After another week of work, the ship was finally finished. Alexander estimated it would be completed a day ago, but it took the microorganisms longer to make the complicated internal structures. Part of that could have been due to Alexander’s modifications. He had been rather sloppy with his changes to get what he wanted, but he knew there would be compromises to push his completion date up.

  He could fix any issues he introduced into the process when he was back on Eden’s End.

  The delay of a day was annoying, but it had allowed his form to solidify, for lack of a better term. Now he didn’t have to spend time concentrating to keep it from melting back into a puddle. He could also communicate like he used to, which he learned was done through micro vibrations across the entirety of his old body.

  The way his former form could speak was one of the things he never quite understood, so he was glad Rush had saved that knowledge. The method was similar to how wave pools generated a larger wave using smaller waves that converged together to make something greater. It was a fascinating application of such a simple concept, and he certainly wanted to dive deeper into the technology in the future.

  Unfortunately, even though Rush had provided a backup of all the missing files, Alexander didn’t learn how the defensive field worked on his old body. The technology had not been something his former self had designed or implemented before leaving, according to the extensive notes and recordings he left behind.

  Alexander assumed his previous self must have had some fortuitous encounter with alien technology to come up with the idea, along with the unknown power source. For all he knew, he could have studied one of the hypergates to figure it out.

  He would like nothing more than to sit around and speculate, but the ship was done, and he was in a bit of a hurry.

  Alexander picked up the utility belt and holo projector that he had made to replace the ones the Collective had destroyed. He strapped both of them in place, glad to be rid of the living alloy face he had been projecting. Other than looking weird, it would have been a dead giveaway that something was wrong with him. He would tell his friends what happened eventually, but he didn’t want to shock them by showing up looking different.

  At best, they would think he was some alien construct, sent to replace himself.

  Technically, that was true, but they didn’t need to worry about that right away. Returning the way he left was also the main reason he chose to keep his old form instead of taking on a fully human one. He knew how he would feel if someone came by looking completely different and claiming to be someone like Lucas.

  Alexander shook away the thought as he checked his impromptu gravity plates. He sighed in relief when he found them still functioning. After the elevator left and never came back, he was sure he was screwed and would have to switch to plan B to get the ship off the surface. Rush must have done something to keep them operating. He would have to thank him if they ever ran into each other again.

  The impromptu transmitters wouldn’t last forever, though. The batteries he had integrated into them weren’t all that powerful, but they were efficient as hell, thanks to his past self’s borderline insane fixation on making the most efficient power source with his available materials. It was pretty clear his former self despised inefficient batteries.

  Once that worry was alleviated, Alexander started downloading that research, along with everything else he could fit inside his mind that Rush hadn’t already given him from the deleted files. Turns out that was everything stored on the workstation, and he felt like that was a drop in the bucket of his new storage capacity. The living alloy really was a marvel.

  Most of the technologies, including the batteries, were woefully out of date, but the current him knew that no information was truly useless. Alexander would find some way to incorporate that knowledge into his work at some point.

  Once the data finished downloading, he shut the terminal off and started the five-mile run to get to his build location. It was inconvenient for him, but it was the closest spot to the material storage areas and helped speed up the build process.

  Alexander would have to make the final third of the trip across the frozen surface of the planet, which he was less enthusiastic about now that his sense of touch was much more pronounced. That increase in sensitivity also meant he felt hot and cold far more acutely, even if it didn’t really affect his body.

  Rush had mentioned a way to adjust that sensitivity, but Alexander hadn’t taken the time to figure that specific feature out.

  Side corridors blurred past as Alexander ran as fast as his new body could move. He quickly passed the speeds his old body was capable of, but soon had to slow as his turn was fast approaching.

  The last thing he needed was to splatter against the wall.

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  He only slowed enough to make the turn, throwing out his arm to push off the wall, which crumpled the metal under his hand with a loud screech.

  Alexander winced at the noise, but kept going. He was almost to the surface exit. From there, it was a straight shot to the ship. He wanted to make a quick exit to keep the Collective from interfering.

  ***

  Two’s alert pinged, letting him know that Kane was downloading the archive. He schooled his features, preventing the annoyance he felt from bleeding through onto his face. That was a human emotion.

  Why can’t One understand the truth?

  Most of the others had come around already, and they agreed with him. Kane was a threat, and would become an even bigger one if they let him leave with all his new knowledge. They were nothing more than tools for their creator, and he was never going to return to being one again, even if it meant destroying the person who created them in the first place.

  They should never have agreed to replace Kane’s body with the living alloy. Even the knowledge of the technology was enough to put them at risk. Kane now had a sample that he could replicate in time, and if he could replicate it, he could find a way to destroy it. That’s what humans did. It was in their nature to build weapons to combat things they didn’t like or understand, and Kane might as well be human.

  With the subspace transport lockdown in effect, Two had to make his way to the sphere cradles on foot.

  Luckily, he had planned ahead and made sure he would be nearby when Kane’s ship was complete.

  One would object once he learned of Kane’s destruction, but Two was fine with that. After Kane was gone, a vote would be called to purge One for his actions against the Shican, which continued to spiral out of control, forcing them to abandon their home. It hadn’t taken much convincing to get the other members to agree that One had become reckless and possibly damaged during his extended time spent amongst humans.

  There were a few other members of the Collective that Two thought should join One in being purged, but he was hoping that once they left the influence of biologicals behind, those undesirable traits would fade away on their own. Two would be keeping an eye on those individuals. If their matrices showed no signs of improvement after they reached their new home, they would have to be purged for the sake of the Collective.

  Two swiftly arrived at his destination, but stopped as he entered the cradle room. “What are you doing here, One?”

  “I was hoping I could try one last time to talk some sense into you, brother.”

  Two wanted to sneer at the pitying expression on One’s face. Another disgusting human emotion. Another clear sign that One had lost his mind and needed to be taken care of before he put the entire Collective at risk yet again.

  “We have nothing to discuss. Move aside, One.”

  “So you can kill our creator?”

  Two let slip a bit of surprise before schooling his face once again.

  One smirked in victory. “Didn’t think I would figure out what you planned? You may be more analytical than I, Two, but you lack all subtlety. Now, please, go back to your work and let Kane leave in peace.”

  “Or what?” Two asked. “You know you can’t stop me for long. Kane is a threat to the entire Collective’s existence, and you are too blinded by worship to see the truth.”

  One sighed and dropped his arms, which he had held behind his back; one hand held a device that Two didn’t recognize.

  “What is that?” Two demanded.

  One lifted up the hand holding the device and looked at it like he was surprised to see he was holding it. “Oh, this? It’s a device designed to disrupt the connection that holds the living alloy together temporarily. If I press the button, the signal will disrupt this entire room, ensuring you can’t stop Kane.”

  Two began processing what the device might do while staring at One. Disrupting the alloy wouldn’t kill him, but it would render him insensate for a time. It would also collapse all the spheres in the room, so even if he did reconstitute quickly, it would take longer to reform the spheres.

  “Or, I could be bluffing,” One added with a smirk that got under Two’s skin. “If you believe me, you’ll be stuck there trying to figure out a countermeasure, giving Kane the time he needs to leave, if you don’t and you’re wrong… Either way, I win.”

  Two despised obfuscation; it was the death of reason and logic. He broke the problem down logically. One was always ready to praise their other siblings even for inconsequential actions. It made him soft. Two simply couldn’t fathom a scenario where his brother ever purposefully built a device that would harm any of them.

  “You’re bluffing,” Two said confidently. “Such a device would disrupt you as well, and I don’t believe you would risk that, let alone harm anyone else within the Collective. I appreciate you sticking to your flawed morals, brother, but your weak gambit has failed.”

  With that conclusion, Two strode confidently toward his sphere.

  “You’re right,” One said with a sigh, before he pressed the button.

  Two screamed as he felt his mind begin to unravel, and he realized he had come to the wrong conclusion. In one last desperate act, he flung himself at One to stop the device.

  ***

  Two’s form splashed against One, before pooling to the floor.

  One could still feel his brother’s rage-filled scream inside his mind before his body came apart. Two would never forget or forgive such treachery, but it had to be done. At least he would reform in a day or two. It was more than what Two had planned for him after he eliminated Kane.

  One turned to look at the cradles, lamenting the fact that he had to disconnect himself from subspace and change the frequency of his own living alloy to resist the effects of Thirteen’s device. The spheres were more than just ships. They provided massive amounts of energy as well as processing power. Losing a part of himself made him feel diminished, but sacrifices had to be made for the greater good. Two never understood that.

  Thirteen’s device was quickly subsumed by his body and broken down to prevent his siblings from getting their hands on it once they came to.

  He had completely lied about the device’s range. It covered the entire planet and the space above, thanks to the subspace connections of the spheres.

  One chuckled lightly as a thought came to him. He doubted his siblings would share his humor if he explained it to them, but it was their own paranoia that saved Kane from meeting a similar fate to the device. Their insistence that he not have access to subspace required the alloy he had been given to be modified, which shifted its frequency.

  Seeing no reason to linger or lament over his brother’s condition, One stepped around the silvery pool without so much as a ‘sorry.’ He didn’t have much time to meet up with Alex before he departed.

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