The Spider Queen

(Earth Federation- Alpha Star System)

(Planet Gaia- Peterlor Estate)

"Now where should I go next?" Sophie muttered quietly as she rose up from the chair. She pressed a small button on the underside of the table.

Ring! Ring!

Robotic androids entered the room and immediately picked up the countless empty plates before returning swiftly to the kitchen.

"Thank you for the delicious food!" Sophie yelled before the door slammed shut. Chefs were truly the greatest people in the universe.

Sophie yawned lazily and stretched her hands out. She walked towards the dining room exit while still deep in thought.

What to do now?

It may seem strange, but Sophie was genuinely feeling a little bit lost.

After months of being in the Unovan Syndicate there were only a few rare moments where she had the time to just unwind and relax.

Now that she had returned to safety it was like something was missing.

The sense of urgency and vigilance that was usually part of her life was… gone.

Sophie wandered aimlessly through the mansion while taking casual glances at the expensive paintings and statutes.

House Peterlor was a high noble family. Their bloodline had a long history of nobility and class, which Sophie was reminded of as she gazed at the displays of wealth and prestige.

She was the heiress of this dukedom and also the only hybrid among her peers.

Sophie sighed as she imagined her future under the heavy weight of various responsibilities.

Hopefully, her father would live a long and healthy life for many years to come.

She was definitely not ready to manage the various territories, companies, and military forces of the Peterlor family.

Sophie stopped at a door at the end of a hallway and gently pushed it open. It was the entrance to one of the holodecks.

Maybe she should do some training?

Sophie walked towards the console in the center of the room and pressed the screen to begin designing her training session.

"Okay set the enemies to the qi tide stage… let's go with multiple… both ranged and melee weapons," Sophie whispered softly.

"Danger level… lethal… what else am I missing?"

Just as she was about to press the launch button, she froze for a moment with her finger just a few centimeters away from the trigger.

No… why was this the only thing she could think of to pass the time!

Fighting, killing, fighting!

Was that really all she could do?

Sophie gritted her teeth in frustration and walked away from the console before she could give in to the temptation.

This was supposed to be her chance to relax. Why was she constantly feeling the urge to do training exercises?!

"I can relax… I can relax… urghhh… what the fuck should I do?" Sophie groaned as she rubbed her temples.

Maybe she needed to spend some time in the garden.

Seeing the beautiful flowers and exotic plants in the greenhouse would usually brighten up her day.

That idea sounded good, so Sophie decided on the spot to head towards the greenhouse complex and spend a few hours.

Then she could make that call with Astrid and Qiana in a much better mental state. Sophie didn't want her friends to be worried about her… problems.

This was nothing. She was fine.

Sophie took a few deep breaths to calm herself down and then followed the familiar route to the greenhouses.

Duke Peterlor knew that his daughter loved plants, so he had an entire set of buildings constructed that housed fauna from numerous regions across the galaxy.

The atmosphere inside each building was heavily regulated by AI units that would also monitor the temperature, humidity, climate, and the health of the plants inside.

There were five buildings in total with each containing a different biosphere and ecosystem.

Sophie left the mansion and walked for around ten minutes until she finally arrived at the complex.

She closed her eyes and spun around with her pinky finger outstretched. It may look silly, but it was a habit that Sophie had kept since childhood.

"I… chose… you…" Sophie spoke quietly and opened her eyes. Her finger was pointed at the building in the center of the complex.

Hmm… if she remembered correctly that was the swamp biome. Sophie looked down at her clean dress and hesitated.

Should she go back and change clothes or pick another one? Actually… it wasn't a big deal if she got a little muddy...

Probably…

Wait… her storage bag!

Sophie slapped her forehead in disbelief, she couldn't believe that she had forgotten that there were spare clothes inside her storage space.

The hybrid girl accessed the space inside and pulled out a spare battlesuit, some comfortable slippers and a towel.

There was a changing room inside the greenhouse, so Sophie happily walked over to the metalloid door with clothes in hand.

She pressed her right palm against the scanner and a green light flashed twice. The metalloid door immediately swung open to reveal a tunnel with white walls.

Sophie walked slowly along the passageway until she arrived at the changing room. She entered the room and quickly stripped down.

She placed her dress in her storage bag and changed into the simple white battlesuit. The familiar feeling of putting on battle gear made Sophie pause for a moment.

Was she more comfortable wearing this than normal clothes? Of course, she was!

How else was she supposed to react to sudden threat and dangers… there… there were monsters and threats everywhere…

Monsters… people who wanted to hurt her…. danger…

Sophie realised what was happening and tried to stop herself from going to those dark places.

"No… you are just going to spend some time in the garden and relax… you love the garden, and this will help you relax," Sophie muttered to herself.

Giving herself a pep talk was the only method she could think of at the moment, so she kept repeating the sentence over and over until those unpleasant thoughts went away.

Sophie sighed heavily before putting on her slippers.

These slippers were made from a fuzzy material that felt soft and comfortable, but the hybrid girl found herself unable to enjoy the pleasant sensation.

Was this all a farce? Who was she really trying to convince?

She wasn't the same person. Did she even like flowers anymore?

The self-doubt and questions kept surfacing in Sophie's mind and her mood fell even lower.

Sophie pushed open the door to the changing room and walked along the tunnel.

There was a massive metalloid door at the end of the tunnel but before Sophie could reach the barrier a faint mist was sprayed over her body.

It was an anti-bacterial and anti-virus spray to make sure that no harmful microorganisms entered the greenhouse.

Sophie sneezed loudly as some of the spray entered her nose. This was definitely her least favorite part when entering the greenhouse.

A row of floating text suddenly appeared in the middle of the room. Sophie wasn't surprised and took several steps backwards.

[Scanning… scanning… Cleared!]

[Please step back while the door opens…]

The large metalloid door slide aside to reveal an enormous, large open space. The inner region of the greenhouse was a dome that extended hundreds of feet into the air.

This was the swamp biome and there was a thick layer of mud and water on the ground.

There were gorgeous white flowers blooming in the middle of the muck and several trees with long thin roots were growing healthily.

Vines with golden fruits swaying merrily from side to side were wrapped tightly around these trees.

There were tiny robot drones buzzing around the environment. These drones were constantly spraying moisture on the leaves and cutting certain sections of the vines.

Sophie stepped inside the room and felt the warm soft mud hit her feet through the gaps in the slippers.

It was quite hot and humid inside the dome and beads of sweat had already begun to form on her brow.

The hybrid girl made sure that the bladed appendages on the lower part of her back did not touch the mud as she walked through the swamp.

Sophie bent down and sniffed the nearest flower. A heavy aroma entered her nostrils that caused her to recoil in disgust.

It was a vile and pungent smell that could only be described as raw meat mixed with sewage.

This wasn't like she remembered at all!

Sophie tried another flower, but that scent was even worse than the first time around!

Okay… so sniffing the flowers would clearly not lead to a relaxing time.

Why not try the fruit?

Sophie lifted up her feet and took long confident strides towards the nearest vine where a plump golden fruit hung several feet in the air.

It was fairly easy to scale up the side of the tree and pick the fruit. Sophie felt quite accomplished as she observed the large size of the fruit and the smooth texture.

This was a Melenrien fruit that was first discovered on planet R'rl, it was given the nickname 'the golden apple' by the first settlers and that name had stuck.

Sophie used her fingernails to scrape away the hard exterior of the fruit and soon a soft fleshy interior came into view.

Unlike the flowers, there was a tantalizing aroma wafting upwards from the center of the fruit that made a smile appear on Sophie's face.

This was it. This was the object that was going to recapture the lost memories of her childhood days.

This would take her back to a more innocent time.

Sophie opened her mouth wide, and her fangs glistened menacingly under the artificial light inside the greenhouse.

She tore into the soft fleshy part of the fruit easily and swallowed a large mouthful. Juices ran down the sides of Sophie's mouth.

Err…. Er…. Hmm…

Sophie chewed the last pieces of fruit still in her mouth but truthfully her excitement had now considerably faded.

It wasn't bad… it… was just okay.

Perhaps this was the straw that finally broke Sophie as she felt a surge of anger swell up in her chest.

This entire thing was stupid.

Relaxing was stupid. This greenhouse was stupid.

Sophie angrily threw the rest of the fruit into the mud where it sank after a few seconds She needed to burn off this energy now before she lost control.

Rsychosis!

Sophie's figure blurred and then multiple identical copies of the hybrid girl appeared in various locations around the dome.

Each clone had flecks of crimson red that were slowly covering their once golden eyes. They stared at Sophie with expressions of fury.

"Come… on… let's spar…" Sophie growled as she pulled out a whip from her storage bag.