Naruko was for the first time in a long time completely stumped at what had occurred during her morning waking up. Honestly, she has never been so impulsive as to take the action that she did just because her little Menma got upset. It made absolutely no sense. The absurdity grew leaps and bounds when she discovered it was caused by the drastically increased feelings she had for Menma, which was also caused by the transference of latent feelings of protectiveness and love for Menma from her Neblading of Uzumaki Kushina as well as annoyance at being woke up herself by the same enemy.
Truly, this Uzumaki stubbornness is a force of nature itself.
And now she was in a bad situation… well, bad for the inhabitants and all non-sentient life on the planet below her ship that was completely cased in night.
***
(A few moments ago, after leaving the planet's atmosphere after getting Menma…)
Having finally left the land of her new child, Naruko was tuned to nothing but the soft murmurs of Menma as he pawed at her chest simply feeling his new mother. The most important sense of an infant to nurture was the 'Touch' and she had no qualms with letting him explore and learn. She looked through any acquired memories she had of those with experience in child rearing and began taking as much knowledge as she could and creating a new 'file' for situations in raising Menma.
She cooed at the baby small enough to fit in both palms of her hands. She noticed from Kushina's memories that Menma was definitely smaller than average, perhaps about 4-5lbs, so he was a tiny thing compared to her. The other female guards aboard the shuttle knew not to crowd the child but even as professional as they were, they had some trouble not wanting to fawn over him. His little whiskered cheeks didn't help the situation either.
With their breeding cycles every one hundred years lasting for five years and the severe lack of males to properly tend to each and every female Spectra's needs, some of them went centuries without even holding a child despite their desire for one. For the sub-class Minors whose lifespans were a little over 1000 years, the majority of them would only have a single actual breeding in their lifetimes. Some got lucky and got it within their first centuries while others wouldn't until their 500 year mark or older. It really put a lot of issues onto the Spectra race and since they were incompatible with any other races, they couldn't turn to males of another species.
Knowing how some of them were feeling, Naruko offered to pass him around. KOS-MOS stood off to the side while constantly receiving updated scans on Menma's health. She had failed to save his mother and she felt indebted to the woman to at least make sure her son never got ill. Though she was technically an A.I. in a gynoid platform, she attained the understanding of all sorts of feelings millennia ago and these feelings merely compelled her to do all she could and more for Menma.
Her blue eyes, now shifted to red as signs of her bio scans working, followed Menma's little body around as he went from one Spectra's arms to another, slowly making his way back to Naruko. Each woman, a battle-hardened warrior, fell for his innocence at first glance, causing the medic A.I. to mentally giggle. The child was only a day old and already a lady pleaser. It made her think of how much worse it would get (or better if you asked a certain white-haired Sannin) when he would get the DNA infusion from Naruko, making him the first Royal male ever. Her scientist persona was also very excited to see the process work since while this process has happened before, it's never been from the Queen herself and it has always been an exchange from a Spectra to another Spectra of different classes.
The last one it happened to was Esdeath has she was a Minor yet received a transfusion from her adopted mother who was one of the thirteen Royals.
Her attention shifted back to reality when Menma ended up in Naruko's arms again, the immortal leader being careful with her own strength to not crush her new soon-to-be blood son. Naruko walked over to the plasma window that gave a view from the side of the shuttle.
"Take a look, little Menma." She maneuvered the baby so he could see outside the panel. Before his uncomprehending eyes were millions of bright dots in the far off reaches of space, all different sizes and colors. Below them was the pale glow from the planet he was born on. Up here, one could not see the constant warfare and struggle the native people put themselves through, nor would he be able to comprehend any of this until many years later.
His little eyes were drawn to the moon, a massive rock that glowed white from the reflection of the sun. Its pale light reached out to him and he made gurgling noises as he watched it go by, reaching his little hands out to it. Naruko thought the gesture was cute and let him reach out until it disappeared from view. Walking her way up to the cockpit of the shuttle despite the curious glances sent to her from KOS-MOS and the guards, she entered the cockpit that had a screen of plasma to give them a clear view of the space before them.
"Little Menma, welcome to your new home where many more of your future family awaits," Naruko said in a happy voice.
At a few hundred miles away, the area in front of them began moving. It started with one speck before multiplying to a couple more. While eyes couldn't see them in detail at this distance, when they arrived closer, the specks were actually light-bending panels of pure energy. They flashed for a few moments before fading away in time for the shuttle to pass through before reactivating, showing that they were transparent for those inside to see outside. The inside was a different story though that had even baby Menma's eyes widened in wonder.
Before him were a cacophony of lights from a spaceship bigger than he could comprehend. Its sheer size was larger than that of the moon they had passed. The ship itself was made of metals that when altogether glowed predominantly white with waves of red, blue, silver and gold, the actual aura of the ship extending hundreds of miles beyond the exterior of the ship itself. From here or far away, it would look as if the ship was made out of crystals that simply reflected a massive light shining from within its body.
At 4,600 miles long, the ship had a large main body at 598 miles in height and 424 miles in width, though it seemed much larger from the front as behind it were a set of twelve massive wings shaped like those of a dragonfly's positioned in three rows of two with each row equal distance around the ship, each spreading to a length of 1,506 miles. In front of the main body section were what seemed like three massive tendrils coiling around each other like a length of rope with their flattened ends (the end of the cannon) coming together in the shape of a large 'Y' with a massive tunnel at the intersection. This 3,000 miles of ship served the single purpose of ending any threat that showed itself to the Spectras.
The shuttle approached the planet sized ship on a steady course as it was soon joined by an escort of six ships of different design, these being fighter craft about twice as big as the smaller shuttle.
Naruko looked down at Menma and smiled at his awed expression. Lifting him up to her face, his eyes retrained back on her and once he saw her smile, he giggled and waved his small hands for her.
"You certainly are a strong baby for being only a day old, Menma. You will make an excellent Spectra if you're anything like your mother, though I do hope you don't develop the same ramen addiction Kushina did. You should go to sleep now, young one. You will get the chance to explore your new home later."
As if understanding her, he gave a timely grunt.
"Perhaps a song will put his mind to rest, my Queen," the copilot of the shuttle suggested. She knew that grunt well since she had to raise a child a century ago and learned much in that time.
"I will take your word for it, Rikku," Naruko complied, easily calling the pilot by name since she was connected to all and knew all their names via their hive link. "How about a lullaby, little one? Do you want to hear mommy sing for you while we make our way to the ship?"
A quiet look was all she got, making her pout a bit since she was hoping for another cute response. "I just assume you're waiting on me then." The pilots hear this and giggle. Naruko positioned Menma against her very large (by his standards) chest and laid his head to rest on her. She looked through her memories of Nebladed victims and chose a song that seemed to fit almost perfectly with Menma's circumstances tonight. Taking a deep breath, a soft wind-like note passed through her lips, tickling the ears of those on board like a cool breeze.
[Play Music: Aoife Ni Fhearraigh—'The Best Is Yet To Come.']
The soft note soon began to climb in pitch. What seemed like the whistle of a fast wind would make soon tapered off into more soft low notes, unceasing as Naruko never seemed to stop. Soon, other sounds of different tones and pitches joined in with the first, creating an orchestra of what a human would associate with an ocarina and a set of recorders. What would stun most species is it all seemed to be coming from Naruko herself. If one was to look in her throat, they would see not just a small section of her muscles moving, but the entire throat area moving and vibrating in various places as each produced a different sound.
Menma quickly found his eyes closing and within seconds his soft breaths could be felt on her chest but Naruko continued, not actually singing lyrics along with the added back sounds.
"An cuimhin leat an gra
Cra croi an ghra
Nil anois ach ceol na h-oiche
Taim siorai i ngra
Leannain le smal
Leannain le smal
Lig leis agus beidh leat
Lig leis agus beidh gra
Cuimhne leat an t-am
Nuair a bhi tu sasta
An cuimhne leat an t-am
Nuair a bhi tu ag gaire
Ta an saol iontach
ma chreideann tu ann
Tug aghaidh ar an saoi
is sonas siorai inar measc
Ceard a tharla do na
laethanta sin
Ceard a tharla do na
h-oicheanta sin
An cuimhin leat an t-am
Nuair a bhi tu faoi bhron
An cuimhin leat an t-am
Go siorai sileadh na ndeaor
An ormsa na orainne a bhi
an locht
Ag mothu cailite s'ar fan
Cen fath an t-achrann is
sileadh na ndeor
Ta ailleacht sa saol
Ma chuardaionn tu e
Ta gliondar sa saol
Cuardaimis e..."
She finally ends the song and glances down to see Menma fast asleep. She felt a swelling emotion within her chest at the sight and went back to the shuttle's hold to await their landing in 'Outer Heaven.'
It didn't take long for the shuttle to be directed to the personal hangar of the queen and she wasted no time lollygagging about. With her shuttle's guard detail relieved, she stepped off the ramp by herself into a large hangar about three hundred yards in width and height. She planned to make her way quickly to the lab where she had ordered everything needed for the medical procedure to be readied upon her arrival, knowing Menma might be woken up by the noise of the hangar crew going about their daily maintenance routines. It wasn't as loud as she expected it to be when those inside took notice and briefly stopped their work.
Nothing needed to have immediate or constant attention in the facility so as per their crew chief's orders, once the queen arrived with her new child, they were to stop and remain silent in respect. Naruko was pleased greatly by this and made sure to give them a smile and nod as her thanks. There in front of her waiting for them was her head scientist whose intellect was second only to hers.
She was a beautiful bespectacled woman of a tall nature wearing a form fitting, long sleeved, black robe that hugged her body and split apart at the legs, also showing that she wore matching black leggings and boots. Her rank of authority was denoted by the two black and white striped ribbons tied to her biceps and fell freely. Her long red spiky-style hair fell to her back and framed her face, showing a pale, flawless face with ruby eyes that held much excitement.
"Karin, we will begin as soon as possible. I do not intend to keep little Menma waiting if he were to wake up," Naruko ordered in a business manner.
The scientist curtsied and followed by the Queen's side unlike many that would follow a step behind her. This showed just how much influence Karin has and how close the two leaders were. Now side by side, she proved to be a full head shorter than Naruko, so that put her at about 6'9. She walked with a noble gait but Naruko could easily see some excitement in her body.
"The machine is ready, my Queen. Soon, little Menma will be your son in blood as well as heart," she replied in a happy tone. Anything that involved science and biology was her forte and she always relished the chance to do something new. "I would like to say that until I'm actually able to study his Uzumaki blood, I can only give a rough estimate as to his chances of successfully adapting his DNA to yours. It certainly helps that he's just born a little over an hour ago. Normally, I would prefer the recipient to be a fetus to avoid an imbalance in his hormones and chromosomes, so this will certainly push our skills past the standard safety parameters. Taking a guess, I will give him a 4% survival rate."
Naruko took this all in stride, her confidence in Menma pulling through shown in how relaxed her body seemed. "I have Nebladed his mother and know all about the Uzumaki's blood. Their clan, before their downfall twenty-five years ago, were famous and infamous across their continent for their longevity, capable of surviving normally fatal wounds, regenerating minor wounds within minutes, living twice as long as the average person, and having naturally enormous chakra reserves that were much denser as well. There were several unique abilities spread out in this clan, such as sensing and pinpointing chakra signatures of other people miles away, consuming one's own blood to rapidly regenerate from fatal wounds, or materializing their chakra to make weapons. Kushina herself was capable of creating miles of chains from her back that could hold down any of the Bijuu."
Naruko decided to stop there upon seeing Karin looking at Menma like a snack, not to mention her breathing rate was increasing.
That woman seriously needs to get laid.
"Therefore, I have the utmost confidence in Menma's ability to survive. Given both his infancy and the potential within his bloodlines, I deduce that his chances are up to 58%"
Walking to the end of the hangar finally, they stepped to a "doorway" that seemed to be made of light and one couldn't see the other side. Both women thought of the destination they wanted to go to before stepping into it. Their travel was instantaneous as the foot they used to step into the first door came out the target door without breaking stride. The new room they were in looked like the generic laboratory but with a soft amber color theme instead of stark white.
Beds lined the walls of the octagon-shaped, hundreds of them on this floor, though there were twenty more levels above them. Each bed sat on a track system where one bed with a sedated occupant was hauled into a capsule behind her where it quickly filled with a green liquid. Closer inspection showed several wounds on her body healing visibly fast.
Naruko and Karin entered an elevator in the middle of the room that swiftly took them to the twentieth floor. This one was similar in layout with an oval ceiling. On the side, connecting from the floor to the ceiling were four capsules with an armored shell over them. One of them was open, the one Naruko walked to while Karin moved up some steps across the room to a dais where several control monitors were.
"Just place him on the gel bed and leave everything to the machines, Naruko," Karin ordered. "I will be using the most recent storage of your blood. I will also have to put a genetic lock on all but a few of the Nebladed DNA strains within your blood. His chances are already slim enough with just yours. Any more than four additional ones will be too much for him to access until his body matures more. Which ones would you like to give him access to?"
Naruko thought for a moment before replying, "Wraith, from planet Shear. The Echidna from planet Sipholi. Ceph Warrior-caste from M33, Triangulum system. Isolate the Uzumaki from Uzumaki Kushina and focus on that portion. Leave out that bothersome male's genes."
A chuckle with a hint of madness left the scientist's mouth as she made the proper adjustments. A few seconds of typing and she declared the procedure was ready. Looking inside the tube through a small panel of glass in the shell, Naruko saw Menma had woken up and was crying out for her. The disparity the babe felt hurt her but she knew this wouldn't take long and then he would be able to spend all the time with his new mother that he wanted.
The capsule quickly filled with an amber liquid while quickly entering through Menma's nostrils and mouth. His cries were drowned instantly, his body spasming a few times before the oxygen-filled liquid began substituting for the lack of air. Seconds later, a purple cloud of color entered the capsule from the top—her blood. The cloud diffused into the amber liquid, slightly changing the color. The real noticeable difference was Menma jerking, though this wasn't really him that was jerking but her blood changing his body.
"Process is at 15% and increasing at a steady pace," Karin called. A holoscreen in front of her face showed several scans of Menma's body, ranging from nervous system to skeletal system.
A part of Naruko was extremely concerned for Menma, an act that would seem much out-of-character for her, though she really had to give Kushina credit. Even when Nebladed, the woman wouldn't leave her child as her emotions and memories tried to translate themselves onto Naruko's expression. Putting down her sense of worry, Naruko continued to watch the transformation and subsequent birth of her very own son.
"Process is at 65% His skeletal system has finished its adjustments. Now the hard part begins. This will either kill him or make him beyond what he originally was."
Yes, now they just had to allow the actual body to accept the new cells instead of rejecting it. Normally, the chances of that are nil, despite the young age but this is HER blood they're using. She's consumed and successfully adapted the cells of hundreds of species spanning billions of lives and not once has she ever had a rejection. Their hope is for her DNA consuming a portion of his, making new ones for him which will, in essence, Neblade the rest of her DNA within him, and let his new cells Neblade his remaining human DNA before finally completing the genetic experiment.
"Process at 83% As expected, his body is showing signs of rejecting your blood. 98% chance of the process killing him within the next minute if improvements in conditions aren't shown."
The fact Karin could say that with an aloof tone proved why she was best for her position of authority. Millions of other Spectras would have already sought to strangle the mad scientist if they'd heard her. For these kinds of procedures and the thousands more experiments that were conducted in the labs, a woman like Karin was needed to use the given resources to their fullest extent.
Naruko could now see the obvious changes Menma's body bore, such as growing at least five more pounds from just a visual perspective, his size now being at least 50% larger than before, and the tell-tale physiology of a Spectra's feelers—for an infant like Menma, they were just stubby tentacles of nerves in three rows of four along the middle of his upper-back about three inches in length and covered in a soft gel-like skin. As he matures, they would be several feet long and protected by hard, flexible chitinous plates.
"His body's new DNA is now Neblading the old and reproducing at an accelerated rate. Process is at 98% His Uzumaki blood and even the Kyuubi helped him adapt to the changes. Process is now 100% complete. Draining ambient fluids."
It was a great relief for Naruko as she listened to her XO continue listing the status of all of Menma's systems as in optimal condition. The amber fluid was drained from the capsule quickly, allowing her to see the full changes of Menma when the armored shell lifted, followed by the capsule.
"Congratulations on your new child, Naruko."
He was absolutely beautiful in her eyes. His skin texture was a bit bulkier than human babies, showing numerous areas where he will grow the Spectra skin plates as he matures. Speaking of skin, his pink body was now a pale shade of white. His eyes were closed but she knew he'd have her crimson eyes and his red hair was now highlighted with specks of white that would surely spread as he grew older.
"WAAAAHHHH!"
"I believe he wants his mother now. Be sure not to tell him I basically almost killed him when he's grown enough to know about these circumstances. I wouldn't want my little nephew to be afraid of me," the scientist said, her expression changing from amusement to flustered and then to ridiculousness as she made funny faces at the baby in her friend's arms.
"That will not be necessary for at least twenty years. While he will surely mature a bit faster than natural born Spectras, you'll have plenty of time to coddle and imprint on him before he even wonders about the time he was born," she reassured as Karin was softly running a finger along his cheeks.
Naruko lifted Menma up onto her chest. She would definitely need to get her own body readjusted so she can start producing milk for him. Until then, she will have to use a wet nurse to feed him for the next day or so while her body changes. As Menma was lolling off to sleep on her breast, Karin was now running a smooth finger across the stubs of feelers on his back with a doctor's eye.
"His feelers are very well developed for a newborn. My scans predict a very healthy growth rate as long as he's properly nourished and trained in his infancy and adolescent years. He'll probably be around eight feet or so given that it's the norm for Spectra males, though since we've never had a male of Royal blood before, who knows what will happen."
"Well I am in no rush for him to grow up. I'm several million years old and have never interacted with a child this much. I have a lot of child rearing to make up for."
Karin giggled conspiratorially which was always a cause for worry in Naruko's case. "Wait until he gets older and you start taking him on play dates with the other kids. He's going to have so many admirers." Somewhere deep in Naruko's psyche, she felt a stirring of dread though it was just a sapling compared to the tree that it will become in a few decades. "Imagine when he gets in his adolescent years and the kids start noticing genders," Karin continued with a chuckle fit for a certain half-Fallen Angel/Reincarnated Devil high school sadist. "With him being the only male Royal, you'll have to probably sanction off an area to build him his own fortress to keep the girls out, fufufufu."
Despite the growing disparity on Naruko's face, she continued on listing off numerous scenarios that Naruko was already making protocols and emergency procedures for when the time came for her son to hit puberty.
"And that doesn't even include the millions of adult females who will try to arrange a mating period when our next cycle comes around and he matures enough."
SNAP
Karin wondered what that sound was, having no idea it was actually Naruko's patience for her friend's antics. With a glowing light, she brings out her White Scythe and swings to whack Karin upside the head with it. Just as fast and in an amber light, Karin brings out a massive, bronze-colored claymore sword with a chain snaking around and through the blade in several areas to block the blow. Even though she was mainly a scientist, she wasn't the 2nd-in-command of the Spectra people because of just her brains.
Though her power was nowhere near Naruko's, the Queen still held back enough that when Karin guarded the strike, a gust of pressurized wind wracked the lab, throwing both women's hair into a frenzy for several seconds.
No other moves were made except for when Menma started whimpering from the noise disturbance in his sleep. Both women glanced at the child for a moment before coming to a decision.
"We'll pick this up later. Right now I need to take Menma to bed and arrange for a nursing mother to feed him until my adjustment is complete. Please don't bother me with your eccentricities unless it's important, Karin."
Karin got the subtle tone in her voice and bowed her head. "Of course, Naruko. Here, take three of these before you go to sleep." She hands over three pills the size of a human's pinky. "They are a metoclopramide to stimulate lactation. It will speed up your body's natural adjustment to motherhood by a few days. You'll be ready by the end of the next awake cycle."
The queen gratefully accepted them.
Naruko makes her way with Menma back to the teleportation door at the first floor of the hospital. Stepping into it, she thought of her bed chambers. An automatic security scan of her voice and brainwaves confirmed her identity and she was soon at her destination. Her room was very humble considering her position of authority. It was only about forty feet (length) by sixty feet (width) by thirty feet (height). The room's floor, walls, and ceiling were made of wood native to the Path of Beasts—the colony planet where they first met the Wyrms.
The room itself was naturally dimmed with a dome section in the middle of the ceiling that raised out and gave one a clear view of space through the transparent, energy-made view panels. Her bed was directly underneath it, raised on a dais, and was one of her guilty pleasures. A large ten by thirteen foot bed made of memory gel that conformed to one's body shape without sinking too much. The technology behind it was hundreds of thousands of years behind more modern conveniences but it obviously made a lasting impression on the queen of the Spectras.
She dismissed her armor and clothes, baring her nakedness and also revealing along her back numerous coiled up feelers like Menma will eventually have that fall loose from their cramped positions to reach to her lower back though ones higher up on her back stick out a bit before falling. Unlike Menma's, these are not only longer, but covered in white chitinous armor with a glowing cerulean elongated orb on the end of them.
Naruko sighed in relief and made her way to her bed. She pulled back a silk blanket of the purest crimson and laid herself on the crimson sheets and pillow. Menma—HER ACTUAL BABY—made a few noises but was soon breathing peacefully again. Covering them up, Naruko used her mental control over the ship to isolate her room from any interference. Finally, Naruko closed her eyes after the long awake cycle (day) and fell asleep with dreams of motherhood dominating the usual memories of her conquests.