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Everything exploded. Aja landed roughly and grunted. She pushed herself up, holding her head with a hand.“Ugh,” she groaned.“No!” Vex roared. “No!”Aja looked up. Her core suddenly felt cold. Krel was lying unconscious on his back a few feet away from her, still clutching the osmic circuit like his life depended on it. “No! No, no!” she shrieked, crawling over to him. She picked him up by his shoulders. He made no sign of waking. “Krel!”“No,” whispered Vex.Aja glanced at him, then followed his gaze to her brother’s shoulder, where flakes of his form were already flickering away. She felt tears well up.“No, no, little brother,” she whimpered. “No, don’t leave me, too! Krel!”There was nothing she could do. Her brother faded in her arms until there was nothing left but his core – still bright, thankfully, but it wouldn’t for long if she couldn’t get him to reintegration stasis.“We must leave at once,” said Vex.“Not yet,” growled Aja. She shoved Krel’s core into Vex’s hands, then gave a fierce battle-cry and ran at the human woman who had done this to her brother. The woman began shooting at her. Aja dodged and did her best to land a hit. She wasn’t succeeding.She was knocked to the group. The woman shot her serrator out of her reach.“You’ll be a perfect lab rat,” the woman said.No. Aja couldn't be captured here. How could she help Krel if she was captured here?“Beep, beep!” Aja looked towards the sound. Stuart was driving towards them in a large truck. “Here comes a monster-trucker!”Aja scrambled out of the way as he drove past her. The woman did the same.Vex stiffened in alarm. “Stuart, that wall is rigged to–”“Explode! Yes, I’m well-aware.”Aja pushed herself up on her arms. She glanced towards Vex, still holding Krel’s life core, then back towards the truck, before ducking and covering her head. The wall blew. Aja winced, but when it had stopped throwing debris, she stood. Buster finally managed to get free again. Aja reached out to him. “Buster!”He roared. She hopped on his head as he reached her, clinging to him.“Come on!” said Vex. They ran out of the broken-open wall. Aja jumped off of Buster and Vex offered her Krel’s core again. She took it and hugged it to her chest, fighting back more tears and wishing her brother could hug her back.“You’re going to be okay, little brother,” she murmured.“Where’s our getaway!?” demanded Vex.Buster ran off into the woods. Stuart called after him, but Aja paid him little mind as the burrito van finally skidded to a stop in front of them. She ran towards it.“Where’s the prince?” asked Ricky. Aja glanced down, then back up again. The robot gasped. “Oh, no. He needs help.”“Yes, which is why you must drive!” she said.Inside the safety of the car, she could finally relax, but the moment she did, the tears finally spill over. They had the osmic circuit, but at what cost? She wasn’t sure how to fix the daxial array, and without it, they were stuck; she'd have to figure something out. What’s more – they didn’t have enough power. Without power, Mama and Papa and now Krel would all die.“Aja,” said Vex solemnly. “The ship only has two stasis pods.”Aja froze.“What?”Vex bowed his head. “There are only two, and the King and Queen are already inside.”Her lower lip trembled. “Are you saying there is nothing to be done for my brother?”“Varvatos is saying… to save Prince Krel, you will have to take out one of the royal cores,” Vex said.“To save Krel… I have to sacrifice Mama or Papa,” she whispered in horror. “No. No – no!”Vex put a hand on her shoulder. “Varvatos is – I am so sorry, Princess Aja.”Aja hugged Krel’s life core close to her chest and tried to combat the shuddering sobs. If she could only save two of them, and one had to be Krel – then she had to choose. She had to lose Mama or Papa.She hoped they would all forgive her.
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Krel doesn’t expect anyone to be anywhere near Mother’s crash site, which is probably why he and Aja are pointing weapons at their small classmate the minute they hear a twig snap.Eli screams. “Don’t kill me!”“Eli?” Krel manages.“Were you spying on us again!?” demands Aja.“Don’t kill me,” whimpers Eli again.Aja huffs and turns to glare at Krel. “Varvatos was right. We should have taken his thumbs!”“Not my thumbs!”“Violence isn’t the answer to everything, Aja,” Krel says, pushing his sister back and deactivating his serrator. Eli is covering his face and whimpering. He’s dropped his phone. Krel picks it up and looks at it.“He got pictures of us!?”“Shush,” says Krel. He tilts his head. “These are terrible pictures. Here.”He grabs Eli and then holds out an arm to take a selfie. It’s kind of ruined by Eli’s terror.“Are you going to eat me?” Eli asks.“Why would we eat you?” scoffs Krel. “Smile, I can’t get a good picture like this.”“Krel!” Aja snarls.Eli tries to smile. Krel decides it’s close enough and takes another selfie.“There,” he says. “Don’t internet it.”“Krel,” growls Aja, “you’re going to get us in trouble.”“What? It’s just the Eli.”“You’re – you’re not mad?” asks Eli.“I’m furious,” snaps Aja.“Not really,” says Krel, shoving his sister aside. He sends his sister a sharp grin. “If you’re allowed to share with your boyfriend, I can share with my friend.”“We’re friends?”Well, Krel had hoped they were friends, but maybe they weren’t.“We are now,” says Krel.Eli smiles much more genuinely this time, but the grin falls into a frown. “Wait – Steve knows!?”“He pinky-swore not to tell,” says Aja.“It is a very serious swear,” says Krel grimly. “You must do the same. No one else must know about us.”“Oh – uh – are you sure?”“Yes,” Aja snaps.“No one,” stressed Krel. “There are bounty hunters trying to kill us! You must keep it a secret.”Eli nods with wide-eyes. He adjusts his glasses.“I won’t tell anyone,” he says. “Pinky-swear.”“Good,” says Krel. “You should probably go before Zadra finds out you’re here. She might kill you.”“What!?”“Just go,” says Aja, all four arms crossed.Eli nods. “Don’t worry, guys! You can trust me! I won’t let you down!”“See that you don’t,” Aja seethes.“Excellent,” says Krel.Eli starts to run off, turns and waves, then disappears into the forest. Aja growls behind Krel. He turns to her and grins smugly.“Now you know how I felt,” he says.
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They aren’t watching where they’re going, not really, so it’s no surprise that they run into someone. Aja stumbles backwards and Krel nearly falls, but the man reaches out an arm to catch him.“Thanks,” says Krel, before opening his own arms. “My mistake!”The man accepts the hug, even if he looks a bit bewildered. Aja is pretty sure by now that actual physical hugs aren’t what Mother meant by “embracing your mistakes.”“We’re very sorry,” says Aja.“No problem,” says the man. “You kids sure are in a hurry.”“We are playing ‘laser tag’ with our friends,” says Aja. “You can come join us, if you want! I’m Aja Tarron, and that’s my little brother, Krel.”“Duncan,” he says. “Nice to meet you.”“Your arm!” Krel exclaims suddenly.Aja’s eyes are drawn to Duncan’s left arm; it’s not made of flesh like the rest of the human is, but rather seems mechanical. Aja has never seen anything like it. He shifts awkwardly, but Krel, who has little to no concept of personal space, is already grabbing it and inspecting it.“Incredible!” he declares. “What is it made of? What is the power source? How do I get one!?”“Where is your flesh one?” asks Aja.Krel glares at her. “You can’t just ask him that!”“Why not?”“Because it’s rude!”“And grabbing his arm isn’t?”“It’s alright, it’s alright!” says Duncan. “Um, I don’t know all the details of what’s it’s made of it. It has batteries for a power source, and, uh, I think you want to keep all your arms.”“Not if I get one of these,” mutters Krel. Aja is somewhat worried about that and makes a mental note to keep her little brother away from sharp objects for the next bit.“How did you lose it?” asks Aja. “If you don’t mind me asking, I mean.”“It’s okay,” he says. “I was in a car accident.”“The coach was right,” says Krel. He glares at the cars in the street accusingly. “They are death traps.”Duncan laughs. “Oh, don’t let this scare you off from driving. It’s actually pretty fun, and really freeing. How old are you kids?”“I’m sixteen,” says Aja confidently. She’s pretty sure she’s the Earth equivalent of sixteen, at least. “Krel is fifteen.”“So right there ready to start driving,” says Duncan.“No, thanks,” says Krel.Duncan chuckles. “Well, to each his own.”“We really should get to the ‘laser tag’ place,” says Aja. “Again, you’re welcome to come.”“Can your arm shoot lasers?” asks Krel. “That would be an advantage. If I can’t, I’d be happy to adjust it for you. Who doesn’t want an arm that shoots lasers?”“I’m – I’m good,” says Duncan. Aja wonders if he realises just how serious Krel is being – her brother would very happily rig the human’s prosthetic up with lasers and who knows what else. “And thanks for the invite, but I’ve got class in, like, ten minutes on my laptop, because I’m an idiot taking online summer courses.”Aja winces. She certainly wouldn’t want to spend her summer doing more school.“Well, it was nice meeting you!” she says.“We should hang out!” says Krel. “I’d love to take a look at your arm!”Aja shoves him. Duncan laughs. “I’ll see you two around, then. Good luck at laser tag!”“Krel will need it!” says Aja.“Who knew humans could make themselves new limbs?” says Krel as they walk away. Aja shrugs.“You can ask Duncan more the next time we see him,” she says. “Come on! I want to kick your butt at this ‘laser tag.’”“What? I thought we’d be on the same side!”“Not on your life!”“Aja!”
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Aja greets him with a strangled gasp and a delighted, “What is this?”Stuart nearly falls off his ladder in surprise – he hadn’t known the kids were coming today. He climbs down and walks over to greet them. Aja is holding BJ up in the air in awe. Krel is beside her, brow furrowed in confusion.“That’s a kitten,” says Stuart. “His name’s Buster Junior, but you can call him BJ. BJ, say hi!”BJ does nothing but blink and let out a small mewl. Stuart can practically see Aja’s heart – core – melt at the sound.“I love him,” she says. “He’s so – so soft! And tiny!”She hugs BJ close to her, the widest grin Stuart has ever seen plastered on her face. Krel sticks out a hand in front of BJ’s face; the kitten sniffs it then licks his fingers. Krel legitimately giggles.“Aw, he likes you!” says Stuart. “Yeah, I found him outside the shop the other thing. Poor little thing was all by himself.”“I want one,” says Aja.Krel’s face falls. “Varvatos will never let us have one.”“Hey, hey, now, don’t be sad!” says Stuart. “You can come visit BJ and me whenever you want. I’m sure BJ’d love that, wouldn’t you, BJ?”At the sound of his name, BJ lets out another adorable meow. Both siblings immediately melt once again.Stuart has a feeling he’s going to be seeing even more of them than usual from now on.
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In Krel’s defence, it’s an accident. Really, he shouldn’t be working on the ship in his human form, but they’d gone out that morning and the transduction effect won’t wear off for another seven horvaths – and the sooner they fix the ship and everything that’s wrong with it, the better, so he turns up the music and sets to work.The song switches and Krel crinkles his nose.“Aja,” he groans. “Always messing with my playlist!”He leans back to change the song, but from his position he can’t reach. He huffs and walks closer to the edge of the platform he’s standing on, then stands on his toes and stretches to grab the device.“Yes!”Then, just as he’s changing the song to something much more tolerable, he completely loses his balance. He lets out an undignified yelp and wraps his arms around the device, hovering now in mid-air.“Okay, okay, this is fine,” he mutters to himself, until he starts slipping and scrambles for a better grip. “Not fine, not fine! Woah!”He completely loses his grip on the device and plummets with a scream. He hits the ground, and there’s a sharp cracking sound and pain shoots from his shoulder and head. It knocks the breath out of him; darkness floods his vision.It takes him a few sectons for the room to filter back into view. He’s left breathing heavily on the floor, staring up at the ceiling and his music device still floating in the air. Huh. Wait, when did he get two of them? He blinks slowly. The two resolve into one, then back into two. His head throbs and so does his shoulder. It’s way too bright in the room.“Mother?” he manages to call. He winces at the volume of his own voice.“Yes, my royal?”“Ow, ow, too loud,” he says.“You appear to be injured. I am informing Commander Vex now.”Krel groans and tries to pull himself up, but he can’t move his right arm. His shoulder protests painfully at the attempt.“Your shoulder is dislocated, my royal. I advise you–”“Dislocated?” says Krel. He finally manages to push himself into a sitting position with only one arm and the headache to end all headaches. “What does that mean?”He glances at his right shoulder.Oh.It’s literal.“Ugh, fligshaag,” he mutters. “Well, that’s okay, I can just put it back.”“I’d advise you not–”Krel grabs his arm and forces it upwards. Judging by the amount of pain that follows, it doesn’t help. He bites back a grunt of pain and carefully lays back down.“Never mind,” he grunts.Loud footsteps sound and suddenly, Varvatos is kneeling beside Krel.“My prince!” Krel winces at the volume. Varvatos must pick up on this, because his voice is drastically quieter the next time he speaks. “What happened? Were you attacked?”“I think I fell,” Krel says.“You think?”Krel shrugs with the shoulder that isn’t screaming in pain. “I think.”Varvatos huffs. “These flimsy human bodies are useless! You should be uninjured from a fall like that.”“Regardless, Commander Vex, the king-in-waiting is injured,” says Mother. It might be the headache, but Krel thinks she sounds rather chiding.“Varvatos Vex is not trained in medicine,” says Varvatos, which isn’t surprising at all, “but he is trained in combat care. Mother! What is wrong with the king-in-waiting?”“His right shoulder is dislocated. He tried to ‘put it back’, but appears not to have done much more damage.” Ah. She definitely sounds chiding now. “Additionally, he is suffering from a concussion.”“Varvatos does not understand. How is Krel’s shoulder dislocated? Can Varvatos not just put it back?”“No, Commander, you cannot just ‘put it back’. I suggest you call a human doctor. The transduction effect won’t wear off for another seven horvaths.”“Do you doubt Varvatos Vex’s ability to handle this himself!?”“Quite frankly, yes.”“Can you two argue somewhere else?” Krel asks.“Fine,” snaps Vex quietly. “Varvatos will find a human doctor. One that is trustworthy. Varvatos will threaten them with painful death!”“I would advise against that.”“Fine! Only glorious dismemberment.”“Commander.”Varvatos grumbles in irritation. Krel’s vision has started blurring again. There might be two of Varvatos. It’s probably fine. He might just take a nap here. Yes, that sounds nice.“Prince Krel, please stay awake,” says Varvatos. He sounds kind of scared, which also might be the headache talking. Or the concussion? Maybe it’s the concussion talking. He really wants to take a nap.“Sorry, Commander,” he mumbles, before closing his eyes and letting the pain fade away. When Krel wakes, he’s in his room. It takes him a moment to remember what happened. He still has a headache, and his shoulder is still sore, but it’s much better. His arm is in a sling; yeah, he’s going to be taking that off as soon as possible. A glance out the window tells him it’s night, now. A glance at his hands tells him he is back in Akiridion form, which means that unfortunately the injuries carried over.Klebtastic.It finally registers that Varvatos is asleep in a chair at the end of the bed, half of his body folded onto the mattress. It doesn’t look very comfortable, so Krel shakes him awake.“Varvatos?” he says. Varvatos grunts, then shoots up, ready for a fight. Krel holds up his three good arms in surrender. “Just me!”“Krel,” says Varvatos in relief. “You are awake. You scared Varvatos!”“I scared you?”“Yes! And I had to find a human and bring them here! You’re grounded!”Krel opens his mouth to argue, but that’s… kind of fair. Not like he can work on much with this stupid sling anyway.“Does this mean I don’t have to go to school?” he asks instead.Varvatos’s lips twitched into a smile. “Varvatos doesn’t see why not.”
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The Tarrons’ house had been, for lack of better words, rebuilt in the middle of the woods. According to Krel, there was no way to move it back to where it was, so they’d have to make due. The good news about living in the middle of the woods was that there weren’t any snooping neighbours (Eli, according to a frustrated Aja), so the Tarrons could hang out more in their normal forms. This was especially appreciated by their new Guardian, Zadra, who was not, as it turned out, a babysitter. She liked to glare at Steve every time he came over. She was very intimidating.Today, Aja had invited him to go swimming – “We don’t have swimming on Akiridion-5, but it looks fun!” – and since Steve was pretty sure she was going to swim with or without them there, he pretty much had to go, if only to make sure she didn’t drown on accident.Zadra answered the door when he arrived. She scowled. He grinned weakly and waved.“Uh, hi, Lieutenant,” he said.She sighed. “Come inside. Aja and Krel are out by the… pool.”“Thanks,” he said awkwardly, following her out to the backyard. Steve still wanted to know how their tech could synthesise a whole pool. Aja waved to him with all four arms. She was wearing a swimsuit, but Krel, scowling at the pool, was in a modified t-shirt and shorts.“Steve!” Aja exclaimed. “Look! Mother made us traditional human swim wear! But Krel did not like his.”“If I had gotten something like yours, but no,” scoffed Krel. His scowl deepened at the sight of Steve. “Look! Steve is not wearing a – whatever that was.”“I think your information is a bit out of date,” said Steve. Aja’s suit looked like it came straight from the mid-twentieth century, so he hated to know what the Mothership had tried to give Krel. “I brought an extra pair of trunks just in case. They’re Jim’s old ones, so they might fit you.”He tugged them out of his backpack and passed them to Krel. The boy eyed them suspiciously, then walked back into the house to change. Aja giggled.“Do I look alright?” she asked.“Yeah – yeah!” said Steve. Her swimsuit had been modified like Krel’s t-shirt to accommodate all four arms, but the rest fit her normally and– “Holy cow, your feet are tiny!”She blinked, looked at her feet, then at his.“Well, yours are huge,” she said.“No – my feet are normal size for a human!”“Well, mine are normal for an Akiridion.”“But how do you stand?” Steve asked.“Uh, normally?” she said.Steve shakes his head. “No offence, but you guys are kind of weird.”She grinned and shoved him. “Right back at you, my lumbering oaf.”