The Breeding Experiment

And as for what seemed necessary for any type of conscious experience (present in people or purely hypothetical), it seemed to first require the ability to perceive sensory experiences (sensory input from outside could then potentially be co-opted into imagination and other thoughts if the wiring for such internal interpretation is present in that mind too, creating new types of conscious experience). These thoughts all seemed to require a corresponding pattern of brain activity (whether biological or artificial), activity which the tiniest particles of matter alone do not possess. However, this would not imply a fundamental difference between conscious beings and inanimate matter. Rather than saying that the latter have no inner experiences, it's less misleading to say that their inner experiences happen to be blank because of lack of input and connections. Surely people would also have no consciousnesses if their brains never received any sensory input or information originally derived from sensory input.

***

Thalik hoped that upon his death, his brain would be consumed by a pregnant woman who had good prospects ahead for her unborn child. But, he was also hoping to live a long time. Even if Zugma outlived him, she would most likely be too old by then to be pregnant. Maybe he could have a daughter or granddaughter of his do it? Or a more distant relative back on Earth? Maybe even . . . Flenai? His heart raced at the thought of a part of him becoming her baby.

He asked Flenai about her and the zipom's spiritual beliefs and funerary practices.

"We just recycle our bodies back into the ecosystem," was her answer.

"You don't try to ensure that it's recycled directly into another person?"

"There are some of us who care about that, but most of us avoid the practice because of its health risks, especially regarding consumption of the brain and nervous system. Evolution generally does not favor cannibalism."

"But don't you have the technology to ensure that it can be done safely?"

"As far as I know, yes, but many of us are still attached to doing things in the more natural way, because there's still a lot that science hasn't uncovered. What's so bad about your dead brain being eaten by worms and bacteria instead? Are you sure that your revulsion to this is not based on your anthropocentric bias? You don't know what it's like to be them."

"Well, what does the known science have to say?"

"Their experiences are relatively simple, but generally, they are well-adapted to their lives, both physically and psychologically."

Thalik took a deep breath. Now was his chance. "And what about a person eating a person from a different species?"

"That should generally be safe for any species that's adapted to eat meat, though many people still find that to be too objectifying for their tastes, or just find dead people to be especially disturbing and thus gruesome."

"What do you think? Could you ever eat the brain of a human?"

"We are already scavengers. That would not be strange for us."

Thalik laughed. "So would you eat me if I die before you?"

She smiled. "Sure, if you specify it in your will." Then, inferring his thoughts, she leaned forward and whispered into his ear, "I'd even be willing to freeze you until I have a newly fertilized egg growing in me, then eat your brain and name my baby after you. Of course, I would be devastated if you died before me, but doing these would make your death a bit more bearable."

***

It was time for Flenai to interview the hominids about their experiences onboard the SS.

She assured them, "I will interview each of you one-on-one and your answers will be kept strictly confidential, so please be completely honest. I won't be offended."

When it was Thalik's turn, he answered, "It's been exhilarating to experience such a drastic change and to learn so much in a relatively short span of time. I also love my new family, as well as being able to occasionally meet with my kin from Earth. But, I wish I had more freedom to travel freely through other parts of the SS--and without a leash."

"You will soon enough. Where do you especially want to go?"

"Well, I would like to accompany you sometimes when you're not here, and I'm especially curious about visiting where you live."

"I think I can arrange that. Is there anything else you would like?"

He took a deep breath. "Well yes, but my other main wishes have more to do with you than with the SS and its policies."

"Oh?" She perked up. "Please tell me."

He looked her straight in the eye. This was probably the best opening he could hope for. "I want you to continue mentoring me until the end of my days. I want to not have to hide anything from you. I want to wake up every morning in your embrace, and I want our bodies to become one. I love you, Flenai."

Flenai stood frozen in place, staring at him with wide open eyes. Finally, she continued in a soft voice, "So you are not at all concerned about my husband?"

"I'm long past that. I'm even fine now about you taking on any additional lovers you might want, because I trust your judgment about who is worthy of you."

"Wow," she whispered. "That's quite admirable of you, Thalik."

***

Thalik went through with the endurance experiments, and now they were finally over. As expected, they had made Thalik extremely lethargic. He couldn't even bathe himself now, so the zipom gave him a sponge bath to clean off his sweat. And Flenai concluded that even though he could heal on his own after several days, he had earned her healing egg. She instructed the zipom to wheel him into her home. She had a surprise for him.

Thalik was unconscious upon arrival. They laid him down on Flenai's queen-sized bed and she pulled a blanket over him, tucking him in. Then all the zipom left. They had other tasks to do.

As soon as Flenai finished her shower, it was time for her to go to bed too. She had only that one bed though. She climbed in with Thalik, wrapping her arms and legs around him. After all, he had confessed to wanting to wake up in her embrace.

***

Thalik dreamed that he was lying on soft earth in a cave behind a waterfall, his head pressed into the curve of Flenai's neck, her slow, deep breaths bringing his own breathing in sync with hers.

He slowly opened his eyes to find himself in an unfamiliar place. He appeared to be in a constructed home, with dark walls, hanging plants, and a variety of strange crafts/artworks. He could still hear the sound of falling water, which apparently emanated from a small fountain across the room. Rays of light were streaming in through the glass window.

Am I still dreaming? he wondered. He turned his head and saw--

Flenai?!

She was embracing him, just like in his dream. But this felt too vivid to be a dream. His heart raced. Why was she here? Where was this place? What should he do? Wake her to find out? Or savor the moment?

"Good morning Thalik," she murmured into his hair. "You slept quite a lot. Do you feel well-rested?"

"What's going on?"

"You fell unconscious at the end of your experiments and were wheeled here by my request. This is my home."

"Oh thank you so much!" He embraced her and kissed her all over her face.

She giggled. "You seem to have recovered much of your energy, but you must still try to rest. Your muscles still have a lot of healing to do."

"Huh. Now that you mention it, I'm still very sore. I must have been too excited about being here with you to notice it before."

She smiled. "I have something for that. Let me get it for you."

She reached into the drawer of the bedside table and retrieved a vial. "This is for me to rub into your sore muscles."

She got up and pulled the blanket off of Thalik. Then, turning her attention back to the vial, she twisted off the cap, releasing a sage-like scent that infused the room. She dripped a few drops onto her palm and rubbed her hands together.

She slathered the oil over Thalik's shoulders and upper arms, admiring the way it glistened against his bronze skin. She then delicately traced the outlines of his tattoos, causing his skin to form goosebumps. Next, she proceeded to knead his shoulders and arms, firmly but gently.

Thalik sighed contentedly. "That feels so good."

When she finished that area, she dripped more oil directly onto his chest, then set the vial down and used both her hands to slather the oil over Thalik's upper body, the hard nubs of his nipples massaging her palms as she massaged his pecs.

She added more drops to her palm, then brought her hands to his feet, pinching and twisting each toe and kneading the balls of his feet, then his heels, then his ankles. She then caressed his calf muscles and kneaded each calf.

It was time for her to work on his thighs. She added more oil to her palms and reached her hands up his waistcloth. Thalik tensed for just a moment, but soon relaxed again under Flenai's ministrations as she kneaded his lower thighs, slowly working her way up. She seated herself in front of him for a better angle.

Thalik felt his cock twitch and fill with blood, pressing up against the constricting fabric of his waistcloth.

Flenai smirked. "I see that another part of your body wants attention. At the very least, I should remove the constriction to make you more comfortable."

Thalik blushed and looked away as she unfastened his waistcloth. It was true that she had already seen him naked and in intimate situations many times already, but at least those times she herself was at a distance and not within view. He felt especially vulnerable now that she was up close and personal with him while he was naked and still very weak from the endurance experiments.

Flenai stared openly at his cock. "Hmm . . . I wonder what I should use to massage it." She got up onto her knees and spread them apart, revealing the fluids dripping from her pussy. She inched forward.

"Yes . . . please . . ." Thalik whispered hoarsely, eyes wide and fixated on her downy wetness.

"This will certainly help me lay my egg for you," she said as she lowered herself over the underside of his cock. Languidly, she slid her pussy along the length of it, then alternated sliding Thalik's cock along each side of her folds, coating his shaft in her juices. Finally, she rested her weight on him and, hands on his chest, began thrusting her hips back and forth along the length of his cock.

After a little while, she clasped his hands, propped them up over his elbows, and leaned forward. "I'm going to need your help for this next part. You see, my egg isn't quite due yet--the egg itself is complete but the shell hasn't started forming yet. Fortunately though, human saliva contains enzymes that can induce premature labor in me. All I need is to get your saliva on my pussy and rub it inside."

Thalik smiled. "Allow me to handle that," he said as he pulled her body toward his mouth.

Once she was hovering just a few inches above his face, Thalik spread her pussy apart, getting a good view of her pink lips and sopping entrance. With a swift motion, he pulled her down onto his mouth and ravenously slurped down her juices, savoring their salty taste and aroma. His hand went to his cock, which he began stroking furiously.

Flenai smiled down at him. "This isn't quite what I'd asked you to do, but it's just as well that you're sucking out my juices. It'll help your saliva better penetrate the walls."

Once he had sucked out enough, Flenai lifted herself off of him. Thalik stuck his index and middle fingers into his mouth under his tongue. After coating them with his saliva, he brought them back out and spread her pussy again with his free hand, then pushed his saliva-coated fingers inside, circling her walls, going deeper than his tongue could reach. He now focused intently on the texture of her vagina, imagining what it would feel like around his cock. Unconsciously, he began stroking his cock again with his other hand.

With a bit of effort, he was able to reach his fingertips to her cervix. He traced around the outer rim, then brought a finger to the center and gently pressed into the opening, stretching it ever so slightly. He then wiggled his finger in circles, gradually stretching it more and more.

"Oh yes . . . keep doing that." Flenai rasped.

Thalik continued until he felt something firm press down into the opening. This must be the egg, he thought. Flenai's breathing grew faster and heavier and her body shook as Thalik felt her walls contract. He drew his fingers down a bit to give the egg more space to descend, pushing his fingers out against the edges of her pulsating walls as they released more slippery fluids. He lowered his hand whenever he felt the egg touch his fingertips until, with a sharp exhale, Flenai gave a final, forceful push, plopping the egg down onto Thalik's waiting palm.

Trembling, he withdrew his hand to take a look at it. It was a gooey but compact white blob (about the size and shape of a golf ball). And as if by instinct, he drew it up to his face and plopped the whole thing into his mouth.

He bit down into it. It was sweet, and had a nutty-tasting filling. His gooey hand went back to his cock as he closed his eyes and chewed the egg into a paste. Flenai descended back toward his hips and pushed his hand away to grab the base of his shaft, pointing it straight up as she lowered her pussy onto it. She took her time descending until at last Thalik's cock was completely engulfed. She clasped his hands again, propping them up over his elbows as she began bouncing up and down on his hips.

Thalik gripped Flenai's hands tightly as she pounded her cervix hard against his cock and her walls squeezed around him like a vice. He was still savoring her egg, its sticky bulk filling his mouth like a gag. After a few minutes of this, he felt himself getting close. He tore his hands away from Flenai's to grip her hips instead, holding her in place as he thrust upward at a frenzied pace. He arched his back and gasped as he felt his cum erupt in several bursts up into Flenai's womb.

At last, he let go of her twitching body and she collapsed on top of him, her ear resting against his neck as he loudly gulped down her egg. Still catching his breath, he wrapped his arms around her and gently caressed her hair.

"Thank you so much," he whispered. "I love you Flenai." He kissed her temple.

She lifted her head to look him in the eye. "It was my pleasure. . . and I love you too." She brought her lips down to his mouth and slid her tongue inside, tasting remnants of her egg.

Within a few hours, Thalik's soreness was reduced to an imperceptible level and his energy was back to normal.

***

Flenai knew what to do with her next egg. She, Zugma, and Thalik made a soup out of her scrambled egg, Zugma's refined milk, and Thalik's semen, and each of them tasted it. It was sweet and creamy. Some of the zipom and other extraterrestrials were curious and wanted to try it too, so in later months the three of them made more to sell. The dish became a hit on board the SS, and news of it even spread across the galaxy.

Zugma and Thalik made several more babies, all of whom were adopted away to Jayibeh.

Koth was becoming a man, with the rugged features and bone-crushing strength his people were known for. Now he won every time he wrestled against Thalik and had soon gotten bored of that pastime. He now enjoyed prancing around with the pygmy woman riding piggyback on him as she held onto his blond mane, which she had braided into reins.

When Betai reached schooling age, she was transferred to a boarding school within the heart of the Interstellar Federation, where she was exposed to a wide variety of species and cultures, and where she continued her schooling until she was ready to enter the workforce. She often kept in touch with her family through social media, and visited them once in a while. She excelled in both school and work. The accomplishments of her, her family, and Flenai helped to legally establish humans (and Neanderthals) as people of the Interstellar Federation. And though some humans chose to continue their traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyles, there was widespread exchange of culture and ideas, resulting in major advancements for not only the humans but even for the extraterrestrials.

However, the extraterrestrials soon withdrew their attention from Earth due to other priorities that came up, and humanity eventually forgot about them too. But Thalik, Zugma, Koth, and Betai still sometimes came down to visit Earth, and also traveled to other solar systems to experience what interstellar life had to offer. They continued living with Flenai for tens of thousands of years and are still alive to this day, never getting bored of life because of all the vastness out there for them to experience and the neverending new things to learn about.

***

The end. I hope you enjoyed this story. I welcome feedback, both positive and negative, so please let me know what you thought.