C43 The World you knew (e)
The World you knew.
Anthony deeply inhaled one more time before he opened the door to the Conference room, thinking he steeled himself well enough to try and finally get to the bottom of things.
But what he saw when the door opened was something he had not been prepared for after all, as there was another fox creature sitting on one of the chairs, with wings that seemed far to large for such a small stature. And this beast kin form, it was the first male he saw amongst the Siren.
But he recalled, there was mention of one male specimen, and he was described as Nah’Rahan, and not Siren. There was not much else about him, but if he was here, that may just suggest that this was a special situation for them as well, probably.
Although, he felt like he has seen something like him before, something that was nagging at the back of his mind, but that he could not clearly recall. But that may just be a misconception, he was surrounded by beings that had a form leaning into animals known to Humans, he might just have seen one of the Siren in a similar appearance before.
“Welcome, I am-, “ The seemingly young fox humanoid begun, about to stand up and greet Anthony, but then Ina, who stood besides him would interrupt.
“ Is Moody ! “ She joyfully proclaimed, drawing the male’s gaze to her with a hint of frustration that was once more being disarmed by that innocent look of hers.
“ Modaran. “ He corrected after deeply inhaling, slowly stroking over Ina’s head, which at least kept her content enough to just enjoy.
Though Ina’s eyes where shyly following Anthony now, which was suggestion enough to Modaran that Ina would much rather dart towards his side, which she restrained herself from at the moment.
“ Pleasure to meet you, I guess. “ Anthony responded, pulling a chair out so he could take a seat on it, briefly to look over to Tilly who still stood there, waiting to be of assistance if possible, in part because she was one of those Ina had always come towards for attention when Anthony was occupied, which gave her least some degree of influence over her.
“ Yeah, admittedly not the ideal situation, this is not how we hoped to tell you about her. But things seldom go as planned. “ Modaran admitted.
“So, where do we start ? “ Anthony asked, not going to ask directly about Ina, as he now suspected to hear the whole picture.
He was a bit surprised that neither Marianna nor Thomas were here, given how they had established themselves in his view as the leading figures of Eden. But he had a feeling that the reason for this may be revealed if he just listened for now.
“ Well, Ina would be the most obvious point, as it’s probably the start of this situation. “ Modaran uttered, seeming a little uncomfortable as Ina leaned against him, this form of affection was a little outlandish for him, as no other Nah’Rahan behaved like this, not even remotely.
“ Well, I guess to some degree anyway. Much of what I am about to tell you is conjecture, but it is the best I have at the moment. “ Modaran warned before he dared lay out what he suspected and knew.
“ I think, your ship, the Hope as you call it, had an accident. And our Nah’Rahan first happened across it, and fixed your ship, good as she could. And for some reason, she decided then to create and leave Ina in your care.
By what we know from your AI, your crew may have come across her, and she probably had no form then. I guess they tried researching her, and that woke part of her, enough to defend herself, and seek a spot to hide in. “ Modaran begun to explain, and seeing as Anthony was more inclined to just listen for now, he would go on.
“ She has been, well, hibernating for most of her life, and only been acting on instinct. And when she learned to trust you, she imprinted on you. She probably adapted, learned to gain your attention, waiting for the day she can show herself to you and be claimed as a mate.
And it shows in her current acting, she only knows for now, how she got your attention as the Vixen, being cute and demanding always worked so far, so she has not yet understood that she needs to adapt further, which likely wont take her long. “ He explained.
“ Ina Like Anthony, Lots. “ Ina then proclaimed, seeming to understand what Modaran was suggesting, as she tried to shift gears, dropping the cuteness to some degree.
“ Ina, give him time. “ Modaran warned.
Ina would not listen though, and simply sauntered over towards Anthony, who watched the act with a raised eyebrow. And once she was besides him, she would take his hand, and boldly place it onto her right hip while she leaned against him.
It made Anthony feel a bit uncomfortable, but if that kept her happy for now, he’d keep his hand there. And at the very least, she was now showing a boldness that made it easier to accept her advance over the childish act from before.
“ Ina Sing lots. Make Anthony happy. “ She then proclaimed, as if to show off towards Modaran that she would have her way.
“ And as you can see, she is clearly Nah’Rahan, she’ll try to have her way. She’ll probably be patient for a while, and give you a chance to act first, but she’ll probably escalate her efforts to get what she wants. “ Modaran warned, and Anthony understood well enough what he was getting at, given what he read about them.
Though he could not see Ina acting like that, he understood that she was still someone he may need to be careful about, and recalling the suggestion, that the only way to get a Nah’Rahan to behave, was to have her submit.
And that was where his greed kicked in.
Tilly referred to Ina as a first, and she already shown a hint of how much stronger she was then the Siren, and she likely was much stronger then that still. She was aiming for him to claim her too, so, before she escalated, he should probably establish dominance over her, and make sure she gave into her nature, right ?
It somehow still felt wrong with her, but he moved now to pull her into his lap, where he would pull her thighs apart, and slowly start roaming his hand up and down along her inner thigh, causing her to shiver with delight.
“ Sit, and be a good Vixen for me. “ He would whisper at her left ear, which gave her another shiver.
“ Ina be good, sing lots. “ She ushered, leaving Modaran to sit and watch that scene with a hint of distaste.
Modaran understood the way his Sisters were made, though he felt Ina was a bit different, and watching Anthony moving so quickly now. Well, it was not wrong, but he was never one to find much joy in his sisters way of life.
“ So, any Idea why your first left Ina with me ? “ Anthony asked then, trying to get the conversation back on track.
“ Only assumptions still. But it seems like she is planning something, and she has made preparations for it since a long time ago. To be exact, Jonathan Cole, the young man that left your Ship back then, he is the founding father of Eden, settled it with Marianna over 800 years ago. “ Modaran begun, laying out the next bombshell for Anthony to digest.
“ Over 800 years ago ?! “ Anthony uttered, as if to make sure he heard right, pausing the movement of his hand, much to Ina’s disappointment.
She used that moment to get up, turn around, and sit back down on Anthony’s lap, so she could face him. Leaning against his chest as he just watched her in initial confusion. Even to boldly guide his hand to hold onto her rear, as if telling him not to stop caressing her.
“ Yes. The New Horizon he flew, I think the first took it to this system in preparation for your arrival. I think she tricked Marianna, by hand delivering Jonathan to her arms. The ship he came in lost control and it’s systems failed, so that he was stranded here.
And Marianna was a welcome distraction to the young man, so much, she Terraformed Eden for him, and begun the founding of Eden with him. Gave him children, and created more daughters for him to give him everything he could ask for.
By Marianna’s claim he was quite happy, lived for over 300 years on that world. He is the one that gave them the name, Siren. He influenced Marianna so much, the cohabitation with Human’s is in part to honor Jonathan’s wish, for them to create a Paradise for both species. “ Modaran explained.
“ Over 300 ? “ Anthony uttered.
“ Yes, commonly, Human’s on Eden can reach an age of around 400 years on Eden, as the Siren use their abilities to prolong their life. “ Modaran elaborated.
“ But, over 800 years ? The Sleeping Capsule should not have been able to hold out for more then 70, before a waking cycle would be absolutely necessary, and by then, brain damage can occur. We where set for a 50 year cycle, 60 at most, before a mandatory waking cycle of about a year was set. “ Anthony claimed.
“ Unless, your ability permitted this requirement to be circumvented. It may also be reason why your former crew could not repair your ship, we think it likely that you held the entire ship in a form of, stasis, much like you did the reactors.
And that too, may be the very reason why the First set you up with Ina. It feels like she is giving you tools for something, and I have no understanding of what that may be. “ Modaran offered.
“ Hooh, Ok. “ Anthony muttered, having to digest this for now.
“ So, she set up Eden indirectly for my Arrival ? “ Anthony asked.
“ Pure speculation on my part, but I doubt Jonathan’s ship would have reached this world without help. And she may have helped your ship in a similar fashion to reach this place. And I guess, it’s so you have the means to repair it.
Probably even so you can get your hands on some of the Siren, as they are more easily controlled. A form of, training, to lower your inhibitions before Ina wakes, so you wont even think twice about making her yours. “ Modaran suggested.
“ Well, I guess she did achieve that part at least.” Anthony admitted, and feeling a little more emboldened by the suggestion that Ina was specifically prepared to be claimed by him, he’d soon find his hand slipping below Ina’s dress to firmly knead her left buttock, which made her moan softly against his chest.
“ I can tell. “ Modaran responded while Anthony tried to see if he could see a pattern here, something that suggested what the First’s aim was. Though there was nothing plausible for him to consider yet.
“ There is more though. There is reason to believe that you been out there far longer. “ Modaran spoke, trying to get Anthony back on track now, with some success, as Ina was clearly intent on pressing the teasing into more, given how she shifted in Anthony’s lap to render herself more, accessible.
“ How much ? “ Anthony bluntly asked while his hand started to explore that offer as it roamed over Ina’s womanhood, which prompted her to press needy against his touch, and slowly grind against his hand. And Anthony just held his hand in place then, just to have her work more insistently.
“ Somewhere around 3200 and 3500 years. Exact timing is a bit hard. “ Modaran stated.
“ What ? That is impossible. “ Anthony insisted.
“ No. Earth experienced a catastrophic event that wiped nearly all of humanity out. By then, there where already a few colonies outside the Sol system. But the collapse of earth allowed much knowledge to be lost.
Not sure how long it lasted. But when Humanity recovered, much had changed. They have aggressively expanded since, and control over 700 systems, 600 of which have planetary settlements of various degrees now.
By their latest count, 3179 years have passed since Humanity recovered. And since 734 years, they call themselves the Terran Commonwealth. “ Modaran explained, and then formed a holoprojector that he placed onto the table, where it then displayed a galactic map with areas marked in different colors.
“ The red systems belong to the Terran Commonwealth. Blue are independent, and yellow. Well, that would be the Seltran Union, a species of sentient AI, currently at war with the Terran’s. “ Modaran noted.
Anthony paused in his play with Ina entirely, much to her disappointment as she whimpered a soft, “Mean ! “ At him, while he looked closer at that map, seeing a map of loosely connected star-systems that were marked as Terran territory, with some far outliers marked as Independent, and somewhere along the outermost edge of Terran Space, the Seltran union.
“ Why, did the Terran’s ignore so many Systems between the area’s they control ? “ Anthony asked, as that was a point that made no sense to him yet, and it still seemed unbelievable to him as the suggested distance implied they had a means to travel at incredible speeds to reach out that far.
“ Drive constraints. They use what they call, Phase lanes, most of their Systems have natural phase tunnels they can travel through with a Phase drive. Cuts down any jump between systems to no more then two hours, seldom more.
They have the technology to pave their own phase lanes, but connecting a system takes hundreds of years, so they spread out through natural lanes. And they started to gradually send out ships to lay phase lanes to other systems within their range.
The ship we are giving you, it has a Phase drive installed, so you can explore todays humanity yourself. I am not sure if that is within the Firsts expectations. But I doubt I would be sitting here if she intended to leash you. “ Modaran explained.
“ That is, a lot. “ Anthony admitted, and felt then how Ina leaned up, trying to regain his attention as she begun to kiss him on his lips.
“ Shh. Ina. Wait just a little ? “ Anthony uttered, trying to have her calm a bit.
“ Ina not want. Ina, need attention. Ina need Anthony. “ She insisted.
“ Well. We did plan to explain this over the span of a few days, originally. And I guess, you could use some time to digest this. So, how about you sleep it over, and we have Aria send Hope all the relevant information for now ? “ Modaran offered, seeing that Ina was determined to get more, now that Anthony had fallen for the charm of claiming her.
“ I guess. “ Anthony admitted, that was a lot to take in, and he was still surprised how well he was soaking the information in himself.
But perhaps his previous assumption was on the spot, about how he was growing numb to all these, unrealistic changes he was going through. And Ina was not making it easy now either to clearly think things through.
“ Good. Then, how about I come back tomorrow with your new ship ? And you can decide what to do then. “ Modaran offered, already getting up as he could see how Ina was growing impatient.
“ Oh, a fair warning. Unlike Other Nah’Rahan, Ina seems capable of the whole emotional spectrum. Which means, she can probably experience Love, and Jealousy. So, it might be a good idea to keep that in mind. “ Modaran warned.
“ Huh. “ Anthony uttered, looking at Ina who seemed to blush quite a bit now.
“ Love, yes ? Anthony, make love ? ” She whispered lustfully at him.
“ I think, I will be leaving you two to it then. “ Modaran said, shaking his head a little at the pair. Though he would still nod towards Tilly, signaling her to follow him out, as Ina and Anthony would quite likely be occupied to get, reacquainted.