Volume 4: Beta-09, Chapter 4.16

Eve filled me in on the details on the way to see Tillia. Apparently, in her anger and jealousy, Eve stealthily injected Tillia with a rather sizable collection of biomass way back on Entana. It happened after Eve revealed her true form and Tillia got transferred out to another team. The day our teams met up together, Eve had her own separate agenda to fill Tillia with a small sampling of biomass to spy on her and even control her if she needed—could even kill Tillia with a thought if it ever came to it, Eve told me.

By the end of the Entana mission, Eve made peace with my past with Tillia and saw she was no longer a threat, but she decided to keep the biomass inside Tillia just in case.

“See? It ended up working out for us after all.” Eve said brightly.

I let out a weary sigh, not really having a good answer ready. I wasn’t exactly mad at Eve, and of course I would always take her side over any of the Imperial researchers. However, it seemed like a rather

inhuman

thing to do.

Plus, of all the people who could be allies and back us up, Tillia had shown herself to be incredibly benevolent.

Eve stopped me in the hallway to give me a hug, “Please tell me you aren’t upset.”

I rolled my eyes, “I’m not upset Evie, just find it…funny? But also, a little horrifying.”

Eve buried her head into my chest, “It sounds like you were about to say ‘I’m not mad, just disappointed’, which is always worse.”

I chuckled and wrapped my arms around her, “I’m really not mad about it, Evie.” I pulled her head away from my chest so she could look at me, “However, I’m

disappointed

you kept such a huge secret from me.”

Eve grimaced, “See? There it is, exactly what I was afraid of!” She wailed dramatically.

I laughed again and pulled her back into the hug, “I absolutely adore you, sweet-thing, you know that? Have me wrapped around your little finger; flash me those big eyes or a pouty look and you can get just about anything from me.”

Eve looked up at me with a mischievous grin, “I can flash you something

else

if it’ll help with your forgiveness.”

I smiled too, “Oh shit, yeah, flash away and be forgiven.”

Eve cocked her head to the side, looking surprised, “Really? Aren’t you normally trying to reign me in, and here we are in the middle of the hallway.”

I shrugged, “Who gives a shit, I’m sick of playing by their rules; we’re bound in Imperial chains, but at least our relationship is out in the open. Might as well take advantage.”

Eve’s smile turned dangerous, “And where was

this

attitude all those cycles ago when I was constantly trying to seduce you?”

I waved her words away, “Enough stalling, lemme see those amazing tits.”

Eve rolled her eyes but complied, flashing me in the middle of the empty hallway. No matter how many times I saw them or any part of Eve’s perfect body, I was astounded someone so sexy and perfect loved me. I reached forward to grab a handful, but Eve put them away before I could get properly mesmerized.

“Easy there darling, I’ll spoil you later. For now, we have someone waiting on us, right?” She said, eyes dancing with amusement.

I shook my head to clear it of her breasts’ hypnotic powers, “Right right, the mission or whatever.”

Eve trilled a cute giggle as I grabbed her hand, and we hurried on to Tillia’s room. We’d sent her a message saying we had urgent business to discuss, and we were glad she was between meetings now so we could catch her right away. We made it to her room and pressed the little buzzer, and in just a few moments Tillia opened up for us.

“Come on in guys, you messaged me at the perfect time.” She offered in that cheerful manner all revorans seemed to possess.

Tillia’s quarters were just a little smaller than ours but seemed rather spacious for one person. It was all done up in girly pinks and reds, looking like it should belong to some college coed. The furniture was all cute and shapely, there was a huge bookshelf taking over an entire wall with textbooks and novels, and a small workstation that was absolutely cluttered with so much chaos I couldn’t make anything out.

Tillia led us over to a large red fuzzy couch and sat down, waving at us all, “Sit sit.”

I sat down on the couch and Eve promptly got into my lap, and if I didn’t know any better I’d say she was making a show of it, but Tillia just smiled as though she thought we were cute.

“Alright, so what’s with the emergency meeting?” Tillia asked.

It was then I realized I hadn’t planned at all how we should tell Tillia Eve had secretly implanted and

kept

Predazoan biomass inside her; this probably wouldn’t be an easy conversation.

I cleared my throat delicately, “So, how’ve you been?” I asked conversationally.

Tillia looked surprised, but also amused, “I’ve been okay, busy with the restructuring and everything.” Her smile widened, “Was that the emergency, you wanted to catch up?”

Eve sighed, “No, Adam has something he wants to ask you, he’s just not sure how to get around to it.”

Tillia looked intrigued as a little pink blush rose on her cheeks, “Oh really? Well, after hearing the stories from Kianna I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, although this is all rather sudden.”

“Wait, what are you talking about?” I asked, rather confused over her response.

Tillia turned to Eve, “I just want you to know I’m totally cool with whatever boundaries or ground rules you’ve established, but I’m eager to join in with however you’re comfortable.”

Eve groaned in frustration, “Oh for fu—it’s

not

what you’re thinking, nothing

sexual

at all!”

Now I was

really

confused, “Eve, what are you talking—”

Eve let out a quick, angry huff, “She thinks we’re

propositioning

her.”

“You aren’t?” Tillia said, looking really shocked now.

“What?

No

!” I insisted.

Tillia held her hands up in a halting gesture and got up from the couch and walked over to grab a robe that was hanging on the wall. It was then I realized Tillia had been wearing a lacey black nighty that was just a few steps above lingerie. I was so wound up from flirting with Eve in the hallways I hadn’t even noticed.

Tillia really was sexy and had the body of a supermodel, but my mind had been completely rewired by Eve now to the point I barely even saw other women from any kind of sexual viewpoint. Eve fulfilled my every fantasy physically, emotionally, visually, and every other sense I could imagine—

more

than I could imagine. I was addicted and obsessed with Eve now, making me totally oblivious to anyone else’s desires.

“Oh shit, Tillia I’m sorry.” I called out quickly, hoping I hadn’t embarrassed her or hurt her feelings.

“It’s fine, really it’s fine, I shouldn’t have assumed.” She sat back down on the couch and let out a long sigh, “Embarrassed I suppose, but really that’s on me.”

I sighed and rubbed my face in a frustrated gesture, “So what

did

Kianna tell you about our time on

Hedonism-36

?”

Tillia laughed then, “Pretty much everything I imagine, couldn’t believe you guys all got so involved with each other, made me a little jealous to be honest. And Kianna’s normally a huge prude, but the way she was talking about it was like she had a sexual awakening—the best vacation she’s ever been on. She honestly felt a little guilty the other researchers were so embarrassed to the point they started the grievance over it and she had so much fun.” She shook her head and laughed again, “The way she raved about you two, how sexy you were.” She pointed to Eve, “How

stingy

you are with Adam; she says she still wants to try and get involved with you two somehow.”

“Not going to happen.” Eve said flatly.

I quirked up an eyebrow, “And what’d you think we wanted?”

Tillia shrugged, “Wasn’t sure, maybe you just wanted someone to watch since apparently you both have a huge exhibitionism kink now, or maybe you’d be interested in getting someone else involved finally.”

“And you were

fine

with all that?” I pressed.

Tillia looked at me like I just said something dumb, “Well yeah, obviously.” She looked over to Eve and reigned her enthusiasm in quickly, “But I wouldn’t do anything you were uncomfortable with, of course.”

I let out a long sigh, wondering how the fuck we got on that subject when the point of the meeting was supposed to be about the hidden biomass inside Tillia, something way more serious than indulging in our exhibitionism kink.

I was about to try and get the meeting back on track when Eve put her hand up to stop me, “Tillia, we’re not here for that now, but just so you know we actually would be interested in involving you in our exhibitionism kink sometime in the future. Of course, the rules would be the same as they were with Kianna; you could only watch, no touching at all.” Eve confirmed.

I turned a glare towards Eve, “Seriously?”

Tillia nodded and smiled brilliantly, “Oh, I’d be totally down for that.”

I turned to Tillia, “

Really

?”

Tillia giggled a little, “What? You should hear the way Kianna talked about it; I’m

dying

to see it all firsthand!”

I pinched the bridge of my nose with two fingers, wondering if I was the only sane person aboard

The Radiance

.

“Oh please, you love the idea.” Eve said, biting my ear playfully.

I shook my head slowly, “Time and place, sweet-thing, time and place…”

Tillia laughed again, but it settled into a sigh, “Alright, so really, what’s the point of this meeting? Is there an

actual

emergency?”

I looked up at Tillia, then back to Eve, wondering how we should proceed. Eve stared at me with a questioning gaze, leaving it all up to me to deal with the people as usual.

“Okay Tillia, I’m going to be completely honest with you; the court martial with high-command did

not

go well.” I titled my head to show her my neck, “You see this? That’s a bomb they implanted in me; a failsafe to the failsafe they called it, a way to control me and Eve.” I explained.

Tillia’s eyes grew wide, she was genuinely surprised, “Are you

serious

? How could they justify something so

horrible

? Are you sure it’s real, not just some scare tactic?” She pressed.

Eve nodded, “It’s real, I fully inspected it myself; it’s wrapped around his cervical spine, and any attempts to dislodge it will detonate it, killing us both.”

“We’re completely bound to the Empire’s will now, the Predazoan asset and handler stuck as slaves to fight against the rest of the Predazoans—forced to clean up their messes or die if we resist.” I added.

Tillia shook her head slowly, “No, there must be a mistake, there’s no way that would be legal—”

“And yet you were fine implanting the failsafe in my core when I first arrived aboard

The Radiance

. What makes this so different?” Eve asked levelly.

Tillia smiled apologetically, “Look, we could have any long discussion about ethics and sentience versus sapience, but back then we all only saw you as a biological weapon. We had no idea you would evolve into a full person like you are now; there’s quite a few of us who regret the failsafe.” She insisted.

“Too little too late, I’m afraid, and now we’re bound in chains—

explosive

chains.” I added.

Tillia turned to me, “Please, Adam, I had no idea something like this could ever happen.” She shook her head quickly, “We could file another grievance, this time—”

I held up my hand to stop her, “Whatever you’re thinking would probably only harm us more; the Lord Generals made it clear we’re military assets firmly under their control, and that’s not about to change anytime soon.”

Tillia really did look distraught over the whole thing, and it made me feel better seeing an Imperial researcher horrified at how the Empire was treating us, made me think we could maybe still count the researchers as our allies after all—some of them at least. Although I knew there wasn’t much they could do to help us now, but collecting allies might just be the first step to freedom.

Tillia nodded once, “Alright, then is there anything else I can do to help?” She said, showing surprisingly strong determination.

I held Eve’s hand up, “Another thing they did to control us was contain Eve within an intrinsic inhibitor field, ever heard of it?”

Tillia shook her head, looking down at Eve’s hand, “Can’t say I have.” She reached forward to touch Eve’s skin experimentally, “Feels like there’s some sort of barrier around her.”

Eve nodded, “There is, it keeps me completely contained within my physical body; I can’t unleash any biomass outside of myself now.”

Tillia looked up, clearly confused, “What,

why

? That’s like one of the Predazoan’s greatest powers.”

“Exactly, a power too hard to control. Remember how easily Eve took over

The Radiance

—with a bunch of invisible spores in the air? High-command was worried she could do that again—or worse.” I explained.

Tillia tilted her head back and forth, “Yeah, I guess. But it also drastically reduces their greatest asset’s power.”

Eve snorted, “Try telling them that.”

“Here’s the thing, Eve can’t manifest or manipulate anymore biomass, unless it’s

already

outside her body.” I said.

“Right, so does she have any biomass stores around

The Radiance

or something?” Tillia asked.

Well, here would be the big question, to see how Tillia would accept having Predazoan biomass hidden inside her, and if she would be okay with helping us out and keeping it all secret.

“Yeah, Eve has one store of extra biomass now.” I pointed to Tillia, “It’s inside you.”

Clearly, that was the last thing she expected to hear, “Wha—

me

? Why me?” She asked, looking like a mix of a deer in headlights and a gaping fish.

I gestured for Eve to explain herself, and she just sighed, “It was back on Entana, I wasn’t sure if you were going to be a love-rival or something, so I implanted some biomass inside you to…

spy

, I suppose.” She shrugged, “I ended up just leaving it inside you on the off chance it would come in handy someday, and here we are.”

Tillia still looked confused, “But I’ve had routine medical exams, and the doctors haven’t found

anything

unusual; everything’s been clear every time.”

Eve waved it off, “This was just a simple store of biomass, obviously I had it all properly camouflaged to look like normal revoran cells—mostly blood, it’s always the easiest to mimic.”

I held my breath, waiting to see how Tillia would take it, hoping she wouldn’t scream and run for the nearest security officer.

Instead, she just laughed, shaking her head, “By the gods Eve, you would do just about anything to keep Adam, wouldn’t you?”

Eve smiled, wrapping her arms around my neck, “Absolutely.”

Tillia smiled brightly, “Alright, you can have your biomass back—not like I could even stop you, I’m sure.” She held up a hand, “But I have a few conditions to buy my silence.”

I let out a quick sigh of relief, happy everything was going well so far, “Oh yeah sure, name it.”

Tillia gestured to me, “I want to have sex with Adam.”

“What?”

“

What

!?” Eve shrieked, growling low in her throat.

Tillia held her hands up quickly, “Holy shit, I’m joking!” She giggled then, “Sorry, I was just kidding around, had to say it—see how Eve would react.”

We both looked over to see Eve glaring at Tillia, a quiet growl still in her throat.

I gave Eve a little squeeze, “She was just kidding Evie, a joke between friends, alright?”

Eve shook her head slowly, her eyes still locked on Tillia, “I didn’t find it funny at all…” She grumbled.

I chuckled then, “No, but your reaction was.”

Tillia leaned forward, putting her hand on Eve’s knee, “Seriously, Eve, I would never try and get between you and Adam, I was just trying to break up the tension, alright? Have a little bit of fun.” She grinned, “And maybe get a little revenge for you hiding

biomass

inside me.”

Eve finally relented and let out a big sigh, “Okay, I’m sorry I hid the biomass inside you too…” She said, sounding like a little kid in trouble.

I was surprised how well Tillia was handling Eve, almost like she was treating her like a kid sister.

Tillia leaned back, “Alright, so my

actual

conditions for giving it all back nice and easy; I want to know what it’ll be used for.”

I quirked up an eyebrow, “Want to make sure we won’t use it as a weapon against the Lord Generals?”

Tillia shrugged, “It might not be

my

biomass, but it’s inside me, and I’d like to know it isn’t being used as a weapon or something.”

Eve nodded once, “We’re going to use it to strengthen Adam’s body, increase his strength and speed.”

I shrugged too, “I feel like I’ve been pretty useless in these missions so far, and between fighting the Predazoans and the Empire, it’s way past time for me to start pulling my own weight.”

Tillia tilted her head to the side, “You’ll still be human though, yes? Still be you?”

“Absolutely, I would never want Adam to be anything other than human; he might end up more a superhuman, but he’ll still be human overall.” Eve clarified.

Tillia nodded as though she agreed with our reasoning, “Alright, and the last thing I’d like to know is why tell me about the biomass? Why not just take it away from me in secret so I never knew it was there in the first place?” She asked.

Again, it was time for another explanation from Eve. She let out a quick sigh, “I implanted the biomass in you over a longer period of time and several different meetings; there’s enough in there the removal will be noticeable.” Eve smiled apologetically, “I’m afraid it will be rather unpleasant.”

Tillia sighed then, “Yeah, I kinda figured that was the case.” She looked between the two of us, “Anything else before we get started?”

I looked to Eve who watched me with a curious expression, then turned back to Tillia, “So far, you’re the

only

person who knows all this; the only one who knows about my failsafe, Eve’s inhibitor field, your secret biomass and what we’re going to use it for.” I grabbed one of Tillia’s hands, “Please, for our safety, keep it secret.”

Tillia’s expression was quite serious, and she gave me a determined nod, “I promise, everything that happened here will stay between us. I’m not some clandestine agent, not a soldier, and I’m certainly not okay with how they’re treating you. Whatever happens from this point on, you two can count on me for support.” She said earnestly.

I smiled and released Tillia’s hand, then turned to Eve, “Alright?”

Eve nodded, then got off my lap and had Tillia stand before her, “I would advise you to not tense up, try to keep your body loose while I remove the biomass.”

Tillia nodded, suddenly looking quite nervous. But she was determined, and that gave her courage, “Okay, I’m ready.”

Eve nodded and placed one hand on Tillia’s chest and another on her forehead. They held their positions for a few silent moments, made me wonder what Eve was actually doing. Then suddenly, Tillia arched her back so far it seemed like she would snap in half. She started making horrible retching and coughing noises, then Eve moved her upper hand in a pulling gesture as a stream of black and red biomass started coming out of Tillia’s mouth. The biomass solidified into a softball sized sphere in Eve’s hand, and once it was all out, Tillia collapsed to the floor, coughing and dry heaving.

I knelt down to check on Tillia, but she waved me off as her dry heaving stopped and she slowly got the coughing under control.

“I’m…I’m okay, really.” She said, then had another short coughing fit.

I helped Tillia onto the couch, then rushed off to get her a glass of water from her kitchenette. Tillia downed it like she was dying of thirst, then almost collapsed onto the couch, letting out a loud groan, “Holy shit, ‘

unpleasant’

? That was horrible!”

Eve smiled sheepishly, still holding onto the biomass sphere, “Sorry, I tried to remove it as carefully as I could.”

Tillia raised a hand up weakly, “If you have any lingering animosity for me, I’d say that should more than make us even.”

Eve smiled fully at that, “Deal.”

Tillia leaned up so she could see the biomass sphere, “Damn, all that was inside me?”

“Hard to believe.” I said.

Tillia gestured to me before she settled back down on the couch, “Going inside you next, big man.”

Eve looked at me, her expression showing obvious concern, “Yeah, and if you think it was unpleasant to remove, Adam, you have no idea how much it will hurt to implant it inside you.”

“Wait, really?”

Eve nodded, then made her way over to hug me with her free arm, “I’ll still comply with your wishes, but I want you to understand when I say it’ll unmake and remake you, the pain would be comparable to dying and then coming back to life.” She warned me.

Eve held up the biomass sphere, a simple orb that could give me untold power, but at the cost of unimaginable pain.

But I knew there was no backing down now; same as Eve would do all she could to protect me, I knew it was time for me to step up and accept the challenge, to achieve the strength to protect her too.

In order to free us from the Empire, there would be no cost I wouldn’t be willing to pay.

I looked to Eve, my own gaze burning with determination, “Let’s do it.”