Disclaimer: I've just realized that I may have created yet another plot hole within AO, but alas, please forgive me . if it actually is a mistake it's only very minor! Enjoy!

Renton turned to me, eyebrows raised. He didn't want to be here. That much was clear, but we decided we needed to face the issue head on. Too many journalists had called the Gekko and knocked on its doors within the past few weeks. It was rude to let it progress any further.

"Look down to the floor, darling" the make-up artist, who was now styling my hair instructed.

The rhythmic snipping of hair mimicked the drumroll like consistency of doorknocks, like woodpeckers or termites.

Knock knock, knock knock

"Excuse me, is Mr or Mrs Thurston there?!"

It was late afternoon, last Wednesday. I remember yanking on Holland's arm as he trodden towards the Gekko's door. Talho cheered me on.

"Go Eureka! Use those mummy muscles!" she yelled.

"You'd have… more muscle… than me!"

I groaned. Holland was extra vigilant in a rage. He broke free of my grip and pushed open the front gate.

"DO YOU MIND?!"

I saw through a gap between Holland's elbow and hip the pupils of 7 or so journalists disappear into slits.

"Go find another crew of misfits to take photos of, you…"

He swore, spat and many photos were taken. It was on page 5 of the newspapers, and the inspiration for many jokes. Holland had been glaring evilly at everyone since. Instead of just finding work exhausting, it was a new definition of terror.

Holland, I knew your temper would get you into trouble one day.

The make-up artist padded some powder onto my cheeks. The man who was tending to Renton pursed his lips.

"How do you tame that hair of yours, kid?" he asked. Renton shrugged.

"You know… a bit of TLC" He grinned "You look amazing, Eureka"

"Thank you"

I took a deep breath. At least this television studio was empty except for the woman who would be interviewing us. She had long, golden wavy hair, a couple of freckles on her face and glasses. She was propped in her seat, filing her nails.

Velvet curtains encircled the dark room. Three comfy red sofas were organized in a triangle formation for contrast. This would be my first time on television. I don't even know what to say. I have a suspicion they are after information about the stolen scub. The make-up woman behind me smiled.

"You look adorable, Eureka" she clapped a hand to her chest "Now to double check the lighting"

She nodded to her co-worker, who abandoned Renton's hair, and waved to a man behind a camera, who returned the guesture.

"Please come through, Mr and Mrs Thurston" he bowed. We stood up, and bowed back.

"Thank you very much"

We walked hand in hand to our respective seats, which were slightly on an angle to each other so the camera could fit us in. I put a hand on my tummy. The baby bump was only just starting to show. Butterflies lurched.

I wonder how badly my nerves will affect the baby?

Renton rubbed my hand with his thumb.

"Don't worry" he whispered.

I'll try, I wanted to say.

Whenever he said anything like that, I thought of the words Nirvash had spoken so long ago. It was becoming progressively harder to push them away. Worry. Torment. The journalist tucked her nail file away in her breast pocket and smiled. Now up close, I could read her name tag: "Mina"

"Good morning Mina" I said, trying to look confident.

"Excellent. We're due in a few minutes, you two. I don't have much time for chit chat. When the camera starts, I'm going to shake your hand, introduce us and then we will go on with questions. Just answer them the best you can. We can always remove 'ers' and 'ahs' in post-production"

"Right" Renton said bluntly. I nodded.

"Understood ma'am"

"You ready?"

We nodded. I tried hard not to crush Renton's knuckles as I took deep breaths. I sincerely hoped this didn't put us in an awkward position. The man behind the camera held up a finger.

"Rolling in 3, 2, 1… action!"

I hope I do this right….

I kept my eyes on Mina in the chair. Her words drawled out of focus every so often due to anxiety.

"It's lovely to see you after almost a year of hearing no word. Was it hard to stick together, Renton?"

I looked at Renton, who answered cheerfully.

"Not at all. We met some wonderful people and kept out of trouble. It was the break I was looking for"

Mina nodded and held her microphone towards me. "Did you find it as relaxing?"

"Yes, it was an adventure" I explained, slowly "It was good to experience the real world for a little bit"

"Great. As I understand it, you got to witness the birth of the next Novak?"

"Yes, absolutely" Renton said.

I nodded "It was an eye opening experience. It makes me kind of wonder what's on the road for me"

"Indeed. We haven't seen a Coralian and human baby before. Are you worried?"

I stared at Mina for a little while, and then settled on "I think it's normal to be a little worried"

"I take it its' not overwhelming then?"
"No. It's wonderful. We found out a few weeks ago it was a girl"

Mina smiled as though faking an audience was there "Got any names lined up?"

"Only if she lets me choose them" Renton joked.

"Excellent. I take it you are aware of the situation with the stolen scubs?"

"Yes, we are" Renton answered.

"How do you feel about the situation?"

Badam badam badam

"I feel perplexed" Renton said.

"So do I" I butted in. Mina smiled.

"There's some rumours floating around that your pregnancy, Eureka, has started this disruption. We can't find a culprit yet, after all. I wonder how you feel about that… Do you feel betrayed by the community? "

"N-no!" I stuttered "I don't feel anything about it. I haven't stolen anything, I assure you"

"She's not hiding the scubs under that belly of hers, Renton?"

I glanced at Renton. He was smiling, but I saw a twinkle of anger in his eye.

"Unless you're questioning the miraculous power of an ultrasound, then I can safely say no"

"I see. That's your final word on the matter?" Mina asked. I could tell she wanted more of a story than that. "Any theories as to what it might be?"

"I don't know" I said. Mina turned to me, expectantly "I have never heard of anything so strange. I think we just need to be patient and see if anyone finds anything"

"I agree with Eureka. It's out of our hands. We're in the same position as everyone else"

It was frustrating that all this effort had been put in, only to have the interview over so soon, but alas, there wasn't much I could do about it.

We caught the train home. I sat in the corner with Renton, reading up on my pregnancy literature. Renton sighed.

"It's a shame so much scub is disappearing" Renton said "It's making the masses more restless and anxious"

"I didn't think there was that much?" I said. Renton shook his head.

"I'll tell you when we get home"

Renton and I returned to our bedroom, and we spooned on the bed. Renton buried his nose in my hair and held me close.

"Eureka, I want you to know before you get worried. I have been in contact with Jurgens."

"Jurgens? The one whom took in those Ageha squad children?"

"That's the guy" Renton gulped. I felt his breath tickling my earlobe "He has been researching the stolen scub issue with Doctor Bear"

"Really?!" I gasped "How do you know?"

"They contacted me after work, I took some sick leave" he grinned, sheepishly "They were convinced the media wasn't telling us everything, and it seems that they're right. They've had a look at some of the sights. The evidence doesn't add up. The scubs weren't stolen. You were right about that, Eureka"

"If someone hasn't been moving the scubs, then what has been happening to them?"

"We don't know, but we need to stop calling them stolen scub. Disappearing scub is more accurate"

"You're right. Why haven't you told anyone else?"

Renton paused.

"Holland knows. Dr Bear doesn't want anything to get out yet"

"Why?"

I had a sudden vision of empty fields, desolate hallways. Why would the scubs not want to be here anymore… had they lost desire to communicate and co-exist with humans?

"We don't know" Renton responded, finally "They said they'd call if they needed our help. So far, so good it seems"

What came to mind was a black hole swallowing the scub up, and I decided I didn't want to think about it anymore.

I watched Wendy at dinner, picking at her food.

What will I call our little girl?

I thought a name would just come to me when I wasn't thinking. The problem was I couldn't stop thinking. Maybe Amber would be a nice name for a girl. Amber Thurston. Hmmm…

The black hole swallowing the Scubs re-appeared in my mind, except it began to swallow me too.

Renton, help me…

I awoke from a deep sleep, feeling nauseous. It was dark, and strangely warm. Hazy. I reached for the trusty bucket Renton had placed near the bed. As I expelled an indescribable number of meals, I wanted to reach for Renton's hand.

It's okay… he would say, Don't worry about it.

More than his words, his touch would be enough to cure me of my wrongdoings. I tried to spit out remainders of stomach acid. It was too silent to be comforting. I rolled over. There was no one there. Has he gone outside?

"Renton…" I called, and I stood up, too aware of the stench of vomit on my teeth. "Renton!"

I stumbled to the bathroom, down the corridor, to the kitchen… Renton was nowhere to be found.

"Hello?!" I called, feeling increasingly more anxious.

"What's up, honey?"

I looked up, to see Talho. She was nursing Wendy in a dressing gown, sipping tea. A small lamp was lit near the television. She looked scary with shadows contrasting her features.

"Have you seen Renton?" I asked. Talho chuckled.

"He's been disappearing a lot lately, hasn't he?" Talho said. She returned back to the sofa and pat the space next to her.

"Can't you sleep either? Where's Holland?" I inquired, as I took up her offer. Talho smiled.

"He's probably the same place Renton is"

"But where do you think they would have gone?" I gasped, wiping puke off my chin.

"I'm sure we'll find out" Talho explained "I just wish they'd told me first"

I twiddled my thumbs, and wiggled to ease my back.

"Renton told me he's been finding out more about the scubs, thanks to Jurgens. Maybe it has something to do with that?"

Talho sighed "You'd think they'd remember we were in a war once too"

I yawned "Did Holland not tell you?"

"He did… he just didn't seem happy to tell me. I kind of wish he was"

I sighed "I think because we have babies they feel over protective. It's not that they think we're weak. In fact, I know Holland thinks you're amazing, Talho"

"Yeah. I know I'm misinterpreting" Talho let her head fall back and shut her eyes. I gazed at the back of Wendy's head. She was so big and growing Talho's dark brown hair.

"Do you have to find work soon?" I asked. Talho sighed.

"Yeah. It's fine though. Holland volunteered to alternate babysitting. That way it's more even. I'm really lucky. Most people don't get that privilege"

I bit my lip. One of the questions that were thriving in my brain came to the surface.

"Do you regret your decision to be a mother?"

"Where'd that come from?" Talho asked. I shrugged.

"I don't know. I hope I am as strong as you, Talho… and I hope this scub mystery turns out alright"

"Yeah" Talho frowned "The more Holland and Renton can discover about the scubs, the better. Can't you hear the Scub?"

"I can hear their thoughts to some extent, if I try really hard. I just haven't been trying as hard lately. I've been working for a long time to leave that aspect of me behind"

"No need to be so harsh on yourself. Maybe it's hormonal" Talho winked "Can you hear the thoughts of your baby?"

I bit my lip "I've been too scared to try. What if I can't hear her at all?"

Talho laughed "You can feel her, what's so different about hearing her? Close your eyes"

I did. I didn't need Talho's instruction. I tried to reach out for the being inside me. I tensed my fist, but Talho put a hand on mine.

"Its fine, Eureka" she said "It's just a baby. What's the worst it could think?"

I smiled.

"I'll give it a try for you"

I opened my mind. The strangest thing happened. I felt an impression enter my brain, but it wasn't as specific as the Nirvash's thoughts. It neither presented itself as a picture or words, but a feeling, in an aura that wasn't my own. It rushed from my tummy to the tips of my fingers, like the effects of a warm drink. I opened my eyes and stared into Talho's.

"What's up?" Talho asked. I smiled, and blushed.

"She sends me love" I said "I don't know what specifically, but it felt like one of Renton's hugs, warm and caring. It makes me feel safe"

"That's wonderful" Talho said. Strangely enough, she hugged me.

"Don't ever forget that feeling. As much as I hate to think about it, I think we're going to need it"

I felt like i could fall asleep capturing that feeling. It was as gentle as leaves on a river, soothing and calming. Wendy started to snore. For a moment, I forgot that Renton and Holland were gone.

That's when it started to go wrong.

I felt a rumble under my feet. My eyes snapped open. I gasped, as the television remote fell onto the ground. It was a small one, but definitely an earthquake. There was a rumbling of footsteps, voices… then a large thump.

"What the hell?!" Talho hissed. She left to put Wendy back to bed. "Did someone break in?"

"I'll check" I reassured her.

Gathering my courage, I tiptoed towards the front door. Could it be more journalists? A drunk journalist? The Police? Or maybe…

Oh no!

I flung open the door and had to hold back a yell of shock. Two men were lying on the floor. Their clothes were dirty, torn and ragged. There were bruises and burns on their hands and faces. It was as though they'd been caught in an explosion. The only thing missing was blood pouring out of their ears. There was no mistaking that white patch of bleached hair.

"Renton!" I gasped, and I slowly lowered down onto my knees and grabbed his hand. "What happened?"

"Get us water first" He gasped, his voice hoarse "Throat hurts"

I tried to run, but my baby girl was very heavy. I only hoped I could run fast enough.

Talho and I prepared tea in the full blaze of the lounge room, and in Holland's preference, coffee. We sat down on the sofas, wide awake and cautious. Renton didn't look too terrible now I saw him up close. He resembled a man who had run a marathon, but tripped over a few times. Holland looked like a guy who hadn't done any running in a while. He was in worse shape.

"First things first" Talho said, that familiar flare in her voice "Where did you go, and why didn't you tell us?"

"Bear called" Renton said heavily, and he took a sip of tea "Another disappearance had occurred. We had to check it out. It was the biggest one so far"

"The sightings just keep getting bigger" Holland continued "The bigger it becomes, the more mysterious and urgent it is to discover the answers"

"In the middle of the night?!" Talho yelled. I nodded, but tried to keep level headed.

"We were worried about you two"

"I'm sorry" Renton sobbed "We didn't mean to. God, but… we didn't…"

Renton's head fell flat onto the table with a clang. Holland clapped Renton on the shoulder and continued.

"We retrieved the culprit"

Holland slipped something out of his pocket and threw it onto the table. It was a small shard of glass. Or maybe it wasn't. It had a more opaque, specific shape to it.

"Is that…" I began

"Quartz?" Talho finished. She held out a finger to touch it. Holland put a hand up to stop her.

"Don't touch it. We think this is what's making them disappear"

"Are they hiding inside?" I asked. Scubs were capable of amazing things so I wouldn't put it past them. I tried to look at it up close.

"We're not sure. We can't research it anymore now"

"Why not?" Talho retorted. Holland's eyebrows narrowed and he reminded me of his late brother.

"There's something out there. It's started to cause a lot of trouble"

"What's that?" Talho demanded. Renton grumbled, and I offered an ear to listen.

"It was like a crystalized machine" Renton explained "Gigantic. It could shoot lazers out of its head"

"Is that what got you?" Talho demanded. Holland nodded.

"Out from where the Scubs disappeared, this weird thing came out. We thought maybe it would play nice, that maybe it was an evolved form of a Scub, but it attacked us. Doctor Bear alerted the authorities immediately. He went back to find Jurgens. I said we'd go find reinforcements"

"You mean we are going to fight it?" Talho asked. Renton lifted his head from the table, eyes livid with murderous rage. Spat flew across the table as he spoke.

"It's not even a question! We have to! Otherwise everyone is going to die!"

It was that moment that I knew. This must have been what Nirvash was talking about. It had to be. Suddenly, I was both relieved and afraid. At least nothing bad was going to happen to my baby girl… I think.

"What can we do? We can't fight it with just us. Wendy is here" I blurted out, panicked. Holland crossed his arms.

"We need to prepare to fight. These strange creatures are aggressive."

We have to fight…

The words echoed in my mind like a death march. He didn't mean fight like a yelling match. Did he mean fighting like how I did when I destroyed my other children's parents? When I was a white demon, a psychopathic, emotionless monster? No. I had just started to be accepted into society. My baby had just sent me love, and was Holland saying we had to back track to how we were before? Was that the reality of the situation?

"That's not fair!" I screamed, losing all dignity.

"Eureka, shush" Holland snapped "We can't beg for things to get better. We have to get our act together. We should prepare for the worst. I suggest we retreat somewhere safe until we are in a better position to fight"

"We'll never be in a good position to fight!" Talho yelled "What about Wendy?"

"I'm the one who is pregnant here!" I retorted.

"SHUT UP!' Renton screamed.

We were all silenced then. Renton so rarely screamed, even when he was younger. It reminded us of old times. The rough times…

"We are not going to give up" Renton growled. I saw a passionate fire in his eyes I had seen in Hollands many years ago. It both disturbed and enticed me "The Gekko needs to prepare to become a fighting machine, and we need to find somewhere safe as quick as possible. Talho, call Hilda and Mischa. Eureka, call Annie, Florence and everyone else you can. We need to spread the word quicker than the news and we need as much help as we can get"

"I-It's just one of those things though" I began "If it's Scub maybe I can r-reason with it"

"No, Eureka" Renton said firmly "It isn't a Scub. I know it in my heart. It isn't harmonious with nature like the leaves of a tree. It is an antibacterial agent, its opposing force. There won't be just one. They came from where the Scubs left. There will be dozens here within the next couple of hours, if they are as smart as we think. We can handle it. We've done it before. We've had our coffee. Let's go!"

I felt heavy and useless and I trotted down to the telephone. Renton stayed beside me.

"Where should we tell them to meet us?" I asked. Renton put a finger to his chin.

"Infinity point" he said "That place is so void of wildlife I doubt the Things will find them right away"

Suddenly, I received an image of the black and pink creatures – like a deformed Nirvash… was the earth speaking to me?

Secrets…

No, it was the same faceless being that had sent me love.

"I'm told they're called Secrets" I said, out of nowhere. Renton turned to me and raised an eyebrow.

"What makes you say that?"

I pointed to my stomach, quite bewildered. Renton's eyes widened.

"You've been talking to her?" he gasped "Since when? Tell her Dad says hi"

"I didn't know she knew words" I said, surprised myself "I'm even more confused as to how she knows what they're called"

"Whatever. Just talk to her for me, will ya?"

Renton was impatient, stressed and snobby. This was no time to argue.

"Ok, ok"

I closed my eyes, and very quickly tried to send those very words towards the child in my belly. The same, calming impression appeared in my veins. A smile rose to my lips. As Renton was starting to walk away, too distracted, I waddled slowly up behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist, as far as I could anyway.

"She sends you love back"

I tried to savour that moment, because I knew Renton took the sentiment to heart, but we didn't have time to do such things and that was the saddest fact of all.

"We can get out as soon as Hilda and Mischa get here" he said, boldly. I turned to Talho, and saw she had already called them. She must have tried them a dozen times because it had been a decent couple of minutes.

"They're on their way"

I wanted to cry. It was happening too fast. Renton looked me in the eye with his fierce sapphires for iris's, placed a hand on my belly and smiled ever so gently.

"We need your help too, my darling wife"

It was a mind blowing experience to do something as simple as scroll down a list and call every contact in the phone book. Gidget, Moondoggie, Ken-go, Hap… some of them required more than one buzz to wake them up. After most of them got over the initial confusion, they were quick to respond.. It made the job go a lot quicker to have Talho work her way down the list with me. A lot of them wanted a full explanation for what the crisis was. Some of them were already in the mist of it.

"I don't care if you don't own a car!" Talho yelled, which made me jump "Rent one for God's sake!"

I took deep breaths, and tried to keep calm. The last thing I needed was my additional anxiety to limit the development of my little baby.

We were left waiting a while for others in close proximity to arrive. Holland ushered Talho into another room, and I heard their yells through the walls. It was a long fight about what to leave behind and what could stay. I didn't want to listen to it. Out of instinct, I got up and poured myself more tea. Renton, who was mapping out a trajectory didn't pay attention to me for a while. I tried to send more cuddles to the baby residing inside of me, but even she was a little befuddled as to what was happening. I had almost forgotten what fear felt like, and that scared me more than anything else.

Once Hilda, Mischa, Doctor Bear, Jurgens and the remainder of the Ageha squad arrived, it was time to lift off into the air. Thankfully being pregnant, it wasn't hard to have a convenient excuse to go to the bathroom.

As Talho and Holland passed me in the corridor, I debated talking to them. However, if my experience with fights had taught me anything is that it took place in another room for a reason. We couldn't have them losing focus. Their eyes were red. They looked angry, sad, but determined. It was so stupid that crisis made us behave like monkeys.

As I sat down on the cold toilet seat, I could hear murmurs of conversation from back on the main deck. It was an unlikely reunion. I pat my tummy, tears filing my eyes.

Why do they call it a Secret? I asked her. My baby girl repeated.

Secrets

Maybe it was just goo-goo ga-ga language. Whatever. I don't care.

I sat there; glad to be away from the world, while our trajectory balanced out. Infinity point was not too far from here, from what I recall. It shouldn't take too long to meet up with the rest of the crew.

"Hey Eureka" Jurgens waved, as I reached the main deck. He shook my hand. "How's Eureka junior going?"

"I don't know" I said, quite honestly. Jurgens sighed. He looked over to where the Ageha squad children were helping to Pilot the Nirvash. Mischa and Hilda were also helping. Renton was talking to Holland and Doctor Bear. I didn't want anything to do with this fighting idea.

"I-I don't want a war" I mumbled. I felt hormones raging like a storm. I couldn't control it. "I w-w-wanted a b-baby because th-there wasn't a w-war a-a-anymore"

My throat constricted. My eyes snapped shut. I wasn't about to vomit, but tears came pouring out instead. I so wanted to disappear right now, just like those Scubs. I want to hug my daughter and rock her to sleep.

Jurgen's face fell. He opened his arms.

"Come here you big girl"

I choked on my own tears, and sat down on the sofa next to him. Desperate for any sort of human comfort, I let my head fall onto his shoulder. I can't remember the last time I cried so much. Jurgen's tough, big hands were a strange comfort to me, like a fathers hands. The closest I ever had to a father was either Renton's Dad, or Holland. I had never known what having a parent meant, but all my friends made me feel like I was a part of someone's family. I didn't want my pathetic imitation of a family to disappear. Not now.

"Eureka, are you alright?" Mischa's calm demeanour entered my eardrums. I couldn't answer.

"Will chocolate make it better?" There was Hilda, trying to make a joke.

Once again, I couldn't answer.

"Eureka…" strangely enough, Doctor Bear's imitation of being comforting was so disruptive that I couldn't help but jump. His hands were giant and squishy like jelly. My eyes flew open.

"Doctor Bear?!" I retorted. Doctor Bear took up the rest of the sofa space and put a hand clumsily on my shoulder, engulfing it.

"The hardships of youth" Doctor Bear nodded. He pursed his lips cunningly. "I do believe your husband should be sitting here. Am I right?"

"I don't know" I said "Renton needs to do his job"

"He's not doing anything except speculate" Holland butted in "Like the big old fart he is"

I looked up. Holland had disappeared from his duties. Renton pushed Holland out of the way.

"You're the old geezer!" he said. He glared at Doctor Bear.

"Make some space, you big goof"

Orders were followed, and Renton sat down beside me. I could tell he was embarrassed around everyone else. He blushed. He put an arm around my shoulder.

"I'm sorry for abandoning you" he whispered into my ear. "Please forgive me"

"Don't abandon me ever again!" I cried. I kissed him on the cheek, repeatedly, until saliva started to drip down it. Jurgens chuckled from my other side.

"You're a lucky man, Renton" he said "You don't even know how much"

He got up, and left. Renton ran a hand through my hair. I loved it when he did that.

"When we get down there…" Renton began "I'd like to build another Nirvash, and see if they really do split consciousness. Their rationale for multiplying for the purpose of going someplace else may be the reason why the Scubs are disappearing"

How can you build another Nirvash? Through an act of will?

I wiped my eyes "What do you mean?"

Doctor Bear tapped his nose "It is more my little experiment, Eureka. If Renton's story is accurate, the Scubs may be vanishing to avoid the Limit of Questions"

Suddenly, the world did more than make sense. It seemed horrifically planned. If there was a God in the universe, I believed we were being watched by Him. Then I realized with a pang of dread, that it wasn't "God" that was watching us in this world, in the same way others perceived Him. The Nirvash were the ones who predicted this.