"I love-a you!"

  "I know." Ivy smiled.

  Deep within Li's slumbering world, the heiress nestled with her prize. No longer did she have to shy away from her desire to seek peace. For this reason alone, she was overjoyed to be with the Earthling's little plushies once more.

  "I'm girl!" Ginjou girl huffed.

  "I'm boy!" Ginjou boy jumped up and down as Ivy knelt before all three plushies.

  "I'm Ginjou Bobo! From the Bobo cn!" Ginjou Bobo beamed with pride.

  Ivy tilted her head with childish curiosity. "Oh?"

  "Yes-a! We climb the trees on Bobo isnd, and fetch the coconuts for the Boba girls, in hopes that they give us the Hooo."

  "The Hoo." Ivy giggled. "Really?"

  "We do anything for the Hoo!" Bobo continued as he stared up at the sky with his motionless smile.

  "I must say...I've begun to crave this 'Hoo' myself from your mother." Ivy confessed.

  "Remember what we told you." Bobo nodded furiously before acting out his next words. "Walk up to her and say, with boldness, I love-a you."

  "I'm afraid it's not that simple, little Bobo."

  "If you truly love-a her, it is."

  Ivy hadn't pnned on being lectured by a little toy with tightly-bound string for eyes, but there she was, doing just that. She had grown fond of the Ginjou's council, and considered them to be her own children. Even with all their quirks and fws, no doubt indicative of the girl who imagined them, Ivy was in love.

  "Help me uncle!" Ginjou boy flopped onto the floor. "I'm dying!"

  "No, you're not." Ivy rolled her eyes, pushing the little plushie up onto his butt. "I won't let you."

  "We love-a you!" Ginjou boy replied.

  "I'm girl!" Ginjou girl added, pressing a little fingerless paw onto her red bow.

  The heiress grinned. "You've told me. Once or twice."

  Ivy scooped up all three Ginjous, embracing them with a mother's warmth. That was the treatment she wished for all along, back in the days when her own mother walked the Earth. Those were the days before she had become a waking nightmare, and ironically, a more caring mother.

  "Don't leave me in that darkness." Ivy whimpered, burying her face in the Ginjous as they gave her a tiny hug. "Don't you ever."

  - - - - - - - - -

  While Ivy remained in a catatonic state, Li crept out of the bedsheets. It was morning, and Lunae had returned to the group like nothing had happened. But Li had her burning questions and a new drive to speak to Yrix. She would leave Ivy there, happy and content, while she braved the dangers of the world on her own.

  "Sleep well," Li whispered, pcing a gentle hand on Ivy's temple before departing.

  Her mood turned sour the moment she walked across the bedchamber. Li had not the heart to even look at the other girls, including Sonera. Yet when she drew closer to Yrix's office, her dour turned to dread.

  "Do come in," Yrix spoke, swinging the door open as she sat at her desk. "I was expecting you."

  "So you were." Li squinted, taking a careful step inside before ascending the carpeted stairs. "Then you know what I came to ask."

  "To be frank, I was more concerned with what I had promised you earlier. Remember?"

  Li wasn't expecting that remark. For Yrix to give up an oppurtunity to be sly and discouraging was unusual. It was almost as if she actually cared about their conversations.

  "Well, I uh-." Li stammered.

  "Follow me." Yrix motioned as she stood up.

  The bookcase behind Li contracted, revealing a passageway behind it. She then followed along closely as Yrix entered a tunnel of sorts, leading into a wide chamber filled with various artifacts. It was then that one of Li's questions had been answered.

  Yrix was a collector.

  Along the walls, on frames, and on floating pedestals y a series of weapons, gismos, and relics from different races amongst the stars. Yrix had been everywhere it seemed, and had taken extensive care not only to protect her collection but also to modify and craft pieces of her own using her gathered knowledge.

  Li's eye caught onto the corner with the weapons, however, and became filled with a swelling sensation of amazement. So mighty was her wonder that she didn't even notice the peice Yrix had made for her. Instead, she stared endlessly at an assortment of alien weaponry, from curved energy bdes to strange eel-shaped rifles that no doubt fired some sort of odd munition.

  "Here." Yrix had to point to the small crafting table that contained Li's gift. "Your reward for figthing so fiercely in the second trial."

  A silver carbine no bigger than her forearm y before the Earthling, glimmering in the artificial light of the room. It was light and hardy, designed for fast automatic fire, perfect for a speedy Psion like Li. But more importantly, it was very human in nature.

  "I figured you were a fan of bullpups," Yrix stated smugly. "Just don't expect the same speed you had against Omizen, not until you earn it yourself. He frazzled your mind like the arrogant child he was, and gave you a temporary increase in power."

  "Magazine behind the trigger," Li ignored the comment as well as the numbness in her skull.

  She didn't really care about the manner of her agony anymore. In such a short period of time, Yrix had already conditioned her to push on like a warrior. At the very least, her sense of whimsy still remained.

  "You know me too well." Li finished, grabbing onto the submachine gun with a firm grip, tilting its frame to inspect the metalwork.

  Yrix began to expin her efforts with a surprising amount of passion and detail. "It's a mockup of the Oscilte M2 from your Martian war, twin-barreled, heavy-hitting, slow-firing, perfect for a pocket punch."

  "A blow-forward mechanism." Li squinted at the bolt on the side of the gun. "You really did your homework."

  The weapon had a triangur shape around its stock and grip, allowing it to nestle snugly into Li's arm. Light enough to carry with one hand, she could easily imagine running into battle with it. The one thing that was missing, in her mind, was a cute paint job.

  "You can also customize the sights with what I have here in the workshop," Yrix added, reading Li's mind. "I left it bare for a reason."

  "You're really x about that?" Li stared attentively.

  Yrix chimed. "Well, I did already take some Consortium liberties with its ammunition. Your magazine won't be firing any bullets."

  "I did notice you guys use something different. Is it even ballistic?" Li paused. "Sorry, I've never gotten to nerd out too much about all this, too busy being bewildered and threatened."

  "I understand. Did you know Ivy likes to sing and paint? And that Sonera is a dancer? Many such traits will reveal themselves as you all learn to rex."

  "Yeah...I get that." Li sighed. "So what is it?"

  "Oh, an explosive particute akin...your pnet's sulfur," Yrix expined, releasing the gun's magazine before inspecting its insides. "You feed a tube full of the compressed material like it were a rack of bullets. Once the weapon fires, a small fraction of it will be brought into the firing chamber, ignited, and expanded into a heap of molten metal."

  "You mean ya'll we're throwing pop rocks at us this whole time?!" Li giggled, staring at the orange sand that y within the magazine.

  "You and everyone else in the st millennium, yes. It's brutish but terrifically efficient. A warrior can carry enough of this on them to fight for a week."

  "That's fair. Running out of ammo is a big concern of ours."

  Yrix paused. "I'm surprised you're so passionate about this, considering your brother was the soldier of the family."

  "It's called autism." Li shrugged. "I'm nerdy about certain things."

  "Right..." Yrix muttered.

  An awkward silence enveloped the room. It was nice to carry on a friendly conversation for as long as it sted. But Li was reminded of home and had to come back to reality.

  "Why did you do it?" Li glowered.

  "Hm?" Yrix casually shrugged. "You mean our cim over Earth?"

  "Why!" Li buckled under her own breath. "It was my home!"

  "Because we needed a plot of nd to build our defensive lines. It wasn't ever about you on any personal level, I assure you." Yrix spoke callously.

  "A defense for what? How could that have been worth it!"

  "For a threat greater and more terrible than anything humanity has ever witnessed, including the Consortium. Oh, little Li," the Arch-Fyer patted her student on the head. "The gaxy is far scarier and rger than your kind knew. You weren't ready for it, and for that, I am sorry."

  Li had no words. Her spirit was broken. To be told her kind's suffering was an insignificant part of a greater game was nothing short of heartbreaking. She was hoping to hear that Yrix hated her people, or that her Empire needed humanity for something special. But Earth was simply in a good spot for a trench.

  "For the same reason, we blotted out many stars in the Sol system." Yrix continued. "All part of an effort to slow the tide."

  "That was you?" Li recalled her experience.

  "Yes. It had to have been. If that many stars colpsed all at once without proper containment, your pnet would have been swept away."

  Li became awash with grief and confusion. Her family was gone, so that a bunch of aliens could fight each other. And what sort of enemy could possibly warrant the destruction of entire star systems?

  The Inestare.