Jonathan A Countyman
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Chapter Ninety-One Consultation
🕑 Added 2022-11-19 19:29:26 +0000 UTCKiru reached out with a thought. It had been an interesting time with Kirie. Qelu, and Kirie were curled up asleep on the bed, and Kiru was still awake lying next to the pair. It was time that she had a much overdue conversation. Especially in light of what she had learned about poor Kirie, and what was happening with Riku. There was much that was just wrong, and she wanted to do something about it. Hopefully before Riku’s baby was ripped from her, but at this point it was obvious that a lot of damage control would need to be done. As Riku had clearly been primed to simply let them take her baby.
It took Megumi only a moment to respond to her questing signal. Yes Princess?
She sighed, it was that nickname again, I was thinking about that conversation we had the other day. The one where you told me that you couldn’t fully restore the Imperium. I think I am ready to discuss whatever line of action you have in mind.
In that case, I’ll send the shuttle down. Meet me on the roof, and we can discuss this in person. I have a few new developments to share with you as well.
New developments?
I’ll tell you the details in person, but my network has infiltrated the military. Suffice to say things are quite different there.
Why do I have the feeling you are going to tell me something I won’t like?
I’m afraid you would be right about that, which is one of the reasons I’d rather do this in person. Or rather, as close to in person as you can, when your real form is a twelve kilometer long battleship.
See you in a moment then, replied Kiru before disconnecting. She gently slipped out of the bed, only to be noticed by Kirie who wasn’t as asleep as Kiru had thought.
“Where are you going?”
“Bathroom, I’ll be back in a bit.”
The girl just nodded, and curled back up with Qelu, and Kiru slipped out of the room. Quietly, she made her way up to the roof. As usual it seemed empty and deserted when she got there, but Kiru knew that was not the case. It was quite easy for her to find and board Megumi’s shuttle which had set down moments before she reached the roof. Still, it seemed a little fast, but Kiru had a feeling it had been in the area, or something.
Stepping onto the shuttle she was immediately greeted with a smile by Megumi. “Welcome aboard, would you like to sit down first, or hear what I have learned about the Iniri military programs?”
She settled onto a nearby bench next to the wall, and inquired, “So what did you learn?”
“Keep in mind it’s partly conjecture based on the evidence I have observed.”
Kiru nodded, “I see, can you just tell me?”
“I have learned a few things that have certain implications regarding your previously sterile state.”
Kiru’s eyes widened, “You learned why and when they did that?”
Megumi shook her head, “I don’t know when, but I do have an idea of why. From what I can tell, the Iniri sterilize all higher ranking officers, as they do not want them to get pregnant, and based on what I have heard it sounds like officers are expected to serve indefinitely.” she sighed, before continuing, “I also learned a bit about their technique for doing it. I have noted two different techniques used for sterilizing a girl. The first is their quick and dirty way. They use a special jelly injected directly into the ovaries to facilitate the complete removal of a girl’s eggs. The process kills some of the eggs, but preserves the rest.
“Their other method is much slower but was designed to preserve a hundred percent of the subject's eggs. They make use of an implant secured inside the uterus, to stimulate ovulation and slowly collect the subject’s eggs. These eggs collect in a removable module that can be accessed via the vaginal passage for easy swapping.”
Kiru blinked, “Wait? Are you saying they are after our eggs? Why? What could they be doing with them?”
“I don’t know, yet. Not for sure, but from what I can tell they seem to be using them for breeding programs.”
Kiru felt the blood drain from her face, as dots connected in her mind, “BREEDING PROGRAMS!? Do you mean to say that I might have kids and not even know it?”
Megumi’s features shifted, “I’m afraid so, and no, I haven’t yet acquired your file. I am planning to look for it, and I do have the medical files of one base within reach. I should know if they have your file soon enough.”
“What facility?” inquired Kiru feeling a need to know.
“Starblossom Academy, you know it?”
She nodded while feeling more blood drain from her face, “Yes, I was there.”
Kiru really had been, she had been at Starblossom back when the campus had been here in the capital. Thinking back she had also been to the new campus about five years ago. Her mind hit a block when she realized she had a lot of blank spots about that visit to the new academy. She didn’t even know why she had been there, only that she had been ordered there. As new worries bloomed in her mind, Megumi took her into an embrace, “I see, it will be fine, trust me. If they still have your file, I’ll find it.”
Kiru nodded against Megumi, “When you do, tell me. I need to know.”
“I’ll tell you, but I think there is something you should know first.”
Kiru frowned, “Know what?”
Megumi gestured, and a hologram of a young girl appeared, “Meet Qiri, or a representation of her anyway. She is just one of many girls born and raised entirely under the Iniri system. There is quite a bit I think you should know about her, and others like her. From what I know she was born as part of their breeding program, and raised by a caretaker. Apparently her mother doesn’t even know she exists either. They prepared her from birth for a military career, and they enrolled her in the academy at the age of nine. She is a bit of a special case, but she isn’t alone in being enrolled so young. Worse, many of these girls seem to be heading straight into officer positions, and they sterilize them slowly over the course of their tenure at the academy.”
Kiru gave Megumi a look, “That’s horrible.” she blinked, “Wait, what are they doing with their eggs?”
“Aside from using them for their breeding programs, I don’t know yet.”
Her mind churned as she began to realize how many victims the Iniri had. There was no way things could be returned to the way they were. Especially not with so many girls born and raised under the Iniri system. Almost afraid of the answer she inquired, “how many?”
“That I saw? Too many, they had a nursery with hundreds of young girls awaiting a caretaker. Girls destined to never know their mothers. Given that they have been doing this for years, we are talking about potentially thousands, tens of thousands of young girls raised in this manner. Repatriating them to their families would not be practical, and frankly, for many of them their families are complete strangers.”
Kiru felt a lump grow, “How can this be fixed?”
Megumi sighed, “I can start the process, but I’m afraid someone will have to sit here and babysit the Imperium for the next few decades. I’ve found a friend that can do it, Uliera. She is a dragon that has chosen to nest not too far from here, and she can easily guide the process after I start it.”
Kiru blinked, “A dragon?”
“Trust me, she is the best choice by far for a babysitter, and when we come back I’m sure you will agree.”
“I guess, but what exactly are you going to do anyway?”
“Well that is what we are going to discuss now. I’ve prepared a series of genetic alterations for the Iniri that would make them more inclined towards a more symbiotic relationship and would enable controls so that they don’t get out of hand. The same thing I did with Qelu, which as you’ve already noticed has allowed her to better consider other viewpoints.”
“I’ve noticed,” then she frowned, “How exactly would you distribute that?”
Megumi stood up, “Specially coded nano-virus, it can be distributed on a wide scale, and not only implement my changes to the Iniri population, but can affect the Neku population as well. Not only can I implement genetic changes, but I can alter their conditioning.
“Speaking of genetic changes, there is quite a bit to discuss there. What the Iniri have been doing to your people’s genome is largely beneficial.”
Kiru frowned, “Beneficial? With what they are doing?”
Megumi nodded, “Enhanced psionic, and reproductive ability. On the whole, your species post-change is better equipped to survive. These changes do make it easier for them to brainwash your people, but by the same token it also becomes harder. The key element here is training, and with the way things are set up, they have an easy time conditioning your people to accept being brainwashed rather than resist it.”
“Is there anything you can do about that?”
“Yes, there are a few modifications I can make to help you resist it. They’ve tuned their enhanced genome so that certain elements of your psionic genome are active from birth. These are useful for conditioning a child while their mind is most vulnerable to telepathic influence. There are a couple of things I can do to address this issue, but neither will help those already conditioned. That will have to be addressed later. In fact I’ve already formulated an altered version of their enhanced genome, one that should better suit your people, and will resist their retro-virus.”
Kiru blinked, “Do you think that’s for the best?”
“I do,” replied Megumi.
“I’ll trust you with that. More importantly, how exactly are you going to deploy this nano virus?”
“I’ll need time to manufacture, and program sufficient quantities of it, but I have considered the issue. The most efficient delivery method would be via orbital bombardment.”
“BOMBARDMENT!? Are you insane, the casualties alone would be...”
“Beyond minimal. My targeting scanners and computational abilities are more than sufficient to ensure zero accidental deaths. Delivery will be via disposable single use drones with their own reaction thrusters. Resulting in very low impact velocities, the only way someone could die is if they had the misfortune of actually being struck by a drone. An incident that is entirely avoidable, the mass panic the drones would cause is actually more of an issue. I have a solution for that however, and am already reconfiguring a few of my PPB arrays to fire wide area stun blasts. Biomechs and security drones can be deployed afterward to control the panic after people recover. In all honesty, the real hurdle would be the planetary defense grid, or more specifically the shield. I can take care of it from orbit, but there are risks with that. Risks that can be eliminated by simply disabling the generators on the ground. Removing the shield from play entirely.
Kiru sighed, “That sounds like a plan, but I have a few questions.”
“Ask away...”
They spent a while after that working out the details before Kiru ultimately made her way back down to her apartment, and slipped quietly into bed. This time without disturbing anyone.
