"It was."
"Do you mate with a lot of females?"
"No. I have not in a very long while." Before he did spend time with the pleasure women, as many of the cyborgs, but it had been many years.
Perhaps that was why his Craving was humming so strongly. He needed that physical release.
"Me, either."
He paused. He was about to ask her a question, but she cut him off.
"Wait, no. I mean that I have not had a sexual partner in a long time. And I rarely have had one that was more than just a physical release."
"What else is there besides the physical release?" Kolvin asked.
She blinked. "I would hope that you would know what that means."
"Are we not discussing physical mating?"
"Right. Yeah. Okay." she sighed and ran her hands through her dark hair. "Okay. I think what we have here is a misunderstanding. When I say a mate, what do you think that means?"
"A mate is a partner. Someone to have physical mating with regularly. To help and protect and provide company."
"Permanently, or just temporarily?"
He blinked. "It must be temporarily. One shall die at some point."
"Right. Got it. Okay." She blinked. "You know what you didn't mention?"
"What is that?"
"Children. You did not say anything about offspring."
"I cannot have offspring."
"You cannot?"
He shook his head. "Rhimodians have yet to find a species that can conceive with them. Our genetics are unique, and we cannot reproduce with any humanoid. We have searched for compatible species, but at my last connection, we had not been able to find a way to conceive."
She nodded again and started to look around. Then back at him. Opened her mouth to speak but stopped herself.
Then started to again.
And stopped.
Finally, she did speak. "Okay, a lot to unpack there. First, though, what do you mean you cannot connect?"
"I have been disconnected from Master System for five years."
"Why don't you reconnect?"
"I was not able to before," he said. "And now that I have started the journey home, I have yet to reconnect."
"Why not?"
"That is a question I have been attempting to solve myself. None of us have been able to, and we all would like to hear the voice of Master System again."
He missed the voice. Very much. He needed new protocols to update his data. He was operating under old information. If they were going back home, then the war was over. With the war with the Terran Empire over, what did that mean for the Rhimodians? What was their position now in the sector? Were they a part of the Terran Empire, as was one of Emperor Bron's goals?
