Volume 5: Gamma-20, Chapter 5.38

Eve didn’t spare a single moment, opening her mouth so wide she was able to consume Gamma-20’s entire biomass core in a single bite.

“What—

sister

?” Gamma-20 stammered. She lifted her hands and watched as they darkened, turned hard and brittle, and then turned to ash—quickly followed by the rest of her.

I looked down as I watched Gamma-20’s ashen remains collapse into themselves, then looked up to see if the miracle before me was real.

“Eve?” I could barely breathe—could hardly believe what I was seeing.

Just a couple feet in front of me stood Eve, in her outrageously beautiful humanoid form that made her look like a goth alien princess, wearing her normal black, organic leathery dress. She seemed a little different though, despite the anger in her eyes; she seemed calm and serene, and I could feel a strange energy radiating off her that caused the hair on the back of my neck to stand up—as though she was more dangerous than ever before.

I didn’t know what happened while she was trapped in void space, but it definitely changed her—made her more powerful.

Eve’s face broke out with a wide smile, and she looked like the same silly, beautiful girl she always was.

“Sorry I’m late darling—had trouble finding the place.” She said sweetly.

I shook my head and tried to stand up, “Eve, I can’t believe—”

Eve rushed over to help me, “Fucking bitch, I can’t believe what she did to you.”

“No, seriously, Eve, what are you doing here?” I pressed.

Eve looked at me as though I’d said something unreasonable, “Why, coming to rescue you of course.” She started leading me forward, holding me up under my good arm, “Which way is the med bay? We should try to heal you before—”

“Eve, don’t you have any idea what’s going on?” I waved around vaguely to the warning lights, “We’re about to be pulled into a void singularity; we’ve only got an hour to get to safety.”

Eve nodded along, “Yes, but you have a shuttle waiting for you, right? Better to get you healed first before we head over there.”

I just couldn’t believe what was happening—Eve appearing like it was nothing. None of this made any sense, and I couldn’t help but wonder if I was dead after all.

Eve rolled her eyes, “You’re not dead, silly. A lot’s happened to both of us, but we’re both alive and finally reunited.”

My eyes grew wide, and I stopped Eve to look at me, “Holy fuck, did you just read my mind? Did you find a way to break free from the inhibitor field?”

Eve frowned at me, then pushed me forward to keep walking, “Not exactly, but I’ll explain everything once we get you to the med bay.”

My mind was reeling to the point I was starting to feel a little dizzy. I looked down to see Eve still had the collar and shackles that generated the inhibitor field, and that weird staticky barrier was still hovering over her skin.

Eve escorted me to the med bay (probably reading my mind so she knew where it was), then laid me down on one of the beds.

“Eve, please—”

Eve shushed me by placing a delicate finger on my lips, then she leaned down and kissed me tenderly, being surprisingly gentle. The kiss was strangely warm, and it seemed to spread throughout my whole body, almost making me feel feverish before it finally settled down and dwindled away.

“I love you darling, more than you’ll ever understand, and I missed you so much I could hardly stand it. The only reason I prevailed is with the sole thought I would see you again someday.” Eve told me quietly.

I nodded, “I love you too, I just can’t believe you’re here now after so long.” I tilted my head to the side, “How long was it for you?”

Eve turned and grabbed the medical laser gun that could zap away wounds and brought it over towards me, then started working on my injuries.

“I don’t know, time moves differently in the void…but it seemed like a very long time…” She said in a quiet voice.

I reached up and put my hand on her cheek, “Evie…”

Eve nuzzled her face into my hand, then grabbed my wrist and pulled it away, “Adam, I’m going to have to ask you to do something that’s quite difficult, and then I’ll explain everything that happened in void space, okay?”

I nodded, “Yeah, sure anything.”

Eve took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, “I need you to be careful how you touch me for a while, okay? I need you to…keep your distance.”

I was more than surprised by that request—offended actually; all I wanted was to hug and kiss Eve over and over, to never let her go, and yet she wanted distance? I couldn’t help but feel like my heart had just fallen onto the floor and was stomped on.

“Really? What the hell happened in the void for you to need such a change?”

Eve gestured to herself, almost looking anxious, “Trust me, I’m not going to like this anymore than you are—in fact I hate the idea already.” She turned to me, “But when I was trapped in the void, cut off from my power thanks to the inhibitor field, the only way I could escape was to reconnect with my void soul.” Eve smiled then, “Ready for a fun Earth movie reference?”

I just nodded.

Eve gestured forward, “Remember how in the third Matrix movie, Neo was able to connect to the Matrix even when he was in the real world, the theory was he connected to the Matrix

wirelessly

.”

I quirked up an eyebrow, “So you’re connected to the void wirelessly?”

Eve smiled, “Yes, exactly; I have external access to an abundance of void energy, able to connect with my void soul despite the inhibitor field.”

I shook my head, “Then why aren’t you able to disable to inhibitor field now that you can control your void energy.”

Eve sighed, “Because the controls to the inhibitor field are locked

within

the inhibitor field itself, and my void energy can’t penetrate it or manipulate anything inside it.”

I sighed too, “So we’re still fucked.” I looked back at her, “But what’s that got to do with keeping our distance from each other?”

Eve finished with the medical gun, then moved to a drawer to pull out a few square chrome patches. She put one on my left bicep and shoulder, and two over my ribs. A strange warmth seeped into my skin, and then a few moments later the pain was gone and it felt like things were put back in place. I started flexing my arm, but Eve held my hand to stop me from moving.

“You’re not fully healed yet; those patches just realign your fractured bones. You’ll need to keep them on until you’re properly healed.” She explained.

I nodded, “Okay, and back to my question?”

Eve looked away, “Adam, not being able to touch you has been the worst kind of torture, and all the teasing not-touching with the inhibitor field between us has only made my desire for you grow stronger without any proper release.” She turned back to me, “Right now I’m like a livewire of pure power—a conduit for my void soul; I honestly don’t think I’ll be able to tolerate the teasing any longer.”

I cocked my head to the side, “What do you think would happen?”

Eve shook her head slowly, “I think I wouldn’t be able to hold onto my power—kill you, kill me, kill all of us really.”

I quirked up an eyebrow, “All of us?”

Eve half-smiled, “It’s just not something I’m willing to risk now, not when we’re so close to freedom.”

My eyes grew wide then, “You have a plan?”

Eve smiled brilliantly, “Yes darling, I had more time than you can imagine to plan it all out while I was trapped in the void, and I’ve come up with a way we can finally be free.”

I smiled too, “Seriously? That’s amazing, what do we need to do?”

Eve held up one delicate finger, “We wait, darling.”

I recoiled at the idea, “Wait, seriously?”

Eve smiled mischievously as she tapped my cheek with a couple delicate fingertips, “You just need to wait and trust me, can you do that for me?”

I crossed my arms, not really liking the plan so far, “I guess…”

Eve trilled a cute little giggle, then pulled me up from the cot before pulling her hand away quickly, “Alright then, let’s hurry up and deactivate the shielding so we can escape.”

I walked along behind her, still astounded at all the new developments, “Wait, how do you know what I need to do here?” I shook my head quickly, “Hang on, how the fuck did you get back to regular space inside the ship with active repulser shielding?”

Eve turned to me with that playful smile, “Trade secret I’m afraid, you just have to trust me for now.”

It was then I realized what she really meant; I just needed to trust her to do everything because I was useless compared to her—not trustworthy to carry out the plan apparently.

Eve’s expression immediately softened and she looked quite worried, “Adam, you know that’s not true; I trust you with my life—my

soul

.” She insisted.

I rolled my eyes, “I forgot how annoying the mindreading could be.”

Eve trilled another giggle, but then grew serious once more, “Adam, I’ll just say this about the plan; pieces and parts are already in motion, and before long it will all come to fruition, we just need to make sure we don’t alter its current course.”

I was about to protest, but then I remembered way back when, Eve told me she fell in love with me because she was

always

in love with me; the void was a weird space where time blended together, which meant she wasn’t so much working on a plan now, she was simply letting the future unfold which would lead to our freedom.

Eve nodded along, “Right, you’ve got it.”

“How long do we have to wait?” I asked.

Eve smiled, “Not long, darling, not long at all.”

I sighed then, “Considering how relative time is to an immortal Outsider god, I don’t know how much of a comfort that is.”

Eve’s eyes twinkled with amusement as she put a finger to her lips, then started skipping back towards the command center so I had to jog to catch up.

“And you really won’t tell me how you escaped void space?” I pressed.

Eve rolled her eyes, then walked backwards into some weird black vortex that suddenly opened behind her, then simply disappeared.

“Eve? What the fuck?”

“Here, darling.” Eve said behind me in a singsong voice.

I turned to see Eve just a few feet behind me, a playful smile on her face.

“What, you can teleport now? Open your own warp gates?” I asked, moving forward to hug her without thinking.

Eve placed a finger on my chest to keep me away, “Something like that, more like warp

corridors

really.”

I looked down at her finger keeping me away and couldn’t help but sigh; I missed her beyond belief, but this was how we had to be now? I didn’t know how long I could last like this.

Eve sighed too, “I must seem like a terrible girlfriend now.” A tentacle manifested from her shoulder with a mouth on the end with full, pouty lips and an eager tongue, “I can still take care of your desires; I won’t allow you to go unsatisfied like me.”

I shook my head quickly, “Eve, it’s not just that; I want to hold you, to hug and kiss you, to cuddle you—to share myself with you, All this time apart I’ve felt so lonely, and now you’re here but at a distance?” I rubbed at my eyes in a frustrated gesture, “Talk about torture.”

Eve retracted her slutty mouth-tentacle and looked at me with a sad expression, “I’m sorry…” She said quietly.

I shouldn’t take it out on Eve—it wasn’t like she wanted this either. No, we were a team and needed to work and support each other no matter what. Even if I couldn’t touch Eve now, that would eventually pass once we were free.

I just needed to trust her.

“No, I’m sorry Evie, I can’t even begin to imagine how hard it’s been on you all this time with the inhibitor field.” I offered her a small smile then, “Whatever you need from me, I’ll do it.”

Eve smiled then, eyes shimmering with that same adoration that made me feel like I was the most important person in the world, “Really, you’re okay?”

I nodded, “Yeah, maybe we can make a game out of it or something—pretend we’re Amish or Mormon or some shit.”

Eve trilled a cute giggle once again, “I love you Adam, forever and for always.”

“I love you too Evie.”

“Warning! Warning! 10 minutes until imminent collision with gravitational anomaly. Warning! Warning!” The robotic alarm rang out.

My eyes grew wide then, “Oh fuck, we need to hurry!”

Eve and I quit our flirting and rushed off to the command center. I saw the deactivation lever was still ready, but when I put my hand on it, I paused and looked at Eve, “Hey, shot in the dark, but I don’t suppose you’d be able to stop the void singularity and save

Jessipie-90

, would you?”

Eve smiled apologetically, “Sorry darling, not with only 10 minutes to work with.”

I shrugged, “Oh well, worth a try.” I said, then pulled the lever.

Warning messages started lighting up on all the computer consoles in the command center saying the defense system was down.

“Alright, now let’s hurry up and get to that shuttle.” I said.

Eve nodded once, “Right behind you, go as fast as you can.”

After spending almost two hours on the ship, I couldn’t even imagine what the crew on the shuttle thought I was doing—and then suddenly at the buzzer I came through and completed my task. Maybe they would assume I got in a fight with Gamma-20 or at least a remaining drone form—or maybe they thought I’d want one last robot massage or to have a few drinks at the bar before we’d all be crammed up in the shuttle for several cycles.

Either way, I just had to pray they wouldn’t leave without me.

I made it to the shuttle bay in no time at all and could see Zyno and Reim were waiting by the open airlock on the shuttle, watching and waiting for me.

Zyno was waving me forward, looking beyond desperate now, “Adam, what the fuck, hurry up and—is that fucking

Eve

!?”

Reim’s jaw dropped, “The missing

girlfriend

?” She squealed.

I waved them off quickly, “I’ll explain later, hurry up and get inside!”

Me and Eve rushed into the shuttle to the central room where everyone was waiting for us.

“Cutting it a little close, don’t you think?” Gadow said, then gestured to Eve, “And who the hell is this?”

Zemman came rushing forward, “Gadow, seriously, we can’t find Durgo anywhere.”

Lummy shook her head, “We don’t have time to send anyone else back on

Jessipie-90

to look for him.”

I moved around all of them to look into the cockpit, “Willa, hurry up and get us out of here!”

Willa looked more than confused, “What about Durgo, shouldn’t we—”

I waved my hands around wildly, looking like a crazy person, “Dead, he was assimilated by Gamma-20 all the way back in the storage tanker.”

Willa’s three eyes grew wide, “Truly? But what about—”

“Talk later, fly now!”

“Warning! Warning! Two minutes until imminent collision with gravitational anomaly. Warning! Warning!” The robotic voice announced from back inside the shuttle bay.

After hearing that, Willa knew there was no time to waste. She disengaged the shuttle from

Jessipie-90,

activated our repulser shielding, and then flew up and around the deep space freighter.

It seemed like we were moving far too slowly now, and then I saw we were actually getting pulled backwards—towards the singularity.

“Everyone buckle in, things are going to get nasty!” Willa yelled, not bothering to use the overhead speaker.

I sat down in the copilot chair, and Eve came to stand behind me—having no problem remaining upright even with all the turbulence.

“Engaging G-drive!” Willa announced, pressing a few switches, then pulled down a lever.

Our momentum going backwards was immediately reversed as we shot forward into G-drive, and out the cockpit viewport I could see we were in the weird, shimmering tube of various starlight colors.

We successfully escaped the void singularity.

“Alright everyone, we made it…” Willa sighed, sounding like she’d just finished running a marathon.

Everyone cheered from the back room, and I turned to see Eve with a brilliant smile on her face.

“Seems like you all had quite the adventure.” She said mildly.

I smiled too, “Maybe I’ll tell you about it sometime, sweet-thing.”

Eve laughed, but it turned into a sigh, “No time like the present, darling.”

I got up from my chair, ready to have some private time with my immortal, Outsider god girlfriend—

“Adam, seriously, you wanna maybe tell us what the hell happened back on

Jessipie-90

?” Zyno called out.

Me and Eve laughed together then.

“Well, I guess we can all tell you the story together when I introduce you to the crew.” I reasoned.

Eve nodded along, “I’d like that.”

Together, we got up and joined in with the survivors of

Jessipie-90

. Gadow had snuck a few bottles of alcohol onboard the shuttle, safe ones everyone would be able to drink.

I told the crew the story of how Durgo turned out to be Gamma-20 in disguise and how we fought and I almost won, and then how I almost died until Eve showed up to save my sorry ass. Of course that was the most unbelievable part, and I came up with some lie she’d used experimental teleportation technology, obviously wanting to keep the truth secret.

I don’t think anyone actually bought my lie, but it seemed like I’d earned enough respect to the point they simply let it go for now.

From there the crew asked Eve about the secret mission she’d been on, and of course she told them it was secret for a reason, so she wouldn’t be able to tell them anything, much to their disappointment and even frustration.

I might’ve earned the crew’s trust, but it was obvious the others were barely hiding their suspicions about Eve. Hopefully being trapped in such a small space for several cycles, I’d figure out a way to remedy that—keep the peace with all the survivors.

Still, despite how insane everything got in the last hour, the mood remained strangely light; it was as though it took a while for it all to sink in what actually happened, and while we started off celebrating how we managed to survive, after a couple hours the reality of what we survived seemed to finally hit everyone.

People lost friends and lovers, 20 years of work wasted—careers possibly destroyed. And now we’d be drifting through space for several cycles on end, hoping we’d have enough supplies to make it to a rescue station, or lucky enough for another vessel to pick us up.

Zyno got right to work on the communications system then, knowing if we relied on luck we probably wouldn’t make it.

As for me, I found a quiet corner on the shuttle where Eve and I could talk in private. I told her about the mission and how I managed without her—not well, obviously. She was impressed by what all I accomplished on my own, but in the end I still needed to be saved by her.

We had to talk more about this new distance between us as well; we wouldn’t be able to kiss unless it was a quick peck on the cheek, and hugs or any kind of full embrace were definitely out of the question. Holding hands would be rather limited as well, only in the event we needed to lead the other somewhere quickly—to move them out of the way, otherwise we needed to keep our hands to ourselves. No surprise at all, but sex was totally off the table for now, although Eve once again offered to get me off with her tentacles whenever I was feeling pent up.

It was a hard conversation to have, and neither of us were happy about the new arrangement, but it was something that had to happen. We then spent some time coming up with a way to turn it into game, maybe pretending to be a shy couple of teenagers in their first relationship, but nothing we workshopped seemed to fit right; it was going to suck no matter how we tried to play it.

It was almost impossible to wrap my head around everything that happened; Eve reappeared after a couple of cycles trapped in another dimension at the

perfect

moment to save me, filled with this new power and new restrictions on our relationship, it just seemed so weird. Honestly, she seemed a little different too—more than just distant, the way she looked at me and watched me. She used to look at me and smile like a schoolgirl, now she looked at me like a predator, watching my every little movement without sparing time for extra or unnecessary words, it was all quite unsettling.

I couldn’t help but think over what Gamma-20 said about her plans, collapsing warp gates and destabilizing them into void singularities, and then of course she mocked me for underestimating what the Predazoans could do. Despite all the time I spent around Predazoans, I hardly knew anything about them still—and that seemed to include Eve as well.

Eve said I just needed to trust her, that a plan was unfolding and I needed to let it happen. Well, when exactly did that plan start? Was the plan in effect now that she returned from the void, or had the plan been active even before she was contained in the inhibitor field?

Even more worrisome, did her plan start all the way back from her time on Earth?

I loved Eve, and I really did trust her, and more than anything in the universe I just wanted to be together—to live our endless lives together, going on different adventures across all the galaxies. But something had changed between us, something so big I couldn’t even begin to quantify it, and there was just one nagging thought I couldn’t get rid of no matter how hard I tried.

What if that wasn’t my Eve who returned from the void?

Volume 5 End