Volume 2: Gamma-17, Chapter 2.7
The Deadliest Lifeform in the Universe Loves Me
A lot happened after Eve's shriek-attack. Our marines broke into our room to find both Tillia and I naked and unconscious. They were able to revive us quickly, and once we covered ourselves, the agents came in. There was no doubt in anyone's mind the shriek came from Eve's scout-form, but when I deactivated the stealth-mode to interrogate her, all we saw was some little black goo in the box; that little part of Eve had somehow killed itself in the attack.
There were a couple accusations of Eve's betrayal, and no small number of questions for me like I should know what happened, but I was just as confused as they all were. I felt like the attack nearly killed us, but there should have been no way Eve would do such a thing to me—I trusted her after all, or at least I used to.
Tillia was okay, same as me she'd been knocked out and bleeding from the ears and nose. Local authorities were already on scene, so it was now time for some damage control. Luckily, the noise was so loud there was no way for them to trace the origin back to us; apparently the screech affected people within a 10-mile radius.
It was decided we'd need to reassess our situation and reevaluate whether Eve could still be a reliable asset now. Most of our team was to stay down on Entana to keep our cover, while the rest would go back to The Radiance. I was one of the few who were going back of course, and as her handler, I was going to have first crack at interrogating Eve.
Agent Kotlokk went back into the hall to radio for an emergency shuttle pickup while the marines stood guard in the room. Once the activity had finally settled a little, I sat on the bed next to Tillia and she leaned into me, pressing her forehead into my chest.
"Are you okay?" I asked her.
Tillia nodded once, "I'll live…" She looked up at my face, a sad gleam in her eyes, "Just upset how our date ended."
I half-smirked, "At least it was memorable."
She rolled her eyes, but I got a small smile out of her with that, "You humans and your disarming humor."
I was leaving since it was considered a necessity, but command didn't want Tillia to move much in case she'd been significantly injured during the attack; we'd be splitting up for now.
"I'll miss you." She said softly.
I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her forehead, "I'll miss you too—and we can pick up right where we left off when I return."
Tillia's smile grew flirtatious, but then caution and worry overtook her expression, "Be careful, alright? I don't know why Alpha-03 attacked us like that, so don't take any risks with her now, okay?"
"The shuttle's on the way. We're going to risk a roof pickup since we have few other options at this point." Agent Kotlokk confirmed.
I leaned forward and gave Tillia a tender kiss, and she kissed me back eagerly.
"Hurry back." She whispered.
Myself with the now dead scout-form of Eve's, Doctor Wit and Runa, with Agents Kotlokk and Frenk went up to the roof and quickly got into the nearly invisible shuttle. Ghosting away under the cover of night, we zipped up to the sky and back around Entana's moon to dock back on The Radiance in a matter of minutes.
Once the shuttle bay doors were opened, we were greeted by the rest of mission command—Doctors Gorgam and Kianna, along with a furious-looking Commander Durgo with Captains Seash and Quinna. They were all flanked by a dozen power armor soldiers.
Durgo took an angry step towards our shuttle, "What the fuck happened?" He asked so heatedly his voice modulator crackled a little.
I was in no mode to deal with him. I quickly brushed past him towards Gorgam and Kianna, "Your guess is as good as mine." I said, and when I continued onward, the doctors were quick to remain behind me.
"What's the status on Eve?" I asked without preamble.
Kinna shook her head, "When the scout-form unleashed its shriek-attack, the core Eve just about lost it; her body and form seemed to be unravelling, and she spread her biomass all over her containment cell like she was creating some kind of nest."
"Her normal form even dissolved for a while as she spread her biomass, but just before you lot got onto the shuttle, the child form returned, and now she's just sitting in the middle of the nest staring at the door." Doctor Gorgam added.
"You have the failsafe?" Captain Seash asked, rushing past his guard to stay with us.
"I won't need it."
"You're sure?" Kianna asked, sounding incredibly unsure herself.
I just shook my head, "There's got to be some explanation for what happened, and I will find out, and then I'll set it right." I insisted.
We continued to Eve's containment cell and were greeted by another dozen power armor soldiers framing the closed bay door, their high-powered rail guns surely loaded with acid rounds all trained at the entrance—not a single one moving from their ready positions.
I stepped to the console and opened the bay doors, but kept the repulser field active. Inside the cell was like a nightmare; black and red tendrils covered every square inch of the cell, coiling up into spires at each corner, with a netting like black veins trailing down sporadically. Any decorations or home modifications that had been inside were either destroyed or covered by the pulsing biomass. There were also dozens of yellow glowing eyes randomly placed, some the size of normal eyes, others as big as bowling balls, but all looking towards the cargo bay doors. In the center of the room was Eve, still in her kindergartener form, sitting down and hugging her knees, with an expression of pure hatred that looked so out of place on her cute face. The moment the doors opened, every eye in the cell including hers zeroed in on me.
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I walked up to the repusler field and looked into the cell—the only hole in the biomass nest Eve created was right here, a doorway for me to walk through.
"Take down the field."
"That's outrageous, she's got her biomass across every inch of the cell, she'll be able to slip right out." Commander Durgo countered.
I turned a harsh glare on him, "I'm her handler; let me handle this." I insisted.
The commander wasn't about to back down, but with a heavy sigh, Captain Seash stepped towards the console, "I hope you know what you're doing…" He muttered to himself.
The hole he opened in the repusler field was so small I had to turn sideways to get through it, and the second I was, he slammed it shut behind me.
I took one step forward, "Eve—"
Instantly, several dozen tentacles with sharp silver spikes manifested from all over the nest and shot straight towards me, but stopped short just a few feet—pointing at every part of my body. The threat was obvious.
"Adam!" Kianna cried out from behind the forcefield.
I held up my hands in surrender and started walking towards Eve—the razor tentacles pointing at me all the while, but they moved with me so I always had a few feet of space between them.
When I was just a couple feet before Eve, I crossed my arms and fixed her with a harsh glare, "Eve, do you want to explain yourself what that little tantrum was?"
Eve's upper lip curled a little in a sneer, but she remained silent.
She was mad—obviously, so it really was probably a tantrum. At first I wasn't sure if Gamma-17 was somehow involved, but with Eve's reaction, I believed it was obvious this was all just her.
Okay, so why the tantrum? Because I'd abandoned her on The Radiance? Was I not spending enough time with her scout-form? Was she lashing out to get attention?
"Eve, I told you before if you behaved, you'd be able to come planet-side with me in a couple cycles. Acting out like this is not the way to show your cooperation." I threw my hands up in exasperation, "This little stunt probably shook everyone's trust in you to the point they won't let you on Entana at all!"
Eve's glowing yellow eyes drilled into me, as though her stare alone could set me on fire. Still, she remained silent—and that itself was weird. Wasn't she always trilling at me in that musical, gibberish language of hers? Wasn't she always trying to communicate in her weird way, even when she was angry?
She was beyond angry now—there was hatred in her eyes. But hatred for what? Not for me, I didn't think—otherwise I'd already be dead. I still felt like there was something she wanted from me, but she was too angry to tell me what it was.
I looked into her eyes—really looked, and I could see such a deep understanding there, a fierce intelligence; she knew exactly what she was doing. Even now, her supercomputer brain was totally in control—I was in her control, or at least that's how she saw it.
But why—to what end? What led to this tantrum? Spending time with Tillia? No, more than that; I was about to have sex with Tillia—and Eve saw that spying from her scout-form.
The hatred in Eve's eyes was for Tillia, I could see that now, but more than just hatred, there was jealousy there—possessiveness. Eve wanted me all to herself—she didn't want anyone else to have me.
And then it all became so clear.
I let out a very weary sigh as the pieces all fell into place, "You're not fooling me anymore; I know you understand everything." I declared.
Eve continued glaring up at me like a petulant child, but then slowly, I saw the mask crack, and then she dropped it completely as her full black lips curled into an arrogant smile, "So, you've seen through my façade finally?" She asked in perfect, elegant English.
I took one step back at hearing such a mature, alluring voice come from her childlike form. Eve stood up and held her hands out in a presenting manner, and suddenly the biomass all around the containment cell began pulsing wildly, and her kindergartener form simply dissolved into the black and red nest-flesh.
I took another quick step back as the biomass all started sliding down the walls and ceiling, twisting and bubbling and moving in waves towards the center of the room. I slipped a little as the biomass on the floor slithered past me and into the large bubbling blob.
"Adam, get out of there!" Kianna shouted.
"Get him out, now!" Gorgam commanded.
"Wait!" I snapped, watching the horror unfold before me.
The biomass continued to spiral and congeal, and then slowly hardened into a large, solid shell like an egg—or a cocoon. There were pulsing, fleshy tendrils that kept the massive cocoon upright, and when it was finally solidified, it was probably at least 20 feet tall, nearly touching the ceiling.
Everything froze for a few moments, and then just as suddenly as it all started, the cocoon began to crack right down the middle, and then suddenly, it ripped open, spilling out viscous black fluid.
And walking out of the cocoon, as casually as could be, was the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen in my entire life.
If I'd thought Tillia was a supermodel, this woman was like something straight out of a fantasy. Her hair was jet black and silky, a little messy with wavy body to it. Under her hair, she had a few smooth black tentacles no wider than my largest finger; one on each side behind her pointed ears and trailing down to her clavicles, and four more at the back of her head that trailed down a few inches past her long hair, down to her knees. Her eyes were big and expressive, glowing a brilliant yellow, the skin completely black all around her eyes. She had an adorable button nose that was charmingly disarming, and very full, pouty black lips, with a brilliant smile that flashed some elongated canines. Her skin was flawless and pure white, and she was naked, which gave me full view of her outrageous body. Beyond anything I could even imagine, her curves flared out almost impossibly; she had full, perky breasts that almost seemed too big for her small frame, with delicate pink nipples that were so pale they nearly blended into the rest of her flesh. Her waist was so tight I could probably wrap both hands around it and have my fingers meet, and then her hips flared outlandishly, and she had a wildly plump ass and juicy thighs to match. Her arms and hands were slender and ended with black, pointed nails, and her delicate feet matched with the same kind of sharp black nails. Lastly, I had full view of her cute, bald little slit that was an adorable, delicate innie that almost didn't seem to match the rest of her mature, curvaceous body.
The woman continued walking my way, her hips rolling in a mesmerizing way; the woman's form went beyond some porn-star body, no it was more like an anime artist's wet dream. It surely should've been impossible to be so beautiful—so sexy, but there she was in the flesh, walking towards me.
The woman stopped just a couple feet before me—a pleased smile on her face—and cocked her hips a little to the side as she rested her hands on them. Standing before me, I'd say I was exactly a foot taller than her.
"Like what you see, darling?" The woman asked in perfect Imperial Common, her voice musical and alluring—it was playful and cute, youthful and girlish, but there was a deep, almost frightening intelligence to it too.
I forced myself to look away from the woman's outrageous body and look to her face—into her glowing yellow eyes.
"Eve?"
Her smile grew twice as bright—twice as mischievous, and her fangs bit into her full black lips playfully.
"That's me—it's always been me."