"Why don't you stay and help these fine young ladies with their science work? It's been a while since you got to really hang out, and Miss Molly can take the boys to go work out with the soldiers?" Dave suggested as they were finishing breakfast.
"We don't need you right away, so you can have lunch with them as well, maybe even bring them to the lab afterward to see how scientists do things in real life," Nico added.
"That sounds amazing. How about it, ladies? Would you like to spend the day with me while you learn?"
Both girls looked overjoyed for the opportunity as they high-fived each other, then shared an excited look.
"Yes, please. Can we call over some friends to study as well? Some girls on the Cruise Ship side are our age."
"I don't see why not. If they don't mind studying while on vacation, that is." Max reluctantly agreed.
"Oh, no need to worry about that. They're Innu. I've never met an Innu that doesn't love science class." Sandy informed him with a smile.
She had a point, and Max knew what she meant. Not many guests brought their children, especially young ones, so the two tiny figures rocketing through the gravity slides had been easy thoughts for Max to pick out after they had arrived.
He mentally searched the ship for the pair and found them at one of the water park cafés, preparing for a busy day of their mother's mandatory lessons.
That was even better. They were already going to be in an informal class, so he wouldn't be interrupting their vacation. Just their mothers carefully created learning plans.
He sent a message to their parents right away, via the barista at the coffee shop where they were sitting, requesting that the two girls join him and his sisters for a morning science lesson.
[They have agreed, with the stipulation that it must be a serious lesson and not an excuse to fool around with their friends.] The barista informed him after a few seconds' pause.
The children's thoughts told Max that their mother had them studying an introduction to electrical engineering today. A tall order for most grade school children, but kids with higher system compatibility mentally developed much faster than most humans, and the Innu's innate talent for technology gave them a great advantage in learning applied science.
[Tell them that we will be studying the fundamentals of building holographic projections.] Max replied and began to plan out his day.
The first stop would actually be the medical bay since the girls' development made him believe that his dear mother had bribed the delivering doctor to F Rank the twins without a test.
With a recorded report of zero talent, they would only have one mandatory government follow-up at six years old when they entered grade school, and the girls hadn't been that old when they left Kepler Terminus.
"First stop, the clinic. The Regiment's doctor is going to run a quick aptitude scan so that I can make a real custom lesson plan for you and make sure you won't have any problems being in the lab with lots of machinery around." He informed his sisters, who would have willingly agreed to almost anything up to and including eating brussels sprouts for dinner if it meant a whole morning with their friends learning science with Max.
The regimental doctor had a very useful set of System Functions for this purpose. First, he could identify the functionality of other systems, which would tell him a lot about internal injuries without any tools, and a secondary function would allow him to instruct another person's system to begin healing at a higher rate as long as he focused on them.
But most importantly for today, when he focused on them, he could tell what level of system compatibility a subject had. It was a common function developed by doctors who were always working with Kepler patients, but also in high demand for government workers doing assessments and for security officers whose job was detecting infiltration attempts.
"Hey, Doc. Can you do a quick compatibility assessment on my sisters and then make sure light bursts and strobes won't trigger them? I want to begin teaching them about holographic projectors." Max asked.
The doctor seemed a bit surprised, but Max's request would only take a few seconds, so he went to fetch a vision tester from the cabinet. The first round of scans was quick and easy, and brought up a wealth of data on the Doctor's tablet that he began to scroll through to verify it against the records he already had for them.
[I'm not sure this should be spoken out loud. Did you already know that they're only half-human?] The doctor asked Max, tapping his temple to alert the Commander of his intent.
[What do you mean half-human? Were there any other options on Kepler Terminus at the time?] Max replied.
[I think they've been Gene Spliced with a Siren. You know, those singing harpies with winged arms, known for beauty and their voices? They're not native to Kepler Terminus, but the black market designer babies often get a bit of their genome to make them beautiful.]
[And these two had half their genome replaced? Will there be side effects?] Max asked.
[Nothing major. As identical twins, they've developed the same Innate Talent, Enhanced Charisma, so others will instinctively like them, and they've got a low Beta Ranked compatibility. They're still your sisters, though. The scan says you are biologically related.]
[Thanks Doc]
That was a lot to take in. The fact that they had been genetically altered was not surprising, knowing his mother wanted pageant queens as daughters, but the fact they were related to Max was a shock. His genetics didn't fully match his mother's. They had been altered during his reincarnation to more closely resemble his past life.
He didn't know if there was a chance for that to have lingering effects on her body, but knowing that these were biologically his half-sisters due to genetic engineering, added a depth to the brotherly connection that Max hadn't really felt before.
Sure, he recognized them as family, but he despised his parents, so keeping their other children around was more of an obligation and a kindness to Dave, who had always wanted a family, than a sign of a particularly close family bond.
But now he knew that they really were related to him, the real him from his past life, with intelligence and potential, which would activate a strong system when they came of age. It made him feel less alone in the world and gave him the motivation to ensure that they learned everything they could before age twelve, so the system would know what way to guide them.
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