“But what was even more surprising, Silvano, was that there were soul fragments of only one person, and in a considerable amount at that. Generally speaking that’s an almost impossible occurrence as since back then it was known that if a slave was bought by a soul junkie, they were done for. That procedure is possible to perform only once, as the result is sure death for the one being drained from. I think they had thought of the possibility that you might’ve been a longliver but ruled that out, as longlivers supposedly have never been born among male+ or female population. So they just assumed that you have inherited some part of Feecel’s genes.” This conversation brought back many memories for Admiral Carnage. Times of bottomless rage and hopelessness from long gone events resurfaced in his mind. The state of emotions overpowering reason, anger, fury that took decades to subside. It was funny that now it took an instant to be a composed, adequate person again.

“Do you maybe have any questions concerning these topics?” 

“T-there are n-no longlivers that are not men?” 

“There is one in front of me. But aside from you there are at least no documented cases.” 

“Then, I’ve m-met two longlivers and t-two others are r-related to m-me by blood? H-how many l-longlivers are there?” 

“6, not counting you. But who is the second person you’ve met?” 

“C-Colonel Gillian?” Silvano answered surprised. 

“Ah. No, Gillian is not one, you must be assuming that because we talked about his eyes? He is just very sensitive towards spiritual changes and fluctuations.” 

“Oh, okay.” After a little contemplation he asked. “W-what does a s-soul look like?” 

“Hmm… Well, in my eyes a soul is like an additional layer of a person that I can see, but imagine a layer inside of a person, not outside. And actually by characteristics, texture and colour they differ from person to person quite a lot.” 

“Can you s-see his soul t-too?” While asking, Silvano looked down at his belly. The Admiral answered with a smile and a question. 

“Why do you ask about him first but not about yourself?”

“Is he a l-longliver? Can you s-see?”

“While there is a possibility that he is, I cannot be sure until he’s born. Right now both of your systems are connected, be it blood flow, nutrients, oxygen or soul particles. They are interconnected. What I can tell is that most probably he’s going to be quite sensitive towards soul and energy. And that his soul colour is a mix of shades between orange and red. Very much like a crackling flame. But as your soul looks like gold dust mixed with silver sparks it’s hard to understand how much of those sparks are his own. Hm? No, you can’t!” 

The Admiral seemed to have become an expert at reading Silvano’s facial expressions. And momentarily deciphered that this helpless kid was thinking of giving everything to the child, even his own soul. 

“That’s a natural process. The parent’s body and soul nurture the baby, then they separate when the time is right. So don’t think of unnecessary things.” 

“Ok, S-Sir.”

“Jass.” The Admiral corrected.

“I-is it really okay?” 

He just nodded in response. 

“Thank you, J-Jass… For s-saving me, for giving m-me a chance t-to have this b-baby, a-and for letting me see t-this beautiful sunrise…” He couldn’t say more as words got stuck in his throat, afraid that he’d get overwhelmed with emotions and unable to stop crying if he continued. 

Jass listened feeling a dull pain in his chest. 

“I don’t know i-if I’ll ever be able to re-repay all the grace you’ve shown m-me.” Silvano articulated the sentence while fighting back waves of tears. 

“Yes, the sunrise is truly magnificent today.” Jass said, looking far into the horizon then slowly shifted his gaze back to Silvano. “And, you don’t need to repay me anything at all.” 

After a lengthy pause and a deep breath. 

“I’ll let you enjoy the scenery but I need to check a report, I’ll be right there.” He stood up pointing to a direction not far away and slowly walked there moving his fingers on his wrist. While quietly reading a frown gradually formed between his straight eyebrows as he spoke in a low, disappointed voice. “So they did have contact.”

Silvano was far enough so he couldn’t hear the Admiral’s voice. He sat there in a wheelchair, enchanted by the earlier conversation and the magical scenery of nature’s awakening. Colours mixed and spread, gradually illuminating everything. There were all the shades of blue, violet, purple, red, orange and gold: like a majestic orchestrated symphony welcoming the sun’s triumphant arrival. 

“So beautiful…” Silvano whispered to himself. 

…

Silvano must have fallen asleep at some point as when he opened his eyes he found himself in the room again. He started thinking that what happened was a pretty long, dazzling dream. Then he spotted Thesa sitting not far away smiling at him. 

“Good afternoon, Mr Silvano! How are you feeling? I’ve heard you had a nice stroll early in the morning.” 

‘So it wasn’t a dream!’ Silvano thought to himself, amazed that it all actually had happened. Then realised that he hadn’t answered the greeting yet.

“Good afternoon, Miss Thesa.” 

This respectful greeting and the voice that had gotten clearer surprised Thesa. 

“Did I r-remember wrong?” Thinking that he made a mistake, Silvano got flustered. 

“No, no! That’s entirely correct, I was just surprised that you’ve memorised my name, dear. How do you feel today? Is there anything I can maybe help you with?” 

“I’m ok.” Then with a shy face and quiet voice he said. “But, I'm a-a little h-hungry.” 

“Oh dear, I’m so glad you are!” Thesa seemed incredibly happy with the news. 

“It's very important that you start feeling hunger, thirst and other bodily signals after waking from a coma. You are already amazing as you have proper control over bathroom signals since the day you woke up.” Silvano got shy from the notion of his bodily functions.

“It might not seem very appealing but you can only start with liquid food at first. Is there a flavour you would prefer, I’ll try to make something palatable?”

This question actually caught Silvano off guard as it had been a very long time since he was asked about his preferences or anyone caring about what he wanted to eat. He tried recalling what types of food there were and what he enjoyed eating… but he couldn’t. He tried to tell himself maybe because his taste buds hadn’t worked in a long time it was hard to imagine any flavour. 

As Thesa was waiting patiently he just shrugged his shoulders a little and said. 

“Anything is fine.” 

“Hmm… then just tell me sweet or savoury?” Thesa kept smiling even though felt a sting in her heart. But seeing Silvano’s expression getting blank and dejected stopped pressing. “Well I’ll see what turns out better in liquid form. Do you need anything at the moment or is it ok for me to go arrange things in the kitchen?” 

“I’m fine, the b-baby is not active right now, b-but they said it’s ok, occasionally he s-sleeps too.” He pursed his lips as if reluctant to say something. 

“Yes, indeed it’s perfectly normal for babies to have resting periods. Is there something bothering you, Mr. Silvano?”

“Um…Is the g-gender confirmed, everyone says “he”, so I supposed it’s ch-checked?” 

“Oh yes! Did nobody tell you yet? The Admiral is right, we lack common sense, and forget what is essential. Yes, the baby’s gender was determined as male during the 3rd month of the pregnancy. Even though Admiral Carnage had been referring to the baby with a male pronoun much earlier. Doctor Sherum will tell you more professionally.” 

Silvano looked down so that she couldn’t see his eyes and asked in a low voice as if scared that asking might inflict something. 

“Is it f-for sure? He’s not like m-me, right?” He bit his lower lip and refused to look up at Thesa. As if being like him would be the biggest curse for the child. 

She bent down and said very gently. 

“It is tested with 100% probability, but believe me everyone would’ve been as happy if the baby’s gender was female or male+.”

Silvano fell deep in thought remembering Admiral Carnage’s words about only expecting unconditional love for their mutual child. And felt guilty with the realisation that he probably would have had difficulty fully accepting and embracing the baby if it turned out to have been male+, like himself. A bitter smile appeared on his face but he didn’t say anything. 

“I’ll arrange something for you to eat and be back very shortly.” She still sounded very gentle and cheerful but Silvano didn’t dare to look up. 

…

Thesa came back in around 10 minutes and with her was Dr Sherum. Silvano had used some functions of his newly equipped bed and was in a semi sitting position when they entered the room. He didn’t notice them at first and just sat there looking out the open windows with an absentminded expression. 

“Good afternoon Mr Silvano.” Dr. Sherum’s greeting brought him back to reality. “I met Thesa on her way back here. I was very happy to hear that you showed interest in food.” 

Silvano was embarrassed and regretted a little that he had made such a demand. Then, he got petrified… 

“And I’ve brought this little thing here.” While he was busy checking the functions, Silvano’s eyes were glued to the small wrist device in the doctor’s hands. His jaws clenched and shoulders shrinked as this device very much resembled the one Bernard Ulime used for draining his soul essence. But the chaos in his mind abruptly stopped as the doctor effortlessly put the equipment on his own left wrist and finally looked up. He could only see the last expression of surprise on Silvano’s face and missed his prior horror filled eyes. 

“Do you know what this is?” He asked quite innocently and Silvano only managed to shake his head, still overcoming internal disruptions. “Well, this is a kind of ultrasonography device that we often use when we work out of the hospital. Thesa mentioned you asked about screenings and it’s actually unfair that all of us have seen foetal images except you. So would you like to see what he is doing there and in what position he’s at the moment?” 

“S-seriously, can I?” 

“Yeah! Just give me a couple of minutes to prepare. But we’ll have to expose your abdomen, are you ok with that?”

Silvano could see that everyone was practically tiptoeing around him trying to be mindful of every single word and action, and felt bad for causing so much trouble for so many people. He nodded and attempted to lift the shit he was wearing but there wasn’t much strength in his fingers so Thesa softly helped with the task. The device on Dr Sherum’s wrist activated a large holographic transmission and his right hand was wearing a special glove equipped with numerous sensors. When the doctor placed his palm on Silvano’s belly an image started to appear on the holograph.

The first thing Silvano was able to make out was a tiny arm with outstretched fingers and it caused his heart to skip a beat. Or maybe several beats.

“Hm… let’s see, so he’s lying sideways at the moment. Can you see?” 

Silvano looked as if hypnotised trying to grasp every single detail in the transmission. When the image of the tiny profile formed tears started to trickle down his cheeks. 

“P-precious…” he said in a muffled voice and realised that he was wrong before, he had to admit that whoever this adorable creature turned out to be he’d cherish and love without a second thought. Even if they grew up to be a despicable villain he would blindly adore them. This little life that was growing inside of him was truly unbelievable. Those teeny tiny lips, the lovely chin, small fists and feet, the beautiful curves of his nose and eyebrows… there wasn’t a single millimetre he didn’t already adore. 

They let him take his time to examine the baby and at some point Silvano had stopped crying and was just greedily looking at the transmission. 

“Is there anything you’d like to know?” 

“S-so when he’s n-nudging heavily here it’s his head?” He caressed a spot and right then the baby suddenly moved. “Did he wake up?” 

“Seems like he did.”

“He is making f-funny movements.” It was the first time they saw Silvano so sincerely happy. “Do you think he can hear me?” 

“Well, he can hear you but he is not able to understand the speech at this age, rather he can recognize the voice and intonation of the voice. They are more intuitive at this stage, cognition develops much later. Closer to their birth babies sometimes react to their names, mostly spoken by their parents.”