The Deadliest Lifeform in the Universe Loves Me-Volume 4: Beta-09, Chapter 4.12
We were brought before the Lord Generals one final time, both in our mobile containment units, completely powerless while they were about to reveal their verdict that would decide our future. The high-officers at the lower seats finally calmed down with their work, keeping their attention on us, with the general assembly around us virtually empty.
I felt a cold emptiness in the pit of my stomach, as though this was the final walk leading up to the gallows. Still, I kept my head held high, showing myself proud and refusing to display any fear or weakness.
Regardless of the outcome, I was confident Eve and I would end up together; no force in the universe would be strong enough to separate us now.
The Lord Generals took their seats as Kei-Torruk gestured towards me, “We’ll start with you, Agent Adam.” He pressed his console so my profile and picture displayed as a hologram before us all, “We are declaring you not guilty over the charges of the court martial; we believe you were following your mission orders to the best of your abilities, and after further assessment we believe those orders to have been significantly flawed. We will be drastically restructuring the way
The Radiance
operates, and during that restructuring you will undergo extensive retraining.”
I let out a sigh of relief as I leaned against the wall of my containment unit, feeling like a weight was removed from my shoulders. I looked over to see how Eve was reacting but was surprised to see she looked quite upset. Could she sense something else more concerning in our captors’ minds still?
“Now onto the results of our threat analysis.” Belmond continued, “We believe you have been the victim of severe psychological manipulation and have since been compromised.”
“That’s just not true!” I insisted.
Fextrenn shook her head, “Agent Adam, the point of the Predazoan manipulation is for the victim to
believe
they aren’t being manipulated; Alpha-03 knows
exactly
what to say to get the desired response from everyone she interacts with. She can sense the thoughts and emotions of those around her and adapt accordingly; everything she does is to gain her freedom and further her supremacy drive.”
I gestured over to Eve, “But she said she already achieved perfection, so her drive—”
Kei-Torruk held up a hand to stop me, “We have absolutely no way of verifying when a Predazoan achieves perfection, even after centuries of study we simply don’t know enough about their biology. Alpha-03 saying she’s already reached her perfect state could just be another lie to try and control us.”
“From the s on
Leisure-53
, Gamma-12 doubted Alpha-03 had been able to achieve perfection so quickly and easily; we believe the doubt from another Predazoan to be significant proof to our findings.” Belmond reasoned.
I shook my head slowly, remembering Gamma-12
did
believe Eve was telling the truth, she just didn’t make any big announcement for it—seemed like a more subtle realization I noticed since I was used to reading Predazoan facial expressions.
“So, what, you believe
everything
Eve said was a lie? You don’t think she has any feelings for me and it’s all a huge trick to try and get free?” I pressed.
Kei-Torruk shook his head too, “We simply don’t know what Alpha-03 wants at all. Her unpredictability is one of the most dangerous factors about her; even after
thousands
of simulations were performed, we aren’t even close to understanding what truly motivates her.” He admitted.
“The problem now is with all those thousands of simulations performed we also have no way of containing another Predazoan without her assistance.” Belmond added.
I looked over to see Eve was growling again, her nails extended to claws held down at her side, flexing menacingly—as though eager for something to tear into.
I turned back to the judges and crossed my arms, “Alright, then what am I supposed to do now? Can I still be Eve’s handler if I’m compromised?”
The Lord Generals exchanged a look between themselves, then turned back to me, “Once our simulations confirmed you’d been compromised, we took you out of the equation to see how we could progress in controlling Alpha-03 without you; in 86,860 simulations with you relived of duty, Alpha-03 was impossible to control, leading to the destruction of
The Judicator
,
The Radiance
, or Alpha-03 herself—frequently all of us together.” Kei-Torruk said carefully, clearly uneasy with the admission.
Eve barked out a quick laugh, but her humor died away instantly as her anger nearly overwhelmed her.
I quirked up an eyebrow, “So I’ll still be her handler?”
Fextrenn nodded slowly, “Our
only
chance of success involves keeping you as her handler.”
I looked between the Lord Generals and saw grim expressions all around; something more was going on, something that was clearly a last resort.
“And what aren’t you telling me?” I pressed.
Kei-Torruk turned to Belmond and nodded, and Belmond activated his console, but nothing changed in the holograms at all—nothing happened I could see.
“Unfortunately, the only way we can properly control Eve is by shifting the handler position to also work as a failsafe.” Kei-Torruk said.
I gestured to my chest, “I already have the cardiac monitor attached to her failsafe, what more do you need?”
Kei-Torruk shook his head, “We need a more direct and drastic approach.”
Just then the doors to the assembly hall opened and a group of four doctors I didn’t recognize walked in pushing a large hover-cart towards us, all escorted by a half-dozen soldiers in power armor. Eve immediately started screeching, and just as quickly her containment unit was darkened and silenced again. I felt ice travel through my veins as the doctors made their way towards me and stop before my small cell.
“Agent Adam, we do believe you started out with good intentions but unfortunately got them twisted around by the Predazoan asset; we don’t blame you for what happened, and from this point on we’ll be scheduling mandatory psychiatric counseling in the attempt to break Alpha-03’s control over you. However, we must apologize, as we’ll need to use every advantage we have in the Predazoan containment mission, and if that means using you as an extra means to control Alpha-03, unfortunately we’re going to have to use it.” Kei-Torruk explained.
The four alien doctors stood before my containment unit while the power armor soldiers stood beside it, everyone looking more alien in that moment than I’d ever seen before; the blue of one doctor’s skin looked depressing, while another red one just looked angry. One doctor had antenna that looked frightening and foreign, while another had animal ears that made me think of some ferocious beast. I no longer wanted to explore the stars and meet new alien races, no, in that moment I just wanted to head back home to Earth with my Evie.
The repulser field of my containment unit deactivated, and two power armor soldiers led me out to stand before the hover-cart while a doctor held some strange device that reminded me of the Portal Gun—white and rounded, with little black hooks around a large needle where the muzzle should be.
“What the fuck is that thing?” I demanded.
“A failsafe for the failsafe.” Kei-Torruk answered.
The short blue doctor smiled at me, trying to look reassuring, but in that moment, I only saw a monster, “Please, Agent Adam, just relax and allow us to implant the device.”
“The
what
?”
While I turned away, I felt a little zap in the back of my neck and instantly felt like my bones were jelly. Before I could fall to the floor, the doctors guided me onto the hover-cart as gently as they could. Once I was laying down, I felt like my body was totally sluggish while my mind was racing; I tried to shout and scream and fight, say something to reassure Eve, but all that came out of my mouth was unintelligible mumbles.
The doctor with the dog ears held the strange medical gun against my neck, but they turned my head away so I couldn’t see what they were doing. All I could see was a bunch of power armor soldiers holding their guns in relaxed positions, standing around me waiting to unleash their lethal force. It was then I realized the bureaucrats shifted from using me as a scapegoat, now I was just some tool to be used up and tossed aside. I’d thought—maybe
hoped
the Empire would be enlightened, and time and again I was reassured by other crewmembers aboard
The Radiance
they cared about the lives of their citizens, but now I finally saw the truth, and all my old paranoia and distrust over the American government came back a hundredfold against the Empire.
They said Eve was trying to manipulate and use me? Well, not only did I not believe that, but even if it
were
true, how were they any better?
“All finished.” One of the doctors confirmed, and I felt a little tug on the back of my neck and my bones felt solid once more. The moment I had feeling in my legs again I stood up and punched the nearest doctor—the dog-eared alien with that weird medical gun.
The doctor went sprawling to the floor as all the power armor soldiers aimed their guns at me.
“Stand down immediately soldiers; you are dismissed.” Kei-Torruk commanded harshly.
The power armor soldiers complied and turned to march away slowly, but I wasn’t interested in them at all now; I grabbed up the nearest doctor—the blue alien female, and held her close to my face by her lab coat collar, “What the fuck did you people do to me?”
“Agent Adam, release them now and we’ll explain.” Belmond said in an annoyingly calm voice.
I tossed the blue alien over to her colleagues and looked up at the Lord Generals, “Explain.” I demanded.
Fextrenn nodded and activated her console so a hologram of a humanoid skeleton displayed before us, “We’ve implanted a small explosive device around your cervical spine, in the event—”
“You put a fucking
bomb
in me?” I demanded, reaching up to my neck to try and feel it out. On the right side of my neck, I felt something small and metallic, almost completely flat against my skin. I tried to dig at it to see if I could get under the skin around it, but it was locked on tight.
“Please Agent Adam, don’t pick at it.” One of the doctors warned me.
The hologram display showed the small metallic disc on my neck had some wiring that was wrapped around my cervical spine and brain stem, completing a small loop from one side of the disc to the other.
“The bomb is attached around the top of your spinal column, and any attempts to remove could detonate it; leave it well enough alone and it won’t be an issue.” Belmond added.
Now
I
had a failsafe implanted in me? Well, I suppose that was proper comeuppance for making the reckless decision in allowing the doctors to implant the failsafe inside Eve way back when.
“So, I have to play along and follow your orders, otherwise you’ll blow me up, that right?” I said, my voice heavy with the after tones of pure loathing.
Kei-Torruk shook his head slowly, “Not quite, now Alpha-03 must follow
your
orders, otherwise we’ll be forced to detonate your device, killing both of you in the process.” He clarified.
At that admission, they deactivated the blackout mode to Eve’s containment unit so we could all see her again. She appeared more distraught than I’d ever seen her, a mix of fury and hatred and fear; she looked over to me like she was about to cry, then looked up to the Lord Generals like she was going to kill them anyways. I’d never seen such turbulent emotions before, it was like Eve was completely overwhelmed, holding her head like she was trying to keep it from splitting apart.
“Do you understand your position?” Kei-Torruk asked Eve calmly.
“If you
dare
hurt my Adam…” Eve’s voice was unsteady, sounding like she was just barely able to string a coherent sentence together.
“You profess to really love Agent Adam, so prove it now and keep him safe; obey his orders and his command and help us complete our mission.” Fextrenn offered mildly.
Belmond shrugged, “And if that was a lie all along, at least act for the sense of self-preservation; if Agent Adam’s failsafe detonates, yours will follow along after it.”
“And who controls my failsafe?” I demanded.
Kei-Torruk shook his head slowly, “We won’t be revealing that information to you; suffice to say there are several who possess controls, and several more still who have cardiac monitors to match yours.” He turned to Eve and his red monocle scope zoomed in, “So any attempts at some violent rebellion against fellow crewmembers could lead to your deaths.”
They had us totally trapped now; before I was worried they would try to take me out secret agent style if they ever wanted to kill Eve, but she always assured me she could protect me anyways. But now some mystery person could just detonate my failsafe to kill us both like it was nothing. We were totally fucked.
“What do you want?” Eve said through gritted teeth.
“Adam will continue his handler training while we make attempts to deprogram him from your control, in the meantime you two will continue to work together for the Predazoan containment mission.” Kei-Torruk explained.
“Just like that, keep working for you like nothing’s changed—like we don’t all have fucking bombs implanted in us to keep everyone compliant?” I demanded.
Fextrenn shook her head, “That’s not everything; we aren’t so foolish to believe Alpha-03 couldn’t find some way around her failsafe eventually—even yours, Agent Adam, given enough time. No, we need to take one more extra measure to ensure she’s properly controlled.”
Another repulser field activated around us from the strange panels on the ground just enough to encompass the handful of people on the floor before the Lord Generals. The doctors moved the hover-cart in front of Eve’s containment unit, but paused, all looking quite nervous.
Kei-Torruk looked to me, “Agent Adam, order Alpha-03 to comply with the doctors’ instructions now.”
“Fuck you!” Was my eloquent response.
“Adam, please.” Eve said softly, shaking her head slowly.
I walked over to her containment unit, putting my hand up on the repulser field, and she put hers up to match, “Are you sure?”
Eve favored me with a sad, soft smile—a defeated, accepting smile, “They’ve won darling; best to follow their orders from now on to try and get the best life slaves could hope for.”
Seeing Eve defeated filled me with a burning rage, and I knew someday we would have our revenge on the Lord Generals—on
anyone
involved in this betrayal. But for now, I would listen to her. I turned back to look at Kei-Torruk, “I’ll work as her handler, but I want our relationship to stay the same; I won’t let you separate us now.”
Kei-Torruk nodded slowly once, “If that’s your wish, so be it, but we’ll still continue with the psychiatric counseling in the hopes we can break her hold—”
I slashed a hand through the air, “I don’t care how you all see it; I’ll talk to whoever I must to prove our love is genuine. But until then, I say nothing changes about our relationship; we
will
be allowed to openly and freely date aboard
The Radiance
. Agreed?”
The Lord Generals all exchanged a look, clearly wondering how far gone I was—how
psychologically compromised
I turned out to be. But in the end, they all nodded their agreement.
Small victories.
I let out a weary sigh and turned back to Eve, “Evie, my sweet-thing, I’m sorry, but please obey the doctor’s commands.” I said slowly.
Eve nodded once, “Very well.”
I turned towards the doctors and gestured for them to continue. Still looking rather nervous, the doctors disabled the repulser field around the containment unit, and when Eve darted out they all flinched away. But Eve wasn’t going after any of them, no, she shot straight for me, tackling me to the ground and assaulting me with kisses.
It’d been a cycle since I’d felt Eve’s lips against mine, a cycle since I felt her skin, a cycle since I smelled her scent, since I tasted her; if it had really only been a cycle, it felt more like a lifetime.
Eve continued kissing me, desperate to get her mouth on me, moaning and whimpering as though she was a pained animal—making those cute trilling noises of satisfaction as well.
“I missed you so much darling.” Eve said between kisses.
“I missed you so fucking much.” I said between breaths, my hands roaming all over her, trying to feel her skin and curves as though to memorize how she felt.
Before we could go much further, Fextrenn cleared her throat loudly, “Yes, that’s very nice, but the two of you will have plenty of time together after the procedure.” She gestured to the doctors, “May we continue?”
Eve barely pulled away from nibbling on my neck, glaring at everyone else around us. She helped me up and I stood before the confused and cautious doctors, “Alright, what do we do now?” I asked them.
The short red alien doctor waved to the hover-cart, “Have her lay on the table, please.”
Eve got onto the hover-cart without orders to show herself compliant. We held hands the whole time, and it was only when the doctor shooed me away did I finally pull back from her.
I watched as they attached strange black bracers to her wrists and ankles; they were sleek and metallic, only an inch wide and incredibly thin, then they put on a matching collar, giving her five total bracers. The doctor raised his tablet and started working on some strange program I couldn’t understand, math like I’d never seen before. He pressed the activation button, and suddenly all the bracers started glowing as a silver string of lights connected them, looking like a strange, frayed network of spiraling webs. The lights continued to spiral and solidify around Eve until they completely enveloped her entire body. The doctor pressed another button on his tablet so all the lights flashed out brightly, then the veil of lights snapped against her skin and then dulled into a shimmering shield that was so subtle it was nearly invisible. Only then did the doctors breathe out sighs of relief as though the danger finally passed.
Eve sat up from the table but wobbled a little as though dizzy. I rushed over to help steady her as she turned to the Lord Generals, “What did you do to me?”
“One of the most dangerous things about the Predazoans is their ability to detach and utilize biomass separate from yourself; from the extra forms you can create to those diabolical spores, there’s almost nothing we can do to defend against them.” Kei-Torruk gestured down to Eve, “Unless we can contain you within the intrinsic inhibitor field.”
Eve held up her hand before me and I saw a bubbly black tumor form on her palm and grow, but when it burst it just meshed against her skin, blood and black ooze coating her arm, but not dripping down; it collected in a slowly growing pool at her fingertips. “What the fuck is this?” Eve demanded.
“As we said, the intrinsic inhibitor field contains your form so you can’t release any biomass outside your body.” Belmond clarified.
Now that Eve was properly contained, the repulser field dissolved around us, completely freeing both of us for the first time in a cycle.
The blood and ooze resorbed back into Eve’s skin while she glared at the Lord Generals, gesturing to her hand, “You want to use my power to help contain the other Predazoans, yet you would cripple me like this?”
Kei-Torruk shook his head, “You still have your super speed and strength, your hyperintelligence and your shapeshifting; the simulations showed you’d still be able to overpower any Gamma and Beta generation Predazoan easily.”
Eve looked doubtful, but she tested out her shapeshifting to see the intrinsic inhibitor field grew with her as she increased her size, and it even allowed her to summon extra tentacles from her arms and back, so long as everything remained attached to her body. She returned to her normal form, still glowering in annoyance. She reached over to grab my hand, but when she grabbed me it didn’t feel like I was touching her skin directly, more like the tiniest, filmy barrier was still between us—just barely there. She turned a hateful glare towards the Lord Generals, “I’m unable to touch anything directly either? You would prevent me from touching Adam?”
Kei-Torruk nodded, “The inhibitor keeps you entirely contained, preventing anything from getting out while also keeping anything from getting in. There’s a certain permeability around your various orifices which will allow you to eat or consume an enemy Predazoan biomass core, but other than that, no, you can’t touch anything else directly.”
Eve snarled and moved like she was going to lunge for the Lord Generals, but I held her back as the doctors all cowered away from us.
“Don’t you see what you’ve done? You’ve put a barrier between me and Adam! I’ll
kill
you for this!” Eve threatened.
Kei-Torruk shook his head slowly, “This was the only way to allow you to remain free aboard
The Radiance
and continue working for us on the Predazoan containment mission. Drastic measures had to be taken, but they were necessary for the sake of success.”
Eve was growling low in her throat, fangs and claws extended, but I knew she wouldn’t actually attack, not without risking the bomb in my neck detonating and killing us both.
“What happens to us now you have us properly caged and controlled?” I demanded.
“Now you can return to
The Radiance
and await further orders while we continue with the restructuring. In the meantime, we’ll be setting you up with more combat training as well as the mandatory psychiatric counseling.” Fextrenn said.
I looked around the room, expecting there to be more, “So that’s it, we’re all done here?”
Kei-Torruk nodded towards me, “Done for now, but the Predazoan containment mission is too high-priority for us to release control back to
The Radiance
; expect to see more of us in the future.” He pressed his console, “We’ll bring in an escort to guide you back to your ship.”
From there everything seemed like a blur as Eve and I walked, holding hands without directly touching each other, feeling miles away only inches apart once again. I could just barely feel the heat of her skin, but it really wasn’t the same; I couldn’t feel that silky smooth texture I was addicted to. Instead, there was some staticky film between us—a ghost keeping our skin just barely apart.
As we returned home, we were both lost in thought as we mused over how things had changed, how we’d been contained. High-command had a stranglehold over our future, and even though we were free once more and able to remain together, we both wondered if the cost had been too great after all.
Volume 4: Beta-09, Chapter 4.12
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