Alex had a strange dream. Like, strange.
She was back in the completely black personal system space so she thought she'd somehow died after killing the female lead. Angry, she yelled out at 001, "You little bitch! Clearly, my mission required me to kill her, yet why am I here?!"
Out of spite, 001 ignored her. He also didn't know why she was there, so why did she have to go and call him names? Since she wanted to be mean, the wronged system decided to just remain silent and act like he wasn't there. His host would find out eventually that she didn't fail her mission on her own anyway.
Having not received a response from the system for what seemed like half a day, Alex sighed, calming down as she dropped to the floor to sit.
So, do I just wait here or what...
She sat staring into the empty space, thinking about nothing in particular as seconds passed. Then minutes. Then hours, until she couldn't take it anymore and was just about to fall asleep and have a nice dream inside what seemed like a dream already.
Of course by that time she figured out that she was still Alex with her fiery red orange hair and combat suit. Every time she returned to the system space she would be herself, not the persona she had just left.
Just as she laid down and began closing her eyes, a timid voice called out,
"...mommy?"
Since the voice was so quiet, just like a whisper, Alex thought she was hearing things after having been in deathly silence for so long so she initially ignored it and kept her eyes shut.
However she jumped up with a kick and eyes alert when she felt a cold hand on her left arm.
"Who the fu--" she choked down her words at the sight of the peerlessly cute, adorable, and beautiful androgynous child sitting right beside her.
Their hair was pure white, which stood out even more against the pitch-black space. The orbs staring back into Alex's pale blue ones were like a rainbow of colors. Not all at once, but as the viewing angle shifted, the hue would follow suit and change accordingly.
The child was wearing absolutely nothing, and their pale skin seemed even more ghostly white along with their hair once again due to the surrounding darkness.
Bringing her gaze downward to that area shamelessly, Alex found to her amazement that nothing was there. No vagina, no penis. Nothing. Truly androgynous.
At Alex's outburst, they flinched from fright but refused to back away. Their reluctance was clearly conveyed through those luminous eyes.
The small smile also slowly turned downwards into a sad arc as if they had been wrongly accused before their tears started rippling within their eyes, threatening to fall at any moment as they stared longingly into her own.
Momentarily speechless, Alex could only lower her stance and get to the matter at hand,
"Kid, who are you. Do you know why we are here?"
As if afraid to speak, the kid first made sure that they were allowed to by peering into Alex's eyes hesitantly before answering in a somewhat clumsy manner by lowering their chubby little hand to Alex's own slender ones before muttering softly,
"...mommy."
Unable to understand, Alex raised a brow questioningly,
"Where's your mom?"
Since the kid obviously didn't know anything she felt it was better to just go to their mom to find answers. That way, she could probably leave or something.
But, instead of the typical response she expected, which was either sobbing at the fact that they didn't know where their mom was or telling her about their mom, the child only tightened their grip again as they looked up at Alex with hope-filled eyes that were still glistening with unshed tears.
Okay seriously who is this adorable child ah. And I don't even like kids.
It was true, Alex was the type who preferred a life without much interaction with children. She didn't hate them, but she didn't like them either. They were simply too high maintenance, and she felt that she didn't even care for her own parents so why would she possibly care for children?
Thinking the kid was just refusing to cry and putting up a strong front even though they were obviously looking for their mom, Alex uncharacteristically offered to help them search,
"Sigh. Let's find your mom, okay?"
She returned the child's grip with her own fingers wrapping themselves around those squishy hands that were begging to be pinched and bitten as she propped herself up to stand.
Dusting off the nonexistent dust and dirt from her thighs with her free hand, Alex smiled lightly and gently down at the child before bringing her face to their level to get some clues.
"So, is your mom in here too? Or is she somewhere else?"
The child was staring at their interlocked hands, happiness flashing inside those rainbow orbs. Their lips raised once again, but this time much less restrained than their previous smile as their eyes brightened and cheeks flushed in joy.
"Mommy is here. Right?"
"Uhhh..." How should I know?
Alex's brows furrowed before she answered, unsure,
"Yes?"
Then, without any warning the kid let go of her hand and pounced on her, knocking her off her unstable position of crouching down. They hugged her tightly, burying their face into her warm and soft chest blissfully.
Alex's face darkened at the thought that the child was just another pervert but before she could say or do anything to pry them off, they giggled,
"I love you, mommy."
Then Alex felt extremely lightheaded before blacking out again.
Meanwhile, 001 thought that he was malfunctioning from the moment the child appeared! Why was someone else in his system space ah! How could that be possible!!! Couldn't that have meant only one thing?! Well, thinking in that way, it wasn't completely inconceivable...literally. Haha.
But Alex was totally unaware. It was his fault for staying quiet and keeping his screeching to himself.
When Alex opened her eyes to the bright light of day in stark contrast to the space she had just exited, she couldn't help but narrow them in pain.
"Alex!"
Nile had been laying down beside her, keeping a vigilant watch over his wife from the moment she fell. They were no longer in space, but rather in his temporary apartment on colony B-418. She had been sleeping for three days!
Finally having adjusted somewhat, Alex was met with those light blue eyes, tinged with worry and concern. Before she knew it, Nile's arms around her pulled her towards himself, cupping her head in his large calloused hands as he softly kissed her, licking and nibbling on those soft lips that had turned pale over the past three days.
Pulling himself away before he lost control, Nile let out a relieved sigh, his chin resting on the top of her head as Alex breathed in the man's pleasant scent from his neck.
"I thought I lost you...both of you."
He was so warm, that Alex wanted to just fall asleep again since she wasn't really sleeping at all. Or, at least she felt that she didn't get a wink of sleep due to that dream of hers.
But then, she confusedly raised her head from Nile's neck,
"Both? Who else?"
Surprise flashed in his icy blue eyes before quickly being replaced by happiness as he beamed brightly,
"You don't know? Such an irresponsible system you have. If you never passed out and Zero didn't scan you we probably would have never found out."
Oh, speaking of Zero...
"Who is he this time...?"
"Starship 549," he deadpanned.
"Oh."
The hell!
That was possible?!
No wonder he knew everything that went on and since he was the ship he didn't need to do anything else but read her mind to know what she was thinking especially out of boredom! Who wouldn't get bored being a stationary ship and all!
"Baby, aren't you ignoring the most important thing?" Nile helplessly smiled at his wife who probably had too much to take in.
"Oh yeah. What's that all about, by the way? And I know, 001 is useless."
001, [I also just found out ah! It's not my fault that the child deliberately hid itself from my scans!]
He always scanned his host after the mission worlds to show her stats and mission rewards. However, he never got any readings that she was with child!
Of course, his protest was ignored.
"You're a mother," Nile hugged her gently as he brought one palm down to caress her still flat stomach, "and I'm a father."
Alex's eyes opened wide in shock, "Wait, what the hell! This body literally hadn't touched a man until just yesterday! Or uh, five days ago? That's impossible!"
Chuckling in amusement at her outburst, Nile playfully bit his woman's ear as he patiently explained,
"Baby, it's not 'Alex' who is pregnant. It's 'you.'"
Well, that explanation did nothing to alleviate her confusion.
"And how is that different? How is that even supposed to work ah?"
Alex rubbed the ear he just bit with her palm.
Nile buried himself in the crook of her neck, breathing in her sweet soapy scent before licking and sucking her pale skin and leaving red marks as he did,
"Well, you will see in another nine months."