by StarCross
The Former Part
The world government of the planet Demiterra was not prepared for the catastrophe befalling their citizenry. They sent their distress to their delegates in the planet Largostar III, which was the home for the meta governmental organization that resolves the affairs of the 7-Arc Starcluster at the southeastern "spoke" of the galaxy. When they mentioned this to the other extraterrestrial delegates at their favorite drinking bar/cafÇ, they too expressed the same problem on their home planet, and the ones sitting at the table behind them also revealed that they had the same problem. When half of the planet of delegates also confirmed having the same problem, a special assembly session was called for all delegates to address the growing problem of their star cluster: globalized inbreeding.
They should have seen it, but ignored it since they were arrogant on the technology of genetic engineering, eugenesis, and selective breeding. It was obviously due to the introduction of the advanced personal flight system, or techwings, and everyone who was able could essentially fly anywhere to the planet. In matter of decades, there emerged a single dominant language. Cultures were blurred and assimilated, ethnicities normalized, and nations merged into a few administrative units in nearly a hundred years.
Oh but then, what about robots, cyborgs, and artificial intelligence? Even such technological singularities would face the same problem of their biological counterparts, and they too must seek new data to process and assimilate in order to produce better versions of themselves.
And so, the 7-Arc Starcluster unanimously approved the creation of the Galactic Genetic Diversification Program, the GGDP, in order to counter globalized inbreeding that could ruin entire races and sentient networks. Ten years had passed to create the necessary administrative offices on Largostar III, but they needed uninhabitable planet or two for the mates of similar genetic structures to meet and mate. They selected Meta Fifth of the Meta Star System, and in a span of one hundred years they terraformed it into a Gaia Type 3 planet complete with large oceans and vast tracts of deserts, forests, tundra, and savanna.
The 7-Arc Starcluster would expect willing and adventurous volunteers, but they still need more of their planetary citizens to emigrate. Those who would be volunteering for the GGDP would be given, at a minimum, a comfortable and posh apartment home in the metropolis district, a salary of 10,000,000 7-Arc credit points per year for up to five years, free health care, dental care, eye care, and any type of unique care for parts too embarrassing or too gross to mention.
They don't want just vagrants and the low-lifes of society, but smart and moral people to help seed an entire generation of racially mixed children. That was why a test was developed specifically for each planet to filter out any disruptive persons. Of course, the ulterior reason was that each planet saw Meta Fifth as another Largostar III. They want to suffer as little embarrassment as possible when any of their own or descendants act up.
Fifty years had passed, and Meta Fifth had not only become a bustling civilized planet, but also one of the most economically profitable planets in the 7-Arc Starcluster. Already one more planet was designated for sole use of the GGDP, while competing star systems were positioning themselves to terraform lifeless planets in order to cash in to the lucrative program for their own long-term longevity and greed.
In the 7-Arc year of 5992, Demiterra was about to send their tenth fleet to Meta Fifth under the GGDP. Around one hundred individual male and female human-types filed into a shuttle that could fit a thousand, because it would be used to transport other races once they were dropped off. They took along with them anything they wish they could bring, and size was not a limit, so to speak. Also accompanying them were the mainframe servers that contained a portion of the planets' AI systems. It came in one refrigerator-sized box, and, to the surprise of other planets, had to be fed once a day due to the organic components residing in it.
The space trip was so comfortable that no one would notice the thrusters being fired on and off and any changes in gravity. Of course, the shuttle was already way past the orbit of Demiterra. In fact, it was orbiting one of its moons. The shuttle wasn't a particularly splendid shape. Rather, it looked more like a pear than a sleek dagger. But the pear analogy wasn't so far off since this shuttle was actually grown close to the star system's biggest gas giant, Granterra, and it was hallowed out and accented to fit the Demiterran's world-cultural style.
Traveling to Meta Fifth wasn't even noticeable either. Protected by the thick dark hulls, the shuttle created its own singularity to perform a Dark Space Jump through the fifth and sixth dimensions, which would instantly place them in the massive catching stations in the orbit of Meta Fifth's sole moon. From there, the Demiterrans and their traveling A.I. construct emptied out of their ship and boarded a traditional sleek sailing shuttle that headed down to their destination that took many long hours. By then, their star-hopping shuttle would have disappeared to receive maintenance for its next customers.
The sailing shuttle to the planet, to their surprise, was tailored specifically for their own comforts, though it still retained some of the organic rib-like lining. Meta Fifth prided themselves in painstakingly making sure that each of their visitors and new citizens feel at home, and so no video monitor would require one to bend their neck in unnatural ways, and the controls were not unergonomically located five feet away from the body.
Already, the Demiterrans were talking to one another about their prospective mates. In the GGDP, no one was told who their mate was and what they looked like. The preselection and pairing process could take days or even years depending on the preferences the volunteer submit, and many of the information they could send were optional. Those who even attempted to view their mate before the key First Meeting were immediately banned from the GGDP, deported back to their home planet, and were forced to pay a fine equivalent to 50,000 credit points. Such cases were rare, as many wanted to be surprised than spoiled.
Kana Wiltzchen had selected "no preference" in the questionnaire of the GGDP back home. She didn't care who or what her mate was. She just wanted to get away from the life she had there. No, she wasn't abused, raped, or lived in abject poverty. In fact, she had a good life as a middle-upper-class woman who until recently she caught the love of her life cheating. Having enough of anything that reminded her of that moment--and that meant her entire planet--she volunteered for the GGDP program.
A man next to her moved his eyes towards her. "You don't look happy."
"I'm not," she said.
He extended out his hand. "Bram Vulpa."
"Why must you give out your name when we'll never see each other again?"
"Just wanted to get to know you before I live with an alien. Who knows? We might bump into one another again."
"I don't plant on mating with the likes of us."
"I'm sorry to hear."
Kana grabbed his hand before he retracted it. "It's Kana Wiltzchen by the way."
"Nice to meet you. Our friends in this shuttle are gabbing how handsome and beautiful their mates might look, but man they are in for a surprise. How do you feel about this?"
"I don't care."
"You don't care?"
"I just want to settle down with some strange creature and get it over with. I don't care if he's the Adonis of the galaxy or some parasitic worm of some toxic swamp."
"Actually, I hear those 'worms' are highly profitable to breed since only they can secrete a special mucus that is a key ingredient of metal-growth vats. And they aren't toxic, because otherwise you won't be able to give birth to them without significant harm."
"I can retire rich if I can help produce its offspring."
"They really sought after by both genders of many species. There is even a famous Kit female who would only breed exclusively with unusual but profitable species, both as a DNA donor and as a host."
"She must have one hell of a medical bill."
"Actually, she is quite a healthy fox."
"You're seeking to mate with someone like her?"
"That would be nice, but I would like to be surprised. I'd like to forget everything about my divorce... that bitch. So what's your case? Or maybe you don't want to tell me."
"Something like yours."
"I see. Well, it looks like we're about to land. We'd better get ourselves psyched up."
The sailing shuttle was caught by a jumpship, which then took them down to the Elm Metropolis Spaceport. Kana's shuttle was loaded on a bio-robotic cart that followed her to the shuttered door to the First Meet Space designated solely for the participants of the GGDP. Demiterrans staffed at the spaceport handed them translator earpieces, palm-sized Data Readers, and then gave them general instructions on meeting their new and unique mate. They should not stress about cultural issues, for once they have paired up all cultural information would be displayed on their palm-sized Data Reader.
Now, there would be cases that the mate would utterly reject each other for a variety of reasons. If one or both reject each other, then they were allowed to live temporarily in a hotel until another was selected from them. This rarely happened, as all alien species were generally adventurous in the common definition, and break-up rates was the lowest in the entire star cluster.
"Have fun and enjoy your new and adventurous love life in Meta Fifth!" cried the Demiterran spaceport staff.
The shuttered gate rolled up, and Kana and her fellow Demiterrans poured out into the First Meet Space at the same time as other alien species of various shapes, sizes, and texture. Many were humanoid, while some were insect-like, and some had to travel in "dry suits" due to their aquatic nature and had to have their skins or scales moistened regularly. There were those who found each other immediately, and after an exchange of greetings they were gone. Some were taken aback in their first meet, but eventually shrugged their shoulders or equivalent and went off. And a few couples found themselves so attracted to one another that they were rendered passionately speechless. They could not kiss on sight as it would be potentially offensive to the other new couples. The GGDP preferred that they learn about themselves first.
Kana looked on her Data Reader and it said that she was to search for some person named Mather Madison, which probably was just a name approximation of an alien tongue. Underneath the name was a barcode that she had to manually seek out on the nametags, which were supposed to be clipped on their clothes or something biologically equivalent. She grumbled as to why they didn't use a beacon code, but even if such technology were used, she would still have a hard time navigating her way through the thousands of intelligent alien species.
There were those who approached her with smiles or something, but realize that it was just an honest mistake. She gravitated to human-looking ones, only to have others "beat" her to them. She even stopped in front of a tank holding a red fleshy worm.
"I guess it could be you then," she said, regardless if it could talk. "Anyway, my name is..."
"Hey, what the hell are you doing?" said a fox-like woman. "This one's mine."
"I'm sorry."
"You think you have the innards to host these you simian-types. These things would rather turn themselves white and inside out than crawl inside of you. Hmph!"
The fox-woman activated the tank's hover system, which then followed her back to her long organic limousine. Was she the woman Bram was talking about?
Speaking of which, he had not seen Bram anymore. In fact, almost all of her kind were now gone and probably enjoying getting to know their new mates.
Kana decided to let her mate find her, so she sat on the bench watching the couples matching up until almost everyone was gone an hour later. Everyone. No one was there waiting for her. Kana waited for a couple more minutes, until a gruff, feline, and bipedal janitor came by with his scrubbing and massaging brush.
"Were you with that party?" he asked.
Kana nodded.
"Huh? What does that mean?"
"I am with that party."
"I see. It's a shame that you didn't get paired up."
"I'm supposed to meet a Mather Madison. You're not him, are you?"
"Nah. I already got a wife, who looks like a dog to you Demiterrans. A real cute bitch."
"I don't find that funny."
"Really? I guess it was a bit racist of me to say that. Anyway you should wait at the hotel and let the GGDP sort this mess up."
"I should."
"Take care now."
Kana now headed outside to the street. It was night out, and she could not see any cabs out here. She did not know what a cab would look like, so she hailed the first organo-car she saw, which she soon found out was completely automated. The door opened, and she stepped in, while her robot luggage cart put her belongings in the trunk.
"Wait! Wait!" yelled a woman. "I need a ride too!"
"Hold position," Kana told the cab. "Jump on in."
"Thank you so much!"
With the door closed, the automated cab drove out of the spaceport complex towards the city. The woman Kana sat next to was indeed humanoid, but she was very tall and had curly aquamarine hair, and her fingernails and eyes were of the same color. The sparkling scaly dress she wore was also aquamarine. Of similar style, she wore gloves that extended past her elbow and shoes that covered her stocking feet. Her exposed skin of her shoulders and face seemed somewhat greenish, but it was probably because of the neon lights. Undoubtedly she was so beautiful that she made Kana blush and become entranced by her singsong voice.
"Where are you going?" Kana asked. "I don't mind really. I'd like to see the city."
"Me too!" said the woman. "But I can't because I didn't find my mate."
"Your mate? Wait, are you participating in the GGDP?"
"How did you know?"
"Um, a lucky guess? Who are you looking for?"
"I'm looking for someone named Kanyr, but it reads Kana Wiltzchen."
"That's me! Then you must be Mather Madison!"
"Yep! But you can use Myspphl Mnniph, which is what they call me in Marieno."
"Er, I can't pronounce that."
A woman? Kana thought. This isn't what I expected. Or perhaps 'he' looks like one.
"ADJUSTING COURSE," said the cab. "DESTINATION, ISLE VISTA CONDOMINIUMS."
"Eh? Where are we going?"
"We're going to our new home," replied Mather. "They must really plan ahead. Wow, finally I get to be with someone of similar height."
"But you're taller than me."
"Don't let anyone tell you that you are of short stature, even if you're one-foot tall."
"And on top of that, aren't you a woman?"
"Woman? What's that? Is it something like a Falka or a Maam? That is only decided after marriage when we have children. Oh, I forgot! Only I can seed you. Or maybe you can seed me. Let's see what this Data Reader says: Demiterran, a species that has a 'male' that seeds and a 'female' that gives birth. That is sure a strange species. Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to insult you."
"That's okay," winced Kana. "We're all new to this. By the way, what are you?"
Kana looked at her Data Reader. Mather's species were called the "Mermaid Gigantes" from the planet of Marieno in which less than one-fourth of the land was solid land, but divided up almost evenly across the world, and only four large islands served as main continents. Her species had only one gender.
That data was ten years old and sorely needed updating.
"Sorry," said Mather. "My planet just sent the data updates a week ago, and hasn't shown up on the public records."
"Are you the only here?"
"It's just me this year."
"Just you?"
Mather nodded.
"I hope it's safe to mate with you," said Kana. "However we are to do this considering that we're... you know."
"I'm sure I am able to impregnate you! Am I allowed to talk like this?"
"No, that's fine. Gee, meeting people of different cultures is hard."
The condo they arrived was situated between an artificial creek and a deep lake complete with a beach. Once inside, their new home was already furnished with familiar furniture for both partners. Kana saw the familiar square table and wood chairs, while Mather had her seashell-like couches, an organically styled home theater system, a round bed, and wallpaper decorated with art coral texture. There was one bedroom and one large living room to go along with the dining area and kitchen. The sole bathroom had one shower and an unusually large bathtub.
It was fairly easy to order delivered food for Mather, as she was only familiar with seafood, although she was willing to try the food Kana ate such as steaks, bread, and corn. She found them okay, but a little tough on her teeth. Kana didn't mind Mahter's food, which she gorged, and the cartilage bones of the shark steak were not problem to her.
After dinner, Mather helped as best as she could to unpack Kana's things until she fell asleep on the round bed. It was too soon for either of them to sleep together, so Kana, having anticipated this, unrolled her sleeping bag that she soon crawled in.
She didn't sleep for very long. She was awake worrying on how she would mate with a species that looked undeniably female. Appearances were deceptive, and Kana wondered if Mather would change forms before or during mating (that latter of which would be quite terrifying). She could have a retractable penis or sperm tentacle, or could become a man if immersed in water of a certain temperature or the partner's pheromones. Or perhaps she was hermaphroditic, or maybe she could impregnate others with her fingers, toes, tongue, or even her nose. Kana poured over the Data Reader and found no helpful information or her new mate, let alone her home species and her planet. All she could find out was that Marieno wasn't a frequently visited place. Traders rarely go there, and when they do it was usually for the planet's rare coral and processed chemicals.
She was a bit frightened of the experience, and cursed herself for selecting "no preference". Yet it was comforting to sleep in a condo apartment like this. She did like seafood, loved to have pet fishes. She even had a large aquarium or two back at home, and loved to scuba dive. Perhaps the GGDP found out. It wouldn't be anything new. The GGDP would always find out in order to minimize trans-planetary conflict.
Still, she did not know what kind of preferences Mather selected that would end up paired with Kana. Kana would have so many questions to ask her about her species and planet, but she wasn't sure if it was wise to ask directly. Then again, none of them were very ignorant of their own culture. If none were to understand one another, it would be likely that they would separate and return. After all, differences in culture, however small, was the leading cause of interbreeders separating.
So on the next morning, she woke up early to jot down on paper on the questions she needed to ask her new partner, but she had to do it in secret. Fortunately, Mather was already in the bath when Kana wrote down what she needed.
She prepared breakfast, which was mainly a seaweed specialty fit for both their diets. Not wanting to wait any longer, Kana barged into the bathroom almost with no disregard. Mather was swimming in her tub, naked. With her wet, she was even more alluring. Mather made no effort to hide her nude and feminine body. At least to Kana, so far her mate was clearly a woman.
"I'm almost done," said Mather. "We mermaids like to have long baths in the morning and in nights."
"At nights?"
"Sorry. I must have made you worry. If we don't have our baths, our skin gets pretty dry. I didn't have my lotion on me, so after I arrived in the spaceport I had to use a public shower."
"That's okay. Here, let me get you towel to wipe off the water."
"No you shouldn't."
"Why not?"
"Just wait for me at the table."
"Okay."
Kana headed into the kitchen feeling troubled by the fact she might have offended her partner. Several minutes later, Kana appeared dressed in a blouse, pants, socks, and long gloves. Only her face and neckline were generously exposed.
The two ate quietly. Once they were finished, the faced each other, and said in unison:
"I have some questions!"
They blinked.
"You too?" Kana asked.
"Yes," blushed Mather. "I am a little confused about your gender culture of Demiterra. Was it offensive of me to call it gender culture?"
"No, it's all right. We're both new at this and new to ourselves, so let's take our time."
"I guess we could since we're getting paid for this."
Nervously, they sat across from each other reading off their own notepads questions regarding their planetary cultures. Mather had a tough time understanding "gender culture" of there being a seeder and birthgiver, and how roles are defined when one was born. She felt it terrible that these women with "horns" between their legs attacked those without them without any sensible provocation, and that the birthgivers, or normal women, were systematically and ritually oppressed.
"Well, we are weaker than the men," said Kana.
"The horned women?" said Mather. "I don't understand how that can be. I read about the culture of Demiterra that there are those who are suitable for strength and assassinations."
"Those are exceptions, but understand we outnumber the men by a significant margin."
"So it all evens out in the end, right? That seems right."
"Any other questions?"
"Not really, although I'm surprised your planet has oceans. And your landmasses are bunched up unlike our planet."
"Speaking of your planet, I still haven't been able to access the updated information. I take it your planet is more aquatic than the others."
"Not really. It's only one-fourth land, but spread out."
"And your people. What are they like?"
"Just as your people call me. We are Mermaid Gigantes."
"But our impression of mermaids have fish tails."
"If we had those, we wouldn't be able to reproduce. But we do love water, and swimming is almost our daily ritual."
"Do you have webbed hands and feet?"
"Of course!"
"Can you show them to me?"
Mather took one of her gloves off. Her fingernails were a mix of neon purple and aquamarine. Her hands were webbed, but not grossly so. Quickly, Mather puts her glove back on.
"We do have finned ears," said Mather.
"Finned ears?"
Mather moved her hair to expose the ears. They were beautiful finned with a tinge of aquamarine. They could fold out and in like wings, but only by manually moving them.
"They don't, um, become erect when you're aroused, do they?" Kana asked.
Mather blushed. "Yes. That's why grow our hair to hide them. We would also wear earmuffs or hats."
"I see. Um, your nipples also become erect when you're aroused."
Mather nodded. "Does yours?"
"Yes. Do you get wet at the vagina when you're aroused."
"Of course. If we have a mate we're interested in, we exert our pheromones."
"So do we. Does yours work on me?"
"I don't know. However, not everyone of my kind can exert strong ones."
"What category do you fall in?"
"I exert weak ones. I'm sorry if it isn't working."
"It's all right! Mather."
"Yes?"
"Why do you always keep yourself gloved and covered?"
Mather sighed. "Only mating couples are allowed to have skin contact with one another."
"Is that a cultural thing?"
"Yes, but there is a good reason. I will tell you when you are ready to mate."
Mather was beginning to look worried.
"Maybe we should get to know each other more," said Mather. "You know, through this 'date' thing couples do."
"Do couples on your planet do something like that?"
"We do, but not like what you have at Demiterra."
"I suppose. They say you can learn another person's culture through observing their behavior in a social setting."
"Then let's do that!"
"All right! Let's strap on our techwings and head into the city."
"Techwings?"
"Have you heard of them before?"
"No. Wait, I remember! My planet banned them because it would discourage swimming."
Flying with techwings was like a bit like being carried by insect, but also like dancing. One had to perform certain poses to activate common functions, but one did not have to be overdramatic. The techwings could recognize subtle movements of the muscles through the harness, and based on that it could accurately gauge the flyer's intent.
Most techwings were of V4 or Vernier 4 type, which meant they had four spike-boosters over the shoulders and two over the pelvis for balance. It was powered by an exotic energy source called White Fire, which was regarded as the perfect anti-matter. It allowed for sustained flight for almost twelve hours.
Kana hated flying with techwings not because it was hard. She just hated the traffic. Nonetheless, she flew enough to know how it worked, and was able to teach the neophyte Mather the nuances of flight. Once she got the hang of it, Mather remarked that she was now "flying like skyfish."
The inner city was studded by a crowd of high skyscrapers to accommodate flyers. Each skyscraper had a safety net on each floor to catch those who fell for any reason. Accidents rarely happen though, as traffic directing was all done by the Head Aerial Traffic Controller, one of the most stressful jobs of the 7-Arc Star Cluster.
Kana grumbled as she flew slowly, while Mather was enjoying every minute of the sight and the flight. Eventually, they touched down on a "walk level" to personally see the shops, theaters, and all myriad of entertainment gathered from many planets. Docking their wings, Kana stretched her arms and kicked her legs to relieve herself of stress.
"Finally!" she said.
"You don't like flying?" Mather asked.
"I hate it. You're always bumping into people, they're yelling at you, and you're always late for your job. So much for the wonders of flight. We thought we'd be free once we took to the skies, but no, things got a lot more stressful."
"Well, that could be why globalized inbreeding was happening because of techwings."
"But your government banned it. Your planet shouldn't be in danger."
"We can still inbreed since many islands are close in comparison with your islands. I'm just here as part of a goodwill mission."
"I see. I guess that's one reason they sent you here."
"I came here of my own accord actually."
"Really? What's the reason?"
"I ran away from my lover."
Ran away, thought Kana. Just like me.
"Have you ever gone shopping?" Kana asked.
"Once or twice."
"Do they have malls where you come from?"
"We too. But I came from a relatively poor family."
"Well, since we receive a generous stipend from the GGDP, we should splurge in order to get to know each other better."
"Oh, I don't know. 10,000,000 aren't really a lot."
"We could always make it up if we get a job here."
"Sorry. I've been raised to be thrifty and not be lavish. I'm sorry I didn't live up to your expectations."
"No it's okay. I guess besides differences in culture, we also have differences in class. I guess you can say I was spoiled."
"But I want to shop with you. I may not be buying a lot of things, but I would like to see what you do."
"That is fine as well. I insist though on buying some things for you."
"I already have an ample wardrobe."
"Just some. My treat, okay?"
They went in together, but kept a short distance from one another. Even though she was gloved, Mather was hesitant to hold hands for fear she might rub the skin on her face with Kana's.
The entire mall district was bustling mainly with interbreeding couples, some of who had recently touched down on the planet a week or just this morning, while there were those, for reasons understandable, had been living on Meta Fifth for many years with their mixed genetic offspring. A few were non-participant workers catering to the countless couples, mainly the shopkeepers and android tenders.
There were so many stores that it took almost five floors. Many of them were clothing as it tailored to the culture of the immigrants, while some had to be segregated at different locations in order to avoid conflict. While many stores came from and tailored to inhabitants of a specific planet, the mega-department stores, owned by a coalition of investors from an array of planets, attempted to tailor to a significant portion of the 7-Arc cluster inhabitants--most especially the richer ones. They were as large as the mega-marts during Demiterra's olden days, where such stores would run to the ground and destroy local "mom-and-pop" general stores.
Now these mega-departments sought to expand their sales by dominating local markets in various stores systems. They were powerful both politically and commercially, and likewise they were also a generous sponsor of the GGDP for the sole purpose of increasing their profits on the long run. They were seen as the fashion cartel, and sometimes they rivaled the transportation, mining, energy, and restaurant industries. It would not be unheard of if entire star systems bowed underneath their influence.
Kana had money, but enough to shop at the mega-departments. She didn't like the cavernous space, and had a tendency to get lost. So she took Mather to many of the smaller shops trying to pick out clothes that match her culture, but she would always ask the keeper if it would offend anyone or make her look ridiculous. Simple things such as color could mean a myriad of things, and there were stores that saw gold and jewelry as marks of shame. However, each shopkeeper were understanding cultural intermingling, and had often said it was all right as long as the customer do not wear the offensive dress or accessory to their home planet. If they weren't tolerant, they wouldn't be able to do business on Meta Fifth. In fact, many came here to sell many of the offensive garments in question in order to send back money to home.
Kana, bought little, such as pants, tight blouses, a few sweaters, a swimsuit, and scuba gear in the event she decided to go diving in the planet's oceans. Mather, bought even less, and it was mostly gloves and stockings. She was always browsing clearance sections, and asking the storekeepers if there were additional discounts. Mather had haggled with a few shopkeepers, who oddly enough enjoyed a good haggling. Yet overall, Mather emerged with her purchases in hand with a regretful feeling that she was ripped off.
"It's no big deal," said Kana. "We still have lots of money left."
"I get yelled at by Maam if I spend frivolously," said Mather. "I am sorry if I am a disappointment."
"It's all right! Really."
"But you wanted to see that women show at the Broadway Line."
"I don't wish to make you feel any more inadequate. We could always go back home and watch television to enjoy our company."
"I guess."
"Still, you wouldn't mind if we ate here."
"I wouldn't mind."
"Don't worry. With so much variety of food, we're bound to find a good meal at a decent price."
Turned out to be more difficult than expected. After flying again with their techwings to the restaurant district, but Kana and Mather were just overwhelmed by the sheer amount of choice. It was just like the clothing and accessory stores, where there were almost a hundred thousand small and independently-operated restaurants tailoring to a extraterrestrial planet's culture and sub-culture nestled between the large mega-restaurants, such as those of the Golden Arches Syndicate, and their sub-brands.
"How do we know which ones won't kill us?" Kana asked.
"The Data Reader!" Mather answered.
The two checked, and were presented a long list of restaurants and foods compatible for them on the palm-sized device's screen. They looked up and saw the long lines of many of the popular and three-to-five star rated restaurants. There were even drive-by kiosks, mainly from the mega-restaurants who could naturally afford. Chasing one of them also created a line.
"What do we do?" Mahter asked.
"Don't panic!" Kana cried. "I have a plan! We each pick a restaurant that's compatible with both of us, and when one of us are close to order, we contact one another through our Data Readers and see what we would like."
"What if we reach the order at the same time?"
"I'm sure it won't happen."
"Okay. Where should I go?"
"Don't worry about it. Just go to place you and I will like."
"I'll try to get something cheap and good."
They went their own way. Kana picked the closest Golden Arches kiosk, and then looked back to watch as Mather boarded an escalator to the upper level. Though there were a good number of tall aliens in the area, Mather seemed to stick out due to her height--at least in Kana's mind.
"She looks pretty today," Kana smiled.
But erotic thoughts both probably and improbable gave way to hunger. Kana patiently waited in the line along with many others, and there were those who looked like her but were not necessarily Demiterrans. They could have significant internal and cultural structures that could differentiate them from her. There were indeed species that had the same exact chromosomal pairs and body type, but their planetary culture would be so vastly different that they would be considered alien. There would be hundreds of cases such as this.
Fifteen minutes. Her stomach was growling, and she wasn't alone. She could hear hecklers among the line. Few tried to bribe others to cut in line, and there was a reptilian child in a turban offering to sell his food wares to the standees. Kana, with a heavy heart, rejected his offer on the possibility that his grasshoppers-on-a-stick, whatever it was, would be poisonous for her. Then he went on to sell some snacks to an insect-simian hybrid.
How many times did she see hovertrucks unloading prepackaged food meant for the fryers and grills? She counted almost ten until fifteen more minutes later she finally reached the counter.
"Hi, may I take your order?" said a pimply and purple-furred entity.
"I'll have a number twelve," she said.
"Sorry, we just sold out."
"Okay then; number eleven it is."
"Would you like to super--oh I'm sorry. Our system says we just sold out the last one second ago."
Kana went down the combo meals, and the people behind her were yelling at her to hurry up.
"Is there anything that you haven't sold out of?" asked Kana. "Besides water?"
"We do have the vegan combo meal, number thirteen," said the young cashier.
Kana sighed. "Fine, just get me two. One with Beppu and one with Lemonade."
"Two coming up. Here's your number, and please wait at that railing over there until we call you."
More waiting? Kana would scream off her head if she wanted to. With her receipt number in her Data Reader, she hunkered off to the railing with all the other disgruntled and hungry patrons. She thought that city life at her home planet was bad. Elm Metropolis seemed to be worse.
Grumbling, she wrote down her complaints on her Data Reader and sent out the electronic telegram to the Elm Metropolis's commerce department. She received an autoreply stating their apologizes and they were happy to announce the expansion of the food court mall coming next season.
"They should have built it right now!" muttered a nearby patron. She was apparently not alone in voicing her complaints.
She thought it would be better if she ordered delivery, but it would not possible since this was lunch rush hour. Even if they could deliver to her exact position, it would take some time.
Ten minutes later, she finally received her meal on a single tray and walked into the seating area. There she finally realized that she had gotten the wrong type of food Mather. Although a veggie burger sandwiched between eggless buns was harmless, it was not nourishing for a unique being such as Mather. Resting her tray carefully on a planter, she dialed up Mather's Data Reader.
"Mather?" Kana asked. "Where are you?"
"I'm just about to order," said Mather over the Reader's speaker.
"Hey, I already ordered your food, but it really isn't your type. I'm sorry that I didn't get you something hunted from the sea. I was too hungry to think straight."
"Oh, that's all right. The restaurant I'm at is offering a two-for-one special of shark seaweed salad."
"That's good. I'll go find us a table for us to sit at."
"Good! I'll track by beacon."
"Um, is there anything I must know about eating with or without you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Would I offend you if I started without you?"
"That's okay. If you're hungry, please go right ahead."
They hung up.
Always apologizing, the both of us, she thought. I guess it comes with meeting someone from a different planet.
Now to look for a table. It now seemed very difficult as almost every one in her sight was taken. She looked past the section and saw a building housing enclosed booths for those who wanted to eat privately, as she had heard from traders and cultural anthropologists that for some planetary cultures eating was an intimate affair shared only with family and love mates. The temptation to go in one was strong, but there was a payment fee and the fact that there were heavily shrouded aliens who insist on dining in enclosed booths. The police were there to enforce such accommodations.
She looked round again. If she went to a different level or section, there would be a couple or a party leaving right as she went. During her decision-making, she munched on some fries and kept on hearing someone calling her name, so she thought. There was someone standing, and waving his arm. He could be shouting some foreign word that sounded exactly like her name.
"KANA WILTZCHEN!"
That was her name. She squinted her eyes and saw Bram Vupla. He was beckoning her to come sit with him at a table that could seat five, but the journey there was arduous. Many aliens inadvertently flaying their horns, tails, wings, tentacles, proboscis, and flashy headpieces stood in the way, but Kana held fast to her food tray containing two meals as she leaped through like a ballet dancer and a hurdle runner.
"Finally you made it!" Bram said.
"So I have!" huffed Kana as she sat down. She soon realized that they were not alone. Sitting across from her and next to Bram was a strange humanoid with dark rough skin, an impressive fiery red mane for a hair, and a black hard skin on the top his nose that could be hard as a horn. He had yellow eyes like a beast, and covering them were feminine half-moon spectacles.
"How do you do," said the humanoid. "I'm Krisk Fira from Nuvalc. Your people flatter us by calling us 'red griffons'."
"Kana Wiltzhen," said Kana. "As you can see, I'm a Demiterran like your friend Bram."
"Friends we are, but we are co-mates."
"Co-mates?"
"More like co-seeders."
Joining them abruptly was a humanoid looking very similar to a Demiterran, save for her larger than usual eyes.
"You miss me?" she said. She then proceeded to passionately kiss both Bram and Krisk before setting herself down.
"Don't put it the wrong way!" Kana said. "I'm just a friend of Bram's."
"She's telling the truth," said Bram.
"I hope so," said the woman. "These two fine men are mine."
"So it is," winced Kana.
"Anyway, the name's Phim Emi. It is a pleasure to meet a female who doesn't require two fathers."
"Hold on! You mate with these two?"
The trio before Kana nodded.
"I suppose you haven't heard of my kind," said Phim. "Let me explain..."
Phim stated that she was a Sil from the planet Embriga. The men outnumber the women two to one due the very reason that Sil women produce eggs in their womb without any DNA in them. The reason for two fathers was because during the first mating stage, the egg accepts the sperm and becomes its own, so to speak. The first father could not impregnate using the DNA that was already settled in the egg, for the egg develops an anti-sperm mechanism from the first father. This then allowed the second father complete the copulation process in the second mating stage, where the other half of the child's DNA would be accepted.
Her reason for being here was a little more practical. Globalized inbreeding was not one of the primary reasons for her emigration. Embriga was locked in a bitter civil war that could traced back to the males desire to collect women for their nations. Nowadays, it went under the label of economic disparity.
Kana would have been more interested if not for Phim's extending forked tongue that picked up her cricket squash every once in a while. Not only that, Phim's eyes sometimes moved in separate directions, and she even used her reptilian tongue to clean them. She was then given a harsh reprimand from her two husbands, indicating that cleaning her eyes was just like picking her nose, and it was rude and gross even from where she came from.
"What about double-y chromosomes?" Phim said. "Our eggs have already developed mechanisms to protect against that. A Y-Egg will only accept X-Sperm, while an X-Egg will accept either an X or Y-Sperm."
"But you're mating with two different species," said Krisk. "Do you think that won't produce any stillbirth or birth defects?"
"The GGDP should have already seen though that," said Bram.
"But that's only through simulations. Even if a healthy child is theoretically possible, the only verifiable data would be if the child was actually born."
"There have been healthy births of mixed-heritage Sils," said Phim, "but half of them were sterile."
"It's really one big experiment if you tell me."
"You're not up to this?" Bram asked.
"Of course I am! I'm voicing some of my concerns of our children."
"Playing the devil's advocate, huh?"
"What?"
"Don't worry," Phim whispered to Kana. "Those two became fast friends when they first met with me."
"By the way," said Bram, "we haven't seen your selected mate."
"Me?" Kana said. "Is it all right to tell?"
"We're all not secretive species," said Krisk. "And if your mate's culture forbids you to, we won't tell."
"Well, her approximated name is Mather Madison," said Kana. "And she is a Mermaid Gigantes from the planet Marieno."
The trio nearly choked on their food and drink.
"A mermaid!" gasped Bram.
"Shh!" Krisk hissed. "Do you want to discourage her?"
"What?" said Kana. "What's wrong?"
"Ah, it's nothing!"
"Tell me? Is there something I should know?"
The trio looked at each other, and decided that Kana should know.
"We heard tales," said Phim.
"Of the most dangerous..." said Krisk.
"...and secretive species of the 7-Arc Star Cluster," said Bram. "I've heard that they hire mermaids as assassins and bodyguards due to the potent poison they can inject from their fingernails, although spit and pheromones were also used, supposedly. I also heard that Marieno used to exile their prisoners off their planet, and those prisoners were set free to do assassination contracts. That forced the planet to send their own assassins to kill them off."
"My uncle and my uncle are stellar traders," said Krisk. "I heard tales from them that there was merchant who raped one of the mermaids, and when he got home he spread their poison through his wife and eventually the entire planet. Ninety-nine percent of life on that planet died off in a matter of fifty years before the Species Protection Agency saved the rest from extinction."
"I heard from my friends in Embriga that a mermaid secretly emigrate to planets to actively seduce and steal their women," said Phim. "Then again, a few of my friends were lesbians, and the women who go to Marieno never return. I hear it is a lesbian's paradise."
"This is a first time I have heard of single-gender species," said Krisk. "Not counting the worms though."
"But they could asexually reproduce."
"They do need that Kit celebrity as a host," said Bram.
"That is true."
"Hey, wasn't there a legend that you could get immortality by consuming a mermaid's skin?" asked Krisk.
"I'm not sure," said Bram. "There was similar tale back at my home planet."
"No, I heard that eating a skin would poison yourself in sheer agony that you'd want to commit suicide in the most horrible way," said Phim.
"What about their panties?" asked Krisk. "I hear they fetch a high value."
"Oh, no. Those are worse. They could wipe out entire crops if you let them dry in the air--so I heard."
The three realized that they were talking about Kana's mate, and finally stopped talking.
"Sorry," said Krisk.
"It's just that tales of mermaid are alluring and mysterious," said Bram.
"Did she tell you about such things?" asked Phim.
"No, she didn't," said Kana. "But she seemed hesitant for me to touch her skin directly."
"Maybe... there was a good reason she didn't."
"What does she look like?" asked Bram.
"She looks like us, but a lot taller and with aquamarine hair."
"Is that her?" Krisk asked.
Kana and the others turned and saw Mather towering above almost all and heading to their table. She didn't have the naive and shyness on her. Rather she looked a lot more serious, but she didn't look angry. She sat with the others with her tray of two servings of shark seaweed salad shoved along with the others. Kana and the others remained quiet for a while until one of them spoke.
"These are some of my friends," said Kana. "Bram Vupla is a Demiterran like me, Krisk Fira is one those legendary 'Red Griffons' of Nuvalc, and Phim Emi is a Sil from Embriga."
"How do you do," said the trio. They bowed instead of offering their hands for shaking, as it was sufficient enough. Mather bowed in kind, possibly not knowing that the trio was wary of her.
Kana, after finishing two servings of the vegan combo meal, helped Mather eat the shark seaweed salad as best they could, all the while they ignored the careful and silent stares of Bram, Krisk, and Phim for almost three minutes.
"Um, you don't mind if we excuse ourselves," said Phim. "I still have a lot of shopping to do, and show for me and my boys to catch up to."
"We don't mind," said Kana.
"Terribly sorry. I wish we could talk more. After all, we are horny individuals."
"Horny?" said Krisk.
"As in virile," said Bram.
"Ah, that. I thought we all had horns."
"We'll be on our way," said Phim, apologetically.
The trio took their trays and left the able, leaving Kana and Mather to finish their meal without speaking to one another.
They threw away what they couldn't eat, and immediately headed over to the techwing docks. From there, they flew back to their condominium home, and once landing Mather suddenly said:
"I'm sorry."
"Sorry about what?" Kana asked.
"Your friends."
"You eavesdropped?"
"No, but I can tell that they were talking about me."
"Don't believe them. What they say are just rumors without merit."
"But they do! I can poison others."
Kana eyes widened.
"I didn't want to tell you," Mather continued. "Because if you knew you won't want to be with me."
Kana had dearly wanted to comfort her tall mate by stroking her cheek or touching her shoulder, but couldn't as such simple gestures would drive her away.
"If didn't know all about you, I would have left," said Kana. "We shouldn't be keeping too much information from ourselves if we want to copulate."
"You say it as if it is our national duty."
"Perhaps you're right. I really want to know more about you even though in reality... I only came here to escape everything that reminded of my life in Demiterra."
"That's why you came here for?"
"I chose no-preference on my application, although... I am really glad I have met you Mather. It may not be too long that we have known each other, and even if we don't bear children in the end, I am still glad that we have met."
Mather smiled. "The GGDP does have a way of unearthing your private preferences."
The two spent the entire afternoon in the living room watching the video monitor, or a television in some cultures, during which Mather revealed more about her species and her planet.
"True that we are secretive," Mather said, "but we're not as dangerous as people say we are. We're just very conservative, that's all."
"And the poison?" said Kana.
"It's a defense we have evolved millions of years ago. Depending on how we are born, we can induce pain, paralysis, or both by extending our fingernails. However, we can kill people if we eat a certain type of fish, seaweed, or coral pill, but that had been forbidden by the planetary government. The rumors of our poison can wipe out almost all the species of an entire planet is a gross exaggeration--at least that's what our government says."
No different from the others. Governments have a tendency to keep secrets from its own people, and Kana knew well that Demiterra had a sordid history regarding that. Mather and her kind could be kept in the guard, but then again she did have a naive child-like outlook about her, and she came from a backwater town.
Thus, not Kana and anyone else had any right to lay all the blame of the corruption of a planet on a single individual like Mather. She knew because she herself received dirty looks from other species about Demiterra's unneeded military involvement at a habitable desert planet.
"Hey, I think I seen that woman before," said Mather.
Kana turned to the TV, and saw the fox-woman she had seen at the First Meeting Space at the airport. As a matter fact, she had seen her grace various tabloid magazines and tabloid shows on the television as a very vain and rich woman who willingly acted as a host to exotic yet valuable parasites and worms.
Even her recent arrest made headlines as she was accused by the Galactic Office of Trades and Tariffs and the Species Protection Agency for illegally selling her "offspring" to the illegal biotrader market. Before even the planet's authorities could arrest her, agents from Mozzo (her home planet) embassy detained her and quickly took her to their building for safekeeping as best as they could. Already at the footsteps were the reporters from the mass media syndicates and smaller ventures demanding answers from the woman herself, who was now shrouded underneath her coat. Her embassy agents declined to talk to any reporter until a formal inquiry was put into motion on Mozzo's behalf.
It was rumored though that Mozzo had been secretly profiting from the sales, which reached up to the quadrillion mark of credit points.
"If you think about it," said Kana, "there are a lot more corrupt and damaging planets than ours."
They had their dinner, and spent more time watching television together and reading up each other's culture. They even taught each other a few simple phrases of their language after turning off their universal translator earpieces. Mather seemed to have difficulty pronouncing some of the clicking consonants, whereas Kana thought Marieno's main language was the most beautiful spoken and written. Kana would not mind never understanding the soothing singsong voice of her partner, even if she were plainly talking.
"Mather?"
"Yrm?"
"Earpiece."
"Ah, sorry."
"You can sing can you?"
"I'm a bad singer," blushed Mather.
"Your voice and language sounds beautiful."
"I hate singing."
Mather got up and went to do her daily bath.
Did she offend her? No, it wasn't that. Like all other beings, Mather had a personal past she did not wish to share. It struck her odd that a mermaid did not like singing, but then a Mermaid Gigantes was just a label created by Demiterrans. There was nothing overtly mermaid about her besides the fact she had fined digits and ears, and that she liked to swim in water a lot. Though she was tall, she wasn't exactly a giant, although she said that she was the shortest in where she came from. Kana felt so inadequate before her, and it might end up that they'll divorce much later if they were to marry soon and have children. If they could have children.
It was still too early. Mather could also feel the same way.
On the next day, they went shallow diving at the pristine freshwater lake just outside their condo. Both wore matching wetsuits covering every part of their skin except for their faces. With her snorkel and goggles on, Kana jumped in, and Mather followed afterward.
Kana always felt at ease when she was submerged. The pressure was just right to massage her existence, and swam as if she was in eternity. The blue, the clear, and the light shining from the heavens, she had often pretended that she was fish or a dolphin.
The surfaces of the lake were terraced, starting from the beach, but the abundant coral, both fake and real, masked the structure. Schools of strange fish, familiar or not, flew around and about her, and there were some that fed off her bacteria on her face. She swatted them away and saw a beautiful sight.
Mather was swimming, but she wasn't swimming like Kana would. In Kana's eyes, she moved smoothly like a mermaid unencumbered by her hair or body structure. She propelled in bullet like speeds, and she did not need flippers to slow her down, goggles to shield her eyes, and a snorkel to gasp for air. It was like she was at home, and Kana truly wanted to touch her and take her home.
They met in the center, and their hands linked with another. They could lean in and rub their faces against one another but Mather was hesitant. Then suddenly, Kana was gagging, and she was quickly pulled to the shore by her mate.
"Did you swallow some water?' asked the drenched Mather.
"I forgot about my breathing limit," said Kana.
"How long can you hold your breath?"
"Around five minutes."
"Must be a serous handicap."
They had their lunch afterwards, and spent the afternoon doing the same usual things of reading, watching, and teaching each other the language. Dinner came in no time, and they ate as usual trying to initiate small talk. It was a quiet day so far.
Afterwards, they cleaned dishes by hand. It would seem inconvenient they would do so since there was a lack of a dishwasher machine, but it was soon apparent that the GGDP made sure that there would be mundane chores available for the couple to do together. Again, this was dependant on the culture that would not always work. For Mather and Kana, they did not mind.
Crash! Mather had accidentally bumped into Kana's elbow and dropped a plate.
"Sorry," said Mather.
"It's okay," said Kana. "We didn't pay for this."
"I don't want to get you cut."
"I'll help you... oh!"
Kana slipped right onto Mather, and the two fell on the ground. The soap from the broken plate was the cause. When they realized, their cheek, the exposed part of their skin, were touching.
"Oh, dear goddess," said Mather.
"What's wrong?"
"You touched me."
Mather sprang to her feet and pulled Kana out of the kitchen and into the bathroom.
"If I wash it off I might be able to stop it," said Mather. "No! I'll have to cut the circulation. Wait, I can give her a suppression pill."
Kana separated from Mather and backed herself into the bedroom. Mather followed her in.
"Mather, what's going on?"
"Kana, are you feeling all right?"
"I feel fine."
"I meant, to you feel the urge to mate? Are your nipples hard?"
"Now that you mention it..."
"Oh, dear. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Kana I'm so sorry!"
"You didn't... poison me did you?"
"I injected my sex pheromones into you."
"How? Wait, we touched each other's cheeks. That's why you're reluctant to touch others!"
Mather nodded. "We want to initiate the mating process with the partner we desire, all we do is just touch them with our bare skin."
"That doesn't sound so bad."
"Maybe for mermaids, but not for other beings. The mating process lasts over two hours, and with recent medical advances over three! The attraction for me will be unlike you have experienced with your former lover in Demiterra. It will be so strong, that you want to be with me the entire time, want to mate with me at every chance, and throw fits of fury if we are without each other."
"Why tell me now?"
"I wanted to make sure if that is what you want! I don't want my pheromones to dictate your behavior. I don't want to accidentally kill you when we make love."
"Mather. Do you love me?"
"I do! I don't want anything terrible to happen to you."
"I see. Room system, engage 'Love Night Mode'."
The room dimmed down, and the candle-like light bulbs were lit to a soft yellow glow. The drapes were automatically closed shut. Kana closed and locked the bedroom and the bathroom doors, and advance determinedly towards Mather.
"Take off your clothes," Kana commanded.
"What are you doing?"
"Please. Take them off."
Mather nodded timidly. She took everything off her skin, and Kana did the same thing. Kana motioned to her to sit on the bed, which she did. Kana followed immediately, and shuffled so that they were sitting upright with legs intertwined and their crotches pressed against one another.
Kana held herself against Mather's nude body, and breathed in every bit of her. The touch of her skin was sweet and smooth; addicting, yet slightly intoxicating. She could feel her heartbeat increasing its pace, and her vagina was lubricating itself for whatever penetration that would come.
"Oh Kana," said Mather. "I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize," said Kana. "This is what you wanted, right? This is what we all want."
Breathing rapidly and passionately, Mather pushed Kana onto her back. With their bodies pressed against and intertwined with one another, they stared for one moment and kissed their deepest. Whether it was Mather's taste or yet another extension of her pheromones, Kana found herself so addicted that she licked her tongue in every possible interior surface of Mather's mouth. Gladly, Mather fed her lover her saliva, and spread it in kind onto every possible interior surface of the mouth. They nearly suffocated themselves through all the kissing, and took one break to stare at each other's alien eyes.
"Your ears," Kana said. Mather's ears were extended and erect like wings. Kana touched it, and began massaging when Mather was shuddering and moaning euphorically.
Kana discovered another sexually sensitive area that drove Mather to her knees so to speak. Mather was now licking Kana's cheek, and finally her lips. The two kissed one another and tightened their wrap around one another yet again.
She would not mind dying in the throes of sex and in the arms of a Mermaid Gigantes. Every touch from her felt like a shot of cocaine and their equivalents. Every taste of her skin oscillated from mildly sweet and mildly sour, with a perfect in-between on occasion. The fluids Mather fed her were nourishing but never enough. Mather was not just bumping her clearly defined vagina or rubbing it against Kana's. She was ravaging them both like a male, but not with the deep penetration. They were essentially kissing themselves there, and so pleasurable it was that Kana lapsed from consciousness to semi-consciousness, as if she was teetering to the afterlife and heaven. It was heaven for her.
Never before she felt herself ejaculated so much, but as for Mather she ejaculated profusely. Sticky transparent foam was now developing between their crotches and splattered onto to their thighs, but the sheer pleasure distracted them from an apparently strange and possibly d
Chapter 2
Title: The Middle Part
Mermaid Gigantes
by Starcross
The Middle Part
It used to be called "coming out" in the distant past. When Kana Wiltzchen declared her long-term homosexuality, her parents became ecstatic. This outburst of joy from Mr. and Mrs. Wiltzchen was not because homosexuality had been accepted into the mainstream hundreds of years ago in Demiterra. Kana's parents were cheap and greedy. If she was straight and married a man, there would be a lot of liability hurdles and taxes attributed to her.
Demiterra was a normal terrestrial planet with ocean surfaces outnumbering dry land two to one. With the languages standardized and aerial transportation easily accessed to all, Demiterra eased into an age of technological prosperity, and a utopia was just around the corner.
Then again, it was just a pipe dream. The planet itself was being heavily overwhelmed by the population of over thirty billion. There was not enough environmental generators, or space trees, to satisfy a billion more newborns with their oxygenated gases and protection of the ozone molecules. Population was strictly controlled, and the Demiterran global government urged people to settle on other extraterrestrial planets. Other methods included temporary sterilization, a sort of internal chastity belt created by a wall of rugged nanomachines in a male or female's sex organs. Then there were dark rumors of the global government secretly committing acts of genocide through diseases and accidents.
Applying for the right to give birth was tedious, and the couple had to go through numerous screening tests, all of which they had to pay out of their own pocket. The unlocking of their internal chastity system was also expensive as were hospital stays and the hiring of midwife nurses. Even if the pregnancy was successful there were the expensive genetic tests for defects, the payment for health care, and schooling. It was discouraging to have a child, especially in the age of globalized inbreeding, but even so couples struggle hard to bring at least one child into their lives. In fact, having a child was often a sign of wealth and prestige that many attempted to obtain, or at least exert an image of success.
Back then however, Kana was young and had no interest in having children. She enjoyed her youth dating girls and having sex with many of them. After college or its equivalent, she married her chosen sweetheart Uuli Kyuner. Their nights of love were blissful, but friction between them began to develop when they got older.
A few years after they married, Kana had announced she wanted to have a child. Her parents and parents-in-law frowned and murmured uneasily. Even Uuli was against it since no one in their families had enough money to go through the tests and pay for the taxes.
"A lesbian couple can have children right?" asked Kana.
"You picked a good moment to say that," said Uuli.
"But you can insert your DNA in a blank sperm."
"Homosexual couples having children is twice more expensive!"
She was right. The unique methods for lesbians and gays to have children made the process more costly. The subject was then dropped, and a disappointed Kana gave up on her dream. It was at that time she and her wife stopped having sex.
In order to fill in the void of her life, Kana took an interest in marine biology and moved to the beach along with her reluctant wife. Kana eventually bought an ocean research vessel and ran a side business keeping tabs on the ocean life for the Demiterran Ocean Society and running a seaside gift shop with the help of Uuli.
Kana often went out to voyages without her wife since Uuli easily got seasick and had a bad experience involving black jellyfish. Uuli never liked swimming as she nearly drowned when she was a girl. In contrast, Kana loved swimming and scuba diving, and was once the seventh-place world championship swimmer during her school days.
The friction continued even into their house. Every time Kana returned to her voyage she was bringing strange fish creatures to research, to breed for zoos and aquariums, and to keep as pets. Uuli became annoyed at staring at what she viewed were ugly creatures, and she had to put with the smell and the uncomfortable dampness Kana failed to notice. Uuli hated seafood, and she had to be hospitalized due to her allergies to shrimp.
At night during bedtime, Kana would always apologize to Uuli about their new life by the sea, but Uuli would always sigh and said that as her wife she had to put up with it.
"You don't have to live here," Kana had said. "I could buy you a apartment or small house uphill."
"It's all right," sighed Uuli.
"How did we end up with this?"
"You wanted to have children."
"I forgot."
"In reality though, we're really not supposed to have children. It's unnatural."
"Yeah."
"But I'm still glad we fell in love."
"And have hot sex."
"Those were the days."
"Yeah."
Uuli had put up with her wife through everything. Though Kana's crew consisted of men, Uuli wasn't too worried. The men acknowledged Kana as one of their own, and due to the way Kana had cut her hair and wore her clothes they often forget that she was female. But when she bought in Lola as the tomboyish first mate, Uuli began to feel uneasy.
"You're not interested in her in anyway, are you?" asked Uuli.
"Of course not," replied Kana. "Lola and I go way back."
"I see."
In this relationship, clichÇ and irony reared its ugliness. Kana came home one night and didn't realize amidst the noise of her many fish tanks that her wife was cheating with her first mate. Kana had stepped in as Uuli was on top of Lola grinding her vagina onto her new partner. They stopped immediately to stare at the gaping Kana. Kana then dropped her bag, took out her knife, and then slashed Uuli. Blood splattered on the wall.
Fortunately though, that was all she did. However, Uuli was blinded on her left eye, and she wore an eye patch as she awaited a new eye replacement. Kana, who had a fuzzy memory of the event, was arrested and pleaded guilty to assault. She was sent to prison for an equivalent of two Demiterran years, and during which Lola ran her business until it was sold to a new owner.
Kana divorced Uuli during her imprisonment. At the same time, she lapsed into a state of depression and nearly committed suicide, forcing her to be placed into suicide watch. She willingly allowed herself to be violated by the other inmates and the guards on occasion, for she believed it was her own fault that she caused Uuli so much pain and their estrangement. There were times that she screamed her head out and cursed the world, the universe, and its deities. Then her soul went half-dead, and she had become complacent, thus allowing her to be brought into a halfway house.
During her stay, she learned of the Galactic Genetic Diversification Program and the benefits of becoming a life partner of an alien humanoid species. She immediately applied online on the global nexus network since it did not charge an application fee.
Then she said to herself, "What kind of program would accept the likes of me? A criminal no less." Kana tried to enter as little information as possible regarding her past crime, and chose a "No Preference" choice. There was, however, a personal statement she had to write. Though she wrote three paragraphs' worth, it generally said that she wanted to get off the planet.
To her surprise, she was accepted, and this prompted her early release.
Only her parents were there to bid her a possible final goodbye. She would have expected to see Lola, or at least Uuli to show up suddenly, but no one knew the fate of her ex-wife.
The divine must have smiled upon her. Whether it was hormones or not, Kana was happily in love with Mather Madison, the Mermaid Gigantes. They could not have picked a better love-partner for her.
Since their first sex, Kana quickly adjusted to subsequent lovemaking as it happened almost all the time. Mather had explained during a late lunch that after their first sex mermaids would continue to furiously have sex until one of them becomes pregnant. On that moment, Kana just shrugged her shoulders and leaped right over the table and into Mather's arms. They immediately proceeded to have sex in the kitchen and dining area.
For Kana, it was effort absorb all of Mather's pheromones, which meant she had a licking fetish. For Mather, her sex drive and hormones was activated, and her drive was to donate her pheromones onto her lover's body and pump her ova stream into the uterus, which was the reason for the mixing foam that often developed between their merging vulvas. Like Kana, Mather also participated in licking every part of her body, and that was done to spread and impart more pheromones. They were hungry for each other, and despite a few intentional biting they were fortunate enough to not want to literally eat one another.
In the next seven days or more--the couple lost count--they proceeded to have sex every chance they got. Actually, the only time they weren't having sex was during their meals, which they kept short, toilet breaks, and during their sleep, which they also kept short. Even during their baths and showers they had sex. It was nothing but sex, sex, and sex in their minds, but also in their minds was the desire to see one another being pleasured at the utmost. They had sex everywhere, which ended up breaking a lot of furniture they didn't care about. They wore little or no clothes and did not care if they were secretly peeped (then again, this was Meta Fifth, a planet full of love).
They could barely function normally outside of sex. They would get very anxious if they were without each other for more than a minute, even if they were just in different rooms or facing away from each other. They tried to go out to eat or see a show, but they could not keep their hands off each other. Thus, the police, in accordance of the planetary laws, were ordered to go home or to a segregated section where public sex was acceptable. But Kana and Mather were private creatures. They would not allow anyone else, female, male, or other to look at them lustfully, and in fact Kana or Mather (Mather least likely since she could exert poison) had assaulted a lesbian just for staring at them.
Since they could not be together in public, they remained home, having more and more sex. The condo was a complete mess. The floors were not cleaned, nor were the dishes and almost all of the clothes. They just could not stop having sex, which served as their only source of entertainment. They were forced to order delivered food, but requested that only demure female-types with lesbian leanings to deliver it. As a matter of fact, there happened to be a special delivery service that was staffed by female bisexuals and lesbians.
Answering the door was a heavy chore for Kana and Mather. With one psychologically dependent on the other, they instead opened the door together dressed in hastily worn robes clinging on one another. If only they could see the look on the delivery girl's face when they kissed and fondled. It would always take a while to pay her via credit-point transfer. Eventually though, Kana and Mather became the deliver services best customers.
This could be seen as a mad love, but mad was an insufficient quantifier for the likes of Kana and Mather. This was essentially divine pandemonium localized inside a one-story condominium decorated for those who loved the sea and lived by the sea.
Their constant lovemaking eventually came to an end, and even for mermaids too much could also kill them. The Mermaid and the Demiterran were sleeping naked on the top mattress of the round bed that was separated from the bottom half. Kana was the first to wake, and finally realized the sheer mess before her eyes. She continued staring, wondering if a robber came in or a she and Mather had a fight.
"How did this happen?" Kana asked.
Kana shrugged her shoulders. She had to go the bathroom. Then she screamed.
Mather bolted up and ran into the bathroom.
"What happened to my hair?" Kana asked.
"It grew longer," said Mather.
"I mean this," Kana pointed. "It's starting to turn into the same color as yours."
"Oh, that. I remember mentioning to you that when you have sex with me, you'll take in so much of my pheromone's that you'll be colored by me. It's one of the ways we can tell who's sleeping with who on Marieno."
"I don't remember hearing that."
"Honestly though, I sort of remember saying that, but you just kissed me and we had sex."
"I think you're right."
The two sighed.
"Wow, what an experience," Kana asked. "What time is it?"
"It's 1625 hours."
"That late? I have to prepare dinner."
"Um, Kana..."
Kana saw the complete mess in the kitchen. "Okay, let's just head out."
"We don't have any clean clothes," said Mather. "You know how important that is for me."
"How much money we have?"
"About five million credit points."
"How the heck did we spend all that? As a matter of fact, how come we're speaking fluently without translators? Just how many days did pass?"
Mather shrugged her shoulders. "I say that's good news."
The couple had one change of clothes delivered to them, once they were wearing them they ate out to a fairly high-class restaurant in the city. The dresses they wore didn't match the atmosphere. Whose didn't in Meta Fifth?
This time they didn't misbehave, but they were still feeling romantic. They fed each other, and sometimes exchanged pieces of food through their mouths. Even with Mather covered almost entirely Kana didn't hesitate to touch her skin once in a while. Inadvertently, that made Mather's ears become erect. She blushed in embarrassment and tried in vain to hide it with her aquamarine hair.
"They won't know," Kana whispered.
"But they're engorged," Mather said. "Like those horns your males have."
Kana could not help but smile at Mather's innocence.
They got home to immediately clean up. There was a voice message left on their messaging terminal as well as their Data Readers.
"Hey Kana," said Bram's voice. "We just wanted to know if you and Mather want to come with us to see public erotic show of Demiterra's A.I. system merging with Booa's A.I. system at the Elm Stadium. Oh, and I would like to add that we're really sorry about making you suspicious about your partner. We have no right to spread such vicious rumors about her, so please forgive us. Um, bye!"
"We should go," said Mather. "So I can forgive them."
"Mather," said Kana, "the message is eight days old."
Kana played the next one, which was four days later.
"Hello Kana Wiltzchen," said Phim's voice. "We dropped by to see if you were still angry with us, but when we saw your silhouettes, we were flabbergasted. My boys were just stunned to see such crazy, um, sex with you and Mather. I promptly led them back to the air taxi and went home blushing. Then the three of us had sex.
"I am really jealous. I mean, wow. You two were breaking lamps here and there and making the walls rumble. The roughest three-sex we have back home at Embriga doesn't even compare. Looks like we're all relieved the two of you hadn't died yet. It is a shame that you missed the merging of the A.I.'s. That is something you don't see everyday.
"Anyway, I hope you and Mather have many children as will I. We'll drop when we leave for Embriga in five days."
"Five days!" cried Kana. "They'll be dropping by tomorrow!"
Knowing that their friends, however short the time they knew them, would be going away, Kana and Mather dressed in their best yet fairly inexpensive clothes. On this occasion, Mather intentionally left her right hand exposed that she would always be holding Kana's left. However, Mather insisted on covering their hand holding with a satin scarf wrapped around their wrists almost like handcuffs. That way, Mather felt, she would not accidentally be touched or touch anyone else. Although she her body was now "locked on" Kana's being, meaning that her pheromones won't have the same effect on other people, Mather simply felt possessive. Kana did not mind. She was possessive over her lover as well.
It was Bram and Krisk who appeared at the doorstep wondering why they were handcuffed with a satin scarf.
"No, it's not a cultural thing," said Kana. "I just don't want Mather to touch anyone else."
"What's with the suits guys?" Mather asked. The suits the men wore were not of Demiterran origin. It had a slim yet bulbous quality, but nonetheless made from high quality materials.
"This?" Krisk said. "This is to celebrate Phim's pregnancy. After all, we're all 'horny' creatures, right? Right?"
Bram slapped his own head. "Anyway, we also came here to apologize."
"It's all right," smiled Mather. "In some sense, it is my people's fault for being so secretive."
"Yeah, a lot of the planetary governments are secretive."
"Bram," said Kana, "where is Phim by the way?"
"She's in the land taxi."
"She doesn't feel well?"
"She's pregnant."
"I know, but... she can't walk?"
"The pregnancy takes a huge toll on her. Already she has triplets."
"Women on Embriga become physically weak when they're pregnant," said Krisk. "It used to be that they die after childbirth, but nowadays it's just extended hospital stays."
"That doesn't explain why you have to go back," said Kana. "Wasn't there a civil war going on in Embriga?"
"There is," said Bram. "We discussed over this, and although we could stay in Meta Fifth, Phim is homesick and likes to give birth to our children on her planet."
"Don't worry though," said Krisk, "her city is located far from the battlefield."
"I don't like to cut this short, but our wife is waiting. She can't stay out this long without proper medical care."
"Do you think we can see her?" asked Mather.
"Of course. Just not too long."
The automated land taxi was dark and elongated like a limousine. It might was well be called a limousine if not for the medical equipment situated in the center. Bram and Krisk entered, and the rearmost side window rolled down. Phim was in a heavy robe. Her skin was pale and had faint colored spots in a sporadic pattern.
Keeping her head up and eyes focused at Kana and Mather was an effort. She tried to speak, but her two husbands stopped her from opening her mouth. Instead, she smiled at the female and female couple as her goodbye. Bram and Krisk said their goodbyes, and the taxi drove off.
At the same day, video news of the civil war in Embriga became grimmer. Kana and Mather prayed for their friends' safety and the safety of their unborn children.
(They had learned later through the info directory of Embriga that women becoming pregnant with three children were not uncommon. Usually though, males were born.)
The couple didn't make many friends afterwards, but they did not mind. Their own company was their constant, and although the throes of passion had subsided, they continued to make love here and there. Around the house or in private booths amongst public sectors, they would often touch if not embrace one another for regular skin-to-skin contact. Mather had explained that this was normal for devoted mermaids, as they would regularly exchange pheromones. Bathing together and sleeping together naked were their most intimate moments, which would often lead to softened sex. On the subject of oral sex however, Mather was against it. Her reasoning, as with her people's, was that it would unfairly cannibalize the line ova that was supposed to go into their lover.
"However, they do it often in the city on Marieno," added Mather. "They are more liberal there."
"Then would it be murder if the line ova doesn't go into the other partner?" Kana asked.
"It is, but it is not enforced. All of us have to make sure that doesn't happen."
"So you don't masturbate as well."
"Actually we do. The line ova do not ejaculate unless a partner is present or if infected by your partner."
"I see then."
In their culture, the couples assimilate with each other. Kana only passed a minute amount of her pheromones into Mather, but it was still enough for the mermaid to fall in love with her. Changes within Mather were not apparent, but it was more drastic for Kana. All of her hair was turning aquamarine, and her skin was becoming lighter than usual. She had worried that she was too old for Mather when she first arrived on Meta Fifth, but the constant sex had revitalized her and had actually made her younger.
Mather had bought additional clothes to cover almost every part of her body, including her face, for outings. It was a bit disappointing for Kana, but Mather insisted in case of accidental skin contact and attraction from others. Fortunately, Mather's tall and feminine form was still apparent, and as a matter of fact it was even more arousing. Mather looked very alien and mystical when covered in a latex or leather body suit. She was lucky enough that her clothes had zippers for quick release so that she could allow Kana to touch her. For them, if they did not touch regularly, they would become anxious like they used to. They were each other's drugs.
When Kana's hair and skin became completely colored, it became a sure sign that she was impregnated. For the people of Marieno, the lovers would have long kiss with their wives as an informal test, but nowadays they use Entity Readers that could be purchased from a store. They did a test in their living room in one afternoon...
"Sorry I couldn't impregnate you Mather," joked Kana. "Does this mean I will be the Maam?"
"It doesn't work that way," replied Mather. "It is the children who determine who is going to be the Falka and Maam. Basically, the one who is dominant in our relationship will be the Falka."
"The parents don't necessarily make them choose, do they?"
"We are not allowed to do such things. It's a crime to force a child to make a certain parent be the Falka or Maam. There was a time a Falka was allowed more opportunities than the Maam, but anti-discrimination laws almost eradicated such a tradition. Now Falkas and Maams are equals."
"That's strange considering you're a one-gendered society."
"It does happen."
Suddenly, Kana began sobbing.
"What's wrong?" Mather asked.
"Isn't that something? I'm impregnated by a woman. I've finally able to have children."
The two embraced.
"Mather," wept Kana. "I'm sorry happy. I want to say that I love you, and I'll keep on loving you for all eternity."
"Do you believe in the concept of forever love?"
"Yes."
"It's a central tenant of my religion. Once a couple is married, they are destined to be together, and when they die they rise up to be goddesses. Nothing, not even fate will ever separate them."
Kana's tears eventually dried up. She didn't move from the spot, as she then cuddled on the couch like she would always do with Mather. Both them were dressed in nothing but their one of their many house lingerie.
"I hope Phim and the others are all right," said Mather. "The civil war is getting worse."
"That does remind me though," said Kana. "I'd like to see your home planet."
Mather choked up.
"Something wrong?"
"Ah, it's nothing!" Mather exclaimed.
"Oh, sorry. I forgot. Did your planet expel you?"
"It's not that." Mather then sighed. "I should at least see Maam and tell her about you."
"Your mother?" asked Kana.
"Something like that."
"If you don't want to, that's fine. Maybe you can visit my planet."
"I don't think I can. Mermaids aren't allowed to freely travel wherever they wish. It's either Marieno or planets like Meta Fifth."
"The poison thing..."
"That and my government forbid it."
Kana stood up. "That settles it then. Let's visit your home planet."
"Um, okay."
The approval for their travel took almost a month. So far, Kana didn't see any changes in her womb, as unborn mermaids take a bit longer than Demiterrans to develop. That was a rough estimate though, for inside Kana was a Mermaid-Demiterran hybrid that may or not be sterile.
With their pairing as a rare case, they were granted a generous amount of security from the GGDP at little or no charge. However, they had to abide by strict travel rules created solely for them, but they knew it was focused for Mather. They were to travel alone with simple androids, not just because they were the only ones heading to Marieno. They could only cook their own food, but that was compounded by the fact they were limited on what they could bring from Meta Fifth. In addition, only they would be the only pilots and copilots for the trip. Everything except for the maintenance of their shuttle would be performed by them.
The shuttle was hybrid type, which meant that it would take off from the spaceport, go through Dark Space Jump gate on Meta Fifth's moon, and appear at Marieno's moon. From there, it would descend to one of the few spaceports Marieno possessed.
Though it was rendered in many names, the shuttle was called Jellystar in Kana's language, and though it sounded silly it had a sleek pointed shape. Perhaps it was named so due to the reflective tendrils or tentacles that was at its rear. These tentacles exerted a thrust at the tips to control a myriad of functions such as acceleration, steering, and braking, despite the main hull possessing those functions. The interior was heavily organic, and some of the furniture and appliances were very uncomfortable for Mather and Kana. Fortunately, they put up with it because they would not be using it for too long.
The journey took a couple of days in their time, and it was streamlined that they would go through customs a lot quicker. Being a native of Marieno, Mather pre-screened through most of her and Kana's belongings, most of which posed no danger. When Kana saw the planet through her window, it was just as Mather had described it. It was like Demiterra, but the lands were scattered about in numerous chains of archipelagos.
"There is my place," said Mather. "Middle Mesopotamia."
"Wait a second," said Kana. "That sounds similar to some of the places on my planet."
"It does happen. The people in the city say that everyone in the 7-Arc Starculster descended from a common alien species."
"I've heard of that..."
Kana heard of a irritating thorn in the United Starcluster Federation of the Church of the Common Ancestor and their terrorism against conservative believers of Isolated Evolution. A radical idea sprang up that the reason why many could interbreed or infect one another through diseases was that everyone descended from a space-based and highly technological civilization who had fallen from glory perhaps a billion or so years ago. Since then, their descendants had evolved to suit their environment.
The Isolated Evolutionists dispute this because there were many species of organisms these so-called descendants could have evolved from. If everyone was descended from the common ancestor, where were the relics of a space-based civilization? None were found, so far, and the Isolated Evolutionists assumed that the Common Ancestor church participated in a campaign of destroying the relics in order to spread their views. The debate continues on with no end in sight. Many, however, do not really care.
The spaceports on Marieno were their own enclaves, and even though there were non-natives on Marieno, particularly merchants and traders, they were forbidden to permanently settle elsewhere on the planet. There was a small party of Demiterran guards and their soldier androids protecting Kana and Mather as they ventured out.
Jerusalem Port was a murky trading city unlike the pictures of the beautiful organic cities seen on the outdated pictures of Marieno's culture. Non-natives make up the bulk of the population, but there were also Mermaid Gigantes wandering about.
To Kana's surprise, Mather was right. Mermaids were very slenderly tall, just over two hundred and fifteen centimeters (seven feet) on average, whereas Mather was a petite one hundred and ninety-eight centimeters (six feet and six inches). Almost all of them wore full body suits of latex, rarely leather though. Their faces were obscured by masks that only have eyeholes, and the headdresses were blossoming large and wide to hold all their long and flowing hair. Yet even with their bodies totally covered, they were beautiful and alluring, and their designs had variations in their pattern, cut, and the amount of buttons and ribbons.
Mather wore a similar suit of Indigo, but she didn't obscure her face with a mask. Instead, a transparent veil was pulled over her lower half of her face so that Kana would recognize her. Her headpiece diverged from the top like V, and satin cyan tassels fell from its tips.
Kana also wore a matching bodysuit, but opted not to wear anything obscuring her head and face. She felt no danger in spreading her ineffective pheromones to other mermaids. Her height, however, made her appear to be a mermaid child to other mermaids. The few teens she had seen so far were taller but did not have their faces covered.
The port itself was an island, and to leave the island Kana and Mather had to go through the traveling bureau for pass to Mather's hometown of Bara Qu in Dimashq Island. Kana had unknowingly learned enough of Mather's language to get around (she thought it was the constant sex that was the cause), but she was annoyed to being belittled and being treated as a child by other mermaids. One of them assumed that she was one of the rare pygmies at Congo Island.
Finally, they were allowed on board a beautiful organic vessel on the basis that Mather had now been married, which was confusing to Kana as there was no formal ceremony. "There doesn't need to be," said Mather. "One night of fornication means that we already are. Of course, you still have to register with your local government, and then post-marriage ceremony will take place. Considering my position, that won't happen."
"What exactly did happen?"
"I was raped."
"Raped? You don't have pe--I mean, horns between your legs."
"Rape here is different from your planet, but even on Marieno the definition fluctuates. A rich girl named Iyanna Novn became smitten by me, and while I was flattered she took advantage of me by ripping my clothes. By the time she touched me it was too late. I came to almost two weeks later realizing I was colored by Iyanna.
"Where I come from, it isn't technically rape. Maam insisted that I register with my previous lover, as did my neighbors and friends. I convinced myself that Iyanna was the one for me but instead of coming home to her, I ran away. I didn't know why I was so scared. Despite Iyanna taking advantage of me, I was in love with her. But it just didn't feel right."
"That's because you've been taken advantage of!" Kana said. "It's considered sexual assault!"
"That's what the liberals say in the cities, but please remember Kana that divorce is heavily frowned upon, and that separating from your lover is the worst sin you could ever commit. You are essentially ostracized from society. That's why I had you talk with the seaport officials."
"Eh? They were pretty friendly to you."
"I'm cautious. Some of them might from where I live. It'll get worse when we arrive on Dimashq."
Kana was on the deck leaning against the forward railing. There was water everywhere, yet there were large islands in the distant horizon. Reptilian sea birds followed the sea ship powered "clean" White Fire cells. The dolphins that swam alongside and ahead looked somewhat like the mermaids Kana saw in fairytale picture books back at her home planet due to the fact they had elongated arm-like fins and a stream of antennae that looked like hair.
She was the only alien amongst the mermaids traveling on the ship. Their clothes now varied widely, but they still retained their full-body covering. The crew and captain were dressed in white naval uniforms along with white masks. There were young children the same height or taller than Kana, and some of them had invited her to play. Patrolling the boat were the police-marines in their blue and red uniforms. Their hats, borrowed from other planetary cultures, looked reminiscent of the caps of officers on Demiterra. Their masks were essentially black-tinted visors. Each carried a short "bloodsword", which uses the blood or mainly sweat of the officer to poison their criminal. They also carried regular gunpowder-based pistols, and a palm-sized medicine pack. Mather had explained that the medicine pack really contained only half medicine, and the other half contained various pills and disposable syringes used to create poison in the officer's bodies. Though faceless, the officers were fearsome, and often watched the movements of Kana and Mather.
Mather on the other hand stayed in one place alone on the deck. She was always on the alert, but she felt that her sin was the reason for her ostracism. Kana was not sure if her townsfolk were on the same ship, and she really couldn't do anything, as she still wasn't aware of the breadth of Marieno's culture. Besides, she was only a foreign visitor.
Dimashq Port was the major city of Dimashq Island, and to Kana it was heavenly beautiful. Though made of metallic materials and glass, the buildings were sculptured with a curvaceous bent, almost as if the city was yet another coral reef. The few flying vehicles and the cars were also designed in the same way despite being made of hard plastics and steel.
Almost everywhere it was clean, including the so-called slums where the purported crime groups were located. The city was orderly and reserved due to the reasonable physiologically of the people. It was a common sight for Kana to see a lot of couples holding hands, sometimes ungloved or wrapped in a scarf.
"I thought it wasn't a cultural thing," Kana said the Mather after they disembarked.
"I thought it was just a recent city trend," said Mather.
There was no way to tell the ages since everyone was veiled. Although it was said that touching and kissing in public was frowned upon, younger couples in the city, as told by Mather performed it without a care in the universe. This was done by taking off their masks, but it was easier to do so using veils. At the seaside boardwalks, Kana saw many couples doing this.
Married couples also kissed their children, but not very often on the lips. This was so that the child could absorb the pheromones from both parents so that she won't be attracted to them later in life. This also has the added benefit of dispelling incestuous lust between sisters and cousins, although the latter seemed to be increasing in Marieno's own global inbreeding. When faced with that decision, Marieno would rather inbreed themselves into extinction than to make their world impure.
Kana was relatively tall at around one hundred seventy-two centimeters (five foot eight inches) back home in Demiterra, but in Marieno everything was tall for her, and it made her feel like a child again.
"Why is it that everyone is so tall?" Kana asked.
"I don't know really," said Mather. "I think it was because our ancestors had to swim from island to island to follow the fish. Or was it so we could extend our reach to the bottom of the sea harvest clams."
"Bearded clams?" Kana grinned.
"Huh?"
"It's nothing. Marieno feels different on my feet."
"It is slightly smaller than your planet."
"That explains it. You weren't too uncomfortable on Meta Fifth, were you?"
"Not to worry. I took pills so that my body system would adjust."
"But you're height was all right. You're not too tall."
They had lunch at an outdoor café. The food Kana ate looked like steak, but in reality it came from a tough bull-whale that mermaids breed in the oceans. She was astounded that the people of Marieno had conquered the ocean and used it as their breeding ground. They had developed membrane technology to enclose their movable "pastures" for their aquatic animals ranging from plankton to giant squids, which was a favorite mermaid delicacy.
During their meal, there was a child in a purple body suit waving at Kana. At least she thought it was a child. When she approached her, the child removed her mask to reveal herself as a Demiterran living in Dimashq.
"What a surprise to see another one of me here," said the girl. "My name's Ariko Fosye."
"Kana Wiltzchen." Kana extended out her hand, but Ariko declined it.
"I forgot," said Kana.
"Nah, that's all right," said Ariko. "You'll get used to living here."
"Actually, I am just visiting."
"You are? I thought you were 'kidnapped'."
"Well," said Mather. "Kana and I married."
"Ariko," said Kana. "This is Mather Madison."
"Hello," bowed Ariko. "So I guess you live in a different city."
"Different planet actually."
Ariko sat with Kana and Mather and listened to their situation.
"So you actually participated in the GGDP," said Ariko. "That's interesting. Usually, we just go to other planets and steal their women."
"Mather, I thought that wasn't true," said Kana.
"Well," said Mather, "not to the extreme. It does happen."
"It was a little frightened meeting Camyl at first," said Ariko. "At a bar no less. She was in a full body suit of black leather so I assumed she was some lesbian biker. I don't know what happened, but somehow we accidentally touched each other and it clicked. Camyl took me here and I became her wife."
"Say," said Kana, "Camyl isn't a..."
"Oh, no! I know it's difficult for a mermaid to get off this planet, but it isn't impossible. Camyl's the type looking for adventure across the stars."
"Are there more of us on this planet?"
"Just under a thousand total along with other female aliens. You don't see them often because you know; we're all dressed like this. Occasionally some there is newsbreak on the television of a interbreeding couple getting into trouble, so we're practically invincible and untouchable. Unfortunately we can't get real jobs due to us being aliens."
"I don't intend to stay here."
"It is still a nice place here. And the sex... woo! Never thought I'd go lez for Camyl."
"Do you have any children?"
"Lots! And my first great-grandchild is coming out this month!"
"Great-grandchild? But you look so young?"
"Mermaid pheromones girl. It's the fountain of youth."
"Actually," said Mather, " you retain your beauty and live a bit longer than many other species."
"I guess the tales of devouring a mermaid's skin has some ring of truth," said Kana.
"Oh yeah!" exclaimed Ariko. "Ah, my wifey is here!"
A very tall mermaid in a black suit received the embrace of Ariko. Camyl lifted her veil, and kissed her wife for almost a minute.
"Camyl, this is Mather and Kana," Ariko said. "They're newlyweds."
"Pleased to meet you," said Camyl.
"Sorry that we have to part. I have to meet up a couple of my granddaughters for a picnic outing. We'll see each other again. I'm sure of it."
And they went away.
"Did you know about this?" asked Kana.
"Not really," said Mather. "The government is purposefully ignorant about these matters, although it does make me feel relieved that our children will certainly be fertile."
"Thank goddess."
"I haven't seen their children, so although they may be hybrids they are certainly looked upon as full-fledged mermaids. Maybe it's because of our aggressive internal physiology."
"That could be it. It seems to be overriding my natural state."
Now that Kana thought about it, it could be that mermaids have the natural ability to eliminate large swaths of life or prolong the life of their loved one if they so chose. Mather had mentioned that single mermaids die decades earlier than coupled mermaids.
Bara Qu was northeast from Dimashq Port. A single road running through a narrow stretch of land was the primary access. Kana and Mather took what was called a road train, which was really a non-stop bus. Actually, the non-stop bus made only one brief stop in the middle of the trip by a seaside village built on a platforms and land reclamations.
Mather hid her face with more effort than what Kana was accustomed to. Already she heard in the regional dialect of Marieno's primary language whispers from the other passengers about a petite mermaid sitting at the back with an ignorant child. A few times Kana wanted to go up to them and make them say their insults out loud, but Mather restrained her.
"It's not worth it," said Mather.
"You can't let them trample on you forever," said Kana.
But only Mather sighed. She was too used to her ostracism.
Bara Qu, Kana realized, could be an island if not for the long narrow stretch of land connecting it to Dimashq. It was small city or a large town. It wasn't anything modern like Dimashq port, for most of the buildings were built with "coral" bricks or palm wood in the rural regions. Fish farming was its main industry with breastfruit serving as an addition.
"Breastfruit?" Kana asked as she picked one up fallen from tree near the bus stop.
"There are better ones further in," said Mather.
"But why are they called breastfruit?"
"Because they look like breasts. Something wrong with it?"
"Not really."
Kana could not wait to drink or eat it.
"So your mother, I mean--"
"Mother is fine," said Mather.
"She lives here?"
"She's staying at a hospital."
"Oh my. Did something happen to her?"
"My falka died."
"I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"She is 'half-dead' in a sense. Usually, mermaids will die immediately after when her mate passes away. Maam, however seemed to live on further. It may not seem strange to you, but it is very strange in our culture."
"Maybe your maam didn't love your falka."
"No, they were in love all right. They were a bit weird though."
They ran into difficulty when they attempted to stay at the hotel, the most expensive one in the town. Mather gave Kana basic instructions on getting room, which wasn't all that different in getting one on Demiterra. She then hid herself and hoped that the staff or anyone else working in the building noticed her.
Kana was sent to reserve a room for two, but was told not to indicate that she was staying with Mather. Alas, she had difficulty relating her wishes to the receptionist in their language, for Kana was not smoothly fluent and she could not fully understand the accent of the region. Eventually, a tall and veiled manager appeared to look down upon her.
"Are you with that woman hiding in the front?" she asked.
Kana bit her lip. She didn't want to lie, especially in a foreign environment.
"I am," said Kana.
"I am sorry, but we cannot allow you two to have a room. However, you are welcome to stay child."
"What? Why can't I stay with my wife?"
"Her kind has no business in Bara Qu."
The manager sternly left.
"Ma'am," Kana said to the young and tall receptionist, "surely you can talk to her and let me squeeze us in."
"I'm sorry," said the receptionist, "but that's her rule. Personally I'm against it, but there's nothing I can do. She's my mother."
"Forget it. I'll remember not to stay here."
Kana stormed out and she just saw a drive-by pelting from a car, with Mather as the target.
"Are you all right?" Kana asked when she rushed to her lover's side.
"I am," said Mather. "Did you get a room?"
"Don't bother with those bigots. Let's get the second-best hotel."
"I don't think that'll work out. I know that it is run by daughters of the local priestess."
"You can't just give up like that. We're going there to demand a room!"
They walked to the mentioned hotel, also high class. Again, Mather was denied a room, while Kana was allowed to stay. It was the same case for all the hotels down the line. Not even the desperate ones wanted a divorced mermaid staying in their place, for they believed it brings a curse.
Mather put up with more whispers, heckling, and pelting shots throughout the town, and Kana tried in vain to defend her. Everyone was taller than her, including some of the children who ruthlessly threw rocks at Mather. But Mather shyly hunched away and forgave them.
"They'll probably arrest you if we sleep in the streets," said Kana when she and Mather sat underneath a palm tree. "Let's just go to the hospital and then head back to Dimashq."
"You're probably right."
"I hope they'll let us see her."
It was getting dark as they walked along a road by the beach, for no bus, taxicab, or civilian car would accept Mather. Mather had insisted that Kana should go ahead, but Kana stubbornly remained by her side.
"We're a couple," said Kana. "We have to stick together."
Then continued, taking a few breaks so that Mather could swim in the sea to absorb her fluids. Kana watched with content from the road until a sleek and curvaceous sports car pulled up right by her. A mermaid dressed in voluptuous red stepped out of vehicle, alarming Kana to her feet.
"Are you that strange child the people are talking about?" said the mermaid whose face was not obscured.
"I am," said Kana. "And no I'm not a child."
"Just chedking."
The mermaid waved to Mather who swam back to the beach. The petite mermaid blushed and hastily threw her clothes on her.
"Let's go," Mather said, grabbing Kana's hand. She ignored the mermaid in red and walked on.
"Hold on," said the red mermaid, "I wanted to give you two a ride."
"It's a two-seater," Mather cried back.
"Surely she can sit in front of you. It'd be like we used to."
"Mather, do you know her?" asked Kana.
Mather stopped.
"So she calls you Mather then," said the red mermaid. "Anyway, why don't you stay at the mansion with me and my wife?"
"Your wife?" Mather exclaimed as she turned around.
"Yes, I have a wife now."
"And she didn't run away like me?"
"If you put it that way, then yes."
"Mather," said Kana. "Don't tell me that she's..."
"My ex-wife," said Mather. "Iyanna Novn."
The sports car was large by Kana's standards, and very powerful to boot. It was made just like the cars in Demiterra, but the body was styled to the aquatic tastes of mermaids.
Iyanna couldn't take them to the hospital, as visiting hours was over, and the fact that one quick wireless phone call to Mather's maam indicated that she didn't want to see anyone at the moment.
The drive through to Iyanna's mansion, her parents' to be exact, was a swift one, and nearby was a swath of palm trees growing various sizes of breastfruit.
"I apologize for the town's mistreatment of you two," said Iyanna as she carried Kana and Mather's luggage. "I'll make sure my aunt puts out a special decree and compel them to apologize to you."
"So it's now your aunt?" Mather asked.
"My parents are vacationing--so to speak. So basically I run the plantation as well as the business. I guess I also run the town as well, but I'm not too good on it."
They were now inside the two-floor mansion. It wasn't overtly luxurious, but the furniture and furnishings indicated that Iyanna lived a privileged life. Mermaid maidservants arrived in pairs to carry their luggage away. At the same time, Iyanna took off her headpiece and unfurled her long and straight shimmering blue hair.
"Ah, that's better," said Iyanna. "Mather, take yours off. I'm sure your wife won't mind."
Mather reluctantly took her veil and headdress to reveal her aquamarine hair.
"You're exactly as I last saw you," smiled Iyanna. "Ah, there's my wife. Don't be shy."
Iyanna's wife, to Kana and Mather's surprise, was shorter than Kana. She emerged from the second floor dressed head to toe in a red body suit and her face covered with nearly blank red mask. She shuffled slowly because her womb had been enlarged.
"Already nine months into the pregnancy," said Iyanna. "Now come now Yuri. Take off your mask and show my friends your face."
The wife complied. Slowly, she took off her extensive bulb-like headdress, which was then handed to the maidservants. Yuri was also slow to take off her mask.
She had blue hair like Iyanna, meaning that she had been fully colored by her. But more shocking was that not only was she a Demiterran there was a recognizable scar running past her left eye, which was a slightly different shade as her other one.
Kana stood staring at her with a gaping mouth.
"Uuli," gasped Kana.
"Hello Kana," said the woman once named Uuli. "It's been a long time."
by Starcross
The Middle Part
It used to be called "coming out" in the distant past. When Kana Wiltzchen declared her long-term homosexuality, her parents became ecstatic. This outburst of joy from Mr. and Mrs. Wiltzchen was not because homosexuality had been accepted into the mainstream hundreds of years ago in Demiterra. Kana's parents were cheap and greedy. If she was straight and married a man, there would be a lot of liability hurdles and taxes attributed to her.
Demiterra was a normal terrestrial planet with ocean surfaces outnumbering dry land two to one. With the languages standardized and aerial transportation easily accessed to all, Demiterra eased into an age of technological prosperity, and a utopia was just around the corner.
Then again, it was just a pipe dream. The planet itself was being heavily overwhelmed by the population of over thirty billion. There was not enough environmental generators, or space trees, to satisfy a billion more newborns with their oxygenated gases and protection of the ozone molecules. Population was strictly controlled, and the Demiterran global government urged people to settle on other extraterrestrial planets. Other methods included temporary sterilization, a sort of internal chastity belt created by a wall of rugged nanomachines in a male or female's sex organs. Then there were dark rumors of the global government secretly committing acts of genocide through diseases and accidents.
Applying for the right to give birth was tedious, and the couple had to go through numerous screening tests, all of which they had to pay out of their own pocket. The unlocking of their internal chastity system was also expensive as were hospital stays and the hiring of midwife nurses. Even if the pregnancy was successful there were the expensive genetic tests for defects, the payment for health care, and schooling. It was discouraging to have a child, especially in the age of globalized inbreeding, but even so couples struggle hard to bring at least one child into their lives. In fact, having a child was often a sign of wealth and prestige that many attempted to obtain, or at least exert an image of success.
Back then however, Kana was young and had no interest in having children. She enjoyed her youth dating girls and having sex with many of them. After college or its equivalent, she married her chosen sweetheart Uuli Kyuner. Their nights of love were blissful, but friction between them began to develop when they got older.
A few years after they married, Kana had announced she wanted to have a child. Her parents and parents-in-law frowned and murmured uneasily. Even Uuli was against it since no one in their families had enough money to go through the tests and pay for the taxes.
"A lesbian couple can have children right?" asked Kana.
"You picked a good moment to say that," said Uuli.
"But you can insert your DNA in a blank sperm."
"Homosexual couples having children is twice more expensive!"
She was right. The unique methods for lesbians and gays to have children made the process more costly. The subject was then dropped, and a disappointed Kana gave up on her dream. It was at that time she and her wife stopped having sex.
In order to fill in the void of her life, Kana took an interest in marine biology and moved to the beach along with her reluctant wife. Kana eventually bought an ocean research vessel and ran a side business keeping tabs on the ocean life for the Demiterran Ocean Society and running a seaside gift shop with the help of Uuli.
Kana often went out to voyages without her wife since Uuli easily got seasick and had a bad experience involving black jellyfish. Uuli never liked swimming as she nearly drowned when she was a girl. In contrast, Kana loved swimming and scuba diving, and was once the seventh-place world championship swimmer during her school days.
The friction continued even into their house. Every time Kana returned to her voyage she was bringing strange fish creatures to research, to breed for zoos and aquariums, and to keep as pets. Uuli became annoyed at staring at what she viewed were ugly creatures, and she had to put with the smell and the uncomfortable dampness Kana failed to notice. Uuli hated seafood, and she had to be hospitalized due to her allergies to shrimp.
At night during bedtime, Kana would always apologize to Uuli about their new life by the sea, but Uuli would always sigh and said that as her wife she had to put up with it.
"You don't have to live here," Kana had said. "I could buy you a apartment or small house uphill."
"It's all right," sighed Uuli.
"How did we end up with this?"
"You wanted to have children."
"I forgot."
"In reality though, we're really not supposed to have children. It's unnatural."
"Yeah."
"But I'm still glad we fell in love."
"And have hot sex."
"Those were the days."
"Yeah."
Uuli had put up with her wife through everything. Though Kana's crew consisted of men, Uuli wasn't too worried. The men acknowledged Kana as one of their own, and due to the way Kana had cut her hair and wore her clothes they often forget that she was female. But when she bought in Lola as the tomboyish first mate, Uuli began to feel uneasy.
"You're not interested in her in anyway, are you?" asked Uuli.
"Of course not," replied Kana. "Lola and I go way back."
"I see."
In this relationship, clichÇ and irony reared its ugliness. Kana came home one night and didn't realize amidst the noise of her many fish tanks that her wife was cheating with her first mate. Kana had stepped in as Uuli was on top of Lola grinding her vagina onto her new partner. They stopped immediately to stare at the gaping Kana. Kana then dropped her bag, took out her knife, and then slashed Uuli. Blood splattered on the wall.
Fortunately though, that was all she did. However, Uuli was blinded on her left eye, and she wore an eye patch as she awaited a new eye replacement. Kana, who had a fuzzy memory of the event, was arrested and pleaded guilty to assault. She was sent to prison for an equivalent of two Demiterran years, and during which Lola ran her business until it was sold to a new owner.
Kana divorced Uuli during her imprisonment. At the same time, she lapsed into a state of depression and nearly committed suicide, forcing her to be placed into suicide watch. She willingly allowed herself to be violated by the other inmates and the guards on occasion, for she believed it was her own fault that she caused Uuli so much pain and their estrangement. There were times that she screamed her head out and cursed the world, the universe, and its deities. Then her soul went half-dead, and she had become complacent, thus allowing her to be brought into a halfway house.
During her stay, she learned of the Galactic Genetic Diversification Program and the benefits of becoming a life partner of an alien humanoid species. She immediately applied online on the global nexus network since it did not charge an application fee.
Then she said to herself, "What kind of program would accept the likes of me? A criminal no less." Kana tried to enter as little information as possible regarding her past crime, and chose a "No Preference" choice. There was, however, a personal statement she had to write. Though she wrote three paragraphs' worth, it generally said that she wanted to get off the planet.
To her surprise, she was accepted, and this prompted her early release.
Only her parents were there to bid her a possible final goodbye. She would have expected to see Lola, or at least Uuli to show up suddenly, but no one knew the fate of her ex-wife.
The divine must have smiled upon her. Whether it was hormones or not, Kana was happily in love with Mather Madison, the Mermaid Gigantes. They could not have picked a better love-partner for her.
Since their first sex, Kana quickly adjusted to subsequent lovemaking as it happened almost all the time. Mather had explained during a late lunch that after their first sex mermaids would continue to furiously have sex until one of them becomes pregnant. On that moment, Kana just shrugged her shoulders and leaped right over the table and into Mather's arms. They immediately proceeded to have sex in the kitchen and dining area.
For Kana, it was effort absorb all of Mather's pheromones, which meant she had a licking fetish. For Mather, her sex drive and hormones was activated, and her drive was to donate her pheromones onto her lover's body and pump her ova stream into the uterus, which was the reason for the mixing foam that often developed between their merging vulvas. Like Kana, Mather also participated in licking every part of her body, and that was done to spread and impart more pheromones. They were hungry for each other, and despite a few intentional biting they were fortunate enough to not want to literally eat one another.
In the next seven days or more--the couple lost count--they proceeded to have sex every chance they got. Actually, the only time they weren't having sex was during their meals, which they kept short, toilet breaks, and during their sleep, which they also kept short. Even during their baths and showers they had sex. It was nothing but sex, sex, and sex in their minds, but also in their minds was the desire to see one another being pleasured at the utmost. They had sex everywhere, which ended up breaking a lot of furniture they didn't care about. They wore little or no clothes and did not care if they were secretly peeped (then again, this was Meta Fifth, a planet full of love).
They could barely function normally outside of sex. They would get very anxious if they were without each other for more than a minute, even if they were just in different rooms or facing away from each other. They tried to go out to eat or see a show, but they could not keep their hands off each other. Thus, the police, in accordance of the planetary laws, were ordered to go home or to a segregated section where public sex was acceptable. But Kana and Mather were private creatures. They would not allow anyone else, female, male, or other to look at them lustfully, and in fact Kana or Mather (Mather least likely since she could exert poison) had assaulted a lesbian just for staring at them.
Since they could not be together in public, they remained home, having more and more sex. The condo was a complete mess. The floors were not cleaned, nor were the dishes and almost all of the clothes. They just could not stop having sex, which served as their only source of entertainment. They were forced to order delivered food, but requested that only demure female-types with lesbian leanings to deliver it. As a matter of fact, there happened to be a special delivery service that was staffed by female bisexuals and lesbians.
Answering the door was a heavy chore for Kana and Mather. With one psychologically dependent on the other, they instead opened the door together dressed in hastily worn robes clinging on one another. If only they could see the look on the delivery girl's face when they kissed and fondled. It would always take a while to pay her via credit-point transfer. Eventually though, Kana and Mather became the deliver services best customers.
This could be seen as a mad love, but mad was an insufficient quantifier for the likes of Kana and Mather. This was essentially divine pandemonium localized inside a one-story condominium decorated for those who loved the sea and lived by the sea.
Their constant lovemaking eventually came to an end, and even for mermaids too much could also kill them. The Mermaid and the Demiterran were sleeping naked on the top mattress of the round bed that was separated from the bottom half. Kana was the first to wake, and finally realized the sheer mess before her eyes. She continued staring, wondering if a robber came in or a she and Mather had a fight.
"How did this happen?" Kana asked.
Kana shrugged her shoulders. She had to go the bathroom. Then she screamed.
Mather bolted up and ran into the bathroom.
"What happened to my hair?" Kana asked.
"It grew longer," said Mather.
"I mean this," Kana pointed. "It's starting to turn into the same color as yours."
"Oh, that. I remember mentioning to you that when you have sex with me, you'll take in so much of my pheromone's that you'll be colored by me. It's one of the ways we can tell who's sleeping with who on Marieno."
"I don't remember hearing that."
"Honestly though, I sort of remember saying that, but you just kissed me and we had sex."
"I think you're right."
The two sighed.
"Wow, what an experience," Kana asked. "What time is it?"
"It's 1625 hours."
"That late? I have to prepare dinner."
"Um, Kana..."
Kana saw the complete mess in the kitchen. "Okay, let's just head out."
"We don't have any clean clothes," said Mather. "You know how important that is for me."
"How much money we have?"
"About five million credit points."
"How the heck did we spend all that? As a matter of fact, how come we're speaking fluently without translators? Just how many days did pass?"
Mather shrugged her shoulders. "I say that's good news."
The couple had one change of clothes delivered to them, once they were wearing them they ate out to a fairly high-class restaurant in the city. The dresses they wore didn't match the atmosphere. Whose didn't in Meta Fifth?
This time they didn't misbehave, but they were still feeling romantic. They fed each other, and sometimes exchanged pieces of food through their mouths. Even with Mather covered almost entirely Kana didn't hesitate to touch her skin once in a while. Inadvertently, that made Mather's ears become erect. She blushed in embarrassment and tried in vain to hide it with her aquamarine hair.
"They won't know," Kana whispered.
"But they're engorged," Mather said. "Like those horns your males have."
Kana could not help but smile at Mather's innocence.
They got home to immediately clean up. There was a voice message left on their messaging terminal as well as their Data Readers.
"Hey Kana," said Bram's voice. "We just wanted to know if you and Mather want to come with us to see public erotic show of Demiterra's A.I. system merging with Booa's A.I. system at the Elm Stadium. Oh, and I would like to add that we're really sorry about making you suspicious about your partner. We have no right to spread such vicious rumors about her, so please forgive us. Um, bye!"
"We should go," said Mather. "So I can forgive them."
"Mather," said Kana, "the message is eight days old."
Kana played the next one, which was four days later.
"Hello Kana Wiltzchen," said Phim's voice. "We dropped by to see if you were still angry with us, but when we saw your silhouettes, we were flabbergasted. My boys were just stunned to see such crazy, um, sex with you and Mather. I promptly led them back to the air taxi and went home blushing. Then the three of us had sex.
"I am really jealous. I mean, wow. You two were breaking lamps here and there and making the walls rumble. The roughest three-sex we have back home at Embriga doesn't even compare. Looks like we're all relieved the two of you hadn't died yet. It is a shame that you missed the merging of the A.I.'s. That is something you don't see everyday.
"Anyway, I hope you and Mather have many children as will I. We'll drop when we leave for Embriga in five days."
"Five days!" cried Kana. "They'll be dropping by tomorrow!"
Knowing that their friends, however short the time they knew them, would be going away, Kana and Mather dressed in their best yet fairly inexpensive clothes. On this occasion, Mather intentionally left her right hand exposed that she would always be holding Kana's left. However, Mather insisted on covering their hand holding with a satin scarf wrapped around their wrists almost like handcuffs. That way, Mather felt, she would not accidentally be touched or touch anyone else. Although she her body was now "locked on" Kana's being, meaning that her pheromones won't have the same effect on other people, Mather simply felt possessive. Kana did not mind. She was possessive over her lover as well.
It was Bram and Krisk who appeared at the doorstep wondering why they were handcuffed with a satin scarf.
"No, it's not a cultural thing," said Kana. "I just don't want Mather to touch anyone else."
"What's with the suits guys?" Mather asked. The suits the men wore were not of Demiterran origin. It had a slim yet bulbous quality, but nonetheless made from high quality materials.
"This?" Krisk said. "This is to celebrate Phim's pregnancy. After all, we're all 'horny' creatures, right? Right?"
Bram slapped his own head. "Anyway, we also came here to apologize."
"It's all right," smiled Mather. "In some sense, it is my people's fault for being so secretive."
"Yeah, a lot of the planetary governments are secretive."
"Bram," said Kana, "where is Phim by the way?"
"She's in the land taxi."
"She doesn't feel well?"
"She's pregnant."
"I know, but... she can't walk?"
"The pregnancy takes a huge toll on her. Already she has triplets."
"Women on Embriga become physically weak when they're pregnant," said Krisk. "It used to be that they die after childbirth, but nowadays it's just extended hospital stays."
"That doesn't explain why you have to go back," said Kana. "Wasn't there a civil war going on in Embriga?"
"There is," said Bram. "We discussed over this, and although we could stay in Meta Fifth, Phim is homesick and likes to give birth to our children on her planet."
"Don't worry though," said Krisk, "her city is located far from the battlefield."
"I don't like to cut this short, but our wife is waiting. She can't stay out this long without proper medical care."
"Do you think we can see her?" asked Mather.
"Of course. Just not too long."
The automated land taxi was dark and elongated like a limousine. It might was well be called a limousine if not for the medical equipment situated in the center. Bram and Krisk entered, and the rearmost side window rolled down. Phim was in a heavy robe. Her skin was pale and had faint colored spots in a sporadic pattern.
Keeping her head up and eyes focused at Kana and Mather was an effort. She tried to speak, but her two husbands stopped her from opening her mouth. Instead, she smiled at the female and female couple as her goodbye. Bram and Krisk said their goodbyes, and the taxi drove off.
At the same day, video news of the civil war in Embriga became grimmer. Kana and Mather prayed for their friends' safety and the safety of their unborn children.
(They had learned later through the info directory of Embriga that women becoming pregnant with three children were not uncommon. Usually though, males were born.)
The couple didn't make many friends afterwards, but they did not mind. Their own company was their constant, and although the throes of passion had subsided, they continued to make love here and there. Around the house or in private booths amongst public sectors, they would often touch if not embrace one another for regular skin-to-skin contact. Mather had explained that this was normal for devoted mermaids, as they would regularly exchange pheromones. Bathing together and sleeping together naked were their most intimate moments, which would often lead to softened sex. On the subject of oral sex however, Mather was against it. Her reasoning, as with her people's, was that it would unfairly cannibalize the line ova that was supposed to go into their lover.
"However, they do it often in the city on Marieno," added Mather. "They are more liberal there."
"Then would it be murder if the line ova doesn't go into the other partner?" Kana asked.
"It is, but it is not enforced. All of us have to make sure that doesn't happen."
"So you don't masturbate as well."
"Actually we do. The line ova do not ejaculate unless a partner is present or if infected by your partner."
"I see then."
In their culture, the couples assimilate with each other. Kana only passed a minute amount of her pheromones into Mather, but it was still enough for the mermaid to fall in love with her. Changes within Mather were not apparent, but it was more drastic for Kana. All of her hair was turning aquamarine, and her skin was becoming lighter than usual. She had worried that she was too old for Mather when she first arrived on Meta Fifth, but the constant sex had revitalized her and had actually made her younger.
Mather had bought additional clothes to cover almost every part of her body, including her face, for outings. It was a bit disappointing for Kana, but Mather insisted in case of accidental skin contact and attraction from others. Fortunately, Mather's tall and feminine form was still apparent, and as a matter of fact it was even more arousing. Mather looked very alien and mystical when covered in a latex or leather body suit. She was lucky enough that her clothes had zippers for quick release so that she could allow Kana to touch her. For them, if they did not touch regularly, they would become anxious like they used to. They were each other's drugs.
When Kana's hair and skin became completely colored, it became a sure sign that she was impregnated. For the people of Marieno, the lovers would have long kiss with their wives as an informal test, but nowadays they use Entity Readers that could be purchased from a store. They did a test in their living room in one afternoon...
"Sorry I couldn't impregnate you Mather," joked Kana. "Does this mean I will be the Maam?"
"It doesn't work that way," replied Mather. "It is the children who determine who is going to be the Falka and Maam. Basically, the one who is dominant in our relationship will be the Falka."
"The parents don't necessarily make them choose, do they?"
"We are not allowed to do such things. It's a crime to force a child to make a certain parent be the Falka or Maam. There was a time a Falka was allowed more opportunities than the Maam, but anti-discrimination laws almost eradicated such a tradition. Now Falkas and Maams are equals."
"That's strange considering you're a one-gendered society."
"It does happen."
Suddenly, Kana began sobbing.
"What's wrong?" Mather asked.
"Isn't that something? I'm impregnated by a woman. I've finally able to have children."
The two embraced.
"Mather," wept Kana. "I'm sorry happy. I want to say that I love you, and I'll keep on loving you for all eternity."
"Do you believe in the concept of forever love?"
"Yes."
"It's a central tenant of my religion. Once a couple is married, they are destined to be together, and when they die they rise up to be goddesses. Nothing, not even fate will ever separate them."
Kana's tears eventually dried up. She didn't move from the spot, as she then cuddled on the couch like she would always do with Mather. Both them were dressed in nothing but their one of their many house lingerie.
"I hope Phim and the others are all right," said Mather. "The civil war is getting worse."
"That does remind me though," said Kana. "I'd like to see your home planet."
Mather choked up.
"Something wrong?"
"Ah, it's nothing!" Mather exclaimed.
"Oh, sorry. I forgot. Did your planet expel you?"
"It's not that." Mather then sighed. "I should at least see Maam and tell her about you."
"Your mother?" asked Kana.
"Something like that."
"If you don't want to, that's fine. Maybe you can visit my planet."
"I don't think I can. Mermaids aren't allowed to freely travel wherever they wish. It's either Marieno or planets like Meta Fifth."
"The poison thing..."
"That and my government forbid it."
Kana stood up. "That settles it then. Let's visit your home planet."
"Um, okay."
The approval for their travel took almost a month. So far, Kana didn't see any changes in her womb, as unborn mermaids take a bit longer than Demiterrans to develop. That was a rough estimate though, for inside Kana was a Mermaid-Demiterran hybrid that may or not be sterile.
With their pairing as a rare case, they were granted a generous amount of security from the GGDP at little or no charge. However, they had to abide by strict travel rules created solely for them, but they knew it was focused for Mather. They were to travel alone with simple androids, not just because they were the only ones heading to Marieno. They could only cook their own food, but that was compounded by the fact they were limited on what they could bring from Meta Fifth. In addition, only they would be the only pilots and copilots for the trip. Everything except for the maintenance of their shuttle would be performed by them.
The shuttle was hybrid type, which meant that it would take off from the spaceport, go through Dark Space Jump gate on Meta Fifth's moon, and appear at Marieno's moon. From there, it would descend to one of the few spaceports Marieno possessed.
Though it was rendered in many names, the shuttle was called Jellystar in Kana's language, and though it sounded silly it had a sleek pointed shape. Perhaps it was named so due to the reflective tendrils or tentacles that was at its rear. These tentacles exerted a thrust at the tips to control a myriad of functions such as acceleration, steering, and braking, despite the main hull possessing those functions. The interior was heavily organic, and some of the furniture and appliances were very uncomfortable for Mather and Kana. Fortunately, they put up with it because they would not be using it for too long.
The journey took a couple of days in their time, and it was streamlined that they would go through customs a lot quicker. Being a native of Marieno, Mather pre-screened through most of her and Kana's belongings, most of which posed no danger. When Kana saw the planet through her window, it was just as Mather had described it. It was like Demiterra, but the lands were scattered about in numerous chains of archipelagos.
"There is my place," said Mather. "Middle Mesopotamia."
"Wait a second," said Kana. "That sounds similar to some of the places on my planet."
"It does happen. The people in the city say that everyone in the 7-Arc Starculster descended from a common alien species."
"I've heard of that..."
Kana heard of a irritating thorn in the United Starcluster Federation of the Church of the Common Ancestor and their terrorism against conservative believers of Isolated Evolution. A radical idea sprang up that the reason why many could interbreed or infect one another through diseases was that everyone descended from a space-based and highly technological civilization who had fallen from glory perhaps a billion or so years ago. Since then, their descendants had evolved to suit their environment.
The Isolated Evolutionists dispute this because there were many species of organisms these so-called descendants could have evolved from. If everyone was descended from the common ancestor, where were the relics of a space-based civilization? None were found, so far, and the Isolated Evolutionists assumed that the Common Ancestor church participated in a campaign of destroying the relics in order to spread their views. The debate continues on with no end in sight. Many, however, do not really care.
The spaceports on Marieno were their own enclaves, and even though there were non-natives on Marieno, particularly merchants and traders, they were forbidden to permanently settle elsewhere on the planet. There was a small party of Demiterran guards and their soldier androids protecting Kana and Mather as they ventured out.
Jerusalem Port was a murky trading city unlike the pictures of the beautiful organic cities seen on the outdated pictures of Marieno's culture. Non-natives make up the bulk of the population, but there were also Mermaid Gigantes wandering about.
To Kana's surprise, Mather was right. Mermaids were very slenderly tall, just over two hundred and fifteen centimeters (seven feet) on average, whereas Mather was a petite one hundred and ninety-eight centimeters (six feet and six inches). Almost all of them wore full body suits of latex, rarely leather though. Their faces were obscured by masks that only have eyeholes, and the headdresses were blossoming large and wide to hold all their long and flowing hair. Yet even with their bodies totally covered, they were beautiful and alluring, and their designs had variations in their pattern, cut, and the amount of buttons and ribbons.
Mather wore a similar suit of Indigo, but she didn't obscure her face with a mask. Instead, a transparent veil was pulled over her lower half of her face so that Kana would recognize her. Her headpiece diverged from the top like V, and satin cyan tassels fell from its tips.
Kana also wore a matching bodysuit, but opted not to wear anything obscuring her head and face. She felt no danger in spreading her ineffective pheromones to other mermaids. Her height, however, made her appear to be a mermaid child to other mermaids. The few teens she had seen so far were taller but did not have their faces covered.
The port itself was an island, and to leave the island Kana and Mather had to go through the traveling bureau for pass to Mather's hometown of Bara Qu in Dimashq Island. Kana had unknowingly learned enough of Mather's language to get around (she thought it was the constant sex that was the cause), but she was annoyed to being belittled and being treated as a child by other mermaids. One of them assumed that she was one of the rare pygmies at Congo Island.
Finally, they were allowed on board a beautiful organic vessel on the basis that Mather had now been married, which was confusing to Kana as there was no formal ceremony. "There doesn't need to be," said Mather. "One night of fornication means that we already are. Of course, you still have to register with your local government, and then post-marriage ceremony will take place. Considering my position, that won't happen."
"What exactly did happen?"
"I was raped."
"Raped? You don't have pe--I mean, horns between your legs."
"Rape here is different from your planet, but even on Marieno the definition fluctuates. A rich girl named Iyanna Novn became smitten by me, and while I was flattered she took advantage of me by ripping my clothes. By the time she touched me it was too late. I came to almost two weeks later realizing I was colored by Iyanna.
"Where I come from, it isn't technically rape. Maam insisted that I register with my previous lover, as did my neighbors and friends. I convinced myself that Iyanna was the one for me but instead of coming home to her, I ran away. I didn't know why I was so scared. Despite Iyanna taking advantage of me, I was in love with her. But it just didn't feel right."
"That's because you've been taken advantage of!" Kana said. "It's considered sexual assault!"
"That's what the liberals say in the cities, but please remember Kana that divorce is heavily frowned upon, and that separating from your lover is the worst sin you could ever commit. You are essentially ostracized from society. That's why I had you talk with the seaport officials."
"Eh? They were pretty friendly to you."
"I'm cautious. Some of them might from where I live. It'll get worse when we arrive on Dimashq."
Kana was on the deck leaning against the forward railing. There was water everywhere, yet there were large islands in the distant horizon. Reptilian sea birds followed the sea ship powered "clean" White Fire cells. The dolphins that swam alongside and ahead looked somewhat like the mermaids Kana saw in fairytale picture books back at her home planet due to the fact they had elongated arm-like fins and a stream of antennae that looked like hair.
She was the only alien amongst the mermaids traveling on the ship. Their clothes now varied widely, but they still retained their full-body covering. The crew and captain were dressed in white naval uniforms along with white masks. There were young children the same height or taller than Kana, and some of them had invited her to play. Patrolling the boat were the police-marines in their blue and red uniforms. Their hats, borrowed from other planetary cultures, looked reminiscent of the caps of officers on Demiterra. Their masks were essentially black-tinted visors. Each carried a short "bloodsword", which uses the blood or mainly sweat of the officer to poison their criminal. They also carried regular gunpowder-based pistols, and a palm-sized medicine pack. Mather had explained that the medicine pack really contained only half medicine, and the other half contained various pills and disposable syringes used to create poison in the officer's bodies. Though faceless, the officers were fearsome, and often watched the movements of Kana and Mather.
Mather on the other hand stayed in one place alone on the deck. She was always on the alert, but she felt that her sin was the reason for her ostracism. Kana was not sure if her townsfolk were on the same ship, and she really couldn't do anything, as she still wasn't aware of the breadth of Marieno's culture. Besides, she was only a foreign visitor.
Dimashq Port was the major city of Dimashq Island, and to Kana it was heavenly beautiful. Though made of metallic materials and glass, the buildings were sculptured with a curvaceous bent, almost as if the city was yet another coral reef. The few flying vehicles and the cars were also designed in the same way despite being made of hard plastics and steel.
Almost everywhere it was clean, including the so-called slums where the purported crime groups were located. The city was orderly and reserved due to the reasonable physiologically of the people. It was a common sight for Kana to see a lot of couples holding hands, sometimes ungloved or wrapped in a scarf.
"I thought it wasn't a cultural thing," Kana said the Mather after they disembarked.
"I thought it was just a recent city trend," said Mather.
There was no way to tell the ages since everyone was veiled. Although it was said that touching and kissing in public was frowned upon, younger couples in the city, as told by Mather performed it without a care in the universe. This was done by taking off their masks, but it was easier to do so using veils. At the seaside boardwalks, Kana saw many couples doing this.
Married couples also kissed their children, but not very often on the lips. This was so that the child could absorb the pheromones from both parents so that she won't be attracted to them later in life. This also has the added benefit of dispelling incestuous lust between sisters and cousins, although the latter seemed to be increasing in Marieno's own global inbreeding. When faced with that decision, Marieno would rather inbreed themselves into extinction than to make their world impure.
Kana was relatively tall at around one hundred seventy-two centimeters (five foot eight inches) back home in Demiterra, but in Marieno everything was tall for her, and it made her feel like a child again.
"Why is it that everyone is so tall?" Kana asked.
"I don't know really," said Mather. "I think it was because our ancestors had to swim from island to island to follow the fish. Or was it so we could extend our reach to the bottom of the sea harvest clams."
"Bearded clams?" Kana grinned.
"Huh?"
"It's nothing. Marieno feels different on my feet."
"It is slightly smaller than your planet."
"That explains it. You weren't too uncomfortable on Meta Fifth, were you?"
"Not to worry. I took pills so that my body system would adjust."
"But you're height was all right. You're not too tall."
They had lunch at an outdoor café. The food Kana ate looked like steak, but in reality it came from a tough bull-whale that mermaids breed in the oceans. She was astounded that the people of Marieno had conquered the ocean and used it as their breeding ground. They had developed membrane technology to enclose their movable "pastures" for their aquatic animals ranging from plankton to giant squids, which was a favorite mermaid delicacy.
During their meal, there was a child in a purple body suit waving at Kana. At least she thought it was a child. When she approached her, the child removed her mask to reveal herself as a Demiterran living in Dimashq.
"What a surprise to see another one of me here," said the girl. "My name's Ariko Fosye."
"Kana Wiltzchen." Kana extended out her hand, but Ariko declined it.
"I forgot," said Kana.
"Nah, that's all right," said Ariko. "You'll get used to living here."
"Actually, I am just visiting."
"You are? I thought you were 'kidnapped'."
"Well," said Mather. "Kana and I married."
"Ariko," said Kana. "This is Mather Madison."
"Hello," bowed Ariko. "So I guess you live in a different city."
"Different planet actually."
Ariko sat with Kana and Mather and listened to their situation.
"So you actually participated in the GGDP," said Ariko. "That's interesting. Usually, we just go to other planets and steal their women."
"Mather, I thought that wasn't true," said Kana.
"Well," said Mather, "not to the extreme. It does happen."
"It was a little frightened meeting Camyl at first," said Ariko. "At a bar no less. She was in a full body suit of black leather so I assumed she was some lesbian biker. I don't know what happened, but somehow we accidentally touched each other and it clicked. Camyl took me here and I became her wife."
"Say," said Kana, "Camyl isn't a..."
"Oh, no! I know it's difficult for a mermaid to get off this planet, but it isn't impossible. Camyl's the type looking for adventure across the stars."
"Are there more of us on this planet?"
"Just under a thousand total along with other female aliens. You don't see them often because you know; we're all dressed like this. Occasionally some there is newsbreak on the television of a interbreeding couple getting into trouble, so we're practically invincible and untouchable. Unfortunately we can't get real jobs due to us being aliens."
"I don't intend to stay here."
"It is still a nice place here. And the sex... woo! Never thought I'd go lez for Camyl."
"Do you have any children?"
"Lots! And my first great-grandchild is coming out this month!"
"Great-grandchild? But you look so young?"
"Mermaid pheromones girl. It's the fountain of youth."
"Actually," said Mather, " you retain your beauty and live a bit longer than many other species."
"I guess the tales of devouring a mermaid's skin has some ring of truth," said Kana.
"Oh yeah!" exclaimed Ariko. "Ah, my wifey is here!"
A very tall mermaid in a black suit received the embrace of Ariko. Camyl lifted her veil, and kissed her wife for almost a minute.
"Camyl, this is Mather and Kana," Ariko said. "They're newlyweds."
"Pleased to meet you," said Camyl.
"Sorry that we have to part. I have to meet up a couple of my granddaughters for a picnic outing. We'll see each other again. I'm sure of it."
And they went away.
"Did you know about this?" asked Kana.
"Not really," said Mather. "The government is purposefully ignorant about these matters, although it does make me feel relieved that our children will certainly be fertile."
"Thank goddess."
"I haven't seen their children, so although they may be hybrids they are certainly looked upon as full-fledged mermaids. Maybe it's because of our aggressive internal physiology."
"That could be it. It seems to be overriding my natural state."
Now that Kana thought about it, it could be that mermaids have the natural ability to eliminate large swaths of life or prolong the life of their loved one if they so chose. Mather had mentioned that single mermaids die decades earlier than coupled mermaids.
Bara Qu was northeast from Dimashq Port. A single road running through a narrow stretch of land was the primary access. Kana and Mather took what was called a road train, which was really a non-stop bus. Actually, the non-stop bus made only one brief stop in the middle of the trip by a seaside village built on a platforms and land reclamations.
Mather hid her face with more effort than what Kana was accustomed to. Already she heard in the regional dialect of Marieno's primary language whispers from the other passengers about a petite mermaid sitting at the back with an ignorant child. A few times Kana wanted to go up to them and make them say their insults out loud, but Mather restrained her.
"It's not worth it," said Mather.
"You can't let them trample on you forever," said Kana.
But only Mather sighed. She was too used to her ostracism.
Bara Qu, Kana realized, could be an island if not for the long narrow stretch of land connecting it to Dimashq. It was small city or a large town. It wasn't anything modern like Dimashq port, for most of the buildings were built with "coral" bricks or palm wood in the rural regions. Fish farming was its main industry with breastfruit serving as an addition.
"Breastfruit?" Kana asked as she picked one up fallen from tree near the bus stop.
"There are better ones further in," said Mather.
"But why are they called breastfruit?"
"Because they look like breasts. Something wrong with it?"
"Not really."
Kana could not wait to drink or eat it.
"So your mother, I mean--"
"Mother is fine," said Mather.
"She lives here?"
"She's staying at a hospital."
"Oh my. Did something happen to her?"
"My falka died."
"I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"She is 'half-dead' in a sense. Usually, mermaids will die immediately after when her mate passes away. Maam, however seemed to live on further. It may not seem strange to you, but it is very strange in our culture."
"Maybe your maam didn't love your falka."
"No, they were in love all right. They were a bit weird though."
They ran into difficulty when they attempted to stay at the hotel, the most expensive one in the town. Mather gave Kana basic instructions on getting room, which wasn't all that different in getting one on Demiterra. She then hid herself and hoped that the staff or anyone else working in the building noticed her.
Kana was sent to reserve a room for two, but was told not to indicate that she was staying with Mather. Alas, she had difficulty relating her wishes to the receptionist in their language, for Kana was not smoothly fluent and she could not fully understand the accent of the region. Eventually, a tall and veiled manager appeared to look down upon her.
"Are you with that woman hiding in the front?" she asked.
Kana bit her lip. She didn't want to lie, especially in a foreign environment.
"I am," said Kana.
"I am sorry, but we cannot allow you two to have a room. However, you are welcome to stay child."
"What? Why can't I stay with my wife?"
"Her kind has no business in Bara Qu."
The manager sternly left.
"Ma'am," Kana said to the young and tall receptionist, "surely you can talk to her and let me squeeze us in."
"I'm sorry," said the receptionist, "but that's her rule. Personally I'm against it, but there's nothing I can do. She's my mother."
"Forget it. I'll remember not to stay here."
Kana stormed out and she just saw a drive-by pelting from a car, with Mather as the target.
"Are you all right?" Kana asked when she rushed to her lover's side.
"I am," said Mather. "Did you get a room?"
"Don't bother with those bigots. Let's get the second-best hotel."
"I don't think that'll work out. I know that it is run by daughters of the local priestess."
"You can't just give up like that. We're going there to demand a room!"
They walked to the mentioned hotel, also high class. Again, Mather was denied a room, while Kana was allowed to stay. It was the same case for all the hotels down the line. Not even the desperate ones wanted a divorced mermaid staying in their place, for they believed it brings a curse.
Mather put up with more whispers, heckling, and pelting shots throughout the town, and Kana tried in vain to defend her. Everyone was taller than her, including some of the children who ruthlessly threw rocks at Mather. But Mather shyly hunched away and forgave them.
"They'll probably arrest you if we sleep in the streets," said Kana when she and Mather sat underneath a palm tree. "Let's just go to the hospital and then head back to Dimashq."
"You're probably right."
"I hope they'll let us see her."
It was getting dark as they walked along a road by the beach, for no bus, taxicab, or civilian car would accept Mather. Mather had insisted that Kana should go ahead, but Kana stubbornly remained by her side.
"We're a couple," said Kana. "We have to stick together."
Then continued, taking a few breaks so that Mather could swim in the sea to absorb her fluids. Kana watched with content from the road until a sleek and curvaceous sports car pulled up right by her. A mermaid dressed in voluptuous red stepped out of vehicle, alarming Kana to her feet.
"Are you that strange child the people are talking about?" said the mermaid whose face was not obscured.
"I am," said Kana. "And no I'm not a child."
"Just chedking."
The mermaid waved to Mather who swam back to the beach. The petite mermaid blushed and hastily threw her clothes on her.
"Let's go," Mather said, grabbing Kana's hand. She ignored the mermaid in red and walked on.
"Hold on," said the red mermaid, "I wanted to give you two a ride."
"It's a two-seater," Mather cried back.
"Surely she can sit in front of you. It'd be like we used to."
"Mather, do you know her?" asked Kana.
Mather stopped.
"So she calls you Mather then," said the red mermaid. "Anyway, why don't you stay at the mansion with me and my wife?"
"Your wife?" Mather exclaimed as she turned around.
"Yes, I have a wife now."
"And she didn't run away like me?"
"If you put it that way, then yes."
"Mather," said Kana. "Don't tell me that she's..."
"My ex-wife," said Mather. "Iyanna Novn."
The sports car was large by Kana's standards, and very powerful to boot. It was made just like the cars in Demiterra, but the body was styled to the aquatic tastes of mermaids.
Iyanna couldn't take them to the hospital, as visiting hours was over, and the fact that one quick wireless phone call to Mather's maam indicated that she didn't want to see anyone at the moment.
The drive through to Iyanna's mansion, her parents' to be exact, was a swift one, and nearby was a swath of palm trees growing various sizes of breastfruit.
"I apologize for the town's mistreatment of you two," said Iyanna as she carried Kana and Mather's luggage. "I'll make sure my aunt puts out a special decree and compel them to apologize to you."
"So it's now your aunt?" Mather asked.
"My parents are vacationing--so to speak. So basically I run the plantation as well as the business. I guess I also run the town as well, but I'm not too good on it."
They were now inside the two-floor mansion. It wasn't overtly luxurious, but the furniture and furnishings indicated that Iyanna lived a privileged life. Mermaid maidservants arrived in pairs to carry their luggage away. At the same time, Iyanna took off her headpiece and unfurled her long and straight shimmering blue hair.
"Ah, that's better," said Iyanna. "Mather, take yours off. I'm sure your wife won't mind."
Mather reluctantly took her veil and headdress to reveal her aquamarine hair.
"You're exactly as I last saw you," smiled Iyanna. "Ah, there's my wife. Don't be shy."
Iyanna's wife, to Kana and Mather's surprise, was shorter than Kana. She emerged from the second floor dressed head to toe in a red body suit and her face covered with nearly blank red mask. She shuffled slowly because her womb had been enlarged.
"Already nine months into the pregnancy," said Iyanna. "Now come now Yuri. Take off your mask and show my friends your face."
The wife complied. Slowly, she took off her extensive bulb-like headdress, which was then handed to the maidservants. Yuri was also slow to take off her mask.
She had blue hair like Iyanna, meaning that she had been fully colored by her. But more shocking was that not only was she a Demiterran there was a recognizable scar running past her left eye, which was a slightly different shade as her other one.
Kana stood staring at her with a gaping mouth.
"Uuli," gasped Kana.
"Hello Kana," said the woman once named Uuli. "It's been a long time."
Chapter 3
Title: The Latter Part
Mermaid Gigantes
by StarCross
The Latter Part
To excuse themselves from the awkward situation, both Kana and Mather stated that they needed to go to be. They were indeed tired; tired of basking the presence of their ex-lovers and the pasts associated with them.
They sternly told the maidservants to leave them alone. The guest room on the upper level was luxurious, but there was no time for them to admire or take notice of it. One quick shower later Kana and Mather on the bed naked, intertwined, and forcing themselves to become wet.
This time, their tears they shed were not from sheer joy and pleasurable pain. There was sadness coincidentally amplified equal due the sudden reappearance of their former lovers, and it was not, to be certain, due to the fact they married one another. Kana and Mather wanted to see each other's faces as they mated, but it oscillated between that and the faces of Uuli and Iyanna. Even the experiences were frighteningly familiar, and ironically that only increased their passion.
"Kana," said Mather.
"Yes?"
"Do you love me?"
"I'll always love you no matter what."
"Don't let me go."
"I won't!"
"Always be with me. Always be one with me."
"I'll always! You're the only one for me!"
They kissed. In a tearful whimper, they ograsmed together for the night.
Even the first month-and-a-half of pregnancy did not slow Kana down. She clocked the sex with her lover at one minute under two hours Demiterran time. Not bad, she thought to herself. I'll surely miss it when our child gets bigger.
Kana and Mather lay in their bed for an additional hour until growling stomachs compelled them to head downstairs for a meal. At least two maidservants were awake to serve them a very late night dinner consisting of generally seafood marinated with an aromatic milky sauce.
"This is quite good," remarked Kana.
"It comes from breastfruit," said Iyanna as she walked down the stairs with Yuri (formerly Uuli) hand-in-hand. Just like Kana and Mather, both were dressed only in their matching flowery kimono-like robes.
"It does taste like milk."
"Marieno also exports breastfruit as substitute milk."
Iyanna ordered the maidservants to serve all of them freshly picked breastfruit. The fruit looked bulbous and tanned like flattened breast, with the stem looking remarkably like a nipple depending on the way it was cut. Of course, that was just the hard layer. With instructions from Iyanna, who was sitting across the table with Yuri by her side, Kana literally peeled to reveal a white and milky outer layer that was literally as soft as a breast. It can then be punctured easily with a straw, preferably from the top, and the innards could be drunk from there. It was sweet and sour, but not enough for Kana to become addicted to it like her three table companions.
Almost to her horror, Mather, Kana, and Yuri cut the softened breastfruit with a knife and began scraping off the coconut-like flakes from the inner walls. In response to this sight, she folded her arms over her breasts, and in her mind she prayed that her newborn child wouldn't get the idea to poke straw through her.
"Are you going to have that?" Mather asked her lover.
"It's not good for you?" asked Iyanna. "I guess it's an acquired taste for Demiterrans."
"Who can say?" asked Yuri. "You get used it when you live in a breastfruit plantation."
I think she's doing it again, Kana thought. Yuri had remarked a similar thing when she lived on Demiterra.
With their meals full, they retreated to the living room sitting on loveseats opposite of each other. They way the married couples sat was that their thighs were pressed together, and all their hands were stacked on the other.
Iyanna seemed to have a bright and outgoing personality, Kana had observed, and although she remained smiling uneasily, she mustered no courage to start a late-night conversation to break the awkward silence in the house. There were the occasional chirps of the reptilian seabirds, the swish of the crashing waves, and strange howls that certainly did not sound mammalian. The twenty-hour mechanical clock went on ticking for almost ten minutes.
"I heard from Iyanna that you joined the GGDP," said Yuri.
"I have," replied Kana.
"As expected, Mather is a perfect match for you."
"She's most certainly is."
Then silence. Five more minutes.
"How is Meta Fifth?" asked Yuri.
"Pretty lively," replied Kana.
"A lot of Demiterrans go there?"
"A lot."
Silence again. Ten minutes.
"I say we should take a dip in the pools," said Yuri.
"Great!" clapped Iyanna. "My skin is getting a bit dry."
It struck Kana as strange, for the air was just bearably humid. Even more stranger was Yuri's insistence on swimming when she hated it.
Kana soon found out when, after they all dressed in bathing suits, inhabited sixth of the eight rectangular pools in the backyard, whereas Iyanna and Yuri took the second. Swimming alongside Mather, Kana kept on staring intently at pregnant Yuri floating on her back aided by the presence of Iyanna. It might have been Kana's imagination, but Yuri, who had briefly saw Kana's eyes, pulled Iyanna over her head and had her kiss her. The sight alone drove Kana into a confusing heartache, which then sent her floating into Mather's arms.
"Kana?" asked Mather.
"Kiss me."
Almost as if to strike right back at Yuri, Kana kissed Mather and forced her up the pool's incline so that she was seated on the edge. In one glance at the other pool, Kana saw Yuri also sitting on the edge receiving Iyanna's romantic kisses. Then in response, Kana climbed on top of Mather and in doubling make out session she began pulling down her swimsuit to expose as much skin as possible.
The scene had degenerated in a contest that lasted almost an hour in the pre-dawn morning. When Kana and Mather came to, both Yuri and Iyanna were gone.
"Was that right for me to do this?" Kana asked as she stroked Mather's hair.
"It's the same as your culture," replied Mather. "So no."
"But you felt like doing it again."
Mather nodded.
"I didn't mean to bring you into this," said Kana.
"It's equally my fault. I'm too uncomfortable being with my first cousin."
"First cousin?"
"Iyanna is my first cousin."
"That must be why..."
"Cousins marrying on Marieno is not that uncommon, even if they are closely related. But even though Iyanna's the instigator, everyone blames me for making her sad. She was well liked in Bara Qu."
"Only because she's rich and that she's a princess."
"She is responsible for footing the bill for maam's hospital stay."
"The rich always do that."
"Iyanna is a nice girl."
"It sounds like you still like her."
"What about you? You keep on staring at Yuri."
"How dare you?"
Quickly Kana calmed down, realizing the apparent rise in each other's jealousy.
"Hold me," said Kana.
Mather embraced her wife with as much skin contact as possible.
"I'm sorry," said Mather.
"I should apologize," said Kana. "I didn't mean to yell. But it seems we got some ex-lovers to reconcile with."
"Should we do it together?"
"I don't know. We could rely on each other's strength, but we can't be strong unless we face the past by ourselves. It will hurt for all of us."
"Then let's do that when we're staying here."
They finally had a full sleep and woke up in the afternoon. After one lunch, Kana and Mather went out alone to the Bara Qu Hospital Hospice Wing. At the very least Mather's treatment was better due to Iyanna's influence. Then again, the building wing was brightly white and staffed by nurses garbed in full-body latex pink uniforms complete with flattened masks that had only two eyeholes. The patients, Mather had told to Kana, were the half-dead, elderly widows who were awaiting death so that they could join their spouses in the afterlife. They were garbed in white robes and white shrouds, and shuffled and sat about muttering prayers for death and for their relief from suffering.
The nurse led the couple to Mather's maam's room, but already inside were two of Mather's older sisters, Dirfia and Sugya, and their respective wives. Kana remained in the background listening into the cries and insults from the older sisters. She could barely understand the speed of their language as well as their accent, but from what she could tell that Mather was in a sense disowned and the cause of their falka's death.
Mather's maam, affectionately nicknamed Mina, was in a white robe like the others, but since she was in her own room she was allowed to lie in her bed without a veil or a shroud. Mermaids were said to live longer, and Mina was well over one hundred. Despite some wrinkles, she was still beautiful, and her hair, though graying, still retained the golden blond.
Mina did not want to face Mather, but she was stealing glances at Kana, who came in without any kind of face covering.
"Everyone," Mina said. "Leave my sight."
"Maam!" cried Dirfia.
"Go! But Mather and her new wife can stay."
They complied, and the door was shut once Mather and Kana was alone with Mina. It was now quiet despite the sounds of water waves since the hospital was close to the sea.
"Maam," said Mather. "Have you forgiven me?"
"I will never forgive you the shame you brought to us and our family," said Mina. "Anyway, can she speak and understand Marienese?"
"A little bit."
"Then you wait outside."
"Yes maam."
Kana was the only guest left. Mina beckoned her to sit on a wheeled stool and sit by her.
"Take off your headdress," Mina commanded.
Kana took it off. Mina then stroked the side of her head with her white-gloved right hand, and then felt Kana's round ear.
"Brings back memories," smiled Mina. "It seems that in the end we're always involved with foreigners."
"Pardon?" asked Kana.
"I was once a government assassin. I head out to other planets in the 7-Arc Starcluster to eliminate convicts from our planet. Do you know that behind every crime group has a Mermaid in control?"
"No."
"Mermaids have their hands in everything, and Marieno does everything to eliminate them. However, I went to a planet similar to yours and botched up a job. It seems that I accidentally injected my sex pheromones into a girl like you. Now that I reflect it, I recall falling in love with her, and after one week of constant sex she was pregnant. So I quit my job and returned home and had many children with her. You are seeking to have a lot of children with Myspphl, will you?"
"I do intend to."
"You have to. Once you are colored, you can't turn back, just like my wife. You are essentially a mermaid from hereon. Although it is a pity she had to die years before me. Darn it, why can't they legalize euthanasia. It's hell living like this."
"Oh, don't say that! Even if you are without your wife, you're not alone. You have your children. And me as well!"
"Heh. You're just like her. My wife and I promised that we'd see to it that every one of our daughters is married off. Now please, I would like to be alone. I need my nap."
Kana exited and met up with Mather, her sisters, and her sisters-in-law at the end of the hallway.
"What is it this time?" asked Sugya. "Was she a stowaway of a trading vessel? A bodyguard of the Fashion Cartels?"
"What are you talking about?" Kana asked.
"Maam is senile," said Dirfia, "so she'll always tell tall tales to newcomers."
"Then again, she has always told such tales when falka was still around," said Sugya.
The sisters and their wives left without saying goodbye.
"Mather," said Kana.
"It is true that maam is like this," said Mather. "However, this was the first time since I left the planet she has done this."
"Then you really didn't have a foreign falka."
"She may be short, but she was definitely a mermaid."
"You have seen her ears, right?"
"I don't recall..."
As they walked home, Kana thought about what it really meant to be a Mermaid Gigantes. The meeting of a two Demiterrans, Ariko and Yuri, implied that they had fully "gone native" when they were fully colored. Ariko spoke as she had always been a mermaid, and Yuri wolfed down seafood and loved swimming despite her past dislikes. She then recalled Mina's words on how Kana was now essentially a mermaid, although she would never possess any ability to impregnate others like Mather. Could it be that mermaids travel the stars to bring home women in order to combat globalized inbreeding in their own way? Or could it be that the entire planet was populated by descendants of a female inflicted with a virus who could overwrite the physiology of her foreign female mate in order to suit themselves and their environment?
It wasn't like Marieno was the only single-gender civilized planet in the 7-Arc Starcluster, although Marieno could essentially be the only one that was truly unique in that they were really single-gender through and through. There were many, but had a very small minority of the opposite sex that served as DNA donors or birthgivers, and there were those who were essentially hermaphroditic or true sex-changers in certain periods of their life.
"Mather," said Kana. "Am I essentially a mermaid?"
"You are," said Mather.
"And does that mean we won't be able to leave the planet?"
"You're still technically a Demiterran."
"But I can looked upon as a mermaid since I am colored."
"That is indeed a conundrum."
"Actually, I don't mind staying here with you. As long as I am with you, any place is home."
"We still have that problem to deal with."
"Yeah."
Later in that day, Iyanna gave Kana a tour of the breastfruit plantation, and since breastfruit grew on trees it felt like they were traveling through an ordered forest.
Deep in the interior there was one of the cabins used by the farmers, but it was vacated so that Iyanna, Yuri, Mather, and Kana could stay in for the night. That way, they would help the farmers gather fruit that fell from the trees.
After dinner, they retreated to a nearby hotspring, but Kana was surprised to see a croc-like creature wading in it.
"Oh, that's one of our pets," said Iyanna. "Yuri named her Sybil."
"Sybil?" Kana asked.
"She's practically harmless, although I think I forgot to feed her. Mather, can you help me with the food?"
"S-sure," Mather nodded hesitantly.
Sybil leapt out of the pool, and like a panting dog she followed the tall mermaids inside the cabin. This conveniently allowed Kana and Yuri to be alone inside the bubbling spring in their one-piece swimsuits. However, they lingered inside for quite a while, sitting opposite of one another as if they were strangers, given that their appearance had been altered by their new lovers.
Even pregnant with a scar over her left eye, Yuri still looked beautiful in Kana's eyes.
"They are sure taking their time," said Kana.
"We have more potbellied crocs living here," said Yuri.
"Ah."
"Iyanna keeps them as pets. However, their larger cousins are farmed for their meat."
"Like pigs."
"Yeah."
"Tasty?"
"It varies. Goes well with breastfruit."
"You really have gotten used to this planet."
"I have to since I am officially a mermaid."
"I see."
"Why are we sitting far away?"
"I'm afraid to touch you, especially when our wives aren't around."
"Biologically, we're still Demiterrans even if we're colored. Come sit next to me."
"O-okay."
Kana swam to the other hand propped herself against Yuri. Their shoulders rubbed together, and obviously Kana was rendered nervous with a beating heart. This wasn't due to the supposed pheromones they were exchanging. It was something of a deep nostalgia they had for one another.
"Just how did you end up here?" Kana asked. "And what happened to Lola?"
"Lola and I broke up six months after that incident."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. I was feeling lonely, and I cheated on you on a whim. Lola and I weren't a good match for each other anyway."
"Ah."
"After the breakup, I decided to become a interstellar trader. I had a few lovers here and there, mostly male, but I never got pregnant since my tubes were locked. Our ship ended up on Marieno at the Jerusalem Spaceport. I broke up with my fling of a boyfriend and wandered alone in the city when I spotted Iyanna leaning dangerously over a railing over a cliff. Or rather, she was planning on jumping over it. I ran and caught her just in time, and pulled over. Despite not having our translators, I yelled at her for doing something stupid as suicide. As I spoke, she just looked at me as if she had fallen in love with me.
"Her bodyguards from her parents' company arrived, and one of the retainers told me that right then I was now officially a citizen of Marieno and a registered mermaid. I did not realize what was going on until they explained that Iyanna and I exchanged skin-to-skin contact, and declared that I was married on the spot.
"So I was hurried to this town to participate in their formal ceremony. Quickly I was becoming attracted to her, and I was soon told that the pheromones were taking their effect in my body. After the ceremony, we had our two weeks of constant sex. And here I am.
"I learned about her previous affair with Mather, which only increased my sympathy for her. And so I decided that I would learn the language and be the perfect mermaid wife for her. It got easier once I was colored. But you know Kana, you're indirectly colored by Iyanna."
"Huh?"
"Mather's coloring was halfway. She used to be golden blond, like her maam."
"I didn't realize."
"I am curious though. Do you still have feelings for me?"
"Why would I? I am madly in love with Mather."
"I think you do."
"You don't need love from a monster from me."
"I forgive you Kana. I mean, things like that happens in our world, and on this one it's a total rarity."
"Except in Mather's case."
Kana grasped Yuri's hand. "Even in my hell in prison, I still longed for you. And even now despite the alteration in your appearance, I still love you."
"Oh, Kana."
"Yuri..."
Why did it take so long for Mather and Iyanna to come back? As it turned out, the refrigerator was out of hand-prepared meals for the litter of potbellied crocs slithering about the kitchen floor with gaping mouths. Both mermaids occupied the counter dicing up whale meat and wrapping various species of seaweed in them.
"This brings back memories," smiled Iyanna. "It used to be that we used stools to feed our crocs."
"Falka and I did work here," said Mather.
"And to my surprise you were also my first cousin."
"Back then, you proposed to me."
"It was the other way around."
"Hm?"
"When we were playing in the plantation, you promised me that we're going to get married."
"I did? I thought you proposed to me when we were in the spring."
"You're not selectively forgetting things are you?"
Mather lowered her head and looked away.
"Maybe I did take advantage of you that night, but I took your promise seriously," said Iyanna. "I was really happy that you were going to be my wife, and so I was eager to make you mine."
"We're cousins Iyanna."
"That shouldn't have stopped us, nor should it cause you to run away from me."
"It wasn't that. I was just scared."
"Scared? I really don't understand."
"I don't understand either, but it does happen in our race. Maybe we weren't right for each other."
"We are right for each other."
Mather sighed. "Not anymore. I have Kana and our child to look after. You have Yuri and her child."
"In some ways, your child is also mine. She will have a trace of my color."
"Iyanna, I did not mean to hurt you..."
"Don't talk that way. It's both our fault. So let's drop it from here. I hate having such things dragging me down."
"I guess you're right."
The pet food preparation was complete, and outside the mermaids lay out their sandwich-like meals for the litter of crocs on long metal tray. They watched their pets gobble their food savagely, and Iyanna's left hand drew closer to Mather's right. Mather felt a fingernail come in contact with hers.
"What are you doing?" Mather asked.
"Sorry," smiled Iyanna. "Force of habit."
Mather smirked. She went inside the cabin and procured a set of red silk gloves, and gave the left one to Iyanna.
They finally held hands once they were covered, and as they walked towards the spring Mather told Iyanna tales of the planet of Meta Fifth and the various aliens and culture she had encountered. At the spring as well, Kana also talked with Yuri about her stay on Meta Fifth. They then waved to their mermaid wives when they were in plain view. Suddenly, Mather shrieked.
"What are you two doing?" asked Mather.
"What?" asked Yuri.
"You're touching each other's skin!"
Kana grumbled. "What about you? You're holding hands with Iyanna."
"This? Oh, they're gloved."
"But your pheromones can still pass through, even with silk."
"Hm, it looks like we run ourselves into yet another awkward situation," said Iyanna. "We can resolve this by immediately embracing our wives or if we have a foursome right on the spot."
"No foursomes!" Mather cried.
"You look so cute when you're frustrated! Kana, this is something you have to enjoy, so tease her often."
"Will do!" Kana saluted.
"Kana..." whined Mather.
As it turned out, Kana was already registered as a mermaid right when she left Jerusalem Spaceport. Like all other foreigners colored by their mermaid wives, she was forbidden to leave the planet unless it was for special circumstances. Unfair as it seemed, they had a good reason to limit the potential deadly poison Kana might carry. Personally, she did not mind.
That did not stop her from sending a video mail to her parents on Demiterra. She could only send one disc, and receive one. She was not allowed to keep it, but only so that she would view it in Jerusalem. Once she watched them, they were to be destroyed.
Her parents, now aged, were happy that they she found her new wife and was able to bear children. Everything seemed okay on both ends, but she shed a few tears knowing that she would never see them again.
Eventually she received the rest of the credits from the GGDP, and due to her permanent move their stipend was permanently cut off. She did not mind this, but at the current situation Mather and Kana needed a job as well as a residence. Iyanna had them stay at her mansion and help out with the administration of the plantation, but eventually they became carrier workers.
Even after Kana and Mather had their first child, they continued to stay in the mansion. In addition, their room was right next to Iyanna and Yuri's, although it used to be one huge master bedroom and now it was separated by wall that Kana felt was hastily built and quite thin. Both couples agreed that it was beneficial for them to live together, since Mather and Iyanna were already related, and that Yuri and Kana could keep each other company.
At the same time, Mina passed away with a smile on her face. During the sea funeral (Iyanna lent her yacht for this occasion) Mather was finally forgiven by her sisters.
Kana finally learned from Iyanna that Mina was just a foreign relations clerk at Jerusalem Spaceport, which explained the reason why she told tall tales to her children. But it was true that her wife was short and indeed a mermaid. To be exact, a pygmy mermaid.
Kana ended being called a falka by her children, with the frantic Mather a maam, just like hers before. By contrast, Iyanna was now a falka with Yuri a maam.
Both Yuri and Kana knew that their children would become full-blooded mermaids due to the aggressive internal physiology and pheromones. They will be taller than them when they grow up, and will seem them as odd mermaids for being short and never exposing their finned ears. Chances are that they will never know of the planet from whence they came unless they visit the ports. It was all right for them.
Many years and children later, Kana and Yuri headed out alone at the beach of Bara Qu for one personal race. Again, Yuri won by a narrow margin.
"Just how do you do it?" Kana asked. "How?"
"Weight," Yuri smiled.
"That's not fair!"
Kana lunged at Yuri, and the two women then wrestled and rolled across the sands until Kana was on top.
"You think they'll mind?" Kana asked.
"As far as I know, they're doing it behind our backs."
"Do you care?"
"No. And they'll probably don't care if we did it."
Kana rolled over and lay right next to Yuri's side.
"It does feel like we're still married though," said Kana.
"I guess so," said Yuri.
"I have this thought fairly recently, that two of us will die before them, and I don't want that to happen."
"They'll die soon after."
"But they can keep each other company long after us. I still would prefer if we die at the same time."
"Kana, let's just focus on living, okay?"
"Okay."
They looked up, and saw their mermaid wives looming over them.
"So that's where you went," smiled Iyanna.
"Mather, the girls are studying I take it," said Kana.
"They are," said Mather.
The mermaids propped their Demiterran wives up for a very long kiss. And when they parted, they did something different:
Iyanna and Mather leaned over Yuri and Kana's heads and kissed each other. At the same time, Yuri and Kana kissed, and everyone's hands were piled on top of one another.
"It's their fault by the way," Iyanna joked, as she referred to Yuri and Kana.
"I blame your guys' pheromones," retorted Kana in kind. "Diluted my butt."
The girls laughed. They moved together so that they were shoulder-to-shoulder. The mermaids held their wives to their bosoms like little children, and those children, the Demiterrans held each other's hands.
For each and everyone of them they were in their perfect warmth with bodies pressed against their loved ones. The couples had found their halves, their alter egos, and when they joined they were finally able to reconnect with the loved ones they unintentionally harmed to form a greater being.
The two couples in different colors and shades sat together smiling and watched the churning of the still seas into the twilight.
by StarCross
The Latter Part
To excuse themselves from the awkward situation, both Kana and Mather stated that they needed to go to be. They were indeed tired; tired of basking the presence of their ex-lovers and the pasts associated with them.
They sternly told the maidservants to leave them alone. The guest room on the upper level was luxurious, but there was no time for them to admire or take notice of it. One quick shower later Kana and Mather on the bed naked, intertwined, and forcing themselves to become wet.
This time, their tears they shed were not from sheer joy and pleasurable pain. There was sadness coincidentally amplified equal due the sudden reappearance of their former lovers, and it was not, to be certain, due to the fact they married one another. Kana and Mather wanted to see each other's faces as they mated, but it oscillated between that and the faces of Uuli and Iyanna. Even the experiences were frighteningly familiar, and ironically that only increased their passion.
"Kana," said Mather.
"Yes?"
"Do you love me?"
"I'll always love you no matter what."
"Don't let me go."
"I won't!"
"Always be with me. Always be one with me."
"I'll always! You're the only one for me!"
They kissed. In a tearful whimper, they ograsmed together for the night.
Even the first month-and-a-half of pregnancy did not slow Kana down. She clocked the sex with her lover at one minute under two hours Demiterran time. Not bad, she thought to herself. I'll surely miss it when our child gets bigger.
Kana and Mather lay in their bed for an additional hour until growling stomachs compelled them to head downstairs for a meal. At least two maidservants were awake to serve them a very late night dinner consisting of generally seafood marinated with an aromatic milky sauce.
"This is quite good," remarked Kana.
"It comes from breastfruit," said Iyanna as she walked down the stairs with Yuri (formerly Uuli) hand-in-hand. Just like Kana and Mather, both were dressed only in their matching flowery kimono-like robes.
"It does taste like milk."
"Marieno also exports breastfruit as substitute milk."
Iyanna ordered the maidservants to serve all of them freshly picked breastfruit. The fruit looked bulbous and tanned like flattened breast, with the stem looking remarkably like a nipple depending on the way it was cut. Of course, that was just the hard layer. With instructions from Iyanna, who was sitting across the table with Yuri by her side, Kana literally peeled to reveal a white and milky outer layer that was literally as soft as a breast. It can then be punctured easily with a straw, preferably from the top, and the innards could be drunk from there. It was sweet and sour, but not enough for Kana to become addicted to it like her three table companions.
Almost to her horror, Mather, Kana, and Yuri cut the softened breastfruit with a knife and began scraping off the coconut-like flakes from the inner walls. In response to this sight, she folded her arms over her breasts, and in her mind she prayed that her newborn child wouldn't get the idea to poke straw through her.
"Are you going to have that?" Mather asked her lover.
"It's not good for you?" asked Iyanna. "I guess it's an acquired taste for Demiterrans."
"Who can say?" asked Yuri. "You get used it when you live in a breastfruit plantation."
I think she's doing it again, Kana thought. Yuri had remarked a similar thing when she lived on Demiterra.
With their meals full, they retreated to the living room sitting on loveseats opposite of each other. They way the married couples sat was that their thighs were pressed together, and all their hands were stacked on the other.
Iyanna seemed to have a bright and outgoing personality, Kana had observed, and although she remained smiling uneasily, she mustered no courage to start a late-night conversation to break the awkward silence in the house. There were the occasional chirps of the reptilian seabirds, the swish of the crashing waves, and strange howls that certainly did not sound mammalian. The twenty-hour mechanical clock went on ticking for almost ten minutes.
"I heard from Iyanna that you joined the GGDP," said Yuri.
"I have," replied Kana.
"As expected, Mather is a perfect match for you."
"She's most certainly is."
Then silence. Five more minutes.
"How is Meta Fifth?" asked Yuri.
"Pretty lively," replied Kana.
"A lot of Demiterrans go there?"
"A lot."
Silence again. Ten minutes.
"I say we should take a dip in the pools," said Yuri.
"Great!" clapped Iyanna. "My skin is getting a bit dry."
It struck Kana as strange, for the air was just bearably humid. Even more stranger was Yuri's insistence on swimming when she hated it.
Kana soon found out when, after they all dressed in bathing suits, inhabited sixth of the eight rectangular pools in the backyard, whereas Iyanna and Yuri took the second. Swimming alongside Mather, Kana kept on staring intently at pregnant Yuri floating on her back aided by the presence of Iyanna. It might have been Kana's imagination, but Yuri, who had briefly saw Kana's eyes, pulled Iyanna over her head and had her kiss her. The sight alone drove Kana into a confusing heartache, which then sent her floating into Mather's arms.
"Kana?" asked Mather.
"Kiss me."
Almost as if to strike right back at Yuri, Kana kissed Mather and forced her up the pool's incline so that she was seated on the edge. In one glance at the other pool, Kana saw Yuri also sitting on the edge receiving Iyanna's romantic kisses. Then in response, Kana climbed on top of Mather and in doubling make out session she began pulling down her swimsuit to expose as much skin as possible.
The scene had degenerated in a contest that lasted almost an hour in the pre-dawn morning. When Kana and Mather came to, both Yuri and Iyanna were gone.
"Was that right for me to do this?" Kana asked as she stroked Mather's hair.
"It's the same as your culture," replied Mather. "So no."
"But you felt like doing it again."
Mather nodded.
"I didn't mean to bring you into this," said Kana.
"It's equally my fault. I'm too uncomfortable being with my first cousin."
"First cousin?"
"Iyanna is my first cousin."
"That must be why..."
"Cousins marrying on Marieno is not that uncommon, even if they are closely related. But even though Iyanna's the instigator, everyone blames me for making her sad. She was well liked in Bara Qu."
"Only because she's rich and that she's a princess."
"She is responsible for footing the bill for maam's hospital stay."
"The rich always do that."
"Iyanna is a nice girl."
"It sounds like you still like her."
"What about you? You keep on staring at Yuri."
"How dare you?"
Quickly Kana calmed down, realizing the apparent rise in each other's jealousy.
"Hold me," said Kana.
Mather embraced her wife with as much skin contact as possible.
"I'm sorry," said Mather.
"I should apologize," said Kana. "I didn't mean to yell. But it seems we got some ex-lovers to reconcile with."
"Should we do it together?"
"I don't know. We could rely on each other's strength, but we can't be strong unless we face the past by ourselves. It will hurt for all of us."
"Then let's do that when we're staying here."
They finally had a full sleep and woke up in the afternoon. After one lunch, Kana and Mather went out alone to the Bara Qu Hospital Hospice Wing. At the very least Mather's treatment was better due to Iyanna's influence. Then again, the building wing was brightly white and staffed by nurses garbed in full-body latex pink uniforms complete with flattened masks that had only two eyeholes. The patients, Mather had told to Kana, were the half-dead, elderly widows who were awaiting death so that they could join their spouses in the afterlife. They were garbed in white robes and white shrouds, and shuffled and sat about muttering prayers for death and for their relief from suffering.
The nurse led the couple to Mather's maam's room, but already inside were two of Mather's older sisters, Dirfia and Sugya, and their respective wives. Kana remained in the background listening into the cries and insults from the older sisters. She could barely understand the speed of their language as well as their accent, but from what she could tell that Mather was in a sense disowned and the cause of their falka's death.
Mather's maam, affectionately nicknamed Mina, was in a white robe like the others, but since she was in her own room she was allowed to lie in her bed without a veil or a shroud. Mermaids were said to live longer, and Mina was well over one hundred. Despite some wrinkles, she was still beautiful, and her hair, though graying, still retained the golden blond.
Mina did not want to face Mather, but she was stealing glances at Kana, who came in without any kind of face covering.
"Everyone," Mina said. "Leave my sight."
"Maam!" cried Dirfia.
"Go! But Mather and her new wife can stay."
They complied, and the door was shut once Mather and Kana was alone with Mina. It was now quiet despite the sounds of water waves since the hospital was close to the sea.
"Maam," said Mather. "Have you forgiven me?"
"I will never forgive you the shame you brought to us and our family," said Mina. "Anyway, can she speak and understand Marienese?"
"A little bit."
"Then you wait outside."
"Yes maam."
Kana was the only guest left. Mina beckoned her to sit on a wheeled stool and sit by her.
"Take off your headdress," Mina commanded.
Kana took it off. Mina then stroked the side of her head with her white-gloved right hand, and then felt Kana's round ear.
"Brings back memories," smiled Mina. "It seems that in the end we're always involved with foreigners."
"Pardon?" asked Kana.
"I was once a government assassin. I head out to other planets in the 7-Arc Starcluster to eliminate convicts from our planet. Do you know that behind every crime group has a Mermaid in control?"
"No."
"Mermaids have their hands in everything, and Marieno does everything to eliminate them. However, I went to a planet similar to yours and botched up a job. It seems that I accidentally injected my sex pheromones into a girl like you. Now that I reflect it, I recall falling in love with her, and after one week of constant sex she was pregnant. So I quit my job and returned home and had many children with her. You are seeking to have a lot of children with Myspphl, will you?"
"I do intend to."
"You have to. Once you are colored, you can't turn back, just like my wife. You are essentially a mermaid from hereon. Although it is a pity she had to die years before me. Darn it, why can't they legalize euthanasia. It's hell living like this."
"Oh, don't say that! Even if you are without your wife, you're not alone. You have your children. And me as well!"
"Heh. You're just like her. My wife and I promised that we'd see to it that every one of our daughters is married off. Now please, I would like to be alone. I need my nap."
Kana exited and met up with Mather, her sisters, and her sisters-in-law at the end of the hallway.
"What is it this time?" asked Sugya. "Was she a stowaway of a trading vessel? A bodyguard of the Fashion Cartels?"
"What are you talking about?" Kana asked.
"Maam is senile," said Dirfia, "so she'll always tell tall tales to newcomers."
"Then again, she has always told such tales when falka was still around," said Sugya.
The sisters and their wives left without saying goodbye.
"Mather," said Kana.
"It is true that maam is like this," said Mather. "However, this was the first time since I left the planet she has done this."
"Then you really didn't have a foreign falka."
"She may be short, but she was definitely a mermaid."
"You have seen her ears, right?"
"I don't recall..."
As they walked home, Kana thought about what it really meant to be a Mermaid Gigantes. The meeting of a two Demiterrans, Ariko and Yuri, implied that they had fully "gone native" when they were fully colored. Ariko spoke as she had always been a mermaid, and Yuri wolfed down seafood and loved swimming despite her past dislikes. She then recalled Mina's words on how Kana was now essentially a mermaid, although she would never possess any ability to impregnate others like Mather. Could it be that mermaids travel the stars to bring home women in order to combat globalized inbreeding in their own way? Or could it be that the entire planet was populated by descendants of a female inflicted with a virus who could overwrite the physiology of her foreign female mate in order to suit themselves and their environment?
It wasn't like Marieno was the only single-gender civilized planet in the 7-Arc Starcluster, although Marieno could essentially be the only one that was truly unique in that they were really single-gender through and through. There were many, but had a very small minority of the opposite sex that served as DNA donors or birthgivers, and there were those who were essentially hermaphroditic or true sex-changers in certain periods of their life.
"Mather," said Kana. "Am I essentially a mermaid?"
"You are," said Mather.
"And does that mean we won't be able to leave the planet?"
"You're still technically a Demiterran."
"But I can looked upon as a mermaid since I am colored."
"That is indeed a conundrum."
"Actually, I don't mind staying here with you. As long as I am with you, any place is home."
"We still have that problem to deal with."
"Yeah."
Later in that day, Iyanna gave Kana a tour of the breastfruit plantation, and since breastfruit grew on trees it felt like they were traveling through an ordered forest.
Deep in the interior there was one of the cabins used by the farmers, but it was vacated so that Iyanna, Yuri, Mather, and Kana could stay in for the night. That way, they would help the farmers gather fruit that fell from the trees.
After dinner, they retreated to a nearby hotspring, but Kana was surprised to see a croc-like creature wading in it.
"Oh, that's one of our pets," said Iyanna. "Yuri named her Sybil."
"Sybil?" Kana asked.
"She's practically harmless, although I think I forgot to feed her. Mather, can you help me with the food?"
"S-sure," Mather nodded hesitantly.
Sybil leapt out of the pool, and like a panting dog she followed the tall mermaids inside the cabin. This conveniently allowed Kana and Yuri to be alone inside the bubbling spring in their one-piece swimsuits. However, they lingered inside for quite a while, sitting opposite of one another as if they were strangers, given that their appearance had been altered by their new lovers.
Even pregnant with a scar over her left eye, Yuri still looked beautiful in Kana's eyes.
"They are sure taking their time," said Kana.
"We have more potbellied crocs living here," said Yuri.
"Ah."
"Iyanna keeps them as pets. However, their larger cousins are farmed for their meat."
"Like pigs."
"Yeah."
"Tasty?"
"It varies. Goes well with breastfruit."
"You really have gotten used to this planet."
"I have to since I am officially a mermaid."
"I see."
"Why are we sitting far away?"
"I'm afraid to touch you, especially when our wives aren't around."
"Biologically, we're still Demiterrans even if we're colored. Come sit next to me."
"O-okay."
Kana swam to the other hand propped herself against Yuri. Their shoulders rubbed together, and obviously Kana was rendered nervous with a beating heart. This wasn't due to the supposed pheromones they were exchanging. It was something of a deep nostalgia they had for one another.
"Just how did you end up here?" Kana asked. "And what happened to Lola?"
"Lola and I broke up six months after that incident."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. I was feeling lonely, and I cheated on you on a whim. Lola and I weren't a good match for each other anyway."
"Ah."
"After the breakup, I decided to become a interstellar trader. I had a few lovers here and there, mostly male, but I never got pregnant since my tubes were locked. Our ship ended up on Marieno at the Jerusalem Spaceport. I broke up with my fling of a boyfriend and wandered alone in the city when I spotted Iyanna leaning dangerously over a railing over a cliff. Or rather, she was planning on jumping over it. I ran and caught her just in time, and pulled over. Despite not having our translators, I yelled at her for doing something stupid as suicide. As I spoke, she just looked at me as if she had fallen in love with me.
"Her bodyguards from her parents' company arrived, and one of the retainers told me that right then I was now officially a citizen of Marieno and a registered mermaid. I did not realize what was going on until they explained that Iyanna and I exchanged skin-to-skin contact, and declared that I was married on the spot.
"So I was hurried to this town to participate in their formal ceremony. Quickly I was becoming attracted to her, and I was soon told that the pheromones were taking their effect in my body. After the ceremony, we had our two weeks of constant sex. And here I am.
"I learned about her previous affair with Mather, which only increased my sympathy for her. And so I decided that I would learn the language and be the perfect mermaid wife for her. It got easier once I was colored. But you know Kana, you're indirectly colored by Iyanna."
"Huh?"
"Mather's coloring was halfway. She used to be golden blond, like her maam."
"I didn't realize."
"I am curious though. Do you still have feelings for me?"
"Why would I? I am madly in love with Mather."
"I think you do."
"You don't need love from a monster from me."
"I forgive you Kana. I mean, things like that happens in our world, and on this one it's a total rarity."
"Except in Mather's case."
Kana grasped Yuri's hand. "Even in my hell in prison, I still longed for you. And even now despite the alteration in your appearance, I still love you."
"Oh, Kana."
"Yuri..."
Why did it take so long for Mather and Iyanna to come back? As it turned out, the refrigerator was out of hand-prepared meals for the litter of potbellied crocs slithering about the kitchen floor with gaping mouths. Both mermaids occupied the counter dicing up whale meat and wrapping various species of seaweed in them.
"This brings back memories," smiled Iyanna. "It used to be that we used stools to feed our crocs."
"Falka and I did work here," said Mather.
"And to my surprise you were also my first cousin."
"Back then, you proposed to me."
"It was the other way around."
"Hm?"
"When we were playing in the plantation, you promised me that we're going to get married."
"I did? I thought you proposed to me when we were in the spring."
"You're not selectively forgetting things are you?"
Mather lowered her head and looked away.
"Maybe I did take advantage of you that night, but I took your promise seriously," said Iyanna. "I was really happy that you were going to be my wife, and so I was eager to make you mine."
"We're cousins Iyanna."
"That shouldn't have stopped us, nor should it cause you to run away from me."
"It wasn't that. I was just scared."
"Scared? I really don't understand."
"I don't understand either, but it does happen in our race. Maybe we weren't right for each other."
"We are right for each other."
Mather sighed. "Not anymore. I have Kana and our child to look after. You have Yuri and her child."
"In some ways, your child is also mine. She will have a trace of my color."
"Iyanna, I did not mean to hurt you..."
"Don't talk that way. It's both our fault. So let's drop it from here. I hate having such things dragging me down."
"I guess you're right."
The pet food preparation was complete, and outside the mermaids lay out their sandwich-like meals for the litter of crocs on long metal tray. They watched their pets gobble their food savagely, and Iyanna's left hand drew closer to Mather's right. Mather felt a fingernail come in contact with hers.
"What are you doing?" Mather asked.
"Sorry," smiled Iyanna. "Force of habit."
Mather smirked. She went inside the cabin and procured a set of red silk gloves, and gave the left one to Iyanna.
They finally held hands once they were covered, and as they walked towards the spring Mather told Iyanna tales of the planet of Meta Fifth and the various aliens and culture she had encountered. At the spring as well, Kana also talked with Yuri about her stay on Meta Fifth. They then waved to their mermaid wives when they were in plain view. Suddenly, Mather shrieked.
"What are you two doing?" asked Mather.
"What?" asked Yuri.
"You're touching each other's skin!"
Kana grumbled. "What about you? You're holding hands with Iyanna."
"This? Oh, they're gloved."
"But your pheromones can still pass through, even with silk."
"Hm, it looks like we run ourselves into yet another awkward situation," said Iyanna. "We can resolve this by immediately embracing our wives or if we have a foursome right on the spot."
"No foursomes!" Mather cried.
"You look so cute when you're frustrated! Kana, this is something you have to enjoy, so tease her often."
"Will do!" Kana saluted.
"Kana..." whined Mather.
As it turned out, Kana was already registered as a mermaid right when she left Jerusalem Spaceport. Like all other foreigners colored by their mermaid wives, she was forbidden to leave the planet unless it was for special circumstances. Unfair as it seemed, they had a good reason to limit the potential deadly poison Kana might carry. Personally, she did not mind.
That did not stop her from sending a video mail to her parents on Demiterra. She could only send one disc, and receive one. She was not allowed to keep it, but only so that she would view it in Jerusalem. Once she watched them, they were to be destroyed.
Her parents, now aged, were happy that they she found her new wife and was able to bear children. Everything seemed okay on both ends, but she shed a few tears knowing that she would never see them again.
Eventually she received the rest of the credits from the GGDP, and due to her permanent move their stipend was permanently cut off. She did not mind this, but at the current situation Mather and Kana needed a job as well as a residence. Iyanna had them stay at her mansion and help out with the administration of the plantation, but eventually they became carrier workers.
Even after Kana and Mather had their first child, they continued to stay in the mansion. In addition, their room was right next to Iyanna and Yuri's, although it used to be one huge master bedroom and now it was separated by wall that Kana felt was hastily built and quite thin. Both couples agreed that it was beneficial for them to live together, since Mather and Iyanna were already related, and that Yuri and Kana could keep each other company.
At the same time, Mina passed away with a smile on her face. During the sea funeral (Iyanna lent her yacht for this occasion) Mather was finally forgiven by her sisters.
Kana finally learned from Iyanna that Mina was just a foreign relations clerk at Jerusalem Spaceport, which explained the reason why she told tall tales to her children. But it was true that her wife was short and indeed a mermaid. To be exact, a pygmy mermaid.
Kana ended being called a falka by her children, with the frantic Mather a maam, just like hers before. By contrast, Iyanna was now a falka with Yuri a maam.
Both Yuri and Kana knew that their children would become full-blooded mermaids due to the aggressive internal physiology and pheromones. They will be taller than them when they grow up, and will seem them as odd mermaids for being short and never exposing their finned ears. Chances are that they will never know of the planet from whence they came unless they visit the ports. It was all right for them.
Many years and children later, Kana and Yuri headed out alone at the beach of Bara Qu for one personal race. Again, Yuri won by a narrow margin.
"Just how do you do it?" Kana asked. "How?"
"Weight," Yuri smiled.
"That's not fair!"
Kana lunged at Yuri, and the two women then wrestled and rolled across the sands until Kana was on top.
"You think they'll mind?" Kana asked.
"As far as I know, they're doing it behind our backs."
"Do you care?"
"No. And they'll probably don't care if we did it."
Kana rolled over and lay right next to Yuri's side.
"It does feel like we're still married though," said Kana.
"I guess so," said Yuri.
"I have this thought fairly recently, that two of us will die before them, and I don't want that to happen."
"They'll die soon after."
"But they can keep each other company long after us. I still would prefer if we die at the same time."
"Kana, let's just focus on living, okay?"
"Okay."
They looked up, and saw their mermaid wives looming over them.
"So that's where you went," smiled Iyanna.
"Mather, the girls are studying I take it," said Kana.
"They are," said Mather.
The mermaids propped their Demiterran wives up for a very long kiss. And when they parted, they did something different:
Iyanna and Mather leaned over Yuri and Kana's heads and kissed each other. At the same time, Yuri and Kana kissed, and everyone's hands were piled on top of one another.
"It's their fault by the way," Iyanna joked, as she referred to Yuri and Kana.
"I blame your guys' pheromones," retorted Kana in kind. "Diluted my butt."
The girls laughed. They moved together so that they were shoulder-to-shoulder. The mermaids held their wives to their bosoms like little children, and those children, the Demiterrans held each other's hands.
For each and everyone of them they were in their perfect warmth with bodies pressed against their loved ones. The couples had found their halves, their alter egos, and when they joined they were finally able to reconnect with the loved ones they unintentionally harmed to form a greater being.
The two couples in different colors and shades sat together smiling and watched the churning of the still seas into the twilight.