arm and he deflates, allowing her to pull him out of the room. As they walk outside, Silith enters the room, turning her head to follow the pair with her eyes. When she sees me, she squeals in joy and rushes towards me, hugging me with more force than ever. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“Ah, thanks. But we’ve seen each other in the V.C. Was it that bad?” I enclose her in my arms, enjoying her warmth.

“Of course! Seeing your body in that tank was nerve-wrecking. But you look pale. Do you still feel weak?”

I shake my head, thinking of Martin’s fate. “No. No. I just thought about Martin and his harem. Eighteen kids in one go… that’s just…” How should I call it? “Exhausting?”

She scratches her chin, musing about my words. “Oh, yeah. But we have to start somewhere. After our visit with the Lifer’s leadership, I am really glad that I changed our reproductive cycle to eggs. It makes everything so much easier and less painful.”

“But the number.”

“Is now normal. There should be clutches from three to five eggs. After all, I somehow have to use up all the fertilized eggs which I put on freeze until there is a chance to have them. There is no way that I could just kill them off. They are future demons.”

I stop smiling, feeling the blood drain from my face. That's right, she once mentioned that she can move fertilized eggs to some sort of cold storage, instead of having them immediately. “H- how many do you have?”

Silith doesn’t notice my predicament. “Oh, wait. I have to access the menu. We were very busy in the last year. Thirteen months amount to a lot, especially since we did it almost every day. Oh, and I must say that your seed is very potent. You caught at least one or two eggs every time we did it. Errr… where is it?” Her eyes flick from side to side, searching her personal info. “Six-hundred sixty-six! Wow! What a lucky number! I think it's even associated with demons.”

She hugs me and crushes her face against my chest. “It will take a while to get all of them in the production line. Hey, Antioch? Are you still with me? Maybe we should go to bed after all. You can lie on your back while I...” She stops to think about her choice of words. ”Add a few more?” She smiles and giggles mischievously. Finally, she lowers her voice, sounding husky and arousing. “What do you think of that idea?”

It takes me a while to regain my composure. “Hahaha… why not… it’s not like it will change much...”

Whether there are dotzens, hundreds… or thousands… what difference does it make? If I don't cut off a certain part of me, I'll be buried in children. Someone fucked up when we designed this species!