This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/Nemo__404 on 2024-10-29 23:30:11+00:00.
Luna VI query: Set the source to the leaked files of the first reconnaissance operation of Irisa.
No Problem!
Luna VI query: Tell me about the day that Nathan became a father.
Your request will generate an account from multiple points of view. Do you wish to proceed?
Luna VI query: Yes.
***
Ryo’s perspective:
Ryo leaned against the glass railing, his gaze drifting over the blue leaves in the atrium garden below. Over the past few months, he had come to realize that the Irisians rarely visited this place, making it an ideal spot for conversations without being confined to his or Elysira’s rooms.
Beside him, Elysira watched a line of guards crossing the floor below, her claws tapping impatiently on the glass, betraying her eagerness to resume their conversation once the guards were out of earshot.
Ryo, however, was less impatient. He glanced at her, still adjusting to her new look. She wore a military jacket, much like the one he had worn in the mountains of the Ebon Range, paired with light jeans and shoes that most Irisians would probably find distasteful. Every inch of her skin was covered, except for her neck and face—the only places where she could display her emotions.
Over the past month, he had watched her transition to this style. It began with her desire to hide the scar left by her missing tail using human pants. That led to matching shoes, and finally, the jacket—to conceal her growing belly.
She wasn’t worried about Amara or the elders noticing; her greater concern was how the rest of her people might view her, labeling her a traitor more than they already had. After all, Amara’s forgiveness couldn’t erase the past from the minds of those who still held it against her.
As he watched her, Elysira’s orange eyes tracked the guards as they disappeared from view. She turned to him, speaking as soon as they were gone.
"We can’t keep living like this, Ryo. Amara’s baby is due soon, and we don’t even know how long you can stay on Irisa after the mission ends." She pointed to her eyes, frustration evident in her tone. "This blue makeup is driving me crazy. I’m tired of hiding and waiting for you to decide. I need to know what we’re going to do when the mission is over."
As she spoke, red filled her face, intensifying the contrast with the blue around her eyes.
"It depends on what the Prime Minister says," Ryo replied, unfazed by her rising temper. "I told you already. I could be ordered to stay or be sent back to Mars. Ivanov gave us the money, but I’m still a soldier. We agreed you’d go with me, wherever that is. Why are we having this conversation again?"
He watched as her mouth opened and closed, recalling their ups and downs over the past months. There had been rough patches after she first introduced him to the children, but also good moments—especially after Nathan convinced him to apologize and be more open with her. Yet, despite it all, their relationship never felt solid. It always seemed like things could fall apart at any moment.
He envied Nathan and Amara. They seemed to bulldoze through their problems so easily, and Ryo often attributed that to Amara’s elevated status and Nathan’s civilian freedom. But deep down, he suspected they were simply better at communicating—something he was still learning to replicate.
"I won’t know what’s wrong unless you tell me." He was tempted to ruffle her hair playfully, like Nathan always did with Amara, but the very idea felt childish and foolish.
Elysira’s eyes met his, and he noticed purple concentrating along her neck, deepening with each breath. "I... can’t go with you."
Can’t go with him? Ryo’s gaze sharpened, anger bubbling beneath the surface. He saw the purple spread across her face, but clenched his teeth, forcing himself to stay calm. A flood of negative thoughts rushed through his mind—how could she just decide this? Had someone influenced her? Why agree to have a child only to stay behind?
But he didn’t let the anger take over. He unclenched his fists, taking a deep breath before speaking, his voice harsh but measured. "Explain your reasons."
Her skin was still flushed with purple, and her eyes avoided his. "I’ve thought about this a lot." Her voice was soft, hesitant. She glanced at him, but his expression remained firm, though her orange eyes always had the power to reach him.
"When Amara’s baby is born, it’ll be one of a kind. And when ours comes, it’ll be the second. They’ll grow up alone—different from everyone around them. Can you imagine being the only human in the world? That kind of loneliness is scarier than being shunned. They’ll be fundamentally different, and there’s nothing we can do to change that..."
As she spoke, her fears became raw and exposed—fears that their child wouldn’t be accepted, that they might be exploited by either species. Ryo’s anger dissolved into understanding as she continued, and by the time she finished, he felt a strange new fear of his own.
"...I want to go with you, but it wouldn’t be fair to take our child away from the only other being like them."
By the time she finished, Ryo’s expression softened, and guilt flickered within him. He hadn’t fully grasped her fears before—he’d been so focused on their future together that he hadn’t considered how isolating it would be for their child. Now, her words told him what he had missed. Her concerns were valid, and the life he’d envisioned for them might not be what was best for their future. Silently, he began to agree with her, realizing that staying on Irisa might be the better choice after all.
Seconds passed as her anxiety grew, but eventually, Ryo spoke, his voice sending a wave of purple across her face. "You can’t go with me. I understand." His hand moved to her cheek, gently touching her skin. As his fingers lingered, he watched the purple recede, giving way to gray instead of yellow.
Sharing her sadness, Ryo’s thoughts raced for a solution. Even in the worst case, he could visit Irisa while on leave. And with money no longer an issue, he might even consider taking steps toward a full discharge, though that was a decision for the future. Just as he was about to bring up those possibilities, their moment was interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps. Elysira’s skin instantly shifted back to blue, her emotions once again concealed.
The source of the footsteps was a male Irisian, likely a guard, sprinting toward them. The first thing that struck Ryo was the oddity of it—it wasn’t every day that he saw an Irisian making such a noisy entrance. As the guard approached and stopped abruptly, bowing with his tail wrapping around his legs, Ryo’s second thought was the urge to punch him. Why now, of all times?
The reason quickly followed. "Princess Amara has gone into labor, and we can’t find Nathan anywhere. Do you have any way to contact him?"
Elysira’s neck shifted to purple in surprise, while Ryo’s brow furrowed. He suspected Mia or Reynolds might have better means to reach Nathan, but then he recalled how communication systems often only worked flawlessly when higher-ups were involved. Perhaps this was the case with Earth’s comms as well.
Without hesitation, Ryo made a decision. Turning to Elysira, he said, "You go check on the princess. I’ll find the plant lover."
Both Elysira and the guard stared at him, momentarily speechless. Seeing their surprise, he added, "What? I think I know where to find him, that’s all."
Before they could respond, Ryo was already running, disappearing into the corridors and leaving them behind.
Nathan's perspective:
Under a massive tree with vines tangled in its canopy, Nathan sat cross-legged, leaning against the trunk. In his lap was an old book, both his hands gripping it as his mind struggled with the contents. Over the past three months, Nathan had abandoned botany entirely, redirecting his focus to the cultural aspects of the Irisians. This shift had meant spending more time in Caladris’ library than wandering the forest above the dome.
Though he didn’t mind being a 'library rat' deep down, he knew this sedentary work wasn’t for him. To compensate, he had taken his reading outside, settling under the shade of the tree while the dangerous blue light filtered down around him, adding a small thrill to the normally peaceful activity.
The book he was reading wasn’t about Irisian history or culture, as his studies usually were, but about something he had once dismissed as trivial—their language and names. His newfound interest hadn’t stemmed from the translator’s shortcomings, but from a conversation with Amara. They had been discussing names for their child, and it struck Nathan just how little they knew about each other's languages—especially when it came to names.
By Amara’s choice, the gender of their unborn baby was kept secret, known only to him and a few humans. Something about Irisian succession rules and elder politics that only Amara truly understood. But ever since Reynolds had revealed the gender to them, the topic of boy names had become a focal point in their lives, leading them to some unconventional methods.
Nathan’s first idea had been to immerse himself in books, hoping to find a name that sounded good in both languages. But he quickly discovered that replicating many of the Irisian phonemes—especially the clicking sounds—was beyond him. They then tried Am...
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