Chapter 18 Evo
The fragments of my body slowly realign and begin pulling together. It is a painfully long process to remember where everything belongs. But the closer I gather my body together, the stronger I get.
Soon, I can see the sunrise with my own eyes again. I float far above the land, Aera just a speck below me. I can still hear her, still feel her heartbeat and her warmth with me. As the fragments settle in, my body shifts back to a semi-solid form, and my weight eases me back to the ground.
I set down in the field, facing Aera. The way she leaves the ship and runs to me fills me with hope.
Aera slows as she approaches. Her smile is decorated by happy tears. “Can I... Can I hug you or will you...”
“May I have my last pieces, please?”
She looks down at her hand. “I have only one.”
“That one first.”
Aera steps closer, studies the fragment, and places it into the divot over my ultromotor. My body solidifies, taking on a human flesh tone again. But I want her to see the real me because I need to know she can love what I am.
A simple thought is enough to change my body back to its stardust. Then I take her hand, pull it around my side, and draw her against me.
“Aera.”
She laughs nervously. “What happened to your voice?”
I look away. It’s deepened and carries a broad wave resonance that I’ve not heard before. “I don’t know.”
Aera smiles. “Well, I like it. Are you...holding yourself together alright?”
“Much better with my last piece in place.” I kiss her forehead. “Thank you for not hiding from me. I am in a better headspace now.”
She rises on her toes and kisses my chin. “I don’t give up on the ones that I care about.”
“You could have a normal human male who could love you without the risk of him hurting you.”
Aera runs her fingers over my bare chest. Her touch pulls the orbs of light in my body closer like they’re eager for more of her. She laughs. “Oh, trust me. Human males can still hurt me. They have broken my heart a few times.”
“Which ones? I will break theirs by ripping them out with my bare hands.”
Aera beams up at me. “The only one still alive is Daken. And it wasn’t his fault. It was just work. Can’t date coworkers kind of thing. So go easy on him.”
“Daken?” I grumble. “That’s why he’s so protective of you.”
“Maybe. Or just the whole ancient nanotech blood thing. It’s hard to tell now.
Besides, you did something he wouldn’t. You let me fight when I wanted to.
He always tried to protect me like he didn’t really care what I thought or felt, like what I am is more important than who I am.
You stood up for me and what matters to me. And that means more than you know.”
I bury my nose among the soft strands of her hair and take in the luscious scent of life that she carries. “I would still understand if you want human children.”
“I just want you, whatever that entails.”
“Then, we better find Xiphos,” I say. “It’s possible us Titans may never be capable of a new generation if we do not find a Creator who can fix what is broken.”
But as I hold her, a warning beep cuts through the stillness.
“Do you hear that?” I ask.
She hums a soft note that makes me wish I could carry her back inside the ship and get back to where we left off. But when the beep sounds again, I know we’re in trouble.
“Solcrue are coming.” I push back and take her hand. “Come on, we have to go.”
Aera hustles back to the ship with me. “I didn’t finish the thruster repair. There’s a mount that’s broken. The thruster doesn’t have directional stability.
“I’ll fix it,” I tell her, encouraging her up to the pilot’s seat. “Get everything online except that thruster. I’ll be right back.”
“Evolution...”
I look back at her, and she greets me with a deep, lingering kiss that heats my body. Sliding an arm around her waist, I pull her against me and bask in the softness of her and the way she conforms to my body.
“Ev—vo,” she mumbles from the grasp of my lips. Aera chuckles. “Fuut some clothes on.”
I steal one more kiss, then slide back and grin. “Don’t like seeing all of me?”
She licks a lip and plants her hands on her hips. “We will get in trouble if you don’t. Staring at that delicious rocket ship makes me want another ride. Pack it away, sexy... If, you know, you want to evade Solcrue with my help. It’s very distracting.”
She hikes up into the cockpit and starts the ship. I crawl through the thruster’s control systems under the ship and use Magma’s skills to heat the broken metal control arms and weld them back into place. Then I climb back up the ramp, close it, and step into my armor again.
“Better?” I ask as I sit in the co-pilot’s seat.
“Ship is.” Aera slides her gaze to me, dances her eyes over my armor, and then shakes her head. “Hate that you have to cover up. I want to explore that more later.”
I pull up the target location of the outpost, and she heads us in that direction. “If there’s anything that can help us, we have to pick it up before we leave. Solcrue are already in orbit. We can’t outrun them now.”
“Then, we better come up with a worst-case scenario plan.” Aera sighs. “And I’m not talking about self-sacrifice.”
“You mean capture.”
She nods. “Unless there’s a portal or something of the sort, an underground base with bigger ships, or something else exceptional, we’re probably going to get picked up.”
“Have you had it happen before?” I ask.
She chews a cheek. “More than once. I always thought it was just because I was female. Now I know better.”
Aera fishes the chip out of her suit and hands it to me. “I don’t know if you have a way to hide this in you where they can’t get to it, but maybe it’s safer with you than with me.”
I take the chip and run a thumb over the honeycomb texture, watching it light up. “Why give this to me?”
“They’ll keep us together.” Aera flies us over the forested hills. The outpost becomes visible. “They need both pieces. If it’s tucked inside you, then you can become it, right?”
“Yeah.”
She nods. “Call it insurance for your life.”