It wasn't a novelty that Little Gunzou and Maki had the love and care of a lot of mothers, a father, big sisters, aunts, great aunts, and grandmothers from different origins. His time in stasis, sleeping a sleep without dreams, had allowed him to watch how the human world changed, and her other family remained as always. Gunzou had begun to understand that when he left hibernation every two or three years, he was different from mankind. He already knew that, especially after the talk he had with Gretel, so many decades ago at the Orbital Elevator. That time, he didn't really understand the implications, due to his brain was still integrating organic and artificial neurons.
Right now, Gunzou was walking side by side with his two mothers, Kongou and Choukai, while they crossed the long corridors that allowed them to move through the immense ship. Both artificial women had accepted a long time ago that they had the responsibility to take care of the first human hybrid. Even if they didn't feel emotions as humans do, their self-modifying code allowed them to respond better to the challenges of human education and care.
Kongou and Choukai had discussed, a long time ago, what to do if Gunzou's brain produced a defective behavior. If antisocial or violent conduct was the result of a wrong integration, what could they do? They had discovered from the beginning that they couldn't access Gunzou's father and son brains. The Code had been evasive about this anomaly, and Kongou thought she couldn't access either. Just wait and hope for the best, Hyuga had said.
A lot of crewmen were passing through, and many of them greeted Kongou and Choukai, and several had a few affectionate words with the boy.
However, they were not just walking. They were going to have a meeting with an old friend, who was the closest thing to a sister he could ever have.
His father, Gunzou Chihaya, was on Earth, taking care of everything you need to establish a new world for the Colonials. A new and interesting idea came from a colonial scientist, Dr. Baltar. He proposed to reclaim at least one colonial world if the fleet technology allowed it. The idea has its merits, but it implied that the cylon menace was ended. So far, a new colony, allowing the colonials to increase their numbers with Earth's help, was the best option, and Roslin knew it was true. Once they recovered the necessary numbers in the next centuries, they could retake their old worlds.
One hour ago, the heavy cruiser Intrepid had brought Maki from Earth. She had been living with Gunzou's mother, the weird and aged ornithologist. Since the Fleet helped to make the oceans back with the help of the Polar Towers, the wildlife had begun to recover, and the woman had taken Gunzou on her voyages across Earth.
The crazy project from South Dakota, the MIT, and Hyuga required ten years to completion, but now the two immense structures in both poles still pump hot air from the troposphere into the cold mesosphere, and return cold air, keeping the huge ice in the Arctic Ocean and the Antarctic continent frozen. Greenland and Iceland are once again frozen masses of ice, and the forgotten weather patterns are coming back as the old books said.
When the trio reached a crosspoint, they found Kotono waiting for them. "Hello, little one," the always cheerful mental model said. "Hi, Aunt Kotono, Maki is coming, and we want to receive her," Gunzou announced happily. "It's true, but I'm afraid Haruna and Kirishima had precedence over us, little one. "That's true, Gunzou, we've been separated for years. In some twisted way, the colonial situation helped our family," Kongou said.
"I know, I want to meet her again. Is she older than me, mum? "Yes, she had more years out of stasis, so she aged a bit more," Kongou explained. He looked at Kotono and asked, "Aunt Kotono, this time I could remain awake, right?". Kotono passed her hand on Gunzou's hair and said, "Yes, this time it will be different. You and the returnees will say hello to mankind."
"So Hiei was right," Kongou stated. "About what, my dear," Kotono asked. "About a superbattleship scheming behind us," Kongou returned. "Ho ho, I don't know what you're talking about," the young mental model said, while she covered her smirking with a hand. Kongou rolled up her eyes while Choukai sent a dirty look to Kotono.
"I will say it again, I don't trust the Colonials. They are too aggressive for my taste," Choukai said. Kotono admitted with a sigh, "They need to improve a lot, but all human beings have the potential to be better."
"Maybe yes, maybe not, we shouldn't expose him without an escort," Kongou said. "Of course, Kongou, we're not going to put him in any danger," Kotono assured her.
"Can I go to school, mum?" asked Gunzou. Kongou knew it would be complicated. Human children are notoriously aggressive towards those they perceive as different, and that hadn't changed much in the last few decades. "I suppose it's just a genetic defect from mammals," Kongou thought. "Well, Gunzou, we know you need to interact with children of your age. However, we have to wait a bit and watch the population's reaction to the discovery tomorrow."
Gunzou received the answer with a bit of sadness. Choukai noted the deception and tried to improve the mood, saying, "Gunzou, we are not saying no. But a lot of things will change tomorrow, and we can't predict how people will behave."
The three mental models and the boy reached the hangar. A shuttle, having visited Kongou's sisters previously, was leaving a heavy cruiser close to Yamato and sailing through the space among the ships. When the shuttle touched the landing deck, the group got closer and waited for the passenger. At last, the hatch opened, and a young girl with brown hair in her twenties descended with Haruna and Kirishima.
Maki walked to the group and gave an affectionate hug to Gunzou, Kongou, Choukai, and Kotono. "So everyone is here!" Maki exclaimed, "I already want to meet these new humans. Gunzou, Kirishima gave me my own Centurion as a gift!!"
Kongou sent a shocked look to Kirishima, "Are you out of your mind?" "No problem, sis. I removed his neural processor and replaced it with an industrial processor," Kirishima tranquilized her.
It was a surprise for the people in the hangar when a metallic figure descended behind Hiei. An old Centurion model five, covered in chromed armor, walked to the group. Everyone was taking out their hand weapons and preparing themselves for a battle.
"Please, stop, the Centurion is harmless, don't worry!!, shouted Kirishima. Kongou wished she was an only child. "Kirishima, please, can you store this relic inside your hull until this war ends?
The Centurion looked at Kongou, and with a curious mechanical voice, he said, "Kongou, I am not a Cylon. I'm using this body, but I'm a model ZD-400 domestic system. " Kongou stared at the machine, and she said, "Kirishima, are you sure you removed all the Cylon garbage from his system?"
"Absolutely, Sis, I even removed the modem. Nobody can access his processor, I'm sure," Kirishima affirmed with certainty. "OK, but send him to your hull. I don't want any accidents," Kongou ordered, using her flagship voice.
"Sometimes I think the Kongos are crazy," Choukai declared.
Maki recited, "Infinite diversity in infinite combinations." "No Star Trek bullshit with me, young lady," Kongou said. Maki raised her hands to placate the irritated battleship while saying, "Okay, everybody calm down, Gunzou and I have a lot to talk about, so we're going to the restaurant, bye, mums and aunts." Before someone could say a word, both youngsters ran away from the adults.
Kirishima laughed thunderously and finally said, "Dear sis, humans grow up so fast!". Kongou and Choukai exchanged a look and recognized the so-called "facts of life," as humans always say.
"Well, we are just us", Kotono said, "we should talk about what to do with the cylons, since they showed the will to fight to the last of them". "But before that, we should go say hi to a new person," Kotono said.
"Who is this new person?" Haruna asked. "Zoe has been downloading her synaptome to a cloned body," Kotono explained.
"You moved too fast about that. Are you sure about her?," a distrustful Kongou inquired.
"The body is completely human, Kongou. She has zero interphase capabilities, so this is the best option to remove her danger," Kotono explained. "I suppose you are right about that," Haruna accepted. "Where is she going to live? I doubt the colonials want her near," Haruna asked again. "I believe our little band of lost sheep is going to grow again," a joking Kotono laughed.
This time, four battleships and one heavy cruiser locked onto Kotono. "Please, wait, Hyuga and Ise offered to sponsor the girl," Kotono clarified. Knowing that their already complicated lives were not going to get harder, they relaxed and waited for the next storm.
Kirishima said simply, "So..."
"Yamato and the Federation President have chosen tomorrow as the day for the returnees, our little Gunzou and his father."
Haruna only said one word: "fuck".
After so many wise words, they laughed about the constant craziness of their lives. Can the universe adapt to the always changing humans? They used the mobile sidewalk to walk the way half a kilometer, and they reached the Sick Bay. Even with hospital ships, wounded people couldn't wait for a trip in the middle of a battle.
The group entered Yamato's Sick Bay. A few patients were resting in sophisticated beds, a mix of bed and life support system with scanning ability, but the objective of their visit was located deep in the sick bay. The cloning chamber produced a female body, with a human brain well developed but with enough blank areas to be capable of being imprinted with the Zoe personality. So far, only a part of the synaptome had been downloaded. Time was necessary to stabilize years of experience and memories, so the delay was unavoidable.
A bed, inside an isolated room, contained the body of a brunete girl of sixteen to eighteen years old. She was resting peacefully with a helmet on her head. From the skullcap, millions of nanowires made of nanomaterials penetrated the skull, stimulating and changing the synaptic connections.
The procedure, Kotono knew it, was highly experimental, and the success rate, unknown. Zoe offered herself to speak before the cylon leaders. Independently if the talking failed or not, she would leave the colony back to a fleet ship. How much of Zoe Graystroke will remain in that brain, and it was impossible to simulate or predict, but if it was successful, they would start a new medicine branch.
Haruna looked at Kotono, "Is it only me, or does the girl look like Hyuga?".
"True, Hyuga and Ise created the human body. She modified the DNA base so the body resembled her, and she asked Kotono if she could take her under her wing. She was undoubtedly brilliant, and Hyuga wanted to guide her and adopt the girl. After all, she would need a place to live far from the colonials."
"Wow. Two crazy geniuses together," said Kirishima.
"Yes, I have big hopes for her," Kotono declared triumphantly.
The four sisters exchanged looks among them, and finally, Kongo said, "The future looks really interesting."