[Book Four] Chapter 36: Project taking a big leap

Chapter 36: Project taking a big leap

“You know… What is exactly the relationship between your father, your mom and your Aunts?” Sara asked as she held a naked Arianna in her arms as they were lying down on their bed.
“Complicated, that’s what it is, why?”
“Who is whose child? How did it come to be in the first place? How come no one is jealous or fighting? And how come your father is not alone on his ass for dating five women at the same time?” she inquired in detail as she caressed her girlfriend’s lower back.
“Hmm… I can’t tell you everything as some things are… well family secrets and also classified…”
“Classified?”
“Yeah. Anyway… Mom and dad… they knew each other from when they were kids. Dad was… not treated well by his family, especially his mother, because he was a biotic. The crew members on the ship he was in were no better until one day, he met mom. She was… eleven or so but treated him kindly and they got closer. Then Grandma was transferred and Mom and dad got separated. Dad ended up on Eden Prime in 2080 after a lot of adventures. That’s where…”
“He met his first wife.”
“Yeah. That’s also where he met Aunt Ashley who…”

Arianna spent the next half an hour talking about how the relationships between the adults in the family came to be. Sara asking questions here and there for clarification.

“All of that wasn’t in the holo series.”
“No.” replied Arianna with a chuckle. “Dad, didn’t want to show more than necessary everyone’s private life. When the news that Aunt Ashley, mom and dad were a throuple got out it was a bit of a scandal. So adding Aunt Tali, Liara and Dorothea in the mix… Their public image would have taken a hit. Now people may have suspicions or think that we’re really close but they don’t really care.”
“So…If I followed you correctly. You and Matthew are the Commander’s children. You are the first.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Adam, JJ, TK and AJ are your Aunt Ashley’s who was your dad’s first wife's best friend.”
“Yes.”
“Despite all having a different kind of hair color.”
“Genetics. Dad has blonde and red hair. Aunt Ashley has brown and red hair.”
“I see… Siobhan is obviously your Aunt Dorothea’s since she has white hair.”
“White hair? Really? Not her black skin?”
“She could have that hyper melanin thingy that makes you all black. The white hair proves that it’s not the case.”
“Okay fair point. So far so good.”
“Sandra looks so much like her mother that I don’t need to ask.”
“Actually, Sandra is a complicated matter. Her egg donor was Miranda’s genetic twin. So she is and isn’t her mother. She did give birth to her though.”
“Oh, that’s… Interesting. Technically both are her mother. A good anecdote to share.”
“Yeah.”
“Finally, Analysse is Jennifer’s and Jennifer who is the little sister of your dad’s first wife.”
“You got full marks.”
“Your family tree is a mess.”
“You can say that.” Arianna replied with a soft laugh. “To us it doesn’t really matter who’s our mother at the end of the day. We’re all siblings. Even Leeha, who has no blood relation at all, is our sister, just because dad said he’d be her father when Aunt Tali was still pregnant.”
“He really has a big heart, raising a child not his own.”
“He does. Leeha needed a father and Aunt Tali is his best friend. He didn’t even think about it twice, they were already family to him.”
“Still… How do they work?”
“You’ll have to ask them because I never thought about it. None of us kids ever did, I believe. Things were just… like they were.”
“Do I have to expect to share you?”
“Hell no! I’m a one woman woman.”
“Good, because I want you all to myself.”

And with those words, Sara kissed Arianna lovingly and started another round of love making.

____________________________________________________________

Rick exited the meeting with the department heads with a lot on his mind. While the colonies on Ryder and Eslah Cicela were doing well, the colonization on the four other planets Alec Ryder had described as golden worlds didn’t develop as fast. The council had ordered the members of Project Eden that were not employed by Rick to ‘hurry up’. With their resources spread thin it was impossible to make it happen, and the colonists asked for help. Be it, infrastructures, labor force, food or explorers to charter these worlds, no need was left unsaid.
The meeting’s purpose was to decide if they would help or not and if they did would it be for free? To Rick, the answer was a resounding no. He wasn’t about to give free stuff and let the council get the credits. Both figuratively and literally. A talk with the council will be necessary. Either they coughed up money to him and his company or they coughed up money directly to fund further the colonies they wanted developed. The former would have been more expensive because Rick was providing his own people who were more experienced with Andromeda and tech which were leagues above everyone else but the results would have been better. The conclusion of the meeting was that a report and a deal proposal would be sent to the council.

It had been a chore for him and was tempted to name Sandra as the one in charge but Jane put a stop to the insane idea and Sandra agreed with her. She was shrewd, cunning and had a bit of experience but was not ready to take on so many responsibilities. To be fair he was a bit cranky because of his sleepless night. Little Aezzia had been born a couple weeks earlier and like all babies was crying a lot. Didn’t matter that she got her mother’s cute freckles and that Rick found her adorable, the fact was that she kept him up at night. He felt like he was too old for this shit but he wanted this, wanted her so he didn’t complain one bit and just endured. He swore to himself that it would be the last children though. Eleven was enough.

Making a stop at Liara’s office to kiss her and pick up their baby girl he went to his lab. With her strapped against his chest he walked around whistling a lullaby absentmindedly and unkingly spread his good mood to the people he met on the way to his lab.
Today he was testing the simulation he had created the day before from the design and number that Tali and Leeha had given him for his secret project. Sandra had only let him finish making it the previous day before dragging him out for a family dinner, without checking if it worked or not.

Putting Aezzia in the crib he had installed for her next to his chair, he sat down and launched the simulation. The ship was flying well and when it changed modes it took a few minutes. That wasn’t something he liked one bit as he needed the ship/ robot to change mode in a flash and not be a sitting duck waiting to be shot at. The robot was not a success either, it was… clunky at best. Its thrusters were giving it an unparalleled mobility but the actual maneuverability was total shit. After careful observation and analysis he found out it was because of how it was built. The ship was composed of only hard parts making the joints move barely if they could move at all. That was expected as a ship needed to be sturdy. Thinking about how nearly two decades ago students had made flexible and durable material for the prosthetics that now everyone was using, he wondered if under the ship metal shielding everything couldn’t be made that way or at least the joints parts. The shielding could simply be moved around to be used as supplementary armor.

Really thinking about it for a moment he contacted EDI to see if it was a sound idea or if he was just spouting bullshit because he was way too tired and his brain didn’t filter anything anymore.

‘What do you think?’
‘I think… it could work. With the quarters inside the ship being properly divided there wouldn’t be the need to move things around much. The moving parts connecting them could be made from flexible material and allowed the joints to function as any organic would.’
‘So I wasn’t out of my mind when I thought of that. Good.’
‘I cannot say but I wouldn’t go that far. Should I transfer the idea to Tali and Leeha?’
“No need. I want to put that in the simulation to see broad results. Depending, I’ll do it then.’

That took time, hours, before he was done, modifying here and there the original design. When the arm of the robot made a 360° circle at the elbow he knew he had fucked up somewhere with the parameters. Not feeling like doing everything again but about to do so he was 'saved' by Aezzia who woke up and began to cry. Picking her up for her crib he went to the mini fridge near his lounge area, pulled out a bottle of milk, warmed it up with a laser laying around and after checking the temperature gave it to his daughter. Once she was full, he decided that he was done for the day and went back home.

____________________________________________________________

When he woke up he felt confused. He was in his own bed alone and in his underwear yet didn’t remember doing it.

‘EDI, did you program the nanomachines to take control of my body?’
‘Of course not.’ she replied with an obviously fake innocent voice.
‘...’
‘This was a joke.’
‘For the first time, I’m not laughing.’
‘There is a first for everything.’
‘How, did I get here?’
‘You came home and sat on the couch while holding Aezzia. You watched a bit of a series on the extranet then fell asleep. Ashley and Jane were the first to come in and saw you completely exhausted. The former picked up Aezzia and took care of her, the latter picked you up and brought you here. That was eighteen hours ago.’
‘Eighteen hours?!’
‘Yes. Everyone let you rest because you looked like a walking zombie and clearly needed it.’
‘What about Aezzia, who’s taking care of her?’
‘Ashley is still taking care of her. She said that Liara had helped with her sons when she was away, it was natural she helped with Aezzia too.’
‘Maybe I should hire a nanny, but so soon after her birth…’
‘I can.’
‘No. you took care of my children long enough EDI. I appreciate it but I don't want you to…”
‘I’m not being used as a tool, I do like taking care of babies and young children.’
‘I still don’t like it… Maybe I should contact her grandparents, it’s their job to babysit. Yeah… I’m going to talk about this with Liara.’
‘Very well in any case, my offer still stands.’
“I know love, I know.’

The mental conversation stopped there and Rick got out of bed. He went to the bathroom and removed his underwear to get under the hot shower that did him a lot of good. After that and dressing up he went back to his lab, made an order on the intranet of the ship to deliver flowers and food to Ashley with a thank you / love you card and began to work on the simulation. With a rested mind he quickly and easily found the mistakes he had made the day before. Running the simulations countless times the thing held up perfectly. Satisfied with it he sent it to his quarians ladies who called him an insane genius ten minutes later.

With that done he began working on the report he had received earlier in the week from Arianna, listing all possible biological material that could do what he wanted. Encased perpetrators in some kind of foam that would harden to insane levels and locked them up but that could be melted with some reactive agent immediately. He found it better than using stun guns or tranquilizers to take down non-lethally people. Picking up the datapad with the results he went back home for lunch and found himself alone. It was school after all and all children were either there or at work. He was surprised when Sandra came in for lunch too.

“Hey, Pumpkin! Home for lunch too?”
“No, I already had lunch with Aunt Jane.” she said as she walked towards him and kissed him heatedly.

It’s been months now since their relationship had begun and slowly but surely, Rick was getting used to it. The birth of Aezzia, weeks earlier had put on the back burner any kind of sex with Rick or Liara though Ashley loved to have fun with Sandra who shared the sentiment. She loved the dominant side the young woman was showing and how rough she could be and Sandra finally understood why her father had four children with her.

“I came for dessert, though.”
“Oh? What do we have in the friiiiidge.” he exclaimed as Sandra had dove under the table, and pulled out his cock before sucking on it like no tomorrow.
“I don’t know about what’s in the fridge but I know I want a banana split.” she replied as she stopped bobbing to talk.

____________________________________________________________

He was almost sure his daughter was taking blowjob lessons from either her mothers or one of her Aunts if not more. His legs were all wobbly for a while after Sandra was done getting her dessert. Once he could stand up and walk properly he went to see Tali and Leeha in their lab where he found them working.

A machine was cutting and shaping appropriately the last pieces of metal needed for the ship maquette while the ladies were busy building up the core of the ship and putting the flexible material. On principle he asked he they wanted help but was rebuffed as he expected. Thirty minutes later they had assembled the maquette.

“Okay, let’s see how it does.” Tali said as she opened her Omni-tool and used it to make the small ship take off from the table.
“So far so good.” Leeha commented looking at the results she was getting.
“Let’s try the mode change.”

After a few seconds, the ship landed and began to transform. Part of its fuselage began to shift to a new position while its ‘skeleton’ began to rearrange itself presenting an Humanoid shape. The cannons had been moved towards the back of the robot and could reposition themselves on the shoulders. Thrusters were now separated in three different locations. Sole of the feet, just above the back of the elbows and finally in the middle of the back.

The robot, on Tali’s command, took off and floated stationarily in the air. A burst of a thruster other than the feet and it moved in the correct direction with fluidity. When it was time to test the physical prowess, like grabbing things or simply moving the arms things went not as great. It wasn’t clunky anymore but a bit slow.

“Okay, better than what we expected and it won’t be difficult to fix this problem with different materials.” reported aloud Leeha.
“I think we should put a cannon into the palm of his hands. That could both be used as a weapon but also as a thruster to fly backward.” shared Rick aloud.
“Hmm. That would require a new type of weapon, one that shoots pure energy but can also create just some recoil without causing damages.”
“Not really a problem.” answered her mother.
“The shields?”
“Nothing changed from its ship form. Speaking of.”

And in a few seconds again the robot landed on the table and turned back into a ship.

“Okay that’s good.”
“We’ll need to test it in zero gravity.” said Rick.

Both quarian nodded but were completely immersed in the results they were reading on their omni-tool. Knowing that catching their attention was fruitless, he kissed both their temples, gave a resounding slap to Tali’s ass and ran out the lab hearing the outraged screams of his best friend.

He didn’t know why he was feeling childish and playful today. So forgoing any work because he was the boss and could do what he wanted, he roamed the Cassiopeia in a chilled manner and wondered what kind of chaos he could do.