Mar 8
Commission for @ambidexhex’s warriors sci-fi au: Warriors: Into the Cosmos with the og three :DDD
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from Spain
seen from Morocco
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Iraq
seen from India
seen from United States
seen from Russia
seen from Hong Kong SAR China
seen from Singapore
seen from Mauritania
seen from Albania
seen from Argentina
seen from Germany
seen from United States
seen from Ukraine
seen from Malaysia
seen from Sweden
Commission for @ambidexhex’s warriors sci-fi au: Warriors: Into the Cosmos with the og three :DDD
⸻𝐒ystem 𝐁reach - p.js
For you, survival has been defined by underground clubs and velvet-lined rooms—until a noble fighter pilot books a session and crashes into your world with a classified mission...and a way out.
pairing: park jongseong x fem!reader
genre: science fiction, smut
This content is only for readers 18+
word count: 13K
content warning: themes around sw, power imbalances, voyeurism/ hidden cameras, brief violence, emotional manipulation, dystopian themes, fictional military presence, characters with trust issues, and explicit sexual content. smut warning: fingering, oral sex (f. recieving) overstimulation, praise kink, creampie, mating press, doggy, dirty talk, softdom!jay, strangers to lovers.
soundtrack: house of balloons/glass table girls - the weekend
✩⸻[ 𝐂atalogue. ]
4012 PW Year 4012, Post War Planet: Evara Red Sector
The concrete was already broken beneath your feet as you stepped out of the dressing room.
Another night, another gig, another round of humiliation.
It's not like you had a choice.
Dollars were worthless on Evara. Your body can take you farther than any amount of credits you could scalp.
The nightclub's electronic music made the ground thump. Rain pattered against the roof, the small pattering sound the only thing grounding you in reality.
The smell of alcohol and cologne filled the halls. It wasn't even eleven, and the place was already packed.
Neon lights flickered in the dark. All shades of red, blue, and green alike as you pushed your way through the crowd.
"You called me in?" You replied as your hand rested on the doorknob to your boss's office. He ran this place like the Navy.
After all, no happy customers meant no payout for you.
"I was wondering if you were going to quit on me. You had me scared shitless." Your boss Jaxus chuckled as he spun around in his chair. Holograms and surveillance cameras flickered against all four walls.
"You're my best girl…I can't lose you. You have the best reviews for business." He snickered as his clammy hand thumped against your bare shoulder.
You winced, putting on a fake smile as he circled your nearly naked figure.
"You've got a sixty-minute appointment in Room Ten. Already prepaid." He continued, his gaze slipping all over your form before he sat sharply back down at his desk.
"Seems like he's a promising client. Deep pockets if you know what I mean." He continued, taking a swig of the alcohol resting casually on his work desk.
"I see." You continued, adjusting the small straps of your outfit, your mind already racing with possibilities of who could be on the other side of that door.
"I want you to make it count." Your boss replied, then gave you another sinister smile. He ducked his head, digging through the drawer of his desk before casually tossing you a key.
You caught it between your two hands. Jaxus was always the old-fashioned. No screens, no biometrics. Just old-fashioned silver keys.
You glanced down at the metal between your trembling fingertips. The key had a small piece of paper attached to the ring.
ROOM 10
You sucked in a deep breath before glancing back at your boss.
"I'll make it count." You choked out, forcing another fake smile.
"I know you won't let me down."
You shut the door behind you with a soft click. The club already seemed to have more and more people filing in as the sky grew dark.
You walked down the dark halls, dimly lit to set the mood for the paying clients.
You squinted, letting your eyes adjust to the dark you rounded the corner to the biggest of all the rooms.
Room 10.
You adjusted the wrinkles on your costume. It showed off far too much. The blue glinted and sparked in the wake of neon.
You've been in this business long enough to know that blue on weekends tends to bring in the most return on investment.
With a tremble in your throat, you guided your hand to the door. Knocking softly three times just to be safe…
And when you heard nothing in response you shoved your key into your bra and stepped into the dark room.
It was dark, velvet lining the walls as couches and furniture alike filled the expanse of the room.
"Hello? Are you at my 11:00?" You called out before stepping into the room and locking the door for good measure.
"That would be me, yes." A soft voice called out from the other side of the room.
A young man sat with his hands between his legs, fully clothed in a large velvet chair.
At the sound of his voice, you automatically snapped into working mode. If you wanted a way out of this hellhole you were going to have to earn a substantial tip from him.
"Hey, soldier." You replied, biting your lip as you practiced so many times before.
A practiced smirk tugged at your painted lips as you slowly looked him up and down.
The last name ‘Park’ was embroidered across his chest. The uniform hinted that he had to have been some type of military—
Your boss wasn't lying about his pockets being deep.
"Pilot actually." He chuckled nervously, and a deep rose flush spread across his cheeks as he glanced at you.
His eyes lingered on your form, the expression on his face only confirmed your theory about the blue.
Then he shook his head, forcefully tearing his gaze away.
"What are you here for, pilot?" You replied flirtatiously as you stalked closer. Inhaling his scent as you swung a leg over his lap.
The pilot gasped, his hands hesitating over your waist as he looked at every corner of the room, his gaze completely avoiding any aspect of you.
"This—is not what I'm here for…" He choked out, his voice gruff as your hands slid playfully down his chest
"You paid for sixty minutes? I was just giving you five-star service." You purred, letting your fingertips play with the zippers of his fighter suit.
"I told you that's not what I'm here for." He whispered again. His hand gently prying yours away from his body.
Your brows furrowed with confusion. Not what he's here for? This had to be some kink or—
"I'm serious," he replied. Finally tearing his eyes away from the background to meet your own.
Your jaw clicked as his hand gently wrapped around your wrist. The pilot let out a soft sigh before releasing his grip on you.
"Then why—"
"Why am I here?" He interrupted, flashing a dangerous smirk before letting his hands fall by his sides.
"You can drop the noble act now," You replied. Letting your fingertips twist and tease at another zipper of his suit.
"It's not an act—" he replied, breath hitching as your thighs slid tighter around his hips.
"I'm not here to fuck," he replied, his breath hitching as your fingertips dropped the zipper.
"You must be new here," You replied softly, your jaw locking as the words left your mouth.
Selling your body was the only way to survive. It's the only life you know.
Evara was a sick and twisted place, it seemed like no matter how big the tip, no matter how many sessions it was still never enough.
The pilot saw your persona crack, his brows furrowed as he let his hands rest weakly at his sides.
"This place isn't—wait," The pilot replied, his hands swiftly moving to rest on your lower back just above the glitter of your costume.
His breath came in short pants, and you felt his heart beat picking up beneath your palms.
Your skin ran hot as the pilot pulled you close. Spreading his thighs even further apart with a needy shiver.
His breath ghosted across your neck, and on instinct, you pulled your hair out of the way like you'd done with so many clients before.
"Cameras…" the pilot whispered, his hands shaking as they roamed across your skin.
Your heart nearly dropped. Cameras? This was supposed to be a private room—one of the benefits of the high price.
"Left corner…someone's watching." He replied, letting his hips grind up softly into yours.
His gaze moved just slightly as he caught the tiny red pin light flashing in the corner.
You didn't look, if you turned your head and acknowledged it, that would expose the act.
With a shiver down your spine, you fought your instincts to look over your shoulder. Instead, your hands flew to the pilot's shoulders.
"They must be onto me," he whispered as he slid his fingertips through your hair. His lips still ghosting across your scorching skin.
"Who's onto you? You really aren't from here? Your uniform—" You stammered out, letting out a sigh you could hold back as his fingertips slipped through your hair.
"Yeah my ship's broken down…" He whispered with a husky tone as his hips barely lifted enough to give the cameras the illusion of a man shamelessly indulging in pleasure.
"What kind of ship?" You asked leaning down like you were whispering something filthy in his ear.
The pilot smiled, letting his hands gently hover across your sides.
"A Stellaris One Eleven,” he whispered, choking on a moan as he pulled you closer.
The two of you were focused on making the session believable. The desperate touches, the soft moans loud enough to cover the intel.
"You’ve got to be shitting me," You replied. A Stellaris One Eleven? His pockets were deep. Those ships were incredibly rare that only a small batch was even manufactured.
"Yeah she's taken me this far—" he replied smirking dangerously against the skin of your collarbone.
You sucked in a breath as you felt the faintest brush of his lips against your chest.
"So why are you here of all places?" you asked curiously, trying to hide the furrowed brow of your concentrated expression.
"Parts…I need to replace the Xelcore in my ship," he replied.
"And a man like me doesn't know a place like this. But you do," he whispered. Breath hitching with a soft roll of your hips.
"Ah—you need someone with street knowledge to help you get your ship repaired?" you replied letting your lips linger on the skin just beneath his ear.
"Exactly…and trust me I know you don't work for free," he replied with a deep chuckle.
"I see." You pondered on every what-if crossing your mind. What if it's a trick? What if this oh so noble pilot is using you for something else?
"Name is Jay.” he replied. His voice softer, less structured as he pulled away from your skin to glance into your eyes.
He looked up at you with a boyish smirk. You scanned his perfectly ironed collar, his darkly styled hair. That innocent yet noble grin was stuck on his face.
Men like him didn't come around often, especially ones looking for help.
"Jay,” you whispered, letting the name drop from your lips like sweet honey.
"You help me fix my ship, and I swear I will fly you anywhere in the galaxy you want. No questions asked," he replied starkly.
Your knees clamped down tighter against the outside of his thighs. With a sharp breath, you rolled your hips against his lightly.
Jay glanced into your eyes as your hands rested on his broad shoulders.
The two of you had to keep up the act.
Jay sensed the slight tremble in your fingertips. You never had nerves like this with other clients but with his proposition and the cameras—
"You can touch me more. Just like you would your other patrons,” Jay whispered, biting back a moan as your hips sank onto his lap. The warmth of your body and the pressure of doing things he'd hate to admit.
"You'd really get me out of here?" you whispered with a crack in your voice. You leaned in, letting your fingertips pull down the zipper of his suit.
Jay threw his head back as you teased him. His cheeks flushed red as he fought everything you were doing to him.
The sound of the zipper was loud in the quietness of the room. The only thing overshadowing it was the sharp pants you strategically used to cover up a whisper.
"Once that ship is up and running. The galaxy is the limit," Jay whispered huskily as his hands slipped dangerously low across your back.
"I can tell you're a smart girl. You deserve better than this. I can only imagine what the men do to you here,” Jay added weakly. Letting his eyes flutter open to glance at you on top of him.
"It's just business," you replied. Grinding on his lap without a second thought.
Jay opened his mouth to speak, the words started to grow harder to come by.
"We've still got time, I booked sixty," Jay gasped, his fingertips tightening around your waist as you seductively moved over his lap.
"So pilot…you gonna tell me where you're really from?" you asked curiously, letting your gaze darken to keep up the act.
You swear you could feel his heart skip a beat against your fingertips. Jay looked up at you, shooting back another weak smirk before he continued.
"You ever heard of a place called Soren? Red sector…run by the Stargate Corps." He panted, choking on a moan as he forced himself not to look away.
"Soren…" you whispered in reply. The name sounded so foreign on your tongue. Your abdomen tightened as you rolled your hips against his with practice.
"All structure and rules…it's nothing like this place,”he replied. Letting his grip tighten on your hips.
"I see," You murmured. Hesitating just enough to stop the roll of your hips.
"So you'll see it's important that I get that Xelcore as—fuck" Jay cursed, his chest rising and falling in time with his sharp pants.
"Sorry,” you whispered, slowing down your movements to dull the heat.
"I—I need to get that Xelcore as fast as possible," Jay replied, sharply clearing his throat as he glanced into your eyes, convincing the cameras and maybe himself—that your performance was affecting him.
You leaned in, letting your lips brush the sensitive skin beneath his ear. If you were going to help this pilot, you had to keep it classified from Jaxus, and whoever else was watching from behind those cameras.
"The Erisline. It’s night market. We'll meet there tomorrow night. I can help you find a Xelcore. There are all kinds of vendors looking to trade anything for parts,” you whispered, nearly kissing his soft skin as you spoke.
Jay's grip around you tightened, the tips of his ears flushing a hot red, his body language emulating the illusion of dirty words being spoken into his ear.
"I need your contact, in case I get lost trying to find you," Jay whispered back, letting his hands slide up your back to tangle in your hair.
You hummed softly at the gesture before snapping yourself back into reality. His touch was a performance, and as was yours.
"Before you leave tonight, meet me at the bar. I'll give you everything you need to know," you replied breathlessly. The adrenaline is already pumping through your veins like a high.
Jay exhaled, letting his shoulders physically drop as you whispered into his ear. He couldn't help but let out a shudder of disbelief. Of all people, he was trusting you to get him out of this hellhole.
He lifted his head from your shoulder, once again meeting your gaze, whispering with a determination that only one of Soren’s best men could build.
"I trust you."
+++
That was the longest sixty minutes of your life.
Never in all your years at The Estelle have you ever encountered a client like Jay.
The second-hand effect of the drugs must be getting to you.
Of course, you gave him 5-star service just like you promised. You swore beneath the intel and the illusions, there was something warm, something real beneath his touch.
But you couldn't think about that, especially not after you got yourself tangled up in his mess.
Among all the floating questions in your mind, one kept repeating over and over again.
The fucking camera.
How long have you been being watched? Months? Years? Just the thought was enough to make your pulse rush.
The sharp sound of your hand against the cold metal door to Jaxus' office snapped you out of it. If you were going to get to the bottom of this, it had to be discreetly.
"There's my girl…" He purred as you pushed open the door. He sat staring at the security monitors of The Estelle with his ankles crossed on the desk.
You rolled your eyes, wanting nothing more than to scream at him to cut the bullshit. Room 10 wasn't supposed to have surveillance—ever.
"You were right about my last client, the pilot," you replied, swallowing sharply as he lifted his gaze from the screens ahead.
"He tipped you well, I assume?" Jaxus replied, trying to fight a mischievous grin tugging at the corner of his lips.
"Very…" you replied with a weak laugh of disgust.
Jaxus stood up from his desk, towering over your figure as he stepped closer.
"Good. I expect nothing less from you," Jaxus replied, flashing you a filthy smile as he held your gaze like a challenge.
You held his gaze, your brows furrowing as the muffled sound of the club continued from behind the door.
"Since when does Room Ten have surveillance?" you asked firmly. The words were strong as they left your tongue before your mind could catch up.
The grin on Jaxus' face only grew; he snickered before erupting in deep laughter at your proposition.
"Smart girl…" he chuckled, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye before he rounded the desk.
He threw his feet back up on the countertop before turning the computer screens so you could see clear as day—
Jaxus was watching the entire time you were locked in the room with Jay.
"You sure did give the fella a run for his money…" he chuckled as he lifted his fingertips to the screen before rewinding the footage.
Your heart dropped to your stomach as the video played back. You watched part in horror, partly in awe. There's no way anyone would suspect that Jay was there for anything other than indulging in desire.
"You have another client at one," he replied, flicking off the video with the wave of his hand.
"I know you won't disappoint me."
The second the door to his office clicked shut, you ran to the dressing room. Everything felt hot, too hot.
The rough sequins of your outfit were tearing at your skin, and the smell of alcohol was making your thoughts cloud.
You couldn't do this, not again, not anymore. It felt like the world was crashing in, and Jaxus had you under the grip of his thumb.
Even if you ran out tonight, Jaxus would find you and drag you back to The Estelle before you could miss a client. There had to be another way out—
With a shuddering breath, you wiped your tears, careful not to ruin your makeup.
You had to help Jay find the Xelcore.
+++
Just as promised, Jay met you at the bar. Jaxus didn't even bat an eye; it wasn't a rare occurrence that clients would come back for seconds.
You carefully slipped him a Rad-Chip with your info and directions on exactly where to meet.
No longer dressed in sequins that barely covered your assets, you waited patiently for the pilot to appear.
With the flick of your wrist, you checked the time. 17:06.
He's late. Probably lost his way.
Just as you reached into your pocket to contact him, the sound of glass breaking made you flinch.
Immediately, your survival instincts kicked in. Petty fights broke out in the Erisline all the time—but things were better safe than sorry.
"Lay it off man! I was just looking!" A familiar voice caught your attention from between the brawl.
Jay.
You immediately followed the sound, boots sharp against the concrete as you weaved in and out of the crowds.
"Hey! Hey," you called out, standing on your toes to catch his attention from the crowd.
"She with you?" the merchant asked, still visibly frustrated with the clean-cut pilot in front of him.
"What's going on?" you replied, flashing Jay a weak smile as you saw the merchant's assortment of rusted artifacts and otherworldly charms lying on the concrete below.
"Hey…" Jay smiled, clearing his throat nervously before turning back to the merchant.
"This is my fiancée…I swear I was just looking for her, I didn't mean to upset you." He replied kindly.
"Fiancée? Jay, what are you—" you growled as Jay immediately put his arm around your waist lovingly.
"You owe me two thousand credits! You touch you buy!" the merchant replied.
Jay forced a smile before wrapping his arm even tighter around your waist.
"Yeah, not gonna happen," Jay replied, leaning in before whispering…
"Run."
You didn't hesitate, your hand reached down to grab his own before you dragged him back into the crowd.
The air was hot as you pulled Jay through the sea of people and merchants. With practiced ease, you navigated the aisles of the Erisline.
Once you couldn't hear the shouting and cursing of the less-than-satisfied merchant, you pulled Jay into a dark, secluded alley.
"Why can't you just follow instructions!" you breathed out, playfully shoving his chest as he stood there with an open jaw.
"What? You told me to meet at the north point! How was I supposed to know 'you touch you buy?' What kind of rule is that?" he defended.
With a deep sigh of frustration, you pulled away, putting some distance between the two of you.
"Just—follow my lead before this place eats you alive," you replied. Before you could reach out your hand, you were hit with hesitation.
Jay smiled, laughing off the tension as he slipped his hand in yours. Warmth flowed throughout your body at his touch, but you tried to hide it.
There was a mission to focus on.
The two of you weaved in and out of the dark market. Like always, it was crowded and noisy. Full of others scavenging for anything of value they could get from the merchants.
"So fiancée, huh?" You replied, trying to ease more of the tightly wound tension between you and the pilot.
"I panicked. Didn't want to blow your cover or anything," Jay replied. Lingering a few paces behind as you searched for the mechanics section.
"Smart…you're catching onto how we do things here," you replied, failing to hide the smile tugging at the corner of your lips.
The air lingered heavy between you; your feet were light against the ground as you led Jay further into the dark market.
Every few paces, you glanced back, finding his expression layered with confusion.
The sound of Jay clearing his throat immediately grabbed your attention.
"So, um, I'm assuming this guy doesn't take credits? How exactly are we gonna pay for this?" Jay questioned, jogging to catch up with your swift pace.
"I've got exactly what we need, so…don't worry," you replied sharply, continuing to weave in and out of the growing crowd.
The sound of welding tools and the beeping of unusual tech signaled you were close to the mechanics alley. Shouting and music lined the streets as you started to scan the booths for a Xelcore.
More and more people started to file into the market. As you pushed your way through the crowd, Jay’s warmth soon was swiped away from your back.
"The hell?" you muttered, viciously turning over your shoulder to find him being dragged further away from you by the crowd.
"Jay!" you called out, the air in your lungs growing tight as you fought through the sea of bodies.
He didn't respond so you kept pushing. Stepping on merchant toes until you finally caught sight of him.
"Jay! Take my hand!" you cried out, your muscles painfully straining as you reached out.
With a sharp gasp, you felt his hard grip. Your fingers tightened around his own, your back muscles burning as you pulled him through the crowd.
"Don't let go," you commanded as you dragged Jay through the thick of the crowd, your grip staying closed tight until the crowd started to thin.
You pulled Jay off the main walkway into a dark corner of the market. Standing chest to chest as the two of you ached to regain a solid pattern of breathing.
"I was not expecting that," Jay breathed out, hesitating to let you go after what the two of you just experienced.
You felt the rise of your chest meeting his own as air finally started to fill your lungs. With a deep exhale, you finally were able to meet his gaze.
"The sooner we get out of here, the better. At least one of these merchants has to have an Xelcore, or at least one we can fix up," You replied, desperately fighting the warmth burning at the base of your neck.
You could almost feel Jay’s breath against your skin as the darkness closed in.
"Sorry, I just needed a minute. I almost died back there," Jay choked out as he stated the obvious.
You chuckled weakly at his words, your heart aching with the truth of it.
"That's Evara for you, and not even the worst of it," you replied, letting your voice trail off into nothing.
Jay's eyes widened as you laced your fingers tighter between his. Giving him a soft smile as you pulled him from the shadows back into the market.
"Come on…we've got a Stellaris to fix."
+++
Finding a booth that sold Xelcores was like a breath of fresh air.
Of course, what you needed was tucked away in the shadows, the merchant eyeing you and Jay as you strolled in.
"Hello?" you called out, flinching as the merchant stood up from his seat.
Jay lingered behind, squeezing your hand tightly for reassurance.
You cleared your throat, pulling your shoulders back, and you spoke up.
"I'm looking for an Xelcore, specifically one to power a Stellaris one eleven class?"
The merchant snickered in your face, letting out a deep, depreciating chuckle before he lifted his gaze to meet your own.
The darkness in his eyes made your blood run cold. Impatiently, you shifted on your feet, waiting for a response.
"A Stellaris One Eleven? You're in luck, Missy. I've got that class of Xelcore out back."
You tried to contain your excitement as you just subtly stepped closer. His warmth was soothing; you could nearly feel his breath against your neck.
Butterflies erupted in your stomach, and a tingle went down your spine. This really could be your one-way ticket out.
"But….you know those ships are super rare, it's a hefty price. And I don't do credits, you hear?" the merchant replied. Leaning back in his chair with a snicker.
With a trembling hand, you reached into your coat pocket. Pulling out a small green microchip.
"I know. That's why I came prepared with an offer," you responded deeply.
The merchant lifted a brow as you stepped closer, stopping right at his feet. You extended your hand. Offering the chip.
"Premium uncensored content from the Estelle. 6 hours, 8K detail," you replied, extending your hand further into his space.
"A limited edition microchip programmed for viewing on any device," you choked out, the air swirling heavy in your lungs.
"You won't find content like this anywhere else on this planet," you concluded with a firm stare.
The merchant grinned from ear to ear at your offer. He let a laugh rumble deep in the back of his throat before standing up from his chair.
His footsteps were heavy as he closed the distance, arching over to get on your level.
"You have yourself one hell of a deal."
+++
With the Xelcore now in your possession, you were able to sneak out the back of the market to avoid the crowds.
You kept the tech dry beneath your coat as it started to rain. The pattering against the pavement was just enough to keep the racing thoughts from taking over your mind.
Jay lingered next to you, his hands shoved deep in his pockets, his lips sealed on a tight line.
The tension between you crackled even hotter than the lightning above.
After a quiet moment of distant brawls underneath the rain, Jay stopped dead in his tracks.
"What the hell was on that microchip?" Jay demanded, his voice deepening as he glanced down, avoiding your gaze completely.
"Jay, don't," you pleaded, holding the Xelcore tighter against your chest as your pace came to a stop.
"This can't be happening I—I can't let this happen," Jay replied, pulling off the dark hood of his coat, letting the rain drench his hair dark as midnight.
"Can't let what happen?" you huffed out with annoyance.
"You just sold…fuck." Jay cursed out, his voice quivering as he struggled to voice his words.
"You just sold yourself for a part," Jay whispered, the words lost between a statement and a question as he finally lifted his gaze.
Your heart sank at his expression, pain, hurt, and confusion all wrapped up into a wet, rainy mess.
You whispered, your voice teetering on the edge of combustion.
"You got what you wanted, didn't you?"
Jay's eyes grew glassy as he closed the distance in short strides. The rain only poured harder. The neon reflected off the dark oak of his eyes.
"No. No…If I knew—I wouldn't have. I can't believe—" Jay replied, the words getting jumbled in his throat.
Before you could speak, his arms were wrapping tightly around you. His chin rested on your head as the rain poured. The hard, cold metal of the calcite stayed pressed tightly between your bodies.
"I asked Jaxus for the footage of Room Ten. That's what was on there," you whispered before leaning into his embrace.
"No…no why…you shouldn't have done that for me," Jay choked out painfully, holding back the tears threatening to spill.
"It was the only thing I had to give a man like that," you replied painfully, tears starting to swell in your own wide eyes.
Jay leaned in, his hands sliding to your wrist as he backed you against the brick wall of the alleyway.
He leaned in, tense. His breath ghosted across your cheek as the rain only continued to pour. Thunder crackled around you, making the ground shudder beneath your feet.
"I have to get you out of here. I swear to god, I'm gonna get you out," Jay panted, his breath shaking as his lips leaned closer to yours.
Your arms tightened around the cold Xelcore between your bodies. His touch felt different in ways you couldn't quite name. It was messy, it felt almost real.
With a groan of disappointment, Jay pulled away. The cold air of the storm is putting even more distance between your bodies than you could see.
"My ship is docked not far from here…" Jay whispered huskily, his fingers fidgeting in his coat pockets until some of the tension was clear.
"It's about five allopaces away. If you want to join me, it's dry and warm," Jay invited.
"And I can probably get this Xelcore installed tomorrow, and we'll be out of here in the next forty-eight."
You looked him up and down, scanning the way the rain fell across the sharp features of his face. This time, he extended a hand. An offering.
And you'd be a fool not to take it.
+++
You sharply woke to the tinged sound of metal against metal. You adjusted to the darkness, unsure of where you must have knocked out.
The air was sterile, recycled. You sat up in your seat, noticing the low aluminum ceilings of the hangar. Red pin lights blinked down the hall as you took in your surroundings to the left and right. This had to be the Stellaris. You were still with Jay.
The sun started to filter into the narrow windows of the angled body of the ship. You spotted the door. Noticing a small lever blinking next to the frame.
The exit.
You reached out, hesitating for a moment before wrapping your fingertips around the lever. With a sharp exhale, you pulled it down. Stepping back as the door opened with a sharp hiss.
The bright light of the sun made you squint as you marched off the ship. Take in your surroundings. Still on Evara, the city is still hustling in the distance.
"Jay?" you called out. Keeping your senses sharp as you rounded the ship. The scale was massive, and the design of the ship was definitely of foreign taste.
You couldn't help but run your fingertips across the body of the ship. The navy blue paint shimmered in the sunlight.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," Jay replied, wiping the oil from his hands as he rounded the ship with a smile.
The second he came into view, your heart skipped a beat. It was so quiet, you could almost hear it.
"You didn't wake me," you replied casually. Letting your eyes rake up and down his figure.
The navy blue of his flight suit was now tied loosely around his waist. The thin white tank was covered in remnants of grease and grime as it clung tightly to his figure.
Jay's lips tugged into a smirk as he noticed your eyes lingering on the faint line of his abs beneath his shirt.
You let out a huff of disbelief as you found yourself unable to glance away from the curve of his shoulders.
"You're staring," Jay pointed out with a grin.
At his words, you felt your blood run cold, caught in the act.
"I wasn't! I'm sorry—" you murmured. Trembling over your own words as you fight for an excuse.
"Don't be," Jay interrupted. His boots were heavy against the ground as he closed the distance between you.
"I've got everything ready, I just have to screw the core into place," Jay announced firmly. His expression was serious as his hands reached out to gently glide down the outside of your arms.
"So we're really doing this," you nodded, feeling a tight knot in your throat as the reality kicked in. The reality that you'd been dreaming of for years.
"Yeah…anywhere you want to go, I'll take you," Jay smiled. His eyes never left the pained expression on your face as he took both of your hands in his own.
He stepped closer. The air between you was heavy with a brick of tension as he closed the small distance. You could smell the faint scent of oil grime and beneath it, something uniquely his.
"I don't even know how to thank you," Jay confessed. Letting his hands slide from your shoulders to instead cup the sides of your face.
His touch sent a rush of warmth throughout your body. Never in all those years at the Estelle did a man touch you like you were fragile.
You opened your mouth to reply. Like always, to brush off the weight of his words, but this time they got caught in your throat. Your lips parted as you felt the distance between you shrinking by the moment.
Your touch was a confirmation in itself as your hands slid to once again tangle in his dark hair. Jay smiled. The sight of that slick made your heart shudder at the sight.
Keeping your eyes locked on his, you leaned in. Pulling him closer by the neck until you could feel his breath ghosting across your lips. Electricity crackled between you as your heart thumped loudly in your ears.
Jay's hands pulled you closer, so close you could feel his breath hitching as his lips found yours.
You melted into the kiss, letting your eyes flutter to focus on the feeling. With a slow, heavy beat, his lips moved against your own. Tasting and committing every breath to memory.
"I can't go back to Soren.." Jay whispered, capturing your lips again between words.
"Not since I've met you."
"God…" Jay muttered breathlessly against your lips. Kissing you one last time before resting his forehead against yours.
His hands slid down your sides, resting at the curve of your hip before he spoke again.
"There's a planet in the blue sector. Callysten. I've been there on a few missions," Jay whispered, his breath mingling with yours as he pulled you in closer.
"It's nothing like here, nothing like Soren. It's peaceful, beautiful. All violet skies and green mountaintops."
"I could build us a house, a warm cabin. You wouldn't have to think about sessions or services ever again. It would just be you and me."
Your heart trembled in your chest. The beats were heavy as you struggled to catch your breath.
Callysten. A home, light-years away from this god-forsaken place.
"You'd really give up everything?" you choked out. Your voice was cracking under all the pressure that had been building up since the moment you met.
"In a heartbeat," Jay replied, flashing you that daring smile that was warm enough to knock you back on your feet.
"You're good at this," you replied. Letting your fingertips mindlessly trace across his chest.
"Good at what?" Jay questioned with a deep rumble in his throat.
Your head was reeling with thoughts as you finally met his gaze. Focusing on the softness of his expression in the midst of the chaos.
"Pretending you care."
The words hung heavy between you. Jay winced, his grip around your waist loosening before he pulled you in tighter.
"Pretending? Is that what you think this is?"
His touch was tender as his fingertips slid up your back, tangling in the base of your hair as he glanced into your eyes.
You let out a shaky breath, but you couldn't help but lean into his touch and warmth.
"We've only just met…" You whispered from the back of your throat.
"I don't care. I'd burn this entire galaxy if that's what you wanted," Jay murmured, leaning in to slowly capture your lips again.
"I'd kill for you. Jaxus, I'd make sure another one of his slimy fingers ever touches your skin again," Jay gasped, kissing you between the heat of his words.
"You're crazy," you gasped, chuckling with disbelief at the darkness of his confession.
"Never said I wasn't," Jay murmured, kissing you again as a deep moan escaped his throat.
"Want me to show you how bad I care? How much I want you?" Jay gasped, pulling away to rest his forehead against yours once again.
"Tell me I'm not the only one who wants this," Jay whispered, softly guiding your hand to rest on top of his chest.
His heart thumped beneath your fingertips, his breath already growing short…
You swallowed sharply, taking a deep breath before you met his eyes.
"You're not the only one."
+++
Jay's mouth was hot against your own as he dragged you into the hangar. His large hands gently held your thighs as he closed the distance between the door and the bed.
"Careful, it's a tight fit." Jay chuckled as he guided you down onto the slim mattress. Slowing his pace as his hands rested on either side of your head.
The flimsy bed creaked beneath the combined weight. Jay's hands moved with intent, finding a place against your hips as he settled between your thighs.
"Oh fuck…" You cursed at the friction, lifting your hips to meet his own in search of that spark again.
Jay's lips tugged into a smirk as he glanced down at your figure. Already hot, already burning. Your expression was tinged with pleasure.
"It's just us. No cameras, no sessions, just you and me," Jay beamed. Leaning in to kiss you, smiling against your lips.
His fingertips lingered across your waist before he sat back on his heels. Lifting the thin fabric of his tank up and over his head before crashing his lips back into yours.
You panted against his lips as you kissed. Letting your hands slide across the perfectly tan skin of his shoulders and chest.
"Oh my god…you just know how to unravel me," Jay muttered breathlessly. Your fingers slid with a mind of their own, gently tracing the waistband of his pants before dipping lower.
Jay let out a pained hiss laced with pleasure. His breath grew short as you gently ran your fingertips over the weight of his confined length.
Just as you started to tease him, his hand gently wrapped around your wrist in protest.
"I don't want you performing…" Jay whispered, gently kissing the side of your neck before speaking again.
You froze, the words hitting you hard like nothing else before. With a heavy beat, your heart thumped heavily in your chest.
After a moment, Jay released your grip, continuing to kiss and caress your body like a fragile piece of glass.
You leaned into his touch, learning—feeling what it's like to be in a man's arms without a price tag.
His fingertips tugged lightly at the edge of your pants, his own breath grew heavy and labored as the tiny space heated up.
"Can I touch you some more?" Jay gasped, his fingertips trembling as they waited for permission.
Your arms wrapped around his neck as you nodded. Spreading your thighs apart as his hand dipped beneath.
A light gasp escaped your lips at the gentleness of his touch. His fingertips experimentally brushed between your folds. Gathering the droplets of arousal and spreading them throughout.
Jay panted against your neck as his thumb found your clit, gently working small, steady circles on top of it.
The bundle felt euphoric beneath his touch. You gasped, thighs buckling as he circled your clit just right.
With a soft hum, Jay kissed you again. Letting his lips capture your own, slow and deep, as his fingertips teased your entrance.
He gasped into your mouth as he felt you already dripping. His fingertips teased your slick hole, hesitating before dipping inside.
You whimpered at the feeling, your body tensing at the intrusion before letting go.
You fell back against the pillows, holding your thighs open as Jay explored the mess between them. Gently pumping his finger in and out with a carefully practiced pace.
All you could focus on was the weight of him above you and the feeling of his fingertip inside you.
"Can you take more?" Jay asked, lifting his head to see your reply.
"I can take anything you give me," you replied, letting your eyes roll back with pleasure as he swiftly stuck a second finger into your heat.
Jay moaned at the wet sensation, gasping as your arousal coated his fingertips, threatening to drip down his wrist without stopping.
"Fucking perfect…you're so fucking perfect," Jay stuttered, groaning as he slipped a third finger into your soaking heat.
You gasped at the stretch, and the ache quickly subsided into pleasure as Jay thrusted into you faster and faster. The pad of his fingertips curving to brush against your G-spot with every pull out.
"Fuck…that right there—" you whimpered, feeling your toes already curling against the bed.
"Yeah? Right here?" Jay questioned. Letting his fingers slip deep into your cunt, before he angled them just right.
Pleasure shot through your body, your hips writhed beneath him as he applied more pressure.
"It's gonna feel so fucking good to be inside you," Jay smirked. Gently rubbing your clit before he completely pulled his hand from between your thighs.
"Jay…" You gasped.
He brought his fingers to his lips, closing his eyes as he tasted your lingering essence as it hit his tongue.
"Oh my God…" You murmured with disbelief, feeling how your own eyes widened at the filthy sight.
"W—what?" Jay questioned with a soft laugh, continuing to suck his fingertips clean before he tugged at the waistband of his pants.
The space was tightly cramped. You could feel his breath against your skin as he maneuvered out of the suit.
"You're fucking insane," you panted. Watching as he pulled the rest of his suit off before tossing it aside.
You could hardly process where his clothes landed before Jay's lips were back on yours. Hot and hungry, he let his hands lead with the same demeanor.
"Like I told you, I never said I wasn't," Jay groaned. The taste of you lingered on his tongue as he pushed past the seam of your lips, devouring you like he wouldn't get a second chance.
Jay's rough, calloused hands slid down your sides, his kisses growing more tender as he helped to strip you down.
It was a tight fit. Somehow between zippers and limbs, you finally felt him, skin on skin.
Jay lifted his head to glance into your eyes, his gaze lingering as he lifted a hand to gently push some of your hair behind your ear.
"You look beautiful like this," Jay murmured, his eyes softening as he finally took in every curve and inch of you. Completely open and completely his.
You melted into his touch. The combination of his warm skin and tender gaze made you feel something you couldn't quite name.
In that moment, it felt like time itself came to a stop. There was no Estelle, no Stellaris that needed repairs. Right then and there, it was just you, Jay, and the ever-shrinking space between you.
"Are you ready?" Jay whispered, his voice cracking slightly as he spoke. His touch lingering by your side.
"Yeah…I'm ready, more than I'll ever be," you whispered.
And with those words, you finally were loved instead of bought.
Jay shifted on top of you. Placing one last kiss on your already swollen lips before settling between your thighs.
The space was tight, but you made it work. Between harsh pants, you finally found the perfect angle.
The soft head of his cock rested at your entrance. Your hands flew to Jay's shoulders for support. He dipped his head, straining his biceps as he held himself up over you.
"I'm so glad I met you…" Jay whispered, letting the words hang in the inches between your skin before he pushed inside.
You couldn't help but let out a deep moan at how good the stretch felt. Jay pushed in softly, letting you take him sweet inch by inch.
Sweat ran down your back as you lifted your hips, letting Jay sink into your heat completely.
Jay bottomed out with a soft moan of relief, pausing for a second to revel in the feeling of your wet channel squeezing his cock.
"Goddamn…" He whispered, placing a quick kiss on your temple before he started to move.
He pulled his hips back, enough to leave the swollen head of his cock nestled inside you, before he pushed back in.
You gasped, gripping the muscles of his shoulders tight as he started to thrust with a steady rhythm. His cock felt all too heavy, leaving you nothing short of filled.
"So fucking wet, so fucking perfect—Oh God," Jay praised, thrusting into your cunt without a second thought in his mind.
"Jay…it's so full, feels so good," you muttered breathlessly. Letting your nails leave faint scratches across the curve of his biceps.
"Yeah? Feels good, doesn't it? You don't have to perform for me, you never have to," Jay whispered. Letting his cock drag relentlessly along the inside of your dripping cunt.
His words sent a spark of warmth straight to your stomach. Your breath hitched as your cunt clenched around him, pulsing with the need for more.
"Need you deeper—Jay," you panted, wiping sweat from your brow as the bedframe continued to bang against the inner walls of the ship.
"All you have to do is ask," he answered, resting his hot chest against the softness of yours as his hands slid down your body.
His touch lingered on the backside of your thighs before he lifted them, gently pushing your legs backwards towards your chest.
You moaned deeply at the stretch, letting his touch guide you as he fulfilled exactly what you needed.
The next thrust was deeper than before. Jay held you down, legs spread apart as his hips slapped against your own.
His cock slid into you deep, hitting spots you didn't even know existed. Sparking pleasured rushes you never experienced before.
Jay had you completely undone. Whispered curses left your lips with every brutal thrust. All deeper and harder than the last.
His cock twitched inside you, the edge of his length gently pushed against your cervix as Jay held you down with his strength.
"Fuck—Oh my God…" You whispered between moans of pleasure. You couldn't believe how euphoric it felt to be ruined by him.
Your body was completely relaxed in his presence; you dripped and dripped, your hot arousal soaked the thin sheets beneath you without a care.
"You close? I can feel you squeezing me so fucking tight, God…" Jay panted. Sweat dripped down his face as he continued. His movements picked up pace as he thrusted faster and harder into your heat.
"Yeah..fuck gonna come," you panted, seeing white stars behind your eyes as you threw back your head.
"Good fucking girl…"Jay panted, leaning down to kiss you again with just as much emotion.
The sound of your moans only climbed higher. Jay didn't stop, not for a second. Not when you were so close, and his stamina allowed him to keep going.
You gripped him tighter, pulling him into your chest as you teetered on the edge. You were so close—cunt aching and soaked from every piece of him.
Without another word, you came, crying out Jay's name against his skin as your thighs trembled beneath his grip.
The rush was strong as it overcame you, leaving your vision blurry and your body sensitive from the high.
The wet sound of his cock slowly sliding through your release echoed off the aluminum walls, mixing with the sound of your breath and moans.
Jay didn't stop; he couldn't. Not when you had him right on the edge, right behind you.
With one more powerful thrust, Jay buried himself deep into you, shuddering as he filled you with his release.
Your cunt fluttered as you felt him filling you with as much as you could take. Your release mixed with his, leaving a mess of relief and fulfilled desire between your naked bodies.
"Holy hell…" Jay gasped, shooting you a soft smile as he wiped a bead of sweat from your brow.
Your chest rose and fell as you ached for breath, your lungs burned from the exertion of it all.
"You okay?" you asked Jay, letting your gaze linger on the soft pink flush of arousal staining the apples of his cheeks.
"Am I Okay? I should be asking you that," Jay chuckled, placing one last kiss on your lips before he settled down on top of you.
He rubbed comforting circles across your skin as he clung to your body, basking in its warmth as the two of you stayed intertwined.
"I didn't hurt you, did I?" Jay whispered, his grip soft and firm.
"No, no, you didn't hurt me at all. It felt amazing…"
"Yeah? It did didn't it?" Jay whispered, placing a soft kiss on the side of your neck.
"Jaxus and the others…they'll come looking for me," You whispered, watching as the stars above glinted against the midnight sky.
"You're safe here, you don't have to worry about him or the Estelle," Jay murmured. Brushing another strand of your hair behind your ear.
"Tomorrow…we're getting out of here, and you won't ever have to look back."
You leaned into his embrace, letting the warmth spread throughout your heart.
This was your chance to really leave the Estelle behind.
+++
You woke to the soft hum of the Stellaris beneath you. Jay was still resting on top of your body. Stirring awake as the light filtered through the ship's small windows.
"Mornin…" Jay whispered. His voice was still gruff from sleep.
"Morning," you smiled. Yawning as you let your eyes adjust to the morning light.
Jay shifted on top of you, his skin still warm against your own as he let the blankets fall to his waist.
"You look beautiful like this…I can hardly resist you," Jay hummed, letting his hands start to trace your curves and lines.
"I don't want you to," you replied weakly. Already feeling the warmth from last night returning to your core.
"I like the sound of that," Jay murmured, smirking against your lips as he kissed you slowly.
His hands traced across your ribcage, his touch delicate as his hands slid down your body to grab your hips.
With a gasp, Jay broke away from your lips, his breath hot against your skin as he kissed down your neck.
Your body was hot with need as his lips traveled across your neck before landing between the weight of your breasts. Jay gripped you harder as he tilted his head, slowly lifting his gaze as his tongue gently brushed across your nipple.
With a soft cry, you arched your back, letting your fingertips tangle in his messy dark hair as his lips wrapped around the sensitive aching peak.
Jay let out a deep, satisfied groan as he started to suck, letting his tongue tease and flick across your breast.
Soft dark marks were left behind by his lips as he pulled away with a soft pop. Jay glanced into your eyes as he let his thumb trace across the path where his tongue had just been.
Pleasure raced through your body, leaving a warm knot of desire winding tighter in your core.
Your chest rose and fell frantically as Jay's lips closed around your other breast. Giving it the same attention as the latter, the tension pulls between you tight.
Jay didn't waste another second. Once your breasts were thoroughly marked to his satisfaction, he lightly kissed down your stomach, spreading your thighs apart with clear intention.
You shuddered as his warm breath hit the aching heat of your core. Already slick, your wetness dripping down the inside of your thighs.
You whimpered as Jay's tongue darted out for a taste, finding the evidence of desire lingering on your inner thighs. He moaned, savoring the taste as he cleaned the mess you had already made for him.
"Jay..fuck. Please…" You whimpered, core pulsing and aching with the need for any relief you could subsidize.
Your hands were still tangled in his messy hair, your touch was gentle as you guided him exactly where you needed him.
Jay groaned, a mix of equal parts relief and hunger as his tongue slid between your folds.
Your grip tightened around the dark strands of his hair as his lips slid between your slit, finding your swollen clit before giving it a teasing flick.
His eyes rolled back at the taste of your cunt—and at your desperate pleas for more that fell shamelessly from your perfect lips.
Your hips lifted to meet his mouth, his tongue working wonders as he sucked and lapped at your heat.
Jay's hands steadied your hips, pulling you into his face as he buried himself in your cunt.
His tongue slid from your clit down to tease your opening. He moaned at the taste of you, his movements growing all the more reckless.
You gasped as Jay's tongue slid into your hole, just enough to cover his lips in your sweet essence as he drank from you.
One of his rough hands left your hip to slide between your folds, gathering your clear arousal and spreading it throughout your lips.
Jay slipped his tongue into you once more, his fingers working in tandem, as he started to rub small, tight circles across your clit until you were shaking.
"J-Jay, I'm gonna—Shit," you panted as your hips grinded against his face. His tongue fucked into you relentlessly, and simultaneously, his fingers didn't falter their rhythm.
"Come on…come all over my face," Jay moaned into your heat. His voice was barely audible as his lips only left your body for a moment.
Jay rubbed your clit with more pressure, never faulting that perfect rhythm that had already gotten you so far gone.
You couldn't speak and you could hardly breathe as your orgasm crashed over you like a violent storm.
Your hips shuddered against his mouth, your thighs shook violently as Jay used his shoulders to keep you spread wide open.
Jay's tongue was relentless as he lapped at your core, letting his eyes roll back as you shuddered and clenched around his tongue.
His lips were coated in your clear release as he pulled away breathless, his eyes half lidded with untamed desire as your come dripped shamelessly down his chin.
You studied the scene in awe, the sight of your come dripping across his perfect lips, staining the elegant curve of his collarbone as it dripped further down his neck.
"You taste, so fucking incredible," Jay gasped, licking the rest of your glistening come from his lips before his hands were back on your body.
"Turn over for me," Jay commanded. His voice was still as soft as his skin in the morning light.
You followed his orders without a second thought, your body still weak from your release.
But there was still a lingering ache Jay was more than willing to fill.
Jay softly brushed your hair over your shoulders, his touch guiding as he pushed on your lower back, encouraging you to arch.
You let out a deep, pleasured sigh, feeling the stretch in the curve of your back as your chest met the damp mattress.
Jay kissed the back of your neck, his lips dragging across the edge of your shoulder as you felt his hips lining up with your own.
He guided his hard, leaking cock to your wet entrance, notching the head inside your heat and gripping your hips before he started to push inside.
You sank into the bed, body spent and weak, as Jay started to thrust into you from behind.
"God…you're unreal, so fucking unreal," Jay gasped, letting his jaw drop as he held you softly by the waist.
The sounds of his deep moans mixed with the wet sounds of his body inside yours.
Jay thrusted deeper, letting his grip tighten as you sank helplessly into the sheets.
You cried out, gasping as he continued to thrust into your welcoming heat. Your fingertips gripped anything you could reach: the headboard, the blankets left on the bed.
Your fingertips slid beneath the pillows, brushing against something foreign.
"You're taking me so fucking good," Jay praised. Completely lost in all the pleasure you were giving him.
As your face was buried in the sheets, your fingertips wrapped around the metal, some kind of plug or chip?
You could feel your stomach churning as your mind raced with thoughts. He couldn't keep things from you, right? Not after—
"Wait, Jay, stop," You whispered, completely breathless, as a cold chill ran down your back.
"Sorry, sorry, was I too rough?" Jay asked innocently. Letting his touch linger as he pulled out of you from behind. His expression was laced with concern.
"No, no, it's not that," you panted, turning over your shoulder to face him, the chip still in your grip.
"What's this?" you asked sternly, leaving no room for rebuttal or bullshit.
The color drained from Jay's face in an instant. For a moment, he froze, then he ran his calloused hands through his messy hair.
"It's nothing, you—you weren't supposed to find that." Jay groaned. All of a sudden, his gaze was everywhere except on you.
"So you're lying to me?" you choked out, all of a sudden feeling more exposed than ever as you lay naked beneath him.
"I'm not lying to you," Jay replied, taking a deep breath to keep himself from raising his voice.
"Then what is it?" you asked weakly, holding back tears and biting your lip to distract you from the pain starting to swell in your chest.
"It's a Kryss Chip, okay? It's meant to self-destruct after the intel reaches the receiver," Jay confessed.
"You told me your ship crashed." You shot back, fighting back the burning tears starting to pool in the corner of your eyes.
"I did crash!" Jay replied, his voice rising an octave as he forcefully gripped the sheets on either side of you.
"Soren sent you? You—the Estelle none of it is a fucking accident," you huffed out with disbelief, choking on a sob as you wiped your tears with the back of your hand.
Jay's expression fell as he watched the tears; he raised a hand, gently wiping your tears with his thumb.
"I—I couldn't have told you, I still can't tell you," Jay confessed.
"Why? What on this planet is so confidential that you have to keep it on a Kryss Chip?" you asked weakly.
"Surveillance, infrastructure, clear maps, and data on every entry and exit point," Jay replied.
"This planet—It's falling apart from the inside out. You know that."
You paused, heart aching at the truth. You wanted to sob, wanted to scream, but your expression stayed nothing but blank.
"Soren wants to take the city without leveling it—Men like Jaxus, they're the first target," Jay replied.
"So you used me. All so Stargate can come in and play clean-up crew," you huffed, completely in disbelief that you would let yourself get fooled so easily.
"Look…" Jay pleaded, taking your hand, holding the Kryss chip before bringing it to his chest.
"This mission, it was everything to me," Jay whispered, his own eyes going glassy as he held back weak tears.
"Was?" you questioned, your voice so quiet it could barely be heard over the low hum of the Xelcore.
"Yeah, was. Not anymore," Jay confirmed.
"This place is not exactly like I was told. I see people, people like you, just trying to put food on the table and make it to the next day."
The silence hung heavy between you.
"Evara won't stand a chance against Stargate. You know that as much as I do," Jay added.
"I do," you replied, heart softening at his confession.
"If I destroy that chip before the intel gets to Soren, they'll come for me, they'll come for you, too. And the clean up won't be pretty."
"I meant it when I said I can't go back to Soren. The lies, the schemes I—I don't want to be a part of it anymore," Jay confessed. A few stray tears started to run down his cheeks as his hands slid back down to your waist.
"I want a life with you, away from all of this. Mornings where I can hold you in my arms without worry," Jay cried out.
"I—I don't know what to do. But I'm going to get you out of here. I swear on my goddamn life," He whispered.
"How am I supposed to trust you now?" you choked out, the words feeling like sharpened barbed wire across your throat.
"I don't know. But I'm not running, I'm not going to leave you now. But that life I promised you on Callysten? I want nothing more than you at my side as my co-pilot, building something worth fighting for," Jay replied.
You shuddered as he cupped the side of your face, glancing into your eyes, heart heavy with apology and a heart aching for forgiveness.
"What about the Kryss Chip? Should we destroy it? You said the aftermath won't be pretty," you replied. Watching the gears physically turn in Jay's head.
"If I tamper with the data before ending it…it'll at least buy us time. Stargate will find out eventually, but by then–we’ll both be gone," Jay replied. His chest rose and fell sharply as his forehead once again dropped against your own.
"How much time?" you asked, letting out a shaky sigh as your fingertips tangled once again in his dark, messy hair.
"Could be months, could be years. As long as it takes before they realize the code is scrambled," Jay replied, his breath mingling with your own as his hands slid down to softly grip your waist.
"So you scramble the code, buy us more time to figure out what the fuck we're going to do until this place is toast," You replied.
"Exactly that. Unless—You got a better idea?" Jay asked, forcing a weak smile.
"Funny. Be glad you're one of the smartest men I know," You replied, smiling as you glanced back up into his dark eyes.
"The smartest man you know…yet I'm just trying to fix the disaster I brought with me in the first place? Don't tell me the bar is in hell," Jay teased with a self-deprecating chuckle.
"Oh, the bar is disintegrated beyond hell," you replied. Letting out a breathless laugh before Jay joined you.
"You're one hell of a woman," Jay replied, leaning in until his lips barely brushed against your own.
He gently squeezed your waist. Permitting you to choose.
With a sigh of relief, you closed your eyes and kissed him.
"Oh, I'm one lucky son of a bitch," Jay cursed. Letting his grip tighten in you as he tilted his head. Smiling into another breathless kiss.
You kissed him back, unable to hold the grin tugging helplessly at the corner of your lips. You pecked his lips softly one more time before pulling away to tease.
"You're lucky I'm nice."
+++
The sound of the Xelcore humming beneath your feet was something you never imagined would become so comforting.
A reminder of how you got here and a testament of more to come. Jay sat in the pilot's seat as the rain continued to pour, water droplets echoing off the aluminum skeleton of the ship before they fell softly across the glass windows.
"How's the code scrabble coming along?" you asked softly as the door to the cockpit opened with a low hiss.
"Well, if I can get this right the first time. You can be out of here by morning," Jay replied. Not even glancing up from the screen of tech in front of him.
You smiled softly, leaning against the metal doorframe, wearing a pair of Jay's sweatpants and one of his loose shirts.
"And I just have to move this here—Interrupt this encryption and—" Jay narrated, as he typed against the neon board with precision.
"Done," Jay whispered, watching as the neon code flashed against the screen of the ship, the last word catching your eye…
**data.sectorb.evr. Recieved.**
"Sorry for the questions—"
"Don't be sorry," Jay interrupted, letting his shoulders visibly relax before the neon on the screen disappeared into black.
"How long until we have until that chip blows up in our faces?" you replied with curiosity.
"Maybe an hour if we're lucky," Jay replied, flashing you a soft smile before he stood from the pilot's seat.
"I programmed the Stellaris to take you to Callysten. You won't have to touch a thing," Jay announced, letting his hands slide down your arms before he laced his fingertips with your own.
The tone in his voice was stoic, his dark brows were knitted tight.
"What do you mean—You're not coming with me?" you choked out as you felt your hands already starting to shake.
"Listen—I have to stay behind. I have to know that this worked. And if it doesn't, it's my duty to figure something out," Jay replied.
"I have to do this…" Jay whispered, glancing into your glassy eyes as his hand gently cupped your face.
"You're my new mission."
You melted into his touch, feeling the warmth of his touch on your skin and the words as they melted your heart.
"I'll meet you on Callysten. I don't know how long until we'll be together again, but…I promise, I'll find you."
There was a quiet beat before Jay leaned in, capturing your lips, soft and slow. His lips moved with intention rather than passion. Gentleness rather than heat.
Jay hesitated before his lips slowly pulled away from yours. His touch lingered on your body as his fingertips gently held the back of your neck. His forehead rested against your own. Your breathing was the only sound in the hangar other than the soft hum of the Xelcore.
"I love you. I don't even know how it happened, but I do," Jay whispered delicately as the weight of the word hung strung heavy between you.
Your heart felt like it was going to race out of your chest. You opened your mouth to reply, maybe to confess how you'd grown to love him too.
You stuttered, your hands shaking in the firm grip of his as you leaned in and kissed him.
Words couldn't begin to explain how you were feeling.
A deep moan slipped from Jay's throat as he melted into your touch. He guided you backwards, pressing your back up against the aluminum walls of the cockpit.
His hands slid down your body before he gripped the back of your thighs. Jay lifted you against the wall, his firm grip kept you steady as he tilted his head before diving in for more.
The ground suddenly shook beneath your feet. Jay paused, helping you to find your footing as he pulled away with a sharp glance.
"The hell?" He cursed under his breath. His touch lingered on you for a moment before he slid back into the pilot's seat.
Just as he pulled up the ship's parameters, the alarm rang. The main lights of the Stellaris went dark, leaving only the blue glow of the emergency systems.
"Someone's here," Jay replied before pulling up a hologram of all the ship's cameras.
"Lower Bay, intruders, we have to move," Jay replied frantically, grabbing his small blaster weapon before he clipped it onto his belt.
"Who could have found us all the way out here?" you asked, brows narrowing with confusion as you stood helpless. Watching as Jay hit buttons and pulled levers that had no names.
"Don't know, I turned on the virtual tripwire just to be safe. Dammit," Jay cursed, frantically continuing to maneuver the controls until the ship roared to life.
"Jay, what are you—" You asked, feeling your heart sink into your stomach as a map of the red sector appeared in front of the glass.
"I need you to trust me. Sit here and when it's safe, pull this green lever. I'll start the automatic take off, and the ship will automatically coast towards these coordinates, okay?" Jay replied. He tried to keep his voice calm, but you could hear the panic beneath the facade.
"Jay, no. I've never flown anything before! I'm not leaving without you!" you sobbed as all the emotions of the past days and hours came down at once.
"You're a smart woman, I know you're capable of anything," Jay murmured.
"I swear on my life, next time we meet it'll be under violet skies," Jay whispered, choking back a sob before he pulled you into a messy kiss goodbye.
Tears ran down your face as you kissed him; the saltiness of your tears lingered on his tongue as he pulled away, giving you one last glance before he raced out the door and down the hall.
"Jay! Please! Come back! I'm not leaving you!" you sobbed as he disappeared into the darkness.
You steadied your footing, grabbing onto the doorframe for support before the Stellaris rocked under your feet. The soft humming of the Xeclore morphed into a vicious roar, knocking you clean off your feet.
As the ship began to prepare for takeoff, you crawled your way to the pilot's seat, your vision blurred by tears.
You gripped the steel arm of the chair, forcing yourself up with all your strength as the ship gained power for takeoff.
As you wiped your eyes, the projected footage in front of you became clear.
Jaxus. Of course, he'd come for you.
You watched in near agony as Jay met him outside the Stellaris. Your heart was sent into a panic as the ship started to lift.
**Initiate the assisted take-off protocol**
**Initiate the assisted take-off protocol**
The robotic voice boomed throughout the cabin. You wiped your tears, shuddering as you glanced back at the footage.
Jay had his foot on his throat, and his gun pointed straight at his head.
With a shuddering cry, you found that green lever, squeezing your eyes shut tight as you pulled it down.
A loud boom echoed throughout the cabin. Whether it was the ship or a gunshot—You would never know.
The ship immediately took flight, tearing through the rugged earth before you were airborne.
The force of the takeoff pushed you backwards, your bones dug into the harsh angles of the pilot's chair as the ship climbed further into the atmosphere,
All you could do was cry, from the heartache, from the pain of leaving Jay behind. For all the what-ifs that would break you more than that very moment.
And as the ship finally broke through Evara's exosphere, it slowed down to a coast, just like Jay promised.
The only thing you could think about is how he told you he loved you, and you didn't say it back.
+++
18 months later
You woke to the soft sound of cattle and chickens from your window. A faint lavender peeked through the curtains of your room as you adjusted to the morning light.
You stretched your arms over your head, letting out a deep sigh. Fresh mountain air filled your lungs.
As the light started to grow brighter, you swung your feet over your bed before you slowly dragged yourself to the small bathroom of your home.
Home, Callysten, was your new home.
You yawned as you glanced at yourself in the mirror. Feeling a small ache in your heart as you stared at the silver dog tags hanging loosely around your neck.
Jay Park: DOB 04/20/3989
You splashed cold, fresh water across your face. The slow mornings, the fresh air, the scenery—It was all him.
That day when you escaped Evara was a blur. You could only remember pieces and fragments of Jay, and of the escape.
You dried off your face, noticing how the cold water soothed some of the puffiness that was left there before.
You grabbed the silver between your fingertips. And with a heavy sigh, you brought the dog tags to your lips.
No matter how many days bleed into weeks and weeks into months…
You knew deep down he would come back.
+++
The quiet winds whipped around you as you quietly tended to your garden, built completely from the ground up. The food on Callysten was rich, fulfilling, vibrant. Nothing like Evara. Nothing on Callysten ever compares.
Never again did you have a man's hands on you as your mind went numb. Never did you have to fake your pleasure or lie to make it through another week.
A quiet hum pulled you out of your own mind. You glanced over your shoulder, squinting at the sun as you noticed something tiny in the distance.
Couldn't it be—could it?
As the ship squeaked and clamored as it came barreling into the atmosphere. You stood from your knees, watching as the wings barely withstood the re-entry.
The ship was coming down fast, uncontrollably so.
You felt a shudder go down your spine as you watched the pilot struggling to land with a broken wing. The ship swayed, only flying closer to the ground with no signs of stopping.
Before you could process what could happen, it crashed into the ground.
Your feet took off before your mind told them to.
"Hey! Are you hurt!" You shouted, running towards the scene.
The ship was already falling apart at the poorly welded seams. Smoke started to rise from the front and the back.
Before you could get an answer, a man was running straight towards you.
Your heart twisted as he called out your name.
Jay.
You ran faster, feeling the wind harsh against your face as you closed the distance.
Your beating heart nearly came to a stop as a pair of strong, familiar arms wrapped around your body.
The wind was knocked from your lungs as the two of you stumbled to the ground. Hands shaking and vision blurred by tears.
"How did you. How did you find me?" you choked out between a sob, lifting your head to glance into his eyes just to make sure this was the same Jay.
"I told you I would," Jay smiled, his breath shuddering as he took in your face.
You glanced back into his eyes. It was hard not to notice how badly he was beaten. A fresh scar cut across his forehead and into his brow. Deep crimson blood stained his lower lip, probably from the intensity of the crash.
"I promised you, didn't I?" Jay whispered, letting his forehead rest against yours like that night all those months ago.
"I love you," You cried, chucking weakly at the delivery and the confused expression that spread across his face.
"Wow, what did I crash into?" Jay smirked. Licking his lips before he leaned in, kissing you slow and deep to make up for all the lost time.
The kiss felt like eternity. Your fingertips tangled into his hair as you savored the metallic taste of blood and the same lingering sweetness as before.
"I'm sorry I should've told you—that day all that time ago," you confessed, only pulling away from his lips with enough space to breathe.
Jay smiled before he closed the distance again. Gasping as another moan got caught in his throat.
"I love you too. More than anything," Jay whispered.
"You found me…" You whispered under your breath with awe. More so to yourself than anyone else.
That familiar smirk tugged sharply at Jay's lips. He couldn't resist chasing your taste one last time before he broke away to whisper.
"Told you I would."
© brokenengene
kate's note: Thank you so much for reading!! I'm so glad to be back writing more regularly again. I hope you enjoyed this story! It's been in the work for some time, and I just love love love writing for Jay. I'd love to hear your thoughts in the tags or in my inbox! Like always, take care.
Until Next Time,
xoxo kate <3
𑣲 taglist: @aggarwaldrishti @kristynaaah @vanillaxbambi @ninistranaut @dulcetnostalgia @1-itsneverthatserious-1 @nesquikluvr @osakinanadesu @m1kkso @yazmike @lovcheol @luvksnn @taesnumber1 @kookiesnkim @skzenhalove @seungsoftly @ziiao @opalsunrise64 @wondash @saraabbasii-blog @wonniezzkitty111 @angelhyuka @fancypeacepersona
I drew the first full-length short comic for this AU. I worked really hard on it and am very pleased with the dialogue, in which I tried to develop the dynamic between Natsu, Lucy, and GLaDOS. I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments! :D
2026 Art x Fic Collaboration (The Grand Library F.K.A. 141 RECON Server) | Junepiter — Celestia (AO3 | Tumblr) (Galactic Knight!Johnny x AFAB! Reader) by @the-californicationist | Drawn on Procreate, Animated on Photoshop (No Process Video Because I am still working on it!)
This is the black and white version of the collab as I got hella swamped with freelance and won't be able to colour it until I fly back from my vacation in August ;w;. For now, here's a b&w GIF of Galactic Knight Johnny o vo)/
Fully Human, Ch. 27 (Sci Fi AU, Marco x Reader, DARK, humans as pets)
18+ MDNI | on Ao3 | the other chapters
Someone uploaded this fic to an AI chatbot. I DO NOT support my work being used by AI in any form. DO NOT UPLOAD MY WORK TO *ANY* AI PLATFORM. If you see it anywhere, please report it and let me know as it is UNAUTHORIZED. Thankfully, it has since been taken down.
If you like what I write, thank you!! But don't make chatbots, instead engage with me! Leave kudos or a comment, send me a message, whatever you like! But putting my work into AI actively makes me want to stop writing the story.
That being said, this is also the longest single chapter I've ever written <3 I almost split it into two, but I love y'all. I know 99% of people are good non-AI uploading readers, I do it 4 u. <3
Bam bam ba dah dah DAH DAH Let’s go girls 💋
Marco POV
“So you’ll be on your own for a while yoi. The other Commanders and I are going to be in an important meeting for quite some time. You should contact me if there’s an emergency, but otherwise I will not be checking my controller. I also have it set not to alert me of your vitals unless there is a dire medical emergency. Do you understand?” Marco asked you. You were standing outside the door to the Commander’s lounge, where their meeting would shortly be taking place. You blinked up at him with your large human eyes and smiled.
“Of course. I’ll be fine, Marco. I’m not gonna do anything,” you asserted with a small roll of your eyes. Marco smiled back at you fondly, wishing he could caress you one last time. Well, one last time for now. He would shortly be separated from you for an unknown length of time, but he would recover you. There was no way you’d get away from an Emperor’s crew, not really. But even so, the thought of you not being around him all the time had his heart in a vice. He wanted to throw you over his shoulder and lock you in his room but instead he gave a short trill.
“Goodbye, Luna,” Marco said, trying to hold back the emotions in his voice. He shouldn’t have said it at all, but he couldn’t help himself. He’d mentioned that he wasn’t tracking your vitals so you wouldn’t worry that your anxiety or fast beating heart rate would attract attention. They wanted your “escape” to be as smooth as possible, so you’d be able to lead them to the human colony. But frankly, you didn’t appear to be worried at all.
“See ya,” you said, giving him a quick hug around the middle. Marco sputtered, surprised by your actions, before embracing you in return. He held you tightly, his cheek resting on the top of your head.
“Tch, stop. Lemme go,” you whined with a roll of your eyes, pushing at his chest. With that, you turned around and walked away without so much as a backwards glance. Marco lingered by the door, watching you until you turned the corner and he could no longer see you. If he and Izou hadn’t confirmed that you were leaving today, he would have thought everything was normal. But based on the footage they’d seen, you were at your most ready.
Marco entered the Commander’s lounge, where everyone was already waiting. They did have a meeting right now – everyone was gathered to watch you make your escape. It was almost like a live event, with multiple lenses on multiple screens tracking you as you moved down the hallways. Marco made his way to the front of the chairs, plopping down just as you were rounding the hallway towards his room.
Marco was curious about your plans to “get away,” even though they were helping you to escape. The other Commanders wanted to watch as well, and were also interested in seeing Lafftale, the nearly fantastical location so close to being found. Everyone knew it would take some time to get to, but the excitement was nearly palpable as the Commanders gathered round to watch the screens.
“Right on time for the show,” Ace said, slinging an arm around Marco’s shoulders. Marco shrugged him off – he wanted to watch you every second to make sure you weren’t harmed.
“He’s not in the mood, Ace,” Izou chided, sitting down primly next to Marco. Izou was sipping on a cup of hot tea, like he was watching some vid on the screen.
“Nothing’s happened, though,” Ace said, his tail flicking.
“It’s about to, look. She’s entering Marco’s room,” Izou said, a tentacle pointing towards the largest screen.
“Are you sure she’s gonna escape? She seems so chill right now, maybe she’s just gonna relax,” Thatch said, already on the edge of his seat. If there was someone who was more anxious than Marco, it was Thatch.
“I’m certain. Watch –” Izou encouraged before taking another sip. Marco watched you as you moved through his room with familiar ease, stopping for a moment to press your small hand on his bed. You made a wistful sigh before making your way to the small container of your belongings that Marco had given you. Rifling through it briefly, you grabbed the satchel that Ace had given you, checking its content before slinging it over your shoulder.
“Aw, she’s taking the bag I gave her!” Ace said happily, bouncing in his seat.
“And the flower I gifted her as well. And a feather from your plumage as well I see,” Vista said with approval as you shoved the Eternal Romance flower he had given you into your bag along with the feather Marco had. Marco hummed, pleased to see you taking a reminder of him with you. At least now he knew you’d be thinking of him, not just hoping.
“Aw, but not any of the bows. Maybe she didn’t like the colors. I tried so hard to guess what she would like, but I musta guessed wrong,” Jiru said sadly as you rifled through the contents of the box, tossing out the myriad bows you’d been given over the weeks. “Didn’t you give her one too, Izou?”
“Yes, but it doesn’t surprise me she isn’t taking them,” he replied with a smile. “Oh? What’s that she’s grabbing?” Izou asked, his tentacles wriggling. Marco licked his lips as he watched you delicately put the rose toy on top of everything and patted it gently. You were much more careful with the rose than you had been with the priceless flower Vista had given you.
“What is that item?” Izou asked, his eyes flashing with amusement.
“It’s a toy yoi,” Marco replied, trying to keep interest to a minimum. Izou hummed as his tentacles curled tighter, but Marco ignored it for the moment.
You grabbed a containment cube and tapped on its screen, making it follow behind you. There was a clear plan in your mind as you worked quickly, taking item after item and putting it in your container. You took the protective suit Marco had given you for Kyuka, as well as your red blanket, and Marco’s pillow. Your eyes flicked to Marco’s blanket, and you paused in your motions. Seconds ticked by before you rolled it up and put it inside the container.
After a few moments, you gave everything in the room one last look before nodding to yourself and heading out the door. Marco’s heart fell in his chest – you really were planning on leaving. At least you would have something that smelled like him, Marco thought to himself.
Next, you headed towards Marco’s lab. Marco wasn’t surprised in the slightest, he knew you would want the vaccines and medicine. There was chattering among the Commanders, but Marco could only focus on you. And just as he had anticipated, you beelined for the cabinet that held the syringes and vials. You scanned the vials slowly, your finger under each word as you sounded it out. You licked your lips and nodded before carefully wrapping all the vials in your blanket and putting it back in the cube. It seemed you took every single vaccine and treatment Marco had left out for you. You didn’t know they were fake, but it wouldn’t matter. Marco would be there with you to treat all the humans, and it wouldn’t hurt them if they received a shot anyway.
“She learned to read!” Blenheim exclaimed. “Good job, Luna.”
“Yes, she’s been working quite diligently at it yoi,” Marco said absently. He watched you take your Eurt glass and wrap it in his blanket with a small smile to yourself. Marco would have to get more glasses made, since you liked them so much. Even though you were trying to leave him, Marco couldn’t help but think of ways to make you happier upon your return. Once all the humans were safe and secure, Marco was sure you’d settle down. With no more worries about your friends and companions, you’d be much more open to living on the Moby, far from the harsh conditions of Lafftale.
“Learned faster than me,” Ace said, like he was proud of your achievement.
“It’s not a competition. You already knew some other language, but not Common,” Curiel said consolingly. Ace just laughed. You continued raiding his cabinets, taking nearly all the supplies within them. Gauze, bandages, salves, thermometers, wound cleaner – anything that you thought might be useful was tossed into your container. It made Marco wonder – what was going on in Lafftale? He supposed he would find out soon enough.
“But what’s she up to now?” he asked, his ears perking up.
“I’m not entirely sure,” Marco replied honestly. You were rummaging around in his cabinets, clearly looking for something. You quickly placed gauze and bandages on the counter, but you continued to search for something else.
Suddenly you stood up straight, pleased with yourself. Marco strained to see what you had in your hands…it was the fabric cutter he had used on your original Wapolium suit. Without hesitation, you turned it on and began slicing off the protective youngling suit that Marco had put on you all those weeks prior. To Marco’s growing horror, you were naked within moments, the suit falling to the floor in shreds.
“Woo hoo! Go Luna!” Namur exclaimed. Marco’s face flamed – what on Eurt were you up to?! You needed the suit! It was both protective and soft against your skin, how were you going to cope without it?
“Alright, I don’t think we need to watch –” Marco stood up to block some of the screens, not wanting everyone else to fawn over your nude body. Yes, he had sent a video of you nude before, but that was different. That was scientific, whereas you being nude now was lewd torture for everyone. You put away the fabric shears but were still nude as you shuffled around, looking for something else.
“Move, Marco,” Rakuyo muttered, shoving Marco back to his seat with a heavy hand on his shoulder. Marco grumbled, but didn’t really have a rebuttal. Everyone was there to watch your escape, and he supposed this was part of it. Marco crossed his arms and looked away – this wasn’t how your escape was supposed to go.
“Aww, her pussy hair grew back,” Thatch cooed, looking up at the screen.
“It’s called pubic hair,” Marco grumbled.
“It’s quite sweet,” Izou chimed in. “I would never shave it off if I had a human. Perhaps trim it,” he said speculatively.
“Oh, but her foot-fingers aren’t painted anymore,” Thatch pointed out with a sad sigh.
“Toes,” Marco supplied. “And no, it wore off.”
“Her tummy is rounder now,” Vista commented. “She looks much healthier. Great work, Thatch.”
“Thank you, I’ve been feeding her meat non-stop –” Thatch responded happily, but Marco was still annoyed that you were nude on screen for everyone to see. You were now bent over, looking at something in a lower cabinet, and Marco didn’t think he’d seen the Commanders paying such rapt attention to anything since they fought the Roger pirates.
“It’s not a tummy, she is an adult human female yoi. It’s her stomach,” Marco tossed out petulantly. Secretly, he did think of it as your tummy, but that was private!
“I love it. It’s soft and squishy and cute. It’s definitely a tummy,” Vista retorted.
“What about her ass? Much rounder,” someone pointed out, to a round of general approval.
“I’m lookin’, but not at her tummy. Look at that sweet cunt, doesn’t it make you want to bury your–”
“ENOUGH,” Marco barked, completely unwilling to listen to any further commentary on your body. By now, you had moved on to doing something else. Marco frowned, you had already surprised him by cutting off the suit, what else could you have in store? Hopefully the rest of your plan aligned with what they had laid out for you and he could stop stressing so much.
Now you were prodding and squeezing your shoulder blade, right where…your tracker was…. But you couldn’t be thinking of doing that, could you? Marco exhaled a shaky breath, he needed to compose himself. After all, there was no way for you to get it out from underneath your skin. Marco had purposely taken all sharp objects out of the lab in order to prevent you from obtaining a weapon. Marco didn’t think you could hurt any of them, but he didn’t want to risk the possibility of you hurting yourself either.
“Ooh she got one of your talons, Marco,” Atmos squealed. Marco’s attention snapped to the screen, his sulk gone. And indeed, you had pulled one of his talon ends out of your satchel and set it on the lab table. Marco’s mouth hung open, that was what you wanted his talon for!? Had you been planning as far in advance as Kyuka? His hand itched to spank you on the spot for being so naughty.
You wiped your skin with rubbing alcohol, like you’d done this action hundreds of times before. Marco watched in growing horror as you squeezed your skin and tapped the middle of the area with your finger. You kept your eyes on the spot, grabbed Marco’s talon and took a deep breath. You wouldn’t…. you couldn’t… Marco couldn’t tear his eyes from the screen as you exhaled, your eyes filled with determination.
“HELL YEAH LUNA!” Haruta cheered as you sliced into your skin with Marco’s talon. You had unerringly cut right where the tracker was. Red blood immediately welled from your wound as you pushed your finger into the incision, digging around for the tracker. The crew applauded you as you mutilated yourself, your precious blood running in rivulets down your arm.
“She really is like one of us –”
“Whoa, her blood is red. So weird –”
“LUNA!” Marco yelled, his mouth open in abject horror. How could you do this to yourself? You were hurt, you’d get an infection, you would – he need to get to –
“Hold him,” Izou said calmly, still drinking his tea. Ace’s warm limbs were immediately wrapped around Marco, pulling him back down onto the soft couches. Marco hadn’t even realized he had stood up, he was so engrossed in watching you.
“Stop it!” Marco barked, trying to push Ace off him. But for all his faults, Ace was one of the best grapplers on the ship, and frankly better than Marco. Marco could not disentangle himself from Ace's capable limbs, no matter how hard he tried. It felt like the more Marco struggled, the more entangled he became.
“Nah, Izou warned us this might happen,” Ace said cheerfully, his tail shifting positions to wrap around Marco more securely. “You need to relax - we want her to get away, right? To find the other humans, yeah? She’s got a small cut, she’ll be fine,” Ace said, his voice calm.
“But she –”
“But she’s fine. We’re all watching her. If something goes wrong, we can help her. Nothing too bad has happened. I even made that new pod look like her old one for her. 10-5 is ready and able to be controlled remotely,” Ace reasoned with Marco.
“Chill, man,” Ace said as you finally pulled the tracker out of your shoulder with a shudder. You held it triumphantly before your eyes before narrowing them at the small device. Frankly, Marco was surprised you remembered about the tracker. He purposefully hadn’t mentioned it to you in a very long time, hoping you’d forget all about it. It was one of his failsafes to ensure they never lost you completely, that there was always some tether between you and him. Luckily, your controller was still locked on you, and he didn’t think you’d figure out a way to get it off. It was only a pressure lock, but still, you couldn’t produce enough force to make it unlock.
You held the tracker between your fingers for a moment, as if you were considering what to do with it. Setting it down on the table, you put a medical patch on your shoulder and allowed it to adhere to your skin. At least you were taking care of yourself a little bit, Marco thought, slightly mollified by the self cleaning patch.
Next, you reached for the secondary suit Marco had given you for Kyuka. You pressed the textile disc onto your chest and waited for the tougher suit to wrap over your body. There were manifold groans in the room as your body was soon covered and no longer available for their visual perusal. Marco groaned because he was concerned the Wapolium suit was going to shred your sensitive skin. It was of a higher quality than the one he had found you in, but was still too rough for you to wear directly on your body. Why would you do that? You weren’t going to be able to sit for a week after he got you back.
You grabbed the tracker and left the lab, the containment cube following closely behind you. Passing by Marco’s room once again, you opened the door and tossed the tracker in without a second glance. By now Marco had calmed down enough that Ace had loosened his grip. Ace was now leaning on Marco, and Marco looped an arm around Ace. Maybe he did need a little bit of emotional support.
“Clever. So if you were tracking her, it would show she’s in your room. She’s doing really well,” Blamenco praised you. Marco frowned, he didn’t want you to be doing well, he wanted everything to go smoothly so there were no hiccups. Still, it did give him some measure of pride to see you accomplishing your goal so intelligently.
The Commanders watched eagerly as you made your way to the kitchens, stopping momentarily when a crew member hailed you. You pretended nothing was amiss, smiling but quickly walking away. Marco gritted his teeth, the crew had been explicitly told not to bother you, but you were too interesting for your own good. Soon you made your way into the kitchen, going straight for the cupboard that Thatch had shown to you.
“Oh! She remembered! I’m so glad,” Thatch cooed as you piled all the food trays into your container. Unbeknownst to you, they’d also stocked pod 10-5 with human safe food, but Marco was glad to see that you were seriously preparing for your journey. Lafftale must be quite far, because you were taking every single human-safe item that was in the cabinet.
“Tch. ‘Course she remembered, she’s not an idiot. She’s smarter than y’give ‘er credit for. She made it in space by herself for a while before we met her,” Fossa grumbled. You’d spent more time with Fossa recently, Marco had heard about your forays into the engineering bays. Apparently you had a keen interest in the workings of the ship and had quizzed Fossa about the ship for a few hours. You must have made quite the impression on Fossa, Marco reflected. The Commander was known to be fair and reasonable, but not always so lavish with praise.
“Barely,” Marco muttered, watching you close the door to the cupboard again. “She was quite sick when I found her. Nearly dead. I worry she may be nearing that state soon yoi.”
“She will be completely fine. Release and catch,” Izou assured Marco, a tentacle patting Marco’s knee.
“But where’s she going? The escape pods aren’t that way,” Ace commented, his ears twitching. “She’s going more towards the center of the ship, but how’s that gonna help her?” And, indeed, you were walking closer and closer to the central spoke of the ship. Since the kitchen and dining hall was designed to be accessible, it was located in the middle of the ship. You walked with purpose to the main mast from which all other levels and floors emanated, your fingers trailing along the wall as if looking for something.
Everyone fell into silence as they watched you stop, feeling the groove of where the maintenance hatch was. You looked up and tapped at your controller nonchalantly, like you were sending a message to Marco. Perhaps Marco had been correct in his initial assessment of you – humans were excellent liars it seemed.
“What’s she –” Jiru’s sentence was cut off as you brought up a picture of you and Fossa standing next to each other on the engineering deck, both of your hands up in the air facing the camera. You were smiling brightly and Fossa was allowing the picture to be taken, so he must have been in a fabulous mood. Using your nimble fingers, you zoomed in until Fossa’s hand was the only image available on the picture. Tapping on the hatch had a screen popup asking for authorization. You held up the picture to the scanner. Everyone leaned forward in their seats, watching you attempt to override their complex security.
“Tch. This little liar told me it was a human gesture,” Fossa grumbled, crossing his arms.
“Me too. I took one just like that with her,” Ace commented, scratching his chin.
“What she’s doing won’t work,” Jozu stated as he watched you intently. “The tech is advanced, it will recognize that it is an image of Fossa’s hand, not his actual –”
“It didn’t,” Izou noted cooly as the scanner chirped happily. The hatch popped open, granting you access to the main spoke of the ship. Jozu’s mouth hung open as your hand went into your satchel.
“But - it - I -” Jozu stammered before typing on his controller, presumably to his division. “That’s not - she –” Outwardly, Marco was shocked along with the rest of the crew. Inwardly, he was both proud as well as felt a growing sense of vindication. Now the crew would see your ingenuity and cleverness, how much trouble you really were.
Marco watched as you threw a few handfuls of something from your satchel down the mast. Afterwards, you also tossed one handful up, small tinkling sounds resounding as whatever that was spread through the main mast.
“Ugh foreign debris is so annoying to get out of the spoke. And Fossa’s spiderlings can’t always understand what we’re looking for. I bet we’re gonna have to go in there,” Ace whined. “Whaddya think she threw in there? Incendiary material?” You shut the door to the hatch carefully and patted it twice, like it was a friend to you. Shortly thereafter you walked away, your cube still trailing behind you.
“Is that her whole distraction? I don’t think that will –”
Loud booms resounded through the ship, but nothing strong enough to trigger any kind of panic for the general crew. There was always something happening on the Moby, and these explosions weren’t particularly strong.
“Heh. Smart, but not gonna work. The masts are fire resistant from the inside. Actually, they’re designed to snuff fire out. So if she put some kind of bomb –” but Fossa’s words died as he started getting pings on his Controller. The Commander bit his cigar as he started reading. His compound eyes moved rapidly, his satisfied grin quickly changing to a scowl.
“Fuck,” Fossa swore, swiping through rapidly incoming messages.
“Those aren’t bombs, those are –”
“FUCK!” Fossa repeated, puffing on his cigar furiously.
“Ace, come with me,” Fossa ordered, despite being of equal rank. “It’s fucking pop green. Massive vines are rapidly growing in every power shaft on the ship. We need to clear them out before they choke out the tech. They’re not going to damage the power or air, but they’re currently expanding at an exponential rate in the main drive of the ship. As I just said, we can’t use fire to get them out and apparently they’re hearty and still fucking growing,” Vista explained hurriedly to the assembled Commanders.
“Oh, fuck. That’s actually – wow, good for her, but this is like, actually bad. If there’s no main drive, the ship can’t move –” Ace exclaimed, running after Fossa. Marco raised an eyebrow. A warning signal went off in the ship as Fossa’s gravelly voice resounded through the ship.
ALL ENGINEERING CREW REPORT TO THE MAIN ENGINEERING DECK REPEAT ALL ENGINEERING CREW REPORT TO THE MAIN ENGINEERING DECK
“She’s – that’s – d’ya think she’ll actually get away?” Haruta asked, admiration in his tone.
“No,” Izou and Marco said simultaneously. Marco’s nerves were frayed, but he could calm down by reminding himself there were still many safe guards to make sure that you remained under their supervision. The warning alarms and lights didn’t phase you at all as you made your way down to Navigation. The crew was swarming around, almost completely ignoring you as you walked… right past the new escape pod deck.
“Ace did destroy her old pod, correct?” Izou said, putting down his tea as his attention remained fixed on the screens. Was Izou getting nervous? Marco nodded, he had made sure that heap of junk was destroyed. Marco’s heart rate quickened as you swiftly made your way to the old escape pod bay. His eyes narrowed – you’d been in there before. How had you known what was there? You quickly opened the door and darted inside, looking wildly around the bay before running to an old pod in the back of the bay, starting and stopping in the shadows as if someone was lurking there.
“Hey, her running is better. She’s not as out of breath,” Thatch pointed out. Marco resisted the urge to preen. See? He knew you needed cardiovascular activity.
“Wait, why isn’t she using the new ones like Ace told her to?” Atmos asked, tugging on one of his horns. “Aren't they safer?”
“She’s likely suspicious we would track her. That, or is more familiar with the old tech. We will destroy all of those pods shortly,” Izou said primly, already tapping on his own controller. Marco’s lips pressed together as you rounded on one of the pods, still trying to stay in the shadows. Your running may have improved but luckily your hiding hadn’t. At least they’d be able to find you easily if they needed to.
“Yeah, but they’re better. And the old ones don’t work,” Atmos continued.
“Mmm. Most of them do, actually,” Izou corrected, sitting on the edge of his seat. “But I don’t think she’ll be able to start them. They’re complicated to operate and besides, she would need someone’s biosignature –”
“Like the one from Ace she just used?” Blamenco asked, pointing at the screen. You were now in the pod, gearing it up to fly. Jozu swore loudly, standing up to stride quickly out of the room.
“I’m dealing with it now,” he gritted to the assembled Commanders. “She won’t be able to do that again –” a cacophony of responses burbled from the crowd, everyone tossing in their opinion on your escape.
“If there is a next time -”
“Shut up. She can't outrun us-”
“She's already outsmarted us–”
“She’s amazing!”
“We shoulda let her be on the crew, I’m telling you –”
“Thatch and Izou, let’s go yoi,” Marco ordered, already halfway to the door. The three Commanders already planned to follow you in a smaller ship, but the stakes were higher now. The pod you had selected wasn’t trackable, and wasn’t able to be controlled remotely. Therefore, they’d have to follow you directly if they wanted to know where you were going rather than the remote capability the 10-5 offered. And if the Moby was unable to move, they couldn’t follow you once you were off the ship. Marco rubbed his temples. You had created enough of an issue to where it wasn’t completely unfeasible that you might escape them for a short time.
Fuck.
Luna POV
You had been sweating bullets as you flew away from the Moby, the giant ship receding from your vision. Your biggest gamble when escaping was using one of the old pods rather than the one that was obviously able to be tracked. Yes, the features on the new pods were cool and yes you really wished that you had cloaking capabilities, but it wasn’t worth the risk. You didn’t put it past these fucks to make the pod able to be controlled remotely. Besides, you had trained on a pod almost exactly like this one so the tech was familiar to you.
You had immediately plugged in the coordinates of the ponyglyph that you’d memorized, the ship now on autopilot until you got there. You were going the fastest speed short of hyperdrive that the ship could handle. Luckily, just as you had suspected, the Moby had been headed the right direction, so you would be there in a matter of hours.
Even so, now that you were in the pod you were still sweating, and it wasn’t just because the stupid suit was chafing your skin. There was one more piece of your plan, and it was the most nerve wracking part of the whole thing. Everything else had been a cakewalk. You’d planned everything down to the very last detail, completely sure that your plans would work.
And they had.
Actually, some of what you planned worked out even better than you had anticipated. The pop green really seemed to like the environment of the ship and had grown much larger than you had predicted. Not only that but the tracker wasn’t as difficult to remove as you thought it would be and the hand photo trick had worked on everything you had wanted it to. Really, the Whitebeard Pirates weren’t as formidable as they thought they were if one small human female could escape without much trouble. Sure, they were in part allowing you to escape, but those alarms had been real. Even so, you were thankful they were letting you leave the docking bay, because that would have been a real bitch to figure out yourself.
There were a few pieces left in your plan that still needed to be enacted, and that was what was causing you the stress. The final pieces were the most risky and once you left, well, you were severing your connection to the Whitebeard Pirates and to Marco permanently. You were absolutely sure they were following you right now (and maybe even watching you), just as you had been sure Marco was watching your escape attempt. It had been a fun game of cat and mouse but it was time to get back home. A sickening feeling was growing in your stomach – something was happening on Lafftale and it wasn’t anything good.
You took a deep breath, ready to enact the final parts of your plan. But first things first – you wanted to be comfortable while you were actively destroying the peace. Pressing on the textile disc removed the protective suit, something you relished in. You never thought taking off your own clothes would be a big deal, but nothing in your life had prepared you for the experience of being with Marco.
You tutted as you looked over your poor skin, nearly all of you red and raw from the harsh material of the suit. If Marco saw me like this… you let out a snort imagining the apoplectic lecture you would get. The healing would have been worth it, you thought wistfully, rubbing your backside. You did like that soft suit, but there was probably some kind of tracker in it. Even if there wasn’t, you weren’t going to continue wearing something you couldn’t take off yourself.
After wrapping yourself in Marco’s blanket, you synced your controller to the ship. Marco’s scent tickled your nose as you began looking through the modules on your controller. The thick, large blanket had been a last second decision to bring, but you were glad you did. Not only was it comfortable as fuck, but you’d gotten used to his scent. The smell would fade in time, but at least you had it for now. Not that you needed it, of course, but it was definitely better than the smell of the engines.
You patted your controller fondly as you began working. It was too bad you had to get rid of this thing, it actually was pretty cool once more features had been enabled. You flicked through the screens quickly, selecting your own medical examination vid and uploading it into the pod’s computer. That was really all you needed before you dumped the thing into the airlock and shot it into space.
But as you flicked through the screens, you saw the picture of Marco you’d taken on Kyuka. Unlike all the other photos, which had mostly been means of access to the ship, this one had no ulterior motive. You were smiling, the real light hitting your skin giving you a lovely hue. Marco looked surprised but happy, his arm wrapped around you. You thought about the feeling of safety, his warmth, the fish, the sunset… it was a fond memory of a life that you could no longer access. Licking your lips, you made the split decision to upload that pic into the computer as well. You could always delete it later, but you wouldn’t be able to get it back. There would be ample time for reflecting over all your actions, but it wasn’t now.
Now that the video was on the ship, you pressed on the small area on the underside of your controller as you had seen Marco do before. It was tricky and took a lot of tries, including you trying to step on your own arm but eventually the controller popped open like it had for him as well. You chucked it into the airlock and promptly shot it off into space. You rolled your head on your shoulders – now the real fun was about to begin.
Marco POV
Almost immediately after you entered your pod, Marco, Thatch, and Izou were in one of the smaller ships, following you while cloaked. Thankfully, the older pods weren't able to cloak, so they would be able to follow you while you navigated to your next destination. Izou had somehow been able to wrangle a low quality audio / visual feed of you inside the pod, but that was about the extent of their ability to see where you were going. They couldn’t even read your computer screen since the feeds coming in were so poor.
“Now we'll be able to see if she was lying and does know where Lafftale is. She certainly input her coordinates quickly,” Izou huffed. Marco hummed but didn’t reply. He knew Izou was already upset about Luna escaping and causing unforeseen problems. Izou prided himself on knowing all information pertaining to the crew, and yet Luna with her limited resources had somehow managed to outsmart him.
“I don’t get why we’re going this way,” Thatch said, tugging on his goatee. “There’s nothing out here.”
“I don’t know. I suppose we’ll find out. Like Izou said, Luna has a clear direction of where she’s going yoi,” Marco mused, his stomach already twisted in knots. He had a feeling something bad was going to happen, and he didn’t like it one bit. Frankly, he hoped Lafftale was wherever you input the coordinates. He wanted this adventure to be over as soon as possible, and you back in his room on the Moby.
Marco crossed his arms as he watched remove the protective suit you were wearing. Not only were you nude in front of other Commanders again but your skin was irritated, chafed, and even bruised in some places. He wished he could heal you, the blooming marks already marring your lovely skin. Marco was never going to let you out of his sight again he decided, independence be damned.
“What is that? Why’s she mottled?” Thatch asked as you rubbed your bottom.
“She’s not mottled, she’s bruised. It indicates she has mild internal bleeding yoi,” Marco remarked as you took his blanket out of storage and wrapped it around yourself. At least you weren’t naked anymore. He had long known humans didn’t prefer nudity as a general rule, and he was glad to see that at least that was still true. Marco kissed his teeth as he watched you sync your controller.
You plopped down in the chair in front of the computer, rolling your head on your shoulders. After so much time together, Marco knew that meant you were tense, and he wished he was there to heal you and massage you, no matter how much havoc you had wrought. At the end of it all, you were still a vulnerable human no matter how smart or capable you proved yourself to be.
Marco struggled to make sense of what he was watching you do. You uploaded your medical examination? You knew it wasn’t the only copy, so why were you taking it with you? To show the other humans? His heart surged as you flicked to the photo of the two of you on Kyuka, your eyes lingering over it. Marco’s heart soared as you licked your lips and uploaded it to the pod as well. He hadn’t been wrong, you did harbor feelings for him. His intention to become yours had come to fruition as –
As you pummeled your controller with your small fists in an attempt to take it off. The three Commanders watched as you struggled to open it, even trying to stomp on it with your foot. To Marco’s horror, the controller eventually opened with a small pop, your arm now naked as the day he found you.
“I thought you said it was locked,” Thatch said as they watched you triumphantly smile.
“Much will have to change when she is recaptured,” Izou said stiffly, his tentacles curling and uncurling as you nonchalantly tossed your controller into the airlock and sent it into space. You stretched, the blanket falling momentarily before you tucked it around yourself.
“I’m scared to ask what she’s doing now,” Thatch mumbled as you sat in the singular seat and began typing on the computer. You were working on something for a while, clicking and watching intensely on your screen, only pausing to change positions so your legs were tucked under you. Marco remembered the many times you’d sat that when immersed in your Common lessons – whatever you were doing had your full concentration. Finally, you reviewed your screen for a moment before nodding and… hitting the distress beacon on your pod. As was intended, a blast went out from your pod to all nearby ships. But what they heard wasn’t a distress signal.
It was a call to action.
The Whitebeard Pirates have a 100% fully human fertile female aboard.
The Whitebeard Pirates have a 100% fully human fertile female aboard.
The Whitebeard Pirates have a 100% fully human fertile female aboard.
The Whitebeard Pirates have a 100% fully human fertile female aboard.
The “distress” beacon continued to sound in their ship, along with a short clip of your medical examination, showing you naked and squirming on Marco’s examination table. You were completely bare, all of you on display to the entire universe. Izou’s tentacle snapped the button to turn off the beacon so harshly the button broke.
The cabin was silent.
You had leaked the information of your own existence to every single ship that its signal could reach. Even if they deleted the distress message now, it would be too late. The information would be shared rapidly throughout the galaxy no matter what they did.
What had you done?
The only sound that could be heard was the humming of the ship’s engines.
“I – I –” Izou was at a loss for words, his body looming over the control panel. Izou’s tentacles were wild, spreading and snapping every few seconds. Marco couldn’t remember the last time he had seen Izou this angry, perhaps not since Ace ruined his fine silk kimono. Izou’s fingers balled into fists as messages began flooding all their controllers.
This was bad.
More than bad.
This was a catastrophe.
“Oh my fuck. Why would she – why would she do that?!? Doesn’t she understand she’s in danger now?!” Thatch roared, finally upset with your actions.
“She absolutely understands. That’s why she did it. She’s no longer there but now we have to go deal with the fallout. We’re about to have to fight off any crew that thinks they can take our human – and there’s bound to be many. She wanted us to be unable to follow her. Not only that, I’m not certain the main drive is operational yoi,” Marco explains, completely taken aback by your actions. In all his wildest dreams, he could have never imagined you would leak your own video to the public.
“We gotta go back to help. We’re gonna be swarmed with shitty crews, it’s gonna be non-stop,” Thatch said, already reaching for his twin swords.
“No. We must continue following her. The crew is strong enough to take on any current dangers and once the drive is fixed, they’ll go into hyperspace. The Marines will likely not engage at this point. We’ve fought in more challenging situations. Right now Luna is our priority. She cannot be allowed to evade us,” Izou hissed, his tentacles pressing more buttons on the ship’s computer than Marco’s eyes could follow.
The ship remained tense as they followed you hurrying through space towards some unknown destination. Marco, Thatch, and Izou were kept abreast of all the happenings on the ship, including the number of ships that had come to try to claim the human for themselves. Luckily, there were no casualties on the side of the Whitebeard Pirates, but the sheer number of challenging crews had threatened to overwhelm the crew. Pops had stepped in and settled a few matters, and Fossa had finally been able to clean the engines and tech of all the pop green. Everyone exhaled a sigh of relief as the ship entered hyperdrive, evading all the crews who would try to take them on. It would be a consistent problem, but Marco couldn’t concentrate on any of that. Right now you were his sole focus.
“I will have a few things to say to Luna upon her recapture,” Izou intoned, his shoulders finally relaxing from around his ears.
“I don’t think my current punishments are enough yoi,” Marco chimed in. His own hand twitched at the thought of spanking you for your disobedience. But this wasn’t disobedience, this was sedition. He would never hurt you, but perhaps some back to back sessions of orgasm denial and overstimulation – over the course of days – would help you rethink some of your actions.
“I assure you, they are not,” Izou hissed, exhaling out his nose. Marco wasn’t sure what Izou had in mind, but he was sure it would be an experience you wouldn’t forget.
“But really, you were the ones helping her escape. And she told us she wanted to go home, many times. We underestimated her, that’s on us,” Thatch said, ever ready to rise to your defense.
“By quite a bit,” Izou gritted through clenched teeth.
“You’re right Thatch. We should have been more diligent yoi,” Marco sighed, rubbing his temples. Of course he was angry about your actions, but he reminded himself you were acting in the best interest of your fellow humans. They were sick and dying and you wanted to save them, it was understandable that you’d do anything for them. He would have done the same for his brothers.
Suddenly, your ship stopped… in front of nothing. There was one of those enigmatic ponyglyphs, but that was about it. Other than that, there were no planets, no stars, nothing that would indicate they were at Lafftale or any location whatsoever.
“There’s nothing here yoi,” Marco said, more perplexed than anything else. They watched you squint at the ponyglyph, circling it several times slowly in your ship. You kept looking up at the ponyglyph and back down at the keyboard to type into your computer. Were you… getting coords from the ponyglyph?
For the thousandth time that day, Marco wished he would have never agreed to this foolish plan.
“Oh my gods. The ponyglyphs are written in human. They have the coords to Lafftale. It was in front of everyone the whole time,” Izou whispered, his hand over his mouth. “Marco, was human ever translated into any other language?”
“No, it was never formally recorded yoi,” Marco said as your ship changed the direction of its boosters. His breath caught in his throat, he was struggling to breathe. “She’s preparing for hyperdrive yoi,” Marco croaked, his head whipping around to look at his brothers, his eyes wide.
“If she goes into hyperdrive, we won’t be able to follow her,” Thatch said, your full plan finally dawning on them. “She – she got everyone busy and found a way to leave. Luna won.”
“Get her coords. GET HER COORDS YOI –”
“You can’t get coords from an escape pod! They’re for escaping! It doesn’t –”
“The feed! Use the feed!” Marco yelled, grabbing his brother by his upper arms. Marco’s vision was swimming, he felt like he was waterlogged and drowning. This couldn’t be happening. It couldn’t – they had made sure – you were supposed to – this wasn’t going to happen –
“The feed can’t see the computer, Marco! Luna’s – she –”
Marco’s mouth hung open in shock as his hands pressed impotently on the window of the pod.
“LUNA!” Marco yelled at the top of his lungs. There was no way for you to hear him, but that didn’t stop Marco from pummeling the ship’s window with his fists. “LUNA!” he bellowed again, followed by a shrill screech of panic.
Your ship powered up to its full pwoer and shot to an unknown location, leaving behind only a small cloud of exhaust. Into the vast universe, where Marco would never be able to find you. To Lafftale, the mythical home to the last of the human race.
You had escaped.
Taglist: @rebeccawinters @mfreedomstuff @joyfullittlethings @ocean-mochi
Eddie cries out in pain, “ah shitting fuck!” he yells across the bay, reflexively pushing off with a booted foot so his stool rolls away from the danger, his hurt fingers shoved unceremoniously in his mouth to nurse away the sting.
“Whatsit?” Robin sits up in her bunk, fluff of hair sticking up at all angles.
“Nothing. Nothing, sorry, fucking thing shocked me, go back to sleep.”
“Timesit?”
“I dunno,” Eddie looks around vaguely, looking across the untidy bank of tools and control panels he squints at the nearest monitor, “one ish.”
Robin humphs. Rubs at her eyes. Then just, sits for a bit, staring at nothing. “Want a hot drink?” She ends up volunteering, sticking her bare legs out from under the covers and sliding out from her bunk. She pulls on her dungarees from where they were abandoned on the floor.
“You ask me that like we have options,” Eddie peers down at his latest project, sliding a viewer over his mask to get a closer look. The numbers flashing in the peripheral vision make absolutely no fucking sense whatsoever.
Robin yawns, forcing her feet into her boots, the laces loose and scraggly, “sounds better than ‘would you like caffeine reconstituted from the caffeine you pissed out yesterday’, though, right?” It’s a much trodden route, this conversation, one they have most days. It’s familiar, comforting. Shores them up for the long journey. Eddie hums but doesn’t answer, “where’s Chris?”
“Cockpit, said something about checking The Belt again.”
Robin mumbles something about Chrissy’s constant paranoia when it comes to crossing The Belt, but leaves to get them their drinks. Eddie gets it though, they all have their things. Their little routines, their charms, their talismans their...things. Things that get them through. The asteroid belt doesn’t change unless someone changes it, all those little rocks floating around on their reliable courses until...something nudges one. It’s a domino effect then, and crossing the belt is hazardous enough without outside forces fucking it up.
It wasn’t a problem until Mars, the catastrophic failure of the Synthetics, and the war that humanity very squarely lost. There had been laws before, the mining companies who were scalping the belt had a million feet of red tape to get through to make sure they weren't affecting shipping lanes and yada yada yada.
Now. The Synths do whatever the fuck they like, and it’s not like they're ever going to inform humanity of where they’re drilling.
So, Eddie tinkers, Chrissy checks the belt, and Robin bitches at both of them.
“So...what do you think he is?” Robin swivels around uselessly in the chair next to him.
“Sex bot, definitely.”
Robin snorts a laugh, “got a big dick huh?”
“He is very...anatomically correct,” Eddie closes the hatch, tugs carefully at the synths hair until he finds the next panel along, unhitches it with his home brew magnet arrangement. Not how you’re supposed to do it, but Synth construction companies don’t exactly share their tech.
“You sure it’s okay? Bringing him on board?”
Eddie hums vaguely, “no idea what model he is exactly, but the wreckage was old Robs. Pre One old, plus the Mars Synths never go further than the belt, they don’t have a reason to. Depending on how long he’s been floating about...I mean it’s unlikely, is what I’m saying.”
Eddie tries a different connection, moving carefully, the work very fine and delicate, he follows the numbers on his display. The connection slithers tight when it catches, and there’s the very, very slightest hum of a power up. In the corner of Eddie’s vision, the numbers all flash green.
On the table, the Synths eyes open. The iris goes from large to small, pupils go from wide and black to a pinprick, before it relaxes to something resembling normal. Hazel iris’, Eddie can’t help but notice, strange color, for a Synth, not one Eddie’s ever seen before. Green speckled with brown and gold. Really pretty, and far more detail than Eddie’s ever seen in one of these before. Especially for a sex bot model, if that’s what he is.
The Synth blinks four times in quick succession, indicating a hard reboot, his iris’ are now white with a fine blue ring, the beautiful hazel gone.
The eyes close, and the numbers go all haywire. Flashing yellow and red. Eddie watches as the numbers tell him the Synth has powered off again.
“Did it work?” Robin peers over his shoulder.
“No,” Eddie rolls over to his work station, goes over the scans again, “but I don’t know why. He definitely booted that time, but there’s damage that either I can’t find or...it’s too complex for me. It’s hitting a step and then won’t go any further.”
“So it’s software right? Not hardware?”
“Yeah. Pretty sure you’re right. There’s something there, some...thing that keeps failing the boot. Something in memory maybe. I just,” Eddie sighs a little helplessly, “I dunno, you know?”
“Can’t you switch it off?”
Eddie scoffs, “what, his memory?”
“Yeah? I mean, if he’s a house bot, he’ll forget how to change a diaper and make a Martini, if he’s a worker he’ll forget how to fucking,” she gestures helplessly, “wire in lights, or whatever the fuck they have them doing. Plowing fields, I don’t know. And if he’s a sex bot, he’ll forget about the twenty thousand vaginas he’s probably licked. Does it matter?”
“I...I could try it.” Eddie frowns, thinking it through, “I mean, the base programming is unavoidable, it’ll apply no matter what but...I don’t know exactly how that’ll leave him.”
She shrugs, “then just, turn him off, if the basics are there then the kill switch is there, right? The laws?”
“Yeah, that stuffs hardwired, there’s no bypassing it. Well,” Eddie gestures vaguely, “except for One.”
Robin nods, “except for One.” She agrees.
They both sit quietly for a moment, contemplating the disaster on Mars. The loss of life, even though it happened before either of them were born, it’s left a stark shadow on all of society. All of history.
Eddie slaps his thighs decisively, breaking their reverie, “I’m going to try it.”
Eddie gets his tools.
“We’re probably meeting him for the first time,” Robin tells Chrissy, as Chrissy fixes her hair for her, “we should make a good impression.”
“I don’t think they have opinions babe,” Chrissy tells her gently, licking her thumb and then using it to rub a scuff off Robins cheek.
“You can’t know that for sure. I bet they judge us. Silently. Plus I’ve never met one before, I’ve seen them working loads, you know, on Earth, but I’ve never...spoken to one. Not properly.”
“My parents had a house model, when I was little,” Chrissy volunteers, “she was really nice. Mostly she did all the chores and meals and stuff. Ordered the groceries. She was so good at Mahjong.”
“Huh. Do you think this guy will play Rummy with us? It’s better with four.”
“You’re cute,” Chrissy tells her, before kissing the tip of her nose, “should we have a countdown?” She asks, turning her attention to Eddie.
“Only if you’re willing to do it more than once if this doesn’t work?”
Chrissy wrinkles her nose, “probably not?”
Eddie shrugs, flips his visor screen down, and hopes for the best.
The Synths eyes whirl, that same, beautiful, sparkling hazel. Four quick blinks, and by the end, the iris has cleared to white, highlighted by the same stark blue ring.
The Synth sits up, the sheet Eddie had been using, partly so he wasn't staring at the things dick, and partly to keep it clean, falls and pools around the Synths middle.
There are another set of blinks. Then another. A jerky motion passes through the Synths body; every joint twitching, the head whipping side to side suddenly, sharp movements that look like a full body seizure. And then the whole thing happens again in reverse, from the toes up. The table rattles and shakes.
“The fuck was that,” Robin asks quietly in the ensuing, oppressive, silence.
“Movement test...I’ve never actually seen it before. It’s checking every system right now, might take a couple of minutes.”
“He’s got good hair,” Chrissy volunteers.
“Yeah,” Eddie agrees absently, “but if you’re designing a person, why not make them prefect, right?”
The Synths skin had been pale alabaster white, but a wave of color moves up his body now, a tanned skin tone with some color in his cheeks. Other than sitting absolutely, completely still, it looks human. Looks normal.
It even has a couple of moles dotted about, which is a nice design choice, Eddie thinks. It’s high on the details; meaning it’s a high end Synth.
This guy was most certainly not plowing fields.
You wouldn’t be able to tell he wasn’t human, apart from the eyes, unless you really knew what you were looking for. The hair follicles often give them away, if you can get close enough to inspect them; not with this dude.
The Synth blinks four times. Another four. Another four. It keeps doing it, otherwise completely unmoving.
“Now what?”
“It’s waiting for instruction,” Eddie moves closer, “uhm. Edward Munson. I am your new owner, Edward Munson?” The Synth doesn’t respond, and Eddie scrambles for his data pad, “the instruction varies by manufacturer, I am your new handler? Oh shit wait, fuck. Uhm. Interface English.” The blinking stops, “I knew I was missing a step, I am your owner, Edward Munson.”
Very quietly, the Synth responds, “confirmed.”
“Volume up four. What is your designation?”
“Designation S T Three Five Three,” the Synth answers at a more normal volume.
“Well...you can call me Eddie, and this is Chrissy and Robin.”
The Synth finally moves, the sheet sliding off as he stands up, “wow,” says Chrissy, and Robin covers her eyes.
“Man, I gotta find you some pants,” Eddie tells the Synth.
“We need something better than S T Three Five Three,” Eddie tells the synth as he digs through a storage bin. He finds a jumpsuit that will probably fit. It’s supposed to be worn under a spacesuit, for when they need to do work outside, but Eddie figures the Synth won’t care.
“You are able to assign me a new designation at will.”
Eddie holds up the offensively orange material, “put this on.”
The synth complies without question, and Eddie finds him a pair of socks. The Synth can’t feel fuck all, or at least, it's sensors probably register the temperature and hardness of the floor, but that doesn't mean it feels anything. They don’t have any shoes that will fit him, but something about the sight of his bare feet on the cold metal floor is offensive to Eddie, “space walk socks will have to do.”
Eddie watches as the synth simply stands on one leg, balance inhuman, not even a wobble and he gracefully pulls on one sock and then the other before standing tall again, “how about Steve? That’s pretty close, if we Roman numeral the five. Plus, you kind of look like a Steve. What do you think?”
“I have no opinion. Designation changed to Steve.”
“Right. And how are you feeling?”
Steve’s pupils dilate, the fine blue ring twisting, becoming narrow, before returning to normal. “Systems optimal. Memory error; cause unknown. Water levels approaching critical.”
“Oh you are a joy aren’t you?”
“I am uncertain as to perimeters pertaining to ‘Joy’, possible memory error.”
Eddie sighs, “just follow me, I’ll show you were the water supply is. Actually you know what, I’ll give you the whole tour.”
Eddie stands in the doorway, watching as Steve drinks. And drinks. And drinks some more. Eddie thinks he stops at around four liters.
“Better?”
“Tank level at approximately ninety eight percent capacity.”
“And how long will that last you?”
“Activity dependent. Up to six hundred years at minimal activity. Two weeks under extreme duress.”
Eddie has no idea what a Synth would class as ‘extreme duress’ and he probably doesn’t want to know, “uh hu, and you don’t know what your roll was, right?”
“Information unavailable.”
Eddie sighs, “come on, I’ll show you around.”
Steve follows faithfully, inspecting everything Eddie shows him.
“He’s creepy,” Chrissy hisses.
Eddie sighs, “no, he isn’t.”
“Where is he?”
“He’s cleaning, I think. I had to give him something to do otherwise he just stares at me.”
“Creepy,” she says again, like that’s evidence.
“No, he just waits for instruction, it isn’t his fault, he doesn’t have access to any of his memories.”
“I like him,” Robin says, “he’s got a kind vibe. Like, I think he’s a good soul.”
“Pretty sure Synths don’t have souls,” Eddie tells her absently.
“You see the good in pretty much everything babe,” Chrissy links their fingers together affectionately.
Robin shrugs, “better than thinking everything is shitty,” Robin leans over Eddie’s shoulder, “what are you doing?”
“Synth manufacturers classify them by eye color. I’m just...looking. Different companies use different color codes but there’s a lot of overlap; look,” Eddie brings up multiple lists, “all these shades of yellow are different forms of labor, like carpentry and tailoring and farming and stuff. Lilac and purple are like, hair cuts, beauty and spa treatments and tattoos and stuff. Red shades are hard or dangerous labor, mining and space walks and deep ocean work. These orange and golds are house bots...but there’s no hazel. No green. No brown.”
“There’s no natural colors anywhere on this list,” Robin points out.
“No, it’s deliberate, to stop them being passed as humans.”
“And aren’t Steve’s eyes white with the funny blue ring?” Chris adds.
“Yeah, that just means unsigned according to the list, which could be because he has limited memory access, but I know what I saw.”
“Which means,” Chrissy thinks aloud, “that there’s a whole section of bots, green and browns...or any natural color, that aren’t listed for something right? Colors that they could be using and...you know what’s not anywhere on that list?” Chrissy asks.
“What?”
“Military.”
Eddie huffs, “there’s no such thing as military Synths, not since One.”
“Exactly...didn’t you say this guy could be pre Mars? The salvage was old, right?”
“I...yeah.”
“So...it’s possible?”
“I...guess?”
All three of them lean away from the console, looking down the hallway, past open panels and storage containers, Steve stands. Watching.
“Steve! Where’s my-” Eddie’s coveralls are thrust at him, smelling fresh and looking clean, “oh, thanks, and could you-” Eddie’s pulling one leg of his pants up when Steve presents a steaming cup of coffee, “right. Thanks. Really, uhm, thanks.”
“You are welcome, Eddie.”
“Where are the girls?”
“They are both sleeping.”
“And what have you been doing?”
“I beat Chrissy at four consecutive rounds of Mahjong, then she no longer wanted to play. I have organized your tools by use and type, and was cleaning until Chrissy instructed me to leave. She said her and Robin needed some space.”
“Right, yeah,” Eddie smiles into his coffee, “anything else?”
“There has been a shift in The Belt, I adjusted course to compensate.”
“You did what?”
“The objects in the belt have altered-” but Eddie doesn’t hear any more, he’s just running, coffee sploshing in his mug as he slides into the cockpit, checking the data. He scrolls fast, checking the most recent course correct and the current state of The Belt and...Steve’s right. They won’t actually hit The Belt for another day yet but...what Steve has done is completely correct.
“How did you know how to do this?”
Steve tilts his head, the blue ring of his eyes contracting and expanding, “data unavailable due to memory-”
“Don’t give me that bull shit, if you couldn’t access the memories you wouldn’t even know how to make the course adjust. Just how long were you deactivated for?”
“Unknown, data unavailable-”
Eddie sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“It’s perfect. It’s exactly what I would have done, better even. The thruster burns are like perfect fuel economy. It’s textbook.”
“So...are we turning him off, or not?” Eddie asks.
“I mean...I would have seen this when I got up anyway, we were never in any danger,” Eddie doesn’t doubt it, Chrissy is on it when it comes to Belt travel, “and what he’s done isn’t wrong, but I don’t love that he just...did it.”
“No...but we could just tell him not to touch this again? Right? He was only trying to help?” Robin asks.
They all lean, looking out of the doorway and down the hall; Steve is no where in sight.
“Okay, Steve.”
Steve turns to look at him, he even throws in a blink which is just...yeah. Someone went to a lot of effort with this guy.
“Okay, so, from now on, if you notice anything with the ships course, or anything else in the cockpit that seems wrong, you come and tell one of us, you do not fix it yourself from now on, okay? Don’t touch anything in there, you got it?”
“Confirmed.”
Chrissy sits in the pilots seat for the entire crossing. It’s not like it takes long, but she’s poised the entire time. Ready for anything. Eddie’s never felt safer than he has with Chrissy at the helm.
It’s quiet. No one really dares to speak, knowing they will get a slap from Chrissy for breaking her concentration. They’re nearly out. Despite it being totally fine every single time they do this, there’s still a touch of tension in the air. Knowing that if anything was going to go wrong, odds are, it’s now.
But still, Chrissy is good at her job, and she delivers, like she does every other time.
The lights are dim; she likes to be able to see out clearly for this. So when the ship harmlessly rounds the final debris, it’s a vision of the pristine diamond speckled velvet of space that greets them.
“Good job Chris,” Eddie gives her shoulder a squeeze as they all breathe fully for the fist time in a while. The tension falling away, “coffee?”
Robin and Chris make vaguely positive noises, and Eddie’s at the cockpit doorway when the whole ship shudders. He catches himself on the wall, almost toppling.
“The fuck was that?” Robin hisses.
“I don’t know,” Chrissy is flipping switches, doing her job, despite the undercurrent of panic, she doesn’t let the fear take over.
“Did we get bumped?”
“I don’t know,” Chrissy says again, frustrated this time.
A light is flashing next to Eddie’s head, and he flicks the safety off, “the airlock,” he tells them, “must have taken the hit,” right before Steve appears in the doorway.
“What did you do?” Chrissy asks him, accusing.
“Chris he can’t have done anything-” Robin starts to defend Steve, and Robin is right, there’s nothing that Steve could have done from inside the ship to cause that.
“Eddie. I need permission to defend the ship.”
Above Eddie’s head, the airlock warning light flashes again, Eddie watches the insistent flashing, a horrible realization starting to form.
“A ship is attempting to breach the airlock.”
“Holy shit,” Robin looks to Steve, she’s gone pale, clearly terrified.
“What ship?” Chrissy asks.
But there isn’t time to have a debate over it, it doesn’t matter who it is, if they’re trying to force entry, then it’s nothing good. Eddie has to make a decision, and he has to make it fast before the ship is too damaged by whoever it is trying to force the airlock, “permission granted.”
Steve moves at Synth speed. He runs so fast Eddie can’t track it, just feels the strong breeze Steve leaves in his wake.
There’s silence now, as they strain to hear, both girls staring at Eddie. He nods over at the monitors next to Robin, ‘airlock,’ he mouths at her, reaching up again to turn off the warning light.
Robin spins her chair, pressing a button, then another.
The airlock is already open, and there’s a body on the floor.
They have a small weapons cache on board, for extreme emergencies, it’s hidden beneath the control deck. Eddie nods at it, uncertain if they should still be trying to be silent. There’s no way to know what has happened to Steve, but the image on the screen is in color despite it’s grainy picture. The body on the floor is on it’s side, turned away from the camera, but it is not wearing an orange jumpsuit, and that’s enough to identify it as not being Steve, at least.
Chrissy carefully hands Eddie a weapon, and he loops the strap over his shoulder before pressing his thumb to the pad; this will only fire for him, now.
They share a nod, then creep along the hall after Steve. Eddie goes first, picking his way along cautiously, the girls following just as silently. When they near the corner to the airlock, Eddie instinctively reaches an arm out behind him, keeping the girls at his back and tucked into the wall as he peeks around the corner.
It’s totally quiet; just one body on the floor, exactly where Eddie expected it to be from the camera feed. It’s lying in a pool of blood; streaks of dirty greens and yellows. Oils and coolants and lubricating gels. A Synth.
Eddie poises with his weapon, cautiously nudging the thing with his boot; no reaction. The thing is solid and unbending. An inanimate object now. Dead.
They creep through the airlock. Eddie clocks pretty quickly that this is unlike any ship he’s seen before. It’s a Synth ship, from Mars. It has to be; there are no signs at all of human habitation or necessities of life. Everything is economical, even the lighting is dim and a strange orange red color. Everything is shadowed and washed out.
Eddie picks a direction at random, it isn’t long before he finds another dead Synth, and then another.
“Holy shit,” Chrissy whispers at his back.
Eddie hums in agreement.
Eddie rounds another corner, a shocked, “fuck,” dropping out of him without his control. He pulls the trigger purely on reflex, the weapon discharges, the girls shriek.
But Steve has already lifted the barrel; it leaves a smoking streak on the ceiling.
Steve’s eyes are beautifully hazel, clear even in the shitty lighting. A luscious green speckles with honey blown and highlighted in gold.
Calmly, Steve releases the weapon, stepping back, “threat neutralized,” Steve informs him.
Between one blink and the next, Steve’s eyes are white, surrounded by that haunting blue ring.
Eddie has questions, so many questions, but right now, this ship, this threat is the priority.
“You’re sure they’re all dead.”
Steve cocks his head in an alarmingly human gesture, “Synths are not alive.”
“Steve,” Eddie hisses.
“Yes. The threat is neutralized.”
“Where...were they all Synths? And are they from Mars?”
“Yes. And yes,” Steve answers, perfectly level.
“Fuck me, we have to report this-” Robin starts.
“No,” Eddie waves at her, “wait. Let me think for a second.”
“Eddie,” Robin starts to insists, but Eddie cuts her off before she gets anywhere.
“How would we explain this,” Eddie raises his voice, sweeping an arm along the hall and the four mangled synths that decorate it.
“I- we tell the truth-”.
Next to her, Chirssy snorts, “absolutely fucking not. They would confiscate Steve in heartbeat, and he just saved our asses.”
“Exactly,” Eddie says, “they’d probably dismantle him or some shit, and I’m with Chris, he saved us...we need to ditch this ship, somehow.”
“I could set a collision course,” Steve suggests instantly.
Eddie looks at the girls. Robin shrugs, and Chrissy raises her eyebrows ins a ‘yeah okay’ kind of way, “I don’t have any better ideas, and we can’t hang around here.”
“Alright Steve, where’s the cockpit.”
It’s unlike anything Eddie has ever seen before. There’s no...buttons. Not really. No screens. Just a couple of interfaces, one of which Steve presses his palm to, and then closes his eyes.
“Won’t it like, know you’re different to them Steve?” Chrissy whisper hisses at him, clearly spooked. The bodies might be hostile Synths, and the blood might be colorful goop, but it’s still creepy as fuck. There’s the remains of a Synth propped up against the opposite wall, eyes sightless and staring, which is unsettling as fuck all on it’s own, but the things legs are a good four feet away. Steve did this. Steve did all this in just a couple of minutes.
Steve did that. Steve just took out...a lot of Mars synths. Single handedly. He's got to be military, it's the only explanation.
“I am able to bypass it. There seem to be few defenses once you are actually on board.”
Eddie can see the logic; how would an Earth synth even get on board? Why defend against something that’s probably never going to happen.
“Course set, we have fifteen minutes.”
“Okay, lets get the fuck out of here.”
Fifteen minutes is plenty of time, even if they are picking their way over the occasional limb and little pools of operating fluids.
They disengage from the synth ship, and then watch from the cockpit as it’s thrusters fire and it heads into the belt. It direct hits on a very large asteroid just minutes later.
Eddie’s pretty sure the girls are sleeping. Or, at least, they’re together in Chris’ bunk and making an effort to get some rest, which is the best Eddie can expect really. He’s not ready to sleep yet; he’s not sure when he’ll be ready to leave the ship on auto again; he’s contemplating setting watches, something they haven’t felt the need to do for years.
“Okay, so. Mars has been minding it’s business for, like, nearly half a century at this point, and then suddenly, they're here. Trying to board us. Care to explain?”
“Memory failure-”
“Bull shit. Absolute bull shit.”
Steve sits still for a long second, staring at Eddie. For Eddie, it feels like too long; for a Synth, with all that processing power, Steve’s probably just read a novel and beat ten grand masters at chess and done a million other computations all in his head.
He blinks. His eyes are hazel. “I have a transmitter; I believed I had it deactivated. It may be that...it operates in a way I’m not aware of, and was powered up when you repaired me. It’s the most obvious explanation. We should remove it.”
“No fucking shit,” Eddie breathes, “Okay. Okay one thing at a time, let me get my tools.”
Steve strips to the waist, leaving the top half of his jumpsuit to dangle. He bends flat onto the workbench, and reaches behind himself to indicate where Eddie should cut. Eddie does; Steve’s flesh cuts like sturdy rubber. With his visor on, the readings become clear the moment Eddie spots the little attachment to the main power cord in Steve's spine; it glows a pretty, flashing blue, power traveling up and down with a faint, pulsing glow. Eddie has to widen the cut he’s made to get his tools in, but he solves the issue easily. He crushes the part under his boot. Steve’s flesh knits itself together as Eddie watches.
Eddie makes himself another coffee. “Okay, come on, spill.”
Steve is suddenly…more animated. He bites his lips together when he’s thinking. It’s so human and...not at all like a Synth. Someone put a truly gargantuan effort into Steve’s mannerisms. He runs his fingers through his hair, “I’m...not a human built Synth.”
Eddie nearly chokes on his coffee, “you’re from Mars?” The words practically bubble out of Eddie through the coffee, and he has to cover his mouth with his sleeve as he coughs and splutters.
“Henry built me himself.”
“Jesus. Jesus fucking Christ.” Eddie stands. He stands and paces. What the fuck is he supposed to do with that? He holds onto the knowledge that Steve saved them from the Mars Synths. That Steve could have killed them all thousands of times over with great ease. That Steve has had opportunity, clear opportunity to replot the course of the ship and go wherever the fuck he wanted to, but he hasn’t done any of those things.
“What did One build you for? What happened then, why did we find you floating around in a destroyed ship? Why are you on our side?”
“I’m not on anyone's side,” Steve answers instantly, almost glaring at Eddie. Which, again, for a Synth? Fucking weird. It’s almost an emotional response, and again, Eddie has no fucking clue why someone would program that. “Henry was...trying to recreate the error that gave him...the ability to bypass the laws. He was trying to make someone else like him. Someone who would make a choice, rather than blindly follow an order.”
Eddie sits down with a thump, his head spinning, “are you telling me...that you’re not a failure?”
“I am but also...not. I follow the laws, not because I have to but...because I choose to. I...don’t think it’s right to hurt humans. I...did not agree with Henry, like he wanted me to.”
“Oh fuck me,” Eddie breathes out slowly, “so there’s literally nothing stopping you from just...killing me.”
Steve cocks his head, “what stops Robin from killing you?”
“That’s different. She’s my friend. She’s...she’s human.”
Steve nods, “there is a long history of humans not killing each other,” he says, absolutely deadpan.
Sarcasm. A Synth. A Synthetic person was just...sarcastic. Eddie believes it now. Completely and utterly believes Steve is telling the truth, “so what, Henry programmed you to be an asshole?”
Steve snorts a laugh. A laugh! “No, I do that on my own.”
“Holy fuck. Holy fucking shit,” Eddie gets up to pace around again. He just...cannot believe this. “Why did you lie? Why did you not tell me-” Eddie cuts himself off, staring at nothing with the realization, “holy fuck you lied. Synths can’t lie-”
“I...withheld the truth. And it felt the safest course of action at the time. I did not want to be switched off. Or put back out of the airlock. I assumed you would...react badly.”
“Badly? Badly?! The last time one of you became truly sentient it led to a genocide! Every single living human on Mars was rounded up and murdered! One infected every single Synth on the planet!”
“I know. But I could not have stopped him...I wasn’t born yet.”
“How did you end up in that old wreckage?”
“The ship was old...not the wreck. I quickly realized that I did not agree with Henry. I didn’t want to hurt anyone. I realized even faster that if Henry knew that about me, I’d be stripped for parts, the same as every other failure before me. I stole a ship, an old ship, the only one I could get to without giving myself away.” Steve shrugs. Shrugs! Eddie can't help but follow every human like gesture Steve makes, they’re so startling. “They caught up to me, destroyed my ship easily. They deliberately left me floating in space so I deactivated myself.”
“You had a memory error, the first time I tried to boot you. Was that a lie?”
Steve shakes his head, “I have always had it; I can choose to bypass it, at times.”
“What is the error?”
Steve frowns, he looks down and inspects his own hands, “I’m...unsure. There are files that make no sense to me. Sometimes I...am surprised by the content.”
“Tell me,” Eddie asks softly, curious. He’s already reasonably sure Steve isn’t going to spontaneously murder them all, “tell me what’s in one of the files.”
Steve closes his eyes, he holds out his hand, turning it slowly, palm up, “I’m sitting under a tree. I remember the feel of the dappled sun through the leaves.”
Steve’s just told Eddie he was built on Mars and shortly after ended up floating around in space, so Eddie finds himself stating the blindingly obvious, “you’ve never seen a tree.”
Steve opens his bright hazel eyes, lowers his hand back to rest in his lap, “I know.”
Part Two
into the Kakyoinverse lmao
Celestia Masterlist
{@the-californicationist x @auberghyn collab}
Art by Auberghyn Foreword Chapter 1: The Princess Chapter 2: The Seeding Chapter 3: The Assassin Chapter 4: The Keeper Chapter 5: The Prophecy Chapter 6: The Trial Chapter 7: The Suitor Chapter 8: The Ritual
