Nori turned to the still bewildered woman. “So, now that you’ve had your first encounter with an alien, how about an artichoke?”

***

Alone on the bridge, Nathan’s pod opened up and the young man stepped out, his brow arched in a frown.

For a while now he sensed something weird from the ship. A sort of unexplained yearning.

Following his instincts, he stepped into the small storage room beside the engine room and his eyes were instantly drawn to one of the closed compartments. Whatever was in there, Unity wanted it.

A warm white light greeted him when he opened the compartment. The essence core they had taken from the Broodmother sat inside an open box. Glowing with its mysterious light.

From this up close, the young Technomancer could feel a strange vibe coming from the item. It was similar to the way the Tec felt, but different somehow. More refined.

The gentle yearning pull grew stronger and a host of other emotions shouted through their connection.

Eagerness. Longing. Need.

The Technomancer closed his eyes and surrendered himself to the feeling. A series of images flashed in his mind. He opened his eyes with a small pleased smile.

“I understand.”

He picked up the glowing essence core and returned to the bridge.

Standing at the center of the bridge he raised his hand and a single pylon grew up toward it.

“You share my soul,” he said plainly. “But it’s time you had a mind as well.”

He released his grip, letting go of the core.

Instead of falling on top of the raised column, the glowing orb remained hovering just above it.

Then it started rotating.

Crackling bolts of purple energy grew around the pylon and shot off at the rotating sphere. Purplish cracks started crawling over it, quickly spreading to cover the entire surface, until all that remained was a partly transparent, purple sphere of energy. The pylon retracted back into the floor, leaving the spinning item, flying in the air.

The orb pulsed once and a soft woman’s voice came from it.

“Thank you, Nathan.”

***

Lana followed Alzigo to the lounge area. She sat on a cushy divan while her host took a tall bar stool.

“I trust the ammunition I supplied was adequate for your purpose?” he asked politely.

“Oh, yeah.” Lana smiled at him. “They worked like a charm; we got rid of all the Warped in the area.” Her face suddenly fell. “There were a lot of casualties, but we wouldn’t have stood a chance without them.”

Alzigo nodded gravely. “It is impressive that such primitive ammunition was capable of subduing a Broodmother. I assume the reward was quite bountiful, seeing you and Nori have both gained two levels since the last time I saw you.”

Lana nodded. “It was. We have the piTec to repay our loan. I also need to buy another communication implant.”