Chapter 53:

　　"Eruru, Aruru, is there anything you need?" I lay in my giant bed with the two of them to either side of me, engulfed in fuzzy heaven.

　　"Honey." Aruru laconically replied.

　　"With the new nanomachines my hospital shifts are easy, so I have no complaints." Eruru replied.

　　"It's precisely because you have no complaints that I can never make you happy." I sighed, stymied by Eruru's perfection yet again. "You always back away at the first sign of competition, you always put yourself behind the other wives and stay out of sight. The end result is we never get a chance to talk."

　　"I figure that if you love me, you'll come to me." Eruru remorselessly replied.

　　"Oto-san, honey." Aruru pulled on my arm.

　　I sighed and got up out of bed, leading Aruru by the hand down to the basement where Siri kept our storehouses of food. Raw honey was not a difficult demand, but she wanted me to give it to her, not just to have it, so to the basement we went.

　　"Oto-san, Eruru, kenka?" Aruru looked up into my eyes as we walked through the long mansion corridors.

　　"What do you think, Aruru? Is there anything I could do to make Eruru happy?" I asked the girl who knew her sister better than anyone.

　　Aruru tilted her head and looked at me quizzically. Apparently she had never once in her life thought how to please her older sister. Even if she had, she'd never manage to speak in enough words to explain it to me. I should have known better than to ask her. These two!

* * *

　　"I'm not a very smart person." Yui told me as we lay in bed together listening to the soundtrack of Chrono Trigger with the lights off. "So I don't have as many intellectual hobbies as you do. I can't find as much fun in things as you do."

　　"Aren't you sociable enough to make up the difference? There's always more gossip to be had, with all the children and sister wives running around." I replied, squeezing her hand.

　　"If my children didn't need me, if you didn't need me, I would have asked to be put into cold sleep long ago. I might have asked to die." Yui said frankly.

　　I gulped. "Have I let you down?"

　　"I really loved life, but that's because everything was so fresh and new. I love this music, but do you know how many times I've heard it now?" Yui asked.

　　I shook my head. "3,000 times. And now I have a perfect memory, so I can replay the songs whenever I want, even when I'm away from any devices." Yui answered.

　　"There comes a point where you wonder if hearing Schala's theme for the 3,001st time really has any use." Yui continued.

　　"What about your own music, that you produce for the studio?" I asked.

　　"I'm not a very bright or imaginative person. I can't churn out endless new hits. I'm exhausted. I've already done my best. I already composed my best. Extra years can't replenish my mental reserves. I have no idea what to write next. Hasn't it all been said before?" Yui asked.

　　"Mayuri is only two years old. She'll be new and refreshing for you." I promised Yui.

　　"And when she grows up?" Yui asked me.

　　"Before then I'll give you a ninth child. We need to fill up the stars and become a Galactic Empire, after all, and for that I need you by my side." I hugged Yui's beautiful, eternally young nude body tight against mine.

　　"Loving you was once a fresh new experience too." Yui held me back. "It was so much fun back then, trying out all sorts of new things, my first time with a boy."

　　"I love our time together even now." I replied. "If you want to change the soundtrack to Xenogears or Chrono Cross you're free to do so."

　　Yui laughed and bit my neck. "I've probably listened to them more than Chrono Trigger, you dolt. You always have those soundtracks on."

　　"It's still too soon for any of you to go. I haven't experienced any of you enough. It's been 112 years since we got here, but we've only spent a year of that time together. If you left me after a single year I'd be heartbroken." I insisted.

　　"Okay, Christopher. I'll try and have more fun with my friends and family. When hobbies fail, when work fails, there's always interpersonal drama. There's an unending fount of that." Yui surrendered to my embrace.

　　"You'll stand beside me as Empress of the Universe." I promised.

　　"It's funny, isn't it? I'm sure so many people have killed and died for that kind of power, prestige and fortune. But now that I have it, I only feel emptiness. I can't imagine how Cute-sama does it. She's been here all fourteen billion years." Yui marveled.

　　"Apparently she slept through most of it." I quickly corrected her.

　　"I'd love to sleep too, but Mayuri needs me. Maybe I'll ask Cute-sama for some advice. I have everything money can buy and everything money can't buy, power, love, time -- why can't I be happy like her? What's the difference between us?" Yui asked me frustratedly.

　　"I think it's a vision. Cute-sama has a vision for the future, something she wants to see manifested. She lives for hope for that day. I have my own vision too, a place I want to take things. I want to see that reality come true before I die. I want to see my culture fill the stars, for it to win out against all competition, and for everyone in the universe to admit I was right all along. From the start. From the days of doomed Earth." I answered sincerely.

　　"My only vision for the future is tomorrow's strawberry cake with tea." Yui pouted.

　　"Do they still taste good?" I asked.

　　"Yesssssssss." Yui smiled happily, thinking back to her latest cake. "But I can't eat too many and stay your beautiful waifu."

　　"What about in virtual reality?" I asked.

　　"Part of the deliciousness of food is that feeling of becoming full again, of the sinfulness of how much you're consuming. I can't get that in virtual reality. If it's only the taste alone, it becomes deadening when you feel the same sensation continuously." Yui reported.

　　"I was so sure that would work, too." I sighed in frustration.

　　"It's great for dieting, don't get me wrong. But as a reason for living it's a bit much." Yui elaborated.

　　"So your reason for living is the real strawberry shortcake you really get to eat tomorrow, that really fills you up and becomes your belly." I summed up.

　　"For so long, I thought that was enough." Yui started to cry in my arms.

　　"Try a blueberry tart tomorrow." I offered.

　　"Dork." Yui laughed between her sobs.

　　"Fight-o, Yui. Maybe there's a vision meant for you, that's still waiting out there for you. If you keep searching long enough I'm sure you'll find it. Until then, will you live for me?" I asked.

　　"Unn." Yui tried to squelch her tears, wrapping both her legs and arms around me in an attempt to replace the pain with pleasure. "I said it from the beginning; So long as people need me, I'll stay for their sake."

　　For now that would have to suffice.

* * *

　　Pleasing my most neglected wives wasn't going very well, but surely the third time would be the charm. I would place all my bets on Kobeni!

　　"Kobeni, I'm here to visit!" I knocked on her door. Seven year old Akane answered, looking up and up at my strange grizzled face, the only non-anime featured person on Eden, with a sense of awe.

　　"Choudo ii." Kobeni came to greet me at the door with a smile, an apron over her clothes and a bandanna over her hair. "I'm cleaning up the mess she's made of the place, so will you help Akane with her studies and be sure she gets a bath and brushes her teeth before she goes to bed?"

　　"Kobeni, is there anything I could do for you?" I asked helplessly, watching my chance slip away.

　　"What are you talking about? I just told you." Kobeni gave me a harried look and then descended back into the interior of her apartment without a second thought.

　　I knelt down in front of Akane #5, with my augmented vision a darling chibi version of Akane Tendo.

　　"What can Papa help you with, Akane?" I looked her in the eye and asked in a gentle voice, being sure not to put #5 after her name.

　　"Decimals and fractions." Akane replied nervously, not used to talking to me.

　　Luckily, with my perfect memory, I'd already learned math up to polynomials, so this would be a cinch.

　　I guess there were wives like these, too.

* * *

　　"Sou iu wake de, I'd like for everyone to have another child." I said over the dinner table.

　　"A ninth?!" Cheria Barnes spluttered.

　　"I just had a prophetic dream, this time twenty years from now he's going to say 'At this point we may as well make it a tenth. . .'" Yume whispered to her nearest sister wives, and they started giggling in response.

　　"Listen! There's a good reason for this!" I got out in front of the protests. "We just colonized six planets. Let's call them Thugville, Modernity, The People's Republic, Opium Den, Anarchy Park and Sheol. All six of these planets are peopled by our enemies. From here on it's a race to the stars. If we fall behind, by the time we get out there, it might all belong to them. It's like I just threw our galaxy into a Master of Orion simulator, even though Cute-sama was kind enough to give us the entire universe to ourselves. I threw that good fortune away! I did it so that our descendants could have free will, just like Cute gave us. I think it was a good idea, but nevertheless, the games have definitely begun. Currently I'm mayor of the small village of Paradise. I can't become Galactic Emperor with eight children! We aren't going to be Masters of Orion at this rate! So, for the sake of the stars, will you join me?" I gave my speech. I definitely intended to play the Sakkra faction. He with the highest fertility always wins.

　　"Isn't it more like join with you?" Mikoto raised her eyebrow scornfully. Well yes, I was soliciting them for sex, but there was a deeper meaning behind it all!

　　"To be your wife is to have your children." Deedlit came in to my support.

　　"For love of you." Yui softly mouthed to me, knowing exactly why I was so eager to get a roll on, and also knowing why I couldn't tell that to anyone else. I didn't intend to leave her alone for as long as I could help it.

　　"Cute-sama is always monitoring our thoughts, and we're all here, not Opium Den or Thugville. Nor Sheol nor Anarchy Park. Not even The People's Republic or Modernity." Sara stood up and met the eyes of her fellow wives. "We all know Christopher is right. We can't give the galaxy over to people who will turn it into another tragedy like Earth's writ large. I for one would like to become Galactic Empress and stand at his side as we rule over all space and time. I was born into a distinguished family. This is my chance to show my caliber, to preserve that heritage and history of success. I want my children to be born into a distinguished family too. We can't be the failed experiment in this game of Civilization. We can't let the people who hate us overtake us. There's no future for us short of victory. Let space ring with the name of Chrysalis!"

　　"Mishou!" Cure Egret stood up with a rallying cry of her own.

　　"Lockhart!" Tifa stood up, liking the sound of that.

　　"Irisu!" Makina staked her claim to the galaxy.

　　"Ryuugu! Tohsaka! Sengoku! Kousaka! Freyja! Takanashi! Mayuzumi!" The wives rose and shouted in an ever rising chorus.

　　The stars were waiting for us. Noble lines that, like the Abh, would strive for glory, competing with each other for their family's legacy of goodness, for the rest of time. Co-inheritors of heaven ranging out into the heavens.

　　"Nine! Nine! Nine!" A new chant rose, and the poor girls in the minority who weren't caught up with war fever surrendered to their fates and stood up too.

* * *

　　The results were as follows:

　　Year 1 (113 E.T.):

　　Cute's daughter was named Eustia Amsynth.

　　Asuna's son was named Madmartigan Yuuki.

　　Rin Natsume's son was named Kengo Natsume.

　　Rose's son was named Rokurou Dagger.

　　Deedlit's daughter was named Frieren Glade.

　　Yume's son was named Jin Asakura.

　　Koko's daughter was named Elina Tsukishima.

　　Yukino's daughter was named Primula Ouhama.

　　Isara's son was named Rentarou Aomi.

　　Yoru's son was named Byleth Kazato.

　　Asa's son was named Serenoa Kazato.

　　Year 2 (114 E.T.):

　　Chiwa's son was named Ferdinand Harusaki.

　　Rosa's son was named Aquamarine Farrell, or 'Aqua.'

　　Eruru's daughter was named Leviathan Green.

　　Sherria's daughter was named Shizuka Blendy.

　　Lisanna's daughter was named Alice Strauss.

　　Emily's daughter was named Ruby Granger.

　　Usagi's son was named Peter Tsukino.

　　Nadeko's son was named Anakin Sengoku.

　　Haruka Haruno's daughter was named Mia Haruno.

　　Riko's daughter was named Chiyu Izayoi.

　　Year 3 (115 E.T.):

　　Aoba's son was named Rhodry Suzukaze.

　　Kudryavka's daughter was named Yuiko Noumi.

　　Kagome's son was named Ryo Higurashi.

　　Nekone's son was named Chopper Gold.

　　Sagiri's daughter was named Kukuru Izumi.

　　Kobato's daughter was named Liliruca Hasegawa, or 'Lili.'

　　Myusel's son was named Matthias Foaran.

　　Nemu's daughter was named Shinku Asakura.

　　Aisia's daughter was named Megumin Snow.

　　Sakura Mamiya's son was named Kyon Mamiya.

　　Year 4 (116 E.T.):

　　Hozumi's daughter was named Botan Schmetterling.

　　Kirino's daughter was named Padme Kousaka.

　　Mylene's daughter was named Yuuri Jenius.

　　Nico's daughter was named Chika Yazawa.

　　Rin Tohsaka's son was named Willow Tohsaka.

　　Kobeni's daughter was named Natsuno Yonomori.

　　Mavis' daughter was named Leia Vermillion.

　　Levy's daughter was named Mitsuri McGarden.

　　Yuna's son was named Wakka Sea.

　　MOMO's daughter was named Yuki Nagato Mizrahi.

　　Year 5 (117 E.T.):

　　Urara's daughter was named Komachi Kasugano.

　　Keiko's son was named Mark Ayano.

　　Teletha's son was named Anthony Testarossa, or 'Tony.'

　　Kaname's daughter was named Yuuki Chidori.

　　Kotori's son was named Franky Kanbe.

　　Makina's son was named Martin Irisu.

　　Sora's son was named Frodo Takanashi.

　　Sara's son was named Ryoma Chrysalis.

　　Sayaka's son was named Tadakatsu Mayuzumi, or 'Gen.'

　　Meiko's daughter was named Shiona Honma.

　　Year 6 (118 E.T.):

　　Mitsuki's son was named Tsukasa Mononobe.

　　Haruka Saigusa's daughter was named Mio Saigusa.

　　Cheria's son was named Seiya Barnes.

　　Juvia's daughter was named Kuro Locksor.

　　Mirajane's son was named Caim Strauss.

　　Nanoha's daughter was named Fuka Takamachi.

　　Rin Nohara's son was named T-800 Nohara.

　　Lafiel's daughter was named Run Abriel.

　　Himeno's daughter was named Otomi Katsuragi.

　　Yuuhi's son was named Benno Katagiri.

　　Year 7 (119 E.T.):

　　Akane's daughter was named Haruka Tsukishima.

　　Suguha's son was named Boromir Kirigaya.

　　Elize's daughter was named Magilou Lutus.

　　Tifa's son was named Snow Lockhart.

　　Aerith's son was named Noel Gainsborough.

　　Fate's daughter was named Rinne Testarossa.

　　Chtolly's son was named Shinji Ikari Seniorious.

　　Sakura Kinomoto's son was named Gandalf Kinomoto.

　　Sae's son was named Claude Nakata.

　　Reina's daughter was named Mion Ryuugu.

　　Year 8 (120 E.T.):

　　Ai's son was named Pete Hinatsuru, or 'Maverick.'

　　Rydia's daughter was named Aya Mist, or 'Murasame.'

　　Aruru's daughter was named Bahamut Green.

　　Kuon's daughter was named Fran Black.

　　Lucy's son was named Lutz Heartfilia.

　　Sakura Haruno's daughter was named Eowyn Haruno.

　　Shana's son was named Inigo Blaze.

　　Mikan's daughter was named Haruna Yuuki.

　　Illyasviel's son was named Thor von Einzbern.

　　Lyria's daughter was named Rin Jewel.

　　Year 9 (121 E.T.):

　　Louise's daughter was named Iori Francoise Le Blanc de la Valliere.

　　Honoka's daughter was named Yonagi Yukishiro.

　　Mai's daughter was named Manatsu Mishou.

　　Azusa's daughter was named Veronica Nakano.

　　Yui's daughter was named Mirai Hirasawa.

　　Sophie's daughter was named Pascal Lamb.

　　Rinoa's daughter was named Lightning Heartilly.

　　Nayuki's daughter was named Akiko Minase.

　　Misuzu's son was named Guts Kamio.

　　Orihime's son was named Gin Inoue.

　　Year 10 (122 E.T.):

　　Iris' daughter was named Rin Freyja.

　　Nozomi's daughter was named Hinata Yumehara.

　　Mira's daughter was named Framme Yurizaki.

　　Leia's son was named Diamant Rolando.

　　Nagisa's daughter was named Sanae Furukawa.

　　Wendy's daughter was named Nausicaa Marvel.

　　Miu's son was named Samwise Takanashi, or 'Sam.'

　　Sakura Yoshino's daughter was named Licia Yoshino.

　　Kokona's son was named Logan Aoba.

　　Mikoto's son was named Obi-Wan Misaka.

　　Naming my children was always the funnest part of my parenting. As usual, the FF's gave birth to FF's, the Tales to Tales, the Precure to Precure, etc. Mion finally got to join the rest of the crew from Higurashi. The remaining Little Busters! were born to my three Little Busters! waifus. Nagisa and Nayuki gave birth to their respective mothers in their works, Sanae and Akiko. Their mothers were such central characters to their lives I thought it might please the two to get to rejoin them in Eden. Haruka Tsukishima and Otomi Katsuragi were named after the heroines from Mix.

　　 Lyria's Rin was from Kodomo no Jikan, while Iris' Rin was from Sore ga Seiyuu!, for a record breaking 7 different Rin's running around Eden.

　　The naming well was running thin, though, so I had to get creative and pull more often from fiction outside of Japan. For example, the sniper Makina giving birth to the sniper Martin from Lethal Weapon was ingenious.

　　Kuro and Yuuki were from Saki. Ryoma Chrysalis was from Kami-tachi.

　　I know it seems strange, but even this deep in I didn't feel like the quality of the fictional characters I was naming my kids after was dropping. Sure, it had taken a long time to get to these boys and girls, but they were still famous, iconic and beloved characters, true heroes admired by all. When you're giving birth to Wolverine, Iron Man, Spider Man and Gandalf, is quality control seriously an issue?

　　Was someone going to complain about Darth freaking Vader? Yeah, I thought not.

　　Eustia may have considered her wings a curse, but she was a blessing to me because it meant I had another winged child's name ready for Cute-sama. Thanks to Kagome's hard work, the Book of Cute was being taught in our theology classes daily now. Our ninthborns would be the first to fully benefit from divine wisdom straight from the source. I had hopes this would make them the most moral generation yet. Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither would Eden be, but the progress was visible and gratifying every step of the way.

　　In summation, my ninthborns were called as such:

　　Cute's daughter was named Eustia Amsynth.

　　Asuna's son was named Madmartigan Yuuki.

　　Rin Natsume's son was named Kengo Natsume.

　　Rose's son was named Rokurou Dagger.

　　Deedlit's daughter was named Frieren Glade.

　　Yume's son was named Jin Asakura.

　　Koko's daughter was named Elina Tsukishima.

　　Yukino's daughter was named Primula Ouhama.

　　Isara's son was named Rentarou Aomi.

　　Yoru's son was named Byleth Kazato.

　　Asa's son was named Serenoa Kazato.

　　Chiwa's son was named Ferdinand Harusaki.

　　Rosa's son was named Aquamarine Farrell, or 'Aqua.'

　　Eruru's daughter was named Leviathan Green.

　　Sherria's daughter was named Shizuka Blendy.

　　Lisanna's daughter was named Alice Strauss.

　　Emily's daughter was named Ruby Granger.

　　Usagi's son was named Peter Tsukino.

　　Nadeko's son was named Anakin Sengoku.

　　Haruka Haruno's daughter was named Mia Haruno.

　　Riko's daughter was named Chiyu Izayoi.

　　Aoba's son was named Rhodry Suzukaze.

　　Kudryavka's daughter was named Yuiko Noumi.

　　Kagome's son was named Ryo Higurashi.

　　Nekone's son was named Chopper Gold.

　　Sagiri's daughter was named Kukuru Izumi.

　　Kobato's daughter was named Liliruca Hasegawa, or 'Lili.'

　　Myusel's son was named Matthias Foaran.

　　Nemu's daughter was named Shinku Asakura.

　　Aisia's daughter was named Megumin Snow.

　　Sakura Mamiya's son was named Kyon Mamiya.

　　Hozumi's daughter was named Botan Schmetterling.

　　Kirino's daughter was named Padme Kousaka.

　　Mylene's daughter was named Yuuri Jenius.

　　Nico's daughter was named Chika Yazawa.

　　Rin Tohsaka's son was named Willow Tohsaka.

　　Kobeni's daughter was named Natsuno Yonomori.

　　Mavis' daughter was named Leia Vermillion.

　　Levy's daughter was named Mitsuri McGarden.

　　Yuna's son was named Wakka Sea.

　　MOMO's daughter was named Yuki Nagato Mizrahi.

　　Urara's daughter was named Komachi Kasugano.

　　Keiko's son was named Mark Ayano.

　　Teletha's son was named Anthony Testarossa, or 'Tony.'

　　Kaname's daughter was named Yuuki Chidori.

　　Kotori's son was named Franky Kanbe.

　　Makina's son was named Martin Irisu.

　　Sora's son was named Frodo Takanashi.

　　Sara's son was named Ryoma Chrysalis.

　　Sayaka's son was named Tadakatsu Mayuzumi, or 'Gen.'

　　Meiko's daughter was named Shiona Honma.

　　Mitsuki's son was named Tsukasa Mononobe.

　　Haruka Saigusa's daughter was named Mio Saigusa.

　　Cheria's son was named Seiya Barnes.

　　Juvia's daughter was named Kuro Locksor.

　　Mirajane's son was named Caim Strauss.

　　Nanoha's daughter was named Fuka Takamachi.

　　Rin Nohara's son was named T-800 Nohara.

　　Lafiel's daughter was named Run Abriel.

　　Himeno's daughter was named Otomi Katsuragi.

　　Yuuhi's son was named Benno Katagiri.

　　Akane's daughter was named Haruka Tsukishima.

　　Suguha's son was named Boromir Kirigaya.

　　Elize's daughter was named Magilou Lutus.

　　Tifa's son was named Snow Lockhart.

　　Aerith's son was named Noel Gainsborough.

　　Fate's daughter was named Rinne Testarossa.

　　Chtolly's son was named Shinji Ikari Seniorious.

　　Sakura Kinomoto's son was named Gandalf Kinomoto.

　　Sae's son was named Claude Nakata.

　　Reina's daughter was named Mion Ryuugu.

　　Ai's son was named Pete Hinatsuru, or 'Maverick.'

　　Rydia's daughter was named Aya Mist, or 'Murasame.'

　　Aruru's daughter was named Bahamut Green.

　　Kuon's daughter was named Fran Black.

　　Lucy's son was named Lutz Heartfilia.

　　Sakura Haruno's daughter was named Eowyn Haruno.

　　Shana's son was named Inigo Blaze.

　　Mikan's daughter was named Haruna Yuuki.

　　Illyasviel's son was named Thor von Einzbern.

　　Lyria's daughter was named Rin Jewel.

　　Louise's daughter was named Iori Francoise Le Blanc de la Valliere.

　　Honoka's daughter was named Yonagi Yukishiro.

　　Mai's daughter was named Manatsu Mishou.

　　Azusa's daughter was named Veronica Nakano.

　　Yui's daughter was named Mirai Hirasawa.

　　Sophie's daughter was named Pascal Lamb.

　　Rinoa's daughter was named Lightning Heartilly.

　　Nayuki's daughter was named Akiko Minase.

　　Misuzu's son was named Guts Kamio.

　　Orihime's son was named Gin Inoue.

　　Iris' daughter was named Rin Freyja.

　　Nozomi's daughter was named Hinata Yumehara.

　　Mira's daughter was named Framme Yurizaki.

　　Leia's son was named Diamant Rolando.

　　Nagisa's daughter was named Sanae Furukawa.

　　Wendy's daughter was named Nausicaa Marvel.

　　Miu's son was named Samwise Takanashi, or 'Sam.'

　　Sakura Yoshino's daughter was named Licia Yoshino.

　　Kokona's son was named Logan Aoba.

　　Mikoto's son was named Obi-Wan Misaka.