Determination

Moving on, there was the percentage game. 1% chance of not surviving the consciousness extraction versus 10% chance of not surviving pregnancy -- to say nothing of labor. And it wasn't just me, it was the blastocyst clinging to the side of my womb. Already a fierce maternal protective desire was cutting in, hormones again maybe. The right decision was pretty clear cut to me.

So, if I decided that I wanted to help my boyfriend and to keep his child, it seemed pretty straightforward what I should do. Scary as fuck, but straightforward.

Did I want those things? I'd said I loved David and I meant it. Was that just a kinda convenient, go with the flow love? Or was it for better or for worse? The latter, I think. Was I scared shitless about where he was and what they were doing to him? Yes and yes. Did I want to help, even if I didn't have a great plan to do so? Yes, I did.

Did I want this child and did I want it to have a Father? Yes, and yes again. Could I care less if that Father was a telepathic space octopus? No, the amount of fucks I gave about that was zero.

So there it was. David, I love you too. I want to have our child. And I'm coming to get you. I don't really know how I'm going to do this, but God help any motherfucker who gets in my way.

I followed his instructions and the machine whirred into life. Fingers crossed, Emily. Fingers crossed.

Endnotes

• This story is self-evidently a sequel to Coleoidphilia. I didn't announce this up front as it would have revealed plot points. My current intention is that it forms the middle work in a trilogy. So watch this space.

• Determination was originally conceived to be my contribution to the 2023 Geek Pride event. However, I ended up writing it way too quickly and so I'm publishing it in advance, with apologies to the super talented ChloeTzang. I hope to write the final installment in time to meet the May deadline.

• The theme of consent runs through this story. For the avoidance of doubt, what happens and the decisions that characters take are meant to reflect their specific, individual concerns. There is absolutely no intent to endorse any political viewpoint. In particular, this story is no more "Pro-life" than Hills Like White Elephants. It is important to stress that Emily makes her own decisions about her own body; just as should always be the case with any woman.

• Great grandma's story is excerpted from Because I Deserve it.

Acknowledgements

• I have read and watched a lot of Science Fiction. It would be impossible to list all of my influences, though I tried to write a short list at the end of the first story of this trilogy.

• However, I would be remiss not to acknowledge my abridged take on a famous line from Douglas Adams's seminal The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. Marvin was always my favorite character and his words fitted David's situation so closely.

• My thanks also to Djmac1031, with whom I discussed some early plot points, including the idea of Emily being pregnant.