Krieger groaned. “Seriously, Alex?” he asked as the once silent room broke out into surprised conversation and questions. “If I didn’t see that signature look of subdued satisfaction at seeing the surprise on everyone’s face, I would assume you were a doppelganger.”

  “I would never—wait, how can you tell I look satisfied?” He honestly thought he hid his emotions rather well, even now.

  “Your face looks exactly like your avatar did when you liked to surprise people. It’s hard not to notice that slight change when you did it every time you revealed something new to me,” Krieger replied over the noise, which had grown in volume.

  “Good to know,” he muttered, the words were lost in the chaos and noise of the room. He would address that in a moment, but first, he wanted to see his daughter’s reaction.

  When Alexander turned to her, she was frozen in shock, her mouth slightly hanging open. Instead of trying to talk over everyone else, he simply held his arms out wide, inviting her in for a real hug.

  She did hesitate for a moment, but once that moment passed, she practically threw herself against him. It felt much less awkward to hug his daughter now that he wasn’t eight feet tall and wider than a man wearing a heavy augment suit.

  His new form was taller than average and could now match the heights of most Asgardians. He wasn’t as stout or muscled as they tended to be, however. He had spent enough time being that way and was sick of scraping against doors or having to turn to fit in tighter spots, so he went with a more bookish build.

  Not that it mattered. He was still stronger than any human; in fact, he was stronger than he had been in his old body. He should be extremely dense as well, given that he was made from an alloy, but the alloy could change its density. He had a vague idea of how that might be possible, thanks to his new knowledge about gravity plating, but as to how the Collective incorporated that into the living alloy, he couldn’t say.

  Alexander smiled and shook off those thoughts. Maybe one day he could puzzle it out, but he had more important matters at hand. He released Yulia, and she pulled away. Her eyes were red, but she was smiling. He could feel his new t-shirt and lab coat were wet from her tears—which was weird to think about—but he ignored that as he smiled back.

  Then he turned to address the clamor for his attention. It took over an hour to answer everyone’s questions. Most, he didn’t have an answer for. Some people didn’t appreciate that; Lucas, in particular, seemed annoyed, but that was just Lucas. Damien also gave him a suspicious glare, but Alexander couldn’t tell if it was the Head of Security’s normal suspicious nature or something extra. He would talk with the man later to make sure.

  Everyone else seemed thrilled by the change, although Eva Wu did scold him severely for springing something like that on everyone. Then she told him it didn’t matter what he looked like on the outside, so long as what was on the inside had not changed.

  That and other comments made him feel much better about his decision to take on human form.

  After no more questions were forthcoming for over a minute, Krieger ended the meeting.

  Alexander asked a few people to stick around and waited for the rest to filter out. Within an hour, rumors of what he was capable of would join the other rumors of his return, likely spreading through the facility at light speed, thanks to all the crews on leave.

  The first person Alexander approached was Huang Na. The man had been silent through the entire meeting, barely even reacting when Alexander displayed his capabilities. The only time he had scowled was when he had introduced the Collective members.

  “Thank you for agreeing to wait so I could speak with you.”

  “I assume it would have been now or later. I saw no point in delaying the inevitable.”

  Alexander nodded to the man as a sad smile slipped onto his face. “I want to apologize for not being the one to tell you of your son’s death.”

  “That was hardly your fault,” the man said stiffly, but his gaze flicked to Four and Serina.

  “It’s not their fault either,” Alexander added quietly.

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  “Did they not have the power to stop the Shican?” Huang asked pointedly.

  “It’s more complicated than it seems. You should ask Four about it.”

  “Perhaps another time,” Huang said. Then he bowed slightly, turned around, and walked out of the room.

  Alexander sighed. He knew people were going to blame the Collective for the war or at least for not stepping in to help against the Shican, and he couldn’t even say they were wrong to do so. They had destroyed the hypergates and the Shican vessels that came through the first wave. If they hadn’t intervened, most of humanity would likely already be dead or fleeing to the far corners of the universe. People would be quick to forget that when they turned their backs and allowed the Shican to kill their family and loved ones.

  He didn’t feel that way anymore. Based on everything he had learned about the Shican, he had come to his own conclusions about the aliens. The Shican would have returned in time and wiped humanity out, even without the Collective drawing their attention, just as they were attempting to do now. At least with the advanced warning, they had time to prepare and try to find a way to counter them.

  He glanced over and spotted Lucas waving eagerly to get his attention. Alexander held a finger up to ask for a minute. The man’s enthusiasm wavered slightly, but he nodded.

  Alexander made his way to Yulia, who was looking anywhere other than at Serina. He tapped her on the shoulder, making her jump slightly.

  “Oh, hey A—dad,” she said.

  “You can still call me Alex if you want, I don’t mind. Just, maybe sprinkle in dad once in a while.”

  “O-Okay,” she said hesitantly.

  “Hmm, that’s not the self-assured Yulia I know. What’s the matter?”

  Her eyes started to turn toward Serina, but she stopped herself. “Nothing, just overwhelmed.”

  “Uh-huh. Why don’t you go speak with her?”

  “And say what?” she asked angrily.

  “Whatever you want. I believe she also has something to say to you, but she’s too afraid to approach you.”

  “What!” Yulia exclaimed, but quickly lowered her voice. “She’s like a super advanced and powerful AI. What could she be afraid of?”

  Alexander nodded, finding out he really enjoyed the sensation instead of sending a signal to a holo projector to mimic it for him. “Some of that is true, but she’s also young. They all are. Think of her emotional intelligence as that of a ten-year-old. Maybe even younger. It’s hard to give a perfect approximation, since they aren’t human.”

  This time, Yulia did glance over at the girl. “I’m still angry at her and her family for what they did. I don’t know if I can forgive them.”

  “Then don’t, but I do think you should listen to what she has to say.”

  “Alright,” she conceded. “Dog, come on.”

  Dog barked and followed her as she practically stomped her way over to Serina. They shared a few words, and the trio exited the room together, Dog acting as a chaperone as he kept the two separated.

  Alexander didn’t really have a preference on whether they made up or not, but he did owe it to them to at least allow them the choice.

  There was one last person he needed to speak to before he got bombarded with more questions from Lucas. Krieger was off to the side, speaking to an aide and tapping on a tablet. He dismissed the aide as he spotted Alexander approaching.

  “Have our prisoners given us anything?”

  Krieger shook his head. “We’re still having trouble deciphering their language. Your new acquaintances’ data helped, but none of the recordings make sense. Either they are deliberately ignoring our questions, or they don’t understand us.”

  Alexander scratched his chin in thought. “What if you had another Shican to communicate with them?”

  Krieger was quick to pick up what Alexander was suggesting. “Will they help?”

  “That’s why they’re here.”

  “Alright, let’s do that. The faster we can question them, the better.”

  Alexander gestured for Four.

  “I heard your conversation,” she said as she walked over. “I am willing to take on a Shican form, but I will not threaten or harm any of the Shican, nor will I allow you to while I am present. If that is agreeable, I will assist in your efforts to interrogate them.”

  Krieger shifted an eyebrow. “I thought your people despised the Shican?”

  “We do, and I have killed more Shican than your entire species put together. That doesn’t mean I wish to torture or harm captives.”

  “Fair enough,” Krieger admitted. “Alex, I’ll reach out to you once I know more.”

  The pair hadn’t even wandered off far before Lucas clapped him on the shoulder. “Enough delays, I need to know all the cool shit you learned while you were gone.”

  Alexander chuckled. “What if I told you I didn’t learn anything?”

  “I would call you a bold-faced liar,” Lucas chuckled in return.

  “I missed this,” Alexander admitted.

  “If you missed it so much, the least you could have done is make yourself slightly shorter than me. At least you’re not as buff. Can’t have you stealing Katalynn’s attention.”

  Lucas flexed his arm as he guided him toward the door, and if he had to guess, ultimately his workshop. His friend had indeed bulked up even more since the last time Alexander had seen him.

  Then his words registered, and Alexander almost stumbled as he was led out of the room. He had never even considered doing such a thing.

  Rush had told him that the living alloy was biologically compatible, but Alexander had not modeled those parts. He wasn’t ready for that sort of complication in his life. A sudden thought occurred to him. If the bodies were biologically compatible, did Rush have actual children?

  The thought seemed far-fetched, but the human genome was just code, and there was nobody with more experience editing and modifying genetic code than the Collective. If they could modify it, it wasn’t much of a stretch to think they could create it from scratch.

  He would have to ask Rush about it. For now, he had an antsy Head of Research and Development to mollify.

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