The Admiral sighed with irritation and reached to turn off the transmission but did that only after making sure that Silvano was properly lying in bed and Thesa positioned cushions to support his neck and round belly. After the image faded he said to Military Assistant Bartel in a low voice as if there was someone sleeping nearby.

“I don’t have a good feeling about this. That vermin from the Wasteland of Corpses is stirring something.” 

“I’ll strengthen surveillance and monitoring, Admiral Sir!” 

“What about Feecel? I find his idleness suspicious, what has he been up to recently? Today he joined the discussions only for the last two hours, and still was pretty uninvolved.”

“We have been monitoring him from a distance, he’s the hardest to deal with as his resources are in the military, and there is always a built up tension and animosity that could flare up even between the low rank soldiers of our respective units if not careful. We know that he is officially busy visiting Mecha divisions here in the City of Flake and the surrounding regions these days. And the evidence we have suggests that he’s doing just that. There have not been any unauthorised external communications directed to or received from outside our military satellite systems. That we can verify, but internal communications cannot fully be under our surveillance. You know how there are constantly over a thousand cases in process involving either them surveilling us or the opposite.”

“Yes… indeed, I should find an opportunity to have a proper conversation with General Feecel, as this friction is the biggest weakness we, military forces of Nest 5, currently have. He is a moronic bastard but still shouldn’t be completely senseless.”

“Sir, are you thinking of exposing the situation with Mr. Silvano?” 

“No, not yet. These two issues should not be necessarily connected. But maybe by doing so it will be possible to build a foundation for that conversation in the future.” 

There was a silent moment as both of them got immersed in thoughts, when suddenly Bartel picks up his communication device.

“Sir! There is an incoming report from the Interstellar Communications Surveillance team.”

After decrypting an encoded message Bartel said with a serious expression. 

“They have detected a communication, it was apparently negotiations concerning illegal importation of large amounts of precious minerals from Coral Constellation. And the purchasing side is a proxy company we have been keeping an eye on for a while. What should our actions be?”

“Isn’t it too convenient to find information like this right when we are looking for it?” There was an angry glint in Admiral Carnage’s eyes. “Let it look like we just got the wind of it, but didn’t grasp it completely. Let them think we’re still busy decrypting and monitoring. Whereas you widen the scope of investigations.” 

“Understood, Sir!”

…

Back at the mansion. 

“Dear, do you want to sleep early? You’ve worked so hard today. You trained your grip, tried eating several times, even tried to stand up! You are just incredible, dear! Do you feel sore anywhere?”

“I don’t think that can be called standing… I’m fine in general, only my knees are a little uncomfortable. B-but only a little.”

“Yes… that should be our fault too, maybe it was a little too early for trying that. Let’s be more careful in the future, ok?”

“Did you get reprimanded by the Assistant General, Miss Thesa?”

She made an awkward pause. Sure enough. After meeting Military Assistant Bartel Silvano now had a better understanding of the hierarchy in the Admiral’s house. He realised that the person who was making most of the daily decisions and was directly supervising the personnel taking care of him, was indeed Assistant General Bartel. While the Admiral was making more general, big scale decisions and giving criteria for minor arrangements.

“You should have told him that I was the one pushing to try standing up. Now that I know it’s still too early I’ll wait until I build up some more strength. My joints clearly are not ready yet.” 

“He is right, we should have known better…Would you like something to drink, dear?” At some point both nurses have changed to addressing Silvano in this very sweet manner.

“I think I can have some of that salty-sweet weird water. I feel like my mind is clearer each time after drink it. And then maybe actually sleep a little?”

“It’s a very good choice, dearest! That is actually a very good solution containing many key minerals and microelements. I’m glad that you don’t find it hard to swallow, as many people do. But the benefits are immense, so if you can drink 2-3 cups a day that would be wonderful.” 

Thesa turned to the fridge which was filled with nutritious liquids and solutions as well as fresh ingredients for preparing new mixes. After many trials they had determined that Silvano found it easier to swallow relatively colder drinks so, after the doctor gave his approval, they installed a personal fridge right in the bedroom, as well as a kitchen corner with a small sink and a table with utensils.

“I think 2-3 cups are doable. The taste is unusual but it’s interesting to drink.”

During the last several days Silvano’s speech had gotten much better, as well as his mental state. He had fewer panic attacks or falling into deep apathy, and quite noticeably had started to trust people surrounding him more. In the same way, after getting to know him more closely both nurses, Gillian and the doctor had started to care for him in a more personal and sincere way.

Thesa noticed that Silvano’s eyes were getting heavy and he was on the verge of falling asleep while having sipped two thirds of the nutritional water. She carefully removed the straw from Silvano’s half open lips and softly tucked him in a blanket and soundlessly moved to the other side of the room. 

… 

“You’re finally back, Silvano. What took you so long, boy?” 

Mrs. Bilon sounded displeased and uncharacteristically tense but Silvano didn’t delve too much into it.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Bilon, but we had a class assignment at school so I had no choice but to stay a little longer. I think I’ve informed you a week ago that there’s going to be one. Actually, many of my classmates are still there, I left early… But I made sure to do all the work in the barns in the morning, did anything happen?” The way Silvano spoke to the household madam wasn’t apologetic or arrogant, but rather composed and logical, despite the obvious teenage features. 

“Look at this brat talking back to me without feeling bashful at all, tsk… Go, make yourself presentable and come to the living room. Your benefactor, Mr. Ulime is here. So mind your manners.”

Silvano realised the reason for her being so tense as that was always the case when the owner of this whole territory visited. Which fortunately didn’t happen often. The last time was several years ago. 

He didn’t have any particular feelings about this middle aged high society gentleman, even though he was indeed quite indebted to him. This person was the one who had found him near a dumpster as an infant wrapped in patched up rags and cardboard, then had sent him here to be brought up by the Bilon couple in the countryside, and even had supported him in attending school. But with all that he had never sensed any heartfelt sympathy or goodwill from Mr. Ulime or the Bilon couple and their children. There was nothing personal connecting them, only a sense of obligation. The Bilons had set clear boundaries very early on. They made him know that no one deeply cared about his achievements, worries or emotions since even the toddler period. But any mishaps or mistakes would be strictly reprimanded. 

Naturally, Silvano’s attitude towards them did not develop as particularly warm. But he was always respectful and grateful when addressing them, whether in front of them directly or talking to anyone else about them in their absence. Even in front of his close friends he had never complained or gossiped. For returning their grace and not being indebted to the Bilon or Ulime families for life, he had been working in the farm all his time aside from school hours. He would do all kinds of jobs that needed to be done in the farm, in the household or the garden, since the age he was able to complete tasks. 

Silvano was not thrilled about this meeting but being respectful to the adults who gave him shelter and raised him was his way of thanking them. So he diligently went and washed up, changed into clean clothes and came to the main house. 

Even if one knew nothing about the situation, just one glance would be enough to perceive the tremendous difference in status of the people present. Mr. Ulime’s relaxed attitude in contrast with the anxious and cautious Bilon couple. Or the sun bleached clothes of the farmers next to the high end, custom tailored attire of a metropolitan old money businessman. The difference was obvious even for a teenager like him who hadn’t seen much in the world. 

Silvano greeted everyone respectfully but felt a certain tension in the atmosphere and the looks of everyone. The most unusual was Mrs. Bilon’s expression that was remotely resembling care or kindness, or rather worry. But before he could make assumptions Mr. Bilon spoke. 

“Silvano, you remember visiting the doctor with my wife last month, right?” 

How could he forget his most disliked and uncomfortable experiences? He had to visit this mentioned doctor 4 times during the last year. In this remote region the closest hospital that had a doctor specialising in treating Male+ gender was located an hour and a half away travelling by public transportation. And since his periods started a little over a year ago, he was ought to regularly visit a doctor. But he wholeheartedly disliked these visits, and in fact he genuinely hated this weird gender of his as well. So any conversations about gender made him uneasy.

“Actually the results of the tests weren’t very positive. We didn’t want to tell you right away as we didn’t have any solutions at that time. But we contacted Mr. Ulime as there are more institutions working with …ehm … your type of constitution in the metropolis. Mr. Ulime was kind enough to respond very understandingly. And even arrived here personally with the famous doctor.” 

That’s when Silvano noticed an unfamiliar person standing behind the door frame leading to the kitchen. 

“Hello Silvano! I’m Dr. Brez.” This new person entered the room while exchanging a look with Mr. Ulime. 

Silvano was shaken after hearing his test results were not good. As a fourteen year old teenager this topic was very sensitive for him, especially when there were so many adults gathered and discussing his gender specific issues with which he himself was still struggling with. 

“Hm… there obviously are problems, I can see with naked eyes even without looking at the results. Do you drink or eat anything unnecessary? Any pills maybe? Have you been in contact recently?” A row of questions were asked in a very imposing manner, and this made Silvano even more uncomfortable.

“N-no, no I haven’t drunk or eaten anything harmful. Only the pills the doctor prescribed, i-in the dosage and frequency she told to.” He said in self defence looking around the room. 

“And what about contact?”

“What do you mean, sir?”

“Men, I mean intercourse with men.”

Silvano looked like he heard something unimaginable. 

“Me?” He asked, still not believing someone asked him such a question. Then he shyly shook his head. “No! No.” 

“What about women?”

Silvano already felt numb from uneasiness. And just shook his head again. 

“Have you ever done any self harm?” 

“No, sir! Why are you asking me such questions?” Feeling offended by the strange interrogation he looked at Mr. and Mrs. Bilon seeking external affirmation of his words from them.

“What’s with that tone! How can you speak like that to a renowned doctor that has travelled so far to see you? Apologise, now!” 

Mr. Bilon reprimanded him to behave and that was when Mr. Ulime finally spoke. Of course when the richest and most influential person in the room spoke everyone quieted down. 

“Don’t be too angry, Silvano is still a teenager. It’s normal to be impulsive at that age. And it should be my fault too as I didn’t tell Berz much about Silvano. We started discussing all kinds of political and economic topics on the way here. Berz is used to the youth in the metropolis and assumed the same in this case. But you should know, my friend, that this child here is very hardworking and honest. He spends most of his time diligently working in the farm and at the same time doing his best at academics in school. So such useless things don’t even cross his mind, right Silvano?”