Qelu glanced at the pregnant teen, and after a moment began to explain what would happen to her, answering Kiru’s question, and more. Some of what she was about to say however, would be somewhat worrying to Kiru, and certainly didn’t sit right with her.

“Well, she would be enrolled in the Iniri Caretaker Service, and a caretaker would be assigned to her.”

Kiru frowned dubiously, “Caretaker Service? What exactly is that?”

She sighed, “Not many Neku are trusted to raise their children properly, and teen mothers like her are especially bad at raising their kids right. The caretaker service exists to ensure those children are raised properly.”

Kiru gave her a look, “That sounds good, but why do I have the feeling it has a dark element to it?”

Qelu shifted her stance. “I’ve never thought of it that way before, but I guess it does.”

Kiru blinked, she had not expected Qelu to say that, but she refrained from commenting. Nothing seemed quite appropriate to say in response. That statement did make her wonder if Megumi had done something.

Qelu continued, “Anyway, back to the service. Once a Caretaker is assigned, that caretaker will stick close to her like they would any other mother to be. The goal being to gain the trust of the mother. Mainly due to how it helps with the next step.”

“The next step? I have a feeling I won’t like that.”

Qelu nodded, “You won’t. After the child is born, it will be taken away by the caretaker once the caretaker deems it is strong enough to leave its mother's side.”

Qelu was right, she didn’t like that. Kiru didn’t know what to say about this. What Qelu said next just made those feelings... worse.

“Apparently the sooner the newborn is removed the better. From what I have been told it has something to do with ensuring the child bonds first with her caretaker, and not her mother. There is something special about that first bond a child forms, but I’m not entirely sure what that is.”

Putting aside her feelings she asked the one question that mattered, “Surely you have some idea?”

Qelu nodded, “Are you familiar with Dragons? Starlords would be closer but I doubt you have any familiarity with them. As it is, I only know what I do about them because my mother told me, and I don’t even know where she learned what she did about them.”

“I have some knowledge, but I am not sure what you are getting at.”

“Dragons have this pesky reverse-imprinting deal where females of other races psionically imprint on their pups. While starlords apparently do something similar except with their own birth-sibling. As for ourselves we form strong bonds with our own children. It’s something common among truly gifted psionic species, and the Neku are becoming one thanks to our awakening them to their psionic heritage.”

She blinked, “And I take it that these caretakers develop that kind of psionic bond with the children they care for?”

Qelu nodded, “Based on what I have heard, I believe so. I just can’t say for certain.”

She glanced back at the pregnant teen still standing naked, and waiting for Qelu’s instructions. Then looked back, “So why would they want such a bond?”

May stretched a bit, as the Iniri removed their sensors from Riku. It seemed they were done with their scan. The doctor told her that she was progressing nicely. May had an idea of what that meant, but it seemed Riku wasn’t being all that inquisitive about what they were doing to her. Obviously just one more effect of the brainwashing they have been doing to the poor girl. 

Moments later, Yiria led the girl out the door, and she followed. May was curious to finally see what this spa treatment was all about. She had spent some of the time waiting for it, conversing with Megumi. They had a few ideas, but one thing that stuck with her was that it might include some deep brainwashing. Apparently, the mind was far more vulnerable to telepathic influence when it was relaxed and unguarded. Something that a spa treatment could help produce in the mind.

She figured she would know for sure what was up with the spa, when they got there. As they navigated the corridors, she noted the way they were going. The route was actually familiar. May suspected that this spa treatment might not be in this building. That made a certain amount of sense to her. Instead of speculating, she focused on following the pair, and listening to them chat. Although she noted nothing of real interest. Yiria was asking Riku more questions, of a very personal nature, and she was answering them. There wasn’t anything too interesting in those answers. As such she began paying a little more attention to the other Neku in the building, all of which had an Iniri leading them around. Although, unlike Riku, none of them were obviously pregnant. Which given that they were all nude likely meant they weren’t. Not unless they had practically just conceived. Something May dismissed as quite unlikely, although not impossible.

She didn’t overhear much of interest from them either, but that may have had more to do with the limited window she had to eavesdrop. It wasn’t long before she was outside of the building again, just like she had expected. Yiria gestured at another building in sight, it even had a sign. It was a rather elegant looking building. May noted its features as they started moving towards it. She listened to what Yiria had to say about it, “That building over there contains the spa. It has quite a few amenities, and treatments, but don’t worry about the options. Your entire visit has already been planned.”

“It has?”

“Yep. Just trust us with your body, and relax. That is all you have to do, and by the time we are done you should be much more comfortable with your body. A few more visits will be needed for best results of course, which is why we will have a session here every day until you are ready to leave.”

“I understand.”

May blinked. That sounded interesting, and had a few implications. Some of which weren’t stated outright, but indicated something. Still it made a certain amount of sense given their goals. Regardless of what that brief bit indicated, she still wanted to actually take a look and confirm her suspicions. Thankfully she wasn’t going to have to wait long, as the building in question was only a brief walk away. Putting her suspicions aside for the moment, she focused on listening to what Yiria was telling Riku about her spa schedule. Although it didn’t seem strange to May, perhaps more would be revealed when they actually got there to see it.

May stepped into the spa building following the other two. A younger Iniri was there waiting for them, and greeted the visible pair with a smile. Yiria spoke briefly with the younger Iniri, and then they were led into the back, away from the reception room.

They were led down a corridor, and into another room, where a number of other naked Neku were being attended by Iniri attendants. May noted this as significant, given Iniri tendencies. They weren’t the type to act as servants afterall, so she had no doubt that something more was going on here. Although the room looked fairly normal, at first glance. There were a number of recessed tubs scattered around the room, and she noted a few Neku relaxing in them. May even noted that in a few of them, some strange apparatus was attached to their heads as they reclined in these pools.

Riku was led to an empty pool, one empty of people anyway. As they got nearer May noted the ‘water.’ Well, more like whatever liquid was in the pool. It sure wasn’t water, and it didn’t smell like it either. The smell was somewhat sweet, with some undertone she couldn’t quite place. The smell was somewhat pleasant, but not something she trusted. Not given who was managing the place. May energized and adjusted her shields, and a moment later the smell changed. She then took a quick look around, and noted no one had noticed the brief signs of an engaging personal shield. For most uses, shields, and cloaks are mutually exclusive. While running a shield with a cloak was possible according to Solean science, it was a very draining process. Her internal reactor barely had the power for this, and she had to completely shut down her defense cannon for this shield. The why had to do with the particulars of how cloaks and shields interact, but the short is running both simultaneously requires more power than just running one of them independently. On the order of a factor of ten to be specific. She briefly glanced over her hud, as she considered that, and noted that it was draining her reserve batteries. At current expenditures she had about an hour and a half before her batteries were depleted.

Then she turned her attention to the pool, and the three figures she was observing. Figures that were already talking, something she started to register as she took in what the pool liquid looked like. It was certainly thicker than water, and it didn’t look like water either. It was a clearish golden yellow color with swirls of purple in it. Perhaps a mixture? Rather than think on it, she simply took a few scans with what sensors she hadn’t turned off, as she listened to them talk.

“Alright Riku, this is your first treatment, a soak in our special mineral bath. It’s very good for the skin, and the warm bath should be quite relaxing. It will also be good for relaxing stress, and tense muscles.”

Riku nodded, “Sounds kind of nice, although the water looks a little different.”

“It’s an oil bath, not water, but you don’t have to worry about that,’ said the attendant, before she continued, this time speaking to Yuria. “I need to get back to the desk. I trust you can take care of her, yes?”

Yiria nodded.

“Great. I’ll be by later, to let you know when it is time for her to move on to the next treatment.”

As the other Iniri left, Yiria turned to Riku, “Okay, go ahead and get in the tub. I simply want you to relax, and soak. Let the mineral bath do its job, and while you are relaxing I am going to massage your scalp to help you relax further. Sound good?”

Riku slipped into the tub, and replied, “It sounds relaxing.”

Within moments, Riku was relaxed into the tub, and granting Yiria easy access to her head. Yiria quickly reached forward with her tentacles, and started to massage and rub her head. May noted Riku’s expressions, and didn’t think the Iniri caretaker was in her mind just yet. It seemed the goal at the moment really was to get her to relax. To what end was the question. One she hoped would be answered soon enough, and she hoped they would get out of this room before she had to drop her shields. Then again, who knows, maybe that smell was actually harmless? Well she would know for sure soon enough. As she had already sent the details of those scans she had risked taking to Megumi. She figured the ship’s AI could analyze that stuff quickly enough. Although she had not heard back from her just yet.