A Sinner's Eden

***Tirnanog, Mount Aerie***

***Astra***

“It’s fascinating!” Kiera, my gynaecologist, had both hands on my first egg and an ear firmly pressed to the shell. Thalia had introduced us to her when my pregnancy became known and she had been present at all regular health checks with the Tates ever since.

I immediately scolded myself for thinking of my offspring as an egg. It was a child. My child.

Sadly I couldn’t help but feel a slight disconnect with the situation, though Magnus was a great support. He had linked arms and filaments with me and stayed at my side ever since he came back from his appointment.

His finding me freaking out on the floor was so embarrassing! I was sure it would become the topic of quite a few jokes in the future.

Fun aside, the reality of the situation still hadn’t truly settled in yet.

I had become a mother by… laying eggs…

Maybe future generations would see nothing wrong with it, but I just couldn’t take the mental leap. It was too bizarre!

“It seems like the foetus has its placenta inside the shell. Though, it’s probably not right to call this a mere shell. It has blood vessels and a passive respiratory system through all these small pores. It’s alive! This is more of a sponge or a coral. Maybe a manifestation of Astra’s treemonae mutation? And it produces warmth on its own. It’s more like an incubator than an egg!”

The woman who had focused her medical career on birth support whirled on me with a maniacal gleam in her eyes. “Just how did you push those things past your hip-bones, girl? If everything goes according to human biology there should be problems with natural births because we stunted our evolution with medical support. Most women are incapable of giving birth without assistance nowadays. A baby’s head is often too big to pass without complications and this egg is a whole other size category!”

She looked me up and down, her eyes lingering on my hips.

“I-” I fiddled with my fingers and looked around the too-crowded bedroom. Mom, Dad, Iv, Mary, Sienna, Thalia, Kiera, all of them had to see when they heard. And now they looked at me for an answer. “They… just… slipped out? The ‘shell’ was soft and malleable when it happened and only hardened afterwards.”

Did I have to explain this in front of everyone?

I fought to banish the scene and my following freak-out from my memories. This would never again be spoken of if I had something to say about it!

“Marvellous!” Kiera was unstoppable in her enthusiasm for the 'process' and had zero concerns about how I felt. “Are you aware this solves the evolutionary dead-end our species manoeuvred itself into thanks to uncaring application of modern medicine? It’s almost like someone designed this process! It’s perfect.”

She whirled on Sienna. “We somehow have to get our hands on more people with primary treemonae and zipper mutations! We should push to place the two girls who got recently adopted into the clan on a similar evolutionary path. We should be able to provide them with mates who have primary treemonae evolutions, so if we get them a zipper primary, reproducing Astra’s evolution should be possible.”

Sienna cleared her throat. “Please, reign yourself in, Kiera. All of us are aware of your somewhat extreme position on human reproduction.”

“What do you want me to say?” Kiera huffed. “That it’s a good thing to artificially interfere with human evolution? I am not happy with the implications of finishing the thought to its logical conclusion, but ending up with a race of people who are incapable of giving birth without being sliced open with a scalpel can’t be a desirable medical goal. Sometimes, compassion ends up breeding more misery than it prevents.”

The woman who quite clearly was somewhat misplaced in her chosen profession wiggled her eyebrows. “Breeding more misery. Do you get it?”

Nobody laughed.

I leaned over to Thalia. “Why is she here?”

“Because she is the best we have,” Thalia whispered between clenched teeth.

I would find a way to kill Gaia for landing me in this situation – later.

My friend raised a hand in an attempt to slow down Kiera. “Slow down, Kiera. You are making the pair of the hour uncomfortable. How about the children’s health?”

“Oh.” The gynaecologist looked somewhat mollified and put the egg back down on the bed. “All three are fine. I can already hear their heartbeats, but the rapid development seems to be slowing down now that they have entered this egg stage. I am still somewhat surprised I didn’t notice the formation of these shells. Though, it makes sense if what Astra says is true. If the shell only hardened after birth, my echolocation might’ve mistaken it for normal tissue. It’s really hard to discern between flesh, skin, or a soft membrane.”

“Great,” Magnus commented with a fake cheer in his voice. “Could we now all step out of our bedroom? Having so many people in here makes me uncomfortable.”

Kiera immediately relapsed to her strange side. “Can you tell me whether that’s an instinct? Do you want to protect the eggs? Or is it about having a whole crowd of people in your and your wife’s most private space?”

This time, I answered, but I didn’t hide my irritation behind a mask of false cheer. “Both! Please vacate the room.”

Thankfully, nobody objected, and I let out a sigh of relief once everyone was outside. The door closed, and with it, the eggs were out of easy reach. The tension I had unconsciously been holding under control fell away.

“Do we… have to keep them warm or something?” Magnus asked a question I hadn’t thought of.

Kiera pursed her lips as she considered it. “I don’t believe so, given they aren’t eggs in a traditional sense. Having them too warm beneath a blanket might be detrimental because of reduced air circulation. On the same account, it might help to turn them over regularly. At the very least it won't hurt them. What are your instincts telling you? Do you want to have them at a warmer place?”

I thought about it. “No, not particularly. Admittedly, carrying them to our bed was just a knee-jerk reaction of mine because I couldn’t think of another soft surface.”

The gynaecologist gave me a knowing smile. “Then it should be fine.”

“Should be?” Magnus snorted. “Why doesn’t that assure me?”

Kiera raised her hands. “What do you want from me? It isn’t like I’ve other parents with your set of mutations to compare with. In my experience, when a reproductive process deviates drastically from the norm it’s best to listen to one’s instincts. The nano-machines rarely intervene in such a manner without giving the host the ability to cope with the changes. A mutation and the corresponding instincts are genetically linked, but I will keep monitoring the situation to be safe. As of now, I don’t see a reason to do more than necessary. Taking measures beyond what feels reasonable risks doing something detrimental. The eggs seem fine and healthy. Keep it that way.”

Magnus ran a hand over his forehead. “I see. Thanks for the advice.”

“You are welcome.” Kiera turned and left our living quarters after excusing herself to the rest of the family.

“I am so envious!” Thalia was suddenly at my side, pulling at my cheek. “How can anyone be so lucky? Stop looking like someone stole your pet!”

I removed her hand from my cheeks. “Sorry. It was a shock.”

“Oh, come here!” Mom pushed Thalia aside and gave me a warm hug. “Where is all your confidence from earlier? I am sure it will be fine!”

Iv and Dad only watched us with somewhat serene expressions while they tried to come to terms with their new titles of aunt and grandpa.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

I had to smile involuntarily as I was reminded of my earlier bravado regarding my pregnancy. Gaia had promised everything would go well. And it was well, even if not exactly as I had imagined. The avatar probably hadn’t even meant us ill. This was yet another case of her not understanding human sensibilities.

“Yes. Thank you. It will be fine.”

***Tirnanog, Mount Aerie***

***Magnus***

“It’s strange...” I mused while I went over the observatory’s logs.

Hayne Ortega, elder of the fifth strata, and in charge of copying my archives to paper format had overheard me and came over.

“Something the matter?”

“Well, something is very strange about this planet,” I commented while I kept scrolling through the logs. “I’ve mentioned the observatory some time ago. I’ve been digging into the program because it interests me. Back on Earth, I did a similar job in the astrophysics department while I was still an upright member of society and working at the university.”

“I can remember you mentioning the program,” Hayne replied.

“The thing kept running for the past few hundred years, and while we don’t have any actual images, I’ve found a continuous record of sensor readings like solar irradiation, temperature, atmospheric density, light pollution...” I waved towards the chart I had drawn with the data inside the observatory’s database.

The elder pursed his lips. “I am educated on a great many things, but I must admit this is a hole in my education. Why would an observatory need to know these things or log them?”

I glanced at him before I returned my attention to the chart. “Modern observatories have their equipment on a satellite in orbit, which makes all of this unnecessary. But this one had its equipment planetside. When you are using a telescope to look through an atmosphere at the stars, you have to account for something called atmospheric warping to stabilize the image. Old telescopes did this via basic image correction, but more modern versions incorporated all of these values into the process to account for additional lensing effects near the horizon. It was a fairly common technique to widen the telescope’s range of view until it became cheaper to just put satellites into space. Nowadays, nobody wants to bother with atmospheric interference while watching the universe.”

He nodded. “I still don’t understand the problem.”

I pointed at the chart which showed solar radiation and atmospheric temperature on the same timescale. “These records are by their very nature a history of the planet’s climate. I’ve been wondering about the harsh winter ever since I learned of it.”

Placing a hand on my chest, I tried to convey a problem I wasn’t sure was a problem. At the very least, it was a mystery which nagged at me. “I am by no means a climate expert, but this planet has almost no tilt to its axis. According to my understanding, aside from some microclimatic anomalies, this should mean the seasons have to be almost non-existent.”

Hayne harrumphed. “I know the basics of how the change of seasons is driven by the tilt of a planet.”

I traced the sun exposure chart with my finger. “This shows the local star’s radiation. It’s going up and down with summer and winter. Which shouldn’t be possible without the planet having a tilt, thereby changing the angle of incidence. The only explanation why the radiation would change anyway would be for the star to change its radiation output. Or something blocking the star’s light in cyclic intervals.”

“Which are both impossibilities as far as we know,” Hayne replied slowly. “Tirnanog’s sun is a white dwarf. Which should be a very stable star according to my knowledge?”

“Right,” I affirmed. How a white dwarf got to have a planet in the habitable zone was another question, but I didn’t want to go into this right now. We just didn’t have the equipment to research any of this. And it wasn’t like humans knew more than two solar systems from close up to draw many comparisons.

A sample size of two wasn’t very significant to draw conclusions about the rest of the universe.

Hayne regarded the chart with a raised eyebrow. “I doubt we have anyone who made more than a token effort to study the climate, but this sounds like an important mystery. I will log it for the strata as a matter to be researched.”

I frowned. “What does that mean?”

“The fifth are the keepers of knowledge,” Hayne explained. “For someone to gain accomplishments within our strata, he or she has to solve one of the mysteries troubling our society. If a problem is logged in our records, solving it is assured to raise you through the ranks. No matter whether the solution turns out to be a real issue for the clan or not.”

“I see.” It certainly wasn’t wrong to know your environment’s peculiarities. “I guess it’s good you see this as a problem.”

The elder looked amused. “Even if it isn’t one of our immediate issues, or turns out to be of no concern to our survival, knowing why Tirnanog’s seasons act as they do sounds like important knowledge.”

He looked towards the scribes who were copying the latest journal. “You have brought something of great worth to us. Thank you for paying us regular visits to ensure everyone can work with this device.”

“It’s nothing.” All I had done was to give them schooling on the computer’s office functions. Everything else was locked away behind my admin-level access – a password only I knew. “Have you studied the provided documents? Any idea how long it will take to uplift Tirnanog to Earth’s technology standards?”

Hayne frowned while he considered the scribes. “A few things were reported to me of immediate worth. Like designs for more cost-effective power generators. Sadly, I am afraid decades might pass before we will see any visible change coming from it. Our main problem remains, which is access to certain elements which aren’t found around Mount Aerie. We will have to unify the clans and take control over this planet before we can build any real industry.”

“I understand the problem,” I replied. “Though, allow me to say I am already impressed with what you have.”

“Thank you. Generations have lived and died to build this haven of safety.” He looked around, indicating the colony as a whole. “I would love to see future generations no longer having to hide inside this mountain.”

I nodded. “I guess I will call it a day and go to see my wife.” I closed the charts and indicated the folder with the raw data. “The information with what I managed to dig out of the program’s database is here. In case someone decides to take a look.”

Hayne acknowledged it and I excused myself, leaving the Hall of Law.

The fastest way back to the estate was taking the nearby elevator three levels down and then a carriage.

After the tenth trip, I already made my way on autopilot while my mind drifted off to other things.

I entered the public elevator and watched the central living cavern through the glass window, wondering whether I would get to see the changes I brought to this world.

Two men grabbed me by the arms while I was imagining a whole new civilisation springing forth from Mount Aerie.

“What-”

I gasped as a metal spike bloomed from my chest, right where my heart was.

It was hard to rationalize what had happened until the passenger in front of me turned around, drawing a similar metal spike with a handle from beneath his jacket.

The person who had knifed me from behind tried to draw out his weapon, but the filament weave beneath my clothes tightened and prevented the weapon from coming back out. All the assassin accomplished was to pull me back, including the two men holding me.

Then the pain came, blessedly awakening me from my stupor.

The bioluminescent lines on my exposed neck flared up in an explosion of blinding light while I discharged an electric strike into everyone touching me.

My chest hurt and my skin burned, but my body kept moving while I relied solely on my Second Sight which was unaffected by the sudden brightness.

The attacker in front of me hesitated briefly, which was enough to land a low kick to his mid section. The force of the blow sent him stumbling backwards and cracked the window pane.

Simultaneously, I drew my arms together and threw myself backwards, pushing the man behind me against the closed elevator doors.

Since the left one had grabbed me just at the upper arm, I managed to bring my forearm up and to my right attacker’s face.

Fingernails of hardened mindflayer chitin dug into skin as I scratched and pulled.

A scream of agony followed and he let go, freeing my right arm which immediately whipped around to punch the left attacker in the face with a satisfying ‘whack’!

All of this happened while I was still trying to process what was going on. My main self couldn’t fathom why someone would try to assassinate me, but this didn’t matter to the sub-identities I had commandeered to watch out for threats, and they were taking over independently while my body blurred.

My newly freed left arm drew the combat knife I had gotten for daily utility. The knife hammered the right man’s side like the needle of a stitching machine. It took a mere second to whip around and strike the man behind me who turned out to be a woman.

At the same time, my foot kicked out backwards and sent the attacker who still had his spike back against the window, cracking it further. He tried to stab me this time, but the metal spike glanced off the filaments covering my foot as I turned with the kick.

I grabbed the woman at the throat and on her belt, discharging a second lightning strike – solely aimed at her this time.

The body went taut while I picked her up with a roar and whirled her around at the assassin in front of the window.

The third impact, plus the weight of two bodies was too much for the reinforced glass and both assassins went sailing out of the elevator.

It neatly removed two variables from the equation, but it left the remaining assassin I punched earlier room to tackle me to the ground.

He was unimpressed when I tried to electrify him and the knife glanced off his skin which was like liquid metal. I tried to jam the blade into his eyes while he choked me, but he closed them, turning himself impermeable to my attacks. Additionally, he tucked in his neck to prevent me from choking him back.

I abandoned the attempt and pressed the knife’s pommel to his temple while I applied pressure with my knuckles from the other side. Done right, this caused extreme pain to normal humans and this man was thankfully no exception. Tears fell from his eyes, but he wasn’t deterred.

Instead of firing another lighting strike, I supercharged my muscles and connected my wrists with my filaments to create a lever. My two arms formed now a reverse plier.

Once I was sure my filaments would hold, I pressed, forcing my elbows apart.

It took a moment before he let go of me. With a scream of pain he gave his best to get out of my grasp, but it was too late. Then he tried to pry my arms apart. Exactly the wrong reaction because of the lever I had created. Instead of lessening the force applied to his temples, he only added to it.

There was a crack, like breaking a nut, and the body went limp on top of me.

I rolled him off and gasped. Being tackled to the ground had only driven the spike further in despite the weave.

Coughing, I touched the wound and my hand came away slick with blood and some black, oily substance.

Poison! One of my sub-identities screamed in the back of my mind.

I had to get up. Find help.

I tried to, but my body was a trembling wreck, refusing my command. With the last vestiges of consciousness, I saw someone climbing back in through the broken window.

One of the assassins had survived! I had to get up and fight, but I couldn’t! Coughing again, I retched up bloody foam while my vision darkened.

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