Well, I've finally finished my summer class! So that means I have the remainder of summer to look forward to! Hopefully, this will allow me ample time and energy to put out more chapters for the story, and hopefully they are not as poor as the last few. We still have a landscaping project going on, my brother won't stop playing on my gaming PC (speaking of which, I've been obsessed with The Witcher III: The Wild Hunt; yeah, I know I'm a couple years late), so I'll keep trying to make time for you guys!

In the months that had passed, Sugarcube had taken to putting Kai under her spell quite often to fulfill her sexual needs with him. Of course, she always made sure they used protection. Eventually, Kai conceded, and agreed to compromise with Sugarcube, so long as she would not use her psychic abilities to take advantage of him, and only doing it occasionally.

The Sykes and Ripleys had been visiting each other for game nights quite often, and never once getting caught by anyone. Over time, Chase was starting to become more comfortable around Star, but it took a bit of time for him to do so. Overall, they had become extremely great friends.

Star and Chase had grown extremely rapidly in just a short amount of time. In less than three years following their births, they were already nearing their adult size, but still slightly smaller than Aster and Sugarcube. However, they were still nowhere close to aging to death, since Kira and Kai knew that these genetically-altered Xenomorphs had an average lifespan of about 80-100 years, typically equivalent of a modern human.

Also, Kira had begun her training as an apprentice researcher for WY, and they were prepping her for future space missions. Kai was also going through a similar program as her. Both of them were quite eager to go back into space. They might even get to do spacewalks for maintenance and equipment installation.

However, there was a different focus of events at the moment. Today happened to be Kira's birthday. She, Aster, and Star were all spending the day together, baking a cake, watching movies, and playing games with each other.

"I really wish we could get you some gift, Kira." Aster said.

"Yeah. Sorry we can't do what you do for us, Mom..." Star added.

Kira smiled. "It's okay; it's the thought that matters."

They had continued watching a movie, until they heard the doorbell ring. Kira paused the movie.

"I'll get it." she said. "You two stay hidden, just in case!"

Kira arrived at the front door, and opened it to see Kai had arrived at her house.

"Oh! Hey, Kai!" she said.

"Hey, Kira!" Kai responded. "Happy Birthday!"

"Thanks!" Kira said. "Anyways, what's up?"

"Well, I heard that today was your birthday, and I decided to get you a little gift." he said.

Kira's eyes lit up. "Really? You actually went out of your way to do something for me?"

Kai nodded. "It's in my car, so... I'll just pull it out and bring it up." he said.

With that, he went to his car, and from his trunk... he hauled out a large box, about a cubic meter. Kira's eyes widened immensely at it.

"Sorry I didn't wrap it." Kai said.

Kira was still shocked for a moment. "Never mind there not being any wrapping... what is it!?" she asked.

"Oh, it's something that I'm sure you'll find very helpful for your work... and for casual purposes, too." Kai said.

Once Kai had managed to carry the box into Kira's house (he had to stop and catch his breath, just because it was a bit heavy), the two opened it up to reveal a monitor, accompanied by a very wicked-looking housing unit containing multiple motherboards.

"What is it?" Kira asked. "Some kind of computer?"

"Not a typical computer you could find over the counter." Kai said. "This, Kira, is a Supercalculative-Operations and Rapid-Intelligence Apparatus, or 'SORIA' for short. It is a compact supercomputer designed by WY, and equipped with artificial intelligence; it is supposed to be a personal digital assistant. This one is probably the best available on the market, and it's the most popular."

"SORIA..." Kira repeated. "...never heard of it. How much did this thing cost?"

"Don't worry about the price, Kira." Kai said. "I just bought it via credit, so an added plus in my favor is that it'll help build my credit score. It won't take a huge chunk outta my pocket. Besides, I got a pretty large bonus from my work, and I figured you should have something cutting-edge... 'cause, well, I've got enough tech at my place."

While Kira, Aster, and Star watched, Kai assembled the machine right in front of them. He attached the monitor to the housing, calibrated the motion wheels at the base of the unit, set the carbon nanotube battery into its place, and so on.

"Mom... what is Kai doing?" Star asked.

"He's putting together this... computerized assistant." Kira said.

"Well... what do you plan to use it for?" Aster asked.

Kira shrugged. "I'm not sure yet..." she answered.

Kai finally finished assembling the SORIA unit after nearly a quarter of an hour.

"Well, she's all ready to go." Kai said, stepping aside. "I'll let you have the honor of activating your birthday present, Kira..."

Kira stepped forward, examined the device, and then slowly pressed the power button on the front. After listening to the motherboards power up, the screen came on with a cyan WY logo against a black background that had a gray blur in the mid-portion of the screen.

"Greetings, patron of Weyland-Yutani." SORIA spoke in a female voice that sounded somewhat metallic with a hint of reverb. "I am the artificial intelligence protocol of your SORIA unit. Before I can begin helping you with whatever task you require of me, we must first go through the setup process."

Kira narrowed her eyes and hunched forward as she looked at the machine.

"You've gotta be kidding me..." she said. "...it talks?"

Kai nodded. "Like I said, artificial intelligence is one of her core functions."

Kira sighed. "Now I know how all the Windows 10 users felt about Cortana back in the old days..." she said.

"Now administering user analysis." SORIA spoke. "Please hold still and maintain a neutral facial expression during the scanning process."

While Kira stood still, watching herself on the screen from the camera, SORIA scanned Kira using said camera to register her identity as a primary user. It did this for a few moments, before it eventually stopped.

"Scanning process complete." SORIA said. "Please state your first and last name aloud."

"...Kira Sykes?" Kira said.

"Confirmed." SORIA said, displaying Kira's name in text on the screen. "You have identified yourself as 'Kira Sykes'. Is this correct?"

"Yes." Kira answered.

"Confirmed. Do you wish for me to address you by your first name?" SORIA asked.

"Sure?" Kira answered.

"Confirmed." SORIA said.

"Are we done with the whole setup thing?" Kira asked.

"We are, Kira." SORIA answered. "As my primary user, you are free to ask me anything that your require of me, so long as it falls under the constraints of my parameters of computational instruction sets."

"Uh... could you dumb that down for me?" Kira asked.

"I can serve you in a number of ways regarding computer systems." SORIA said. "I can remotely access your computer files, help you send an email, browse the internet for answers to your questions, perform number-crunching of large data piles, decrypt and access firewalls (recommended to be done in a manner of ethical hacking), and remotely access computerized mainframes."

"So... this thing can help you with work?" Aster asked. "How so?"

To everyone's surprise, SORIA answered Aster, as if she heard his question.

"I can perform calculations and distributive commands at a rate of five-hundred petaFLOPS, aiding a user in the creation of programs or performing scientific analysis for experimentation. As such, I am programmed to assist a user in scientific purposes as well as computerized work and personal, casual usage." SORIA said.

"Wait..." Kira began. "...how can you understand Aster?"

"Oh, yeah, forgot to mention..." Kai said. "...I've modified this particular unit. I've installed a special receiver, which WY used to monitor Xenomorph telepathy, so that means this particular SORIA unit can understand Aster and Star, as well as other Xenos like them, just as easily as you and I do."

"Wow... that's pretty nifty, Kai! And thoughtful!" Kira said.

"You have identified the Xenomorph telepathic transmission belonging to one called 'Aster'. Is this how you wish for me to address this individual?" SORIA asked.

"Yes." Kira answered.

"Confirmed." SORIA answered.

"Well... hope you find her to be very useful!" Kai said. "I'm sure that, in some ways, you can't do without her!"

"Heh heh..." Kira chuckled. "...I'll keep that in mind. Anyways, thanks for the gift, Kai!"

"You're welcome, Kira." Kai said. "Anyways, I've gotta get going. I don't wanna be late for the space symposium at the university later on!"

"Well, nice of you to stop by, like always!" Kira said.

"Yeah, well... I hope you're all in the mood for game night later in the month! Sugarcube and Chase are always eager as ever!" Kai said.

"Trust me, we always look forward to it!" Kira said.

"Well, see ya!" Kai said, just before he went out the door.

Kira watched as he drove off... and happened to notice yet another newspaper on the stoop of her porch. She picked it up without unfolding it.

"Meh, non-subscriber newspapers..." Kira uttered to herself. "...why do they still print these things? We have the internet, for crying out loud!"

Kira discarded the paper into the outdoor trash bin and went back inside the house... but did not bother to open and look at it for even a moment, which contained a very important highlighted event... on the headline, no less, which was revealed as it opened in the garbage can.

-INMATES ESCAPED FROM ARES COLONY PRISON-

On the night of April 22nd, 2096 (Terra Standard Time), an Ares System prisoner, former doctor Hugh Meyers, aged 53, executed a carefully-planned-out strategy to escape from the Remus Colony prison on Mars, after spending nearly 1,000 sols serving his sentence.

The inmate was accompanied by his cellmate, life-sentence inmate Stephen Baldwin, aged 61, during the escape. On their way out, the two incapacitated a pair of guards in a blind spot, stole their uniforms and equipment, and shaved their beards (which they had grown out during their stay) in order to blend in for the escape.

The location of the escapees is currently unknown. All Sol System police are on the lookout for the pair of fugitives. They are considered armed and dangerous. Police urge Ares civilians in particular to be watchful for these two, and to report any sightings of them.

Well... this might not be a good thing. If anything happens, will SORIA be of any help? Guess we'll have to find out later on. Again, sorry that I'm not around to upload too often, but all of you supporting me really helps to motivate me. So, I'll keep delivering for you all! I promise! Keep holding on...