Beep… Beep… Beep…
A steady pulse rhythm came from the heartbeat monitor beside the hospital bed a man laid. To his side sitting in a simple chair was a mechanoid in the shape of a dragon4dragonspeciesoid. Obviously a cosplay robot, but this was no normal machine. This was Astrid7Astridcharacter. Day and night she remained by her owner’s side. Cleaning him and supervising him every moment. Even though every day she forced his body to exercise, atrophy has set in and he had already lost about ten percent of his muscle mass in as little as a year after the incident. At first, many people appeared daily. Friends and family. Friends with sorrow and well wishes and family with lawyers, to be exact his older brother with them. Even now she is in a legal battle with him over Kevin’s legal rights and wealth. Naturally, the media leaked the knowledge of the manless expedition ship. Ironically, it is assumed that it would be heading to Jupiter or one of it’s moons. In fact, the aim is the asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars. The ability to create a hidden base there would be easy enough and it can give an excuse to the ‘loss’ of the vessel. In fact, several probe vessels have already been sent through the repossession of the Galactic Corporation ai core and resources Astrid seized during the reset. Considering the damage to all the ai cores involved it was guessed the unknown one the terrorists used was beyond salvaging as well. So it was not looked for.
Unfortunately for LAAW and Weise, they could not leave the ai core for the Green Corporation. The difference between Kevin and them are two. First is they no longer have a physical body. So they do not have a medium to transfer in between with. Second, Kevin entered his state threw an adaptation of their method? While theirs were designed to be one way, his was two.
Astrid looked at Kevin with a neutral face. The theoretical threshold was near. Just like her, Kevin cannot survive outside a proper shell for his soul. Her limits were about ten years at most, depending on how accurate the shard she leaves behind is. In the case of the drone sitting beside his bed. It was about halfway through it’s lifespan. Kevin, however, has been going for a whole year under a time dilation of a hundred. He had spent a hundred years mentally trying to learn to adapt to a new body. Of course, that body is not built yet, nor has the technology to make it even been invented, but the training will at least prepare him for the changes.
As the final preparations for Kevin’s awakening were happening, the door to the room slowly opened. Who entered was a blond woman who was in her late 20s or early 30s. She wore a simple but fashionable one-piece dress with comfortable tennis shoes. Breaking the image of her as classy if noticed. In addition, there was a child no more than a few months old in her arm.
“ Winter, I have not seen you in nine months. And who is this bundle of joy?” (Astrid)
Winter shifts the child slightly before she moved to an empty seat.
“ Hello Astrid, sorry, I had some things to take care of. Legal things with the raid, then the studio, and finally this little one. I named him Nobe Lincoln Megas. I hope Kevin does not mind.” (Winter)
As Winter talked, Nobe lifted his arms as if trying to grab something before bringing them back to himself. Unexpectedly a tear came from Astrid’s eye and started rolling down her cheek. Naturally, she would know of the child, but seeing her husband’s son for the first time brought up complex and primal feelings derived from her original programming. As a dragon, it was natural to have multiple partners. After all they are a communal species in Astrid’s programming. For the first time, she saw something she desired as much as Kevin.
“ Nobe Lincoln Mega, I like it!” (Kevin)
Astrid and Winter started eyeing the man in the bed as he brought his face to remove the covering on the top half of his face. There is nothing in this world that he wanted more than to see the face of his son. For the first time since Kevin fell in love with Astrid his heart wavered to his dreams and plans he had.
