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Knives watched as Kiley went back and filled her plate again. He had lost track somewhere; this might be the fourth or the fifth full plate, and she was showing no sign of slowing down.

"Where do you put all that?" he asked as she sat down again.

"What, the food?" He nodded. "I'm always hungry. High metabolism combined with a tendency towards strenuous exercise combined with tricks has a tendency to make me a skinny girl."

"But how can you eat so much? Don't you get full after awhile?"

"No, not really. Not so I reach a point where I don't feel I could eat anymore."

"That's almost amazing."

She shrugged. "One of the fun things about being me."

He eyed the plate. "You didn't eat this much out at the oasis."

"We had to tote all our food in. I was rationing."

He grinned. "That was rationing?"

"For me it was. I used to eat over five thousand calories a day. Now, granted, my schedule has slowed down some since those days, but eating normally always seems close to starving for me."

He eyed her lanky frame. "You don't put much weight on, do you?"

She shrugged. "Nope. Not built for it." She chuckled. "One thing about being an engineered being, you tend to know why you have quirks."

"I don't have quirks."

She laughed. "Of course you don't," she said, then laughed more. "Megalomania is an entirely natural personality trait."

He glared, then huffed. "You aren't entirely sane yourself," he pointed out.

She sobered. "Yes, but I admit to being a villain. You still think that violence is any sort of answer."

"I do not condone violence." At her amazed expression he continued. "It's extermination, nothing more."

"I think we've had this conversation before. There are more ways to take people out than merely killing them."

"But it's safest. Your idea of a virus has merit, but what happens if it evolves, mutates into a form that can affect plants? Violence has the benefit of being precisely targeted. A bullet will kill a human just a effectively, and with much less fuss."

"And you don't get any personal satisfaction out of it? Try another one."

"Of course I do. Every human I kill is one fewer to breed and feed off the blood of my sisters. Humans are fools. You destroy everything you touch. The universe is better off without you."

Kiley laughed. "You are so caught up in your role of noble savior, aren't you?" She cut a bite of waffles and put them in her mouth as Knives fumed. She swallowed and continued. "What have you done of any lasting significance to the universe?"

"I… have killed vermin."

"Yes. You and countless other mass murders throughout history. What have you built? You, your brother, any plant? If you died today, what would be your legacy?"

"Aside from the Great Fall?"

"That's just destruction. To destroy is easy; a child could do it. To create, to make anything that will live beyond your span of days, that's the goal you should aim for."

"I'm trying to create a utopia, a world untouched by the rapacious nature of humans."

She laughed again. "That's what you say. But you live here, in a ship made by humans. You destroy their cities, their lives, their biospheres, and what do they do? They frustrate you by just going ahead and living anyway."

He scowled and stood up. "I don't have to stay and listen to you."

She looked up at him calmly. "No. You don't. But if you're having a hard time refuting my arguments, maybe you should take a closer look at your personal philosophy. Because from where I'm sitting, it has a few holes in it."

Knives stalked out of the room, not heading anywhere in particular, merely leaving Kiley and her obnoxious mutterings behind. He found himself standing outside Shamra's room, and decided to pay her and Ace a visit.

Entering, he walked across the room and sat with his back lightly resting against the curve of the bulb. The heat felt good on his shoulders, relaxing the remaining tension from the discussion. He felt Shamra come down and sit behind him, mirroring his pose. He grinned and then sighed. He felt her inquiry, but didn't know how to put his feelings in words she would understand.

Regardless of how he felt about the woman, there were a few problems that he just could not see how to overcome. One, she was human, and thereby deserving of death. Not really the best start to having a thing together. Two, she wasn't keen on the whole concept of genocide, and didn't fail to make her feelings known. He didn't really feel like killing her, but if she got in his way… well, he really couldn't see any other way to stop her. Three, she was highly skilled at frustrating him. Very highly skilled. Four, she didn't like his family. He rolled his head to the left, looking at Ace. Well, she didn't like most of his family.

How could they have anything together if they couldn't even stand the other's species? It just didn't make sense. Life isn't some romance novel, where lust conquers all and happy endings abound. It was easy enough to like the woman, yes, but admitting that, what comes next?

Shamra radiated assurance at him, and love. He sighed, then sent love of his own back. She might not understand the nuances of his problem, but she didn't need to, to try to make him feel better. She just knew that he was upset and wanted to make things better. That was love. Whatever he had with Kiley… that was different, and nowhere near as wonderful as the blameless acceptance that he received from his family.

Was is any wonder that he would do anything to protect those who loved him, and those he loved in return?