December 25, 2152

Ned was tired but in a good way tired. He had gotten up early to entertain his grandkids with Christmas presents and was now sliding a new photo into a photo album labeled "Memories". "There that should do it" Ned said finishing writing the year under the giant photo. "Do what?" Amanda asked walking toward him. "Just finishing mounting the yearly photo in the scrapbook" Ned told his small daughter. "Wow, some of these pictures bring back memories" Amanda said climbing onto the table. "Careful honey, you shouldn't be moving around like that being 9 months pregnant" Ned said. "Dad you worry too much" Amanda said giggling. "What's your husband up to?" Ned asked. "Passed out in front of the TV. Guess that Ingress bird was too much to eat" Amanda said smiling. "I saw you had your fill" Ned said smiling. "Well I am eating for two" Amanda said stroking her belly. "Have you decided on a name yet?" Ned asked. "Andrew wants to name him Patrick" she replied. "Patrick's a good name for a boy" Ned said. Amanda walked over to her father and hugged his finger.

"I'm glad you got some time off from the council" Amanda said. "I'm glad you finished that case before the holidays" Ned said. "It was a simple assault case involving overzealous prosecutors. Even after 20 years it seems old grudges die hard" Amanda said. "Well we did set out to build a new society. Bumps in the road are to be expected" Ned said. "Like what we had to go through?" Amanda asked. "To say the least" Ned said flicking to the first page in the scrapbook. The first photo in the book brought a tear to Ned's eye. It was a photo of the Stray Dogs taken the day before the final battle. "You alright dad?" Amanda asked. "Yeah just thinking about a friend who isn't here with us anymore" Ned said. "Ohh!" Amanda yelped. "You okay sweetie?" Ned asked concerned. "The baby kicked" Amanda said. Amanda pulled his giant finger to her belly. Ned felt his daughter's pregnant stomach and within a second felt movement. "Whoa! That little guy is pretty active!" Ned said. "Yep, this will be the first time I carried a baby to full term. The other kids had to be removed but this little guy took after me. Wonder how big he will get?" Amanda asked. "Well his human side is expressing itself more than the Ingress side so he might just be human average" Ned replied.

"Hope he won't get picked on when he's older" Amanda said. "He won't be the first of our family to get picked on will he? If he does get picked on just call on Grandpa Ned to take care of it" Ned said flexing a muscle. Amanda giggled. "Oh look! It's our first Christmas together!" Amanda said seeing a picture of Ned and her with a small tree in the foreground. "I remember this picture" Ned said remembering that day.

December 25, 2131

Ned was dressing up in a Santa Claus costume designed to fit someone his giant size. He was remembering what Aaron told him a few weeks before. "So let me get this straight. An old male human sneaks into people's houses to give children gifts" Ned said. "When you word it like that that it sounds pervy. Dude it's the spirit of the season" Aaron said. "And his name is Santa Cloose?" Ned asked. "No, Santa Claus. He goes by a bunch of names depending where you're from. Some even have him as a woman dressed in gold" Aaron said.

(Authors note: This is true. Some parts of Germany have what they call "Mother Christmas doing more or less what St. Nick does)

"And Christmas celebrates the birth of the one you call Jesus?" Ned asked. "In the beginning but it’s more tradition than anything else" Aaron replied. Ned thought for a second trying to remember what he was told. "Why are you asking about this? Wanting to learn more about human holidays? If that's so there are others that take place at this time. Hanukkah* for instance..." Aaron said. "No this one is enough. Amanda has spoken about this one and I wanted to be a part of it this time" Ned said. "Ah, I see. Amanda, like many kids this year will be missing family this Christmas" Aaron said softly. "I know but I can at least try to give her one" Ned said.

*(another author’s note: there are at least 16 different ways to spell Hanukkah. Doing some research I found this one to be most popular. Learn something new every day...)

Ned stood in front of a mirror. He looked the part right down to the cotton ream that made his beard; all 90 sq. feet of it. "Now what was it? HA HA HA! No, that's not it. HO HO HO! Yeah there we go. What does that mean anyway?" Ned wondered stepping out of his room. Amanda sat in the living room watching TV. She sniffled thinking about last Christmas. Her family hugging each other as they sat in front of the fireplace in her home in Brooklyn. That was gone now. Her family was never seen again when they were all brought to the homeworld and anyone she knew from the old neighborhood was killed when the Empress sterilized New York. She felt a thumping behind her. She turned around to see giant black boots and traced them up to the biggest Santa she ever seen.

"HO HO HO! Merry Christmas Amanda!" Ned said bellowing. "Ned is that you?" Amanda asked. "I'm not Ned! I'm Santa!" Ned bellowed. Ned sat down and reached into his pocket. He was surprised when she ran up his leg and climbed up his suit using the wrinkles as hand holds. "Honey what are you...hey!" he said as she parted the cotton beard and climbed in. Ned giggled at her fumbling around in the giant beard. He felt her touch his chin. Fearing she might fall, Ned raised his hand under his beard. Amanda slid down the cotton and dropped into his palm. "That's a fake beard! You're Ned!" Amanda said laughing. "Okay kid you caught me. I guess you don't want the presents Santa brought you then" Ned said. "No! I want them!" Amanda cried. Ned lowered his hand and Amanda walked out of his palm to the floor. Ned dropped the first present he had. "A dog?!" Amanda cried. "A robotic one. Took me a week to make. Kinda hard to build stuff with tweezers" Ned said.

"You made this...for me?" Amanda asked. "Yep!" Ned said proudly. Amanda started crying. Ned lay down on the floor. "You don't like it?" Ned asked. "I love it. Thank you Ned" she said walking to his face and kissing him. Ned blushed and smiled. "Oh I got another one" Ned said taking a box out of his pocket. Amanda opened the box and found a dress but not just any dress. "So pretty!" Amanda said admiring the gold fabric. "That's real gold. Used an Ingress coin and stripped the gold flake off of it. Atreya mixed the flake with cotton fabric to make this. Didn't even know she could sew" Ned said. "I'm gonna try it on!" Amanda said running to her room.

Amanda returned later wearing the dress. The dress fit her perfectly. She looked like a tiny doll to Ned. The way the dress shimmered in the light and the cute gold flats she wore crystallized in his mind how precious a treasure she was to him. Ned stroked her face lovingly and decided to ask her an important question. "Amanda, would you like it if we were a family for real? I mean if I was your dad and you were my daughter. I know I can't ever replace you old dad..." Ned said rambling. Amanda hugged him. "I would love it if you were my new daddy" she said. Amanda felt a large drop of water hit her head. She backed up to see Ned crying. "Merry Christmas sweetie" Ned said kissing her. "Now let's take a picture. Say cheese!" Ned said immortalizing the moment.

In the beginning of the New Year, Ned went about trying to adopt Amanda. He was not having very much luck. "Jesus Ned. I've heard of the expression of crying into your beer but I never saw anyone actually do it" Rex said taking a sip of his drink. Rex got a call from Ned and on the phone he didn't sound too good. He invited Ned for drinks at the bar in town. "They think I'll hurt her man. They think I might eat her or worse! I'd never do that!" Ned said drunk and sobbing. "Look man. You have to remember we just came out of a war fighting our own kind and let's face it. Our people did some terrible shit" Rex said. "I love her as if she was my flesh and blood" Ned moaned. "I know that. She knows that. We all know that man but they don't. Our place in society is in a grey area right now. Look on the bright side. At least you have custody of her" Rex said. Ned sobbed even harder. "What did I say?" Rex said confused.

"For now man. I only have custody because I'm enlisted and Longstreet put in a good word. We're shielded by military law but that's about to change. They formed an Ingress council and they want me to head it" Ned said sipping his beer. "I'm not following you. That sounds great!" Rex said. "No, not great. That means I'll have to be discharged. This council is not military. I'll be a civilian!" Ned said. "Why not pass it to someone else" Rex asked. "Don't you think I haven't tried that? Leila doesn't want the responsibility to interfere with being a mom. Atreya isn't in any shape to do it and Balthus is a good guy but not the smartest. They want someone famous to run it. Someone the people know" Ned said. "I see the problem. When you become a civvie that means Amanda might be taken from you" Rex said. Ned raised his glass to confirm his conclusion.

"There might be one way to keep her with you but you might not like it" Rex said. "I'm open to anything" Ned said. "If you become a council member then certain privileges would come with it. For instance, sovereignty of your domain" Rex said. "Come again?" Ned asked. "Like how ambassador homes have sovereign soil rights your place could have that too. That means Amanda would have to stay there until this problem is resolved. She'd be like on house arrest" Rex said. "Like a fugitive" Ned said quietly. "Just putting it out there" Rex said. "Thanks Rex" Ned said sitting up. "Another round sir?" his tiny bar girl asked him. Kelly was the bar girl for the establishment and had met Ned before. She was impressed how kind he was and how good a tipper he was. She was worried about him tonight and couldn't help eavesdrop on what could upset the gentle giant so much. "No Kelly, I've had enough. I got somebody at home who’s probably worried about me. Here's something extra tonight. You once told me you have a daughter.  Get her something nice and make sure she knows you love her" he said slapping down not human currency but Ingress one. The coin was big enough to not to worry about bills for the rest of the year.

Ned stumbled into the house and passed out on the sofa. The noise woke Amanda who had dozed off waiting for his return. She walked out of her specially made room and found her would be dad passed out cold. She could see the tear streaks dried on his cheeks. Amanda was a smart girl and knew that he was having problems adopting her. "Don't take her away from me. She's all I have" he mumbled in his sleep. Amanda closed her eyes and wiped away tears. She loved Ned very much and it hurt her to see him suffering for her. Amanda climbed onto his chest and laid there just listening to his heartbeat. She couldn't think of a life without him. Truthfully, Ned was more of a dad to her than her real one before he died. He would berate and yell at her for every mistake. Not once did he come to a school play or parent day. The man was a father only in biological terms.

Ned awoke the next morning and felt something small on his chest. He looked and saw it was Amanda curled up in the ruffles of his shirt. He chuckled thinking with her white pajamas she looked like a big piece of lint on his clothes. He was thanking god he didn't roll over in his sleep. Ned stroked her back worried what the future held for them. Amanda woke and rubbed her eyes. "Morning kiddo" Ned said. "Morning daddy" she said. "Let's get some breakfast" Ned said. Ned made himself a bowl of cereal and made a very tiny one for her. Ned was dreading asking her what she wanted to do but knew he had too. "Honey, I'm about to change jobs and we're gonna be moving" Ned said. Amanda lit up excited about where they might be going. "Where too?" Amanda asked. "The outskirts of Geneva. I'll be the head of the new Ingress government concerning human relations" Ned said. "Cool! Isn’t it snowy up there?" Amanda asked. "Yes very snowy. Honey...that means some problems for us. You should know that people don’t want me to be your daddy. They want to take you away from me" Ned said.

"No! I wanna stay with you!" Amanda cried. "I do too but the only way for that to happen right now is you have to live in the compound and can't leave. Not once" Ned said. "That's fine! As long as I can live with you!" Amanda said. Ned smiled knowing she was happy but was worried that the reality might change that. Two weeks later he was in Geneva fighting for Ingress rights along with the right to adopt Amanda. Months passed and the strain was getting to her. Like any child, Amanda yearned for friends her own age. Ned came home one day and walked to her room to check on her. He could hear her crying. Ned was about to knock on the door when he saw a light coming from the digital mailbox on the wall. Amanda heard his footsteps and wiped her eyes. She didn't want to have him see her crying. She saw him reading a mail file and slammed his fist on the wall. The sound scared her. She rarely saw him angry. She walked closer to him curious of what angered him so. Ned barely heard her tiny bare feet slapping the wood floor. He glanced over and saw her. He quickly deleted the mail file.

"Dad is everything okay?" Amanda asked. Ned hung his head and raised it smiling. "Everything is fine honey. Just some junk mail" Ned said. "Daddy please don't lie. I'm 11 now. I'm a big girl. What did it say?" Amanda asked. "It said the civil Union court has filed for extradition for you. It said that no child should be in the custody of a killer giant. God will I ever atone for my sins?" Ned said quietly. "Extradition?" Amanda asked. "That's when you take someone from another country by force" Ned said. "Like kidnapping?" Amanda asked. Ned chuckled realizing how accurate she described it. "Yeah except legally and for criminals" Ned said. "I'm not a criminal!" Amanda said. Ned bent down and picked her up. "I don't know. If cuteness was a crime; you'd be guilty" Ned said tickling her tiny feet. Amanda laughed feeling his nails tickling her tiny soles. Ned felt better when he heard her laugh but he knew now that they weren't going to cave in. Ned prayed for some kind of intervention.  His prayer was answered in Miami.

Ned was busy enacting laws that guaranteed civil rights for his kind. The law he put his heart into was the family anti-discrimination law. Ned had the civil court by the balls. With the entire world clamoring for Ingress rights, they no longer had any civil standing to stop him from adopting Amanda. Ned stamped the new law into effect with so much force he damn near broke the stamp. Ned walked home that day like he won the fucking lottery. He walked through the door and found Amanda watching TV. He snatched her up from the sofa so fast she got motion sick. Ned kissed her. "AHHHH! Dad what's going on?" Amanda said wiping the spit from her face. "We won. We won honey! I can be your daddy on paper now!" Ned said hugging her. Amanda couldn't believe her ears. They would finally be a real family. "So I can go out of the compound? I can go to a real school?!" Amanda asked. "All the above my tiny daughter!" Ned yelled. The father and daughter celebrated with a pizza party just for the two of them.

For the first two years Child Protection tried their hardest to break them up to no avail. They would send an investigator to check on them. She would ask questions that offended both of them and eventually Ned put his foot down. "I'm here to check on Amanda Kensington" the woman said walking in. Ned rolled his eyes. It was the fifth time this year she had come. "What do you want to go over first?" Ned asked. "Show me her room. I want to see if it's big enough or too small...like some cage" the woman said under her breath. Ned caught what she said and led her to her room. It was Ingress size of course which meant it was huge for Amanda. The woman saw that it was furnished with things human sized and was decked out like a teen girl's room. "Satisfied?" Ned asked annoyed. The woman ignored him and sat down on the sofa. "Make yourself at home" Ned said pissed.

"How's the child?" she asked. "The child? Oh you mean my daughter" Ned said emphasizing daughter.  "Yes her" the woman said. "She fine" Ned said. "No problems?" the woman asked. "Some minor things. Girl stuff mostly" Ned replied. "Such as?" the woman asked. "Dating. Mood swings. Teen stuff. I assume you were that age...once" Ned said. The woman recognized the insult. "Where is she now?" the woman said. "She walking back from school right about now" Ned said. As if on cue, the door opened and Amanda walked in shucking her boots and shaking. "Welcome home honey! Cold out there ain't it?" Ned said. "It's freezing dad! Warm me up!" Amanda yelled. Ned picked her up and closed his hands around her leaving a hole at the top of his closed hands. He blew into the hole. He opened them. "Feel better?" Ned asked. "Much better. Oh, who's she?" Amanda asked seeing the woman. "CPC" Ned replied. 

“Amanda, I’d like to talk to you…alone” the woman said. Ned excused himself but hid around the corner so he could listen in. “Amanda I’m going to ask you some questions okay?” the woman asked. Amanda nodded.  “How is the relationship with your…father” the woman asked. “Dad’s great. I answered this once before” Amanda said. “I know dear. I’m just asking some questions. Does he spend time with you?” the woman asked. “Yeah he plays with me all the time” Amanda replied. “I see. Does he do anything to make you feel uncomfortable?” the woman asked. Ned didn’t like a particular question. “No, he tickles me sometimes when I’m sad but he doesn’t do anything that I don’t like” Amanda said. “Honey has he ever touched you…down there?” the woman asked pointing to Amanda’s crotch.  “You mean like sex stuff!? Eww, no! Daddy wouldn’t do that to me!” Amanda yelled. “It’s okay to tell me dear. You can tell me if he’s licked on sucked on you or made you do things to him” the woman said more forcefully. “I told you dad doesn’t do that!” Amanda said starting to cry. Ned had it with her. It was obvious she had some agenda. “THAT IS ENOUGH!” Ned yelled. “I will say it’s enough when I decide” the woman said. Ned lowered his face to her and narrowed his eyes. “This is me telling you that’s enough” Ned said coldly.  “I ask these questions because I know what your kind is capable of” she said equally cold.

"You were a breeder human weren't you? Where did they keep you?" Ned said putting the pieces together. "The Ark. I had to watch people I knew raped and eaten by your kind!" the woman shouted. Amanda started crying again frightened by the woman's outburst and the visual image. "That means my squad saved you. I was a Lt. in that squad and were the main ones who won that fight. I won't wait for your welcome cause I know I won't get it. What happened to you was a tragedy but that doesn't give you the right to harass and violate our rights. We just want to be treated just like you. Denying us that right makes you no better than the ones who took your rights away" Ned said hugging his daughter. The woman began crying and stood up to leave. Ned watched her slam the small human cutout of the door and drive off. That was the last time CPC darkened his doorstep.

Back in the present, Ned flicked another page in the scrapbook. "Oh remember this one? That vacation we took in Hawaii?" Ned asked. "Yeah I do remember that one. We had a fight there" Amanda said.

Ned was eagerly awaiting the transport to touch down on the tarmac in Honolulu. It had been too long since he took a real vacation. Amanda was 15 now and had just finished her first year of high school. Seeing how she honored the deal of getting straight A's, he kept his word about going somewhere with no snow. Amanda ran out of the jet squealing like a kid. "So warm! It's so warm and sunny!" she yelled. Ned stepped out and was hit with the warm breeze. "Yeah it's warm alright. Whew" Ned said wiping the sweat from his brow. They left the airport and took a specialized taxi to their hotel. Like many buildings, the hotel was built to accommodate someone Ned's size. They got to their room and Amanda ran to the balcony. She was amazed how beautiful the view was. The beach was in full view and sparkled in the afternoon sun. "Dad! Let's go to the beach now!" Amanda yelled. "Slow down kiddo! Let's unpack first and change" Ned said. Amanda pouted. "The beach has been there for a million years. I'm pretty sure it will still be around for another 15 minutes" Ned said patting her small head.

Amanda came out of the bathroom in her swimsuit. She wore a two piece, white with matching flip flops. Ned had forgotten how much she had grown.  Her breasts were considerable size for her age and her legs were toned from walking in the deep snow for so long. "Does it look okay dad? I think it's too tight in the chest" Amanda said. "She's your daughter! She's your daughter!" Ned said yelling in his head. "Uh...it looks very nice honey" Ned said turning away blushing. "Hurry and get changed dad!" Amanda said impatiently. Ned got changed and stepped out of the bathroom. Even at his age, Ned was physically fit. Just because you're a nerd doesn't mean you have to look like one.  Being a hormonal teen, Amanda couldn't help but check him out. She got embarrassed when she realized what she was doing. "Alright! Let's hit the beach" Ned yelled. Amanda shook her head to snap back to reality and followed her father.

The beach was crowded of course. Humans, hybrids, and Ingress, enjoyed the water and sun. Ned sat down to relax. "Come on dad! Play with me!" Amanda yelled. Ned stepped into the 8 ft. water which barely reached his ankles. Amanda splashed his legs. Ned gently flicked water her way. Ned loved seeing her have fun. "Can't believe I was getting turned on by my daughter. I need a girlfriend" Ned thought. Ned's back hurt stooping down to play with her and excused himself to lie down on the gigantic towel he had. "Dad!" Amanda yelled. "I’m gonna rest honey. Keep playing but stay where I can see you" Ned said. Ned pulled out a tablet to read. "Don't I know you from somewhere?" a female voice said. Ned looked around and finally saw the human woman standing near him. "Possibly. I have led an interesting life" Ned chuckled. "I'm serious. I know you" the woman said.

"Well...I'm the head councilor for the Ingress" Ned said lowering his tablet. Ned saw that the woman was in her mid 20's and with that fair skin unlikely a native. "No, I don't follow politics much" she said. "I was in the military" Ned said. "That's it! You were with the Stray Dogs!" the woman yelled. "That I was. Was you in the military?" he asked. "Commander Atkins at your service!" the woman said saluting. Ned nearly burst out laughing. This tiny woman in a bikini was saluting him like he was a rock star. "At ease ma'am. I left the service 5 years ago" Ned said. "Sorry. It's just I'm blown away meeting you" she said smiling. "Good thing Aaron wasn’t here. You'd might have had a heart attack" Ned said. "You know Capt. Pherson?" she asked. "Well yeah, he's was my CO" Ned said. The woman blushed realizing how stupid that question was. "What's he like?" the woman asked. "Cool guy. Always has your back and kind hearted. Gave a lot of our kind the benefit of the doubt...including me. Kicks ass and rarely took names. Happily married too" Ned said pointing at the woman. "No, I got someone too! I was just curious!" the woman said. "Just messing with you Atkins" Ned said bummed out she wasn't single.

Ned and Atkins spent the next few hours talking about their lives and war stories. Amanda interrupted them siting down tired from playing. "Amanda this is Atkins. She was a soldier in the war like me. Atkins, this is Amanda; my daughter" Ned said proudly. "She looks too old to be a hybrid" Atkins said. "She isn't. 100% human. She’s my adopted daughter" Ned said patting her head. "Dad found me on the homeworld and rescued me before I was eaten" Amanda said trying to scare away the woman. "Oh...I see. That was very nice of him" the woman said awkwardly. "Dad, I'm hungry!" Amanda said tugging on his finger. "Alright honey. Nice meeting you Atkins" Ned said standing up and holding his daughter in his hand. "Is something wrong?" Ned asked seeing her odd behavior. "Nothing's wrong" she said in a huff. "You're not jealous are you?" Ned said. Amanda was silent. "Honey. I love you and that will never change. It's just...guys kinda need female companionship. I held off due to making sure we could be a family but it's time I found someone" Ned said.

Amanda hung her head knowing he was right. She hated how jealous she was. "If it makes you feel any better she was already taken" Ned said. "Cool" Amanda said. As they ate, Ned noticed Amanda leave the table to get more food from the buffet. As she was in line she was spoken to by an Ingress boy around her age. Ned saw her face light up. Ned put two and two together pretty quickly. "Need to take your own advice Ned" he thought. "Dad I was invited to a private party!" she said excited. "I don't know honey" Ned said. "Come on dad!" she whined. "We don't know anything about him honey. A lot of things could happen there and it could be dangerous" Ned said. Amanda stormed out of the restaurant and Ned quickly followed.

They were silent as they came back to their room. "It's too dangerous!" Ned said. "What's was that about being jealous?" Amanda said. "It's not jealousy! It's being a concerned father!" Ned yelled. "Well you're not my real father!" Amanda yelled. When she saw the heartbroken look on his face she realized how hurtful her words were. Ned hung his head and a single tear escaped his eye. "Dad! I didn't mean-" she said before Ned spoke softly. "Go to your party. I hope you have fun" he said with a whisper. Amanda ran out of the room tears streaming out of her eyes. She couldn't believe she said something so cruel. This was the man who smuggled her out of a lab that was to dispose of her like she was vermin. This was the man who threw away his life to save her.  This was the man who tore apart cities desperately trying to find her. This was the man who tirelessly fought so they could be a family for 3 years.

Amanda went to the party not because she wanted to now. She didn't know anywhere to go that time of night. She arrived at the private beach house the party was taking place and rang the doorbell.  "This is where the party is right?" she asked the human girl who answered. "Yep this is the place! Come on in!" the girl said opening the human door. Amanda saw lots of kids her woman age; human and Ingress. "Glad you could make it" the Ingress boy said looking down at her. "Yeah...glad to be here too" Amanda said looking at his sandal clad feet. "Want something to eat or drink?" The teen asked. "Be right back" the giant kid said. He returned a few minutes later with a very tiny cup he held between his fingertips. "I never got your name. I'm Brian. What's yours?" he asked. "Amanda" she said taking a sip of punch.

For the next hour, he tried making small talk but Amanda was too depressed to be in the mood. "Nice place isn't it? It my parent's" the teen said trying to impress her. "Yeah nice" she said quietly. Brian was getting nowhere with her so he decided to take things up a notch. Brian walked off for a moment and spoke with a human boy his age. The boy walked over to Amanda and bumped into her spilling her drink. "Shit! I'm sorry! Let me get you another" the boy said running off. "Can this night get any worse?" Amanda thought squeezing her shirt to wring out the punch. The boy filled a glass and poured a white powder into it. He swished the glass a few times and returned. "Thanks" Amanda said taking the drink.

Brian walked back to her after seeing her take a swig of the spiked punch. "You're really cute you know that" Brian said bending down. "Uh...thanks. Look, maybe I should go. It's just I'm not in the mood. You're a nice guy but I should check on somebody" Amanda said turning around. When she moved she felt something within her. Her body felt very hot and weak. Her vision blurred. Her legs gave out and she fell to the floor. Brian smiled and scooped her off the floor. "She okay man" his friend asked. "Yeah she's fine. Too much to drink" Brian chuckled. "You remember the deal right?" his friend asked. "Yeah, you get to have fun with her after I'm done" Brian said taking her to his room.

Meanwhile...

Ned was at the hotel bar sipping a beer watching TV. "In today's news...Eve Pherson, the first hybrid and known as the Messiah Child, is going to start school this year. When asked how she felt her answer was "I'm super excited!" the news announcer said. "Good for you Eve. Don't fear the future" Ned said taking another sip. "I'm not jealous, I'm just overprotective. Yeah, I shouldn't be so uptight about her wanting to be with boys. Maybe I shouldn't fear the future either" Ned said to himself. Ned looked around the lobby and saw various families. He smiled at how much fun they looked like they were having and hoped he and Amanda would have more fun before the vacation was over. Two girls, human ones around 16 or 17 walked in talking. Normally Ned would mind his own business but their discussion caught his attention.

"Glad we got out of there" one girl said. "You tell me. I heard that guy makes sure he gets what he wants" the other said. "Yeah that last girl left out of there with bruises and bite marks on her body" her friend said. "Why won't someone say something?" the other asked.  "His family's loaded and well connected. I just hope that one girl he was checking out will be okay" the girl said. "Excuse me. You didn't just come from a party with an Ingress boy about 15 or so? Spiky black hair and brown eyes?" Ned asked. "You know Brian?" the girl asked. Ned bent down with a serious look on his face that scared the shit out of them. "Where...is...it?" Ned asked. They gave him directions and Ned ran to his room. He took a black bag out of his case and reached into it. He pulled out his old service plasma pistol and stuffed in the back of his pants. Ned called a taxi and rode to the beach house.

Brian had sat down with Amanda in his palm. She was drifting in and out of consciousness.  Brain laid her on his bed and began taking off his clothes. When he was done he picked her back up. Seeing her flimsy shirt and short pants made his dick hard. "Let’s see what you look like underneath" he said. He easily tore off her shirt and tugged off her shorts. He saw that she was wearing pink panties and a bra. With his fingernail, he slit off the undergarments leaving her wearing only her flip flops. He traced her legs with his eyes down to her tiny feet. Her nails were painted hot pink. Brian gently pulled off her right flip flop. "So cute. So small" he said taking her ankle between his fingers and raising her leg to his mouth. He began licking her tiny sole and saw her twitch. "Like it?" he said dropping her leg. He took her other leg and slurped it into his mouth till his lips stopped at her knee. He sucked on it enjoying the taste. After a minute, he released her leg and felt something in his mouth. He raised his other hand and spit out what it was. It was her other flip flop. She was totally naked now.

"God I love human girls. So cute, tiny, and tasty" he said playing with her tiny breasts. Amanda woke up slightly feeling someone rolling her tits between their fingers. Her vision was still screwed up but she could see it was an Ingress. She felt the coolness on her legs due to the evaporating saliva. "Please stop...it hurts" she moaned. "I'm not stopping till you made me cum at least 4 times. A cutie like you shouldn't take too long" he said. Brian raised her to his mouth and stuck out his tongue to lick her tiny pussy. He heard a loud crash and shouting. He heard his name. "Keep it down! I'm busy for fuck's sake!" Brian yelled. Before he could continue his rape, his bedroom door was kicked in.

There stood Ned with the wrath of a father. Ned saw Amanda naked in his palm and reached for his pistol. "PUT...HER...DOWN...NOW!" he screamed. Brian gently and slowly put her on his bed. "Easy man. Take it easy" Brian said raising his hands. Ned was aiming right at his head. "Easy? EASY?! I caught you trying to rape my daughter and you want me to take it easy?!" Ned screamed. Ned glanced down at her and saw her face flushed and her breathing very hard. "Honey you okay? Honey? Amanda?!" Ned yelled seeing no reaction from her. Ned gripped the boy by his throat. "What did you do to her?!" Ned yelled. "Just gave her some Erophan dude to get her into the mood" Brian said. "You gave her an Ingress drug?! She's human you stupid fuck!" Ned yelled.

Ned, like many Ingress, knew of Erophan. It was an aphrodisiac known to his kind. It was used to get your monthly sex partner into the mood. The problem was it acted on the metabolism and since humans have a weaker metabolism it was far more than effective; dangerously so. Ned wanted to blow this kid's brains out right then and there. "Look man I didn't know!" Brian said seeing Ned grip the pistol harder. "Your name kid" Ned said. "Brian Welter" he replied. "The Welter family?!" Ned yelled. The kid nodded. Ned was pissed. The Welter family was what one would call nobility. After the old government fell and the nobility was abandoned, those families had to find new ways to prosper. This family was a banker family and key player in the human/Ingress economy. Ned saw that pressing charges wouldn't go so well. "You're not gonna kill me are you?" Brian whimpered. Ned lowered the pistol and touched a slider on the side of the grip. "I ain't gonna kill you but you will remember what you did tonight and I'm about to give you a reminder" Ned said shooting the kid in the crotch.

At its lowest setting, a plasma pistol can fire a bolt of 450 degree Fahrenheit temperature . That bolt sizzled the pubic hair off the kid and caused nasty 3rd degree burns. The kid screamed in pain. "That will heal eventually but you won't be raping anyone for a long time. Now to take my daughter out of this fuck hole and you better pray she doesn't die or I will come back and kill you...slowly" Ned said picking up his daughter and stomping out. Ned got back in his taxi which was waiting there under his orders. "You okay man? Shit what's wrong with her?!" the driver said. "Drive" Ned said. Ned returned to the hotel. "She needs to go to a hospital man" the driver said. "They can't help with this. Even a blood transfusion wouldn't help. If she...if she dies I don't want to be stuck writing reports or giving statements. I want to be there with her" Ned said closing the door. Ned brought her to his room and laid her on the bed.

It was true there was nothing he could do. Nano-aid would kill her. There was no drug to nullify the Ingress drug available. Ned felt helpless. He looked at her and realized she was still naked. Ned dug through her clothes and could some. Ned took some panties she had and threaded her tiny legs though the holes Ned pulled them up and placed his fingers around her ankles and raised her legs. Ned couldn't help but see her tiny ass. He turned his head conscientious of what he saw and pulled her panties covering it. Ned found an old tee shirt and slowly put it on. She was semi-clothed now. Ned watched her closely. Her breathing steadied. Her tiny body looked so fragile in his eyes. He was reminded how she had grown into a young woman from that cute child over the years. Her legs and tiny feet still showed signs of wetness and Ned knew what he had done to her.  Ned clenched his fist so hard his nails caused his palm to bleed. "Daddy" she moaned in her sleep. Ned looked at her with teary eyes. "Daddy's right here honey. Daddy's here" Ned said stroking her face with his finger. Ned kept vigil on her. Her placed his finger on her chest and felt a steady heartbeat.

He sighed hoping the drug had peaked. Amanda awoke the next morning with a splitting headache. She looked around and saw she was in their hotel room but didn't remember how she returned. "Morning honey? How do you feel?" Ned said exhausted. She glanced over at him and saw that he looked like shit. Her memory returned a little and she could remember up till the point she passed out. After that was just a jumbled blur. She was smart enough to put the pieces together and realized she had been drugged. "Dad. Was I?" she said starting to cry. "No honey, I got there just in time to stop it" Ned said. Amanda ran to him and hugged his face bawling. "Oh sweetie" Ned said using his fingers to pat her back. "I was so mean to you and said such horrible things! You warned me not to go!" she said sobbing. "Amanda it okay honey" Ned said. "You're my daddy! You're my daddy!" she kept yelling between sobs. "Ned smiled and thanked god Amanda was fine.

They checked out the following day. No one ever came looking for Ned for shooting Brian and Brian...well let's just say he was out of action for the rest of the summer. After that he decided to do things a different, safer way.

"You always did look out for me" Amanda said flipping another page. "You did the same thing too" Ned said pointing to a photo. "Why the hell do you still have that picture?!" Amanda asked. "A reminder of where your career started" Ned said. It was a photo of him, Amanda, an Ingress woman around 24 and a hybrid child around 7.

It was the end of June 2138 and Amanda was trying out her graduation dress to see if it fit. They lived in a house in Prague now which was much warmer but Amanda and Ned didn't live there alone. Back in the winter, Ned had met a pretty woman at a conference. Being alone had took its toll so when she showed interest in him it hit him square in the heart. Her name was Katherine and he learned she was once an enemy soldier who had a hybrid son named Caleb. Ned loved how passionate she was in more ways than one and soon they had moved in him and Amanda. Amanda didn't like her. She didn't like the way she looked at her sometimes and more often than not would avoid each other's company. She didn't say this to Ned however. She was just happy that he was happy. She saw how sad he got sometimes when he was alone. It didn't help to hear how his old war buddies had started families of their own.  When they visited Aaron and his family last time, she saw how depressed he was when he saw them playing together.

"Amanda, Caleb. Dinner's ready!" Katherine shouted. "Coming!" came a loud voice. Amanda put down her dress and exited the room. She was nearly stepped on by the foot on a giant 7 year old boy.  "Careful squirt!" Amanda said looking up at the boy. "Then get out of the way tiny" the boy said looking down. Amanda didn't like Caleb. He always had a shitty attitude around her and today wasn't any different. Caleb sat down and Amanda climbed up a ladder to the table. "Time to eat" Katherine said sitting down. "How was school?" Katherine asked them. "Boring" Caleb replied. "Nothing much. Classes are pretty much done" Amanda replied. Katherine nodded. "This soup is missing something" Katherine said looking at her. "Tastes fine to me" Amanda said. "Guess it's just me. Should have added more meat" Katherine said. 

Amanda asked Ned once about Katherine's past. He replied that she was reformed and wanted to live like a human. Amanda wasn't buying it. More than once she saw Katherine eyeing her suspiciously. Amanda quickly ate her soup because she didn't like the atmosphere in the kitchen tonight and she had plans to go out. "I'm done. See you guys later" Amanda said claiming back down off the table. "Where are you going so late young lady?" Katherine said. "Me and some friends are going to catch a movie" Amanda said walking to the door. "It's too late to be going out" Katherine said planting her bare foot in front of her to block her way. "You're not my mom! Get your smelly foot out of my way!" Amanda yelled. Katherine snatched her from the floor so fast she was lifted out of her sneakers.

"You will show me some respect little girl!" Katherine said squeezing her. "You're...hurting...me!" Amanda yelled. Katherine eased her grip on her and sat her down. "Sorry, it's just I don't take kindly to rudeness. I'm only concerned for your safety" Katherine said with pleading eyes. "Yeah well sorry. I'm going out now. Dad knows I'll be out tonight" Amanda said putting her shoes back on. "You should have said that in the first place" Katherine said. A small beep outside signaled her ride was there. Amanda ignored her and slammed the door. Katherine looked out the window and saw a small car with a boy and girl Amanda's age inside. She watched them leave. "Tiny brat" Katherine said. She looked over at Caleb who had stopped eating to watch the fight. "Finish your food!" she yelled.

"You okay Mandy?" the boy driving asked. "Yeah, my dad's girlfriend is a bitch is all" Amanda replied. "Well you only have to put up with her for another week unless she marries him" his girlfriend said punching her playfully in the side. Amanda grimaced. "I didn't mean to hit you so hard! You okay?" she asked. "I'm fine. Don't worry about it" Amanda said nursing a bruised rib.  Ned came home later that evening. "How was your day?" Katherine said sitting on the sofa. "Busy, elections coming up" Ned said. "I know. I hope you win" Katherine said. Ned plopped down on the sofa. "How was your day?" Ned asked. "Your daughter was rude to me at dinner" she replied. "How so?" Ned asked. "She yelled at me when I told her it was too late to go out. She hadn't told me you said it was okay. Why doesn't she like me?" Katherine asked. "Aw Kat. She's just protective of her dad is all" Ned said kissing her forehead.

Katherine inserted her hand into his pants and felt his cock. "Honey I'm a little tired" Ned moaned. "Then let me do all the work" she whispered in his ear. She unbuckled his pants and pulled out his cock and began sucking it. Ned sighed feeling her warm, wet mouth on his shaft. "Oh yes baby" he moaned. She continued giving him oral slowly speeding up along the way. Ned felt himself about to cum and held her head still. He unloaded his seed into the giantess' mouth and she swallowed every last bit. "You can have round two upstairs if you got the energy" she said seductively. "How can I say no to that?" Ned said following her upstairs. She pounced on the bed and stripped of her clothing. "Wait, what about Caleb?" he asked. "Dead asleep" she said. Ned smiled and undressed. They had sex for the next hour.

It was after midnight when Amanda came home. Ned was asleep exhausted for work and three orgasms. Katherine was dozing off until she heard a car door slam. She glanced down and saw them. She eyed Amanda like one eyed a nice steak but seeing the other two was too much temptation. She hadn't had fun with a human in years and old habits are hard to break. She heard the house door shut and Amanda go into her room. She watched the car drive off and quickly put on some clothes and left the house. It must have been fate that the two lovebirds chose not to go home that night. If they had, what came next would never have happened. Katherine didn't really expect to find them. Prague is a decent sized city after all. She did though. She found the car parked off to the side on a hill overlooking the lit up city. Flashes of lightning foreshadowed the storm of fate that was to come.

"Amanda seemed kinda down tonight" the girl said. "She did Becca. Maybe we should have a party on graduation day" her boyfriend wondered. "That sounds nice Antonio. Did you feel that?" Rebecca asked feeling small tremors. Antonio glanced around and didn't see what was causing it until he happened to glance in his rear view mirror. "Oh my god..." he gasped. The car lifted into the air and the door was pried off. It shook violently and the two fell out not onto the ground but a sweaty, fleshy palm. "Ms. Katherine!" Antonio yelled. "Two very cute humans" she said moving them to her pocket. "What are you doing?!" Rebecca yelled. "Having some old fun" she said dropping them into her pocket. Katherine returned to the house. She held her pocket shut sealing off their screaming for help. She quietly went into the attic and found a box Ned had used for storage. She dropped them inside and poked holes at the top. She then placed an antique book Ned owned on top. There was no escape for them. The box was nearly 6 stories high. No amount of shouting would be heard.  Katherine fell asleep and dreamed of what she could do with them tomorrow.

Amanda and Caleb went to school and Ned went to work not knowing the captives in their attic. When the door shut, Katherine went to the attic and grabbed the frightened teens. "Please let us go!" Rebecca whined. "You won't get away with this!" Antonio yelled. "I think I will. There's many ways to dispose of a human and who would suspect you'd be here in the home of the most respected Ingress on Earth?" Katherine said grinning. She brought them down to the bed room and dropped them on the bed sheet. "Strip now" she said clenching her fist. The teens did as instructed and were now naked. "Good. Now fuck. Show me how much you love each other" she said. "Please don't make us" Rebecca whined. Katherine seized her by her head and slightly squeezed. Rebecca screamed from the pain of giant fingers on her cranium. "Stop don't hurt her!" Antonio yelled. Katherine dropped the girl. Antonio hugged the crying girl. "We have to" he said pushing her down on the sheet.

Katherine giggled at watching the tiny humans fuck for her amusement. She delighted at telling him to fuck her anally and loved the fact he took her ass cherry when she cried out from pain. "God I love that sound" she said. She watched him cry out as he flooded her bowels with his small seed. "Now that you had your fun I get to have mine" she said pushing him to her giant pussy. The last thing he wanted to do was please the giantess who forced him to fuck his girlfriend for her own amusement. When she saw him not doing anything she simply shoved him in. "Ah yes! That's what I've been missing! You humans are born to please us! Go ahead and fight! Fight my pussy!" She said writhing in pleasure. Rebecca whimpered seeing the boy's legs slurped into her cunt. "Haven't forgotten about you" she said. "NOOOO!" she yelled feeling her fingers wrap around her body.

"Bet you're worried you might get pregnant seeing how many times he came in you. Don't worry about that" she said shoving her legs into her mouth and slurping her in to her waist. She sucked on her hard to the point Rebecca was crying in pain and pleasure. She kicked the probing tongue parting her legs. Katherine could taste the semen sucked out of her like it was the cream inside a pastry. Rebecca beat her fists on her lips and screamed having an orgasm; Katherine could taste her sweetness on her palate. It was so intense she came. Antonio felt he walls clamp on him so tight they nearly crushed him. He slid out of her barely alive. Katherine spit out Rebecca who was catatonic. She played with them for the next two hours until she heard the door. "Who could it be?! Nobody should be back till the afternoon!" she yelled.   She glanced down and saw it was Amanda. "You home honey?" Katherine called down.

"Yeah just a half day for seniors" she called back. Katherine panicked. There wasn't enough time to hide the teens in the attic. She figured she could hide them in the bedroom but that hope was dashed when she heard Amanda coming up the stairs. She grabbed the catatonic Rebecca and tossed her into her mouth. She didn't even whimper as she slid backward down her throat. She disappeared with a simple gulp. She grabbed Antonio next who was livelier. He was screaming loud enough for Amanda to hear. "Katherine what's that?" Amanda said walking faster. She saw just in time to see two tiny bare feet disappear into her mouth and saw the bulge in her throat. Amanda screamed and ran. "Monster! I'm telling dad and you're going to jail!" Amanda was screaming.

Katherine ran out of the room and Amanda could hear her footsteps. Wisely, she chose to hide seeing how she could be caught before she hit the door. "Come on out honey. Don't know what you saw but that wasn't a human just some food I had made for a snack" Katherine said. No answer. "Fine. We'll do it the hard way" Katherine said locking the doors and windows. Amanda was trapped. She wondered why her friends weren't at school today and now she knew. She started crying softly wishing her dad was there to save her.  Amanda hid in the only place she could that wasn't obvious or locked; the air vents. Katherine tore the house apart looking for her. She wasn't behind the bookcases or in her room or any room as far as she could see. The hours ticked by and she became more desperate. She needed her to make a noise, any noise, to give away her location. Amanda poked her head out of the vents to see if she was around. Katherine was moving too fast for her to leave. She crawled around like a mouse in a maze.

It was 2 p.m. and Caleb would be home soon. She couldn't rely on him to keep a secret. Katherine decided to scare her into making a noise. "You won't escape little one. I'll find you eventually and when I do...oh I will have so much fun. Every day I had to restrain myself for raping and eating you. I yearn for the feeling of you sliding down my throat. Last night I just wanted to dunk you in that soup and just slurp you up. Your daddy will miss you when I tell him you ran away because you didn't like me. That that's what I will say. You'll never see him again and the last time you're in this house is when I flush you down the toilet along with the rest of the shit" she cackled. Amanda didn't get scared; she got angry. Amanda waited in the bedroom vent and came out as soon as Katherine finished searching the room. Amanda remembered that Ned kept his service pistol in the dresser drawer. The question was would it be enough to stop her and was she strong or fast enough to use it.

It took 10 minutes to get to the drawer and another 5 to pull it open. Amanda knew she wasn't strong enough to get it out so she kicked the trigger. The gun fired and blew open the drawer. She and the gun fell to the carpet Katherine heard the shot and ran to the room. She saw Amanda lying next to the weapon. "Little shit!" she yelled lunging at her. Amanda hugged the grip and prayed the aim was true. She squeezed the trigger with all her might. The shot went off and Katherine fell to the floor. In her chest was a smoking hole. Amanda sat there staring at her. Caleb arrived 10 minutes later and when he didn't get an answer when he called for his mom went to the bedroom. He saw his mother dead and Amanda still hugging the gun. "YOU KILLED MY MOMMY!" he screamed. Caleb went for Amanda which had snapped back to reality. She hugged the trigger again and it went off. Caleb was lucky. Since he was shorter the shot went over his head and blew in hole on the wall.

"Stay the fuck back!" Amanda yelled still in shock. Caleb sat on the floor and stared at his dead mother and sobbed. The poor boy was so shocked he ended up wetting his pants. Ned arrived home just under an hour later. “Guys I’m home! What’s for dinner!” he shouted. Ned didn’t hear a response but he did her crying. Ned followed the sound to his bedroom and saw something that would stay in his mind forever. “Oh…my…god” Ned said seeing Katherine dead and Amanda hugging the pistol. He glanced over at Caleb who was still crying. “W-what happened?” Ned stammered. “She was eating people! I think they were Antonio and Becca! Daddy she said she was gonna eat me! She said she was gonna get away with it!” Amanda sobbed. “LIAR! YOU KILLED MY MOM!” Caleb shouted. Ned reached down and pulled the gun away from her. Seeing the gun away from her, Caleb actually ran at Amanda. Ned grabbed him just before he could get to her. “Go to your room Caleb” Ned said. The boy screamed incoherently as he fought to get to Amanda. “NOW!” Ned yelled. The scared child ran out of the room. “Amanda…honey…tell me everything that happened before I call the police” Ned said. Amanda told him how she caught her and how she had to hide for hours. She finished by telling him how she shot her and nearly shot Caleb. Ned called the police and waited.

The arrived in just 6 minutes. Ned led them to where Katherine lay. A human male and his Ingress partner looked at the scene. “Well she is very dead. What happened here?” the man asked. “That woman killed my daughter’s friends and tried to kill her. My daughter shot her in self-defense” Ned said. “Anyone else present?” the man asked.  “Only her” Ned replied. “You were alone finding them?” the female giantess asked. “Yes, her son was already there” Ned said. “Son? Where is he now? We need a statement from him” the man said. Ned led them to Caleb’s room. They returned a few minutes later. “We have his statement and now we will get your daughter’s” the female said. Amanda told them everything. “I see. Amanda Kensington. You’re under arrest for murder” the female said. “WHAT!? She shot her in self-defense!” Ned yelled. “The boy claimed she shot her because she was angry due to an argument yesterday. He claims to have seen it” the man said. “That’s not true! He wasn’t here yet! She ate my fucking friends and tried to do the same to me!” Amanda yelled. “We only have your statements to go by. If we find your statement to be true in our investigation, we will drop the charges. Come with us” the female said grabbing Amanda and putting her in a tiny cage strapped to the belt of the giantess.

“NOO!” Amanda yelled. “Amanda don’t say anything else! I’m getting a lawyer!” Ned yelled. The next day Ned and his lawyer came to the station. “We’re here for the investigation and to see its progress” the lawyer said. They were shown to an office. They sat there till the female Ingress came in. “Good afternoon. We have followed up on your daughter’s statement. We checked the deceased stomach contents and found no human remains. Furthermore, we found the car belonging to the teens but no forensics, possibly due to the heavy rain that night. Because of the nature of the crime, we have changed the murder charge to a hate crime. You of all people know what that means. Her trial will be set for next month” the woman said. Ned hung his head. He knew the sentences for a hate crime involving murder included the death penalty. “Let me see the autopsy” the lawyer said. She read the report and frowned. “This autopsy is incomplete. No ballistics, toxicology, rectal check, none of this. Why?” she asked. “According to her statement she shot her because she caught her eating humans yet none were found in her” the female replied. “This isn’t over” the lawyer said taking Ned with her.

“I think she has an agenda. She might’ve been a soldier under the Empress. If so then she’s fucking us over for your daughter killing an old comrade. I’m calling in a favor” she said taking out her phone. She spoke to someone and asked for them to come to Prague. “An old friend from the homeworld is coming here to do a real autopsy” she said pissed. “Can we see my daughter?” Ned said. “Yes but I’d advise you not to tell her about the additional charge just yet” she replied. Ned went to the jail and found her in a cage the size of a large room. It brought back unpleasant memories. “Thought we fought a war to put an end to this kind of treatment” Ned said softly. Amanda heard her dad’s voice and ran to the cage bars. “Dad!” she yelled shaking the bars. Ned stuck out his finger. Amanda could barely touch his finger.

“How are you holding up?” Ned asked. “As much to be expected seeing how I killed you girlfriend and her son is trying to get me thrown in jail” she replied. “We think the detectives are fucking us over. We’re getting some help but daddy needs you hold on a little longer” Ned said sadly. “Alright. Where are they keeping Caleb” she asked. “Social services has him. You probably guessed but he doesn’t have a father seeing how she conceived him” Ned said. “I feel bad for him even if he’s lying on me” she said. Ned smiled. “You always did have a big heart” Ned said pointing at her tiny chest. Amanda smiled. “It’s time to go” the lawyer said. Ned bid her goodbye and left. “Thanks for going out like this” Ned told her. “No problem at all. I hate injustice. Besides, an Ingress saved my life once. If I can help one save the life of his daughter then all the better” the woman said.

The lawyer returned with her friend the next day. “How long will it take?” she asked. “12 hours give or take. Maybe less now I know what I should look for” he replied. Ned and the lawyer waited near the phone anxiously. Ned was dozing off in front of the TV. He hadn’t had much sleep in the last 48 hrs. The phone woke him and saw the lawyer’s number in the caller ID. “Hello?” he said. “Jackpot. Meet me at the station” she said. Ned raced down the road in his car. He ran into the station and made his way to the forensics lab. “We found it. The evidence to free your daughter: we found it” she said. “We found human DNA in her colon. The remains had left her stomach by the time she died but that’s not all. We found remains of human semen between her teeth. We sent it off for typing but we can safely assume it belongs to the missing boy” the man said. With the new evidence, the charges were dropped and Amanda was freed. The female Ingress officer was fired for misconduct.

Ned treated them all to dinner to celebrate her freedom. Amanda was quiet most of the evening. “Dad, I know what I want to do after I graduate. I want to become a defense attorney” she said. “That sounds nice honey” Ned said smiling. “Good for you dear. The world could always use a good lawyer” the woman said chuckling. “Thank you for looking out for me so much. I’m going to be like you and prevent any travesties of justice” Amanda said. “A toast! To the next greatest lawyer!” Ned said raising his giant glass. They drank to her future.

“Man, I was so scared for you” Ned said stroking Amanda. “Yeah it didn’t look good did it but it worked out didn’t it?” Amanda said. “Yep, top of your class and early graduation too” Ned said proudly. Ned flicked past a few more pages and stopped on his second favorite one. A picture of Amanda in her wedding dress standing in his palm.

April 19, 2146

Amanda had found the love of her life in just a few short months of being a defense attorney. She had gone through law school at phenomenal speed, graduating in just 5 years. Daryl was a client of hers and found him innocent of the charges. She never doubted his innocence. Now they had finished getting married and was attending the reception. Ned was smiling his ass off. “She looks very happy” a woman said sitting on the table next to him. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen her smile like that Jenny” Ned told her. A familiar woman sat down next to Ned. “That was a beautiful service Ned. So hard to believe that she’s that grown” Leila said. “Yeah seems like yesterday she was playing in my hair and asking me to give her rides” Ned said. “She grew up alright. He a nice guy?” Aaron said walking toward the table. “Yeah he is. Believe me I did my homework” Ned said pointing to his Ingress son-in-law. “Hey guys” a girl with a scar on her neck said sitting down next to them. “Glad to see those vocal cords are working” Ned said. “It does feel good to talk with my own voice” Atreya said.

“Where’s your husband?” Leila asked. “Over there at the kid’s table with Jason” Atreya said pointing to Matt and a giant boy around 7. “He’s grown!” Aaron said. “And he’s a handful just like his big sister as at his age” Atreya said. “Look they’re about to cut the cake” Leila said pointing to the couple. The cake was the size of a 4 story building and on top two figurines that were human sized. Daryl had a knife 50 ft. long and Amanda had a saw. The people laughed watching her slide down the frosting side and sawing as she went down like she was trying to cut down a tree. When she got to the bottom, she was standing in a puddle of frosting in her bare feet. She looked and saw that her hells had become stuck in the frosting higher up. The frosting felt funny squishing between her toes.

Daryl lifted her up into his hand. “Too much cake?” he asked laughing. “Uggh! It’s all over me!” she cried. Daryl turned away from the crowd who was interested in getting some free cake. He lifted her legs and licked the frosting off. He then licked and sucked the frosting away from her bare feet. Amanda laughed as his taste buds tickled her soles. “Perv!’ she yelled. “Wait till tonight” Daryl said grinning. “Won’t be long till Eve gets hitched will it?” Ned said to Leila.

Leila looked over at her. Eve wore a pink bridesmaid dress with strappy sandals. It was obvious she was growing into a beautiful woman. “Hell naw! She ain’t getting married till she’s 30!” Aaron yelled. “Yeah I bet all dads say that. Just you wait man” Ned said sipping champagne. “These seats taken?” Rex and Chen said. Ned shook his head. “All together again. The Stray Dogs... well minus Jack. He’s off doing his own thing.” Rex said. “And Julie…” Aaron said. “And Vasquez…” Chen said. The group was silent for a moment remembering their friends. “We can’t forget Sarah” Rex said. “She’s here. Over there dancing” Aaron said pointing to a 200 ft. tall woman getting her groove on. “Damn, Sarah’s changed” Ned said. “Oh yeah” Aaron said sipping champagne. “And now for the wedding song!” the MC yelled. Atreya stood up and walked to the stage. She began singing “At Last” by Etta James.

Aaron listened to the song a felt a tear roll down his cheek. “I didn’t know you cry at weddings” Leila said. “I don’t. I’m glad that I won’t have to live with the guilt from a mistake I once made” Aaron said pointing to Atreya. “Everyone makes mistakes Aaron. It’s important you learn from them. You stopped me from making a similar one involving our daughter” Leila said. Aaron remembered that fateful day Eve was taken hostage. “You’re right honey. You’re absolutely right” Aaron said smiling. Ned watched as Daryl and Amanda danced to the music. Amanda danced in his palm and Daryl held out his finger leading her around in his palm.

The music ended and the MC called for a special dance for the father of the bride. The spotlight was on Ned; literally. Ned walked over to the couple and held out his palm. Amanda stepped into his hand. The music that played was “This Is My Wish” by Kevin Ross. The soft melody brought memories to his mind. From the first day he met her in that cage, to her first Christmas with him, to when he saved her in Hawaii, to her sweet 16, to her college graduation, to now her as a bride. He closed his eyes and felt her tiny bare feet moving across his palm and her tiny hand clutching her index finger. He wanted that moment to last forever. “I love you so much dad. Thanks for giving me a life” Amanda said smiling. “I love you too honey. I will always love you” Ned said tearing up. “They say you lose a daughter but gain a son. Guess what, you’re also going to be a grandpa” she said. Ned’s eyes went wide. “Twins! We found out a month ago” Amanda said.  Ned could no longer deny the fact she was starting her own family. Now that she would be moving out, he felt the fear of being alone. As the couple left for their honeymoon, Ned decided to try again to find someone.

Ned turned another page and a picture caught his eye. “Maria…” he said softly. Amanda gripped his finger knowing how painful the memory was involving her. “You okay dad?” Amanda asked. “Yeah, I still miss her now and then but it’s easier now” Ned said.

It had been 2 years since Amanda had gotten married and Ned was a proud grandpa. He wasn’t alone anymore either. Ned met a woman during a trip to Madrid and more and more time he spent with her he loved her more. Being more cautious this time around, he took things a little more slowly. The affair almost ended when Ned told her how he went insane, killed and ate people during the war. When he explained the degree of torture he had been inflicted on to him by Omega, she understood how one could go insane. That was one of the qualities he loved about her. Her level of compassion and understanding. After a year of being together, they got married. His friends were happy for him since they worried that he would be alone for the rest of his life. Amanda and Maria got along great which pleased Ned to no end. It seemed like heaven to him. Every day was better than the last.

Ned and Maria decided to have kids and Amanda squealed like a kid when she was told she would have a little brother or sister. When Maria successfully conceived a child, it seemed like Ned's dream of having a large family would come true. A wife and mother to Amanda and kids that were genuinely his. Unfortunately his dream wouldn't come to pass...    

Ned and Maria was visiting her family in Barcelona. It was important to her that her child would be delivered by the family doctor as her scheduled date to induce labor was tomorrow. She was carrying a hybrid that had taken to its human parentage which meant Maria had carried it to full term without the use of a incubation pod. Ned laid outside enjoying the summer breeze and looking at the stars with Maria sitting on his chest. "So they're really going to send a ship out there?" Maria asked looking at the sparkling heavens. "Yep, plans are underway to start launching probes out there to look for planets to colonize. Could take years before they find anything though" Ned said. "Are going to go with them?" Maria asked. "Only if you want to go. I myself want to stay here. Everything I ever wanted is right here" Ned said stroking her 9 month old pregnant belly. "We should turn in soon. We have a full day tomorrow" Maria said.

Maria stood up and when she turned to walk off his chest noticed he was sporting an erection. "What brought that on?" Maria asked. "Well anthropologically speaking, males are attracted to fertile females..." Ned said blushing and trying to sound scientific. "Ned..." Maria said grinning. "Okay you got me. You look fucking hot carrying my baby" Ned said blushing red as a beet. Maria began taking off her clothes until she was naked. "Then this must really turn you on" she said seductively. Ned brushed his finger across her belly and traced it up her body past her swollen breasts to her tiny face. She gently kissed his finger and then began licking it. She walked down to his crotch and pulled his zipper open. His cock sprang out nearly knocking her over. "Maria wait. You could harm yourself or the baby" Ned said. "Relax, if women were that fragile then we would have gone extinct long ago" she said stroking his shaft.

Ned moaned feeling her belly and tits rubbing up and down the length of his cock. His shaft became slick with her juices and milk oozing out of her nipples as she masturbated him. It was too much for him. Ned came hard and his semen shot into the air like a fire hose. The spunk landed on her in wet splotches covering her completely. One could barely see her tan skin through the white life giving fluid. She wiped her eyes and smirked at Ned's satisfied expression. "Ugh! I'm all sticky and it smells!" Maria said wiling the cum off of her. "Liked it enough to have it injected into you" Ned said grinning. "Find that funny? Then you have no problems cleaning me" Maria said. Ned picked her up and sat up. He used his shirt sleeve to wipe off the cum but there was still a dry layer on her.

Ned began licking it away not caring about the taste. Maria moaned as his tongue found its way underneath her ass. She rode it while holding onto his nose. Ned took his finger and pushed her closer to his mouth. His lips enveloped her breasts and he began sucking. Maria tensed up and made a cute squeak feeling the warm suction on her tender mammeries. Ned could taste her warm, sweet breastmilk flowing onto his palate. Never had he tasted something so delicious. Ned rubbed her tiny back and stroked her long hair tied in a ponytail. Ned decided to make her cum right there. He started pulling his tongue back and forth in his mouth. When he did, his taste buds rubbed along her asscheeks and pussy. Maria began jerking and moaning loudly. He hugged his face and yelled. Ned tasted her juices running out of her private place and tasted an intense burst of her milk shooting out due to her sizzling orgasm. She sat on his tongue panting. Ned gently picked her up and sat her on his thigh.

"You and Amanda remind me of a famous saying by an old human physicist. Einstein once said "you start living you life at last when you live for someone other than yourself". I get what he meant now" Ned said petting her head. Ned held her in his hand as he walked back to the house. "What do you think of the name Alexandro?" Maria asked. "Sounds like a great name for a son" Ned answered.

Ned, Maria, and her parents rode in the car to the hospital. Ned was nervous as hell and her parents found it funny that it was Maria who was calming him down and not the other way around. It was a beautiful day to be a dad. The sun was shinning with not a cloud in the sky. Since it was Ned's child, security was heightened but it wasn't enough to stop what was to come. Ned held his pregnant wife as they stepped out of the car. A woman dressed as an orderly approached them. Ned smiled until she lifted her dress and strapped around her leg was a bomb the size of a bus. "DEATH TO ALL TRAITORS! LONG LIVE THE TRUE WAY EMPIRE!" she screamed holding the detonator. Ned gripped Maria in his hand and dove across the parked car just as she triggered her bomb.

The blast was heard 10 blocks away. The enterance was demolished and anyone standing there was blown to bits. Ned's ears were ringing. His eyes had blood in them and he could feel blood running out of his ears. He couldn't move his right hand to wipe away the blood and barely could move the other. He realized he had been holding Maria. When he could see again, he looked around hoping against hope he could find her. He did. His blood ran cold what he saw her 200 ft. away on the ground. A small pool of blood formed around her head. Ned didn't know until after the fact. When the bomb went off, he had been in motion. A 200 ft. giant moves much faster than a human so in reality he was moving at almost 50 mph. The shrapnel from his armored car, which saved his life, cut the tendon in the hand which held his wife. Maria was thrown forward due to inertia at 50 mph and at 100 ft high. Hitting the concrete like that and well...at least it was instant.

Ned passed out due to shock. He wouldn't wake up till the next day. Amanda had heard what had happened and flew in to see him. She had Daryl watch her infant kids as she made her way to his hospital room. She got there just in time for the doctor to tell him that Maria was beyond saving. What was worse was the baby didn't make it either.  The sound Ned made would haunt Amanda for the rest of her life. A soul wrenching scream and anguished cry that sent shivers down the spines of anyone on that hospital floor. The doctor put her hand on his shoulder and Ned angrily slapped it off. Amanda put her hand over her mouth and cried.

The doctor said she was sorry once more and left the room. Ned just sobbed. Amanda walked in. Ned heard tiny footsteps and glanced downward. He just watched as she climbed onto the bed. Ned picked her up and held her close to him and cried. "They killed them! They killed by wife and son!" Ned sobbed. Amanda said nothing and just hugged him. Amanda, being a defense attorney, believed that no one was wholly evil but that changed today. That innocent way of thinking was gone forever. It took three months and 4 surgeries to heal Ned and when he was back to work he decided to eradicate True Way by any means possible.

Ned instituted measures that hadn't been seen for over a century. Recorded declarations of why one was traveling was needed to fly. Anyone with ties to the old regime was put on a list Osaka Treaty be damned. When a suspected True Way site was found, there were no raid or ground troops. If intelligence reports came back positive, a antimatter missile was drone fired. Reports came in of people living their lives and boom! A mushroom cloud rose from someone's house. Ned wasn't heartless. He knew how wrong what he was doing was. He avoided the pain of remembering his wife and his eroded conscience by getting drunk; shitfaced drunk.

Ned would come to council drunk and slurring. People asked if he should be replaced but seeing how he was getting results with his draconian methods, none wanted to go public with their concerns. It became worse when True Way hysteria swept the world. Neighbor turned on neighbor, friend on friend, one accusing the other of being a member or sympathizer. When word got to Amanda had bad he had fallen off the wagon she came to check on him. Amanda didn't like what she had seen. Ned was passed out on the sofa with a bottle of gin the size of a gas truck laying on the floor next to him. She sat down and just rubbed his hand knowing what she ad to say to him.

Ned awoke at 1 a.m. and felt her tiny body resting against his hand. He barely remembered her saying she was coming into town. She was sleeping and Ned chose not to wake her. Ned wrapped his fingers around her tiny body and picked her up. He laid her down on the opposite side of the sofa and got up. He returned with the blanket she used when she was just a child, the size of a napkin to him, and gently tucked it over her. He turned on the TV and switched it to the news channel.  The commentators were discussing the problems they had with Ned's policy dealing with True Way. They critiqued how he had used excessive force in taking out their camps and hideouts. When they compared his search of finding True Way members in hiding to the McCarthy hearings of the 20th century, Ned had to look up what it was on his wristcomm. He read it and realized they were right. He angrily threw his wristcomm across the room. The sound woke Amanda.

"Dad, what's going on?" Amanda asked confused. "They have no idea how much a threat True Way is! Don't they see that I'm doing it to protect everyone and everything we fought for?!" Ned yelled. "Dad, I understand how you feel but...what you're doing is no better than what they want. Don't you see that taking away people's freedoms and turning one against another is exactly what they want? Dad you need to get help. Drinking isn't a way to solve your problems. I think you should go to a AA meeting" Amanda said. "I'M NOT AN ALCOHOLIC!" he screamed slamming his fist on the sofa. He heard her scream. Ned glanced down and realized his fist had come extremely close to crushing her. She was crying. Ned took his finger and touched her face. She recoiled from his touch. She was afraid of him. Ned saw she was afraid of him. She had never feared him, not once until tonight. Ned hung his head and started crying.

"I'm so sorry! Oh god I'm so sorry honey! I'd never hurt you! What's wrong with me!? I almost hurt my little girl!" Ned said sobbing. Amanda saw how broken he was inside and scooted closer to him. She laid on the side of his thigh. Ned held out his hand and hoped she would respond. Amanda stepped into his palm and felt him lift her up to his face. Ned hugged her close to his cheek. She felt the wetness of his tears on it as she kissed and hugged it. "A child should never have to fear a parent. I know you only want what's best for me. I'll go to AA" Ned told her. Next week Ned showed up at an AA meeting held in Prague. Ned walked into the room and of course being who is is got a few raised eyebrows and surprised looks. Ned was amazed how many humans and Ingress were there. Ned sat down. "I'd like to introduce our new member to our group. This is Ned. You probably know him and this shows that being an alcoholic knows no social status or race.  Please introduce yourself" a Ingress man said. Ned stood up. "My name is Ned and I'm an alcoholic" he said to the crowd.

Shortly after Ned began getting help he began scaling down the protocols on how to deal with True Way.

"Still clean?" Amanda asked him. "Haven't touched a drink since" Ned said flicking to the last page of the scrapbook. "Next year they'll be another addition to the yearly photo" Amanda said smiling until she frowned and then grimaced. "Honey what is it?" Ned asked concerned. "Dad, I think my water broke" Amanda said. "Oh shit! Daryl! Wake the hell up! It's time!" Ned shouted. "Time for what? We ate and unwrapped presents" Daryl said yawning. "Time for you to become a dad again!" Ned yelled. "Oh. Oh! Oh shit! We need to go to the hospital!" Daryl said jumping out of sofa.

Calm down son. Get your kids ready to leave. I'll take care of your wife" Ned said taking charge. Ned held his daughter in his hand. This tiny girl was going into labor in his giant palm and even though he had been present for her last time it still scared the shit out of him. Ned had them pile into the car and handed Amanda to Daryl to hold. He flew down the snowy road to the hospital and arrived less than 10 minutes later.

“Is mommy gonna be okay?” Daryl’s daughter asked. “Mommy is about to have your baby brother” Daryl said stepping out of the car. Ned ran into the ER and returned with a nurse. They led him to check in where he laid her on a tiny gurney. They rushed her in. They all followed them to her room. Ned waited outside when Daryl went in. Ned kept the kids occupied with stories of the homeworld but felt his concentration waver hearing Amanda’s cries. “Push!” her doctor yelled. Amanda yelled and pushed. “The head is crowning!” the doctor yelled. Daryl let Amanda grip his giant finger as she pushed again. Her yells made his heart beat faster. “One…more…time!” the doctor yelled. Amanda pushed with all her might. A silence and then a slap. The room filled with the tiny cries of a newborn baby boy. “My god so tiny” Daryl said seeing his new son. He wanted to touch him but feared accidentally crushing him.

“It alright. Hold very still” the doctor said placing the tiny boy in his palm. To Daryl, the boy was the size of a grain of rice. It was nearly unbelievable that he had fathered something so small. Ned peeked from around the corner. “It’s okay. Come on in” the doctor said. Ned brought the kids in to see their new brother. The kids ohhed and awed at his tiny size. “Can we touch him?” Amanda’s son asked. “Not right now but soon” Amanda said weakly. “Dad, I decided not to name him Patrick. I was thinking Alexandro” she said. Ned smiled and brushed his finger along her sweat soaked face. “That’s sounds perfect. Hi Alexandro. I’m your grandpa Ned. Welcome to the family” he said smiling at his tiny grandson.