Nick woke up in an elevated mood. Yesterday's cleansing of the Ambassador was a success. Calling in Voltana has proven to be very prudent. The sentient synth has updated his digital defenses, which turned a regular CoD level into the Dark Souls variety. He would still probably be able to pull this through, but without 100% surety.

When the human masseur finally left his bed and went through a regular morning procedure, his dataslate gave up a message signal. Someone was calling him. Curious about the reason, Nick turned it on, while prepping the breakfast.

"Nick, good morning." it was Josephina, his agent. She was in a good mood, welcoming her client with a cheerful smile. "Got something nice for you here."

"Nothing like starting the weekend with a good set of news." the man yawned, getting his cereal and milk into the bowl.

"After your yesterday report, Nexus of Cores has contacted our embassy. They've extended their gratitude to us and you in particular, for treating one of their own. Synths were also quite interested in this "Gamification" program and its treatment. You've done very well - now these shy rust buckets are finally getting out of their shell and it is humanity that made this possible. UEF wants to reward you for your service. Do you want a raise?"

"To be honest, no." Nick shook his head. "I am already being paid more than enough to feed my entire bloodline."

"I see. Maybe you need something else then?"

"How about an extended leave when I require one? One time, of course."

"And that's it?" woman's brow went up. "You are either very modest or easy to please."

"Those two aren't mutually exclusive, you know."

"Fine then. Your additional leave right is granted. That's all for today. Have fun on the weekend, Nick!"

"You too, Josephina."

Short drive via local taxi and Nick was now standing before Voltana's workshop. The place wasn't big, but high-tech stuff was kind of making his eyes water. Grem'No were dedicated individualists, so after reaching adulthood (and sometimes even earlier) they left their homes and began carving their destiny. Voltana herself was still pretty young by her species' standards, but the alien girl was doing pretty good. Having Grem'No in your neighborhood might be a bit dangerous, but their products are incredibly high tier.

"Nick!" little gremlin constructor was very happy to see her friend, jumping onto his belly with a cute hug. She was half his height, so back on the Earth that would look more like a father/daughter reunion. "You came!"

"I wasn't supposed to?" a teasing smile made Voltana blush, even thou her fur hid it.

"No-no-no, of course, I knew you'd come!" from a cocky gamer to the shy girl that invites her first friend home. The human man found it very cute.

Then he noticed something different about her.

"Did you get a new set of cybernetic arms?" during their first meeting, Voltana had utility implants. Those had a wide variety of instruments and applications, perfectly suited for tinkerers, scientists, and so on. They were also bigger and gave that cliché look of a "cyborg with limbs bigger than its body".

"Oh... you've noticed..." gremlin girl bashfully hid her artificial hands behind her back, trying her best to avoid the man's gaze. Cyber hands she donned today were much more sleek and elegant, made from some material that resembled solid jade. Additionally, these feminine limbs had beautiful pictures seemingly carved on them by a chisel. The same was true for her legs as well. Thou impish, her leg implants were toned and nice.

"Don't hide those." Nick knelt and extended his arms. "Can I take a look at them?"

"Well... if you insist." she reluctantly allowed him to touch them while giving the human man expectant looks.

"Incredible work," said Nick, curiously examining the implants. They were made so well that one might have difficulty distinguishing them from the organic arms. "Look and feel very real to me. You should be proud."

But what the human man didn't immediately notice was that these cybernetics had touch receptors installed. His trained and experienced hands, without the owner's knowledge, touched Voltana's limbs not as a regular person, but as a masseur. So he wasn't immediately aware of her squirming from pleasure.

"L-let's get in!" embarrassed gremlin girl bolted inside, while her friend soon followed too. She was incredibly on edge, without even understanding why. Voltana even googled on the Uninet what condition Nick has provoked in her body and the result... only made her even redder. "Are y-you hungry?"

Voltana's room looked just like the human masseur expected. Tons of different devices, equipment, and components filled a lot of space between worktables, machines, and actual furniture. The rest was tidy, but a keen eye would easily spot the fact that it was only recently cleaned. Grem'No were often so focused on research, tinkering, and experimenting, that they forgot about eating, taking out the garbage, and going outside. Looks like this one was no different in that regard.

"Kind of," Nick responded, carefully navigating through the fields of filled boxes. "I brought some products too. Let me cook something."

"Wait, what???" gremlin girl looked puzzled. "You aren't using automatics?"

Indeed, there was an idle robot with all sorts of utensils and instruments to prepare food. He was a bit dirty but functional and ready to serve.

"Sorry, I prefer to cook by hand." Nick shook his head. "Can I use your kitchen?"

"Imma... s-sure..." but then the light in Grem'No's eyes came to life, as she quickly added: "Can I see you doing it?!"

"Sure, just don't get too close."

Voltana had no idea something as simple as cooking could be so interesting. For her, the sound that her automated "cook" made was little less than a background noise when she lived here, with her only looking away from the what-ever-she-was-making when the food was served to her. But now young alien had difficulty averting her eyes from nimble fingers that masterfully diced stuff with a knife, mixed ingredients together, and operated the plasma stove.

"What the hell is wrong with me?!" looking at Nick's face was definitely a mistake. He looked so focused, yet so calm and at peace. Just like when the man massaged her biological and cybernetic body parts. For her, that was mesmerizing. Then she remembered the words of one of her mentors: "No matter how complex the mechanism is, it can't beat the intricate structure of the organic body.".

"Is my cooking really that interesting?" asked her friend, giving her a short glance.

"Can you cook me too?"

Pause...

"...what?" when Voltana realized what she just blurted, she thought her fur is about to turn from grass green to crimson red.

"NOTHING!!!" she jumped from surprise so hard that strong servomotors in cyber legs launched her up in the air, forcing her head to hit the ceiling. And judging by the abundance of hard objects stored around, the landing won't be soft.

"Got cha~" but before that happened, Nick quickly dropped the instruments and caught his shy client with both hands. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah..." there was no blood and moderate pain was almost nonexistent to her now. Voltana screamed internally - a big alien male that she had very strange (and indescribable) feelings about was holding her in his arms like a baby. Despite the biofield being on, Nick's warmth transferred to her body. Those powerful arms felt so secure, although he was a much bigger omnivore currently holding her.

"I am glad. I will put you in bed..." the human masseur smiled, before carrying her to the half-covered couch.

"Oh, sweet gearboxes and welders!" her thoughts went out like a crazy hurricane, completely overtaking any attempt to do anything, except stay put. "He is carrying me to the bed! Is he in a mood?! Wait, what am I saying?! We belong to different species! He couldn't possibly be attracted to someone like me!!! But I heard that humans are hardcore xenophiles! What if he actually wants to shove his rod into my nut?! Not that I mind, but how?! His perforator must be bigger than my arm!!! He'll tear me apart with the head alone!!! I mean, I can use my mouth, but I have sharp teeth - he won't agree to this!!! Oh my gracious levers, what do I do?!?!?!"

"...for now." Nick gently laid her down on the soft couch, straighten up, and added: "Rest a bit, until I am finished cooking~"

When food was prepared and the table served, the human man spent some time wondering why his friend was pouting through the whole lunch. Did he do something bad? Was the food not good? Definitely not the latter, because Voltana gobbled up his cooking like she was starving. Oh well, maybe it was nothing.

After lunch, the two spent several hours playing video games. Many Grem'No did this too. Ever since humanity introduced the galactic community to one of their favorite pastimes, Voltana's kin immediately jumped into the digital world. With the addition of the Internet-turned-Uninet, relationships between two species got much closer. To illustrate how close UEF and Energized Technocracy are now, there is a popular saying: "Wanna test something? Give it to humans."

"Your species is incredible, Nick." The strange part was that, eventually, Grem'No moved closer to him and sat right on top of his crossed legs. It was a bit odd, but not uncomfortable, so the human masseur allowed her to use him as a living chair.

"Where did that come from?" asked Nick, keeping his eyes on the monitor.

"I am serious!" she sharply raised her head, like he didn't believe her. "When galactic linguists translated a small bit of your Internet, my people were in shock! You have such a limitless imagination! Living metal! Dyson Spheres! Halos! Psychic powers! Magic! Bizarre ship and device designs! Unorthodox applications of military and civil things! AND MEMES!!!!!!"

"Yeah, being a Deathworlder comes with its perks." nodded Nick, like it was nothing to him. Such a reaction only fired his companion up.

"You don't get it, are you?" she left the controller, suddenly turning around to face the surprised human man. "Introduction of Earth-born cultures and knowledge had an incredible impact on Grem'No society!!!"

Voltana was so in the moment, that she didn't notice how her round butt was now resting on Nick's crotch and her hands intently grabbed his shirt. But he did and was really trying to suppress the awakened hormones.

"It was like a massive technological revolution and enlightenment combined! We never knew how narrow our views were! We, Grem'No, were both superior and incredibly inferior to UEF in the technological field!"

"Emmm... Voltana..."

"No, listen closely!" her face was close. Dangerously close. And very beautiful. "Many Grem'No are fascinated and inspired by your kin! Me included! I was already fangirling over humans when I was just able to walk! Don't think it is nothing special! Because it is!"

They froze in that position, with Nick feeling that his retractable spear was already pushing out the fabric, slowly approaching someone's nethers.

"Okay, okay, just don't get too close!"

"Why?! You dislike me?!"

"Look... down..."

The moment the gremlin girl lowered her gaze, a certain sword "politely" asked a certain "sheath" to let it in. Voltana's eyes grew wider than those dinner plates her automated cook was dutifully cleaning in the background. Then she carefully slid back to her place on the man's legs and slowly turned back to the monitor. Her ears were trembling.

"Let's... keep playing... okay?" she managed, embarrassed, confused, and happy at the same time.

"Y-yeah."

Eventually, the human masseur calmed down and gently patted his friend on the head. The alien girl was surprised by this gesture since she was still trying to combine playing and stopping the excited heart from bursting out of her chest.

"Thank you."

"Huh?"

"It warms my heart to know that humans positively impacted someone else. For that, I am grateful."

She nodded, but a wide, emotion-filled smile formed on her face.

When the nighttime came, Nick finally departed from Voltana's house. She proposed to him to stay for the night, but the man explained that he had plans for Sunday. While taking a casual stroll through the moderately active streets, he couldn't shake a very familiar feeling. Someone was watching him. Carefully looking around, the human masseur finally reached his parlor.

"Okay..." but even when he entered the room and closed the door, the feeling didn't go away. And then he realized why it felt so familiar. Nick took a deep breath and turned around.

Three figures, completely covered in the same armor and clothing as Arteris, were now standing in front of the closed door. The only difference was the design, but only if you look closely. But the human masseur wasn't doing that for the mere reason that three space vampires were standing in the same chamber with him.

"...Can I help you?" he managed, trying to keep his cool.

"We felt the Vitae radiating from this place." spoke one of the Sangui, pointing at the man's bedroom. "Why?"

Vitae? That vial that Arteris gave him? They could feel it from afar? Huh, neat.

"Well, I serviced one of your kin here and she gave it to me." carefully explained Nick, while also wondering about something. Sangui were very rare outside of their space, so these three must've been exiles, just like Holdereen's friend. And since they weren't shot down or apprehended, he had nothing to fear. Hopefully. "I don't know why thou."

"Sangui only give their Vitae to "those worthy of trust"." explained the second intruder, placing the hand onto the place where humans usually had hearts. "Whatever you, human male, did has proven that you can be trusted by our kin."

"Ooooh!" he realized, looking at all three for a moment. "So... why are you here then? I am Nick Bourbon, by the way."

"We wish to make an appointment." answered the third one. "For all three of us."

Pause.

"...Okay. Just give me a moment."