When the eggs were ready to be birthed, Sakuma and Steve were summoned quickly. They were told to wait until Agatha was done giving birth. Alex refused to let anyone into the room until she was done. Hermes, Dionysus, and Apollo were there to see what the new breeder females would look like. When they knew it was clear, the breeder males gestured to the men to follow them in. Dionysus did give them one simple order.
"Speak when spoken to," he muttered. "Mother is weak. My King and Emperor is on guard. He won't hesitate to slaughter either of you right now."
They both swallowed and nodded. Nick and Kim were standing along the back wall to watch them carefully. The special breeder eggs would be stored in the room under Agatha's watchful guard. When the eggs were revealed, Steve blinked at what he knew was going to be his girl. He was amazed that she resembled a sleeping teenager with sun-blond hair. She also appeared to have a soft speckling of freckles. She could have resembled a country girl through and through. There wasn't much else he could make out until she hatched.
Sakuma could only gaze in wonder at the sleeping Oriental beauty in her egg. Her hair was incredibly long and pitch black in color. Her skin was the color of alabaster, and her figure looked incredibly slender. She almost appeared to be one of those ancient Japanese dolls of Geisha women holding their fans and umbrellas in her build. She also appeared to have a slight Anime twist with the way her face was so gracefully slender. She looked nothing like my sister.
"A very interesting set of breeder females," Alex mused. "Good job."
"Thanks," Steve muttered.
"Amazing..." Sakuma said with a deep breath of fascination.
"They'll be moving about in about five hours. Possibly six," Hermes nodded. "We let them pick their own names, just so you know. They tend to go off of names of gods and goddesses. Like the rest of us."
"So, that explains it," Steve thought.
"Yes. Project Zeus and Project Hera. It would make sense," Robert nodded. "Not much else to do for now. Just head back to your rooms and take it easy."
"Sakuma, I would like to speak with you," Agatha said. Alex helped her sit up, and Sakuma stayed while Steve was shown the door with the breeder males. When he was alone with Alex, Robert and her, he looked at her with interest. "As you know, your family has various technical weapons and development at their fingertips. Our drone of you has made it back to Japan and has taken over your old routines. It was able to bring over my children, Demeter and Hephaestus, too. They are now settled in the outskirts of Tokyo. There is some population, but not by much."
"How did they fit in?" Sakuma asked.
"Homeless people are abundant there," Alex snorted. "They just had to pick and choose. Then the drone made them false identities to get a home. After that, it was done. They already started to move their drones into the city. Several of my drones swam out to meet them. As you know, I can't tolerate water. My drones with Agatha can withstand it easily. It's how you can eat the fish they bring in. We are going to start taking over various employees of the workplace. What we want to ask you is, do you know their shifts?"
"Wait..." Sakuma frowned. "many of these men have families, too. Not all of them are single workers. There is one man that I know of who is single and over-sees all of the scheduling. Ah...damn! When does he work again...?"
"We'll find out," Alex muttered. "Agatha? Are you all right?"
"I'm just...tired..." she sighed. Now Alex was alarmed. This was new. Looking at the others in the room, his glare had them leave quickly. When they were alone, he pulled her up to him and hugged her close.
"Hera, what is it?" he whispered.
"Is it possible...that I could feel a bit...worn out?" she trembled. "As though I feel like my duty is done? I...feel like I have...nothing left..."
"No!" Alex hissed and thought to a drone. Ragland was quickly brought in to evaluate her condition. He was able to get a shot of her blood to examine.
"I'll be as quick as I can," he said gently. Alex watched him leave, and he continued to cradle his mate close. She was starting to get listless. Something was clearly wrong.
"Mother!" Apollo shouted, as he ran in.
"Mother! No!" Hermes gasped when he charged back in. Dionysus was in next with his own intense show of worry. Now Alex glared at them all with a look for explanation.
"Mother...feels that her job is done giving eggs," Apollo swallowed. "If she does, she will have no purpose. She needs to feel that this is important to her!"
"Now that Rhea is born, she feels that she can step down. If she does, I fear for the worst," Hermes said. "Mother, we need you! We can't create the breeding males or females for our Kings and Queens! If you deteriorate, I'll miss you, too."
"Mother, you are the Empress. Without you, we have nothing," Dionysus said gently.
"So...I am still needed?" she asked softly.
"You are always needed. Not only for them, but for me," Alex said with a gentleness he only exposed for her. The kiss he gave her next helped revitalize her thoughts, but her body was still showing signs of weakness.
"I still feel so weak..." she shivered.
"I'm back!" Ragland said when he returned. "I found the problem."
"What is it?" Alex asked.
"Her cells are aging. She's getting older. There is a way to reverse it, but we will need the cells of her that were frozen. We have over a hundred of them. We will need to make more," Ragland said. "Think of one cell being like a fountain of youth to her. However, Dana may need to give over her female strand of DNA again. I can get enough from her to freeze and keep as an emergency back-up."
"She'll do it," Hermes said when he thought to his mate.
"I want to work on those cells myself," Alex said. "How many will be needed?"
"Just one. It will completely revitalize her. We may need to do this once to twice a year. Maybe more, if she starts to feel weak again."
"I'm glad I didn't destroy those cells," Alex muttered. "Let me talk to her alone."
"I'll be in the lab," Ragland nodded. Her sons were able to hug their mother before they left. When it was the two of them again, Alex kissed her hard.
"So...it's because of old age?" she frowned.
"You've been giving birth so often that you feel worn out. I wonder if you'll be a virgin again," he grinned. Then he thought of something and winced. "I just remembered. I'll have to fuck you right away after your body mends itself. I'll have to reclaim you as my mate."
"Do you think so?" she asked.
"It's highly possible. This also means that you'll give out less drones again. It's as though you hit your peak of drone making before everything shuts down. I'll have a lot of your extra cells made. You can count on that."
"How long has it been? A few months?" she thought.
"Yes. About that long. Maybe three. Hard to tell down here," he frowned. "Let me get the cell for you. I'll inject that first. Then I'll give you Dana's DNA. I'll fuck you with everything I have after that. You have my word."
"Okay," she smiled, and he gave her a branding kiss before leaving her side. Robin was barring the door from all but Alex now. It was a precaution that had to be done. When he got to the lab, he went to find her cells first. One was carefully selected and set up in a specialized solution for injection. Ragland had just finished a prep shot with DNA from Dana.
"Here you go," the doctor nodded. "Hariti hopes it works. She's very concerned, too."
"Well, if your diagnosis is right, then there will be no issues," Alex nodded. "Thanks."
"Of course," Ragland nodded. "It's thanks to you and her that I have the woman of my dreams! I'll do whatever I can to help Agatha pull through."
Alex nodded and they shook hands. Then he said, "Oh. Make sure those cells are completely secured! I want nobody to fucking touch them!"
"Loud and clear!" Ragland nodded sternly. "You will be the only one allowed."
"Good," Alex grounded out. He took the two precious shots and went back into the bedroom. What he saw on the bed had him gaping with disbelief. Agatha was literally starting to fall apart from how her skin was starting to sag off of her. She was aging rapidly now. At her glance of complete distress, it snapped him out of it. He took out the needle with her cell and jabbed it into her gut to give it to her. She cried out from the pain of it, and fell back on the pillows when the injection was complete.
Very slowly, her body began to reform. That single, fresh cell spread like a wildfire within her. He actually felt a touch of pain from being close to her again, and he gasped. He had to evolve to be around her again like this, but he knew it would just be this once. In a sense, she was freshly born whole again. Her other kids and drones would be fine, as they came straight from her, but I have to get strong around her again.
"Zeus?!" she whispered, as he appeared to be in pain.
"I'm fine...!" he hissed out. His body quickly overpowered the pain and evolved to be stronger around her. Another deep breath was given with a nod. "The new cell gave you back your ability to hurt me, but not by much. It was more like a stinging sensation. I'm better, though. I evolved again to be with you. I doubt it will happen again."
"I hope not," she sighed. When she saw the shot with Dana's DNA, she nodded. "Okay. Give me the shot. I don't know how I'll be, though."
"I know," he said. He gave her the injection and set both empty needles aside. Right after that, before she had a chance to move from his side, he slid over her and coated himself over her skin. He had to do it in this instinctive way to reclaim her. Even at her shout of pain when he took her again, he simply let his body do what needed to be done. For a solid hour, he seeded her to prove that she was his. That no one else could claim her.
"Zeus..." she whispered, and he kissed her when he reformed next to her.
"How do you feel?" he asked.
"I'm fucking starving!" she growled. At the large grin he gave her now, she giggled at him and got caught up in his hug. My mate was back. A kiss was pressed to her forehead, and she watched him leave to start bringing in some food for her. The next few hours were dedicated completely to her recovery.