I have to admit, I found Andromeda's interactions with the children to be very endearing. The fairy like being was easily able to hold the children's attention, and her general niceness and compassion really helped win them over. Though a part of me believed she was so successful because they were entranced by her mastery over gravity. Not that I could blame them: my gravitic wave attack was powerful, but Andromeda could do that and more. Her powers even let her fly without flapping her tiny, if admittedly cute, wings.

Eventually, though, I had to break my attention from the children and return to other, more important matters. Namely, examining the artifact. This one was the first one that had reacted beyond just showing me a vision, as it had shot a pulse up into the air, likely as some kind of transmission. Furthermore, it was the only device that I had encountered so far that possessed the ability to compress itself into a more compact and easy to carry form. Lastly, it was the only device of its kind that hadn't sent me a vision of some sort. My best guess was that I simply hadn't interacted properly with it, though the possibility it didn't have any information to impart on me was still present.

Briefly, the fact that I may need to re-examine the artifact with a different tool or stimulus bought up another important detail that left me puzzled: aside from the odd vision, there was nothing I had been able to glean from either of the two artifacts I had acquired prior to this one: no internal workings, no composition details, nothing. That was...rather worrying, for a number of reasons. One of them was just how resilient they were: these artifacts were composed of the same materials there containers were composed of, and were virtually indestructible, even with the commander technology that I possessed. Somehow, they even managed to cause a locust I used on them to experience terminal errors and shut down with no hope of reactivation. That spoke volumes of whoever had made these devices, and not in a good way. It suggested that what I was dealing with was beyond the capabilities of the Progenitors by leagues. That did not bode well for me if I got on these beings' bad sides. At this point, I decided on a new goal: advance my capabilities as fast as possible, in order to be able to fight these beings if necessary.

Feeling the need to calm my nerves, I pulled out a glass of cold milk to drink. Alcohol was not exactly the best thing for a troubled mind, and besides, I didn't want to deal with even a minor amount of intoxication just yet. A few seconds of pouring and the glass was full, leaving me to put the gallon back in a nearby fridge. However, instead of walking over to pickup the glass, I held out my hand and concentrated. Sure enough, the glass levitated through the air and into my open palm, which quickly closed around it.

In hindsight, I found it rather surprising that, though I had met XCOM a short while ago, it had only occurred to me now that my body, created from the apex of the human genome, might possess psionic powers. I mean, come on, they weren't even a secret anymore in this universe! Apparently, there were in fact plenty of psionic humans living in all the colonies on this planet, and they didn't really get a lot of flak about it. I guess a couple hundred years and three world changing events will do that for them. Idly, I wondered if any of the gene mods that were created during the war were hereditary, but shelved that thought after a moment. That was probably a secret that only XCOM knew.

Speaking of XCOM, before I could attempt any further analysis of the artifacts, I received a notification that XCOM had finally decided on who would be the children's tutors. To my surprise, I would be receiving three tutors, instead of two. Unexpected, but useful. I swiftly gave them directions on where to land and made my way to Chiron to welcome them.

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I will admit, I was surprised by who they had chosen as the children's tutors. The first one to exit the Skyranger looked like a normal soldier, albeit with an interesting set of armor and a strange looking device in his hand. I recognized it as an XCOM 2 Psi Amp. I hadn't expected to encounter that, but it was something worth noting. Seeing it also made me decide to begin checking to see if any of my creations were psionic. It was fairly likely that at least some possessed the gift, and psionics was a field that offered unprecedented opportunity to work with.

The second XCOM operative to exit the Skyranger was female, based on the shape of her armor. Said armor, though, was unlike any I'd seen an XCOM soldier wear before. It resembled a knight to some degree, but at the same time had an almost mystical touch to it. I was awed by it for a moment, but soon that wore off. Perhaps I could negotiate the acquisition of a set of armor not unlike hers?

The third and final operative to exit the Skyranger, though, truly caught me off guard. First off was their appearance - all that they wore was a cloak. Yet their odd choice in attire paled in comparison to their physical appearance. From the small viewing area the cloak offered, I saw that this being appeared almost translucent, with their skin glowing with comforting green light. Moreover, I could make out tendrils appearing from around where the arm holes in the cloak were. The mere fact that I new what this being was left me absolutely stunned.

I'd seen this being in The Bureau: XCOM Declassified.

It was an ethereal.

But...but...how? Hadn't all of the Ethereals died after the Uber one bit the dust? Though there was a possibility that this was an ascended one. But then why had XCOM decided to work with them?

I swiftly quashed these thoughts. Whatever these origins of this odd partnership, now was not the time to investigate it. Best to welcome the new guests.

"Greetings. May I ask who you are?"

"I am Aleixo Agre," was the response from the man.

"Myala," replied the woman. Odd name.

"...you may refer to me as Selipsis," intoned the Ethereal. Its tone implied it was female.

"I will remember those. Now, just follow me and I'll introduce you to your charges."

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The level of professionalism these operatives displayed was matched only by their stoicism. It was almost impossible to get a reaction out of them. They had felt only a moment of surprise at the realization of how large my tower was before they returned to their emotionless expressions. Not that this stopped me from trying to strike up a conversation.

"So, not to sound rude, but why are you working with an Ethereal?"

"Explain," asked Myala.

"From what I have gathered, you fought her kind in the First Alien War, yet now you stand side by side. I could understand that, except that all evidence I have acquired indicates that not only did the Ethereals try to enslave you, but they were rendered extinct at the conclusion of the war."

"Not all of us," noted Selipsis.

"Now it is your turn to explain," was my response.

"Before the conflict, some of our kind managed to ascend, becoming beings of living energy. Those who did not chose to invade your world ,seeking new hosts, because their unascended bodies had begun to fail. We tried to oppose them, but they enslaved us as well, using us to power their advanced computers. Once the greatest of the Unascended was slain, we were free, and together with the Elder's other thralls, sought peace."

"...I believe you."

By now we had wandered into the room I'd used when creating close quarter combat programs for my melee bots. XCOM noticed the damage from the prior battle, but didn't seem to be bothered by it.

"So," began Agre, "will we meet the children soon?"

"Yes, though right now they are listening to stories from one of my underlings. It will only take a moment to fetch them."

"We can wait, if you desire," responded Selipsis.

"But they are your students."

"We have plenty of time to meet them. Besides, I can tell that they are not the only ones who have the gift that live in this building."

"Really?" Maybe this was my shot at finding out if some of my followers were psychic.

"Yes. I can sense many in this building who are psychic, but the greatest potential for psionic power here comes form an interesting source."

"And what would that be?"

"It is coming from you."

"Come again?"

"I sense a great deal of psychic potential from you, yet it is untapped and needing guidance. And while our orders were to teach the children, I see nothing wrong with imparting the gift onto you."

"Okay then...would you like to start now?"

"Yes, but I believe that first, we will need to gauge your strength in both body and mind."

"How?"

"Perhaps a duel against Myala? The battle will need to be one without guns or other ranged weapons."

"Are swrods allowed?"

"...I don't see why not."

Instantly, a weapons rack moved up to me, and I pulled out a sword and took a fighting stance.

"I don't expect you to go easy on me."

"Nor do I expect you to hold back, Commander," responded Myala as she took up a fighting stance. To my shock, a sword of purple energy formed in her right hand.

Well, may the best human win.

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AN: Read and Review. This is Flamea15k, signing off!