Reunited

Finding One’s True Self: Part 52

By Xan Steel

Doctor
Graphra a Derlenian whose fur color was mostly tan, with a grey pelt. He stood
about eleven feet in height and carried a bit of a belly on him. He’s an
outgoing individual in the presents of others, but when it came to his work his
seriousness came out in full force. He waited patiently at the airlock while
the Sartorgan cruiser performed it’s docking maneuvers.

Julyna
had gotten in contact with him during their travel on the cruiser to let him
know when they would be arriving. The GrandMaster was also waiting with him,
and he was both anxious and excited to finally reveal everything to Rubicant,
and get things started.

Daria
decided it would be best for Tarusk, Ba’naria, and herself to wait until later
to reveal themselves fully to Rubicant. Making sure it didn’t distract him from
the real goal of what was to happen to him. Though to be honest they really did
want to see him and tell him the good news.

***

The
sound of the docking port from the cruiser attaching and locking in place was
heard, both Dr. Graphra and the GrandMaster straighten up and waited for the
door to open. The loud hiss of pressurization of the airlock is heard as a few
seconds pass to have the door open to reveal the Captain and few others behind
him. He walked over to greet him. “Ah, Captain Kartol it’s good to see you
again.” Graphra said in a pleasant tone.

“Maynar,
it is good to see you again old friend, and how’s the misses doing?” Kartol
asked in a pleasant tone of his own.

“Daria?
As busy as always finding something new to fix.” Graphra replied with a smile.

The
GrandMaster walked over to them as Kartol turned to greet him. “Good to see you
Master, I hope you are well,” he stated.

“Doing
as good as I can be.” He replied and then asked, “How is Rubicant doing?”

It
was at this point that Julyna walked out alone to meet the GrandMaster. She did
a small respectful bow to him, then standing back to look at him before
speaking in a gentle tone. “It’s taken him nearly eight days to recover, but
he’s doing well now” she explained.

“I’m
glad to hear that, I know the three of you have had it rough lately, so we have
a room prepared for you to stay in,” Dr. Graphra said.

Julyna
turned to Graphra, “There are a few others that would like to stay here, if you
have the space,” she said as Graphra stated he had a few other spare rooms that
he would need help cleaning them out first, but they were fine with staying for
a while. It was at this point that Iris, while supporting Rubicant with her arm,
walked up to greet everyone.

 The GrandMaster came over to them and greeted
them. “Welcome to your new temporary home.”

Iris
spoke first in a pleasant tone, “Thank you Master.”

Rubicant
was still tired both mentally and physically, so he wasn’t thinking to clearly
when he spoke, “So, when does the probing of my anus begin?” Both Dr. Graphra
and the GrandMaster just looked at him with odd expressions, as three distinct
laughers could be heard down the hall.

The
GrandMaster decided to ignore Rubicant’s silliness, “I’ll take you to your room
for now. You’ll need to rest up before we can do,” he clears his throat, “The probing
part.” It was at this point the three laughter’s they heard grew louder added
by what sounded like someone beating on a hard surface.

***

Once
they settled Iris and Rubicant in, Julyna helped the others clean up three more
rooms, for Tygera, Raybia, and Feros with Samantha. Once they finished the
GrandMaster took Julyna to the kitchen have a talk with her, as she began to
make a pot of Forrest Brew. “Would you tell me what happened to Rubicant. I
tried to read him earlier, but for some reason his mind is closed to me.”

Julyna
sat down with her cup, once the brewer had finished, and looked at her cup
before answering him. “We almost lost him,” she said quietly as she felt the
GrandMaster’s shock. “He took it upon himself to save Raybia, and without
formal training, encapsulated her consciousness for a total of thirty-two hours,
while Samantha and Iris repaired Raybia’s body.” Julyna paused there for a
moment while taking a sip of her brew, then continued. “Iris told me that
during our escape, he tried to encapsulate Altair’s consciousness once he felt the
mental link between the three of us sever.”

The
GrandMaster gently placed his handpaw on hers and spoke softly and asked, “I
take it she stopped him?”

Julyna
looked at him as a single tear ran down her right cheek and nodded to him. She
then asked the question that had been burning in her mind for a while now,
“What are you planning to do with our Rubi?”

The
GrandMaster looked at her and thought to himself, that perhaps now was the time
to inform everyone of what was going to happen to him. “Come, it’s time I
finally revealed what my plan is to everyone.”

***

Once
everyone was gathered in the main experiment hall. The GrandMaster began to
explain things. He looked at Rubicant, “There are a number of things that I
must tell you, but I can only reveal one thing for right now. I’m sure by now
you are aware that you are the Derlenian Progenitor.” Rubicant nodded. “That
means you carry a specific protein the rest of us need to survive.” The
GrandMaster paused for a moment. “Dr. Graphra believes he can safely remove the
protein from your body.”

Rubicant
spoke up in a concerned tone, “How does he plan to do that, and pass it on?”

The
GrandMaster looked at him with a small smile, “He is going to turn you into a Derlenian.
This should make the protein detach from your DNA chains and allow us to remove
them safely. This way Dr. Graphra can start working on a more permanent
solution for the Derlenian species.”

Rubicant
was a bit surprised to hear that they had planned to turn him into a Derlenian,
as it was for him a dream come true, but he also picked up on something from
the GrandMaster. It was an image, but he didn’t understand it. It was almost as
if the GrandMaster was hinting that they were close somehow. Rubicant then
turned to Dr. Graphra and asked, “What exactly is going to happen and how long
is this going to take?”

Dr.
Graphra held up a clear canister filled with a thick peach colored fluid. “This
is synthetic amniotic fluid that was crafted from your Memaw’s original
amniotic fluid, it has also been designed to be oxygenated and breathable
through the lungs. I figured it would be easier to use her fluid to convert
your DNA to Derlenian. You’ll be sleeping in a fluid filled chamber for two
cycles. In the simplest of terms, you will be reborn.” Graphra stated in a
slightly excited tone.

Rubicant
heard of synthetic amniotic fluid back on earth, as well as breathable fluid. However,
he had also heard it could be traumatic depending on the individual. As
breathing fluid is something one doesn’t do, so getting pass the body’s natural
thought of drowning. That would be the hardest thing he's ever done. He sighed
openly before speaking, “There’s no other way this can be done?”

Graphra
looked at him with concern with a tone to match, “Sadly, no. The process only
starts to begin once you have been completely submerged and breathing the fluid
for forty-eight hours.”

The
GrandMaster spoke up, “Our time is short, and we are already past the limits of
our species, as it has been brought to my attention that several hundred
thousand have already died. Due to the lack of the protein.” He finished in a
somber tone.

Rubicant
then thought of something else, only because he was feeling hungry, “How will I
receive nutrients in this chamber?” He asked openly.

Graphra
spoke again, “I’ll be passing liquid supplements through the fluid, that your
lungs can absorb. So, the only thing you may feel is hungry, but I’m going to
solve that by putting you under sedation. The less stress you go through during
this transformation, the greater the success.” He finished with enthusiasm.

Iris
spoke up with a concerned tone, “Is this completely safe for him? Because if it
isn’t, I don’t want him going through it if we are going to lose him.”

Graphra
turned to look at her and spoke with confidence, “It’s completely safe, as I
have been preparing for this moment for thirty cycles.”

Julyna
was suddenly hit with Deja-vu, as she remembered the transfer incident back on
Travaina IV so long ago. She saw Rubicant turn to look at her, only to realize
she had subconsciously projected it to him.

***

Everything
had been set for 0800 hours once things had been fully explained. Iris,
Rubicant, and Julyna headed back to their quarters to have dinner. As Rubicant
was preparing dinner, he kept having this nagging feeling that there was more
to him then what they had said. Such as them changing him into a Derlenian, how
could they do that viably unless he had been born a Derlenian. Otherwise Rya being
his Memaw in this galaxy, made no sense. Once everything was finished being prepared,
he sat down with his mates and ate with them.

***

Rubicant
couldn't stop tossing and turning that night, and decided to let the females
sleep, as he quietly wandered about the station. There were a few things going
through his mind that made him feel uneasy about tomorrow. His biggest one was,
not drowning in front of everyone. He had heard the success stories back on
Earth about breathing fluid. However, those that used it said many times, it
wasn’t an easy task. Those that didn’t prepare themselves before hand, could
never go swimming again for fear of breathing in regular water and dying.

The
other thing that he was in question of, was he really an earthling. What
brought this train of thought on was several different things. The fact that
Dr. Graphra mentioned “synthetic amniotic fluid” that they made from his
Memaw’s natural fluid. Plus, the one thing that kept nagging at him. The female
claiming to be his real Memaw. If Rya is his real Memaw, then how come his body
showed no Derlenian traits? By all accounts he should have been the tallest
human ever alive. That wasn’t the case. He had all normal human traits.

He
sighed openly, was he thinking to deeply into this? Was this a slow but simple procedure?
Should he just accept the fact his dream to be like his mates was about to
become true? Everything happening seemed too good to be true, and yet it was
happening.

He
looked out the bay windows he remembered seeing in the arboretum. The obsidian sea
before him was filled with twinkling stars, a small purplish planet, and a vast
nebula whose colors ranged from greens and yellows. After a few seconds he noticed
a reflection in the window, it was Feros. He turned to look at him as Feros
spoke in a concerned tone. “You can’t sleep either?” He asked.

Rubicant
looked at him for a moment before answering, “I don’t know how to feel right
now. Scared, happy, intrigued, I simply don’t have an answer.”

Feros
sat down in a nearby chair and spoke again, “You’ve been through so much since
you’ve been with us. I’m not at all surprised if you have any trepidations about
this entire change they want to do.”

Rubicant
joined him sitting in another chair near him. He sighed softly and spoke just
as quiet, “In a lot of ways this is like a dream come true for me, but I’ve
always been wary of the ‘If it seems too good to be true, it likely is’ scenario.”

Feros
looked at him more closely before speaking, “That’s some sound wisdom, and if I
was in your boots, I don’t think I could go through with it. However, that
being said, I haven’t lived your life, and I know you mentioned a long while
ago that if you could find a way to remove all traces of your past, you’d jump
at the chance.”

Rubicant
looked at him and asked a question that was also asking for some wisdom, “Am I
jumping at this, for the sake of wanting to be a Derlenian?”

Feros
smiled softly at him, “If you have to ask, then I don’t believe you are. Though
I think the biggest thing bothering you that you are potentially ignoring, is
the whole being a savior to an entire species.”

Rubicant
stared at him intently, because it had slipped his mind. This brought another
thought to light, were they using this to force him into it. “I guess the next
question I should ask is, are they using sympathy against me to force me into
this?”

Feros
cocked his head to the side and spoke, “I guess that depends on how important
your mates are to you. Are you willing to go through this for them?”

Rubicant
had a sudden look of shock cross his face as he looked at Feros, realizing that
if he wanted to live a long life with them, as well as, have a family, then he
would need to go through with this. He sighed softly after a moment, “I just
wish I had been told this a lot sooner, to give me more time to think on it. I
don’t like rushing into things, without knowing everything,” Rubicant finished.

Feros
leaned over an put his handpaw on Rubicant’s hand, “That is understandable, but
with having known you all these cycles. I can safely say, you are a far wiser person
than I. You look at everything before making your decision. Not many
individuals do.” He paused for only a moment before continuing, “I don’t think
you have anything to worry about, with regards to them changing you. Though I
do feel with how everything has been explained. I would say that you were, at
the very least, conceived as a Derlenian,” he finished.

Rubicant
looked at him with some mild surprise for thinking he was conceived as a
Derlenian. It did however make him feel reassured that he wasn’t the only one
to come to that conclusion.

***

Rubicant
returned to their room around 0100 and noticed Iris sitting on the edge of the
bed with Julyna curled around her from behind, while Iris was softly petting
her head and neck. He sensed that they had just finished being intimate with
each other. He smiled at them both feeling their happiness and relaxed state,
which made him feel better overall.

Iris
spoke softly to him, “I noticed that you are feeling better about tomorrow.”
She then asked, “Did Feros help clear some things up for you?”

Rubicant
leaned in a kissed her and then Julyna before speaking gently himself, “Yes he
did, especially with having had all this information laid on me so soon.”

Julyna
quietly spoke, “I wasn’t sure how you would handle it, I know you like knowing
things in advanced, so you can make a better decision.”

Rubicant
softly laughed, “One of the things I’ve learned being in this galaxy is, that
not everything is revealed at once. People seem to like leaving things out on
purpose. Seems like surprise is the name of the game here,” he finished while
sitting next to Iris and Julyna and softly petting Julyna’s head and neck.

***

As
0800 approached, Rubicant, Iris, and Julyna entered the main experiment room as
both the GrandMaster and Dr. Graphra were already there getting things ready.
Rubicant noticed another person there he had never seen before, a female black
Derlenian. He looked her over and sensed that she was familiar to him, but he
couldn’t place her.

Dr.
Graphra came over to Rubicant and spoke to him like a doctor would. “All right,
in order to ensure this process has the best chance of succeeding, I need you
to remove all of your clothes and step into the chamber here.” He pointed to a
round pad like device on the floor, and as Rubicant looked above it, he noticed
a large glass like tube above it. Dr. Graphra noticed him looking up and spoke
again. “That tube will be lowered down over you to complete the seal. Then I’ll
fill the chamber with the fluid I showed you yesterday. Then if all goes well,
you’ll be sleeping within twenty-four hours thereafter.”

Rubicant
turned to look at him and spoke in a concerned tone, “And you’re a hundred
percent sure the fluid is breathable?”

Dr.
Graphra looked at him as he heard the concern in his voice and spoke in a more
personal tone with him. “I understand how you feel, but I did personally test
it. You have nothing to fear here, as we all want this to succeed.”

Rubicant
sighed softly and began to remove his clothing as the Black Female Derlenian
took his clothes. Rubicant could only assume she was Dr. Graphra’s assistant.
Yet the nagging feeling that he knew her never left his mind. Once he finished,
he stepped over to the pad, and stood there as the large glass tube above
slowly lowered over him and sealed tight.

He
watched as the chamber began to slowly fill from the bottom, as the air he was
breathing was removed from the top. His nervousness spiked and everyone could
feel it. Iris and Julyna both walked up to the tube and began to send him
relaxing thoughts. Reassuring him that everything was going to be fine. This
started to work until the fluid was past his head, and then panic set in. His
hands went to the side of the tube to try and push on it in the hopes of
pushing it over. Iris tried desperately to calm his mind, but his panic was
overwhelming her. Julyna grabbed Iris and held on to her as Rubicant’s panic started
filling her mind, as Iris cried out for Rubicant stating that he wanted to be
let out.

It
was at this point the Black female Derlenian walked up to the glass tube and
placed her hand on it and spoke directly to Rubicant’s mind. ‘Danny, please
relax and breathe.’

Hearing
Maria’s voice in his mind sent Rubicant into surprise, as it caused him to involuntarily
breathe in the fluid. He choked for a short while as his lungs began to fill
with the fluid. After he settled into breathing the fluid, he looked at the
female and spoke to her mentally. ‘Maria? Is it really you?’

He
watched her smile at him as two others he hadn’t seen before came over to look
at him. A golden Male Phalynian and a black, white, and grey patch colored Bulorian.
They both placed their handpaws on her shoulders as she spoke again. ‘Yes
Danny, it’s me, and this is Mathew, and Sandra. Our names have changed though. I’m
now called Daria, and this,’ she said turning to Mathew ‘is Tarusk’, then
turning to Sandra ‘and this is Ba’naria’ she finished.

Rubicant
looked at the three of them, as they could feel his emotion come over them from
Daria. ‘How?’ was all he could think to say.

Daria
spoke in a sweet tone to him, ‘Suffice to say, Dr. Graphra has ways. But for
now, since they can’t really speak to you, I just want you to relax. Once this
is complete the three of us can sit down and talk’ she finished.

Rubicant
nodded to her and the others as Iris and Julyna came back over. Rubicant softly
to Iris, ‘I’m sorry’ he said.

Iris
looked at for a moment before speaking, ‘What for Rubi?’ She questioned.

‘For
panicking like that, and letting you feel it.’ He replied.

Iris
smiled to him, ‘It’s all right hun, I was hoping that if I remained connected
to you, that it would help lessen your panic’ she said.

‘I
think the only reason it didn’t was because this is a sealed chamber. Adding to
my fear.’ Rubicant stated.

Dr.
Graphra came over to the chamber and mentally spoke to Rubicant. ‘I just wanted
to let you know that I’m going to be putting you into a gentle anti-gravity field
inside the chamber, so you’ll be free floating inside. This will do two things.
One, make it easier for the fluid to completely surround you, and the second is
to give you more comfort than standing up or laying down on the floor’ he
explained as Rubicant nodded in understanding.

Rubicant
began to feel himself start to float up off the floor. He did his best not to
move, as he was unsure if moving would cause him to start to flip about inside
the chamber. Once he began to relax his body, is when he felt more comfortable floating
inside the tube.

***

A
few days passed as Dr. Graphra received an incoming communication from Admiral
Torid. He answered it and spoke, “Admiral Torid, it’s good to hear from you.
How is everything?”

Torid
spoke to him, but it was easy to hear his distress. “I hope I’m not coming at a
bad time, but my mate, Cartina, as you know is in need of help.”

This
peeked Dr. Graphra interests as he spoke in a more curious questioning tone,
“What’s happened with her?”

As
Torid spoke, his concern increased. “Her Doctor back on Valdoro told her that
her DNA is degrading and gave her four cycles to live.”

Graphra
thought this was interesting only because of the timing. He decided to test
Torid on his sincerity and asked that one question from so long ago that Torid
told him to ask, if he should ever question his reason. “Have you finally made
the decision to have a family?”

Torid
looked at him for a moment, as the memory of his anniversary with Cartina on
Ruinta Island came to mind.

Graphra
noticed that his eyes never waivered from his as he watched him answer.

“I
want nothing more than to have a family with the love of my life.” Torid
replied to him.

Graphra
could hear the resolute in his voice, as Daria told him mentally that he was
desperate to save her to have that family. Graphra smiled at him, “Docking Bay Two
will be ready for your arrival friend.”

Torid
smiled back at him, “Thank you friend” he replied.