Chapter 4

James had gone to bed that night thinking about the amazing sex he'd had earlier that evening, and the revelation Holly had given him concerning her relationship with Narissa. He hadn't expected that at all, as he thought they were just regular friends, not ... well, intimate.

He also thought about what had happened during his brief encounter with Ernie Love. What exactly had happened? Had he altered time itself, or was what he experienced something else entirely? James just wasn't sure. He was also troubled about how he would get around a physical so he could participate in football this year. All of these thoughts, along with random strands of other concerns and ideas were filling his mind when something rather unexpected happened. He quickly sat upright in his bed, and he felt the urge to stand up and go somewhere.

It was 2:37 AM and his sister was asleep and his mother was in her room lying in bed and reading a book. James wasn't sure where it was he needed to go, but he found himself walking, and he soon went through the back door and outside into the yard. He walked over to the corner of the yard where he had buried the 'egg' and he began digging it up. Once he had uncovered the dirt from it, the force that was compelling him to do it suddenly vanished. James quickly stood up and stepped away from the egg. As he did so, a hole once again appeared in the top of it. Then what looked sort of like a crystal came out of it and began projecting a light above itself.

That light took shape and formed into something clearly not human. It vaguely reminded him of an Elephant Seal with antennae and overly large eyes. Then it spoke. "I am Academician Xoxan-jolak, lead researcher of the design team that has developed the Enhancers" it said in a gravelly voice.

"We have run out of time. Our enemy is upon us, and has already began attacking our home world. The Enhancers can not save us; as I said, we are out of time. It would take too long for the Enhancer to finish its work in a new host and then spread to further hosts after that. If we were to use it for ourselves at this late hour, it would only serve to waste all of our efforts. Therefore, having only just finished the Enhancers, we have decided to place them in a containment pod for transport. An artificially intelligent drone-ship will search out a world in the vast cosmos with an appropriately intelligent life-form to send the Enhancers to. It will then launch the pod into that world's atmosphere, and when an intelligent life-form comes close enough, the Enhancers will begin their work."

James was stunned. His mind was overwhelmed with emotions, mostly fear and concerns for what all this meant. The alien hologram (if that was what it was), continued speaking, "If you are seeing this message, then you are the being who has been enhanced first. You have been brought before the pod now because the drone-ship's A.I. has finally learned your language and adapted this recording to it. You need have no fear for your welfare, or think that the Enhancers, the Pod, or the Drone's A.I. will take your free will. They will not. Rather, they exist to serve your needs and commands. The Pod's secondary function is to act as a relay between the Drone and yourself, as well as delivering this final message from us, the Zhrachuan." James still wasn't sure if he should still be worried or not.

The projection continued, "I do not know how much time will have passed when you finally received this message." Another voice suddenly spoke into James' mind, '23 Million, 143 Thousand, 627 Years and 49 Days.' "The voice you have heard in your mind was the Drone's A.I. speaking to you through the Pod, and then again through the Enhancers to your conscious mind. It should have given a numerical figure concerning how much time will have passed, using your own temporal measurement system. The Drone will remain near your world ready to serve you as you have need. It contains most of the knowledge of our people. It has our history, as well as our science and blueprints of our technological advancements. The drone-ship has aboard the means to build any technology we possess, as well as the means to maintain and repair itself for the long journey ahead. It is conceivable that the ship will have to rebuild itself more than once in order to complete its mission. Our technology is now yours. Use it wisely. The enemy that is even now tearing apart our world is spreading across the galaxy, and it seems likely they will eventually find their way to your world as well. It is my hope that we will have at least given you a chance; time to prepare."

Someone might as well have told James he'd won 500 billion dollars, because if he was being told the truth, he'd just been handed way more than superpowers. He figured any civilization that could send a ship out into space and it survived for that long had to be extremely advanced, and they'd just placed it all in his lap. It would take time for James to process just what all that meant. In the mean time the hologram said, "Aside from the Enhancers and the Drone-ship, the Pod also possesses an interactive program designed to answer your questions concerning the Enhancers. You may find that it has limited answers, and for that I apologize. We haven't had time to anticipate every possible question that might be brought up. Still, we have done the best we could, and hope it will be of some use."

"Finally, the Enhancers themselves; they appear as a liquid metal, and in effect they are just that. The liquid is made of self-replicating nano-sized robots that have very specific programming. They are designed to adapt themselves to an intelligent life-form and then enhance that being to the most optimal level, while still maintaining biological continuity. That is, that the being will essentially maintain its form and function, but will be enhanced for maximum combat potential. The Enhancers will literally integrate themselves into the beings' anatomy on a cellular level, and even at a genetic level as well. This will have happened to you, the first to be enhanced."

"You are no longer quite what you were, after all, on a cellular level you are now part machine; but in all the ways that truly matter, you are still yourself. This also means that in effect you are now immortal. The Enhancers will prevent most injuries by strengthening the atomic bonds between the atoms of your skin, thereby preventing other objects from being able to penetrate it. It will make your flesh seem impenetrable, although it will retain the texture it had before. Also, should you somehow manage to lose a limb anyhow, it would grow back. Even your head. The Enhancers will have spread all your memories and thought patterns amongst themselves, so that your body's core could restore its head exactly as the original. This doesn't mean you can't be killed, however; you can, although it would be difficult. Enough heat could melt your flesh, and the Enhancers as well, to the point of preventing regeneration. There are other potential ways as well. Still, you will never die of old age or disease."

James wasn't quite sure what to make of that part of the message. He was now part machine? He was immortal? His mind was almost blank, and he felt ... numb. The liquid metal had turned him into some sort of cyborg mutant or something. James wasn't sure what he should be feeling. Frightened, happy, sad, amused, angry, confused, or excited? Or maybe all of those feelings at once. He'd be lucky if his head didn't explode.

The hologram then said, "If you've already spread the Enhancers to others, this part of the message will automatically play. The primary means of spreading themselves will be by whatever process of communion your species has. For those you have passed the Enhancers on to, the changes will be slower but they will occur. Those changed will be much like you, except the Enhancers that fuse with their biology will still answer to the Enhancers within your body. The others will become extensions of yourself after a fashion, and they will not be able to bring you harm, either through direct action or inaction. They will retain their free will, but within certain limits. It is the philosophy of our people that only one can rule, or there will be chaos everywhere. In a situation where beings have been enhanced as you have, there must be a single voice to direct them, or your entire world could fall into chaos as a struggle ensues between those enhanced for domination. We have simply avoided that possibility by ensuring that the first will retain dominance, and thereby ensuring the orderly use of the power we have gifted you with."

That meant that Holly and now Isabella were like him... ! Or soon would be. They would walk the future with him, possibly far into the future. A hundred years? A thousand? Or even millions or billions of years? James' thoughts turned to his sister and mother then. He didn't want to live all that time without them. Should he make sure they joined him? Should he tell them and give them a choice? It was all too much, and too fast. He had to think about it first. Holly and Isabella had talked about bringing others to him. Was that part of their changes, too, or was that just them? James wasn't sure. There was one thing James was sure of; he'd be much more selective about who he had sex with now. For all intents and purposes, the hologram was talking about a harem. If James was going to have a harem, he wanted it to be a select group; not just a bunch of random girls he'd had sex with for no more reason than he could.

"One last thing, first of your new kind. You should know that the changes in you will breed true. Your descendants will also be like you, gifted with great power. You have been given great control over your ability to breed, so that you can optimize how your society is populated. We have done this for the same reason that we have ensured that you will have control over the others that you will have changed. We have no way to know how your society functions, so the Enhancers will alter your breeding ability to fit your desires. We hope this ensures a smooth and orderly structure for your new people. Again, do not forget the destroyers. Unless someone else is able to stop them, they will likely reach your world eventually. Farewell." the alien finally said. The image of Xoxan-Jalok disappeared, the crystal retracted, and the hole in the Pod was covered once more.

'Well, at least that explains my new cock, ' thought James. Those aliens might not like chaos, but they'd surely caused it inside of his head. A riot of notions warred with each other as he imagined what might be possible. Not the least among them was space flight. The alien said that Drone-ship up there would give him access to its technology.

"Yes, I am now at your command," that voice from earlier said in his head again.

In his mind, James asked, "Can you hear me?"

"Yes," replied the voice.

"What can you do?" James asked the Drone's A.I.

"I can do many things, but I need a more specific request in order to give a definitive answer," said the Drone.

"Do you have a name?" James asked.

"I do not have a name as you think of them, only what you would think of as an identification number" replied the Drone.

"Do you mind if I call you Adrien?" asked James.

"If you wish, I will now be referred to as Adrien," replied the Drone.

"Thanks, that will make things easier," said James. "Are you alive?"

"No, I am not alive in the traditional sense as you mean it," answered Adrien. "I am self-aware on a sufficient level to operate appropriately, but I feel no desires other than what I have been programmed to do. I have completed one task, and now stand ready to begin another."

"What task is that?" asked James.

"I do not know, that is for you to decide," Adrien replied. "What would you like for me to do?"

"I don't know yet," James answered. "Is there a way for me to come up into space with you?"

"I currently have no transport vehicles that could bring you here, but if you wish it, I can build one to your specifications," responded Adrien.

James simply imagined a sporty looking transport shuttle that could carry him and several others, along with some specific specs he had in mind, and Adrien took those ideas and altered them only enough to meet the requirements of his technological capability. Adrien told him it would be finished in a couple of days. There really wasn't anything else that James could think of that he really wanted right away. He figured that if he could get up there to see Adrien, perhaps other ideas would make themselves apparent.

"Are we always going to be talking like this?" asked James.

"Only if you wanted to do so, and you are within sufficient range of the Pod to send and receive a communication signal," answered Adrien.

"What are the limits?" James asked.

"There is currently a maximum range of 2 to 3 miles," replied Adrien.

"I would have thought it to be more than that," James said.

"In time it could be expanded to an indefinite range, but it is a complicated procedure," Adrien replied.

"Oh," said James. It was a bit disconcerting to be talking to a ship in his head, so James decided to take a break for now. Adrien then told him that James could contact him anytime he wanted, but that Adrien would contact him when the transport was finished.

After that, James quietly returned inside and back to his room. If he'd had a lot to think about before, it paled in comparison with what he had to think about now. He needed to sleep on it; so he did. James woke up in plenty of time to get a shower and get ready for school, and when he finished dressing, his mother was setting the plates for breakfast. His mom was beautiful and very dear to him. Could he really live without her for 100 or more years into the future? Or his sister? James didn't want to think of that, so he decided to table that notion for now. He sat at the table, waiting for his sister to arrive.

"So, how was your first date with Holly last night?" asked April.

"It was great!" exclaimed James. "We had a good time, and we learned some new things about each other."

"That's good," replied April. She was very curious, but she didn't want to pry too much. She hoped that her children would come to her when they were ready. She strongly suspected that James and Holly had been having sex last night, but she would trust them to be responsible.

Narissa walked into the room, sat down at the table and yawned. April smiled and asked, "Are you awake yet?"

"I'm working on it, mom," replied James' sister.

The door bell rang and April yelled, "Come in, Holly!" The door opened and Holly walked in and sat with a nervous smile. "Holly," said April. "Why do you look so nervous? I told you yesterday I was glad for you two, I just want you to be careful, that's all."

"Huh?" Holly replied with a puzzled look. "Oh, I was thinking about something else. I wasn't worried that you'd be mad that James and I had sex last night."

James couldn't believe she had said that. April grinned and said, "I suspected as much. Well, what were you worried about?"

"Oh, it's nothing I want to discuss right now, but I promise we'll talk when I feel ready to," replied Holly.

"Alright then. I'll be here when you're ready," said April. They ate breakfast after that, and the conversation turned to mundane topics, for which James was glad. After they were done, they rinsed their dishes and put them in the dishwasher. It was then time to leave for school.

Once they got outside Holly told James and Narissa that Isabella had called her at home, and she was coming to pick them up. They walked a couple of blocks and Isabella was already there waiting for them in her parked car. Lolita was with her, and she smiled at the group and got out of the passenger side front seat and then offered it to James. He thanked her and then offered it to any of the ladies that wanted it. They all declined, so he took the seat. Afterwards, the girls all piled into the back seat of the car, and Isabella began driving them to school.

"I told Lolita all about the totally hot sex we had last night" said Isabella "She can't wait to get some for herself." Lolita laughed, and when James turned to look back at her she made a show of licking her lips and giving him a 'come hither' look. James just smiled back at her, then looked her up and down and returned the favor. Lolita looked ... eager. "If we don't have any homework tonight, let's get together again," said Isabella. "Yesterday was unbelievably spectacular but I want more."

"Well, I eventually have to spend some evenings doing other things, but I'm game," replied James.

Holly had been looking a bit distracted all morning, but she smiled and said, "I'm in, too."

"Of course," replied a grinning Isabella.

When they reached school, several of the kids were surprised to see James, Holly and Narissa getting out with the Rosa sisters. James got quite a few dirty looks from some of the guys from the upper financial crust. Their looks seemed to say, 'How dare you?' He didn't really know what else to do about it, so James just ignored them.

"Hey, Isabella," said one of the other rich girls in the parking lot.

"What are you doing? Community service or something?" she asked rather snidely.

"What the hell are you talking about, Juliet?" asked Isabella. "These are my friends. Specifically, my girlfriend, our boyfriend, his sister, and mine."

Juliet's eyebrows rose in shock. "Did you say 'girlfriend' and 'our boyfriend' just now?" she asked.

"I didn't stutter," replied Isabella. Juliet's jaw was hanging open. "Careful, you'll attract flies like that," giggled Isabella. Juliet quickly shut her mouth and glared, but said nothing.

While they were waiting for the first class of the day, the school rumor mill proved once again that it was a force to be reckoned with. James had thought he was getting a lot of looks yesterday, it was nothing compared to today. There was a group of guys from the rich jock crowd, and they were glaring bloody murder at him. Roland Vandleson marched right up to James and promptly proclaimed, "I'm going to kick your ass, you trailer trash!" James sighed.

Isabella tried to intervene and said, "Hey! Back off, Roland!"

"Shut the fuck up," Roland replied. "This is between us."