Volume 4: Beta-09, Chapter 4.9

It was Eve’s turn to sit in the hotseat, and if she was nervous at all she certainly didn’t show it, she just looked mad.

“Alpha-03, what does your instinctual form of perfection look like?” Kei-Torruk asked.

Eve gestured to herself, “I’ve already achieved perfection; I’m Adam Samson’s perfect mate.”

The Lord Generals all exchanged a look, as though they didn’t really believe it.

“Alpha-03, what is your goal now that you’ve achieved perfection?” Fextrenn inquired.

“To live alongside Adam, to love and cherish him, to spoil and protect him, to live a thousand lifetimes with him during our endless lives.” Eve answered easily.

“And what might one of those lifetimes look like?” Fextrenn pressed.

Eve shrugged, “Our first life I imagine will be spent here, hunting down the rest of the Predazoans, enjoying the adventure together.”

“What about the next lifetime?” Belmond asked.

“I’d like a simple life; we’d return to Earth if we could, but since they’re a pre-enlightened world, we’d probably need to stay away from it for a few centuries. We could always find some other quaint, peaceful planet, work together on a farm, enjoy that simple life.” Eve clarified.

“You have no other drive or goals, nothing specific you want to accomplish?” Fextrenn pressed.

Eve shook her head, “As I’ve said to Adam countless times, I don’t care where we are or what we do, so long as we do it together.”

Again, the Lord Generals exchanged a look as though they didn’t believe it.

“Are you

sure

you’ve achieved perfection?” Belmond asked.

Eve nearly shrieked her laughter was so sharp, “Are you serious? Of course I’m sure.”

“How can you confirm you’ve achieved perfection so easily?” Kei-Torruk pressed.

Eve’s amusement died away as she became annoyed, “Are you really going to sit there and ask a

Predazoan

how they can be sure they’re achieved perfection? Are you all

stupid

? I’m the

only one

qualified to verify the answer and confirm I’ve achieved perfection.”

I sucked in a quick breath, wondering if it was smart for Eve to answer so harshly.

The Lord Generals didn’t look insulted though, still just doubtful, “So your perfect form is definitively locked in, and your supremacy drive has been completed?” Belmond asked.

Eve huffed out an annoyed sigh, “Not quite, I still need to

live

those thousand lifetimes with my Adam.”

“Alpha-03, is it true you’ve developed a sex-drive through consuming and assimilating human DNA?” Fextrenn inquired.

Eve nodded, “Yes, I’ve altered my core to possess 60% human DNA, and it’s given me an

intense

desire for sex.”

Fextrenn nodded along, “And you’ve engaged in sexual relations with Adam?”

Eve smirked, “Hundreds of times.”

“Do you find the act pleasurable, or is it more like a service you implement to keep Adam satisfied as his mate?” Fextrenn asked clinically.

Eve’s expression looked like it was a fighting mix between amused and annoyed, “I enjoy sex—I

love

sex with my Adam. I find the act of sex to be the most pleasurable thing in the universe—an even greater experience than achieving my perfect form.” She confirmed.

The Lord Generals exchanged a few brief words I couldn’t hear; it appeared they were pretty much done with that line of questioning but didn’t seem to be convinced or swayed by any of Eve’s answers.

“And what’s your opinion on the Predazoan containment mission? Do you have any doubts or reservations about harming your sisters?” Kei-Torruk asked.

Eve looked to me, then back to the Lord Generals, “As I’ve told Adam before, it really doesn’t matter to me; Predazoans are solitary by nature, and ever since our connection to the Prime was severed, there’s no familial bond between us.” She looked at me again, “If anything, to keep Adam safe I believe they should all be destroyed; they look at him like he’s just biomass to be consumed.” She turned back to the Lord Generals once more, “I would kill

every

Predazoan before I allowed them to harm a single cell in Adam’s body.” She said with complete conviction.

At that, finally, they seemed convinced by Eve’s determination, but we had a long way to go before we were cleared of all the trouble we were in.

Kei-Torruk clasped his hands together, “And how do you feel about following Agent Adam’s orders? You don’t find it degrading or demeaning?”

Eve shook her head, “Not at all, I respect Adam as a partner, as a man, and as a lover. I trust him completely, and for the sake of this mission I’m totally willing to obey his commands.”

Fextrenn activated her console to display another hologram, some footage of her fight with Gamma-17 in the stadium, “And yet there were several reports that said you were very hesitant to confront Gamma-17; there were soldiers who said it looked like you were actively refusing Agent Adam’s orders.”

Eve nodded once, “I was concerned for his safety; everything I do is to protect Adam, even hunting down the other Predazoans. The only time I ever resist Adam’s orders is when I’m considering how much it might endanger him.”

It seemed like Eve had been knocking her answers out of the park, but this was the first one that caused the Lord Generals to bristle. “That is unacceptable; we have soldiers and agents in the field putting their lives on the line every day for this mission, and for you to hesitate all for the sake of your handler has already caused several casualties.” Kei-Torruk said bluntly.

Eve glared at the Lord Generals, “So what, you want me to rush off into battle and leave Adam to fend for himself? Forget the fact we’re in a relationship and I will

always

choose to protect him over everyone else, did you forget the fact he has a cardiac monitor installed and connected to my failsafe? If he dies, I die, and then how many casualties will you suffer when your soldiers are left to fend for themselves against an enemy Predazoan?” She demanded.

I was pleased to see that actually did deflate a little of Kei-Torruk’s anger—not like he believed Eve was being altruistic at all for their sake, but she was right in pointing out if I died so would she, and then the mission team would absolutely suffer for it.

“Still, the fact you resist his orders at all is quite concerning.” Kei-Torruk insisted.

Eve waved it off, “Resist maybe, but I’ve never outright disobeyed him. Besides, you want a Predazoan asset to assist in your mission, right? So do you plan on utilizing my perfect instincts and my hyperintelligence, or do you just want me available to fight your battles for you?” She reasoned.

“You would have us believe we should listen to your for how best to run our missions?” Belmond asked.

Eve shrugged, “It wouldn’t hurt to consult me; so far the way you’ve tried to utilize my near-limitless power is almost laughable. Scan for the Predazoans, then go out and fight them.” She chuckled to herself and shook her head, “Do you people not realize I could break down all the research data it’s taken you

centuries

to accumulate in a matter of

hours

?”

At that, the Lord Generals finally looked a little admonished, realizing they had no proper way to defend against Eve’s claims.

“Be that as it may, we have trained agents to command the field teams, plus our simulations on how best to handle the missions moving forward; we all have our separate roles and responsibilities.” Belmond reasoned, but he was clearly reaching, and his fellow Lord Generals didn’t seem interested in backing his claims at all.

Eve scoffed and waved their words off, “Yes, and we can see how successful you’ve been so far, needing me every time your soldiers are endangered following through your simulations’ orders.” She said dismissively.

I agreed with Eve completely, but I was a little worried she was being too flippant with the tribunal. Thankfully, the Lord Generals didn’t take the bait to get into some big argument, instead they shifted the conversation completely.

“And let’s talk about how people are frequently endangered around you. We’re willing to table the discussion on Entana for now as you

do

have a personal stake in Adam’s safety that understandably supersedes mission directives. But what about back on Earth? You killed dozens of humans in a matter of minutes before

The Radiance

was able to transfer you aboard; what’s your justification for those deaths?” Kei-Torruk pressed.

Eve waved her hands in a frustrated gesture, as though in disbelief they would bring that up, “Are you all serious? That was self-defense—they shot my Adam!”

“You believe that was the only way to resolve the confrontation?” Kei-Torruk continued.

“

Yes

! What would you have had me do, allow those human agents to kill Adam and then imprison me forever?” Eve snapped.

Fextrenn appeared to be reading something on her console, “The report on your intelligence back on Earth is still rather inconclusive; were you fully cognizant during the attack—aware and in control of your own actions?”

“I…” Eve paused, trying to figure out how to word her answer, “I was in a transition period then, mostly driven by instinct while my newly evolved intelligence was stabilizing. When I first arrived on Earth I was in a very primitive form, but slowly as time passed and Adam took care of me, my awareness grew and matured. During the time of the attack, I was still an instinctual creature, but I had reached the point of sapient intelligence. After consuming the human biomass, I was able to fully evolve my hyperintelligence.”

“And was that during or after the attack?” Fextrenn pressed.

Eve shook her head slowly, “I’m not entirely sure, it was all quite overwhelming, in the middle of my rage, my fear, and my evolution.” She fixed them with a glare, “Regardless of my mental state back then, wouldn’t self-defense be an acceptable excuse for my actions?”

“For that specific incident? Yes, those deaths are considered justified. However, we’re trying to establish a pattern to see if you would be prone to more violent outbursts in the future; we need to confirm whether you would ever revert to that primitive form and unleash your aggression on soldiers or civilians if you allow your emotions to overwhelm you.” Kei-Torruk explained.

“Oh, come on, when has Eve ever shown she lets her emotions overwhelm her?” I demanded.

Immediately I knew I fucked up when Eve looked over at me, and as though waiting for the right moment, Kei-Torruk activated several holograms and reports to display before us; the shriek attack in the hotel room, taking

The Radiance

hostage, the way she played around with Gamma-17, the way I had to hold her back from attacking Nyla the moment she revealed she was Gamma-12. Eve had allowed her emotions to overwhelm her quite a few times—and those were just the times high-command knew about.

Kei-Torruk looked down at me with a level gaze, “Make no mistake, Agent Adam, we understand the Predazoan asset Alpha-03 is absolutely vital to our mission—imperative really, but if we can’t sufficiently control her or she poses a greater risk in damage or discovery, we might very well have to look into alternatives.”

I gestured to myself, “

I

control her,

I’m

the one she listens to and obeys, and yes Eve is rather emotional and has her outbursts, but that’s due to the human DNA in her core, the very

reason

she’s the most powerful Predazoan—her perfect form achieved.” I countered.

Belmond shook his head, “You don’t appear to be doing a good job in controlling her. We can’t tell if you’re being unwittingly manipulated, but at the very least with your dynamic it seems like Alpha-03 is the one in charge.”

“I absolutely listen to Adam’s commands; I obey his orders plenty. Sometimes I just get a little overwhelmed is all.” Eve defended.

The hologram changed to show the destroyed

Leisure-53

station, “This isn’t some desk job where you can make a mistake without consequences;

thousands

have died with

trillions

of credits worth of damages all due to your reckless behavior.” Kei-Torruk insisted.

I gestured out to the hologram, “How the fuck can you blame that on us? We followed along with your plans and then were confronted and attacked by the enemy. Gamma-12 destroyed that station, not us.”

Fextrenn shook her head, “You never should’ve let the target out of your sight; the fact you missed the body-swap is absolutely your fault. We relied entirely on Eve’s senses to ensure our plan would go off without discovery, but since the two of you are so constantly distracted with each other, you clearly missed it.”

Eve straight-up growled then, “We don’t even know which body was the real Gamma-12, she might not have actually switched bodies at any point!”

“And why the fuck is it all on us when you have your super special secret agents and all their sensors, why didn’t they pick it up?” I snapped.

“The point is you made first contact with the target and from there it spiraled out of control; you went outside your own mission parameters and then innocent civilians suffered for it, and we’re just

barely

containing the secret of the Predazoans from the general population as it stands.” Kei-Torruk’s mechanical voice rumbled.

“She contacted us first!” I pressed, ready to pull my hair out I was so frustrated.

It was then I realized it really didn’t matter what we said, it was classic bureaucracy looking for a scapegoat. Back when I was working as a paramedic on Earth, I only got called before a medical board one time; we brought in a patient who was actively having a heart attack, and when we informed the ER staff they completely dismissed us. The nurses were overworked and exhausted and they just did not care to deal with another road crew making a big deal out of nothing as they believed it. Well, turned out we were right and the patient

was

having a heart attack and ended up dying in the waiting room. So what happened? Our crew got pulled before the medical board to explain to a bunch of doctors what happened—why the patient died. We insisted we tried to tell the nurses the patient was having a heart attack, even had the documentation to prove it, but they did everything they could to try and put the blame on the road crew; asked if we screwed up the diagnosis, made a mistake with our report, messed up the cardiac medications, everything they could think to try and turn it around on us so the hospital wouldn’t take the fall. We spent a week in litigation before our union was finally able to stamp it out, but right then I realized I was always going to be the low man on the totem pole, and everyone else above me—managers, bureaucrats, politicians, they would shit all over me if it meant they could save themselves.

And here I was, a trillion miles from Earth, working as the Specialty Resource Agent as the handler to the most important asset for the whole fucking mission, and it was still going to be the dumb paramedic’s fault.

Unfortunately, there was no firefighter’s union to back me up this time.

“Yes, on a group-date, probably too distracted to see through the disguise. The point is the two of you being together in a committed relationship has damaged the integrity of the mission; we believe you have

both

been compromised with the risks of your partnership outweighing the benefits.” Kei-Torruk said with finality.

I leaned against the repulser field of my containment unit as it felt like my stomach was filled with lead, threatening to pull me down to the floor, “So what the fuck does that mean? Lock us in containment forever to experiment on us? Or are you all just going to straight-up execute us to completely disappear your problems?” I demanded flatly.

Kei-Torruk shook his head slowly, “We’re not

barbarians

, Agent Adam; we would neither imprison nor execute you.” He activated his console so it displayed a hologram of a beautiful blue planet I suddenly missed very much, “We would simply wipe your memory and send you back to Earth while we reworked our efforts to control Alpha-03.”