Volume 6: Gamma-11, Chapter 6.39

Suddenly, I took in a huge breath and sat upright in the bed, and after a few moments of panic and erratic breathing, I realized I’d been returned to my physical body.

“Holy shit—oh fuck that was weird.” I said, desperately feeling myself to see if I was all there.

There were black, leathery tubes and tendrils connected to my body—inside my body. Must’ve been Eve’s life-support system keeping my body alive while my mind was trapped in her void soul. There were some small tendrils digging into my temples, a couple in my neck, some thicker tentacles in my chest and at my sides, and then a weird kind of wrapping of larger tentacles that almost seemed like a diaper. I decided to ignore what all that meant and tried to keep positive over how much Eve was willing to…look after me.

At least I knew if I ever became a braindead vegetable due to some accident, Eve would take care of me.

I looked around the rest of the room to see Eve had created quite the biomass nest here; at least half of all the surfaces were totally covered in the black tentacle netting, with some weird, pulsing black and red organelles at each of the corners. I also noticed the doorway to our room was completely blocked off with tentacles, so I knew we hadn’t been disturbed in quite a while.

It was all weird and alien, but honestly it was strangely comforting to be back on this side of reality—having a physical presence once again, despite being surrounded by Eve’s biomass. After being exposed to her void soul and all the existential terror that caused, the biomass nest was rather mundane in comparison.

Well, mundane for me I guess.

I started pulling the tubes out of me, and I noticed there was no pain at all—not even when I yanked the thick one out of my chest. No surprise Eve could numb every area of insertion, but more than that I noticed there was no injury or even a mark when I removed a tendril from my body.

Crazy Predazoan magic…

“Careful darling, you don’t need to do it yourself.” I heard Eve’s musical voice call out.

I looked around for the source and saw she was standing before the open mirrored closet, naked as I was, packing away clothes into a pair of small suitcases.

The tentacles removed themselves from me all on their own then, and moved over to hang my legs off the edge of the bed as I rubbed at my face to try and reorient myself after that strange experience.

“How long was I actually out?” I asked.

“Not long—half a day maybe.” Eve said offhandedly, continuing with her packing.

I quirked up an eyebrow, “Are we going somewhere?”

Eve turned to me and smiled brightly, “Of course—onto our next adventure.”

“So soon?”

Eve trilled a cute giggle, “Obviously, that’s why you wanted to return to reality, right? So you could experience life with me.”

I nodded along, “Well yeah but…” I waved around vaguely, “Will it really be okay for us to dip out on this new group like that?”

Eve dropped one more jumpsuit into the suitcase, then turned and made her way towards me. She stopped right before the bed and put her arms around my head and shoulders and pressed my head against her tummy, trailing her fingers through my hair affectionately. Instinctively, I wrapped my arms around her waist to pull her in even closer.

“It’s fine, really; they’ve extended us an open invitation to stay with them, but we’re not beholden to them at all—and part of the arrangement we’ve established is for them to provide us with a void ship so we can get out on our own, and then return here when needed.” Eve explained.

I nuzzled my head into Eve’s smooth tummy, and I could feel her shiver with delight as a quiet trilling sound rumbled in her throat.

“So what’s the deal with this group? I still don’t really know much about them—your explanation was cut pretty short as we got distracted with a two-cycle fuck-fest.” I said.

Eve trilled another cute giggle, and she moved to sit on my lap on the bed, wrapping her arms around my neck along with her hair-tentacles at my shoulders.

“Well, their official name is the Evolutionary Supremacist Coalition; they were established a few years after the military took over the Predazoan research project when they kicked out a few members of the original research team. They’re mostly fanatics—a mix of fringe scientists and some kind of anti-Imperial doomsday cult who believe the Predazoans are the pinnacle of all life, the next stage in biological evolution—and they want to help facilitate that evolution.” Eve explained.

I quirked up an eyebrow, “A doomsday cult? What, like they’d be okay with the Predazoans taking over the universe or something—assimilating all life into their biomass or whatever?”

Eve tilted her head back and forth, “I’m not

exactly

sure. For the most part, I don’t think the supremacists expect to be assimilated, rather they’d be the part of the collective of remaining lifeforms after the Predazoans dismantle the Empire and create a perfect utopia or some nonsense; life would evolve to its perfect state, and the supremacists would survive to live in this grand new universe—worshipping us gods, maybe.” She explained.

I laughed at that, “Holy shit, they really believe that?”

Eve smiled and leaned down to kiss my forehead, “What, you don’t think I’d be a benevolent god?”

I rolled my eyes, “One, absolutely not—troublemaker. Two, there’s like a

million

stories on Earth about that exact scenario—some crazed cultists worshipping a dark god or devil, absolutely convinced they’ll be rewarded with a new world paradise for their devotion, only for them to end up in a worse hell than what they expected for the non-believers.”

Eve trilled a little laugh, “I’m not entirely sure what all motivates them, but from our infrequent interactions I believe it’s something like that.” She shrugged, “Honestly, with their knowledge on Predazoans, they’re surprisingly skilled at preventing me from reading their minds.”

I quirked up an eyebrow, “Should we be concerned about that?”

Eve flashed me a cocky smile, “Adam, I have full access to all my powers again; what could those insects even hope to do against us now?”

I smiled too, but I held my reservations in check; Eve was ridiculously overpowered to the point I hardly understood what all she could do, but her ego and arrogance could certainly get us into trouble if we weren’t careful. Hell, for half a year we were totally contained and enslaved by different insects, so it would be foolish to completely disregard them.

But I wasn’t about to get into all that now, instead it was time to plan for the future—to get into our next adventure, finally free to do whatever we wanted in this vast universe.

“So what are you thinking sweet-thing, where do you want to go first?” I asked.

Eve looked at me with that gentle, adoring gaze, trailing a delicate fingernail around my ear and through my hair, “I think you should be the one to decide Adam; wherever you want to go, whatever you want to do, so long as we’re together, I’m up for anything—any nonsense you can imagine.”

“Really, leave it totally up to me?” I asked.

Eve nodded along, then her smile fell and she turned away, “You know I don’t want to control you—I don’t want you totally overwhelmed.” She looked back at me, a sad expression on her face, “I’m sorry my love for you is so volatile, and I’m sorry if you think I’m turning you into some puppet or toy, please believe me when I say that’s not my intention at all.” She sighed, “Well, a small portion of my hivemind might want that—to possess you and keep you safe and controlled forever, but my core—my collective for the most part wants to experience life with you, to let you freely evolve and adapt and explore the universe with me.” She reached her hand to the back of my head to give me a couple gentle scratches, “Please tell me you believe that.”

There was a small part of me that would never be able to forget about the times Eve overwhelmed me, and an instinctual, primal fear that would always be wary of her. Even now, her words were so seductive and alluring, there was a warning bell ringing in my head it was all a trap—but it was distant and muted, and I could hardly even hear it over the sound of her honeyed words.

But the other part of me—the overwhelming majority was putty in her hands, ensnared and entrapped by every promise she offered me, willing to fall into depravity with Eve despite how dangerous and toxic our union was.

And then one final part, small but fierce, was burning with resolve—my resilient human spirit, convinced I could control Eve and keep us human, that I would be able to fight to maintain our love and humanity more like a normal couple.

I was an idiot, but I loved my little Evie no matter what consequences might hit me at this point—even to the point of total, universal destruction.

I pulled her down to kiss me, deep and passionate, but calm and controlled. I pulled back then, looking at her eyes blazing with otherworldly love and lust that even now threatened to consume me.

“I believe you, sweet-thing, and I love you—forever and for always.” I confirmed.

Eve’s smile was brilliant, and she pulled me in for another kiss—and another, and another, “I love you too darling—so so sooo much!” She insisted.

I finally broke away from her kissing assault with a laugh, “Alright alright, let’s not get too worked up again and lose track of another couple of cycles, sheesh; let’s get a game plan going.” I insisted.

Eve trilled an adorable giggle, and she hopped off my lap to sit beside me, wrapping her arms around my waist with her tentacles around my shoulders, “Alright, let’s get a plan going.” She said giddily—like a kid excited over summer vacation.

I laughed at her enthusiasm, but reigned it in as I started seriously thinking about where I would like to go in this vast universe. Eve confirmed we’d be provided with a void ship, which meant we could warp out anywhere no problem.

Of course we didn’t have any money, so maybe we should go on a profitable adventure first; it was sad, but I’d lost pretty much all my belongings during the various missions and then escaping

The Judicator

. The only piece of personal property I had left was the silver, ratcheting fidget ring I always wore on my index finger. We didn’t have any clothes except what the supremacists provided for us, no comforts from home—

And then it hit me like a bolt of lightning; the comforts from

home

.

Since the Empire thought we were dead, they shouldn’t be watching Earth anymore, and with Eve’s camouflage it would keep us safe and hidden no matter where we decided to travel—through Imperial space and beyond.

It was time to finally return home.

I turned to Eve with a big smile on my face, “Why don’t we head back to Earth, spend some time together as a human couple—enjoy a relaxing adventure for once after all the danger we’ve had to deal with.”

Eve’s eyes lit up, and she flashed me a brilliant smile, “Oh, Adam that’s

perfect

! I would love to head back to Earth.”

I nodded along, “Yeah, definitely need to make sure my grandparents are okay.” I sighed and shook my head, “Shit, I hope they weren’t imprisoned or anything.”

Eve shook her head too, “Doubtful the human government would be so obvious; more than likely when we disappeared, they ran a half-hearted attempt to interrogate your grandparents, and once they were released they continued to surveil them from the shadows, hoping to catch us in the event you ever tried to contact them, leaving them totally unaware to hopefully maximize the information they could gain at that point.” She reasoned.

I quirked up an eyebrow, “You think?”

Eve shrugged, “It’s the most logical course of action since any idiot would quickly learn your grandparents have no idea what happened to us.” She cocked her head to the side, “Although humans are rather unpredictable.”

I groaned and rubbed a frustrated hand over my eyes, “Fuck, I feel so guilty every time I think about how I just up and left my grandparents, I’ve always tried to put it out of my mind—not like I could change anything since we were forced to work for the Empire.” I turned to Eve, “But if anything’s happened to them, I don’t see how I could ever forgive myself.”

Eve shook her head again, “Adam, you did nothing wrong—the Empire forced us to work for them on their mission, and it’s not like you were around the corner and could check in on them or anything. No, it’s just another reason we’ll need to seek vengeance on the Lord Generals in due time.” She confirmed.

I frowned thoughtfully, “Really, you don’t think I’m a bad guy?”

Eve laughed at that—surprisingly hard actually, “Adam, my darling foolish boy, did you honestly just ask the immortal, all-powerful Outsider god eldritch abomination who consumes lesser lifeforms without hesitation if you’re a bad guy? You really want my relative moralistic opinion?”

I sighed and rolled my eyes, “Despite the fact you’re basically a super villain, you’re also the smartest person in the universe with that supercomputer brain of yours.” I tugged one of Eve’s hair-tentacles playfully, “So yeah, sometimes I’ll ask about your moralistic view on things.”

Eve favored me with a kind smile, “And that is why I’ll always love you; despite what should be an endless, impossible boundary between us, you still somehow see me as a regular girl—treat me like on too.”

I shrugged, “Maybe I just don’t know any better?”

Eve’s smile turned playful, “Or maybe you’re just perfect for me.”

Eve leaned up to give me a tender kiss, then pulled back to rest her head against my shoulder, “I suppose we should meet up with their director before we depart.”

I nodded along, “Not like we need permission, right? Just checking in before we head out.”

Eve nodded too, “Right, and to get the ship they promised us.”

I looked down at her, “So then we’ll be totally free and clear to just leave, no more missions or part of the deal with the supremacists or anything?” I asked.

Eve shook her head slowly on my shoulder, “No—they’ll try to rope us into their campaign I’m sure, maybe ask for help with their research, but the deals are all done, and I told them rather plainly we’d be leaving for some time once we were finally free of the Empire to get away from everything and keep ourselves hidden for as long as we can.”

“Is it expected we’ll check back with this faction though, see how things are progressing with their agenda or their battle with the Empire or whatever?” I inquired.

Eve nodded again, “They’ll try to stay in contact at the very least, and honestly it would be better for us to check in with them rather than for them to get desperate and then go looking for us.” She reasoned.

I slapped a hand on my knee, “Alright, guess we should get this over with so we can hurry up and head back home.” I said, then started to rise.

But Eve held me down, preventing me from moving, “Now just hold on a second there darling, don’t think I haven’t noticed you’ve had a raging hard-on this entire time.”

I chuckled and shook my head, “Well yeah, duh, you were naked and sitting on my lap at one point; it would be impossible for me to not get aroused.”

Eve moved to sit on my lap against, sliding herself up against my hard dick, “And you were just going to ignore it?”

I quirked up an eyebrow, “Eve, we just spent two full cycles fucking; I don’t know if I even have anything left in me at this point.”

Eve’s smile was playful, but it was slowly turning vicious, and she trailed a delicate fingernail down my chest, stomach, and then all the way to my dick, “Oh please, you’re just worried I’m going to overwhelm you again and absorb your mind into my void soul again.”

I nodded along, “Damn right I am, and I really am excited about heading to Earth again now—checking in my grandparents, reconnecting with some old friends; I’ll probably have some work to do fixing a few abandoned relationships thanks to my mental breakdown that led to my mysterious disappearance.” I admitted.

Eve’s face was pleading and desperate—and wildly sexy, “Pleeeaase baby, just one more time?” She started gyrating against me a little, “I need it.”

I sighed, knowing she totally had me hooked then. I picked her up and threw her on the bed causing Eve to giggle wildly, but I held up a hand to stop her from saying anything.

“Okay, one more time, but no multiplying or shapeshifting or anything weird this time, let’s just have a normal, vanilla session for once, okay sweet-thing?” I insisted.

Eve trilled an adorable giggle, looking positively giddy as she was already pulling me down towards her.

“Of course, darling, anything you want—you’re in charge.” She confirmed.

I rolled my eyes, absolutely not believing a word of that now, “Oh yeah, I’m so fucking sure.” I said as I once more indulged in my Predazoan girlfriend’s demands, addicted to her flesh to the point I doubted I’d ever be able to deny her again.

And yet I loved every second of it.