I'll admit it, but I hadn't forgiven Melissa for putting me in a commander. I'd been taken from everything I'd known and loved, and that was not something you forgive easily, and I honestly doubt that what ROB had done to me was forgivable. Of course, there were exceptions to this belief, as I myself learned, but right after the meeting I had with Mel, I still hadn't forgiven her for putting me in a Commander.

All that being said, I had to concede that she had brought up a good point when talking about all of the test subjects I'd rescued from the Blind Eyes. I mean, I could provide better care for them than the colonies they lived in, due to my advanced tech base, and they'd certainly have a higher standard of living than they would in those colonies. At the same time, though, I couldn't just take them from everyone they'd known and loved. Most of them still had families back on Chiron, and I wasn't going to put them through what Mel had done to me.

Still, there were other things I had to consider: the Blind Eyes would probably continue trying to kidnap these people if I returned them to their homes, and though I was loathe to admit it, I hadn't been able to locate all of their ells. In fact, I'd only found a fraction of them, in part because some of their communication was apparently through hand written notes of all things. They at have been a crime syndicate, but they acted like a military organization. Furthermore, some of these people didn't have anywhere left to go: as is, there weren't too many job openings for the adults who I was sending back, and recent disasters both natural and artificial (not all of which were the Blind Eyes' fault) meant that all social services were being put on strain. Add that to the famine going on right now, and perhaps it would be better to care for them

Oddly, Synais and Kathikon weren't any help here.

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"Look, I'm not really sure I can help you here: these people really have been through the ringer. It'd probably be best to just send them back to their homes and families, maybe let them get back to their normal lives," had been Synais' advice on this situation.

"True, but it's unlikely that their kidnappers will just let them live unmolested. They will not let their actions go to waste because you decided otherwise. Additionally, introducing them back to their colonies runs the risk of worsening the ongoing famine. Perhaps caring for them yourself is the wisest course of action." That had been Kathi's response.

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Honestly, this was a pain.

Ultimately, though, it had been Fide who gave me my answer.

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"Commander, are you still considering how to deal with the civilians you rescued?"

"Indeed."

"Have you considered leaving the choice of how to care for the colonists to the colonists?"

"...What?"

"Build places for the colonists to work, live, play, shop, and so on, let them live in your home universe for a while, then let them decide if they wish to stay. Would that not be effective?"

...That was an alluring option. One that could work.

...Ah, screw it, I was gonna go with that.

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Patricia Kent had dealt with a lot in the past few weeks, including the shock of learning that a seeding mission to another world had succeeded and that those people had managed to not only find out Chiron was inhabited, but also figure out a way to reach the planet by a warp gate of some sort. The shock still hadn't worn off yet, and she wondered if any other Seeding missions had been successful and were waiting to make contact. She'd had to bury those thoughts, though, because she needed to focus on her, and by extension, all of the orphans under her care.

Which, owing to the recent famine and some freak accidents, encompassed quite a few kids.

As if the shock of dealing with contact from another Seeding mission hadn't been enough for her, a few days ago, following the arrival of this Commander person, a huge fire had resulted in her losing track of some of her charges. According to the authorities (including some of those people Fielding always associated with, who were decidedly untrustworthy), the had found the children, and had even sent her photos of them alive. A third party had confirmed the photos hadn't been edited and were taken only a day or two prior to when she received them, so Patricia still had hope that the children were alive, but until they were returned, she didn't know what to do.

Her thoughts were interrupted, though, when she noticed that had just entered the reception room. Instantly, Patricia perked up: maybe she'd be able to find some of the children under her care a new home.

'Greetings," she said as she turned toward the guest, "welcome to the Heinz Orphanage, how may I-"

She froze upon seeing the man before her. He was black haired, brown eyed, and clean shaven, and he wore a black suit, but what had surprised her was that she recognized him.

As this man had been the center of Chiron's attention for the past few days, this wasn't really surprising at all.

"...Y-y-yo-you're Commander-"

"Flame. I prefer that. It was the code name I was given."

"I-I-I see..."

Recovering from the surprise of meeting Chiron's newest visitor, Patricia began to take stock of him. To her surprise, he wore clothing that wouldn't be considered out of place among other people in the ARC: a rather drab coat, mostly focused on functionality, with only hints of style being the pale black, red, yellow, and blue outlines of hexagons across the surface of his attire. This made for an odd choice of attire, but one that would not be too noticeable in a crowd, Patricia noted. She assumed this must have been his attempt to blend in. In a crowd, it would work flawlessly.

"So, what brings you here?"

"Ah, forgive me," he remarked, before pulling out a micro-projector of some sort. After a moment, images began to appear, ones that stunned Patricia.

They were pictures of the dozen orphans she had lost track of. It appeared that the Commander knew something about them, and perhaps where they were.

"This children were recently reported missing, were they not?"

"Correct."

"I found them onboard a trade caravan entering my territory uninvited. I believe they ended up in there by accident, and do not want to consider the alternatives."

"...I see," Patricia responded, voice switching between fear and repressed rage, before calming at last. "Well, I would be happy to accept them back and-"

"That is not why I'm here."

That caught Patricia completely off guard. "What?"

Then, to her greater surprise, he pulled a large stack of papers out of a pocket on his coat and handed them to her. A cursory glance left her flabbergasted: these were adoption forms for all of the children.

"I understand that this planet is going through a large famine right now, and that this orphanage and, indeed, many other public services across Chiron are being pushed to their limit, so I am willing to take this children to my own home and raise them as my own. I have a son who would love to have more siblings to spend time with. I am willing to allow you to inspect my abode whenever is convenient for you."

Patricia was left absolutely silent at this. The Commander, someone who had only just come to this planet, was willing to care for these children because they had nowhere else to go? All this, apparently because it was the right thing to do? At least, she assumed that was his reasoning, based off his previous statement.

Part of her wondered if this was a trick, and he was planning to do unspeakable things to the children, but she doubted that: he seemed to kind, and the fallout of mistreating these children would be political suicide. Besides, she would need to check his home first to see if he was a suitable guardian. She did have the final say in the adoption process, as head of the orphanage.

"Very well. I will be able to examine your...residence in two days. If it meets the standards, then perhaps the children will be yours to care for."

The Commander smiled warmly at this and nodded curtly.

"That's all I ask. Thank you for your time, and keep caring for the children here as best you can."

With that, he left, but not before leaving something on the desk. Examining it, she was surprised to find that it was a large donation of energy credits. It seemed he wanted to make a donation.

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With the issue of the children handled for the moment, it was time to get to work on helping the rest of subjects. I needed to set up housing, industrial complexes, commercial outlets, and other public services if I wanted to entice them to stay. With a commander, that was a lot easier than it sounded. Once those were up (which took me about an hour to do), along with every other bit of infrastructure I need, I had one last thing to attend to: food.

Specifically, native food: I doubted anyone would be willing to eat any of the alien fruits my creations ate, or any livestock creatures I'd created, so building up some farms and pastures for animals native to Chiron was probably the safer idea for now. Eventually, I could probably convince them to eat some of the things I made. If they stayed, of course.

Speaking of which, I should probably see if I can tame the wildlife ROB put on this planet. That would seriously help with food problems.

Once that, had been taken care of, there was one last thing to do.

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For a few moments, I only heard the sound of a sewing machines putting the stitches into place, before they finally stopped, leaving me with my prize: a good-old fashioned backpack. Apparently, people on Chiron still used them, along with other schools supplies from the 21st century. To be fair, it was harder to cheat when everything you turn in is hand written. I quickly put a filled pencil bag (including calculator, pens, pencils, erasers, and highlighters) into the bag, then hung it up on a nearby rack. One down, eleven to go.

True, I could've done these all by machines, but I'd done this before I become a Commander and, ultimately, it made me feel human to help people in a way that didn't involve using a several story high Brutally Efficient Self Replicating Mechanism of War. The fuzzy feeling of satisfaction I got after this was worth the added exertion.

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True, I may have been hinder myself by doing some things by hand, but I believed others would appreciate the effort I put into doing so. After all, a letter carries more thought than a text.

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AN: Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!