Point Zero by Aer-ki Jyr (christmas read aloud TXT) 📕

left the first one in his quarters with a plate of food for it to chew on, he’d returned some 22 hours later after a string of workouts and medical tests Wilson demanded, only to find 4 of the spiders on the tray eating away heavily.

The one had consumed so much it had grown a second spider on its back, then the two had split and ate, then divided again…which was when Kian realized he had somehow gained the ability to produce stargate-esk replicators, only in a biological rather than machine sense.

At least that was until he exposed them to various ores and metals, with them ingesting them and augmenting their structure to the point where they were mostly metal, or rock, or whatever else he fed them. He’d been experimenting as much as he could in between training, and it seemed his little naval replicator shipyard was beginning to create a third automatically.

Kian suspected there was a lot of use for them, though right now he wasn’t sure what…though the original ones were growing larger, now up to the size of a small cat, depending on how much he fed them or instructed them to grow. And the bigger they got, the more programming options he had available, for it was like they were drastically advanced technology that was unspooling its design dependent on its size.

And their genetics, along with Kian’s, were not fully visible to Star Force technology. Like the Zak’de’ron, they’d taken on additional elements that could not be fully cataloged, and those new elements were densest in the replicators…of which he now had a small army of 2 inch versions in his quarters that he’d instructed to grow no larger, but to still keep replicating. At last count they were up to several thousand, looking like ants in the storage bins he’d modified for their ‘home.’

Combat wise they were pretty much useless, unlike Paul’s spine growth that was also unique, though his seemed to be connected to the Saiolum in some way, which made it impossible for the medtechs to fully analyze, but from what Paul said, he could create a small bubble field around him that would shut down electronic technology and a few other kinds as well, just freeze up anything that wasn’t biological, and he said that for some reason that suited him well, because he preferred fighting an opponent based more on physical skill than technological gear…and Kian sensed a similar connection to his replicators, eventually tracing it to his love of RTS video games where one commanded an army rather than a character in order to accomplish missions.

Others had said the same about some of their abilities, and all of them had agreed that any offspring had to be unique to each Clan, which meant Kian’s pairing with Kerrie would not be used by Kerrie for her Clan. She’d link with another one of the guys for hers, and while that offered many more genetic combinations than the 100 needed, they’d chosen to limit it there as they explored what the Furyans would become…but they weren’t even to that point yet, for the trailblazers had to figure out first what they’d become, and that would take a lot of training and self-exploration.

And they were all eager for it after so many millennia of near stagnation as they waited for the fleet to build up to a level they could finally use to smash the Hadarak. Paul had taken it the worst, but none of them were immune, and they realized that in retrospect. They were meant to be fighters and explorers, not managers, trainers, and Admirals…and when The Admiral himself had said that, the others had immediately paid attention, for Paul to forgo most of his naval activities was shocking.

Yet in retrospect they all agreed that’s the way he used to be, focused more on sword fighting than Naval. He’d just become so good at Naval he felt he was obligated to push hard in that path. And to be fair, in the beginning he was doing the most to design and build the Naval division. Now that that construction was over, there was little exploring to be done on that front.

Then again, there was still some, for Paul’s Force Ghost had started to give him technology descriptions, including one for weapon systems none of them had ever heard of. Most were probably less powerful than what Star Force had, but give the Mastertechs something new to work with and they’d be able to improve it. Kian would bet a planet on that. Plus, the Sha’kier had a long battle record against the Hadarak, and already some specific weapons to fight them were being described…though he wasn’t in a position to download mental blueprints, for Paul’s ability to connect to him was still too feeble, so Azoro was having to explain in words alone, but even those little tidbits were groundbreaking, and Kian was beginning to see why Paul was so convinced Azoro was the key to Star Force’s future.

And Kian admitted it was nice to finally get some help from a lightside-ish ally, rare as they were in the universe.

The trailblazer blew out one long, final breath, then was able to get his normal respiration back. He stood up and walked out the nearby doors, dripping heavily with sweat that was unnatural for him. He didn’t think it was his Furyan body, but rather his out of shapeness doing it, but who knew. His appetite for certain foods had already shifted considerably, and who knew what else was going to be different.

Time would tell, and all 100 of them were eyes full ahead and charging into the unknown. This was what they were meant for, and the physical limitations of the past, especially pre-Essence, were now completely destroyed, for if this race-upgrade could occur once, it could also occur again in the future when…and if…they mastered these bodies.