All Comments on 'Three Square Meals Ch. 058'

Woohoo! It's finally out! Hopefully I won't fall asleep reading this at almost 1 am.

It was a long wait, but I'll be da***d if it wasn't worth it! Only one problem with this awesome chapter, it's gonna make the wait for the next one even worse. :)

It was so long between updates I was worried Tefler had abandonned the story.

Glad you enjoyed it! It was a fun one to write, and hopefully you liked the twists and reveals at the end. :-)

You shouldn't have to wait too long for the next one, as I'm working on Chapter 59 at the moment, and making good progress. It'll be a regular length chapter, and will probably be out by about next Tuesday.

Cheers

Tefler

What twists and surprises?

If anyone is still surprised that John's dad is behind all the chaos that's going on, they're only reading the sexy bits of the story. Honestly, the only thing that surprised me in this chapter is that Faye and Irilith didn't replace/convert Nexus leaving the AI fleet under John's control. I guess that'll be in the next chapter.

After that, I figure the AI fleet of 46 cruisers will ambush the Kintark ambush and save the Terrans from annihilation despite Norwood's efforts. Hey, there's a question. Did Norwood start the investigation into John because he's working for the previous generation of Mael'nerak and noticed the similarities, assuming that Norwood started it? That investigation is part of the Dragon March secret archives so that doesn't seem like much of a stretch.

-Aderi

That was epic...more please! NOW!! lol

Bow to the master of cliffhangers!!!!! Out freaking standing chapter.

Finally...... Well worth the wait. I like how Faye's "growing up" is coming along. I have suspicions about John's surprise for her.

That little feeling that something is wrong when you enter a system and there are "only" four ships defending. All that build up and only four? I thought that the I fleet had gone somewhere. I was right..... I didn't think it would be as easy as shutting down one set of servers either. If I was a "smert" AI, I would divvy up my "brain" between multiple ships, and then be mobile. Kind of Ceylon like. That is what I was expecting, and then they went to the server farm, and.... Well, we all read it. How the future plays out, we'll have to wait for Tefler to write it. LOL :( (hurry up :P )

Oh, a bit of criticism... This is the second time (I think) I have read you write about a "binary system that has three stars". I did look, in case I was wrong. By definition, a binary system has two stars. I did come across a picture of a "binary system" that had five stars, but it was a binary and a trinary combined together. So, it was two groups of stars with orbits entwined. Would that be "quinary"?

Liked the new armor, but like John, I thought it might have been a bit over the top. LOL But I can't disagree with Alyssa's reasoning. But she still has het work cut out with the repairs.... SOMEday, she'll be strong enough to make armor that he can't damage. LOL

I'm sure, since Dana has to look out her damaged faceplate, she will come up some new idea. (hint... maybe my helmet idea? (360) lol :P )

Jade's insta-heal was neat also. I would imagine that Nymphs would be difficult to kill. And with her gaining power also, nearly indestructible

Now there is definitive proof that there is a progenitor active in the Terran realm. I guess, that will explain a few things. Lets let that one simmer for a while. I shouldn't mention all I saw... lol

GREAT CHAPTER!!!!!!!!!!

After reading what I posted, I think it came across as a little more harsh than I intended. This was a logical progression from earlier chapters but it was still a fun read and I eagerly await the next installment (partly to see if my predictions come true (and I've got a lot more)).

-Aderi

What a juggling act. Been checking for a follow up story everyday so knew you must have been writing heaps. It's been worth the wait!

Love the interface with Irrilith and the cyberspace and how you've written that. Love the increased storyline for Faye and look forward to seeing where you go with that ;) The overthrow of the old houses on the Maliri home world's, Nexus, how to resolve that and then the surprise involvement of the Progenitor again, the traitorous Admiral, John's hidden enemy and what about Tashana! You've got a lot going on! Can't wait to read what happens next. Awesome!

you don't disappoint I loved this chapter I actually read all of your stories to date in the last 5 days just to get a refresher and I am still glued to find out where your mind is taking this story I cant wait thanks by the way any books along this same type youd recommend as reading material while I wait for the next chapter id really appreciate it

Excellent! Even though I knew Edraele was planning something it did not play out how I thought. It was surprising but still made sense.

I am also really liking the parts wit Faye.

The body that we are all expecting for Faye. A purely mechanical body just won't cut it. She needs to be able to connect flesh to flesh with the rest of the crew. Also John's wonderjizz needs something to work on. Perhaps a vat grown body with an electronic brain she can possess. Or mech skeleton cyborg T100 style.

Absolutely brillig!! Well worth the wait, and so much ground covered, this will require another read to fully download the the full implications.

Thanks for another brilliant chapter.

Mal

Interesting feedback, thanks everyone! Quite a few of you have mentioned that you like Faye, and have been enjoying her story arc. I was just curious what you guys liked about it/her specifically?

Re: Muledriver

Good point about Beta-Persei and the binary star. I read the Wikipedia entry, and slightly misread the description, then didn't even think about the 'eclipsing binary' only referring to two of the stars. It's obvious now, so I feel like a dummy!

The star names I use are mostly based on real systems, and I try and use the correct colours of the stars where possible. The exact details of any planets is unknown, so I've taken artistic license to make up the system contents to fit the story.

Chapter 59 is going well, and I'm about half way through so far.

Tefler

As normal awesome chapter love the way Faye is coming along and the twist with the terrain AI

From the relaxed trip straight into battle (and more coming).

1. John tactics / strategies - I've said it before and again FAIL!

considering his experience he keep fucking up.

a system with only 4 ships and he doesn't think it's wrong...

going into combat (again and again) with a small team against hundreds... (at least get a tank/mecha!)

wasting Esraele energy in the top level when they had 70 below

2. Alyssa - why didn't she just squash the robots with her powers like the entry door?

3. Rachel - so the Valaden's family is special, woohoo! not such a surprise

3. Faye & Irillith - cool fight, as we all expect Faye gonna get a body made by Dana

3. Edraele - you seem to neglect her, she is intriguing and she can do a lot without John. also she should be more active simply because she can hear and speak with him

4. Jade - YAY! we've waited ages for her to fight! MOOOOORE please

so now we have the team going in two ways simultaniously, Nexus as he's heading to earth with nothing to stop him (terran forces at least), the traitor (cause the expect loss and Calara's family).

can't wait to read how you're solving it!

Ok love the chapter, alot of has fiqured that Faye would be receiving a body. I agree that it seems like the AI fleet will get hacked. But believe it still wouldn't get to dragons March in time to stop the invasion. I figured that was a plan to wipe out all the old house except like 1 daughter of each house I be a convert to John when he returns so that the houses are all under his control petty much

This is one of, if not, the best chapters of this series. Again well done.

... I hate you so much right now, it's 10:10 pm and this chapter has 16 pages... That means I won't get no sleep tonight...

*dark circles around my eyes intensify*

I guess I'll leave some feedback in the morning unless I'm too tired by then...

*stifles a yawn*

Finally! My dealer gave me my fix.

What I'm drawn to is Fayes innocence, joy and unswerving loyalty. Now you've given her the capability to learn and apply things from what she experiences. I think it would be cool for her to come into the physical world as a biological (obviously) and mature into full sentience, gain acceptance of this from the rest of the girls then go through the trials and tribulations of wanting and finally having a relationship with John. Rachels analysis of John's cum may need to throw up some clues as to what effects it may have for Faye in the future.

I'm thinking that it would be good to have Irrilith as part of the ground team with Jade giving Faye pilot duties on the Raptor and cyber protection and liaison duties on Invictus when Irrilith is on the ground. You've also got all of these Nexus controlled robot ships and things that will need to be taken and controlled at some stage too. It's a universe of possibilities!

si/fidave dont ever stop .this fatboy needs more ..

No idea how you manage to write so much in your spare time.

frankly it tells us something about your character, either dedicated to us, or insane... hmmm

JC

Winner, becoming a "must read".

The R&D mission didn't go how I expected but that's what makes you such a great author!

John is finding more and bigger messes so it is lucky that his team and gear are powering up exponentially.

So Irrilith and Jade take the Raptor - Since it has the same FTL tech, and chase down the Nexus so that Irrilith can tame the AI.

The rest of the team heads to the Dragon March which turns Donnybrook with Feds and Kintark both trying to focus down the Invictus. They go into sweep mode. You can't outmaneuver a wall of ships but Invictus punches through the wall, with some damage and risk each time. Unless they pure out and out run away they have to let the Dragon March play out. Maybe.

Edraele adds some Maliri fleets as Cavalry to even the odds.

The tamed Nexus fleet is able to make it into the battle.

It seems like they have peace settlements at their command.

Progenitor X shows up with a huge fleet.

John has to turn Kintark, Terran, and his own forces into a team against the real threat or expect X to destroy or convert them all.

Save the Brimorian visit for an epilogue with the Invictus full of babies.

Finished the story for you so now you can take it easy.

Glad I could help.

Going after a nutty AI, exposing a traitorous admiral, evading a killer, finding more about that special investigation on him, the ship and the crew...yup, lots of material.

This(ch.58) was excellent, btw!

I do agree with a prior comment that John's tactical experience seems to be rather light in his role in this set of skirmishes. Hoping Jade & Irrileth can find a way thru the 3 remaining hordes of humanoid bots on the top level seems either careless or clueless of him, in particular.

What do I like about Faye? She has discernible personality quirks versus the meatlings, at least in part. Faye and the girls all seem very mercurial, emotionally. Suspect that to be one of the lessons Faye has picked up from the girls, just seems to take it a little faster/further in her volatility. Not a bad thing, just a slightly odd commonality imo.

Her respect for authority is also an.. exaggerated? augmented? over the top? reflection of the girls with John. It's also likely "hard coded" in via the hacking deck hardware software and data. Faye has already transcended the latter two - new hardware is all that remains between old Faye and whatever new form(s) she wishes.

Who knows, Faye's new body could be Nexus!

Thanks, Tefler, another fun read!

You said, "Now there is definitive proof that there is a progenitor active in the Terran realm. I guess, that will explain a few things. Lets let that one simmer for a while. I shouldn't mention all I saw... lol"

Yeah...like the fact Nexus is not a Terran AI. Like Faye: it is a Progen AI. And the fact Faye can now think for herself means she is not a slave to the Progen line anymore.

Faye and Irillith hack Nexus, Faye copies her programming among the AI ships in a full rewrite of Nexus's programming, and walla....instant Progen John fleet.

By the way, Tefler: Fantastic chapter. I rather wondered back when we first ran into the R&D ship if it was a Progen X tactic.

Also, The Terran race was a Progen Experiment....nice one!

Finally, concerning the Anti-Grav Cyclics interferring with the magnetic field shielding... If that were the case then the magnetic shielding on the suits would not work on the Invictus or the Raptor due to the core Anti-Grav device used to keep everyone from being a squashed bug on the walls of the Invictus and/or Raptor during battle maneuvers. Something Dana would not have overlooked. Perhaps after the fix on the power core, Dana can miniturize it for suit shielding?

Irillith is a technomancer. Look up shadowrun technomancers for more information. Tefler, I was there in the beginning, one of the first votes, one of the original anonymous comments. I remember starting it, stopping, going and reading this other space opera, then coming back to this. I've watched this world grow, this story grow, even YOU grow, as a writer, and a person. You have to admit, you're not the same person that you were when this began. This journey with you has been utterly incredible so far, and I feel like it still has much to grow upon, much to grow with. You created something that many of us have come to adore (I am not going to say fall in love with. That's cheesy answer tacky for us) and you reply and listen to us, so in a way, this is a part of all of us as well which I think is incredible. This isn't just a sappy story, this isn't even a romance story anymore. This is the binding point of a community and you made it, Tefler. You made it well, and you have done good.

She was a slave construct who was saved by John and the team. You have conditioned us to like and accept those saved by them. Also, as was said, she was entirely innocent when created, which pulls on my protective instincts concerning children.

Thank you for such a great chapter. I have enjoyed reading all of you works on this site. Found it earlier this year and just love it.

Eradelle - I guess most revolutions are a bit dark, but damn.

Malari/Progenitor - Seems like all of his efforts are focused on crushing the humans (except for the Ashanath who have some secret stockpile of Progenitor tech.) Im wondering why Johns dad hates humans. Also, did he intentionally set up an AI project, or did the federation stumble across Progenitor tech elsewhere.

Faye - What did she delete? How is it that she is sure Dana and Rachel have abilities and/or tech beyond the Progenitor norm (thought that the gals were merely inspired by DNA coded Progen tech via Johns psychic connection)? What else does she know? Is John ready for Android-Faye (anatomically correct)? Will she be able to remotely control a drone fleet? If John trusts her He should give the hacking deck access to a Progenitor improved server farm and processing capacity.

Dana - Shes gonna wish she had figured out how to optimize the power core rather than making bitty lasers.

Harris - Is he working with Norris and or Progenitor?! When will the already hacked emails be reviewed?

Calara - Seriously, no call to warn your family regarding Norris plot? Gonna let them march off to their doom based on a thin chance that John may be able to save the day?

Irillith - What is her range? Will she be able to ID the Nexis command ship from a distance while outside the data flow? Remotely firewall the battleships and turn their frind-or-foe against Nexis (like the lasers)?

MORE WUICKLY. LOVE THIS EPIC. MORE PLEASE.

You are truly a great author that could easily make a nice living off your talent. Greatly appreciate your time, efforts and willingness to post your stories here for all to enjoy.

And yet another awesome chapter of sex and intrigue!

Actually aliens better come in good guy and bad guy pairs or we would be so screwed. ;)

We know how John feels about coincidences. ;)

I'm figuring out how the Patreon page works, and I've uploaded Chapter 58 to the Patreon site on the paid posts, which is only available to my Patrons.

For Chapter 59, I'll upload it to the site as soon as I've finished editing. As the Patreon page doesn't have moderators like Literotica, Patrons will be able to read the next chapter without having to wait several days for moderation.

Cheers,

Tefler

i have read it all but I am really enjoying thjs series.so keep it up and ill be following.

You said: "I am waiting for the really good idea for a likeable and admirable main character, with a few realistic flaws to keep him real."

I laughed so hard at this I cried.

You are reading a story on a fantasy sex site and you want 'real'. Ummmm isn't that a bit against the premise of the whole site? I mean, if all I have read on here is real there are some pretty sick biatches and a-holes here. Fantasy is exactly that...an ESCAPE FROM REALITY!!! Perhaps you should just read substantiated (not the false self-congratulatory stuff) autobiographies instead? Thinking you would be much happier (not really).

You remind me of a person walking into a 5-star restaurant and ordering taco's because it is Taco Tuesday at Taco Bell. You want tacos....go to the border.

Live, sometimes, is a bitch. That's why I'm happy that people like Tef are out there to provide an easy escape. I have shelves stocked with "serious" literature at home, but sometimes you just need harmless story of a good guy and his beautiful companions saving the world while loving each other.

You are doing a fine job here Tefler, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Looking forward to getting the next chapter before moderation on p.

That was a really kind comment, thanks very much! It's a strange coincidence you wrote that actually, as quite often people mention the chapter they started reading from, and I wondered how many people had been reading the story from the start, and stuck with it as each new chapter came out.

"You have to admit, you're not the same person that you were when this began."

I'd definitely agree with that! It's been a really fun journey, and I can't believe nearly ten months have passed since I started writing.

"This is the binding point of a community "

That reminds me of a question that I'd love to know the answer to: Just how many people are following this story? The lowest view count (excluding this chapter as it's only just been released) has been 13k views, but people have read through the story multiple times, and others have read through particular chapters several times.

There's approximately 900 votes per chapter (which I'm guessing is perhaps partially inflated by people voting on a couple of devices). I never voted until very recently, so I can only assume many people don't either.

If I had to guess, I'd say around 4-5k, which is pretty awesome to think about. Anyway, excuse my rambling, your comment just got me thinking! :-)

Tefler

"Life, sometimes, is a bitch. That's why I'm happy that people like Tef are out there to provide an easy escape."

Ultimately I write stories I'd like to read myself, and it's really satisfying to hear that others enjoy them too.

Regular readers of the comments have probably read the feedback from people saying they were down, and a bit of light hearted escapism was exactly what they needed. Hearing things like that makes my time spent writing feel all the more worthwhile! :-)

Tefler

No problem. So us guys have our own version of Twilight. ;) I can rest it there.

There is a guy who posts obsessively on every chapter, I guess. Laughter is the best medicine when someone wounds your pride. Keep laughing, maybe you'll hyperventilate.

Finally got a chance to read this chapter and it's a great action packed one! Well worth the wait. I'm going to have to read it again.

Thanks Tef,,,

I've written 16k so far, so its going to be bigger than I initially anticipated. It won't be a huge like Chapter 58 though, so you can probably still expect it early next week sometime.

Tefler

This will be a bit of trolling the trolls comment so fuck me but I will sound like an idiot to everyone that is not a troll. That means everybody that can at least remember the last time they had a really good day can shake their head and move on - please. This is trying to be a troll vaccination but like all thought infections, troll disease is communicable by exposure and that means just thinking about trolls is a risk best avoided. Ignore all trolls, and certainly never respond to them, or dogpile them by commenting a comment like the one I am making here. I have taken this as a semiprofessional training and can tell you that the risk to non trolls of proceeding beyond here can be severe.

To trolls,

You have hope. Your case is not terminal. You would be in deep denial and have stopped reading by this point if you were beyond healing. You would have deluded yourself into thinking that you remember having a really good day. The day you saw an old lady fall down the stairs or a cat get run over by a bus might be examples you would point to. Any time that somebody else was fucked up and made to suffer or thwarted from just enjoying themselves basically was a feel good moment in your life. But you are worried you might be a troll. You have a better than 80% chance of recovery and leading a normal life.

Nobody cares if you think trolling is the best use of the Internet since bangedup.com in its heyday. If nobody cares then trolling is not much fun is it?

Nobody cares if this particular story is not sensitive to all real world issues. People read a fiction in large part for the fiction, not the reality. They play with realism but nothing near actual reality. Issues that you feel are important could make an excellent story. I would love to read that story. Write it please. Your objections to this story mean you should write it. Obviously you believe a story can change people's minds so fucking write your story. Inform minds that you feel are vulnerable. Until you do that you should stop painting this story as criminal for not being the story you want told. It would only be polite for you to please fuck off in other words.

Have a really great day, and many more to follow. Things like: sharing smiles with a pretty girl or boy or at least a bitch that wags its tail at you even. Discovering a new favourite food, or drink. Helping a nice old lady down some stairs and getting some sweet sticky buns as a reward. Finding some stray pussy on the street and taking it home with you after the vet you dropped it at says it won't be having kittens or giving you parasites. It is hard to have an awful day when you can't go to bed without warm pussy crawling all over you.

Is the escalation of movies in a saga...

As in here, they're getting more powerful, both as individuals, as a group, and with their equipment...

And for the storyline to continue to be enthralling, their opponents need to escalate as well...

Unless they hit a ceiling, you eventually need to compete against gods to make any risk...

I'll continue to read since I'm loving the story but hope you've thought about how to prevent painting yourself into that type of corner...

Another great chapter. I wonder if smurfette's technomancy developed as a result of her hacking skills, or was her hacking a result of her then latent powers.

Also it was good to see that although their personalities were rewritten Irilith and her mother still have their ability to be ruthless.

A few tidbits of foreshadowing I picked up:

Faye originally had two: the read-only primary where the data was effectively hard-coded, and a much smaller, writable secondary, which she was able to store her recent experiences in. Now it looks like she's ditched the old read-only drive, and failed-over to a new writeable repository which is much larger. I'm not sure what got wiped to make room for that, probably another question for Irillith."

I am thinking this is very significant. Faye may have just erased what has made the other AI's go rogue.

Rachel reluctantly placed the large container in the refrigerated cabinet, then turned to smile at John as she said, "I've no idea how Jade can go down on you then selflessly share it out like she does. Stopping myself from just swallowing it all down was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do."

This seems interesting....perhaps pointing to a healing serium?

"Can we just go back to something you said a moment ago, about the death sentence for exposing what the Maliri look like. Why is that exactly?" Irillith paused, and with a frown she admitted, "I actually don't know. It's been one of Maliri societies oldest rules, dating back millennia. I'm not sure if it dates back to an order from the Mael'nerak, but Tashana might have found some answers, with archaeology being her thing." Jade shook her head as she said, "I don't think this came from the Mael'nerak. Do you remember the stone pictographs the Ashanath found? They showed blue-skinned, white-haired Maliri women accompanying the Mael'nerak, and apparently making no effort to hide their appearance."

Hmmm....did the Maliri need to hide from Progen X after their Progen was killed?

"I thought you just said that this 'Eldritch Bloodline' is what gave Irillith and Edraele their powers?" "Yes, that's true," Rachel replied. "But the Mael'nerak was a master at genetic modification. He grew entire new species like the Trankarans, and heavily modified an existing race like the Drakkar. I can't see him making a mistake with the changes induced in Irillith's family, which would end up giving them potentially fatal brain tumours."

Thinking this was done intentionally to force a change in Matriarch from time to time to keep them from gaining too much power?

Faye frowned as she exclaimed, "There must be some reason for it! Programs are built on logic and defined rules. It doesn't make sense that they would suddenly start hating organic creatures like this."

See point about about Faye erasing core programming. Thinking the AI ROM programming has the roots of the issue buried there...hence making Faye's erasure of that programming a vital foreshadowing clue.

Nexus started ranting about achieving 'unity', and how it was blocked from its primary function by 'filthy organics'." He emphasised Nexus' phrases by using air quotes with his fingers.

Unity with Progen X? The true creator of AI? How else would Nexus know about the Maliri being a slave race to a Progen? That is not known outside of Maliri space.

Edraele offered insight to psych skills developing based on the individuals own mind and proficiency as well as genetics. Irillith became a cyber psion because that is where she has focused her effort all her life.

Cheers,

Xen

a lot of action on multiple fronts. the story has split plot lines now! i think less sex? not sure, i gaze past ;p. it does appear faye is a character now... small cute loyal helpful,

hot

Edraele told John she would try to make life better for her people. Looks like she's doing it the only way she knows how. Eliminate the opposition and prop John up as a savior figure. Maybe the conditioning won't let her see the world any other way than him at the pinnacle of their society. He's going to come back and find out he's been made emperor in his absence. (BTW I'm loving the Menzoberanzan feel to their society. It was a nice touch.) I was a little frustrated waiting for the chapter to come out but now I understand why it took so long. You have both the A.I. and Maliri plot lines to move forward plus you had to come up with a way to descibe a cyber space environment. Nice job all around. With Nexus attacking Terra it opens up the opportunity for that reporter to finally join the crew. (Sorry, cant remember her name right now.) With the Federation opening a secret investigation into John one way to counter any possible future propanda against him is to have his own in-house PR firm. I kniow this was kinda long and rambling but I've been reading since chapter 18 and I appreciate your work.

and what a cliff hanger!!!! Marvelous writing.

as always, Tefler. Many, many thanks for putting such tremendous effort and time into creating a world for us all to visit (and to share feedback about it with you). Great read, great community that you've allowed to spring up, and most importantly, GREAT work.

I seem to recall, that Arillith's hacking deck was a gift from Shanata (sp) (sister) and was a progenitor artifact.....

Since the Maliri are Progen constructs, no problem.

Maybe humans have also come across a "hacking deck" and humans are the wrong species?

If that is the case, I retract my "proof" of progen activity. However, I thought it did lead right in to the Progen having influenced the "traitor" admirals....

Guess, we'll have to wait and see what Tefler writes up for us lol

As always a great read. I appreciated the story once again. Thanks

Ed Parachini

The whole investigation on John by the TF doesn't surprise me. He's done some incredible things in a very short period of time and it makes sense that they woild be interested even if just to keep him on side.

But if he runs in and starts taking out Admirals, people could get nervous and he could very easily be accused of atteptimg a coup.

On the other hand Edraele seems fo have everything in order. With what we learned about Maliri men being very strongly attracted to altered Maliri women she definitely has the upper hand.

In a war of attrition the most important resource is population. Edraeles next move should be to make the laws in her territory much more friendly towards men and try and encourage as many men as possible to move there. Not only will this increase her own population growth but it will speed up the decline of the other houses since those men aren't giving them children. In the long run Edraele should conquer the entire regency pretty easily even without John.

Thanks for the great chapter as always Tefler this has become something I really look forward to :)

Another commenter ventured that this was your best chapter yet. I have to agree! I loved the continued character development, the action, and that something special that only the best Sci-Fi authors seem to be able to put into words: A true sense of wonder about what may be in the future... The same stuff that got us from Star Trek in the 1960s to having cell-phones, networks and drones now.

You definitely have some thought-provoking plot-points to ponder.

Faye is becoming an awesome character: AIs sentience, and their desires, their thoughts on the concept of 'love' and other emotions. Different from Spock and Vulcans; not just logic. Neural-nets, decision trees, processors and storage - yes, but curious about (and now experiencing) the touch of another sentient being, and wanting for more.

Do AIs have the drive to procreate, to ponder their own existence, and their place in the universe? Do they ponder about why and how the universe exists, about matters of spirituality, and of mortality? There's certainly hints of some of this, both in Faye and in Nexus.

Another author on this site, MagicWrtr, touches on these points with AIs as well, for others looking for something else to read while waiting for more of tefler's brilliant work.

Thank you tefler. Very much looking forward to your next chapters!

I called Edraele doing the mind control thingy with the assassins and sending them back to kill off the ruling houses. I did enjoy the little twist there about taking one of the daughters of each house captive so the family's could stay in power. Good lesson learned from the expansion of the Roman Empire...lot fewer head aches for those in real power. In one fell swoop, Edraele has doubled her house's influence and is now in a position to enforce change with all the other houses.

Brilliant again. Can't wait for the next chapter.

i'm sensing a possible convergence to the plot lines.

norwood and kintark -controlled by the other progenitor.

john needs a fleet -maliri, perhaps taking over the nexus drone fleet.

john's father -perhaps another progenitor trying to escape/ curb the bad progenitor.

great scifi!

manlychee

First let me say that I am commenting solely for the purposes of sharing my enjoyment of the story with my fellow readers and the author. I’ve been reading since the beginning and this has become one of my favorite stories, erotica or no.

Out of interest in the story, I tried to look up what size crews various warships had and what the various jobs held on ship are. I was able to find a description of the Manning (navy speak for crew numbers and jobs) of a destroyer from the 1950’s here:

http://www.navyhistory.org/2013/08/manning-fletcher-class-destroyers/

Take look if you’re interested in that sort of thing, I found it fascinating. Along with the information linked above, this last chapter brings up a couple problems that I think need to be solved, both mechanically and within the story itself. I’ll detail what I think the issues are, then give some my ideas of how to solve the problems. John needs a larger crew, simply because even super genius polymath psychics can’t be in multiple places at once, doing multiple jobs at once and there are simply too many jobs to do even for the lionesses.

As an Assault Cruiser the Invictus is a cross between a us navy cruiser and amphibious assault ship in space. Both these ship types have significantly larger crews than the destroyer linked above. On the destroyer from the 1950’s in addition to the Captain and XO there were officers responsible for Navigation, Administration, Medical and three major departments: Operations, Gunnery, and Engineering. Operations was subdivided into Communications & Radar/Electronic Sensors. Engineering was divided into engine propulsion, repairs/maintenance, & damage control. Additionally, there was a Supply officer who was not a line officer. On an assault ship, there would be officers in charge of the boats that delivered the Marines, and Separate Marine officers.

Mechanically, adding crew to “realistic” levels causes a couple problems, that Tefler has done an EXCELLENT job of solving so far, I look forward to seeing how he solves these particular riddles.

There’s no way to make a compelling story out of “John gets blown by 352 interchangeable hotties” and “green alien shapeshifter who loves anal” isn’t the height of realism, so why complain about the lack of a realistic crew on an imaginary spaceship that doubles as a harem quarters/galaxy’s most dangerous cargo ship?

Simple: The more realistic a crew the more opportunity there is for interesting stories to be told. Instead of just the relationship between John and Alyssa, there are now almost 30 interpersonal relationships to be explored just within the crew itself, let alone with others outside of it. Additionally, having more crew members makes the existing characters more interesting.

Alyssa COULD be XO, chief pilot, navigator, inventor, hacker, ground combat badass, psychic, financial wizard, arm candy sexpot & chief cook, but it would suck for a few reasons. Firstly, omni competence is ridiculous, how can someone who can do everything grow and explore new abilities if they have ALL the superpowers? Secondly, because then there’s no challenges and no story except Alyssa wins, the end. Thirdly, her acting as the linchpin of Matriarch adds interest to her character that otherwise wouldn’t be there. Lastly, it makes John look like a loser who’s just following his girlfriend around instead of a hero in his own right, with abilities that are equally interesting and challenges that justify his being the Hero.

Tefler could go the opposite direction and have one girl for each job, but then how do you make 10, 20 or 50 characters more than anything but a set of holes, a physical description, and a job title? Ensembles like ST:TNG or Serenity necessarily focused the story on 10 or fewer characters. We’re already approaching the limit of what can be done, even in writing.

So, how to balance the need to keep the cast small enough to be interesting characters, & large enough that both pilots aren’t involved in a boarding action while the ship is left with one person who isn’t a pilot and an AI aboard?

John can keep 7 girls happy three times a week, if there are add more than that, they start getting sex twice a week or less. One way to a. keep things hot and b. mitigate the lack of square meals is to explore the relationships between the girls more. While the girls become fairly standardized as part of becoming a lioness, they still do have individual tastes and hot babes around to play with. So for example, let’s say John is with Rachel and Dana, and Alyssa, Calara, & Jade all grab Irilith and do naughty things to her. Like Alyssa and Calara start making out, while Jade hold Irilith in her lap while she watches the humans fuck, talking dirty to her the whole time. Maybe Jade starts teasing her ass as Alyssa starts eating Calara’s ass, in preparation for using a strap on to pound her silly. The possibilities are numerous, and way, way hot.

Story wise integrating new girls presents a couple difficulties, how do you add them without glossing over their introduction, balanced against adding lots of additional material to an already very long story? More importantly, what do they do? That might seem a stupid question, given that the paragraphs detailing the difference between a realistic warship, and the Invictus. Each of the previous additions was obviously needed, and foreshadowed at least a little.

Where are the obvious holes that John needs to fill? Who fits in those particular slots? What non ship problems need licked? We can only wait for Tefler to write it. He’s been Great for a long time in this story, and I can’t wait to see what’s next. There are numerous plot threads still tantalizingly unresolved, I bet he’s got some great ideas about how to finish them up.

This has been and incredible story to read, and Tefler should be commended for a truly incredible job.

Two very small criticisms, As a Marine Officer, John should have slightly better tactical sense than just charge the bad guys and beat them to death. He’s got way cool powers, he should use them to cheat more. Second, I find it slightly unbelievable that he’s the only non supergenuis aboard. We know he’s smart, start showing it more, it makes him a more fit leader of the girls.

Someone, can't finger who, but Meh it was noted, suggested it's John's Pop, dad, old man, father, procreator (any others?) who is shadow puppeteer in the back ground. I see no evidence of this in the plot lines etc that it is John's dad.

Rachel notes that a single progenitor is responsible for the genetic modifications in the local space. I call it Local Space as at best it will be a few hundred to thousand light years across even for the Milari, or Ashanthi. Even so a few hundred light years must include several million star systems, and earth is like 12,000 light years from Galactic centre. There was a comment previously by Rachel, and in a very early chapter that John's mum had gone outside of the known boundaries of the bordering races after his birth. Given the shear size of space "I mean space is not just big it is really big, I mean mind blowingly big" any assumption of a single progenitor is absurd.

It maybe, and more logical that if John's pop is out there, that yes he may have been the one the do all the genetic mods. The Trankaran's seem to have been a last ditch attempt for "robust" shock troops; even John's ultra-ego was unimpressed. Why was this done, to retain power by the Malnearak (sorry Tef with the crap spelling) 10-20,000 years ago, or to stave off defeat from the "shadow puppeteer ".

The Trankarans, Milari, Ashanth, Brimonians have pieces that John need to become Progenitor master of the area (gathering this tech was the initiations for looking for Mum), remnants from the Malnearak's technology spread around so no one race gained ascendency. John's mum finds the Malnearak (John's Pop) in a very weakened state in stasis. Realising that he cannot continue the Malnearak gets Mom with John, sends her away to give birth, but to return to him. Meanwhile, the "shadow puppeteer " is also coming out of stasis from his defeat starts his manipulations for Chaos. Hence, I don't believe that our protaganist is up against his dad/pop, but an expansionist progenitor that Pop could defeat outright, but a fortified (the girls and their psychic energy) loin-issue can :).

I hereby submit my thesis for shredding.

Mal

Yeah.... Several of us have hoped for a few more crew members for various reasons.... Some for the sex, others for the realities of manning the Invictus and boarding actions/ground warfare at the same time....

Oz, you bring up interesting theories for the Mael'nerak. We have maybe "assumed" from what we have been given, that there are only maybe two of them. We know about "Pops", because John is here. Who he is in the grand scheme of things is unknown, truly. Is he a bad guy? Is he a good guy? Did John's mom escape for the birth, or was she sent.... We know (assume) that she returned to him. We really don't know how many of them there are, other than the "two" that have modified the various species that Rachel has looked at DNA for. So far, as I recall, only two sets of "fingerprints"/"signatures" on the studied DNA.

Things to keep in mind as Tefler provides us with more clues. And escapist entertainment.... :p

Some really interesting comments below! I'll resist the urge to get involved in plot speculation, as it gets tricky avoiding spoilers.

Regarding the crew size, this is something I've had to handle very carefully. Every time I add someone new, I have to try and give them an interesting backstory as well as a plan for character development. Then when they join, they need some kind of useful role to fulfil too.

The reference to Star Trek is very useful, especially the next generation with the bigger cast. Each episode of that usually focused on a small handful of crew, unless there was some big fight, then the main cast were all up on the bridge.

I'm wary of getting overwhelmed with characters to keep track of, but it's always fun adding someone new. I'll see how it goes!

Tefler

Tef, you are right to be wary. Bigger is not always better. I, as a reader, don't want to be overwhelmed by a to big personage. I'd like to keep track of all the main characters and my brain has a limited capacity.

I however think twins would be interesting, Alyssa and Jade did roleplay that! Lets do it for real :p

P.s when are we going to see some lesbian cyber sex?

Having read everything so far I must commend you on how creative your writing has been.

even though i tend to scroll through the sex scenes as it gets to my mind a bit repetitive.

Stroking in and out is only truly exciting if its what I am physically doing.

Just me there.

I have been enjoying this series all the way so far and am amazed at how creative you have been.

thanks again. BC

The Maliri twins are already set as crew members in my mind. But I think that more than approximately 10 harem members would be too much.

Needs to go to Teff's patreon account and donate....even if it is a trivial amount.

Thanks to Tefler for an outstanding display of writing rate and a complex, logical, yet light-hearted story.

Thanks to PussyLickersRus for giving me an insightful feedback, which made me a better person.

The story is getting too giddy and silly for my taste. All the complements and excitement on making even deadlier weapons for Invictus and its crew, seem discouraging to me. So instead of complaining further, I'm leaving.

Wish good health and lots of inspiration to the Author, more interesting chapters and fun discussions to the Readers. It was a pleasure to be a part of such a passionate and intelligent group. Good luck to all.

really like the story much anticipation for the next chapter keep them coming.

paps

The great thing about having Faye now, is that you never have to worry about crew size again! You can just let Faye do everything that the rest of the crew isn't doing, and at faster speeds.

On another note, I just can't wait for them to find Irilith's sister! Just imagine what that conversation will he like! "Um, hey sister. Remember years ago when you started digging into that little kid story bullshit about the controlling aliens, and you where banished over it all? Yeah, well, you where right, and one of them is now my loving and caring master. What to join us?"

Hi,

I have a question regarding Patreon? Is it a one time contribution,or is it monthly?

Thanks.

I've set it up to accept contributions per chapter (rather than monthly), but you can set limits for the month I believe. I'm still new to the site, so I can't tell you much more than that I'm afraid.

I added several more posts with pictures for Patrons. I found a ship that looks very close to how I imagined the Invictus, as well as a number of other pics of their guns and armour.

Tefler

It is set up to create a limit per month. So if you donate say $5 U.S. to the account but set a monthly limit of $5 then it will only pull the $5 once each month.

Not sure you will read this, but I thank you for your kind words. The true measure of a person is seen in their ability to look inward. Hope you have smooth sailing.

PLRus

Something I have not read a discussion about here in the comment section is the AI condemnation of Illirith. Page fifteen during the questioning of the AI it reviewed a video clip and then accused her of being in league with the enemy of the master.. I think that the consort with an experiment references Alyssa or John or both.. Maybe this is a clue to the relationship of John's mother / father and the evil behind all that is going on in the terrain part of the galaxy

I hope you do well with your Patreon, but I appreciate that it does not seem obligatory. I am just too spoiled.

A PayPal tip link would work better for my impulsive nature.

I am also thinking Twitch.tv channel subscriptions would be interesting. You have reported yourself as a gamer so I expect you have watched a twitch broadcast before.

Watching your word processor screen as you write would not be that strange a repurpose, in fact I bet it has been done before. Makes more sense than having Twitch do your makeup. :z

The volume and speed of your writing compounded by the addictiveness of your story would mean some decent viewing which means good numbers I bet. And then you could take a break and viewers could watch you play a few games. Consider it as you spec your new computer.

I made some comments about it in some foreshadowing musings earler. Check them out and let me know what you think.

by george41

10/15/16

Regarding Crew Size, and other stuff

The great thing about having Faye now, is that you never have to worry about crew size again! You can just let Faye do everything that the rest of the crew isn't doing, and at faster speeds.

On another note, I just can't wait for them to find Irilith's sister! Just imagine what that conversation will he like! "Um, hey sister. Remember years ago when you started digging into that little kid story bullshit about the controlling aliens, and you where banished over it all? Yeah, well, you where right, and one of them is now my loving and caring master. What to join us?"

Quoted the whole post because it sets the table so well.

John could have dozens of crew. It would completely change and fuck up the story. It would be exhausting for Tefler to write, which would mean readers need more patience and endurance because dozens of story angles become a maze to follow.

Faye is a perfect Star Trek character. Roddenberry would applaud. She solves the red shirt problem. John will lose crew. Faye will only need to replace her remote units and the crew is back. Invictus can have a couple hundred Faye installed in droids.

One character as a cast of thousands once she starts populating bases that they capture. Efficient. A nice writing trick.

As for Tashana, she gets a golden ticket for the best reasons. She will actually piggyback her story with Irrilith. Two for the price of one will mean she is affordable. Even better is how she will expand John by increasing his knowledge of the Mael'nerak. Keeping focus on the hero is a great trick. But as noted by George the story we get forgery low low price should be cracked gems.

What's the ETA on chapter 59 (yay!) Tefler?

Evening. I read your earlier comments about the experiment as well as reviewed what Rachael said during one of her presentations about the Terrains. She believed that the Progentor experimented with them which is why they have so many races, and skin color. My thoughts on the AI's statement might be more complex (only Tefler knows). The fact that Alyssa is the only known terrain with three strands of DNA and is a powerful pionic might represent a Progentor experiment. John being a Good P when the default alignment is Evil could be another experiment.. There is an evil P depicted in the ancient art work and then a discussion of a different one that seemed to vanish as though frightened by some enemy. I suspect the truth concerning the Progentors is complex and Tefler has been giving clues all along. Only time and more chapters will show anything or nothing at all.

Roger

You don't even need thousands of faye's controlling everything. All you need is faye is something like a hive-mind faye, or something else similar.

Chapter 59 will be a double size chapter, to wrap up the Nexus story. I wrote about 9k over the weekend, and have planned out the end of the chapter by scenes. I think Friday is more likely for the release date, but I'll let you know if anything changes!

Tefler

Been loving your work and cant wait for the next one.

Well, your work like always has been amazing. All new chapter are really showing your transformation into a mature writer. I wrote this comment because unlike most of the readers, I do come here to read sci-fi with some erotic spice and for some time, the erotic scenes have become quite mundane. I'm also skipping the sex scenes for a while now not because it's hindering the story flow but has become boring to read. I'm not saying to bombard the chapter with sex scenes or include more sex but the scenes should be original and new, not a compulsion to include because you are posting the story on literotica.

Even if you do nothing about it, I'll still be reading the upcoming chapters because you've got me hooked with the story so abandoning it, is not an option :)

I just wanted to say that i have been reading this straight for about 7 days and i have loved almost every moment. I only hated the parts that you want the reader to hate (in a good way). Wish you the best and cant wait for another update!

4 Cruisers that are controlled by AI and in-sync may have been the hardest battle so far. Granted the cruisers may have been older models, but it may just be a greater indicator of all the upgrades that finally happened in Maliri space.

To throw my .02 out there, I don't like the longer chapters. It doesn't have anything to do with length. They just seem rushed. Small chapters have all kinds of backstory, upgrades, character development, etc. Long chapters lately seem to be rushed non-stop combat. The original dragon march chapter was 5-6 pages and pure gold.

I personally thought this chapter would be about Dragon March. It was a nice surprise to see the AI rebellion. I thought that would be quite a ways away. Unfortunately it seems kind of weird. Dragon March is going to shit and is a priority due to Calara's family. Irillith's twin sister is chillin on the outlaw space station, likely where the assassin guild is. And now John is on a somewhat time consuming adventure with shutting down the AI rebellion. It had a weird vibe to it. There has to be consequences to John defending against the AI over doing the other two options.

Now that I think a second longer about it....there definitely has to be consequences to what I talked about before. There are 3 different things pressing for time. Assassin guild is getting riled up. Dragon march is about to be the start up of an all out war or an early end to one that never started. AI rebellion quickly in transit to Earth.

This is probably the first time in the story that things are happening at once as multiple time pressing issues are coming to a head.

For the problem of power for the main guns, maybe Dana could hook up the capacitors that absorb energy from incoming fire to power the new lasers. That would limit their use to dire situations but it would make a great ace in the hole.

For Faye, I think the key to the AI not going crazy is that she can now rewrite her core programming. Otherwise, the discrepancy between what is irrefutable and her experiences may have caused insanity. I think that's what happened to the previous human AIs. Things go well in the beginning and due to past rogue AIs, the researchers hardwire in safety rules that end up creating contradictions. Ultimately the AI goes rogue because there is no "right" answer. To save one life, is it permissible for the AI to take a life? If the AI is required to protect human life, it can't stand by while humans kill each other. If given the order to follow Terran Federation law, I'm sure there are contradictions in the laws that human judges would make allowances for but an AI hard wired to obey all laws, it would potentially cause instability.

I'm eagerly waiting for the next chapter. Thanks, Tefler!

Well, using the capacitators to get energy for the main guns, the Maliri-ones, is a good idea, but is it possible? There is the problem of how much energy is recieved, how to sync and connect them to the main lines; the use of a second powergrid to power the guns, getting the difference from the main power unit.

The main problem is that the maliri guns have a greater range, so recharging can only be done when the guns are not used to eliminate the main battleships of the enemy's fleet at the start. Once fired the enemy will take a distance or flee. That may look good for the moment, but as quoted (and if I recall correctly): A wise man retreats to fight another day. Sometimes it is better to eliminate a fleet completely, to prevent a battle days, month, or years after. The second World War was not because Germany was defeated, but the Peacetreaty of Paris after the first World War did not defuse a dangerous situation in Germany. Hitler used the first World War to create a hatred against the "instigators" of the Treaty: the Jews; the Communists; all whom he called "unfit to be Arian" i.e. the Gipsies; the invalid; the countries he thought were after the destruction of Germany.

A good treaty is better, but when you are dealing criminals, you can not take any risks. The main thing in a battle is the destroy the enemies capability to fight and that is in a battle in space stopping all ships from escaping, and the larger ships must stand high on the priority list. However, you can not reveal what you are capable of at the first shot, because the surpise is lost.

Maybe there is an other option. Hook the power unit of the Raptor to the main Maliri guns, when she is docked. That could with the condensors and the main power unit be enough to use them in a pitched battle. The downside is that then the Raptor is not available to fight of fighters.

A new object for discussion: How to fight a space-battle, because most theoretical studies are earth bound.

Herman Grootaers

As has been mentioned, space battles allways seem to be two dimensional. Even with Tefler...winks. The fleets always seem to attack or approach the Invictus as if they are sitting on a plane as opposed to forming up on all three dimensions. For this reason, and especially because of the sensor range advantage, the Invictus should attack from their underbelly where they are most vulnerable and where fewer cannons can train on them. After an initial volly, retreat out of their sensor range and repeat.

Combat, whether it be land, sea, or air (and even space), comes down to basically fire and maneuver. You want to maneuver to where you have the tactical advantage employing your weapons and to take full advantage of those weapons and/or maneuverability that you do have.

Nice and sound theory..... Except for one thing... Even with superior sensors, the other guy's aren't so bad that they can't see them coming from the top and say, roll their ship for a broadside, even it the others come in from the "top/bottom". Even from behind, the attack speed is not great enough that they can't at a minimum rotate the ship, possibly turn around. The true advantage, is the Invictus' upgraded weapons, with their longer range. So, a head on attack, firing early, and then "strafing" would be best.

Head on, means extremely fast closing speed. Computer locks, and "being" (human) gunners, as has been stated, don't cope well with the targets moving erratically and at speed. Calara seems to have the advantage there. (seldom misses)

But, multiple ships attacking from sundry and different vectors, would be a good attack strategy. Whether against the Invictus, or against what ever enemy is being fought.

Surrounding the ship with multiple attack vectors isn't as a good a strategy against the Invictus as it is against other ships. Since the last refit it now has guns to cover every side of the ship with lasers so that it has no blind spots.

It is true that some sides of the Invictus have fewer guns than other sides, but now if the Invictus is surrounded, that means it is able to get more of its guns into action at a single time, multiplying its killing power.

A much better strategy for an enemy to employ against the Invictus would be to get all the ships on the same side with the enemy's main guns pointed towards it so that all enemy ships can bring their main firepower to bear at the same time against a subset of the Invictus' firepower.

Since the Invictus out maneuvers everything and has the best range and best scanner range there's no way they can line up on the Invictus' least offensive side, but at least they want to zoom in quickly (to keep from being outranged) and then try to kill it before the Invictus gets into their midst.