"Where did we end up this time?" Rowena asked in an exasperated tone, as she knew that after the alert Spector had made, they could be anywhere.
"Temporal analysis complete. We have travelled back in time to the universal year, thirty-two zero four and are currently in sector two," Spector replied.
"Thirty-two zero four, so we travelled back in time a further twenty-five years?" Rowena said while sighing in relief before adding, "That's not too bad and at least we are in the right sector that we were aiming for.]
[OfficialLorelie (Felinia 7): Oh, thank god, that could have been so much worse.]
[AlamoMatador4thewin (Earth): I still can't get over that they are time-travelling.]
[Beinglittleisnotadisadvantage (Strathorp 7): You're not the only one.]
[1000yearsofdeath (Earth): Upset that your Dwarfinian science directorate was wrong? Kekeke.]
[Beinglittleisnotadisadvantage (Strathorp 7): …]
[DeverinianLordMalacoss (Deverinian 9): It's not only the time travel but also the fact that they can travel across the universe at a moment's notice. I mean, they just moved from sector three to sector two, something that should have taken them months even when using the jumpgates.]
"Will the item we need still be on Solarian Prime?" Adam asked with concern.
"Afirmative."
"Good," Adam said with a sigh of relief before asking, "How far are we from there?"
"Using the subspace drive, we are approximately three hours away," Spector replied.
"We are much closer than I was expecting," Rowena said with a smile.
"Set course for Solarian Prime and enter subspace," Adam instructed.
"Affirmative," Spector replied before the stream switched to show a subspace tear appear that crackled with lightning along its edges before Spector flew inside.
Within the royal palace of Slorian Prime, a young girl of around 11 years of age who had short blonde hair and elf-like features ran down the hall with an excited smile.
"BIG SISTER!" A young voice called out from a hallway that the 11-year-old had just run past, making her skid to a stop before sticking her head around the corner to see an even younger girl walking towards her while holding the hand of a mature woman, both of them also had elf-like features and blonde hair, though the mature womans was long instead of short and reached down her back.
"Mother, Ulesse," The 11-year-old said while coming around the corner.
"Where are you off to in such a hurry, Liluth?" The woman asked with a smile as she looked at her daughter.
"To Capital University, there are representatives of the Dwarfinian science directorate who are going to make a presentation," Liluth replied with excitement.
"Oh? What's the presentation about?" Liluth's mother, Queen Riniya Solar, asked with a smile.
"The theoretical repercussions on the body, both mental and physical, for long-term stasis travel in subspace," Liluth replied.
"The thretica reprocusis on the body…," Ulesse said as she tried to pronounce the hard words before pausing, tilting her head and asking, "What?"
"Don't worry, dear. You will understand when you're older," Riniya said as she stroked Ulesse's hair before turning to Liluth and saying, "That's a very in-depth topic. Make sure not to interrupt. You're not a student there yet and are only able to observe the lectures and presentations because the university head gave you special permission. Don't cause trouble for the students who earned their place there."
"I won't, mother," Liluth said obediently before turning around and running off again so that she wouldn't be late for the presentation.
"That girl, she must have inherited her intelligence from me, as it definitely wasn't from her father," Riniya said with a smile as she watched Liluth leave.
Ulesse tilted her head to the side before asking, "Mommy, is daddy dumb?"
"HAHAHAHA," Riniya burst into laughter at her daughter's question before nodding and saying, "Yes, dear, your father is very dumb."
"Daddies a big dumbo," Ulesse said with a proud smile, making Riniya laugh loudly again.
"So we need to discuss something," Rowena said while rubbing her hands together as she sat opposite Adam at one of the mess hall tables before adding, "It's a personal matter, so would you mind muting the stream again?"
"Sure," Adam replied with a nod before saying, "Spector."
"Stream muted."
[Handsome3horns (Vinox 2): Seriously? If he keeps muting the stream like this, I might have to go find someone else to watch. 😡]
[Superior4horns (Vinox 3): By all means, no one wants you here anyway.]
[HackerSu (Trillion): That's right. Why don't you go watch Prime? He is more your style.]
[Handsome3horns (Vinox 2): …]
"I'm guessing this is about my blood?" Adam asked curiously.
"That's correct," Rowena replied before continuing, "As you heard when I informed the progenitor. I am now addicted to your blood and can't feed on any other. I tried feeding on Celeste's, but my body would just not react to it at all."
"I see," Adam replied before asking, "Are you not able to feed on any other blood other than mine at all? Like drinking it out of a glass or something?"
"I could, but if it's like in the past with the first pureblood we Brood encountered, my body won't absorb what it needs from the blood to function. In the past, the Brood that eventually went mad could still drink blood out of a glass or something, but if it wasn't pureblood they were drinking, then it was essentially just like drinking wine or water."
"So what you're saying is that I need to take responsibility?"
"Hey, it's not like I'm pregnant, why are you phrasing it that way?" Rowena asked with a pout as she blushed slightly.
"You're the one who told me before you drank my blood that if this happened, I had to take responsibility," Adam replied before asking, "So in the future, I need to let you feed on me?
"If that's not too much to ask," Rowena replied while still pouting.
"Well, you will die if I don't, right?"
"Die or go mad and then die."
"Then it's not too much to ask," Adam replied calmly.
"You're agreeing that quickly?" Rowena asked in surprise.
"Is that surprising? I thought people went out of their way to allow Brood to feed on them?" Adam asked in confusion.
"Sorry, I guess Stacey didn't tell you," Rowena replied before explaining, "Brood don't normally feed on individuals that another Brood already feeds on. This is because a body contains only so much blood and the more Brood that feed on that body, the less blood each Brood will get, with the individual also risking death from blood loss."
"Makes sense," Adam replied while nodding before adding," But I don't really see a problem as long as the two of you don't feed on me at the same time or back to back. I usually fall unconscious after Stacey feeds on me because of the blood loss, but after a rest and some food, I'm normally fine."
"I noticed this previously, but I thought you were just putting up a strong front. Are you saying that your body has recovered completely after a few hours' sleep and some food?" Rowena asked in surprise.
"Is that unusual?" Adam asked.
"How long does your race normally take to recover after severe blood loss?" Rowena asked in return.
"Errr, I'm not actually sure," Adam replied before asking, "Spector?"
"According to medical data gathered from Earth's World Wide Web, an Earthling should take roughly four to six weeks to fully recover their lost blood cells," Spector replied.
"Four to six weeks?" Adam asked in surprise.
"That sounds about right for most humanoid races in the universe; that's why we Brood normally only feed on an individual every month or two," Rowena replied before giving Adam her signature smirk and asking, "So, you tell me, is your unaturally high blood recovery unusual?"
"I guess so," Adam replied as he remembered the times in the past when he was injured from the physical bullying he received and left beaten, bruised and bleeding, only to fully recover within a couple of days except for a few bruises.
"Now that I think about it, I guess my natural recovery speed is a bit abnormal," Adam stated.
"How did you never notice something like this before?" Rowena asked in mild disbelief.
"I had no one to reference it against, I mean, I had no family or any real friends before Jenny," Adam replied before asking, "Is this because of my pureblood?"
"Possibly. Though since I have never met anyone from your race in the past, I can't honestly say," Rowena replied.
"Well, regardless," Adam said, putting his unnatural recovery speed aside for the moment to continue their original conversation, "I'm fine with you feeding on my blood when you need to, as long as it's not when Stacey does it."
"That's fine, I don't particularly like the idea of feeding on you at the same time as my granddaughter anyway," Rowena replied.
"Ok, so do you need to feed now?" Adam asked
"Now? As in right now?" Rowena asked in surprise.
"Yeah," Adam replied before saying, "You have been shooting looks at my neck for a while now and every time you do, your eyes glow slightly brighter; it's what Stacey's eyes do when she is feeding on me."
"I have?" Rowena asked in surprise before saying apologetically, "I hadn't noticed, sorry."
"No need to apologise. I'm guessing your body craves more of my blood since you stopped short earlier to heal Stacey."
"I can't deny that fact," Rowena replied as only she knew how hard she was fighting to stay in control of her body.
"Then here," Adam said, holding out his wrist before giving Rowena a smirk that was reminiscent of her own and saying, "I would offer you my neck, but I don't think we have reached that point yet."
"Hmph, what do you mean yet?" Rowena pouted while standing up and moving around the table to sit next to Adam just as the stream switched to show Spector flying through subspace.
[StealthAssassin9 (Earth): WTF is this? Some kind of 'Be right back' screen?]
"When did you get so good at mimicking my smirk? I also noticed it before," Rowena asked as her bicuspid teeth lengthened and she began to almost instinctively sniff his wrist.
"Well, it's such a good smirk, I guess I picked it up naturally," Adam replied as he watched Rowena's reaction with interest. It seemed to be far more instinctual and predatory than Stacey's.
As if Rowena were some kind of apex predator that had just caught her prey, she didn't respond but instead opened her mouth and bit down into Adam's skin, causing his blood to gush out into her mouth, which she quickly started to feast upon with relish as she lost herself in the feeding.
Adam himself quickly stopped paying attention to Rowena as he, too, lost himself in the pleasure that her feeding on him brought.