Interstellar Age



After spending the night with Tia, she seemed a lot less on edge around Erich's other women. In fact, she had even gone so far as to give up control over Mirage's Neurolink. After all, she had done enough to ensure that the women would be loyal to Erich in the future, and not betray him at any time. Once more Mirage had a mind of her own, even if the memory she had of Tia's sentience was deleted. 

Mirage had actually awoke the next morning feeling as if he she had been kicked in the head by a mule. And when she approached the dining room, where Erich and all the other women were currently enjoying breakfast, she could not help but question what had happened to her. 

"Oh man, I feel like shit. Erich, what happened?" 

Erich had no idea what to say. He honestly didn't know what had happened to the woman to make her have such a sudden change in mood. Until finally Tia admitted to it. But not aloud. She did so in his mind via her Master's neruolink. 

"Promise you won't be mad, master, but Tia may have had something to do with Agent Kuhne's recent change in behavior...."

Erich stared at the little robotic loli who was sitting in his lap munching on some eggs while wearing a summer dress. He could not help but question just what she had done. 

"Tia? What exactly did you do to Mirage?" 

Tia completely played innocent as she smiled while eating eggs. All the while, she continued to speak to Erich in his mind, revealing everything she had done in secret to Mirage. Erich was so shocked, he honestly did not know what to say. He simply gawked at the robotic loli, while Mirage stared at him with a curious gaze. 

Suddenly Erich spoke, and informed Mirage that she had been acting rather strange, but it seemed like nothing to be worried about. 

"You were acting a little bit strange the last few days, but your vitals are in order, and your brain is in perfect health. So I don't really know what happened. But is good that you seem to have recovered."

Mirage naturally had no idea that her Neurolink had been sliced by an extremely advanced artificial intelligence, and that she had effectively fallen under its control. Thus, all she could do was accept Erich's response and get on with her life. 

After joining the group at the table, Mirage began to make a game plan for the future of their new crew. 

"We have three members, yourself included. We need three more. I have a few ideas in mind, but they won't be easy to convince." 

However, Tia raised four of her little fingers before correcting Mirage on her statement. 

"We have four crew members, including master. But that's okay. Tia doesn't take up much space and does not need a room of her own. Nor does she require supplies to sustain herself. Although she does enjoy eating good food, it is not mandatory. 

Tia has already looked over your list of suggestions, and must confirm that while some of the candidates are capable. We are missing one key figure, which currently lies in the custody of the Alfheim Dominion.

She will be the most difficult to obtain, but also the most critical to securing safe passage within the Svartalfheim Quadrant... Master Tia is afraid that you must convince your lover to accept Ms. Bloodwhisper into our ranks." 

This was a massive bombshell to the rest of Erich's women. Tia had just revealed that Erich had another lover on the side, and only Mirage knew who the identity was. Thus, Erika, an Ayumi were quick to interrogate their man on just who else he was fucking. 

"You have another lover? Who is she? Why have you not told us this before?" 

Erich groaned. There was no way in hell he was going to tell these women that he was in a relationship with the Alfheim Empress. That was a good way to get himself and all his loved ones killed. Instead, he grabbed hold of Tia's cheeks, and pulled them in a way that caused her to express pain, before demanding she apologize for her "prank"

"What lover? You little brat! Are you trying to cause your Master to endure pain?"

Tia played the part, knowing fully well that she had messed up by revealing this secret. But to Mirage, who was an expert on information systems and artificial intelligence, she could tell something was not right with Tia. She was not a standard artificial intelligence.

No, she showed signs of emotions that weren't simply replicated. Still, she did not dare reveal this, because there was a little voice in the back of her head that told her never to betray Erich. One that she was not consciously aware of. 

"Tia is sorry for playing a prank on master! Tia simply meant to make use of Master's status as an archon to convince Empress Lunaria to release the prisoner into Master's custody!"

While Erika and Ayumi sighed in relief after learning, the robot was just playing a trick. Mirage was convinced that Tia was telling the truth. After all, she had long since suspected that there was something going on between Lunaria and Erich. Tia's words were simply confirmation. 

Thus, Erich decided he would need to revisit Alfheim in order to get his next recruit. However, before he did that, he had more important matters to attend to which he was quick to ask Ayumi about. 

"By the way Ayumi, when exactly is the wedding? Has your aunt announced a date yet?" 

Ayumi nearly choked on her drink when she heard this. She had completely forgotten to tell the man that the wedding was already planned, and was only a few weeks. Thus, she was quick to inform him of this matter now. 

"I'm sorry Erich, I meant to tell you earlier, but I forgot. The wedding is set for a fortnight from now. It will be held on my homeworld and will be broadcasted across the galaxy!" 

After gaining the status as an Alfheim Archon, there was a lot of spotlight on Erich, and what he had been up to since. He had not made an official statement, nor did he plan to do so. Simply because he preferred to be covert about his business, much like most of the Archons. However, there was now significantly more interest in his wedding to the Oni Princess, specifically because he was now an Archon. 

Upon realizing that his wedding was going to be broadcast to the rest of the galaxy, Erich could only groan in misery. The last thing he wanted was to be the center of attention. And yet, he always found a way to do so. 

Luckily for him, after receiving the honor of becoming the first Germanic Archon, the people of his Empire treated him with a lot more respect than they had after his engagement to Ayumi was announced. After all, he may be an agent of a foreign Empress, but Erich brought prestige to the Germanic Star-Empire on a galactic scale. Something that few of its warriors had managed to match. 

Thus, at the very least, the people of the Germanic Star-Empire had begun to throw their support behind this political union, even if they had previously spat on the idea.