"These Earthlings really do come up with some rubbish, don't they? Where the hell did they get the idea that my Brood race is anything like these Vampires? I mean, we don't sparkle in the sunlight," Rowena scoffed as she and the other girls watched a movie in the mess hall
"Indeed, it is very strange, I mean, your race doesn't have telepathy, precognition, create mental shields or of these other strange powers, unless of course you've been hiding it from the other races all this time," Lorelie replied as she shot Rowena an accusatory look.
"Don't be stupid," Rowena retorted before asking, "Who suggested we watch this stupid movie?"
"You wanted to understand why the Earthlings in Adam's chat originally referred to your race as Vampires. After doing some research, Spector informed us that this group of movies was the highest-grossing Vampire movies on Earth." Lorelie replied.
"Spector had to be wrong."
"I was not. I can show you the figures if you wish." Spector suddenly replied, before a large holographic screen appeared, that began scrolling through a list of several thousand movies.
"There are that many movies about vampires?" Stacey asked in surprise.
"Not all the movies shown are 'about' vampires; some of them just include vampires while also including other races. A common trend appears to be the rivalry the vampire race has with a race known as the werewolves." Spector explained.
"Werewolves? You mean that group in the movie that doesn't like the Vampires?" Tephe asked with interest.
"They are a race of humanoids that have the ability to transform into quadrupedal canines at will; however, their transformation in most cases seems to be forced on the night of a full moon."
"That sounds rather similar to the Lycan race, I mean, they can shapeshift into a type of quadrupedal canine, and they don't get along with the Brood race," Lorelie remarked with a smirk.
"Ugh, that race of stinky dogs?" Rowena asked with a frown.
"Hehe, I guess the Earthlings were not that far off, I mean the Brood and Lycan races dislike each other just as the Vampires and Wearwolves do," Tephe remarked with a giggle.
"I don't have any particular problem with their race, per se; it's just that they always have bushy hair that smells bad, and the smell only gets worse once they shapeshift into their canine form."
"While Lycan's claim you Brood only smell like blood," Lorelie replied with a smirk.
Rowena was about to reply when her uniband notified her of an incoming call, and as she looked at it, her eyes widened in surprise before she quickly stood up and headed out of the mess hall while saying, "I need to take this."
"Again?" Stacey remarked in surprise.
"Indeed, her reaction this time, though, seemed more urgent than last time," Lorelie replied.
"Maybe because someone was calling her, whereas last time she just received a message, then called them back?" Tephe speculated.
"Perhaps," Lorelied mused with a thoughtful expression.
Rowena hurried back to her cabin before quickly transferring the holocall to the console on her desk and answering it while bowing slightly and saying.
"Honoured Progenator."
"Please, Rowena, you need not be so formal with me, you know that." An exceptionally handsome male Brood with bright blood-red eyes said with a smile as he appeared on a holographic screen.
"Of course, to what do I owe the honour of this call? I thought you were still in eternal slumber?" Rowena asked.
"Lord Omniel and the Demon King used their powers to awaken me. I have just had an interesting conversation with them both. They tell me you're travelling with a pureblood."
"That does indeed seem to be the case," Rowena replied nervously.
"You mean you haven't confirmed this for yourself?"
"I have not, progenitor, I dare not attempt to feed off him in case I become addicted to his blood, like what happened in the past."
"And your granddaughter?"
"Stacey has indeed fed off him, at least twice, from what I understand; however, she does not appear to be addicted to his blood."
"Really? Please explain."
"She is not reacting the same way that the old texts say she should be if she were addicted. From what the texts say, the first ambassador to the Terran race could barely go a week without feeding on his Terran familiar. Stacey, however, has gone at least two weeks since she last fed on Adam."
"She has told you this?"
"She has not, and I have not asked since the last time she fed; however, it's very apparent when she has fed on Adam's blood because of how she changed physically.
"What sort of changes?"
"First, her eyes are becoming more blood-red like my own from their normal orange-red. Then there is her hair, which is also becoming redder like mine. Her wings have also increased in size, and finally…."
"Finally?" The Brood progenitor asked with interest.
"Finally, the Brood part of her seems to be increasing each time she feeds on him; she was originally only twenty-five per cent Brood that she got from me. Stacey told me that after feeding on Adam for the first time, the Brood part of her increased to thirty-two per cent. I don't know what she is at now, though."
"Hmmm, it's possible that your granddaughter Stacey is not addicted because she is not full Brood," The Brood progenitor mused as he thought deeply.
"That was my theory as well, because his blood is very addictive, and it takes great restraint from me not to feed on him."
"Have you encountered his blood yourself?"
"I have; he was injured previously, and blood leaked out of him, allowing me to catch a whiff of its scent, and since then, I need to control myself whenever I'm in his presence."
"That must be hard on you."
💫💫💫
A little under three days after Spector entered the Oasis Galaxies jumpgate and Adam entered the medbay to begin his upgrades, Adam awoke from his unconscious state with a groan as he said.
"Ugh, report."
"We are still on course for the Felidae Galaxy and should arrive in a few hours," Spector began before adding, "All upgrades have been successfully incorporated into your body."
"That's good. Any issues while I was unconscious?"
"Negative."
"Makes a nice change, normally we would have been knocked out of FTL via an EMP blast or something."
"I remind you that we are currently travelling in subpace, so an EMP blast that specifically targets subpace would be needed; however, the jumpgate corridor protects us from such things."
"I was just making an observation," Adam replied before asking, "How have the rest of them been?"
"They have mainly been relaxing in the mess hall or their own rooms during our journey, though Diva Rowena has partaken in two interesting holocalls."
"Oh?"
"The first was with two members of the Nonpareilus race, namely Raphilia and Andromeda."
"I think Raphilia was someone who appeared in my chat during that pirate attack above Oceana Five, right? As for Andromeda, isn't that the name of the oracle or something?"
"That is correct,"
"Did they discuss anything concerning me?"
"Negative, they mainly spoke about Princess Tessa Terrana and the assassination attempts that took place on Terrana Five."
"Wait, assassination attempts? What assassination attempts?" Adam asked in surprise.
"While you were undergoing surgery, Terrana Five experienced a planet-wide power cut…" Spector replied as she began to explain exactly what had happened on Terrana Five.
"Wow, so most of the Terran Imperial Family are dead, and they found out who else was behind the attack against us on Terran Five, apart from that Admiral Dexter."
"Affirmative, though former Admiral Dexter remains at large."
"Then what about the second holocall?"
"Diva Rowena received a call from the Brood progenitor asking about you being a pureblood."
"How did he take the information? From what Rowena told us before, he ended up having to order the Brood to hunt down that ambassador who had gone mad. I can't see him liking the idea of another pureblood appearing."
"He mainly just asked questions regarding how your blood affected Stacey. In the end, he ordered her to keep an eye on how your blood affects Stacey and to keep him informed."
"I can't say I like the idea of having someone on board who is reporting on me, though I understand his concern in this case."
"Then if you decide to kick Diva Rowena off the ship, you may want to consider doing the same to Tephe."
"Tephe? Who has she been reporting things to?" Adam asked in surprise.
"I wouldn't really say it's reporting, more gossiping in this case. Tephe regularly communicates with Empress Revi, and the two of them often discuss you and your plans. For instance, Empress Revi knows that you will be partaking in the UMB Cups charity match."
"I knew they got close during the Siege of Fenix Nest, but I never expected them to build such a friendship," Adam said thoughtfully before continuing, "Still, it's good for someone like Tephe who grew up alone to have someone like Revi who will look out for her.
I will have a word with Rowena regarding this, as for Tephe, just keep an eye on her communications with Revi and let me know if she says something she promised not to.