SIX. REPRODUCTION.
Yes, as strange as it may seem, we created a race of nanomorphs that could bear children. Why? Largely because we wanted our Demons to very much resemble human beings. To understand the emotions of love and lust would be highly beneficial, we thought, for building a nature much like a human being’s. In this, I think we were right.
And also—it gives me mild embarrassment to write this— we had once conceived of creating an entire race of Demons that could sustain itself without need for human intervention. But such a dream did not come to pass. Ah well. Some foolish dreams never take flight.
At any rate, now that we have established that Demons do feel in these ways, it is time to ask: What gives a Demon pleasure? Certainly it cannot be identical to that which humans enjoy. All of a Demon’s body is malleable; therefore there are no particular apparati to stimulate.
The answer to the question is this: Demons are pleasured by the experience of having other beings moving through them.
Of course, this does not mean that Demons feel a rush of pleasure every time they touch a doorknob. Rather, Demons experience these sensations with conscious beings of various types, these being humans, humanoid robots, and other Demons.
Gender identity is largely psychological for Demons. Whether a Demon is most comfortable as a male or a female, and whether they think of themselves as such, is written into the personality matrix before birth. Sexuality is handled similarly.
As Alan and Alexis were the first Demons to have these particular urges, they were the first to fully appreciate them.
Now, I fully expect to have some of you shaking your heads at me at this point. You feel that as these two Demons were created by the same group, they should be considered siblings, and should not be allowed to behave in this manner.
This is a misconception I realize I need to deal with. To interpret the parent-child relationship between creator and creation as a literal truth is distorting the idea to the point of foolishness, especially as these Demons were created male and female largely for this purpose. I understand that it may be tempting to think in such terms, because Dr. Light’s robot children thought of themselves as brothers and sisters. But I can assure you, Alan and Alexis never considered themselves siblings- lifelong friends, but never related in that way. They considered the matter closed, and I do as well.
With that said, I can tell you that Alan and his wife’s relationship was exceedingly wonderful. In those moments they shared together, their joy was indescribable. I would suspect they made much of moving in and around each other in pure formlessness. I can also envision them moving through each other at a nanoscopic level. As for myself, I can’t say if I would be interested in such activities, but perhaps I have bad taste. Those two certainly enjoyed themselves.
I should also highlight the significance of merging in relationship to Demon romance. Demons have long been able to fuse with other beings to create stronger creatures, merging with robots, other Demons, and on rare occasions, humans. The minds of the mergers are, for a time, connected, and two thus function as one.
The bodily component of this would seem to resemble Demon sexual activities, for it involves much flowing around (or through) the merging partner. And in fact, Demon lovers may merge for the sheer pleasure of it, as Alan and Alexis showed us.
However, merging is not inherently lustful. The closeness involved can be that of friends or siblings—Eliza and Sila have merged on several occasions. And Nate, despite the wisecracks made by those around him, was not in love with Proto Man for merging with him. This distinction could be viewed as similar to that between a hug and an embrace between lovers.
Now the creation of children by Demons is an entirely different matter. We created a program that allows two (or more) Demons to create another Demon together, provided they activate the program simultaneously.
The program allows the Demons to temporarily detach a small portion of themselves (far less than 1/1000th of their total body mass, usually.) This portion is then placed in a special fluid that contains dissolved metals. From these particles, the parent nanobots create the child nanobots during the course of the next few weeks.
The result is a dormant Demon. The initial nanobots are returned to the parents, and a personality matrix, usually one designed by the parents, is downloaded into the Demon, who then comes to life. This is, in some ways, a replica of the creation of Alan and Alexis, who also were “grown” in large tanks, though through our own processes rather than programmed ones.
Sadly, though they did have a child together, Sila, Alan’s time with Alexis was cut short by his wife’s death a few years later. Eventually, he did find love again, though this time with Dr. Cossack’s beautiful and clever daughter, Kalinka.
As this was a human/Demon relationship rather than a Demon/Demon one, it was interesting to observe. Kalinka was determined not to be left in her husband’s shadow, and against her father’s wishes, created an armored suit so that she could aid Alan in combat.
Their doings together must have been somewhat different than those that came before them. Alan most likely enjoyed merely being in contact with her. And due to Alan’s ability to change shape freely, I suspect he was an excellent lover for Kalinka. Indeed, there were few nights when I did not secretly envy Kalinka somewhat.
Now, before their deaths together, Alan and Kalinka also had a daughter, Eliza. The process by which she came to be was not dissimilar to her sister’s. The major difference was that Eliza was only partially generated by Alan’s nanobots, as some of her consists of human cells inherited from her mother.
But we will examine this in more detail in the next chapter, where we shall take a look at the latest generation of Demons.