The Next Day . . .
Koro met with the real leaders of Sanctuary and showed them what he was working on. So far they knew how to get a spaceship, and as long as no one wore shells, they could just sort of slather themselves on top of each other like pancakes.
There were 1200 members of Sanctuary, they had to be like pancakes to fit. They had already worked out the weight volume, how they could make it move from the inside, how long it would take, how much it would cost, the skills needed to get what they needed, and the skills needed to hire who they needed to steal what was needed.
The leaders though were unfortunately not as foolhardy as others around Sanctuary.
"Food is still something to consider. We can all cram in there but there wouldn't be any food. How do we survive without food? No, we still need more than one ship, strictly for food and clothes. We need clothes too," one of the members complained. "How could you forget something as simple as food? We'd starve without food."
Gee. Imagine that. "We can send up a second rocket later. We can also pick up any stragglers that don't make it on the first one," Koro reasoned. "It's going to be a connection to the moon and Earth, not like that's our chosen planet. We need time to adjust the rockets and make more plans and rooms for a super long journey. Hiding our work on the dark side of the moon is just going to make it easier to hide things from the humans while we work on getting to our new home."
Any kind of bullshit lies to make them shut up and take the bait. Sanctuary drove Koro crazy. He didn't mind his students, but the atmosphere? Sheesh.
"My Lord Reaper!"
"Oh, not now, Lola," Koro complained hearing her voice. He watched her approach hopping up and down, naked. "Uhhh." That was one thing about her. She liked to play in shells or out of shells, but either way, she never really liked clothes. "We are trying to establish our new planet plans. Don't tempt. I mean, put that all away. For now."
"Lady Aguri is here."
Hmm? That wasn't something he wanted to hear, but his little tattle tale wouldn't lie. "What do you mean Lady Aguri is here?"
"She came here with Hyouga," Lola answered.
What, she was on Sanctuary's soil?! "Okay, Gentlesquidaroos, I gotta go. Talk more about the planet later." He followed her out. "What the hell? Hyouga was supposed to do the shell thing later, and only him. She wasn't supposed to be out here."
"I don't know if she followed willingly. He might have knocked her out, I don't know," Lola said. "I just caught him. You know me. I hope he wasn't a brute to Lady Aguri."
"If he was, I'll kill him."
"That would be just, my God of Death." Lola knocked on the door to an emergency room. "The God of Death demands to see Lady Aguri that you tried to get in here unseen, but I saw you!"
The door opened. A Sanctuarist took his tentacle and waved it about. "We already told you, this is a tricky procedure, do not interrupt." He looked toward Koro. "Oh, hello Lord Reaper."
Then he rose toward Koro. More like he was raised by Koro's tentacles.
"What are you doing with Aguri? The deal was only Hyouga saw her and no one else!"
"Oh, my mighty lord. We aren't hurting Lady Aguri, we are helping her survive better."
"Did Hyouga hurt her?" Maybe the shells? "Are the shells breaking? What's going on?"
"It's over, Scott, it's fine!" A voice yelled from inside. They came toward the door. "Ooh, Scott. Did you anger the savior?"
"I'm trying to explain," Scott said to her.
"Well, it was a success, Lord Reaper," the other person spoke. "Lady Aguri is just fine now. No more troubles."
Troubles? "She was in trouble?" Why didn't she tell him? "Did she know she was in trouble?"
"She's okay now, Hyouga saved her. She is out of her shell for healing, a way to stay loose and sort of breathe? Then she'll be fine to be back in the shell for safety."
"Aguri is fine?" She made it through. Somehow, Hyouga kept his promise. Guess I can't kill his little brother. He didn't really care anyhow, Aguri would be fine. "I want in to see her."
"She's tired after the surgery, Lord," they explained. "If Hyouga hadn't brought her, she might not have seen the end of the week."
Koro ignored them and went in to see her. She was out of her usual shell. "Aguri?"
She opened her eyes and smiled. "I'm not at my shining best right now."
"Best or worst, it doesn't matter." He wrapped his front tentacle around one of her front tentacles. "Your fashion taste never changes," he joked with her.
"Hyouga showed up to check on me. He said he always stayed near me so much to make sure he didn't see any bad signs before," she told him. "I had felt a little strange. My throat hurt and I couldn't breathe very well. He said that was an emergency."
"This morning?"
"I had class, I didn't want anyone to worry about it."
Ugh. "Dangit, Aguri. Now I have to actually be nice to Hyouga. Do you know how traumatizing that is for me?" She just smiled at him. "Rest up. Enjoy thy tentacles while you have them."
"I am taking a nap. I'm exhausted." She closed her eyes again.
Good idea. She could have a few minutes, and then he could take her home. "Lola, watch over Lady Aguri for me."
"Yes, God of Death." Lola stood by the door as they all left the room.
"The Lord Reaper giveth and the Lord Reaper taketh."
Huh? Koro looked toward the hallway. A random Sanctuarian he didn't know stood there. They started to move away once he noticed them. "Why'd she say that?"
"Nevermind her," the doctor said to him. "For the next twenty-four hours, I'll leave Aguri out of her shell. After that, she needs to go back in. Her mind is going to be doing some strange changes, so be prepared to help. Lord Reaper?"
Koro wasn't listening anymore, the doctor just brushed off his comment, and he wanted answers. Lola was watching the door, and if anyone did anything, her shriek would reach his attention.
Koro went to follow after the Sanctuarian who said that phrase. Giveth and taketh, stealing a moment to dare look at the face of what she thinks is her god. That's some anger. I want to know about that anger.
He found them, staring at a window. They froze awkwardly as he came toward them. They didn't kneel or shout praise, and they didn't curse.
"Hey," Koro called to them. "What was that just now? Why are you so angry with me? You have a problem with me?" He put out more tentacles. "Are you scared?"
Koro watched as the Sanctuarian dug something out of her strange dress pocket and rolled it to him.
Koro watched it hit his tentacle. It was a big egg. He picked it up and looked at it. He could see like no one else, and what he had seen? This egg was invincible, like him in his invincible ball form.
Like him? Is Aguri going to lay an egg?
Koro noticed the front tentacles of the Sanctuarian. He wasn't enjoying the surprises. "You are chewing on your tentacles."
She let out a strange laugh and staggered backwards. "Is it better this way? Lord giveth and taketh? Will you taketh? Should you giveth?"
She was out of her mind.
"Anti-matter. Anti-matter. Anti-matter." She started to breathe hard and she was sweating. "Why's anti-matter making eggs, God of Death? Why did you sculpt us in your image? Why were we your chosen sheep? I never even cheated on my taxes, why are you cursing me?!" Now she fell to her knees, but not to worship him. "It's mine, it's going to be my child soon, but I'm not going to be here. If I am, I won't be here." She tapped her head. "I want to protect it, everything in me wants to give it everything, but I know I can't. This world will damage it, hurt it, and want to destroy it." She started to curl up on the ground. "I can't take it if it doesn't survive. I can't take it if it does survive." She started to chew on her front tentacles.
"No, no, Kotori!" Another Sanctuarist slithered very quickly her way. "No no. It's okay. It's going to be okay." They looked at the egg Koro was holding. "Is that our egg?" He seemed real confused. "She just handed over our egg?"
Koro wasn't ready for the speed the Sanctuarian used to take back the egg, but he didn't need to stop it.
"She doesn't mean anything she said, don't hurt her or our egg," they insisted. "She's . . . just odd now. She'll get better." He stroked the egg. "It'll get better." Then his eyes went wide. "Lord Reaper, I wasn't thinking! I didn't mean to look like I was attacking, I was just worried about her and the egg and I didn't know if she asked you to do anything."
"Do all Sanctuarists go through this with an egg?" Would Aguri be going through that?
"It depends on how long the egg is in them," the Sanctuarist answered. "Kotori was on the bottom rack to them. They didn't take it out until nearly a month after they should have." He stroked his egg. "It should be hatching soon. Should."
The Lord Giveth and The Lord Taketh. I get it. Sanctuary drug their butt on helping her? This person in front of him, was going crazy, because of Sanctuary. Time to switch gears! "How'd you two meet? Oh, I love a good meeting story, I need to know!" He rubbed his tentacles together.
Of course, the Sanctuarist was a little confused by the change in subject. "We both worked at SETI. We were both . . ." He seemed to be watching his words carefully. "Rescued? Um. Together."
Ah. Taken away against their will, just like everybody else.
"They were excited when they met us and saw us as a couple. It would make the chances of having an egg successfully higher. When mommy already knew daddy. Of course, they didn't tell us that." He went and tried to reach for her, but she shirked him off this time. "Kotori."
Ooh. Another wrinkle. "How long have you been at Sanctuary?"
"A long time. It's a safe place not to worry about the regular world seeing us." He held the egg closely. "The more we all get along and stay peaceful here, the safer it feels." He rubbed his egg. "You have a very nice home. Could I ask, when we are finally leaving to our own planet? Is everyone going, or will it be in groups? Sanctuary down here will still be okay for us for awhile, won't it?"
Koro noticed Kotori crawling toward the window and rubbing her cheek against it. Hyouga was also walking their way, probably to brag he saved Aguri.
"Hyouga!" The Sanctuarist would be father seemed thrilled to see him. "Sorry, I was wondering, will Kevin or Rachel be able to be put in a shell as soon as it's born? Yet? You haven't given us any word?"
"Yeah, Hyouga." Koro was starting to get a whole new look to the place. When he went to Sanctuary, he just went to the Itty Bitty Class, and got dragged to meeting places. So far, he hadn't really met the other Sanctuarians. He had assumed they'd be just like the other nuts he'd met so far, or they were being converted to the nuts he met so far.
They sort of were, but not by their own will. This one though, seemed fine. The insanity might be from having eggs. Did Yanagisawa splice something with actual octopus too? "You need to take that egg out of Aguri. You didn't even bother telling me that she was laying an egg."
"There isn't much difference," he bullshitted him.
"There is a difference! A baby has to stay in, an egg can get the hell out."
"There needs to be a specific time to collect for the best chances for it to live," Hyouga said.
"I never put that in the deal." Koro didn't need an egg. "I said you needed to make sure she survives, but I have a new follow-up." He gestured toward Kotori. "I want her alive and sane."
"There is a precise limbo to navigate through it," Hyouga said, pretty much again. Like Koro was stupid or something?
"Did you know that even in captivity, a mother octopus only lives long enough to see her young hatch? The entire time she'll be watching over them, and even starve until they hatch. They were created to be self-reliant to survive." Koro was hitting him hard with facts, so he understood he wasn't stupid. "They chew on their own tentacles, and bang against things. No matter what, their life will end shortly after that egg hatches. Did you also know that for some reason, fathers also don't live very long? They tend to get stupid, go out hunting in the middle of the day, they just aren't made to survive."
"I see you know your facts."
"That egg needs to get of her now. The chances it's even going to survive aren't great, but I'm not letting Aguri go nuts just because of your messing around!" He gestured to the other Sanctuarians. "It's easy to see how I can be seen as a god, with the way nature makes everyone stupid who has eggs."
"There is a time to extract them that's best, and for them to keep their sanity," Hyouga said, adding just a small new part to his answer. "Kotori was overextended. She will still be fine."
"Oh yeah, says who, and who is judging the standards for fine? You've got years of research? Oh wait, no, you don't." Yeah, Koro could feel the wannabe father glaring at him. He was used to people wanting to kill him though, and he wasn't there to play friends. Not with Aguri's life.
She was the only life that mattered. She was the only one who had some shred of dignity, some shred of caring for him. "Aguri's here, right now. Ask her if she wants to get the egg out. You already have your awesome god here already, no need for a next in line, so do it."
"I am not the doctor," Hyouga said, "but I advise against it."
Then off to the doctor. Koro tried to look happy as he went back to the doctor. "Hello again! I'd like you to extract the egg from Aguri now please. No worries, I'm god after all, everything will be fine."
"Uuh?" The doctor didn't look too convinced.
"If you get it out, Hyouga," Koro said, changing his direction as he noticed Hyouga following. "Then you don't have to watch for Aguri anymore. Get it out and keep her alive and sane. If you can do that, I won't bug little brother on a bad day." Yet, he didn't hold one tentacle around him. "Unless he does something else."
Hyouga nodded. "Deal."
"Hyouga?" The doctor was concerned. "We've never removed an egg so early."
"The God of Death commands it." He gestured into the room. "Ask Aguri. If she agrees, so shall it be."
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An egg. It was an egg. They could have taken it out at any time and taken the danger away from Aguri! Ugh. She even had a close call that day, and they didn't do anything.
Meanwhile, he started to wonder how many Sanctuarians were worth saving, and how many weren't. I have to keep Hyouga and his repulsive brother here. I'm keeping Lola here, she's too fun and harmless to kill. That Sanctuarian I just talked to seemed okay, he should be on some kind of list to stay. Then again?
Maybe it wasn't so cut and dry after all. There were probably a thousand octopi, all differing ages, and now new little ones that came from eggs. Eventually, someone would find them and want to kill them. They knew how dangerous Koro had been, they would see them in the same light. Hmm. "Messenger of God?"
"Right here, right here!" Lola came bounding beside him. "I am right here again."
"Have you ever had an egg?" Koro asked her.
"Oh." She sounded disappointed. "I tried. It didn't make it. We all just try once, for the sake of our species."
Yep. The eggs did affect them, like real octopi. I'm not changing though. I haven't gone and gotten myself killed or anything. It looked like there was a degree where his sperm was taken in-between the change, that seemed to leave him okay. All procedure, none of the actual physical act. Hopefully, Aguri's luck was the same way. He hadn't noticed any changes in her yet. "Does it feel good to mate?"
"Anyplace and anytime," Lola said eagerly. "Oh, tentacles feel soooo good. Rubbing and twisting." She lost her octopi appearance for a regular naked woman again. "Ooh, and it's fun to change back and forth."
"I can't do that, but Aguri can." What?! "No, no." He banged his head. Aguri was playful with him, but that was that. "You don't help, back to octopi please."
"Yes, Lord." She dropped her human image. "Is there anything else you need Lord Reaper?"
"No." Just for Aguri to be okay. He didn't move very far from the surgery room. He wanted to be there, to be the one that made her better, but he had no clue how to perform it. Until now, he didn't even know it would be an egg she had.
Eventually, the doctor came back out. In his hands, was a small orange egg with bright pink spots. It was about the size of a regular chicken egg. "It's out. The chances it will survive is unknown. If it grows over the weeks, it should be fine. If it doesn't change after a few days, I would get rid of-"
Everyone ducked as the egg took off from the doctor's hand and ping ponged around the room.
"Okay, nevermind." The doctor saw the egg starting to roll around on the floor in a circle. "It's clearly fine. Congratulations."
Huh. Koro picked up the egg. He looked at it but didn't see a single vulnerable point. It was like looking at steel. Then in slipped from his grip. He quickly grabbed it again with a second tentacle. "Slippery."
"Anyhow, Lady Aguri is fine. It was small, it didn't take much to retrieve," the doctor informed him. "I really didn't think it would survive, but I suppose we did have this happen in a different way."
Yeah, without either of them knowing.
"She's sleeping it off again," The doctor said. "We warned her of what we would be doing, and she agreed with you to take it out. It's very small though, I'm not sure what kind of care it will need."
"Okay, stop that," Koro instructed as it kept trying to leave his tentacles. This thing wasn't some chicken yolk, it was clearly alive and moving. He grasped it with three tentacles.
Then it popped straight up. He tried to get it again with tentacles and recaught it. "I thought I had a lot of tentacles, but this thing is going to take fifty. How was it staying still in Aguri?"
"They feel connected and safe inside their mother," the doctor explained. "Now that it's out, it won't feel connected or safe."
Koro was trying to grasp it again, it just wouldn't stay still. "If I didn't have Mach speed, there's no way I could hold this."
"There is also another problem," the doctor pointed out. "The eggs typically become more docile and larger as time goes by. It's important not to let it get so out of control it's shell breaks. It needs to stay in its shell or it's chances might plummet."
Koro just watched as it literally plummeted itself into the ground so hard, it left a crack in the floor. "Oops."
Hyouga just smacked his forehead. "God. Of. Death. You don't give a shit about any single life except Aguri, do you?!"
"Aguri's life is tied to mine," Koro said to him as he picked the egg up. "I don't wish the egg ill will, but you guys have been playing god with us, for fun. I don't consider life worthless though. I didn't spend the last year killing senselessly. That isn't me anymore." He spun the egg, and it surprised them that it stayed content spinning. "It's as impenetrable as me when I go into my bubble form. I could throw this into a volcano and nothing would happen to it." In fact, it'd probably think it was fun. "It isn't coming out until it wants to. So? Can all of your BS because you don't know as much as you think." He held the egg tightly. "Tired or not, I'm seeing Aguri."
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Aguri found herself being woken up by a goofy Koro playing with a chicken egg. She was in her human form right now. "That's not . . .?"
"Yep. Our little lovey octopussy pie somehow made it. It's as big an asshole as I am," he pointed out. "It's hard to hold."
"I wasn't planning on it making it. It's nice it did, I didn't like having to make that decision. I know that it was probably going to kill me though." Aguri watched the egg rolling around on Koro's tentacles, without his aid. "You became a slide."
"As long as it's preoccupying itself," he said back. "Tired Aguri. The doctor said I should leave you alone. So, I'm here. He tends to be wrong about everything."
Aguri smiled. She watched the strange egg. "That really came out of me? That looks like a colorful chicken egg." Oh. She had absolutely no idea how to feel. "I thought I killed it."
"I thought I did too, but I killed all the time. Wasn't a big leap." When he said that, the egg leaped across tentacles to the other side. "Fast learner."
"Hyouga asked me what I wanted to name it," Aguri said softly. "I said Franklin because that lovable turtle had problems with his shell too." She heard God of Death's funny little laugh. The only little laugh that could come from him. "I didn't. Really. Know surviving would be a thing it could ever do." It was clearly going to survive. It wouldn't even stop playing around on Koro's tentacles. "You're a giant playground to it."
This, egg. It survived. She should be out of the danger zone. So? "I think I'm really going to be okay. No more dying. Right?"
"Right, and you'll stay sane too. Bonus," Koro insisted as the egg trecked against his never changing smile. He caught it falling off his face with his tentacle and launched it back in the air to start playing against his tentacles again.
"So then. I have a long future." She watched the egg playing around his tentacles. "As a . . . mom?" The word sounded foreign. She always wanted to be a teacher, but motherhood wasn't the track she was looking for.
Her egg made it. It would hatch and be a child. Octopus child. Which made her a mom. For the rest of her life. An octopus mom.
"Oops, you don't look so good," Koro warned her as he placed his front tentacles around her back. "Easy, Aguri."
"I already had your egg," she said, "how much easier do I have to get?" Of course, her little comment made Koro pink. That meant extra happy, or naughty thoughts. Both were fine. "This complicates things." What to do with it when they were working. Controlling it. What to do when it hatched. "You can't fade back into particles now, you have to help."
"I'm a pretty good playground for it," he joked. "This is not my scene, Aguri. Being around something innocent in any way was very far from my scene. Death, murder, assassination, teaching, I'm good at those things. This isn't any of them."
"I'm no better," she added. "Can I tempt you?"
Koro turned himself around to look at her upside down. "I'm open to knowing how?"
"How do you want me to tempt you?"
"I hear the back tentacles feel really good to touch to other tentacles."
She touched his front tentacles and moved them to touch his back tentacles. "Does that feel good?" She joked. That's all she really did with him. Joke, laugh, watch movies, have a good time, and talk about their teaching. Neither of them wanted to talk about what would happen or when it would happen.
They never did. Even when she watched him in the past, they didn't discuss much beyond her.
But that was the past now. Now, they would have to make more than small talk, and she hated the idea of that, but now another life was being brought into her no-longer-short life. And-
"You are in your human form," Koro noticed. "Did they just pluck the egg from deep inside your butt?"
"I don't think anyone was deep inside my butt. I hope no one had been. That's a very private place only for special people."
"Am I special?"
"You are the most special person in the world." Sure. They would have a serious conversation. Later. "I should talk to you seriously, but I just can't when an egg is riding you like a never-ending amusement park."
"Good! I hate serious conversations," he answered her. "We'll leave it for the very last minute, so we can ignore it and just enjoy ourselves right now. Procrastination is my good friend."
"Denial tends to be mine. We have slumber parties and braid each other's hair," she said back.
"Ooh, what do you do at your slumber parties besides braid each other's hair?" Koro asked.
"Interesting stuff, but denial would never admit it."
Yeah. Right now denial, procrastination, refusing, and brushing off were leaders in the party between them. Responsibility and real life could show up afterward.