As Josh had only ever awakened a nonsensitive’s Cultivation once—and that was under duress in a very different situation where the physical elements of the body-spirit binding point had been so destroyed from high grade radiation exposure that Josh had needed to rip a core from a figurative and literally transmuted Immortal Cockroach to serve as an underlay for his donated spiritual energy. None of that would not be necessary in their present circumstances, still Josh had told Alysa that it would be best for them to keep the first Essence awakenings as close as possible to Alysa’s awakening as they could. Along these lines, the first twenty candidates were all women. The first five were all approximately the same body weight as Alysa, and the very first one was even of Asian descent.

Josh and Sen sat in a small exam room inside the Brigantine's central med bay. Alysa had determined that the extra precaution was necessary, and Josh couldn't blame her. But the message was clear, 'I'm trusting you with my men. Keep them safe, and I won't have to break your face!'

The door opened briskly, and he and Sen did a double take as a slightly younger version of Alysa walked in and smartly saluted them. "Petty Officer Sabrina Nang reporting as ordered."

Josh peered narrowly at her, "Are you related to Lieutenant Nang, Petty Officer?"

"Roger that, sir. We are second cousins."

The second message was received loud and clear. ‘Get this right, or my whole family will have to break your face!’

Josh swallowed, less at the threat and more at the deep worry that he might actually make a mistake and harm someone close to those he considered family. That, in itself, was a more present concern than any threats of retribution. Don’t screw this up, Joshy-boy.

Sen’s glance was both piercing and determined.. ~Agreed!~

Josh cleared his slightly constricting throat. “Ahem ...Very good petty officer... Please lay down here, and we will get started.”

She hopped up onto the exam table, and Josh continued. “Petty officer…Err…Sabrina, do you know why you are here?”

A small smile crept on her lips, and she spouted excitedly, "You're going to give me the boost you gave Alysa! It's not fair that I used to mop up the floor with her in the training gym, but now I can't even see her, she moves so fast! Whatever you need to do... make it happen, sir!"

A small chuckle escaped Josh. Sen turned away, trying to keep himself from laughing.

Here they were, sweating that they were experimenting on unsuspecting space marines, and the marines were seeing it as a way to increase their combat capabilities. Taking risks was part and parcel of improving themselves.

~ They do have the right of it, Joshua.~

~ Isn't that the truth…~ Josh sighed. ~We are all going to need to step up.~

Taking a deep breath, Josh relaxed. "I'm going to put my hand over your Cultivation Core and awaken your Cultivation with an infusion of Essence—" Sabrina’s eyes darkened in confusion at the Cultivation terms. “—Don't worry—Everything will become readily apparent when we get started.” Josh interrupted himself to reassure her.

Josh pressed on, “I'm not sure if you will feel any discomfort. If you do, please tell me right away. For now, just lay back, close your eyes, and let us do the driving... Err... Flying… Essencing?" Josh waved the words away with a shrug. “Whatever.”

"Roger that, sir!" She nodded enthusiastically.

Josh suspended his hand two inches above her navel, and Sen put his hand on Josh's shoulder to serve as a backup Essence reservoir. This was unlikely to be necessary. But for the first one, they agreed to take every precaution.

~Remember Joshua, we are much stronger than before…~ Sen mentally encouraged. ~Infuse the Essence slowly and evenly.~

Nod. ~Got it.~

Sen was right in his reminder. When Josh had done this for Alysa, it had been an act of desperation and he had given everything he had. But now, just going by the numbers, Josh had over ten times the Essence. He also suspected that his Meridians had developed to the point where he could infuse much more Essence per second than he could back then.

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For all they knew, the amount of Essence infused might not be as much a factor as how many cycles he sent through the recipient’s Meridians to form their Core. Or maybe it was a question of how long he did it, irrespective of total volume? Josh’s memory wasn't perfect on either from when he’d channeled Essence into Alysa. Sen had remembered that the time had been between four and five minutes. They both agreed that the same amount of time was a place to start at least.

Josh & Sen’s main goal was to keep Sabrina's Awakening as close to Alysa's as possible—barring the life and death struggle, of course. Once they had several successes under their belt, they could try and improve on things for efficiency's sake. After all, they had over four thousand to do...

Smiling tightly at Sen, Josh moved Essence from his hand Meridians into Sabrina. He saw Essence flow in a slow but steady stream into the area where her Core would be. Over the first few minutes, Sabrina’s Meridians started to develop along the expected channels, and a dense pool of Essence formed where her Core would ultimately be. A genuine smile spread over their faces.

Looking at Sen, Josh mentally spoke. ~Looks like everything is going according to plan—~

Sabrina tightened her lips and squirmed under his hand with slight tremors of her abdomen where Josh could see the Core forming. The Essence started to swirl in a sphere, and it began to slowly shrink to the expected half-inch, marble-sized sphere.

We're most of the way there! Josh couldn’t keep the thought from his mind, and he sped up the process to end her discomfort faster.

Sen's eyes cut toward him. ~It is your show Joshua… and your posterior portions that will have to pay for any less than perfect... results.~

Josh fought back a dry swallow. ~... ~

Sabrina's abdomen twitched again, and she reflexively pulled away from his hand as if it were hot... a second later she forcefully pushed back against his hand. Josh could see that she was keeping her lips pressed even tighter together.

"Almost there! Hang on, Sabrina." Josh tried to say calmly and reassure her, but definitely failing.

She jerkily nodded her head in agreement as her arms and legs tensed up. The Core was gaining the density and luster it would need to adopt the Essence Josh had transferred to her.

Just a few more seconds, and it can start cycling on its own!

Sen glanced up nervously. ~She is trying not to scream, brother!

Josh boosted the Essence flow enough to cut the remaining time in half. Sabrina bucked off the exam table. Her loud yell was easily heard through the rest of the med bay.

Josh's face was ashen as Alysa burst through the door with concern written across her face. He could see the anxious looks on the next five waiting as they tried to see past Alysa's form when she slammed the door shut.

Josh looked down at Sabrina, whose mouth was open, gasping. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she finally caught her breath and exploded.

“AAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHhahahaha, AAHAHAHAHAHEHEHEhehehe.” She could only speak in short sentences. "I... I'm... So sorry! AHAHAHAHAHAhahahhehehe It's... it's just so... So... ticklish! Hahahahaheheh... I just... I just can't... I just can't help it! AAAHAHAHAHheheheheheHAHAHAHA.” She grabbed her belly with both hands and laughed for another solid ten seconds.

Alysa's shoulders visibly sagged with relief, and she walked over to her cousin and cuffed her lightly on the head. "Shǎ háizi!" Josh's Interface translated Alysa's words as "Foolish child!" He smiled sheepishly as he stood there huffing in relief.

Sen, who Josh knew had been riding the same emotional rollercoaster, lost it and erupted in laughter as well. He turned away to hide from Alysa, who took his humor-filled relief as a personal betrayal. Her eyes narrowed, she frowned strongly at him and stormed out the door.

"Next!"

* * * * *

Eighty-three space marines had their Cores Awoken over the next three hours. None were as emotionally charged as Sabrina's Awakening, to be sure. Both Josh and Sen got to the point where they were comfortable switching off with performing the Awakening and spending a few minutes with the freshly Awoken to explain what had happened, what was expected, and what would be next. For all of them, Mzamo had a Brigantine Cultivator waiting with training techniques on enhancing their movements and strikes.

It took approximately three thousand five hundred Essence to form a Core and the new Cultivator's Meridians. It also helped if they went about twice as fast as they had with Sabrina... At least for the ticklish ones.

In the end, though Josh and Sen were recharging with Mind Aura between Awakening—they got tired. It wasn't just a question of how much Essence they had but how much work they had put their Core and Meridians through. Sen tapped out at thirty-three. Josh went on, rounding out at an even fifty, but eventually also had to call it quits. Their day was only starting, and who knew what was in store? Best to have a little in reserve, just in case.

They decided to use the ancillary facilities in the med bay to shower before getting about their day. He and Sen had just walked up to the hygiene station when the call came from Jishin. "We are here, m'lords. Meet me at my favorite recharging station." Was all the helmsman said before signing out.

Josh looked at Sen, and they exited the station unshowered. Alysa, who had gotten the message as well, was waiting, somehow showered with damp straight hair. Girls—always wasting their time with unnecessary cleanliness...

By silent agreement, they all headed out to Jishin's favorite watering hole.