“I chose the life. I’d been around Omegas my whole life, Creators too. Engineers. But I’m not real technical or patient. I have a tendency to like things to just be good enough, and then I move on. Now, back to what it feels like being humanoid stardust.”
Evo leans back in the bed and tucks a knee up to his chest, then adjusts the tubes so they run along the side of the bed. He looks up at the ceiling and tucks a hand behind his head. “Compared to being a solid Titan, it’s kind of…fizzy. I’m hot and sort of feel like a contained wave of energy beads that curls heavily through me. It’s just my nanos always sensing things around me, waiting for the next stimulus. Like Atomizer, only Idon’t disaggregate unless I contact a Titan like him or Fracture. And I’m…”
Evo runs a hand over his chest.
“Are you okay?”
“Fine. Ultromotor’s running high. Maybe because I’m finally thinning out my blood, and it’s working out the junk. I don’t know.” Evo tilts his head and looks over at me. “I feel like Atomizer, except like my orbs are all mini suns. Chasm would understand. Ash too. Many of us share tech. I’m sure you saw Fury, the fiery Relic, in the meeting.”
“I did.”
“He has BlazePins that make him catch on fire. Us Rogues have those but in our nanos. So when we change, we can emit more than fire. Ash can detonate a whole ship. Chasm can tear a ship in half. I’ve seen it. But a maximum transformation of that level of power can nearly take us offline for good.”
“The Black Death,” I offer.
He nods. “Tried to find my way there many times.”
The dejection in his eyes as he stares into the distance is heartbreaking. “But we survive because we are strong enough to. That means we must keep going.”
Evo looks exhausted.
“Why don’t you rest? I can sit up and watch.”
“Can’t. To hold my shape, I have to stay awake. If I default to my stardust, the machine will stop working. I have to stay in Titan form.”
“So, what, you’renota Titan anymore?”
Evo chews his lip. “I don’t know what I am. I know only what I care about and what I can do. Eon is made of shadows now. I am made of light. When we fight together, we do what we call Ghosting. We literally phase out of the material world and into an energetic essence that bullets can cut through and not harm us. But it also means that anything not nano-receptive, likeweapons or ships or whatever, will phase through us as well. So our nano-receptive armor is critical.”
“Why’s that?”
Evo laughs. “Otherwise, when we separate, we’re both naked. That makes everything awkward.”
“Bet it makes Solcrue jealous.”
He squints over at me. “Why would they ever envy Titans?”
I curl my lips into my mouth and shrug, realizing he has no idea.
“Aera, what are you talking about?”
“I have an idea of how big your gun is.”
“I am not armed.”
Oh, hell.I slap a hand over my face. “You’re such a Titan.”
“That is correct, for the moment,” Evo mutters.
“I can’t believe I have to explain this to you.” I hang my head back in exasperation. “I mean, I know your mating programming was buried and only supposed to be accessible when you were freed and met a compatible mate, but here goes.
“Solcrue have tiny dicks. I mean, not like tiny, as in they don’t function. But they are on the small side for a human descendant. Creators gave you appropriate Titan-sized hardware. And don’t think I haven’t felt it. You’ve been keeping me against you since we met.”
Evo’s lips part like he’s in shock at what I’ve just said. “I didn’t mean to…”
“Does everything stay the same size when you shift?” I ask.
“Well, uh… Yes?”
