When she was placed on the bed, Zara was still spouting things to insult him, and tug at his decency. Nathan wasn't entirely immune, but he would definitely make use of human's difficulty to sympathize with things they regarded different than them, and Zara was becoming increasingly so. While her body was enticing, it was also intrinsically exotic since he was starting to recognize her, even subconsciously, as something else than a fellow human. He managed to strap her down despite her taunting words. He was a soldier, and so what she. There was a quiet understanding between them, even if she thought he was wrong.<br/><br/>Jonah was ecstatic to finally get to tend to his new obsession, and pushed the rod-like appendage of the contraption against the woman, at the place where Kaldeio had been. The electricity was palpable to every one else, its current strong, and he was gleeful, controlling the torturous device that Carl had assembled. He breathed faster, very engaged in this amoral act. He, unlike the commander, didn't care what she was. All he knew was that he wanted revenge on her, and to ravage her at the same time. He moaned in excitement when she screamed.<br/><br/>Josephine was rather cold when the fingers were rejected. She looked at Zara as though commenting that she'd never known a monster to be so picky about its meat, but still accommodated for her dietary preferences. The rest of the team stared, and one became sick from the view, but the others were transfixed with this display of panicked scientific work, and the sidestepping of morals that they'd learned. They recognized her as a monster too, and didn't extend much sympathy. Still, the visual part of it looked enough like strong people torturing a naked, bound woman for their stomachs to twist. They kept themselves back when she begged Nathan, and he in turn shot them a look.<br/><br/>They were all quiet when the procedure seemed to be working, Zara's hard work coupled with Jonah's enthusiasm and Jospehine's incessant feeding resulting in the swelling stomach. Nathan was awe-stricken by the speed of the growth, and he found himself coming closer. However you saw it, this was fascinating wasn't it? He was startled by the alarm the same as everyone else, and his rifle returned to its ready position, aimed at the door which was the only natural entry into this room. He was more than ready to keep Zara as safe as she'd begged for when the newcomers entered.<br/><br/>It was, however, out of his control. The new group did have credentials that supported what they were saying, and he could judge by their gear that they would be a hard fight if it came to that. It grated Nathan's pride that the corp had sent backup, but it also made him weary. These people weren't much for planning, they were the thing that were sent in when you held the door open for scorching the earth in whatever venture you were engaging in. Stone was an old rival, and Nathan felt he should have known he was the first choice for a group that would be more brawn than brain.<br/><br/>He stayed rather quiet for most of it, and listened to Carl when he tried to explain. This did look bad, but he suspected Stone didn't really care about any of the ethics. The little speech had mostly been him throwing his weight around. Nathan knew not to bite, especially with inferior fangs. His own group was terrified when they started loosening the woman from the bed, but Nathan saw an opportunity, and pushed the side of his weapon against Josephine when she wanted to engage. They stayed back, and twitched with worry when Zara went to work. It would seem she didn't have it out for anyone else here, and they took it in while she shredded and ate most of Stone. There was an understanding between everyone when she stood again, well fed on new meat.<br/><br/>Nathan listened to her plan and then looked around. They all nodded and started their tasks. Perhaps this was no longer about being paid, but simply about getting out of this alive, even if her proposal did hint at a big welcome when they came back home as heroes. While they had lower grade weapons, the other group was without their leader, and lacked the advantage of surprise. They were recently sent out, so he imagined they wouldn't be so well prepared for this ship, even if they'd had some time to study the schematics. It wasn't impossible odds.<br/><br/>That all faded to the background when she exhibited her joy, and Carl was almost more excited than the woman. They all stared at the screen at what the device was able to depict from the information it gathered. Nathan reached out to brush the image that floated in the air. He sighed with some awe and then looked at her big belly. He nodded with some determination. They were in it now. This group was much more volatile, and he wouldn't put it beyond them to go haywire now that their leader was dead. He gestured for everyone to move out, but stayed Carl with her.<br/><br/>As they went through the corridor, they heard fire from the pulse rifles. Nathan quickly got them there and saw the entire room with the stashed pods shot up, pieces of everyone on the floor. Nathan looked at the pods with their high-tech glass shattered, and then at his crew. They were looking around to see what had happened, the preservation fluids soaking the floor and mixing with the blood around their ankles. He looked for signs of the body of the naked Kaldeio, but couldn't find anything tangible in this mess.<br/><br/>"This is fantastic." Carl breathed as he looked over the data, back turned to her. "The matrix of the genes is unheard of! I mean, it's possible in a model but it couldn't be done, practically." he was enjoying himself, recording the spirals and the way they bloomed for his analyzing devices. "You really are a miracle." He pointed out. "I'll get you prepped for birth soon. These things have reportedly been very volatile when exiting, but this one seems different. It's offensive weapons seem to be coated in a thin membrane, as though to make birth easier on you." he laughed to himself and continued to clack away on the keys. "How can these structures be so strong and still so... efficient?" he muttered to himself.<br/><br/>"It's because they're a combination of know elements to create a new one. Simple but useful, doctor. Like linen in concrete, back in the day." The voice was steady, and Zara would recognize it. It had a new emotion in it now.<br/><br/>From the door where Nathan's group had gone, a giant stepped in, ducking his head. It was Kaldeio's features, half of it, and the rest was concentric scar tissue, radiating out from an eye socked that was purely silver, no pupil or sclera. His hair was swimming with silver streaks, moving like the threads, and his body was clad with an organic exo-skellton, like the one Max's spawn had been wearing, black. The plates curved around his muscles, as a part of his anatomy, and while his fingers and knuckles were mostly protected, his palms were still white. If she was missing the offensive, monstrous limb she'd enjoyed, it might still be there, tucked away inside him.<br/><br/>He came over to the shaking doctor and played with the structures on the screen to make them more understandable. Carl looked very afflicted by all this. "You're still thinking like a man, about a man. But the base is less than that. It's something we both come from." Kal corrected and spelled it out in math and chemistry with a few taps to the keys. He then turned to Zara, where she sat. This Kal more less of an animal studying humans, and had more emotional availability. Perhaps Max's DNA had helped complete something that was missing in Kaldeio. Blowing away his brain had given him a heart.<br/><br/>He came over to her at last. The woman who's suitability for two worlds had brought him here, at another evolution, after he consorted with her. "Zara." he said and leaned down, his naked, scarred up forehead to hers, his hand on her swollen belly. "I am sorry for leaving." he said, and his voice wasn't simply stating something about the chemicals inside him. He was expressing a sentiment, that was woven and layered with more than cold observation. The material he'd needed from the human parts of the Max spawn had completed him to this thing. "I didn't meant to." he promised.<br/><br/>There were thumps again, that troop, and Nathan heaved a worried breath upon returning into the bay. As always, their weapons were raised, their fingers bloodied from rummaging through carnage not their own. Jonah seemed threatened by the new male in a whole other level than anyone else, and Josephine's blue eyes were large as she gawked at the naturally armored figure close to Zara. Kal stood straight and turned, pointedly putting himself between Zara and the group. They had caught him off guard before. He'd not give them the same chance this time. A mixture of human bones and spawn plates closed around his head, sprouted from between the plates around his neck and the neck itself. Dark but transparent membranes allowed him to see them.<br/><br/>"You killed the Stone group!" Nathan accused. Kal did not seem concerned with the leader and held out his own hand, palm up, like a benevolent weapon that might snuff them quickly - humane.<br/><br/>"Are they bothering you, Zara. Would you like to return to earth in a ghost ship instead of their company?" The threat made the group focus on the new being with their sights. Kaldeio kept the helmet on.