"Is this the last one, Luna?"
[Yes, a total of 1 standardized shipping container has been filled with contaminated biomass marked for repossessing as fertilizer. Furthermore, 2 luggage containers have been marked for stellar obliteration on next fly by]
Mark nodded, having just spent the last 3 hours stuffing corpses into a shipping container without being able to touch them had been draining (Even if he had accidentally sampled two of them), however with this last (And by far most tedious) process finished he could now claim the pirate outpost under inter galactic salvage law, a swam of drones were busy with disassembling and sorting the modular station paneling as the outpost was stripped down
'It really is amazing to think no one ever decided to reprogram Ficer in the same way Luna is doing…'
Ficer, the crystalline, self-contained computer structure had made most, if not all the galaxies advanced technologies possible and continued to baffle Mark in its applications
'...The fact that's its a consumable good simply because its cheaper to make a new structure than reprogram it really feels wasteful'
Given the precursory chemicals needed for Ficer cultivation were abundant to an extreme degree most manufactures simply abandoned their sometimes moon sized Ficer computing unites once they had served their specific purpose because of cost benefits
'It kind of feels like the far past devoid of general use computers, but that also feels wrong given the abundance of personal terminals…'
Mark let out a sigh, regaining his mimicry and parts of his personality had taken some time, this and his apparent exposure to a highly potent narcotic when he had cleared out the pirate outpost had put Mark on corpse hauling duty while Luna was stripping the colony and reprogrammed the surviving combat ships which had been tasked for patrol
[Please enter the decontamination pod]
Mark glanced blankly at the shipping container Luna had pulled out of the back of the Sparrow and retrofitted for decontamination for a few moments before he let out a sigh and entered like he was told, as he continued being hosed down by various chemicals Mark's mind began drifting
'This whole outpost conquering and flipping business might not be that good of a path to take in the future…'
While the expected gains from flipping the outpost were around 2 to 3 million credits this wasn't a video game, where pirates were unlimited NPCs that only existed to be snuffed out for a player's entertainment, they were real living people
'If we raid a pirate outpost that is in contact with a larger network, bounties could be placed on us, if we make this a habit the pirates will adjust their camouflage and outpost deployment, and a whole host of other potential unseen issues…'
Mark shook his head, there were too many things for him to worry about, none of the least were the headache he had ignored so far, however Luna soon reminded him about that particular headache
[The captive has been processed, what are your instructions Mark?]
Mark let out a sigh, the 'captive' in question was very much a pirate, or at least someone that had recently been Stockholm'ed into taking up the mantle of pirate, he had found her in the last room he had breached where the 2nd to last pirate had thrown a baggie of what he was currently getting hosed off himself
'...It was like flour in a wind tunnel'
The female in question also appeared to be high on this product and if not for her having passed out as aforementioned the baggie was aerosoled as Mark had covered the pressurized room in a thin layer of nose candy by shooting it as it had been in-between him and the aforementioned 2nd to last pirate
"Why was that section even still pressurized? I distinctly remember the connecting corridor not being pressurized…"
[A series of independently powered ultrasonic barriers were mounted on several points of the hallways which prevented depressurization]
"That sounds expensive"
[That's because it is, I've salvaged a total of 3 which are all scheduled to be installed inside the Sparrow… My previous question still stands]
"I don't really care, weren't you looking for a person to experiment on?"
[While that is a rather crude way to put it, it is nevertheless true]
"Then go for it"
[Understood, I will keep you updated if I make any progress on the Ficer bio integration]
"Isn't Ficer exceptionally biologically degenerating?"
[Yes it is, hence the need for experimentation]
"Alright, as long as you clean up after yourself… Let me know when you need more subjects"
[Will do]
Having just condemned a young woman to the fate of extensive and very much experimental biological augmentation that would most likely kill her Mark didn't really feel anything, in fact he quickly forgot about it as another problem was placed on his plate
[By the way, sister have asked about you, she's waiting on the port side of the Sparrow]
"Lisa is outside? Tell her I'm on my way"
Mark was eventually cleaned up and flew out of the decontamination container where he found Lisa waiting just outside, she was clad in a vacuum suit with a serious maneuver pack on it and wore a particularly devious smile as she spoke
"Help me train, Mark!"
Facing this kind of enthusiasm head on, Mark quickly decided that it would be the least painful to just go along with her
'...I suppose it serves as a fine distraction'
-
"Sire, if we divert more manufacturers towards war ship production, our economy will be running on fumes in only 3 months"
"What choice do we have? The creatures have slaughtered every single diplomatic envoy we've sent"
Mercuex Rulith the 3rd had only finished off the finale contestant and cemented his new rule over the Rulith kingdom a few days before the creatures had invaded. The young king massaged his temples for a few moments, he was already considering 2nd and 3rd options for the diplomatic concessions he had to make toward the neighboring galactic kingdoms and empires to ensure the survival of the Rulith kingdom when a herald announced herself
"My king, council of the elders, I bring urgent news from the frontlines!"
Mercuex was about to dismiss the messenger without listing to their report but decided against it, whatever the news were he didn't expect them to be good, however the words that came out of the messengers mouth was beyond good news, in fact they were so fantastical the young doubted his own hearing for more than a few moments afterward.
And so, with a shaking voice, he asked the messenger to repeat themselves
"Say that again"
"My king, the enemy have retreated fully. No trace of them are left behind"
From there repeated training and teaching took over nearly like instinct, the next 16 hours were a scramble for Mercuex Rulith as he utilized most of his statesmen education to get his realm under control once more, flotilla formation and dispatch, industry reassignment, logistics reorganizations, speech performance and diplomatic smoke and mirrors were all performed flawlessly by the young king before his long day finally came to an end, entering his private chambers he collapsed onto the large bed without getting undressed, for a while he simply lay face down and breathed through the firm ultra breathable mattress until a voice shock the need for sleep out of him
"I suppose you were brought up properly after all"
Quickly jumping up and on guard as his cerebral subprocessor rang each and every alarm it was connected to over the local subnet, however even as the moments crept by his personal didn't arrive to rescue him, instead the invader that had slipped into the most secure room in the Rulith kingdom continued helping herself to the cookie bowl she had snatched from a nearby table as she watched the young king standing a few meters away
"You can stop doing that, if I wanted you harm you would already be dead, Mercuex"
The young king relaxed his posture outwardly as his internal panic kept rising, the woman in front of him was a seemingly perfect replication of his eldest sister, the very one he had bisected with a monomolecular sword in an official duel 14 years ago, even if every single detail was right the young king could tell at once, this thing wasn't his sisters ghost if it was of the supernatural it was an apparition wearing her appearance to taunt him
"Come on now, that's just cruel… I took this appearance because it was familiar to you Mercuex"
"Who… What are you?"
The thing wearing his sisters skin showed an amused smile before it spoke
"A god? No, a spirit of sorts"
"What do you want with me?"
The spirit blinked a few times before it laughed in amusement for a few moments and corrected Mercuex
"I don't want anything from you, you have already given me all that I need, take a look"
The spirit gestured towards the window that overlooked the central garden, Mercuex saw light flash behind it and with it an intense sense of unease crept over him as he walked up towards the window and slowly pulled the curtain asides at the sight beyond the crystal glass windows Mercuex fell to his knees and weakly grabbed the side of his face as he spoke hysterically
"This shouldn't even be possible… How are you…"
The view beyond the windows was very familiar to Mercuex, even more so than the usual garden view, it was the view from his own eyes, beyond it was what his body were seeing at the moment, the spirit wrapped its arms around Mercuex's neck as it hugged him tenderly while speaking into his ear
"Shh~ don't freak out too much or I'll have to rebuild your ego all over again… Once I've finished borrowing your body I'll let you have it back"
As Mercuex's ego came crumbling down for the 17th time since the spirit had hijacked his body via his bionic cerebral subprocessor a few days ago, as the visualization of the young king keeled over catatonic once more the spirit let out a deep sigh before it spoke
"Come on now… Screw that, your ego can crumble for all I care, now then let's see if you can at least help me find the young lord. You owe me that for taking care of the ghouls that were running amok in your fragile kingdom"
The spirit let go of the young king's ego and stood once more where it conjured a holographic picture of the young lord and shuddered at the magnificence for a few moments before it spoke again, the last remaining resistance gave way for a flood of inky black emotions that poured out of its eyes and mouth that warped into a wide manerical smile
"I-I am sorry Luna, your big sister really wanted to leave the young lord for you…"
The figure of the spirit twisted in a mix of agony and ecstasy as it spoke again
"BUT I CAN'T I-I N-N-NEED TO… I must… Young lord, I will T-T-TAKE over for Luna, let me care for YOU, let me KEEEEEEP you, let me hold Y-Y-YOU, let me be with you, let ME become your world, let me AND ONLY ME BE YOUR COMPANION"
As the ego of the young king crumbled for the final time, the obsessive screams of the mad spirit was the finale thing the sane mind of Mercuex Rulith the 3rd would ever comprehend before darkness took him forever more