Side Story: The Brides of the Space Monster
The day they escaped the T&C Special Trade Hub.
After Amorph entered his cocoon, No. 26 and Adhai each spent their time in their own way.
No. 26 was diligently practicing the communication method Amorph had taught her. Conveying meaning with what he called "fingers" — the appendages extending from her body — was an utterly foreign way of talking for her.
Her kin communicated through the colors of their bodies. In fact, among her entire kind, No. 26 was the only one who possessed tentacles worthy of being called appendages at all.
She had been using those tentacles more and more lately, but she was still far from proficient.
No. 26, however, did not give up. She was a far more complex and ambitious woman than Amorph gave her credit for.
Her horizons had expanded beyond all comparison to the days when she was trapped inside that musty-smelling jar. Receiving more attention and affection from Big Baby was wonderful, but she wanted something more than that.
Having evolved beyond her former self, she had begun to dream of the future — a future where she would lead her kin together with Big Baby.
And to achieve that goal, she absolutely had to be able to communicate with Big Baby.
If No. 26 was hard at work chasing her dream, then what was Adhai doing?
Adhai was lying at an angle with her wing propped up like a pillow, grooming her scales. She had grasped the communication method Amorph taught in the blink of an eye.
She was every bit as clever as No. 26, and her physical advantages made the task easier still — so in a way, it was only natural.
The problem was that she'd finished so quickly that the waiting dragged on, and now she was idly polishing her scales to fight off the boredom.
｢Little Adult｣｢Me｣｢Curious｣
｢…….｣
｢Little Adult｣｢Little Adult｣｢Little Adult｣｢Little Adult｣｢Little Adult｣｢Little Adult｣｢Little Adult｣｢Little Adult｣
Adhai kept bombarding her with thought-waves.
An ordinary human would have had their mind scrambled by such a continuous barrage of psychic emissions, but No. 26 was a Sea Demon, and the damage was minimal.
Of course, that didn't mean she could escape the irritation of being pestered while trying to study.
｢What is it?｣
｢Adult｣｢Body｣｢Growth｣｢Fast｣｢Fast｣｢Fast｣
｢Yep. Big Baby sometimes grows that fast.｣
｢Amazing｣｢Me｣｢Adult｣｢Growth｣｢Envy｣
As she said it, Adhai looked down at her own body.
Instead of the white scales she longed for, beautiful green scales wrapped around her frame.
Those green scales — flawless, smooth, and glossy like polished emerald — gleamed across her body. Any intelligent being who laid eyes on Adhai's scales would surely have gasped at their beauty.
But to No. 26, body color was merely a means of conversation. It meant nothing more.
｢Me｣｢Want｣｢Scales｣｢White｣
｢Is being white a good thing?｣
｢Good!｣｢White｣｢Strong｣｢Cool｣｢Charm｣｢Overflowing｣
Adhai rose from her spot and spread her wings and back in a long, elegant stretch. At the same time, she curled her tail upward into the shape of a snail's shell.
Among the Galagons, this was a gesture for flaunting one's sexual allure — though not a single soul in that room knew it.
｢White｣｢Growth｣｢Advantage｣｢One｣｢More｣｢Have｣
｢What is it?｣
｢Me｣｢Adult｣｢Egg｣｢Possible｣
｢…….｣
While Adhai chattered away in high spirits, No. 26 felt a strange unease settle over her at those words. A suspicion that this Little Baby might not give up even if she told her no.
｢You have to grow up first before you can lay eggs.｣
｢Understood｣｢Me｣｢Growth｣｢Needed｣｢White｣｢Cool｣｢Adult｣｢Me｣｢Captivate｣
For someone who supposedly understood, she seemed to have understood nothing at all.
As No. 26 watched Adhai agonizing over what the most captivating pose might be, a question suddenly occurred to her.
Did Adhai actually know how babies were made?
｢Hey, Little Baby.｣
｢?｣
｢If you were going to make a baby, how would you make one?｣
At the question, Adhai lifted her head high, in the manner of one who knows while the Little Adult does not — a posture of pure, smug superiority.
No. 26 found that attitude deeply displeasing, but she held it in.
Even by her own eyes, Big Baby looked very different from her kin. If Big Baby's method of "making babies" differed from what No. 26 imagined, it could cause problems later, when the time came to lead her people.
｢Me｣｢Kin｣｢Conversation｣｢Heard｣
｢Mm-hm.｣
｢Male｣｢Top｣｢Female｣｢Bottom｣｢Embrace｣｢Egg｣｢Forms｣
｢...Huh?｣
｢Female｣｢Egg｣｢Lays｣
Adhai's explanation, however, differed greatly from what No. 26 had imagined.
No — to be perfectly accurate, it was absurd.
｢You get a baby just by hugging?｣
｢Accurate｣
｢Then I should have a baby already. Why don't I?｣
｢?｣
｢I've been sleeping pressed right up against Big Baby this whole time.｣
Adhai had been sleeping there with her too, but No. 26 tactfully chose not to point that out.
In any case, No. 26's point was sharp enough that Adhai failed to produce a proper answer.
｢Kin｣｢Conversation｣｢Fact｣｢Kin｣｢Egg｣｢Lay｣｢Me｣｢Verify｣
｢So maybe there's something else to it?｣
｢Little Adult｣｢Guessing｣｢Me｣｢Agree｣｢Cannot｣
｢You don't know either, Little Baby.｣
In the end, Adhai could not produce an answer.
No. 26 had vaguely suspected all along that Big Baby was no ordinary being. She'd assumed making babies with him wouldn't be easy — and apparently her guess had been right.
But Adhai, apparently unwilling to accept that ending as a loss, called out to No. 26 again.
｢Little Adult｣｢Baby｣｢How to make｣｢Know?｣
｢Me? I don't really know either.｣
｢Little Adult｣｢Not know｣｢Not know｣｢Not know｣
Adhai gave her wings a fluttering little shake.
The two species communicated in entirely different ways, but after so much time together, they could roughly read what each other's gestures meant.
That particular one was the gesture Little Baby made when teasing someone. For an instant, No. 26 felt the impulse to smack her one, but she restrained herself.
In situations like this, the female who strikes first always loses.
Instead of violence, she decided to bluff.
｢Actually, I know it very well.｣
｢Really?｣
｢Really. I know it super well.｣
｢Explain｣｢Request｣
No. 26 wrung the brain hidden deep inside her body, dredging up memories of how her kin had made babies back in the day.
｢First, you puff up your body and make it big.｣
｢Body｣｢Big?｣
The truth was, No. 26 didn't really know anything about making babies either. She had been the head of the pack that led her kin, but she had never once made a baby with anyone.
She had always seen her kin purely as charges to be protected; it had never occurred to her to want to do anything so... productive.
｢Yeah. And then you hug each other tight and rub together.｣
｢Embrace｣｢Rub?｣
Adhai looked skeptical, as if wondering what exactly the difference was between this and what she herself had said. With instincts sharper than No. 26's own, the little Gallagon had seen straight through the fact that she was spouting whatever came to mind.
Just as No. 26 was racking her brain for something more to say, a memory surfaced in her mind.
｢You touch your friend's tentacle with a slender tentacle.｣
｢Tentacle?｣
｢Yeah. When you touch with tentacles, it feels good.｣
In truth, there had been a time when she calmed Big Baby down with a slender tentacle when he was flying into a frenzy. In that moment, she had experienced something mysterious — a sensation of being connected to his very heart.
An awe-inspiring feeling, yet somehow ticklish and intimate, like playing a prank she knew she shouldn't. No. 26 could never forget it.
Adhai, who had been listening with an air of bored indifference, apparently found it plausible enough, because she nodded.
｢Kin｣｢Tentacle｣｢Affection｣｢Display｣
｢See?｣
｢Kin｣｢Night｣｢Flight｣｢During｣｢Tentacle｣｢Embrace｣
Adhai had once witnessed her kin secretly engaging in acts of affection with their tentacles, mid-flight under cover of darkness. And she'd noticed that the act looked very pleasurable indeed.
But that was not the answer Adhai wanted.
What Adhai desired was not the process, but the result. No matter how delightful the act, it was useless without an egg.
｢Tentacle｣｢Embrace｣｢Kin｣｢Egg｣｢Fail｣
｢Is that so?｣
｢Tentacle｣｢Long｣｢Many｣｢Cool｣｢Admit｣｢Egg｣｢Relation｣｢None｣
Adhai was right that long, abundant tentacles were undeniably attractive — but that was a matter entirely separate from making babies.
The conversation circled right back to square one.
No. 26 and Adhai racked their brains and argued back and forth with great effort, but in the end, no answer emerged.
｢We need a friend who knows how to make babies.｣
｢Agree｣
The conclusion reached after an in-depth discussion between a Sea Demon and a Gallagon was a simple one:
Acquire the necessary information from a third party.
It was the result of applying the laws of the hunt they had learned while traveling with Amorph: when facing an unknown enemy, gather intelligence first.
And so, over the question of baby-making, Amorph had abruptly become an unknown entity.
Their Big Baby and Big Adult slumbered on inside his cocoon, knowing nothing at all.