Military Assistant Bartel paused recalling all the actions he had to take last evening until morning and how repeatedly shocked he was. 

“Not only the timing of the pregnancy was utterly inconvenient for Anita and the Ulime family considering the prospect of getting close to the influential Gratis family right before them, there was also the fact that they knew that General Feecel is not someone who cares about family ties and offsprings, as he has too many of those. But there was one more problem: it was almost impossible to perform an abortion. The still very small foetus already showed signs of strong spiritual attachment with its mother and doctors estimated that the abortion would cause greater damage to Anita Ulime’s body. 

When the whole Ulime family was in panic and confusion one person found a win-win solution. Bernard Ulime suggested that Anita could go to “travel” for  several months with some made up purpose, give birth to the child when it is developed enough and leave the rest to him. He may have showcased this as an act of a responsible elder brother but the actual reason is that he is currently in a desperate need of some kind of spiritual support for his son. While for others in the family this spiritually active embryo was a nuisance, a thorn in their throats whereas for him it seemed like a perfect solution for his son’s imperfect soul condition.” 

“Disgusting…” Admiral muttered in a low voice. 

“Sir, this is not even half of it.” Military Assistant Bartel looked at his superior with understanding eyes. “The child was born not only healthy but also possessing very diverse and rich spiritual aptitudes despite artificially induced early birth at the term of barely reaching 7 months of pregnancy as they couldn’t delay any longer. Anita needed time for recovery as well, to ready herself before the upcoming marriage. The newborn held yet another surprise, he was born with a rare male+ gender with a very balanced constitution. It’s noteworthy to add that from all the information we gathered it’s clear that Anita Ulime had zero emotional connection or even compassion toward the infant, she just moved on to recovery immediately after having the child separated from her. When Bernard Ulime was left with this newborn in his hands he knew that he’s going to make profit one way or another.

If not for his son Jerome’s condition, Bernard would consider raising a nice pawn for making good deals in the future or for marrying off the young male+, with many gains and advantages for himself. But his heir’s needs came first. For nurturing and developing the soul Silvano was sent to the countryside to grow up in the Decolan Village where Bernard Ulime had property, farms and fields. There he lived until he was 14, as an orphan who was supposedly picked up by the farmer’s family. With his gender as male+ being concealed”. 

Military Assistant Bartel paused and projected an image of a teenage boy. With a slightly tanned skin, dark brown hair cut very short, a bright and mischievous look in his eyes, typical for that age. Wearing a school uniform, the same as several other teens in the photo, presumably taken after school hours. All of them looked as if they had run around playing to their heart's content, their uniforms dusty and crooked, faces flashed and happy. Still, Silvano stood out among his peers with quite harmonious facial features, kindness evident in the eyes and hints of attractiveness hidden in teenage clumsiness. Hard to imagine that in 5-6 years from that he’d be a breathless, unsightly, skin and bones corpse. Truly very saddening. 

“At the age of 14, a year after his regular periods started, it was estimated that his soul was mature enough to provide nourishments for Jerome Ulime whose condition was rapidly worsening. After his move to the metropolis there are not many facts known about Silvano, only that he was almost always confined inside the Ulime residence. I have interrogated that damned family but there is not much to report, continuous torment and humiliation. Facts are that Jerome Ulime’s condition steadily improved starting 5 years ago, while Silvano supposedly became disabled at some point. But in reality they confessed to having been using paralysing medications to make him more obedient. His arms and legs were regularly injected with paralysis agents. Apart from that…” Military Assistant Bartel paused thinking of the right words and in the end decided to read with an indescribable face. 

“Bernard Ulime made such a comment, quoting “Jerome, for some reason, was hooked on banging that thing and the slut kept getting pregnant, sickening… I had to call an underground doctor to perform abortions several times, that was a real headache" end of quote". Military Assistant Bartel breathed heavily thinking through yesterday night’s conversations.

Then seeing the dark face of his superior Military Assistant Bartel confirmed. “They are all arrested and ‘properly’ interrogated. Only Anita Gratis is off limits at the moment. Her husband is Darren Gratis, not an easy person to deal with.” He looked at the Admiral trying to ask whether they should use more force to drag her out.

“What about Colonel Gillian?” 

“I have received 6 reports from Colonel Gillian since last night. The patient’s condition is gradually stabilising but there are too many toxins and medications accumulated in his body. When we informed the doctor of a possible pregnancy they said it is better to start detoxifying procedures as soon as possible, before the embryo is formed and their bodily systems are merged. The patient…”

“Mr. Silvano”. Admiral Carnage interrupted him. “You and the rest call him Mr. Silvano.”

“Yes, Sir! Mr Silvano’s body will need a lot of time before it can function autonomously. The doctors’ conclusion was that it’s better to clear the body of the accumulated toxins now while we are at a kind of starting point. But Colonel Gillian didn’t fully agree to that, saying that the soul is too weakened at this point and medical interventions should be limited. 

I took the liberty to pass the decision making to the Colonel at the moment before I have instructions from you, Sir.” 

“I agree with Gillian’s stance about avoiding too much intervention but the dialysis needs to be performed. They should proceed cautiously but still do what is necessary. It’s essential to let him rest, his soul is too exhausted so they should take lengthy breaks between treatments. Oh yes, and don’t touch his womb, or he might go crazy.” The Admiral said patiently looking back at the documents in front of him that contained three different interstellar languages: an agreement about travel and trade regulations between their home planet - Nest 5, another densely populated planet - Horizon, and a small constellation of 7 cosmic entities that orbit a single star, they are sparsely populated but abundant with different valuable mines - The Coral Constellation. 

It took years and a huge amount of effort to reach this agreement, but still it didn’t satisfy Admiral Carnage. As the military representative and the living symbol of planet Nest 5’s victory over anarchy his main objective is to reach a peaceful and advantageous agreement for all the sides. But it’s hard to find the point where everyone’s needs meet, especially if the values are so dramatically different. 

The Admiral paused his trail of thoughts and returned to the case at hand.

“What about his surname before marriage? He should have had one.”

“It was the surname of the farmer, they did not adopt Mr Silvano into the family, but had given him their surname, Bilon. Should I change his registered name back?”

“The surname is not important, just change the marital status and the registration address.”

Military Assistant Bartel didn’t dare to make comments, just cautiously asked. “To …?”

“I feel like you have lost most of your intelligence in one day.” The Admiral sighed and slightly shook his head. Seeing that the not-anymore-omnipotent assistant was flooded by questions and his imagination was going wild, he calmly clarified. “Status to single, address to mine.”

Bartel opened and closed his mouth twice, not articulating his thoughts trying to choose wisely, then finally asked carefully in a low voice. “But, Sir, there is no confirmed pregnancy yet, and if there is, don't you think it’s better to bind him legally in a way? So he cannot have full independence of decision making about the future child. This setting seems too good for Mr. Silvano and disadvantageous for you, Sir.”

“Bartel, he was a corpse yesterday, barely breathing today, limbs paralyzed and currently in a coma. Do you still think I need precautions against someone in that condition? And, you think too highly of me, I’m not such a kind person. There is no if he’s pregnant, Silvano’s soul held onto life because I gave him my seed, that’s his starting point. If a misscarrage happens he won’t survive. So there is no if. And by registering him to my address I’ll keep him nearby and under observation.”

“What about General Feecel, Sir. He’s famous for not caring about descendants but we both know what purpose he has when making so many people pregnant with his children. He’s trying his best to have “special children”. Mr Silvano is in a way special and if it is known that he's pregnant with your child, things can get complicated.”

“And that is why you didn’t dig too deep into the case of Anita Gratis (Ulime), right? It’s the only connection that can serve as a clue for Feecel .”

“Yes, but I don’t believe we can hide this fact forever, General Feecel has great power and many ways.” 

“Then, do your best at keeping things under control for as long as possible!”

“Yes, Sir!” Bartel saluted and was dismissed. 

Admiral Carnage didn’t have the luxury to deal with personal affairs for too long and for the next several days was overwhelmed with work, responsibilities, foreign delegations … only receiving regular reports from Colonel Gillian concerning Silvano’s condition. 

More than a week passed before Admiral Carnage had time to visit the military hospital. He arrived in a private manner without prior notice, when he came in Colonel Gillian, together with 4-5 medical personnel, were gathered around the patient discussing the latest stats, quite passionately and at first didn’t even see the Admiral entering. 

“The soul activity is pretty impressive for his condition, yes, but I don’t understand why the overall body condition is not improving”. One of the doctors said.

Then another doctor debated. “But it’s not that there is no change at all. The toxins need to be cleared out of the system for organs to function fully. There are chemical toxins and organic ones that are resulted from cell deterioration during the hours when he was practically dead. Even though the body decaying process was miraculously halted, some reactions of cellular degree still happened. Now we cannot say that there is no improvement at all. While we are performing dialysis, blood purification, and re immunisation externally, the body is working with us as well… Admiral, Sir!”

At some point Colonel Gillian felt the strong presence and turned to see the Admiral and so did the others. 

“Welcome, Sir! terribly sorry for not conducting the proper salute in time.” Colonel Gillian said dutifully. 

“Go on with a conclusive report.”

Only one doctor remained with the Admiral and Colonel Gillian. When the room was less crowded and it became quiet Admiral Carnage was able to finally observe the patient. This was not the emergency room anymore but an intensive care ward meaning that the condition was stable and not critical. The young person’s general appearance also had improved, not as gravely pale and haggard as a week ago. But of course he was still extremely thin and sickly. 

Then he focused his vision to observe the soul which was notably more at peace. Nestling around a spot in the belly looking quite lazy, while a number of shining trails were carefully making connections. The seemingly inactive soul was dutifully working, building a steady house for the future baby. The lines connecting every single organ and body part were very thin, looking like a dotted map and resembling rows of tiny sparkling ants marching around with determination. 

This scene made the stern looking Admiral smirk with a helpless look, he didn’t really need a report. 

When the Colonel felt like the time was appropriate and wanted to start the report, the Admiral stopped him with a gesture and walked toward a seat, not a very comfortable one but he didn’t care. He was quite tired from the paperwork and complicated decisions he had to make. 

“Bring me something warm to drink and stay quiet.”

The doctor was perplexed but Colonel Gillian knew his military superior much better, if he didn’t wish a report he didn’t need it, Admiral Carnage is not someone to be judged with common sense. 

When everyone left, the Admiral sitting in a dimly lit room was immersed in his own thoughts, travelling through space and time, feeling quite idle and strangely at ease. Occasionally shifting his eyes from the warm vapour of the tea in his hand to the busy sparks of Silvano’s soul. This was a rare case of leisurely passing time in his impactful and busy life: interstellar peace negotiations, political affairs, sinister corporations that would do anything for profit, a war that can always erupt at an unexpected time and place. It’s overwhelming at times but he has gotten used to it. 

What surprises him is that at this moment he feels a kind of excitement that is similar to carefully guarding a tiny flame on a shaky boat in the middle of a stormy ocean. Such a weird heartwarming sensation. 

He didn’t know Silvano, never met or talked to him, wasn’t even sure if they would have any conversation if they did meet. But he knew in his heart that he'd crush anyone who’d dare to disturb this little flame. Not really a possessive, but rather a protective, caring feeling has settled in the Admiral’s heart.