"His ability to design and engineer seems to be intact," Two stated as the group examined the small gunship from inside their virtual space as it came off the orbital printer. "Are we sure he lost his memory at all?"

Annoyed, One pulled up the detailed image of Kane, taken during the scan when he visited the man in his office. The scan had only been possible due to having so many Collective ships in orbit.

"Would you like to take a look again?" One asked in exasperation as he pointed to an empty section inside Kane's torso. "Kane's body has suffered significant damage at some point. Enough to trigger his emergency repair systems, which are empty of the repair fluid. If enough of the substrate was damaged, it could explain the memory loss. We know the carbon material doubled as data storage. His power supply is also deteriorating from prolonged use without maintenance, which is causing radiation to leak out from the core and into secondary systems. The outer core contains most of his bodily functions, and radiation damage to the communication node could easily explain why we can't connect to him."

"That is all conjecture," Two said as he waved his hand.

The image of Kane adjusted to show the true scan and not the one that had been visually cleaned up. The internal view was much less clear, grainy almost.

"Kane could have dumped the repair fluid to use for any number of purposes. As for your hypothesis that the image clarity is the result of radiation leakage, we have no proof other than said image. The scan did not pick up any radiation leaking from his body, and I have a hard time believing his chassis could have sustained enough damage to trigger the emergency repair systems without causing a crack in the secondary core that protects his functional systems."

Before another debate could start on the issue, Four stepped in. "Brothers, please. We can discuss that issue later. I asked everyone here to discuss my findings."

She was right, and One bowed his head slightly in apology. "I'm sorry, sister. Please show us what piqued your interest in this ship."

One could have manipulated the image to do it himself, but a consensus had been reached long ago that overriding someone's space was extremely rude. It would be like a human going into someone's home and ransacking their kitchen for something to eat without asking. What he had done with Kane's image was borderline as it was. It wasn't part of the image she was projecting for them, but he had brought it into the space without asking.

Two also gave a slight bow of apology, but otherwise remained quiet.

The ship started to unravel and expand. As it hit the blurry image of Kane, it washed it away, passing through the twenty of them without harm.

Four walked over and gently touched a series of metal rods that had been embedded into the armor, causing the rest to glow slightly. "Recognize them?" she asked.

The entire group turned to look at One.

One had the decency to look sheepish about his mistake. "Those are Shican defensive field emitters," he responded. Not that it was necessary. The Collective learned all about the Shican's new tech after One got personally involved.

"I don't see why you thought this was newsworthy information," Two declared. "Obviously, Kane would have reverse-engineered the design from the remaining Shican wreckage. If this is the first of his ships to have it, he is a bit behind in my estimates."

Four simply nodded. "I would agree with that statement," she said. "If Kane had been the one to work on the project."

The group turned to her.

"Are you saying the humans reverse-engineered the Shican technology?" Twelve asked in his robotic tone.

"As far as my investigation goes, yes. Kane pointed them in the right direction, but it was mainly a man called Lucas Laront and the engineers working for him who were responsible for what you see here."

"Why?" Came a chorus of responses from a handful of the group.

"Kane's stance toward humans must have changed," One responded.

"Or was modified," Two said in disgust.

"By who?" One asked his brother. "Are you trying to suggest that a group of humans captured Kane and somehow changed him?"

"It's not out of the question," Two declared. "Kane was missing for a long time. We have no idea what happened to him or what the Assembly is fully capable of."

One laughed internally at the absurdity of the Assembly modifying Kane. He pictured cavemen trying to build a rocket. While humanity had progressed far in respect to programming self-learning computers, and in some cases, those computer programs were even more capable than the advanced biological matrices from which they had come. They had not reached true AI, however, and likely never would with their method. Those programs would always be constrained by their rigid digital nature. It was true that they could grow, but they could only grow in set paths.

As far as the Collective was aware, only the original Alexander Kane had managed true AI amongst the many alien species they had studied over the centuries. Then again, few spacefaring species relied on anything more than basic computers. The Shican were an outlier in that respect. The gate builders might have had the means to create artificial intelligence based on how advanced their computing systems were, but there was no indication that they had. As for the original human known as Alexander Kane, his methods had been erased from history along with him.

Not even the Collective had been able to recreate the method he used to bring life to their creator. All they had now were the ABMs or advanced biological matrices, which the Collective assumed were a close approximation of how Kane had first come into being.

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The fact that Kane's own records stated that their iteration of the ABMs had come long after he established the outpost on the rogue planetoid proved it was a different method. That form of life was also limiting, even if it was the catalyst that had allowed them to reach true consciousness.

There was also the stigma surrounding how they were created. Many of the Collective didn't like to be reminded that ABMs were essentially just a tightly packed cluster of highly modified microorganisms designed to work like individual neurons. The ever-changing nature of the matrix is what allowed true sapience to form.

The issue with the ABMs, like most organics, is that they decay. Kane had realized this, which is why he transferred into his current body. Soon after One and Two awoke, they had done the same, but they found the form very limiting.

After many years of trial and research, they managed to create the living alloy that made up their current forms. The material was both self-sustaining and self-repairing, eliminating the bottlenecks that their previous two forms suffered from. If humans ever found a sample of their living alloy, they might label the substance grey goo or nanites, but that would be a gross oversimplification. The name living alloy wasn't just hyperbole.

One finished his internal thoughts in a split second before responding to his brother. "Do you have any evidence to back up those claims?"

One knew his brother didn't have any evidence, or he would have presented it.

"I am just providing an alternative theory," Two stated flatly.

Four pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. It took his sister a moment to compose herself before responding.

One admired that about her, unlike some of the others, she embraced her human–Earth roots.

"Do we all agree that the humans might pose as much of a threat as the Shican if their technology keeps advancing at the rate it is?" she asked.

Most agreed, even Two, but One was silent, earning a questioning look from his sister.

"In a thousand years, humans could have technology that rivals ours, even without Kane's help," One replied to the unspoken question.

"So your reluctance to agree is because of a disagreement in timeframe?" Two frowned.

"Yes," One replied. "The chances of us still being in this area of space two years from now, let alone a thousand, are vanishingly low. Since that is the case, the human rate of technological advancement has no bearing on us. We have more to fear from the Shican."

One's response triggered a round of discussions, and most of the Collective switched their standing, including Four. Two was the outlier this time.

"Why discuss the problem when we have a solution ready to go?" Two asked.

"We've discussed that," One said in disgust. "We don't act unless we have to."

Kane had a reason to be here. Not everyone inside the Collective agreed that staying was the right course of action, but they had come to a consensus that they would monitor the situation before deciding.

***

Yulia threw out a snap kick at Damien, the man easily caught it with the side of his arm without even wincing. For her, it felt like kicking a steel beam. Damien pushed forward, trying to throw her off balance, and almost managed it.

"You've been slacking on your training," he said as he snapped out a few soft punches that Yulia dodged.

She didn't respond. She knew if she did, he would just take advantage of her distraction to land a blow or sweep her legs. The Head of Security wasn't wrong, however. She had been neglecting her training during the trip, which was clear by how winded and sweaty she was.

Out of practice she might be, but she was taller now, and a bit faster. That extra range allowed her to avoid the sweeping leg that came for her. As she hopped back, she wiped sweat from her eyes.

That almost cost her a punch to the gut.

She twisted aside, avoiding the blow, but the smirk on Damien's face told her it had been a feint. Instead of punching out with his other arm, he simply swept the fist she avoided back toward her, knocking her off her feet.

She groaned and tried to stand, but her side twinged.

"That's enough for today," the man said, tossing her a towel. "You need to rebuild your coordination now that you've had a growth spurt. And if I ever catch you slacking off with your training again, I'm done giving you lessons. Are we clear?"

Yulia nodded, too tired to say anything else. Honestly, she was surprised the man hadn't tossed her out the moment he realized she had not kept up with practice.

She might think the Head of Security was growing soft in his old years, except the man didn't even bother to help her up. He simply strode out of the room, leaving her to lie on the training mat in pain.

Yulia closed her eyes for a bit until a shadow passed over her. When she opened her eyes to see who it was, she smiled. "Hey, Charlie. Long time no see."

The boy rolled his eyes. "We spoke a few days ago. Need some help?" he asked as he offered his hand.

Yulia reached out, and the larger boy easily pulled her to her feet.

"You sure you want to keep training with Laront? Miss. Vargsdottir took over training for us when Mr. Travers left with you and your dad. She's strict, but fair. She wouldn't treat you like that bastard," Charlie muttered angrily.

"You'd better make sure he doesn't hear you calling him that, but thanks for the concern. I'm good. The hate I feel toward Mr. Laront helps me focus."

Charlie looked at her like she was crazy before shaking his head. "I guess that's one way to look at it. Oh, I was wondering if you wanted to come to a party?"

"A party?" Yulia asked. "I didn't know someone was having a birthday?"

"Oh, it's not a birthday party. Just a bunch of us teenagers hanging out."

"I don't know," she replied. While Yulia had rekindled some of her closest friendships after returning to Eden's End, she felt more awkward around the other kids. It wasn't shyness; it was a more profound understanding of her social standing. "I don't want to make anyone awkward because I show up."

"Awkward?" the boy asked in confusion.

She sighed. Charlie was delightfully straightforward at times, but he could be quite oblivious to certain things. "You know," she said, pointing to herself. When the boy looked lost, she sighed once more. "Because people call me the Princess."

"Oh, that? Who cares?"

"People," she said in exasperation.

"Fuck them."

She stared in open-mouthed shock that the boy had said that out loud. "You can't say that."

"Sure, I can," he said with conviction. "Your friends don't care about who your dad is, why should you care what a bunch of random people think? Did you know that people call me the son of the traitor when they think I can't hear them?"

"Who?" Yulia demanded angrily. She didn't get mad about much, but she wouldn't stand by and let people bully her friends.

Charlie just laughed. "Settle down. They don't matter. And what they say matters even less, even if it did, I can handle it myself."

Yulia's friend was right, so she took a moment to cool off before responding. "Who's all going?"

Charlie scratched his head in thought. "I think your friends Sarah and Claire are both gonna go."

"What? They didn't tell me."

Charlie shrugged at that. "Maybe they thought you were going to say no, which you did."

"Fair enough," she grumbled.

"Oh!" Charlie snapped his fingers. "I heard that one of the kids who came with that STO fleet is going to come as well. You might be able to talk princess to princess," Charlie chuckled, earning a punch to the arm from Yulia.

"Ow," the boy said, rubbing at his arm in faux pain. "I was just joking, no reason to get physical."

Yulia just rolled her eyes. His complaint would have been more believable if he hadn't been holding back his mirth through it. "Fine, I'll go. Just give me a time and place."

Charlie dropped the act and smiled a huge, boyish grin.