A week later, one last phone call...

Ten days into the controversial life of the Plutonian Empire, King Gene finally has enough time on his hands to do something he's been meaning to for a while. He had been spending much of the time setting and passing initial laws as part of the Empire's founding. At the same time, Gene and Nucleina had the Plutonian Intelligence Agency, run by Eric Plutonii, scour the dark web seeking anyone attempting to hack nuclear arsenals. So far the only lead was a source located in rural Russia that was bypassing several security clearances of various countries, all of them nuclear-armed. Per PIA policy, the decision was made to wait until the very last minute before intervening, to see if anyone else would be able to catch it.

Gene, currently sitting at his desk in the Capitol, picked up his smartphone, and dialed his parents' old number. After a few moments of anxiety, Gene tapped the green call button.

Ring.

Ring.

Gene checked the digital clock on the far left corner of his desk. 7:13 PM. He knew his parents schedules pretty much by heart, amd figured they haven't changed much, aside from his father getting a new job after being laid off his old one.

Ri-- "Hello?" It was Gene's mother. He suddenly felt the familiar lump in his throat.

"Hi-- Hi mom!" Gene tried his enthusiastic voice, battling his emotions. It had been several years since their last conversation, but Gene was able to email his parents once in a while to let them know he was okay. On the other end, Gene could hear his mom's voice crack, after she hesitated for a moment to respond. She too had been anxious to talk to her only son again for many years.

Regardless, Gene's mother also enthusiatically responded with a "Hi!", fighting tears of joy. After a few minutes of healthy, tearful catharsis, Gene and his mother chatted for an hour, occasionally having his father and one of his sisters who still lived with them also interjecting, all catching up with each other. Gene's other sisters spawned several more children with their repective partners in his absence. One of his six other sisters that moved out also got married in 2019 and have a baby on the way.

Eventually of course, the topic of Gene's new nation-state came up, resulting in some awkward feelings on both sides. It was then that Gene had to give in and reveal his motivations for the Plutonian Empire, something his parents already expected. Being the only one in his family with his liberal attitudes about human sex and relationships, Gene was understandably nervous.

But his parents' tone relaxed somewhat as Gene revealed to them he was keeping his promise he made for them in one of his e-mails. Gene had changed his surname out of respect, and was doing everything in his government's power to protect the family's identities, to avoid the possibilities of false accusations from strangers, as well as to avoid paparazzi and stalkers.

After a few more minutes of social-anxiety-inducing conversation, Gene and his old family wrapped up their conversation amd said their goodbyes. Gene was proud of his family for being understanding, just as much as they were proud of Gene for following his passion, even if the nature of it would have been disappointing for them. Sighing a breath of relief after hanging up, Gene was grateful for his good fortune, as most other families would have essentially disowned him.

Not a minute after hanging up, Gene received another call. It was Akemi. Knowing the old succubus didn't enjoy phone calls and preferred texting (or sexting) instead, Gene realized it had to be a pretty damn serious issue to warrant a voice call.

"Hello?"

"Hey buddy. It's Akemi; something happened here at the hangout, and Amie is fucking PISSED..."

"Ohhhh sheeeeit." Gene had a hunch this was gonna be something life-changing.

"Yeahhhh. Can you come on over?"

"On my way. Thanks for the heads up!" Gene wasted no time shutting off his work laptop and heading out. Instead of walking however, Gene decided to try a magic skill Nucleina and a witch helped him learn, and teleported over to Gene's Hangout instead. A ring of yellow light pillars surrounded him as he levitated and disappeared into the astral plane, and instantly warped to the cafeteria, his arrival heralded by the same yellow light pillars.