"Excuse Me"
15. Having a Bad Day
There was the most irritable look on the woman’s face while she stared aimlessly out the window at the twinkling stars. Why she felt like this was beyond her right now, but being on this ship for what was the third day might of been partly to blame…and damn these flying hormone. One moment she was all happy and cheery, then the next she was grumpy.
Even when hearing Otek’s voice, she didn’t turn to look at him. “Thought you were busy. You need something?”
Ah…true enough, even if they did sleep a lot, the pair had been so busy lately they had no space for intimate time. It hadn’t bothered her though, she had not been in the mood for anything other than cuddles as of late.
A frown pulled at her lips at the mention of a synthetic. Had he gone mad? She shifted slightly in her seat, setting the empty bottle down on the table after Tarik had greedily guzzled it all. Her attention remained focused on the infant, one arm supporting him while her free hand tenderly stroked along his soft carapace. “I would want to meet it first.” The concern was evident in her voice. “But that still would not stop me worrying every second I am away from them.”
He nodded. “I would expect nothing less. I wanted to destroy her as soon as I found out she was synthetic. When I shoo her hand, there was blessed silence...only the merest...glimmer...of something. That, in itself, should be impossible.” He shook his head. “A synthetic is not alive...there should have been no...glimmer of anything.” He frowned. “Savvy reminded me of the Zha...you could feel a glimmer of the Zha, the beings they once were, if you touched a Zha-Til.” He shook his head in exasperation. “It unnerved me. I did not respond...kindly at first. Savvy is full synthetic. At least that is what she believes.” He shrugged and returned his thoughts to their son and their unborn child.
“That is understandable. It gets easier the more children you have, but the first suffer the most under heavy parental constraint. I remember all to well when my first was born...There were many years between my first and my second child, so it was the first that got the brunt of over-protectiveness. Of course, times were different then than now. There were no real public displays of affection and every child was expected to act like an adult...in many bunkers, some were taught to fight as soon as they developed their biotics or could pick up a weapon, it didn’t seem to matter if their heads were still too soft for battle.” There was a hard edge to his voice. His father might have sanctioned the use of children, but he had not. He’d rescinded it upon taking over, but he knew some bunkers, some more distant areas refused to change the way they operated and he’d been unable to divert forces and risk more prothean lives just to put down those that rebelled. Later, if they’d won the war, he’d have done so. “Did your bunker protect its children or use them?”
