Chapter: Forty-one: Early Morning Pillow Talk
How would one even hold a samurai responsible for their crime? I know and understand that we forgive them for most crimes they commit. But there is a difference between petty theft and more major crimes like slavery, genocide, or rape. Should we still just stand by and forgive those too, or should we do something at that point, and where is that line?
--Professor of the Humboldt University of Berlin of law, in a lecture on where the law should apply.
I forgot how much I enjoyed sleeping in a fancy bed. How soft it feels, and how easily you fall asleep, and most importantly, how many people fit in one bed. Though that last one comes with the unfortunate side effects of having a purple-haired girl snuggled against my chest.
“Why do we always end up like this?” I groan.
I hear a chuckle as arms snake from behind me to hug me close while lips press a kiss to my neck. “I think it is quite cute, compared to your usual interactions.” Cierra whispers in my ear.
I look back at Glowstick’s sleeping face. “Sure, but I would appreciate it if she cuddles up with someone besides me for once.”
“Why? Every time I see the two of you interact, even on the vids, it looks like the two of you are either about to fight or fuck.”
I cough loudly. “Yeah, not happening. I've had enough of acquiring girlfriends.”
“Oh, babe. What happened between you and Katelyn wasn't your fault.” she says as she presses in closer to my back.
“Yeah, I know, but it still stings.” I sigh. “I should have seen it coming. She was too nice when we disagreed on what to do next.”
“Hey, none of that. You had about a thousand other things going on, so no one will blame you if you let your guard down with someone you trusted.”
“But I never let my guard down, not even with you. What is the point of being me, if I just bring more danger?”
Cierra pulls away a bit. "You never let your guard down with me?” She sounds really hurt by that.
“Do I need to remind you that you pulled a knife on me, while I was in a bathtub, naked?”
“Wait, was that you, you, or like, combined you?”
I chuckle, “That was just me. I was about to suplex your ass if you came any closer.”
Cierra burst out laughing. “That would have changed that situation significantly.”
“No, really, I was already calling Bubbles to get the acid to dispose of your body.”
Another kiss on my neck. “Guess I'm lucky you didn’t, then.”
“Lucky? No, luck had nothing to do with it. I got distracted by your two assets, giving you time to come to your senses.”
“Talking about coming to my senses,” her voice became a lot more quiet all of a sudden. “I'm sorry for last night.”
“Sorry for what, exactly? I don’t think you did anything you actually have to apologise for.” I play back the recording of last night in my head, but still can’t find anything.
She takes a deep breath. “The thing about you having my child, I know you don’t want kids, that was inappropriate.”
I turn around, dropping Glowstick on her face as I turn around to look Cierra straight in her eyes. She looks small and a bit scared. I caress her face with one hand, then press a kiss to her lips.
“I would love to have a family with you, including children.” I tell her very slowly.
Her smile becomes impossibly bright at that point. “Really, uhm? How many?”
I laugh. "At least eight, maybe more.”
Cierra baulks at that. “Eight? You think you can handle eight little gremlins running around?”
“No, at least not at the same time, that is why we should put in a gap between each child, maybe like four to five years between them.”
Cierra blinks “That will take about forty years. We’ll be having kids until we are sixty.”
I shrug. “Why not? With samurai tech and all that, I could live to two hundred.”
Cierra raises an eyebrow. “Just two hundred, not forever?”
“I would, but I feel like my brain would give out at some point.” I'm pretty sure I read something like that.
“Isn’t your brain made out of metal now?” she asks, giving me a winning smile.
“Only partially. I think a good sixty percent is still meat,” I admit
“Well, you can spend some time researching that after we bring home our first daughter,” she says before kissing me again. This time we stay like that for a while.
“Daughter? You already decided on the gender?” I know the rich do some baby modification stuff, but that's what Cierra wants, that is still a bit weird.
“Babe, we are both girls. The only possible outcome between women is another girl. We can only have daughters unless we adopt, of course, then we have a lot of options.”
“The way you said that makes it sound like we are shopping for a kid, kind of makes me feel yucky. But I'm not against the idea of adoption.”
“Yeah, hitting the random button would be a lot better there,” she agrees then she smiles. "So, when do we start the baby making?”
“I am pretty sure it is way more science and test tubes for us than whatever it is you are thinking of in your head,” I say with a smile.
“No reason we can’t do both,” she winks at me.
Not having the words nor a reason to object, I lean in for another kiss.
“Not to break the mood or anything, but isn’t Evelin… Maniac? Whatever… Aren’t you missing your eggs?” Glowstick’s groggy voice sounds from behind me.
“They should be in storage at some facility. I can make an appointment to pick them up,” Cierra chirps happily.
“Would it not be better to leave them there since we would need their help to, you know, create life?” I ask, feeling a bit unsure about the specifics of this project.
“Normally, yeah, but not when you are a Samurai. I bet you could buy better and safer tools for any child we want to create,” Cierra says, giving me a significant look.
“I probably need to hunt down some more vegetables to get the points, but sure, that makes sense.”
“My old gene editing pool is on the twentieth floor. You can use that to at least check the validity of the eggs and keep them fresh and healthy with that, until the procedure.” Magenta offers.
“Oh, right, gene editing, I need to replace my skin soon. The constant teleporting isn't good for it. Do you recommend getting a genetic one or going for synth skin?” I ask the room.
“I don’t really know what the difference is, at least at a samurai level, but I like my synth skin.” Cierra says, running a finger over her arm where synth skin hides a compact set of metal and pistons, making her several times stronger than she should be.
“Normally, I would say editing your genes to be more resilient is better, but with the way you tend to hide a lot of your weapons inside of yourself, I think going synthetic might be the safer choice.” Magenta adds to that. “Less mess when you want to change something out.”
“Lyssa, do you have any remarks?” I ask.
Both are options, and with neither option would you lose any sensation. The only thing you lose by going for synthetic skin is that it wouldn't react as actively to environmental stress.
“Environmental? Is this one of these things to make my body space proof again?” I ask, chuckling at myself for the image of me bouncing around on the moon in just a t-shirt next to an astronaut in a full suit.
No, both options would make you space proof. Environmental in this context would mean your skin's natural reaction to heat, cold, friction and other such factors.
“So, no more pimples?” I ask.
Pimples are part of the immune system, but no more burns, frostbite or blisters. This does, however, not mean that your skin will not be taking damage.
“Ah well, I probably have to replace it somewhat regularly anyways, could the nanites fix the skin?”
Lyssa will make sure they have access to the required polymers. This does mean however, that your healing injections will become more expensive.
“That's fine. Theoretically. I will need fewer of them with tougher skin, so the average cost should stay the same.” I say, thinking out loud.
“Is that really how it works?” Cierra asks.
I nod. “Yeah, I mean my skeleton is made out of metal, so more expensive to heal. On the other hand, it doesn't really break, so I have to use way less healing because I don’t break bones that often.”
Cierra's eyes go wide. “How often did you break your bones?”
“With her fighting style, every other fight.” Magenta jumps in.
“Hey, I'm not that bad. I have improved greatly in the month that I have been away.” I try to defend myself.
“So, you didn't lose your foot to a hidden antithesis at all,” Magenta asks, a hint of teasing in her tone.
“Wait, did I tell you about that?” I ask, confused, not sure if I had mentioned the blunder.
“Maniac!” Cierra exclaims, “You lost your foot!”
“It was only a momentary setback; fucker snuck up on me when I went to pee, my leg was gone before I could pull my pants back up and do anything about it.” I say, trying to defend myself. “I had no other injuries besides that.”
Magenta starts to chuckle behind me. And I already start to make all kinds of plans on how I can get her back for this.
“Anyway, back on track,” I say, catching everyone's attention. "So, we get the eggs, get some points to buy an incubator and get some new skin. Am I forgetting anything?”
Cierra shakes her head while Magenta speaks up. "Do you really want to have a kid now? Don’t you need to think about it some more?”
“Maybe, I don’t know. Why do you say that?” I ask.
“Well, having a kid is a responsibility, meaning that the jobs you can do have to be a lot less dangerous. I mean, maybe you can contain yourself, but you don’t feel like the type that normally backs away from a risk, so just think carefully.” While Magenta explains all of that, I notice that Cierra’s face is showing an increasingly guilty reaction.
“You already knew this?” I ask.
“I had considered it,” Cierra admits. “And how if we had a kid, you would be more careful and be home more often.”
I frown. “Is this what they call baby trapping? Not sure how I feel about it.”
Cierra moves her head in a so-so gesture. “We can just get the eggs first, then we can always decide if and when we go through with it.”
I sigh, having no good argument against it. “Fine, but be careful. Most people probably think that I'm dead, and it's better to keep it that way.”
Cierra smiles and starts kissing me, only interrupted when her stomach rumbles. I laugh. "Sounds like it's time for breakfast.”