This chapter takes place right after the previous one.

Bradford never thought a day like this would come.

Here he was, making his way over to the Studio to go talk to the Chosen about having a bit of an afterparty. The Chosen. Earlier in the year he saw them as only enemies—and earlier than that, threats that could end his search for the Commander. Now it fell to him to make sure they were included in the festivities, an action he was willingly undertaking. He never would've seen himself getting into these kinds of situations back then—but times tended to change pretty radically, it seemed.

Still, onto the task at hand. Eliza said she last saw all of them over in the Studio when she left, and she didn't doubt the fact that they were all probably still hanging out with each other. Bradford didn't doubt it either, which was why he was heading over there now.

He rounded a corner in the ship just to see Mordenna's retreating back. Huh. The man was in a different set of clothes. Denim jeans, a green and brown flannel with the sleeves rolled up, and his usual boots. No hood, meaning that Bradford was finally disabused of his notion that Mordenna was bald—that was quite the fluffy half-shave he had. Damn pointy ears, too. "Hunter?"

Mordenna turned around. "Oh, look who it is! Wouldn't have happened to see Liz around here, would you?"

"As it so happens, I'm coming to ask about something on her behalf." He walked over to Mordenna, who had stopped in his tracks. "She was wondering if you and your siblings would be interested in a small get-together. Took her telling me to realize why you guys didn't show up at the Bar to celebrate."

"Yeah. Wasn't about to party it up without Jax and Fals. Funny thing what you're asking, though." Mordenna crossed his arms casually. "I was looking to find Eliza for that exact reason."

"Great minds think alike, I suppose."

"That and she practically imprinted on me thanks the Elders. But the answer's yes, anyway."

Bradford nodded. "Studio empty?"

"Yeah, it's like, eleven o'clock." Bradford raised an eyebrow at him and Mordenna heaved a sigh. "2300 hours. God. You would think you'd know what I'm on about."

"For all the grief you give me," Bradford muttered, "I'd think I deserve to give you some back."

"That just isn't how this works. Anyway, my sibs are in there, so I'll just tell 'em to hang tight. Eliza going to be joining us?"

"Along with Tygan and Lily, if you're alright with that." Eliza had already wormed Lily into it and was now finessing Tygan out of the Lab. "Liz figured they could stand to take a break before bed."

"Assuming they get back to bed, of course. But yeah, no complaints outta me. Would be happy to see more of them out of their respective hellholes."

"You and I both." He started to walk past Mordenna. "Might as well go with you back to the Studio."

Mordenna nodded. "Fine by me. You and I don't talk too often, do we?"

"Not much. You can call the Workshop a hellhole all you like—you spend a lot of your time down there."

"Hey." He pointed to Bradford. "I spend a healthy amount of time over in the Studio bothering my siblings and entertaining whoever's in there. I'd like to think my social life is healthier than Lily's. Not that it should be a contest, because I agree that she needs to get out of there more often."

"I get you." Bradford focused on the hallway ahead. "And I've managed to talk Eliza into handing me more of her duties, so I've been keeping busy trying to lighten her workload."

"Maybe we could find more time to hang out in the Bar or something? I'm sure Jax would always have you down in the Studio."

"I'll think about it." Which was to say he'd definitely try to make more time for it. Mordenna seemed interested in talking to him more, which he would maybe admit made him feel better. He was still trying to give Eliza an easier time of things, and it made him remember the offer he made to Fal-Mai. She'd never really followed up on it, but maybe he needed to make himself look more available? He was starting to see how Eliza worked herself to the bone like she did.

Mordenna tapped the pad to the Studio and walked in. "Hope you do, old man. Would like to see more of you." He then looked into the room. Bradford caught sight of Jax and Fal-Mai casually lounging together on a quite frankly huge bean bag chair in the room. When was he going to be informed about all this? Jax had a datapad in his hands and Fal-Mai had that drone in her lap—white and blue like that porcelain pattern, spherical with four spider-like legs, and did it always have rabbit ears? They both looked up as Mordenna entered. "Greetings, losers and losettes. Here to inform you that Liz had the idea of the afterparty before us."

"I am not a losette," Fal-Mai grumbled jokingly as Jax chuckled and set the datapad to the side. She looked to Bradford and nodded. "Greetings, Central. It's been a while."

"Sure has." Bradford walked in, considering the seating arrangement. After a moment of consideration, he dragged up one of the bean bags for himself and took a seat. Mordenna himself flopped on Fal-Mai's vacant side, already comfy in his chair. Bradford crossed his arms. "I'll let the two of you know as well—Eliza's going to try to bring Shen and Tygan in as well, hopefully let them socialize a bit more than they do. She'll also be bringing what's left of the cake if any of you are interested."

"Sweets aren't my thing," Mordenna replied, "but I'm sure Jax here would get a kick out of it."

"Indeed. I'll admit to being partial to such things."

Fal-Mai looked like she was considering it a bit, then screwed up her face. "As much as I would like to partake... I cannot imagine the sensation of having more solid food. Liquid is all I may handle."

Well, Bradford didn't think about it much, but they really didn't need to eat, did they? He took their absence at mealtimes to be regular now, but it never really crossed his mind. "So how do you three even operate without food?"

Jax and Fal-Mai looked to Mordenna, probably expecting him to know. Mordenna shrugged. "To be blunt, I haven't the slightest. Elders probably gave us some sort of connection with the Void that nourishes us? I've got no fucking clue. The one time I asked to dissect Jax to find out, apparently he wouldn't take one for science."

Jax scoffed. "I was not about to have you dissect me while I still lived to satisfy your curiosity."

"See? Killjoy." Mordenna spread out his hand. "And it's weird, too, you think they'd make some note of it on our Ascension files, but they never did. I guess what they were doing was so common to them that they didn't feel the need to take it down."

Well, that was a lot of words to not answer Bradford's question at all. He didn't begrudge them for not knowing, but until Mordenna did dissect another Chosen, he supposed it'd be a mystery. "Right. I figure even if you did know the logistics of it would fly right over my head." Ah, he'd forgotten something. He held up a finger to the three of them, adjusting his communicator to talk to Eliza. "Hey, Liz? Sorry for being late, Mordenna caught me in conversation. The Chosen are good with the idea of the afterparty."

A second passed, but Eliza eventually answered. "Good to hear. Just convinced Tygan to get out of the Lab, with Lily's help. I'll pick up the cake and we'll be on our way."

"Roger that." He rested his arm back on the bag. "You two are alright with Lily and Tygan coming, right?"

"Of course." Jax nodded. "They strike me as the type who would not have been at the initial celebration, as with us. I would not deny them a quieter party and the chance to spend more time with their Commander."

"Agreed." Fal-Mai was absentmindedly petting her drone. "Admittedly, I do not talk to either of them as much as I should. Perhaps this will be a welcome opportunity."

"Good to hear. Both of them could do with a little more socialization, if you ask me." They were both terrible workaholics. He got a stronger sense of that out of Lily than he did Tygan. Tygan was harder to get a read on in general—he seemed like the reserved, no-nonsense type, but Bradford really couldn't put his finger on what seemed off about it. "I know Lily hears a lot out of you at least, Mordenna."

"Yeah she just has to deal with me." Mordenna folded his arms behind his head, leaning back. "The minute Liz let me have free run of the Workshop she signed Lily up for my antics for as long as she holds off the urge to kill me. Definitely needs to get out of there more, though, and I guess I could do the same."

"You're practically in the Studio every other day," Fal-Mai replied. "You seem to be striking a healthy balance to me."

"Yeah, well." Mordenna's mouth set in a line. "... dunno, then."

Fal-Mai shrugged. "Perhaps I could come to you. I could talk with you and Lily as you work, if it would not be too distracting."

He went right back to smiling at that notion. "Ah, me and Lily talk each other's ears off as we're working anyway. Having a third speaker in that conversation won't change much. You can very well invite yourself in at any time you please." Jabbing a finger at Jax, he went on. "You too, mister! Feel free to pop on down to the Workshop whenever the hell you want. I know you have your little ducklings to tend to in here—"

"Ducklings?"

"—but you won't be bothering me if you ever make it down to the Workshop."

Jax went "hmph." "I would not call them ducklings, but that aside, I will keep it in mind."

Mordenna rubbed his chin. "I guess I can go visit Tygan sometimes, too. Man strikes me as needing a little bit more help than he gets."

"He's got his scientists," Bradford replied, "but even they tend to stick to the sub-lab that Eliza commissioned. Sends his orders to 'em regarding whatever he's researching at the moment."

The Hunter's smile fell a bit. "That man's just isolating himself, isn't he? Ain't good for him. I'll definitely have to kick down his door eventually."

"Be glad if you did."

Mordenna nodded, his eyes drifting to Fal-Mai's drone. He whistled at it and freed up his hands, and it scuttled right into his lap, Fal-Mai permitting it with a smile. He began petting it, mood lightened once more. "Adorable little thing. Need to make me that nervous inplant for my own Specter array."

Jax's eyebrows raised. "Dabbling in more transhumanism, Mordenna?"

"More like trans-Chosen-ism. Besides, already am. What's more on top?"

More... what? Chosen? Augmented? Whatever the case, Bradford shook his head. "And just when I thought things could get any more sci fi around here..."

"Hey, things were always going to go in that direction eventually." Mordenna splayed out a hand, but he kept the other on the drone. The drone was making subtle, soft clicking noises as he kept petting it. "If humans refuse to evolve by augmenting themselves with technology more than they already do, more resources for me and anyone else who wants my services."

"If I ever need some sort of robo-suit to put my brain in," Bradford grumbled, "I guess you'll be my first port of call."

"See! That's the spirit." Mordenna shrugged with his hand out. "Besides, if the Sarcophagus I'll be working on between projects works out, everyone who wants immortality is gonna have to be psionic anyway. Might as well augment yourself before the rush starts."

Honestly, Bradford didn't know about a version of him with psionics. First of all, he already had trouble with his hair trying to turn white without needing help from latent superpowers. Also, even if it was just for five days, he didn't want to not be available to Eliza for that long. To anyone who needed him, really. Maybe Mordenna could be a suitable replacement if needed, but still. He sighed, rubbing at his mouth. "I'll have to think about it. Really don't want to be cooped up in that Psi Lab for almost a week, but I won't deny the fact that immortality is tempting. Still, something struck him. "... wait, would the immortality come with no aging, or?"

"Most likely." Jax was the one to answer that. "A sufficient enough connection with the Void can see it rejuvenating you. The power of the Void can sustain one's lifespan—it is the overuse of psionics on an unprepared body that begins to wear one out. Of course, that is only in a sensory capacity—and through the use of alternative methods, you could still perceive the world in a way."

"Like Edgar and his ravens?"

"Precisely."

"Still, you've been using psionics for what, twenty years? Does the Chosen thing also prevent you from going blind?"

He nodded. "If my brother is correct, we were meant to be one of the ways the Elders would find new bodies to inhabit. An experiment, along with all of the other reasons." Jax sighed. "Nevertheless, it meant that they were seeing just how humans could withstand psionics, and I am a walking monument of that. Even if the day comes that I lose my sight, hearing, what have you..." He looked to Mordenna. "I trust Mordenna will have a solution."

"D'aw, thanks." Mordenna grinned. "Replacing people's eyes will be an interesting one, considering I don't know if I can just go Specter on that. Have to link up the connection with the brain, after all, and I don't want to have active control over that cord."

Bradford shook his head. "I'm going to have to stop you before you go into technicals before someone needs to replace my brain."

Mordenna snickered. "If you insist, Central."

That was when the door opened. The first to walk in was Eliza, balancing the box the cake was in with one hand and some plates and forks with the other. Bradford half-thought to chide her for taking everything. Behind her were Tygan and Lily. The former actually had his lab coat off, surprisingly, with his datapad on a new clip on his belt.

Eliza walked in enough to allow Lily and Tygan to enter, chuckling at the sight of Bradford. "You all comfy?"

"Oh, absolutely, Liz." Mordenna stretched out like a cat for a second—and with his hand off of the drone, it made a beeline for Jax's beckoning hands. "Goddamnit, Jax."

Jax grinned wickedly. "You snooze you lose."

"Don't you ever get that informal on me, I swear to god!"

The whole interaction left Fal-Mai giggling and Eliza snickering, coming over with everything. Lily sighed, walking over and plopping down in one of the bean bag chairs. "Sometimes it feels like I've never left the Workshop, but I guess that's just Mordenna for you."

"I have to deal with a treacherous brother and you're still beating me while I'm down?!" Mordenna threw his hands up. "That's it. Eliza please help, everyone's bullying me."

"Oh, you've gone through worse." Eliza pulled up a bag next to Bradford. As she set down the cake and dishes, Tygan quietly picked out the other huge bean bag and sunk into that. "Anyhow, happy birthday to me, and all. There should be enough left for everyone to get one reasonably-sized slice if they want—Banel made like, two cakes, bless his heart."

"Didn't know that man knew how to cook," Bradford muttered. He had his fair share during the party proper, so he'd pass.

"Baking's a major hobby of his." Eliza picked up the plates and offered them to Mordenna. He shrugged, taking one and passing it to Jax.

Jax took his, humming in thought. "Leave it to the ever-studious Commander to know the capacities of her soldiers." Tygan took his plate without comment.

Lily grabbed hers, passing the stack to Bradford. "You tend to remember a lot about the soldiers, don't you?"

"Of course I do." Bradford didn't take one, so Eliza picked out her own and set the rest down next to the box. "I would hope so, anyway. We're not a formal military outfit and I'm not guiding hundreds of soldiers, so I'd like to think I could get to know them. Make them feel a bit more at home with the person asking them to walk into danger, yeah?"

"A noble line of thought, at least." Fal-Mai gave a short sigh. "I hardly think I could associate with that many people."

"Honestly, I don't blame you." Eliza opened up the box. There was certainly a fair amount of cake left—and with two people skipping out on servings, everyone else could have two at least. She began doling out slices to whoever offered their plates. "But the military kinda conditions you to know a lot of people."

"And kick their asses," Bradford added. "Still can't get over the fact that was how we met."

Mordenna raised an eyebrow, shoving a bite of cake into his mouth. "Never did get that story, I think. Mind if we hear it?"

Usually Eliza wasn't much of a fan of sharing stories from back then, Bradford knew that much. He knew well what she'd turned into—and what she thought of it nowadays. Interestingly, she nodded. "Sure enough. It's early enough in my bitter history that I can tell." She jerked a thumb at Bradford. "Bradford here reminds me of Herod in a few ways, and one of them was trying to be friends with people who had rightfully lost them back then."

He groaned, massaging his temples. "Look, I was a little too fresh-faced when things started out, alright?"

"Not saying you didn't learn pretty fast. Anyway, military tends to collect the worst types, yeah? People you think only exist in sitcoms and as villains. One of Bradford's friends was like that and thought that one of the best ways he could make his way up in the social ranks was by picking on all the women. Thanks to the way one of my superior officers treated me, he tried to start in on me first." She gave a short sigh. "Keyword here is tried."

"By the time I came over to figure out why Daniel was hollering in pain," Bradford finished, "he was already the proud owner of a broken nose. Eliza was half a second away from wiping the floor with him further, and I was the one to get in the way to try to stop her." He chuckled. "Keyword here is tried."

Eliza snickered at the echoing of her words. "Hey, look, you do still understand why I ended up giving you a black eye, right?"

"Surprised it didn't get damaged," he grumbled. He knew pretty quickly, and he hadn't ever been intending to stand up for that bastard. Once he was done reeling, he told Eliza that if she went any further, she was bound to get investigated. "Thankfully Daniel didn't want to admit he got his ass handed to him by a woman and I was fine saying I got the black eye from him. Eliza here narrowly escaped a dishonorable discharge and I got a far better friend in exchange."

Fal-Mai nodded. "I had heard you mention it in passing before, but this certainly puts it into context. Was he not 'court martialed' later?"

"Yeah, but I usually don't say why because it kills the mood and makes me wonder why I was friends with him in the first place."

The Commander swallowed down some cake. "We'll say it was a serious conviction and he deserved it and move on." Daniel got curb-checked for sexual assault. By the time he'd done it, Eliza had been transitioning into her First Contact personality... and had used it very well in getting them to listen to her and the woman Daniel had assaulted. "As for what we're moving on to?" She gestured to Jax. "Nice duds. Are the Tailors busy, or could I ask for some late birthday gift clothes? I am well into the age where I love getting socks for birthdays."

With the serious topic dodged, Jax gave a smooth smile. "Though I loathe that I cannot do something for you myself—though I shall see to that any way I can—I may certainly ask my Tailors if they would like to do something for you. Knowing them, and knowing they will learn they had nothing prepared for your birthday, I highly suspect you will have their attention."

"Good! And if they need any more supplies, let me know, we're due to stop by the Black Market." Originally it had been to warn them of an upcoming raid, but with the revelation that they had fallen for ADVENT's lie? It was now to stock up. "Speaking of... do they have the commission clothes done?"

Jax nodded. "They have completed their tasks successfully, though I personally cannot vouch for the quality of the products so much." He sighed.

Lily raised an eyebrow. "What are they making, lingerie?"

"Indeed." Jax's straight answer caused Lily to have a lot more trouble with her next bite. "'Women's' outerwear is about all I am versed in."

"They're dresses," Mordenna said exasperatedly. "I don't see no bio tags on them asking for two X chromosomes—and even then that's a bad way to tag a woman."

But... weren't two X chromosomes what made a woman, well, a woman? Maybe there were some new things Bradford needed to catch up on. He'd leave the matter be, assuring himself that Mordenna knew what he was on about. But still, he had a comment on the subject. "The premium goods are underwear?"

"As interesting as it is," Lily replied, having recovered from her shock, "I can kinda see why. I don't think a high priority for scavengers is going to be lingerie shops, but that doesn't mean there's not going to be demand for it. Underwear's underwear, and people are always gonna want fancy stuff to make themselves better. Tailors probably got a few buy orders of specific sizes and measurements, right?" When Jax nodded, she shrugged. "Probably specific people in the market asking for them."

"I'm not surprised, at least." Eliza ate fast—she'd already killed the slice of cake she'd taken. "Besides, could always use more underwear. Might ask around the soldiers and see what everyone needs clothes-wise. Though that might need a trip by the Black Market."

Jax hummed in thought. "If I recall correctly..." He looked over to Tygan. "Doctor, have you been able to create the synthetic fabric for them?"

Tygan looked like he'd been put on the spot a bit, but he nodded. "I had the chance to both work out some potential approaches in that area and speak with Celosia regarding a number of other plants she can assist me in nurturing. If everything works out, we may be seeing both an increase in our produce stock and a surplus of plant-based fibers in the near future."

"Oh, yeah." Eliza nodded. "The Alien Ruler that's pretty much a living plant must be a great consultant for our greenhouse, right?"

"Very much so. Her kind is evidently well-versed in the mutation of other flora—the Queens especially. I was... pleasantly surprised she was willing to work with me after what her and her fellows had been through."

"Not to think of Vahlen on my own birthday, but jeez." Eliza shook her head. "Happy day, this is a happy day, and I wanna hear more about the plants! What kind of increases are we talking about?"

Tygan seemed more comfortable getting into talking about his work. "With her assistance and an adjustment in watering and nutrient cycles, we can expect an increase in growth and yield surpassing that of previous genetically-modified organisms. Luck and work providing, it might be us contributing food to the Black Market instead of the other way around."

"Hell yeah." Mordenna gestured with his fork. "You know how much fresh produce would move for? That's the real premium product right there—it's food and it's gotta go quickly, but damn if people won't be loving the notion of something fresh down in the market. Of course, this is assuming we get a meaningful surplus."

"If you ask me," Lily interjected, "I think we should be taking the seeds Celosia modifies and providing them to the havens. If I remember correctly, Sherry and March were the ones who helped us get the greenhouse set up—maybe we could spread that knowledge around to help out with the effort."

"Well, of course." Mordenna shrugged. "Not like we can't do both. We might lose the corner of the market on it, but whatever—best to provide if we have it rather than create artificial scarcity." He nodded to Eliza. "Thoughts, Commander?"

Eliza tapped her fork against her lip, getting that certain look on her face that told Bradford she was thinking. She then sighed, but cocked a smile. "... is it a bad thing I'm considering rolling out the seeds and methods to the havens who haven't given me shit first? I think both of your ideas are great, but y'know. First access bonus to people who've been with me through thick and thin."

Mordenna snickered. "Sounds like a great plan to me, Commander. Still best to make sure everyone gets them, but the supportive havens can 'conveniently' get theirs first."

"It's settled then, I suppose." Eliza smiled at Tygan. "Thanks for helping out and coordinating Celosia in that particular area, Tygan. You're always a force of good on this ship."

Emotions were hard to get a read out of from Tygan, but it was clear he was restraining that calm smile from something more blatant. "I always seek to put in as much as anyone else on the ship has, Commander. I consider it an honor to be recognized."

"My policy is: if you do good, you'll get recognized for it."

Bradford chuckled. "And don't we all thrive off of that."

"I, for one," Mordenna said, "like my validation like my coffee—injected right into my bloodstream."

Fal-Mai knit her brow. "I... am fairly sure that's not how it works."

"Not with that attitude it doesn't."

Jax reached over and gently planted his hand on Mordenna's head. "Please do not even give Fal-Mai the idea that coffee can be injected."

"Watch the hair!" He batted at his brother's hand and Jax relented, smiling. "Honestly, for a guy with hair like a wizard's beard you'd think to keep your hands off of mine."

Jax raised an eyebrow. "For a man who constantly wears a hood, I would think you bald."

"Shut the absolute hell up!"

Bradford laughed genuinely as the others did. This was going to be a hell of a night.