*The Hive Tyrant, (who for some unexplained reason kept watch over them for the whole two bloody days, using only other bits and ends of itself to interact with folk, and managed to pass completely unnoticed by the two) follows Nysa and Vorthon.*
"There's an analogy to make, no doubt to your amusement: when on a planet we set out, much like a tumor, we stretch and spread away from home in case we are excised. You tried that tactic and have failed due to our backup measures, and so the tumor is reborn and now metastasizes; I slowly grow our flesh anew and make plans for the future.
There is one thing I'd like to know, concerning your friend there: on our flight here you yelled once more at me and worried that you would lose him to me, to death. What happened to your boasts of tearing down the veil of death and bringing yourselves back? Does not the process work for him or has someone decreed that he fall here, for crimes unknown, redemption through demise?"
"He's a male. He doesn't have the same rights. Sure, he's technically free, but he can't be backed up constantly, so even if he was brought back, it'd be like wiping out a whole chunk of his memory. He just wouldn't be the same," she said, without turning to look at the Tyrant, "You see, our culture is matriarchal. I could take him as a slave/concubine if I wanted to, and he couldn't object. At least not legally. And besides, We're at least a kiloparsec from home, so he'd be functionally dead until a message got there, and I'd have to wait even longer for him to get here again, considering how tightly regulated FTL travel is in the CSE. Been that way ever since the capital system got destroyed in the civil war. Turns out Alcubierre drives make devastating weapons when plunged through the heart of a star while active. I will show you one scrap of humility, you putrid mass of abhorrent flesh: I was sort of bluffing about the CSE's ability to travel between universes. We have sent uncrewed probes to other 'verses, but they only last long enough to send back a split-second signal. Seems most other 'verses have physics hostile to matter, and by extension, life as we know it."*Nysa stops and turns around to glare at the Tyrant, dropping Vorthon on the ground.*
"I have one last thing to say to you," she growled, her eyes narrowing, "Leave the Milky Way alone, or you will regret the day your kind first were spawned. We are working on a project in the galactic core, one that will provide us with infinite computing power, enough to run a simulation, that, to those inside it, will seem to last forever. The galaxy's central black hole will be converted into a massive computer. You destroyed or even touch our work, and you will learn just how terrible a female Torikan's wrath can be."*She picks Vorthon up again, turns around, and heads over to iceball, Tenshi, Yunno and Lilly. When she gets there, she sets down Vorthon, who is now awake again.*
"Hello," she said, glancing down at them, as she absent-mindedly scratched behind left ear, "What d'you have to eat? Me and Vorthon are both starved. I'm finding this somewhat awkard..."