Gengo Aoi stirred awake immediately, breaking out in a cold sweat and panting heavily as his eyes flashed open, staring at the ceiling in his master bedroom.  After a few heavy breaths, he felt a pair of large arms snake around his torso, feeling the mix of both muscles and smooth feminine skin pressing against his own naked body as the woman he was laying against gently increased her embrace of him, pressing the back of his head against her bosom (which served as his pillow when he was asleep).

“Darling, what’s wrong?” whispered a heavenly voice once Gengo’s breathing settled down somewhat.

“Nothing, Maria.” replied Gengo, trying to sound as convincing as possible.  It was a pisspoor attempt on his part.

Maria Lancelot proceeded to shift her body weight so that Gengo Aoi gently rolled off of her torso.  Plopping onto the massive mattress, Gengo looked up and saw the twelve-foot-tall beauty prop herself up on her hands and knees, forming a canopy over the man and presenting herself in all her naked glory to him.  Her long blonde hair cascaded down over her back and shoulders, her bosom hung before him like perfectly ripened fruit, her eyes bored into his own and her lips made a gentle frown, obviously not buying Gengo’s answer.

“You should know by now that you can’t hide your worries from me, Love,” stated Maria in a somewhat deadpanned tone of voice.  “Now you’re going to stop worrying over making me worry and tell me what’s bothering you, understand?”  The power radiating within Maria’s voice was clear enough that she wasn’t letting Gengo off the hook until he came clean with what had startled him earlier.

Sighing in exasperation, Gengo Aoi looked up into Maria’s eyes, staring longingly before vocalizing a response.

“Just a bad dream, Dear.”  said Gengo.  “Nothing I want to trouble you with.”

Maria leaned in and seized Gengo’s lips within her own, slowly smooching and sucking for a good thirty seconds before coming back up for air and staring down at the man once more.

“Not to emasculate you or put you in your place, Love, but I think that I’ll be the one to decide if what’s bothering you is too much for me to handle, understand?”  The tone in Maria’s voice was firm, yet remarkably endearing all the same.  She always had this amazing ability to be commanding, yet frighteningly tender at the same moment when she spoke, as if she was some sort of goddess of both warfare and of compassionate mercy all wrapped up in one.

Figuring that he wasn’t going to get any more sleep until he came clean, Gengo proceeded to talk about his dream.

“I was dreaming about a memory from long ago,” began Gengo.  “Back when we were all a family.”

“All of us?” asked Maria.

“Well, it was about…let’s see…fourteen years ago or so?  You were out of the public eye back then, just like today.  Ryuuichi was a man fully grown.  Kazuha was still in the single digits in terms of years, not yet Pandorafied.  And Kazuya was maybe a year old back then.  Cassandra was in the room too, obviously, cradling Kazuya in her arms like always.”

“I see,” replied Maria.  She paused for a few seconds before speaking once more.  “Assuming this was a perfect memory from the past, then I take it that the others weren’t in the dream either?”

Gengo nodded in response.  “No, Chiffon and the others were not yet ready to enter into the world yet at the time.  They were still undergoing maturation back then.  Though Chiffon and Lucy showed promise of being able to come out into the world earlier than the others, it was still a few years before that could happen.  And of course, I needed to be able to forge airtight backstories for all of them when the time came for them to make their appearances.  Honestly, I’m a little surprised that Cassandra had awakened when she did, even if she was the firstborn among them.”

“Go on then, Darling,” Maria responded, “what exactly happened in the dream?”

“I’m in the living room alongside Ryuuichi, Kazuha, and Cassandra with Kazuya in tow.  At the other end of the room…stands Orie.”  Gengo tilted his head down, his chin pressing into his chest and his shame-filled eyes covered by his white bangs.  Maria responded by bringing a hand underneath his chin, tilting his head back up to look her in the eyes.

“Please, my Love.  I’m here.  Please continue.”  Maria whispered.  Her golden, vertically-slitted irises bored down like heavy-duty drills into Gengo’s own eyes, tearing through his mental and emotional defenses and getting to the sensitive core that was his guilt-ridden soul.

“In the dream, Orie is an emotional wreck.  Her eyes are like Niagra Falls.  She can barely form a coherent sentence without breaking down.  She’s also holding a pistol in her hand.  Ryuuichi and I try to calm her down, but it’s not working.  Orie goes on and on about how Kazuya isn’t her son, due to the nature of his birth.  I try to tell her that Kazuya’s unique body was the reason she couldn’t birth him, but that doesn’t alleviate her.  My son does what he can to calm her down, but it’s hardly any better than my explanations.”  Gengo shuts his eyes and takes a few deep breaths, reliving the flashbacks of the dream/memory and trying not to become absorbed in the tragic melancholy of it all.

“Yes?  Please continue, Darling,” said Maria once more.  She placed one of her hands gently upon Gengo’s chest, tracing her fingers along his pectorals until they came to a rest directly over her heart, feeling the pace of his heartbeat pick up slightly.

“Even Kazuha does what she can to pull back Orie from the cliff’s edge,” continued Gengo.  “Orie simply shoots her a sad smile, as if to say, “I’m sorry, my child.”  She then brings the gun up, cocks the hammer back, and prepares to fire.  Ryu, Kazuha, and I all make a dash for her…then the gun goes off.  And that’s when I awoke.”  Gengo proceeded to whimper slightly, his chest heaving as he quietly cried in a wheezing motion, bringing up his forearm and shielding his eyes so that Maria would have to see him cry.  At that very moment, the man who was perceived as the de facto “king of the world” felt so damn powerless and ashamed, to be whimpering before the very woman he loved and revered as if she were a goddess come to Earth.

In response, Maria simply lifted Gengo up by his armpits, repositioned herself so that she fell back down onto the bed, and held Gengo against her body, gently pressing him against her own as she rubbed his back soothingly and let him cry into her chest.

For Gengo Aoi, appearance was a pretty big deal to him in certain circumstances.  He didn’t get to where he was in the world by showing weakness or anything even close to that.  The way he saw things, for those who pursued power and influence, it was best to study the workings of Niccolo Machiavelli, Carl von Clausewitz, and Sun Tzu in order to solidify their hold on power, maintain it, and expand it where possible.  To act otherwise would be to show weakness and present an opportunity for his adversaries to exploit and utilize in order to bring Gengo to his knees.

That being said, in that moment of emotional weakness, Gengo quietly cried into the bosom of the only woman he had ever truly loved, far more than any other woman in his life.  While he certainly cared for those like Sister Margaret and his own granddaughter Kazuha, there was no woman in the world who he romantically cherished more than Maria Lancelot.  No other woman in all of his years on earth even came close.  With Maria, Gengo felt as though he could be himself completely, with no need to put on a mask or speak in a certain way in order to disguise his intentions.  To him, Maria was truly his soulmate, and he liked to think that she saw him as her soulmate in turn.

Once Gengo had let out all of the angst and sorrow from reliving his dream into Maria’s bosom, he lifted his head up and stared into her eyes, with his throat seizing up as he couldn’t bring himself to breathe upon staring at her.  To Gengo, Maria’s beauty was unmatched.

“No matter how many times I look at you, you always manage to take my breath away,” said Gengo at little more than a whisper.  Maria simply cracked a smile, her cheeks lighting up with  a rosy hue as she gazed into his eyes.

“I’d like to kiss you, if that’s alright,” said Gengo.

Maria simply leaned her neck forward and brought Gengo closer to her, gently carrying his face evermore closer towards her face in the process.  Their lips met with burning passion, the two of them occasionally engaging in tongue play as they made out with one another.  As he kissed her, Gengo ran his hands across as much of Maria’s bosom as he could reach, feeling up the swell of her breasts and even occasionally playing with her nipples as he did so.  He was happy to know that his efforts brought forth satisfaction from Maria, given her moans and the smile she cracked as he did his utmost to please and satisfy his wife.  For a man of his age, Gengo took a modicum of pride in knowing that he had the stamina to engage in physically expressing his love to the one woman he cherished over all others.

For a moment, there was the question as to whether or not the two lovebirds would take the next step in their bedtime activities and venture “further south” in a way of putting things.  As far as Gengo was concerned, he was always ready and willing to engage in the act with his wife, but he never insisted upon it.  From his point of view, Maria was a goddess who demanded reverence; therefore, he would be patient and only partake of the act of lovemaking if Maria showed interest or even downright commanded that the two of them have sex.  It was to Gengo’s surprise that Maria had a tendency of wanting sex pretty damn often, even after all these years from when they first met.  Of course, she wasn’t so insistent on it that she would let it stand between Gengo and his duties of managing Genetics and Chevalier (and by extension world affairs to boot), but when things didn’t demand his immediate attention, Maria was quick enough to pounce on the opportunity and indirectly insist that Gengo retire back to their home dwellings for some quality bonding time along with some quality lovemaking.

Surprisingly enough, Gengo showed hesitance and didn’t “strike while the iron is hot” as the expression went (though he most definitely WANTED to, that much was certain).

“I’m sorry, my love,” stated the Aoi patriarch.  “We can’t right this minute, though trust me, when the workload has been alleviated, we’ll pick up from here…assuming of course, you’re still up for it.”  Maria responded with a deep, sensual smooch on Gengo’s lips, pressing her lips against his for a good ten seconds before pulling away.

“I can wait, Darling…for a while, anyway.”  She finished with a playful minx-like smile on that last part.  “I’m just happy to know that you’re feeling better now after talking to me.”

Gengo shot her back a smile indicating genuine peace of mind and contentment.  Sometimes the looks they gave one another said everything that needed to be said, such was the emotional connection the two of them had.

With that, Gengo proceeded to get out of bed, put on some loungewear and head towards his office to look over some files on his computer.  Even as extensive a network as Chevalier had at its disposal regarding things like global news feeds, status reports on the latest Pandora and Limiter recruits, progress reports on undertakings like “Project Valkyrie” and the “E-Pandora Project,” software updates within the Chevalier computer mainframes, and a plethora of other topics (whether they related to combatting the Nova or just day-to-day world affairs), the organization’s chairman took an interest in managing the majority of it for as much free time as he had (when of course he wasn’t checking up on his family or tending to his wife and her “appetite”).

Gengo went about scrolling through a series of emails from various entities within the broader apparatus of Chevalier, looking into the subject matter of each specific email.  Most of them were particularly mundane…the sort of things that needed a quick once-over viewing before Gengo officially signs off on it in order to continue with further R&D testing, or to move over into the next phase of some minor project, or to greenlight resource allocation to whichever Genetics branch in whichever part of the world.  One topic in particular which Gengo had taken a heightened interest in was the expansion of Genetics facilities in large swaths of the developing world (or “Third World” as was the case during the Cold War during the latter half of the 20th century).

It was Gengo’s hope that more and more Genetics facilities could be opened up throughout parts of Africa, India, the Middle East, and Central Asia.  GIven that these regions were comparatively poorer in wealth compared to North America, Western Europe, and East Asia, Chevalier was willing to foot a good chunk of the bill in the creation of these facilities.  However, Gengo Aoi - ever the visionary that he was - had a few strings attached regarding whatever headway was made in expanding Chevalier/Genetics into these regions.

While some might ponder if these “strings” were in the form of money, territory,  or resource acquisition, surprisingly that really wasn’t of major concern to Gengo.  What he desired was something that was somewhat less tangible or corporeal, but certainly no less important, either to Gengo or to the nations whom he was conducting business with in that part of the world.

Frankly speaking, Gengo had a red line that wasn’t to be crossed by these regions of the world if they desired the protection of Chevalier and the increased presence of Genetics facilities and personnel in their backyards:  Increased rights and political power for women.

While generally speaking Gengo held a somewhat non-interventionist viewpoint in letting certain peoples and civilizations manage their own affairs when it came to matters of culture and societal norms, he wasn’t afraid to effectively instill veto powers over such things if he believed it necessary.  In this case, if the Developing World desired the protection of Chevalier from the Nova threat, then it would acquiesce on Gengo’s demands for broader female empowerment.

Such examples included women’s suffrage, the right for women to own property, the freedom for women to hold positions of authority (including heads of state, of major companies and businesses, of legislative assemblies, of religious institutions, etc.), the right of women to attend schools at all levels (from pre-K to major colleges and universities), the right of women to initiate in divorce if they so desired, the right of women to equivalent pay to their male counterparts in comparable positions (assuming work output was the same), and several other societal hurdles placed upon the female sex in large swaths of those regions going on for many, many years.

What REALLY put Chevalier at heads with the leadership in some of those countries was over three topics in particular which Gengo abhorred and considered barbaric practices:  Child marriages, female genital mutilation, and honor killings.

As far as Gengo Aoi was concerned, in order for the human race to truly march forward into the future and evolve as a species (in the positive sense of the word), those three practices were cruel and simply not permitted to continue…not if those parts of the world wanted Chevalier’s protection anyway.

“But Gengo, who are YOU to simply overrule societal practices going back generations or even centuries?  What gives you the right to do away with such customs?”  Some might be tempted to ask the man when he put his foot down over those practices.

“I am a man with power,” would be Gengo’s response.  “And I am not afraid to USE that power to get what I want, if I am unable to convince you of how wrong, barbaric, cruel, twisted, and EVIL such backward customs are.  Shall we bring back slavery because it was a long-standing custom?  How about wholesale genocide of one group of people or another?  What about wartime castration of civilians?  Is that fair game?”  Ever the Machiavellian at heart, Gengo Aoi wasn’t above utilizing the stick when the carrot failed in getting people to do what he wanted; it just so happened that the stick was simply pulling the carrot away from those who wouldn’t do what he wanted.  And since the carrot was “protection from the Nova,” it became clear enough that those in the Developing World were going to have to swallow their pride and do away with those practices which Gengo Aoi deemed unacceptable.

Of course, Gengo wasn’t naive enough to simply take those countries’ leaders at their word.  He would have on-site inspectors making regular status reports on cases of children being forced into marriages (especially in cases of young girls being married off to MUCH older men), female mutilation cases, or honor killings of women accused of things like prostitution, dishonoring their families, or blasphemy.  If enough cases of offenses against Gengo’s terms came to light in those parts of the world, then Genetics facilities in those regions would be shut down and Chevalier would have strict orders to not intervene during the next Nova Clash should one occur in those parts of the world.

“Go ahead, call my bluff,” Gengo said in a deadpanned tone of voice to whomever wished to challenge his demands.  “Let’s see if the Nova are any more hospitable to you and your ways of life than I am.  Just be grateful that I don’t have a few battalions, regiments, or brigades of Chevalier’s finest crush your militaries, storm your capitals, overthrow your governments, and simply instill puppet regimes who will be only TOO agreeable with me and Chevalier.”

Fortunately for Gengo, saner voices and minds won out in most countries throughout the Developing World.  As for the naysayers, they were few and far between.  Hell, if need be, Gengo would do his part to help instill a coup here or a surgical assassination there to get both his point across and the more stubbornminded overly prideful to fall in line (trying to make such acts a bloodless as necessary, of course).

Once he had finished perusing his share of status reports, Gengo went over to hsi liquor cabinet to fix himself a drink.

“Darling,” Gengo called out towards the bedroom.  “I’m getting a drink.  Would you care for anything in particular?”

“If you have any amaretto on hand, I’ll take some of that with my coffee, love,” replied Maria, who by this point was sipping gently from her mug.

“You got it, dear,” said Gengo with a smile.  For him, he was in the mood for some rye whiskey on ice.  Once he poured himself a somewhat generous amount in his glass, Gengo grabbed an unopened bottle of amaretto and made his way towards the kitchen.  Sure enough, there was Maria, standing in a translucent nightgown and tending to the stovetop.  Judging by the smell, she was cooking up a batch of eggs and bacon while there was fresh toast already made, both with butter and jams at the ready.

Gengo stood before his goddess and offered her the bottle.  Given that it was a normal-sized bottle (meaning designed for an unaugmented human), Gengo was fairly certain that someone like Maria would be able to polish it off completely before the day was out (the woman could DEFINITELY put away her liquor!).

Taking the bottle in hand, Maria bent down and wrapped Gengo in one of her arms, pressing her bosom against his chest once more and giving him one hell of a kiss as she smooched him with deep passion.  He returned the kiss with great vigor, always wanting each and every kiss with his wife to be even more loving and wonderful than the one before.

“Any trouble at work, Darling?” asked Maria.

“Nothing that stands out.” answered Gengo.  He gave her the quick rundown of the everyday humdrum regarding Chevalier affairs, not wanting to bore her with such mundane details.

Before he got into too much detail on status reports and the like, there was a ringing of the phone.  Checking his office phone for the caller ID, Gengo proceeded to answer.

“Su-Na, how are things?” Gengo asked cordially.

“Things are well and good, Mr. Chairman.” replied the young woman.

“Please, Su-Na,” sighed Gengo.  “No need for formalities or titles when it’s just us.”

“Sorry, sir,” said Su-Na.  “I’ll try to improve on that.  “Old habits die hard,” as they say.”

‘You’re not wrong there, dear Su-Na,’ thought Gengo in ironic amusement, given that he was reviewing the status of efforts for greater female empowerment in developing countries less than an hour ago.

“Anyway, to what do I owe the pleasure?” asked Gengo.

“You have a request for a facetime call,” explained Su-Na.  “It’s your granddaughter, sir.”

GIven that Gengo knew that if Kazuha wished to converse with him, she could simply arrive in person without the need for going through the chain of command if she so desired.  Knowing that narrowed down the list of candidates pretty damn easily.

‘Ouka huh?’ thought Gengo with a slight grin, equal parts curious and amused.

“Feel free to put her through, Su-Na,” said Gengo before taking a sip from his drink.

“Right away, sir,” replied Su-Na.

Within seconds, Gengo Aoi had the colossal television screen - more than five feet vertically by ten feet horizontally - in his living room activated.  Just a moment later, the screen came to life and was greeted by the sight of a beautiful maiden.

The young woman in particular was a spitting image of Kazuha Aoi, just a few years younger, appearing to be 15 or 16 in age by the looks of her.  The hair was similar in length, style, and color (dark blue bordering on black), with the only tiny difference being that the young lady had a pink ribbon tied around the left sidebang along her pretty face.  Whereas Kazuha Aoi had amber colored eyes, this young lady’s eyes were colored a deep navy blue.  Her bosom was certainly impressive in its own regard, around a D-cup in proportion to her body if she were an unaugmented human.  Her demeanor came off as confident and direct, though not necessarily arrogant.

“Ouka!” declared Gengo as he took in the view of the young woman on screen.  “It’s good to see you again.  How’s my granddaughter faring these days?”

“Hello, Grandfather,” replied the young woman known as Ouka.  “Good to see you too, and of course you as well, Grandmother.”  The young woman’s eyes veered slightly towards Maria, acknowledging her presence as well.  Maria responded with a heartwarming smile in turn.

“It’s wonderful to see you once more, Dear.” said a somewhat jovial Maria in response.

“Anyways,” continued Ouka once more, “I’m calling regarding my engagement to Kazuya.”

‘Always to the point with her,’ thought a chuckling Gengo.  ‘I always did find that part of her character amusing in its own way.’

“That’s quite a statement to make, dear Ouka.” said Gengo.  “Shouldn’t you be more focused on your training as a member of Project Valkyrie?”

“I can manage that just fine as well as getting the wedding preparations underway between myself and Kazuya.” answered Ouka rather bluntly, yet not in a way as to imply disrespect towards her grandparents.

“Now, now, Ouka,” countered Gengo with a mild grin, feeling the need to try and sound serious at this point, “while I certainly appreciate your vigor and your drive, I feel the need to address a few things.  First off, are you REALLY still serious about becoming married to Kazuya.”

“Of COURSE I am, Grandfather,” stated Ouka without missing a beat.  “I shall simply not accept any other outcome than to be married to Kazuya, plain and simple.  I’ve waited long enough as it is.  I understand that back then I needed to focus on my studies and doing my part to help fight off the Nova and all that, but I know that Kazuya is now enrolled as a Limiter, so it’s time to get the ball rolling and make it official between us.”  The conviction in Ouka’s voice left no room for interpretation as to how much she wanted this.  The girl was committed to becoming Mrs. Kazuya Aoi, plain and simple, end of discussion.

Gengo couldn’t help but crack a grin at how driven his granddaughter was in her desires and convictions.  She had a special kind of spark or fire within her being that he saw in few women, including the most driven Pandoras within Chevalier over the years.  Deciding to keep the conversation going, Gengo decided to bring the discussion back on track.

“Even with your conviction, Dear Ouka, which is rather admirable,” Gengo continued, “there is something else which you’ll have to come to peace with if you REALLY intend to pursue Kazuya in that way.  I’m fairly certain you know what I’m getting at, my dear.”

Ouka merely sighed and grumbled in turn, knowing what her grandfather was implying within the conversation.  After an awkward pause of perhaps ten seconds or so, Ouka spoke up once more.

“Yes, I understand, Grandfather,” replied the young lady.  “While I’d prefer to have Kazuya all to myself as his rightful wife, I know that for the good of the war against the Nova that I’ll have to be willing to share him with others from time to time.  This might be…bothersome, at times, but I’m willing to compromise for the good of all involved.”

“What if I told you that Kazuya would be shared between more than two dozen women, Dear Ouka?” asked Gengo bluntly.

“Kazuya could be married to fifty women or a hundred and I still wouldn’t wane in my love for him.” stated Ouka somewhat forcefully, with a blush on her cheeks showing clearly enough on the screen.  Whether that blush was out of frustration or embarrassment was anybody’s guess.  “I have absolutely NO intention of backing down whatsoever.  I love him.  I am IN love with him, understand, Grandfather?  I don’t know who these other women you have in mind are, as I’m sure you’re probably behind this matchmaking, but it doesn’t matter to me.  I’m guessing that one of these women is Big Sister Kazuha?”

Gengo merely cracked a larger grin in response, which told Ouka all she needed to know.

“That’s fine with me,” continued Ouka.  “I’ve always liked Kazuha, and it would be nice to recollect with her after all this time.  I’m guessing that if you’re behind these matchups between Kazuya and these other women, then none of them are bad people.  I’d even be so considerate as to say that they’re all truly good-hearted women who honestly love Kazuya in turn, given that you’d NEVER let a person with a wicked heart get close to Kazuya, am I right?”

“You know me so well, Dear Ouka,” replied Gengo as he took another sip of his drink.  “So then, you’re HONESTLY okay with sharing Kazuya with so many women?  Bear in mind, they would all hold the title of “wife,” not just you, Dear Ouka.”

“I don’t really care that much about the number of women,” said Ouka curtly and to-the-point in her tone.  “I’m in love with Kazuya and I intend to marry him, period.  If that means I have to compete with others for Kazuya’s love and affection, then SO BE IT.”

Gengo simply smiled all the while at the young woman’s resolve.  It was a sentiment which Maria seemed to mirror, given that she was sporting a smile of a similar caliber to that of Gengo’s.  After the two gazed at one another for a few seconds, as if they were having a sort of telepathic conversation between each other, they both stared back towards the screen.

“Very well, Dear Ouka,” replied Gengo.  “I’ll start making arrangements and have you brought over to West Genetics.  It won’t be right away, but expect to be here within the next few months, understand?”

“Months?” asked a mildly irked Ouka.  “How many are we talking, exactly?  Two?  Three?  More than that?”

“Given that I said months, my dear granddaughter,” countered Gengo,  “let’s say at least two for now.  During that time, I want you to do your most to hone your skills as a Valkyrie, understand?  You’ll need to be a fearsome and powerful warrior after all if you want to become one of Kazuya’s brides.  Believe me when I say that the others to whom he is paired up with are quite formidable.  Think of it as a training regimen to prepare you for the day you meet them.”

Ouka mildly huffed in response before replying.  “Understood, Grandfather.”

“Very good, my dear.” replied Gengo.  “Focus on your studies and your training.  Soon enough, I will send for you.  Just hold on to hope and remember why you’re doing this.”

“Of course, Grandfather,” said Ouka with firmness in her voice.  “I’ll be eagerly awaiting the day you send for me and I take my rightful place as Kazuya’s bride soon after his wife.”

“Goodbye then, Dear Ouka.” said Gengo.

“Take care, Ouka.  It was nice to see you again and I look forward to when you formally join our family.” added Maria with that heartwarming grin of hers.

“Goodbye then Grandfather…Grandmother.” replied Ouka with a humble bow before the line cut out and the screen went black.

With that, the call was ended, leaving just Maria and Gengo to themselves once more.

“Well then, Darling,” began Maria.  “Care for breakfast?”

“Sounds lovely, my love,” answered Gengo in response.  “Let me just tend to one more quick matter before we eat.”

Gengo Aoi proceeded to pull out his cell phone and make another call, this time to somebody within the closer vicinity compared to the last person he just talked to moments ago.

“Mr. Chairman,” said the voice on the other end.  “How may I assist you?”

“We’ve been over this, Sister Margaret,” replied Gengo.  “No need for titles when it’s just us.”

“Sorry, sir,” replied Margaret.  “Aside from remembering formalities, how may I be of assistance?”

“Regarding Kazuya’s scheduled Baptism,” began Gengo.

“Yes, sir?”

“When is it scheduled?”

“Give me just a moment to look it over, sir,” replied Margaret, who happened to be at her desk and able to pull up the file in under a minute.

“As things currently stand, sir, we have Kazuya scheduled for his Baptism within…the next three months, it seems.”

“Move it up ahead,” said Gengo.

“I beg your pardon, sir?” asked a somewhat incredulous Margaret.

“You are pardoned, dear sister,” replied Gengo with an amused grin.  “But joking aside, move it up as soon as possible.  I understand that there are other Baptisms to factor in, of course, and therefore scheduling will be somewhat tricky.  Even so, I would like Kazuya to be baptized with all of his partners no later than six weeks from now.  And I’ll also be overlooking the procedure personally, so let me know exactly what time and date the surgeries are scheduled for, understand?”

There was a momentary pause before Sister Margaret broke the silence.

“I’m not arguing against your orders, sir,” began Margaret, “but are you absolutely sure to have Kazuya baptized so soon?  Shouldn’t you give him more time to get to know his partners better before taking such a step?”

“I’m sure, Sister Margaret, I’m most surely sure.”  Gengo answered with firm resolve.  “My grandson is no ordinary Limiter, that much I know.  And I also know that he’ll rise to the occasion and become the kind of man I know he’ll end up being.  So please, trust in my judgment and fast-track the Baptism.  I’ll be expecting notification of when the surgery is scheduled within the next 72 hours, understood?”

“Yes, sir,” answered Margaret.  “God as my witness, you’ll be notified within that time frame.  I promise.”

“Very good,” said Gengo with a grin.  “Good day then, dear Sister.”

The call ended and Gengo returned to the kitchen and his wife.

“So then, what kind of man will Kazuya become, Darling…if you don’t mind me asking?” inquired Maria with a playful grin.

Gengo paused for a moment, considering the best combination of words to use for his response.

“The next step in human evolution, my love,” stated Gengo bluntly, but with firm resolve.  “He will grow into the man who will both protect our species from the greatest existential threat which it currently faces as well as spearhead its march into the future.  And while he might have some issues regarding self-confidence, I just KNOW that once he initiates Baptism, he will truly become the king of his own harem, with a heart big enough and a body strong enough to give those women all the love they could yearn for.”

“Given the number of women we’re talking about, and that they’re ALL augmented women to boot, that’s a lot of love to go around,” stated Maria somewhat bluntly in her analysis.

“Trust me, my love,” replied Gengo with a particularly confident grin on his face, “it might sound arrogant, but I just can’t help but instinctively KNOW that Kazuya will have both the resolve and ability to step forth and take on the role he is meant to take, both as the world’s greatest Limiter and as a husband with the means to satisfy his women, both physically and emotionally.  But enough talk about grandiosity and all that…let’s eat.”

“And then afterwards, Darling?” asked Maria.

“Some quality time in the baths if you’d like?” replied Gengo.

Maria simply cracked a grin as she leaned forward and gave her husband another kiss.

“I’m almost tempted to speed eat just so we can get clean that much sooner,” stated Maria with hunger in her eyes (less of the literal kind and more of the sexually-charged kind).

“All good things come to those who wait, my love.” said Gengo with his own grin.

With that, the happy couple proceeded to enjoy their meal and each other’s company, looking forward to both some time in the bath together as well as prospects in the near future regarding their grandson and his many partners.