"That easy to say, but how?" questioned Kikei. She suspected that they had no plan. Chris was normally the guy with the plan.
"We escape, we go to sinelux and we get Zero, easy" Null said without a hint of sarcasm which confirmed Kikei suspicions.
"Where is sinelux, is it defended? how are we getting there?"
"We will ask the dwarves, they'll tell us," said Infy. He did have a plan and that plan was to get Vark to tell them everything they needed.
"So where are the dwarves now?"
"uhm"
Kikei walked over and sat down on one of the chairs. "Why don't we ask the others to help, Chris is good with plans, and I'm sure Jania will like your new spells and suits." This was not the first time she had been on the ship. She had assisted the boys with their experiments even if she didn't understand most of it.
"No!"
"Come on, they deserve to make the decision themselves, I bet Infy agrees with me" she patted the seats on either side of her inviting Null and Infy to sit down.
When they had first started sneaking off together they had found it awkward to have a 3-way conversation. It was Kikei suggestion that Infy uses a spirit projection so she could look at each of them separately.
"Null she does have a point. They should be the ones to make the decision"
"but, but what if they reject us?"
"Then they reject you, you will still have Infy and me," said Kikei. She didn't think they would reject them but didn't want to overpromise.
The three of them sat there and chatted for a while catching up on the last 4 months just like old times.
Kikei had remembered that the boys owed her a suit."Hey, have you finished my suit?"
Both of the boys just smiled at her.
"I take that as a yes, let's go look" she picked up Infy and put him on her shoulder and started to walk to the workshop. Infy had long ago lost the argument about him being a projection and not needing to be carried. Now he played along just to make her happy.
They arrived at the workshop and the first thing she saw was a skintight leather suit.
"hmm boys' that better not be my suit, it looks a bit tight"
"I measured, I can assure you it will fit you perfectly" replied Infy.
"How exactly did you measure?"
Experience had taught both boys that answering questions like that with the truth never ended well, so they changed the topic.
"That is only the undergarment. It is designed to assist your muscles and should increase both your strength and speed significantly." Infy had hoped she would just move on.
"so where the rest of it?
Null then brought out the rest of her armor suit. This was the 3rd revision of their battlesuit technology. They had now embraced their power so had built it using field enhanced material that made it stronger and also lighter.
Suit Profile (Kikei)
Power generator: Fusion
Power Storage: Supercapacitors
Armour configuration: Speed Armor
AI assistance: None
Passive Spells: Energy Shielding, Gravity control
Active Spells: Blink, Gate, Mirror Image, Stasis and Heal
Kikei battlesuit used the fusion generator to supply constant energy to the supercapacitors which allowed her to cast larger spells but not as quickly. The suit had more spells inbuilt than previous generations. Kikei made it clear she didn't want to hurt anyone. So all her spells were for support or defence. It had taken a while but the boys were able to create a prime magic version of Kikei ability so she would be able to accelerate natural healing.
Kikei wasted no time putting on the suit. "Woohoo, Now this is how a badass should dress!. By the way, does this suit block your creepy x-vision thing?"
Null started to blush, "Uhm, no".
"Why are you blushing Null? what were you thinking about?" tease Kikei.
She spent a while familiarising herself with the suit and her spells. She couldn't help but smile she had never felt so powerful. "Come at me Null! I am the all-powerful superhero Doctor Speed!"
Null couldn't let a challenge like that stand. He made a big show of him not being able to catch up but had been slightly increasing his speed and also directing her towards the back corner. Once she was in the perfect position Null increased his speed to max and quickly trapped her into the corner.
He tapped his index finger on her forehead. "Got you! you need a lot more experience before you can come for the king!". They continued training for a while and had lost track of time.
Chris had become worried a day had passed and they still hadn't been able to find Kikei or Null. He hadn't expected to find Null but Kikei would normally do her rounds to check up on the expecting mothers.
"Chris don't worry, she will be with the boys' maybe they are making up as we speak" Jania had put air quotes around the words making up.
"Be serious Jania, the dragons warned mum that they were ready to leave. What if they go without saying goodbye?"
"I would be worried if Kikei wasn't with them, but she won't let them leave. Just be patient"
Lisa had also come to join them, she too was worried about if they had already left, but also about her decision. She had decided to stay on Ollhelian. She could do more here than out in space. She had decided the sense of security was more important to her than adventuring. Lisa also wasn't going to allow the dragons to control her.
Lisa had informed both Jania and Chris of her decision so that they wouldn't be shocked later. Chris was sad as he had enjoyed having his mum around and Jania also enjoyed having an adult figure to help them. They both understood her decision and would support it when the time came. As they were talking a little cube appeared in the room. The cube was soon followed by a Gate with an out of breath Kikei on the other side.
"He was right, all three of you are there, can you please come over here for a bit?"
"hehe Jania, it seems their "making up" is a little different to ours" the comment earn Chris a light slap on the arm. "Behave" is all Jania had to say to make Chris keep his mouth closed.
The three of them entered the gate and found themselves in the observation deck of a huge ship.
"Hey is that a new suit?" Jania ran over to look at the new suit, she check it out from all angles. "They better have made me one, where are they anyway?" Jania had noted the Null and Infy weren't anywhere to be seen.
Kikei looked sad for a moment but got them all to sit down and she explained everything to them. From their fight to how she found them at Chris and Jania sort of daughters pod. She also explained how Null especially had been feeling insecure about their strange natured and feared that they would be rejected.
"Honestly, if you three are going to reject them, I would much prefer he hears it from me than from you. I don't think they would handle it maturely. So I have sent them off on a mission". They could all tell how deeply she cared for them so decided to be honest with her.
Lisa explained how she would be staying and not travelling with them, but it had nothing to do with boys' and was all about herself. Kikei was happy with her response and believed she could make the boys understand.
Chris and Jania had to think for a bit and have a discussion. The news that their souls had both bonded with Jania surrogate daughter had thrown them.
"Mum, did you know about this?"
"Not really, I knew was the context around Kikei and boys' fight but didn't fully understand it"
Chris and Jania were having an intense conversation over their private link before coming to a decision.
"Mum we would like you to raise our daughter like a granddaughter, while we help Null and Infy rescue Zero."
"Chris, she not your daughter. She is the colony child, you know how the system works"
Chris was about to argue back when Null and Infy had returned.
"Hey, why are they here already, I just finished getting the list" Null was confused, Kikei had sent them on a mission to write a list of all the surrogate mothers and their children IDs.
Kikei took the list off the boys'. "Here Lisa, this is a list of all the babies and their mothers. We will leave it up to you to decide what to do with that information."
"Mum, can you at least bring it up with the rest of the leadership team?" Chris wasn't sure how far he could push his mother. Lisa put her hands up "Look I will see what I can do, but I can't promise anything".
"Ok so it decided, Lisa will be staying on Ollhelian to look after the babies and Chris and Jania will come and help us get Zero"
Infy felt like he had missed something.
"One question, Null, Infy will we be able to return?"Jania hadn't heard anything about a return trip.
Infy wasn't sure how to answer the question. "Maybe, It's complicated if no-one interferes we should be able to but if they modify the barrier I can't guarantee it"