"Because you're not wrong, though political is not really the right term," Aphrodite replied, causing the others to look at her as she continued. "The current structure of your group relationship or harem, as you all call it, is fine while it's only the four of you, but as it increases in size, it will start to show its weakness."
"You're talking about how we will need to decide on a leader amongst us women?" Lorelie asked, causing Adam to frown.
"I'm surprised you're so quick to understand," Aphrodite replied before adding, "normally, only those who have experience with group relationships understand that."
"Elemence mentioned something similar just prior to my attack," Lorelie replied before looking at Adam and saying, "don't frown like that.
I know you don't like the idea of any of us being above the other, but hear her out before you voice your complaints."
Adam sighed and nodded.
"It's not surprising Elemence knows, she's old enough to have met several group relationships, even if she's never been part of one herself," Aphrodite replied before continuing.
"The main issue with your current group relationship dynamic and why it won't be sufficient as you add more members is that it's too weak internally.
All it would take is one woman with ulterior motives to be invited into the relationship for her to begin sowing discord, and while there is no way to guarantee that someone joining is completely loyal to the group, you can take measures to limit the damage they can do."
"What if someone like Romy joined?" Rowena asked, since she would be the first to admit that group relationships were not her forte.
"You mean Oracle Andromeda, right?" Aphrodite asked before saying, "Can she control her prophecy and vision abilities? Because, as far as I know, they're random.
In fact, the only person in the universe who comes to mind who would be able to protect the group from the inside is Astarte."
"Astarte, the Avaricious?" Stacey asked in surprise before scoffing and saying, "Yeah, good luck getting her to join."
"I'm not saying you should get her to join since we all know that's basically impossible, I'm just saying that because of Astarte's ability to differentiate truth from lies, she would be the ideal person to root out non-loyal members."
"Unfortunately, as you said, that's impossible," Rowena replied.
"Right, which brings me back to structuring your harem in a way that limits any potential damage," Aphrodite stated.
"It's interesting that you brought this up now since it was the other topic I actually wished to discuss," Adam announced, surprising the women.
"What do you mean?" Lorelie asked in surprise.
"Kasumi," Adam replied, causing Rowena to raise an eyebrow and ask.
"What about her?"
"You wish for me to protect her against this arranged marriage that her family is going to force upon her and in doing that, you want her to join the harem, right?" Adam asked.
"More or less," Rowena answered.
"But would she wish to join a harem that is essentially very similar to an arranged marriage?" Adam asked, causing all the women to frown in confusion as Rowena asked.
"What do you mean?"
Instead of answering, Adam asked, "Why are arranged marriages a thing in the first place? I mean, what's their purpose?"
"Well, back on Earth, they're generally done to either form a collaborative union of two families or for the benefit of the family," Emma replied.
"That's true, but also don't forget personal gain," Rowena replied before adding, "There are plenty of powerful individuals who use their wealth and power to force arranged marriages as a way to increase their wealth even more."
"This is why I think arranged marriages are stupid," Stacey commented.
"And what is the policy requirement for someone to join the harem?" Adam asked.
"That they themselves bring something to benefit… ah!" Lorelie started to reply before realising Adam's meaning.
"I see," Rowena said thoughtfully before adding, "Now that you mention it, it really does have similarities to arranged marriages."
"Exactly," Adam replied before adding, "The whole you can't join unless you bring something to the group' isn't a bad thing per se. But to the outside observer, it probably makes the harem seem more like a business deal with sex involved, over a loving relationship.
How is Kasumi joining such a group relationship any different to being forced to marry someone she doesn't love? Wouldn't we essentially be the lesser of two evils and is that really something you want to give your friend?"
"So what do you suggest, babe?" Lorelie asked.
"That we don't decide who gets to join the harem based on how powerful, wealthy or influential they are but instead by what's important, mutual attraction," Adam answered.
"So it's kind of like an arranged harem?" Tephe asked with a smile.
"Mutual attraction?" Aphrodite repeated before asking with a smirk, "My, how greedy. You want every one of the group's future members to fall for you before they can join?"
"Is that wrong when this is supposed to be 'my' harem?" Adam retorted.
"Not at all. I like greedy men who know what they want," Aphrodite replied as her eyes glowed pink for a moment.
Rowena shot Aphrodite a warning look before saying, "That makes sense and seems acceptable."
"Also, there's the fact that someone who falls for you and joins the group out of feelings towards you is less likely to scheme against us," Stacey remarked.
"True, but we should still protect against such people," Lorelie replied.
"By restructuring the group?" Stacey asked and just as she finished, Spector suddenly announced.
"Analysis complete. I have determined the location of the individual who influenced Beam to stab Lorelie."
💫💫💫
Subspace, near the Galamedees Galaxy.
Andria Ororis pressed a holographic key on her chair's control panel before saying, "All hands, this is the captain. Please give me your attention for a few moments.
We will shortly be arriving at the Galamedees Galaxy jumpgate and so I wanted to give you all a heads-up on what to expect once we arrive, as well as what Princess Tessa and I expect from all of you all while we are here.
As you are all aware, our race has been attempting to rebuild relations with the Solarians since the incident with Princess Liluth Solar over thirty years ago.
Up until now, the Solarians have refused to enter into any dialogue with us and have even banned any Terrans from entering their space.
However, while it's true that Princess Liluth Solar herself has invited Princess Tessa to Solarian Prime, we are uncertain of what sort of reception we can expect upon our arrival in the Galamedees Galaxy. Though it's a safe bet that it wont be very welcoming considering how most of their race dislikes us.
While Princess Tessa will be allowed to take a small security detail when she leaves the ship in order to meet with Princess Liluth Solar, we are unsure if the rest of the crew will be allowed to disembark or not.
If the Solarians do indeed grant the rest of us permission to leave, we expect all of you to be on your best behaviour.
This is a very delicate diplomatic situation which can possible effect and even improve our standing in the universe. The reason very few races outside our sector of the universe currently trade with us is that it is more beneficial for them to be friendly with the Solarians than with us.
If Princess Tessa is successful in her negotiations with the Solarian Princess, then it wont only open up friendly relations with the Solarians but also the majority of other races in the universe.
The last thing we need is for one or more of the crew to do something stupid and cause a repeat of what happened in the past.
As such, I am issuing this warning on behalf of the imperial family. Should any of you cause any trouble that interferes with Princess Tessa's negotiations, you will face severe punishment.
That is all."
Shortly after Andria finished speaking and closed the internal communications, the Imperial Downs helm officer announced, "We are now arriving at the Galamedees Galaxy jumpgate, returning to normal space."
Just as the helm officer finished speaking, the Imperial Down emerged from the Galamedees Galaxy jumpgate to find that half a dozen Solarian Space Force ships were surrounding it.
"Captain, incoming communication from the lead SSF ship," The communications officer announced.
"On screen," Andria ordered, and a moment later, a Solarian male appeared on the viewscreen before immediately saying.
"Terran Space Force Ship Imperial Down, you are to follow us to Solarian Prime."
As soon as the Solarian male had finished speaking, the communication was cut off, causing several of the Terran bridge officers to frown while the weapons officer said, "Rude."
"But not unexpected," Andria said with a sigh before ordering, "Helm, follow the SSF ship."
"Aye, Captain," The helm officer replied.
"You think that's the kind of treatment we can expect while we're here?" The commander asked.
"Probably," Andria said in reply while sighing.