The Innu were happily bobbing in the water of the hot springs, occasionally popping up to talk to the birds while they played in the water, moving back and forth as naturally as any amphibious species would. That was what ended up giving them their first fun new idea for weapons that could target the energy beings.
One of the Innu was about to surface when her friend dunked her head back underwater, making her splutter for a second as she had been expecting to get a lungful of air. It was only one breath, and they had all suffered from a shock transition while playing as kids, but as researchers it gave them an idea.
The layers were a lot like the separation between water and air, each of them was different. However, if they could mess with that boundary, they could directly mess with the energy being's transition between states.
It was a small thing, but a new way of thinking about their approach to weapons creation. Before, they were working on targeting the enemy themselves, while destabilizing them using the Darkling weapons that affected the Energy Being's stability within the layer. But if they changed the way that the boundaries in the region worked as well, they could cause real havoc with their ability to disperse.
It was filed and noted, and the Innu continued about their day, swimming with the fish, and trying not to get too close to their endothermic reactions, so they could stay pleasantly warm and not get the body heat sucked out of them.
It was all that they could have hoped for in a day-long outing. A bit of a change of thinking that would allow them to take a new approach to development in the upcoming days.
"Lunch is served. Everyone out of the water and come get some nutrients in you before you pass out." Max called as Nico brought back another platter of food.
The Innu burned a huge amount of energy when they were playing, as they had a much faster metabolism than most species did, but with the Replicators on their side, there was no shortage of food on their outing, and everyone from the Moon Base was eager to try all the new food products that Absolution had developed since they checked in last.
Mary smiled up at the sky as she lay across her husband's chest, just enjoying the downtime away from all of her responsibilities and the daily stress of managing an entire planetary system full of Reavers.
They had expanded their operations to cover nearly every feasible space in the Rae 5 system, and now there were thousands of space stations set up around the planets, and the traffic on the surface was beginning to pick up beyond the point that Mary had designed her traffic control system for.
Expansion meant changing things up and adding new departments, which meant splitting responsibilities, and to her, it always seemed that everything had to come across her desk.
Not that she would consider letting anyone else do it. The one she wanted to take over her position as Family Head was Nico, and she wasn't nearly ready to settle down into a managerial position yet, despite her rank as a Reaver Company Commander.
Max left her alone with her thoughts and decided that it was time to do something a bit energetic for the day. The Innu were perfectly happy in the water, but he was eager to explore a little. The planet had a wonderful collection of rare gems and minerals even before they terraformed it.
"Hey Nico, want to go check out the gemstone cliffs? They're only about five kilometres from here, and we can make it there before the Innu are even finished teaching the birds a new song." He suggested.
Nico winked at him and got up out of the reclining chair she had picked for the afternoon.
"Sure, a little time to stretch our legs would be a great idea. We will be back, everyone."
Mary's smile grew so wide Max thought it might actually give her muscle cramps, while the Innu all waved happily and demanded that they make a recording of the cliffs to show everyone when they returned.
They didn't want to miss out on the sight of the cliffs, but they weren't willing to go that far from the hot springs to see it. Five kilometres was a long way for the Innu without transport. For Max and Nico, it was no big deal. Five kilometres was under a ten-minute jog, given their physical skills, and they wouldn't even be tired when they got there.
As soon as they were out of sight of the others, Nico smirked at Max and took off running, dodging between the trees and taunting him for not being able to catch up. Max just laughed and picked up his speed. Despite his size, and her agility, Max was still faster in a flat out race, Nico only had the advantage when they were moving through the trees.
He let her run to the cliffs and only caught her when they were in the final clearing, then jumped off the short ledge, so they could watch the view of the light on the gemstones from the air.
A five-metre fall wasn't going to seriously injure either of them, though an impact with the trees they were approaching could be a painful experience. The view was worth it, though. The gemstones glittered on the rock face in front of them, wet from a natural spring and with the afternoon sunlight reflecting off them.
"Holy crap, call a medic, they're going to die." Someone shouted from below them, and Max realized that they were not alone at the cliff. There were other visitors here, and they hadn't realized that the two of them were in no real danger.
"We're all good." Max laughed as he landed on his feet with Nico in his arms.
"That's not normal." The terrified man gasped. The tone of voice made Max realize that he had overlooked one small fact. These were Alliance visitors out sightseeing. They had never met a Kepler Pilot before, or a full-conversion cyborg, so they had no frame of reference that would tell them that it was possible for species with no wings to be uninjured after falling for five metres.
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