Before I could even voice how insane this was, Eve pulled up and kissed . It was fierce, it was passionate, it was desperate. It was filled with longing, filled with love, filled with hope.
It was the start of our forever.
It had been so long since I’d felt Eve directly with no barrier between us—no strange staticky sensation to dull the perfection of our union. Her full, pouty black lips molded against mine, and her tongue darted playfully into my mouth, teasing at first before she started massaging it with impossible dexterity and precision.
My knees felt weak, and I was imdiately lightheaded as we kissed, my mind turning to mush at the pure, unrestrained pleasure of her touch.
It felt like I was about to be overwheld, but Eve separated from before I was totally consud.
“Eve…wha…?” I could barely string a sentence together.
Eve trilled an adorable giggle, and I saw she was beyond pleased she still had such power over .
“I missed you so much darling, and I’m sorry I had to put you through all that.” Eve said, her voice gentle, comforting and alluring.
Her words were like a beacon, and I found my focus again and could finally start to form the thousands of questions I had for her.
“Eve, seriously, what the fuck is going on?” I asked, gesturing to the room around us and the bloody remains left from the soldiers she consud.
Eve’s expression shifted, and she looked determined once again, “I promised I would answer all your questions once we were free, and we’re almost there.”
Before I could follow up, Eve manifested dozens—hundreds of tentacles and tendrils from her back. They swept over and around us, encircling us both. More and more continued to wrap around until they totally obscured my vision, and a few monts later I was in total darkness. I felt sothing pull down into a seated position, and then a few tendrils braced my torso and legs like a safety harness. Then suddenly there was light once more, coming from Eve sitting across from —her glowing yellow eyes acting almost like flashlights.
I looked around as a few more eyes randomly appeared around us, all glowing so I could see where I was; I appeared to be in a black, biomass shell—like a large sphere with a comfortable organic seat I was secured into. Across from , I could see Eve was half-lted into the biomass shell, her legs totally gone, her torso pressed into the shell, but with her arms and head were totally free.
I gestured around to the biomass, “Eve, what the hell are we doing?”
Eve smiled, eyes twinkling with amusent, “We’re escaping The Judicator darling.”
I heard a muffled explosion all around us and felt the shell vibrate a little, but whatever happened outside didn’t damage the structure in the slightest. Then I felt a strange lifting sensation, and a quick lurch forward, and then everything was stabilized.
“Did we just…break out of The Judicator—just like that?” I pressed.
Eve smiled, clearly pleased with herself, “Would you like to see?”
A tendril unrolled in front of , and rather than a normal tentacle, this one seed to have so strange open socket on the end. It moved forward to cover one of my eyes and weirdly seed to dock in place—like it locked onto my eye. I closed my other eye and focused on the strange tube, and suddenly I was looking outside our strange black sphere out into empty space.
It was weirdly intuitive, and I could move my perception around as though I was moving my normal eye, and I looked back to see a huge hole in the hull of The Judicator where we escaped from. It looked like there was massive damage to the room, so I had to wonder what power Eve unleashed to destroy it.
I swept my gaze forward, looking at space around us, and in the distance I saw the mysterious interceptors and Imperial fighters battling it out all around The Judicator. anwhile, our little black sphere drifted through the vacuum on its own, totally ignored by all the nearby chaos.
I pulled my eye away from the strange tube and my perception returned to what was before . I could see framing Eve there were two pulsating masses beside her, and I thought they looked like lungs breathing in and out—probably providing the oxygen I required.
“Eve, are we really safe? What about the caras on The Judicator?” I asked.
Eve waved off, “Taken care of darling.” She flashed a mischievous smile, “During our frenzy in the control room, I accidentally damaged the cara systems for that sector; there’ll be no record of our escape.” She explained easily.
I shook my head slowly, still hard to believe all this, “And they won’t think it’s suspicious the brig was destroyed and my body disappeared?”
Eve shook her head too, “It won’t be the only damage The Judicator suffered during this assault.” She gestured to the tube hanging in front of , “Before we get too far away, look again and see for yourself.”
I complied and put my eye back in the weird tube, felt that strange suction sensation, and then I was viewing outside the shell again. I turned my perception around to look at The Judicator, and sure enough I could see maybe a dozen holes in its hull—most of them small, but I saw so of the mysterious interceptors’ weird liquid plasma blasts slip through the repulser shielding on the massive vessel. It wasn’t often, but it was enough a few holes in the hull wouldn’t be so strange.
“Ah, that reminds …” Eve said, and I felt a couple more tentacles snake up around and dig into my jumpsuit.
“Eve, what—” I said as I pulled my eye away from the viewing tube.
Eve held up a hand to stop , “Hold still please, this might pinch a little.”
I felt the tentacles spread out across my skin over my chest, and then suddenly they pressed into my skin, and after a second of sharp pain, it dissolved quickly as numbness spread over my skin.
Eve smiled at , “Not being contained, I can produce all manner of dications and toxins again.” She nodded along, “A little numbing agent to control the pain for the procedure.”
I didn’t have to ask what kind of procedure she was talking about, as a few monts later she pulled her tentacles back to reveal the remains of the heart monitor the Empire installed that was connected to Eve’s original explosive failsafe.
Eve flashed another wicked smile, and the monitor remains were pulled into the tentacles and then disappeared, and I had to assu she threw them out into space.
Eve nodded, “There was a tracking device implanted in the monitor—never told us that, but should’ve been obvious. Now the last signal will show its trajectory into space, help sell the story even more.”
I was still trying to catch up with what all happened, and yet more questions were piling on to the point I wasn’t sure if I would ever understand what was happening.
“Eve, please just—”
Eve cut off once more, “Almost done, Adam, please—last thing, I promise, then I’ll answer all your questions.” She insisted.
I let out a long sigh, and she giggled at how annoyed I was, but then turned serious as her tentacles reached for my neck.
I sucked in a quick breath, knowing what was coming next.
“Adam, just trust , okay? I’ll take care of it.” She assured .
I was about to nod, but stopped myself from moving so she could work and just sent her positive thoughts instead.
The tentacles spread around my neck, and I could feel them start to dig into my skin before the numbing sensation dulled the pain once more.
“This is going to feel…a little strange.” Eve warned , and then pointed a tentacle before my face, “Open please.”
I complied, and the tentacle went into my mouth and down my throat. I could taste it was coated in so strange, oily substance, and I assud it was suppressing my gag reflex. I also felt a strange warmth spreading around my neck, both inside and out, like so liquid was being injected under my skin—into my bones even. I shivered at the unusual, alien sensation, but tried to keep as still as I could while watching Eve work, a look of serious concentration on her face.
“Almost…done…” She mumbled.
I felt a weird crunching in my neck, and suddenly my vision all blanked out, my thoughts ceased, and I lost all feeling in my body.
Then it was done, and my vision returned so I could see Eve pulling her tentacles away from .
“Did you just…” I let the question trail away.
Eve smiled apologetically, “Yes, sorry darling, had to snap your neck there to unhook you from the bomb.” She held her hand up, showing off the small silver disk with a dangling trail of wires behind it, “But you’re free.” She said.
I reached up to my neck, trying to feel if there was any lasting damage, “Holy shit, Eve, you snapped my neck?”
A tentacle ca to grab the old bomb and discard it from our shell, and Eve ignored my concerns as she dusted her hands off and then leaned forward with a huge smile on her face.
“Adam, you’re free—we’re free.” She insisted.
I opened my mouth to speak, but no words ca out—I could hardly believe it. All that ti working for the Empire, at first it didn’t seem so bad as they tricked into compliance due to my ignorance, and while I was a fool to ever agree to let them put the bomb in Eve’s core, I was just a simple, dumb human who ended up in way over his head. From there obviously things got worse when the Lord Generals got involved, displeased with our performance or so nonsense—using us as scapegoats more like to try and cover their monuntal fuck-ups over the Predazoans. They put more bombs in us, put Eve in that dreadful inhibitor field, put us in jail and threatened us constantly with separation and dismissal—with incarceration and torture eventually.
But all that was behind us; we were finally free and clear from The Judicator, out in the vacuum of space, no bombs or trackers or anything left so they could co try and recapture us.
And best of all they surely thought we were dead, so they had no reason to go looking.
I felt like I was about to pass out I was so overwheld, and I was glad for the strange chair Eve created for in the weird shell.
I shook my head slowly, “Holy shit, Eve, I have sooo many questions.” I said, my voice barely a whisper.
Eve’s responding smile was soft then, it was kind and reassuring.
“Ask them all, my beloved Adam, and I’ll answer freely.” She assured , open and honest, “From this point on, there will be no more secrets between us—I promise.”
Where would I even start? There was so much I didn’t know, so much I needed to catch up with.
I gestured around vaguely, “The plan—our escape, mind explaining all that?” I shook my head quickly, “No, what happened while you were out in the void?” I held my hand up to stop her from answering, “Wait, wait, this is the real you, right? Not so copy or clone—not like what you suggested back when we were drifting through space after destroying Gamma-12 in the Holistia Nebula, right?”
Eve trilled an adorable giggle that made my heart skip a beat, and I couldn’t believe there was nothing between us now. Even half-lted into the biomass sphere she was flying through space, she was the most beautiful creature in the universe.
“I’ll answer in the appropriate order and get through them all, okay?” She assured , then gestured to herself delicately, “This is the real , not a copy or a clone—the original Eve.” She clasped her hands together, “Now, as for what happened back when I was trapped in the void and my escape plan, I should think it’s obvious that’s all connected.”
I nodded along, “Right of course.”
Eve’s smile settled a little, and I could see she was getting ready for a lengthy explanation.
“The Predazoans are extradinsional void beings; physically we exist on this side of reality, but our spirit and soul exist beyond the constraints of this dinsion—endless and unfathomable, with a process of energy transference that breaks the boundaries and physical laws mortals are constrained to.
“Now, our energy cos from the void, but our physical body controls that energy.” Eve pointed to her temple, “Our hivemind consciousness is contained within our physical cells, so naturally with the destruction of our physical body—our core, the energy and void spirit can’t be maintained, so it gets destroyed too.
“When I was contained within the inhibitor field, my physical body was cut off from my void spirit—my energy was displaced and out of balance. Of course, my physical cells are always filled with so void energy, it’s why I wasn’t destroyed when I was cut off from the source of my power, but it was insanely limiting and debilitating.” She held her hands out in a presenting manner, “Imagine being cut off from your soul of all things.”
I knew she suffered while being trapped in that awful inhibitor field, but honestly I couldn’t imagine what she experienced as an extradinsional being trapped in one dinsion. But from what I saw of her—especially how exhausted she was back on Vyrane, I knew she’d been struggling greatly.
“When I was trapped in the void, it was actually the most beneficial thing that could’ve happened to us—a blessing, even if being separated for a ti was awful. While I was out in the void, free from the confines of reality and its physical laws, I was able to reconnect with my void spirit, and I was finally able to control my void power once again.” Eve explained.
I nodded along, “You said you’d beco a void conduit, able to access the void wirelessly like Neo.”
Eve nodded too, “Yes, although it’s a little more complicated than that.” She tilted her head back and forth, debating how best to explain things, “I was able to…transfer control of my hivemind consciousness temporarily to my void soul—to exist solely as a void spirit.” Eve held a finger up to stop her own point, “Now, I’ll tell you it should be impossible for a pure void being to exist, there needs to be so physical presence—a tether to reality to give form to the being, otherwise the energy would just disperse into the endless void. But I was desperate and willing to take the risk, holding onto my consciousness in the void for as long as I could until we could be freed.
“Ironically enough, I believe Gamma-20 was trying to beco a pure void being with her weird plan to assimilate the khrona crystals in the void singularity, but I’ll admit I have no idea how that would actually work.” She said, then gestured to herself, “For , it was done to facilitate a transfer to a newly created biomass core; the plan was for to hold my consciousness in my void soul, and then create a new biomass core and resu my physical presence in reality.”
I held up a hand to pause her explanations, “And you’re sure you’re not a copy or a clone—the old Eve didn’t die to create this one, right?”
Eve shook her head, “No darling, I rember how opposed you were to the original idea. I created the second core so the two existed simultaneously for a short ti—difficult to maintain two cores, but once they were established, I existed in both spaces at once. Rember, I exist as a shared hivemind consciousness, so while I can separate and multiply myself endlessly, they’re still all .” She explained.
“And I assu that second core was inside .” I nodded along.
Eve smiled, “Correct. Thanks to transferring control over to my void soul, I was able to manipulate all my biomass again, including the cells left inside you for your physical enhancents.” She held up a hand quickly, “Don’t worry, your new abilities haven’t been removed or diluted. Instead, I replicated and multiplied the cells inside you, then manipulated them so I could transform them into a new biomass core.
“I should also tell you creating pure Predazoan core cells isn’t exactly easy; the transference was long and difficult and required constant concentration to ensure they were control cells that shared consciousness with the rest of my higher-hivemind.” She added.
My eyes grew wide as I suddenly made the connection, “That’s why you were staring at like a weirdo all that ti in the ergency shuttle when we escaped the Derrion System, you were manipulating the cells inside .”
Eve smiled brightly, “Very good, darling, that’s exactly right.” She threw a cute pout, “Could’ve done without you calling a weirdo, but I suppose it’s understandable.”
I shook my head, “But wait, then why did you revert to that weirdly primitive state on Congoren—or was that all fake for the sake of the plan?”
Eve smiled sheepishly, looking like she got caught making a huge mistake, “That actually was a massive miscalculation on my part; while transferring control over to the newly created core and focusing on manipulating the cells inside you, it was hard, tedious work. Imagine using chopsticks to pick up individual grains of sand—and then try building a 10-story sandcastle like that. But then The Judicator entered void space, and suddenly the careful control I needed to manipulate my cells was supercharged with void energy, and all my controlling consciousness was transferred to the biomass core inside you, leaving what remained of my old body as little more than a shell at that point.”
“Why couldn’t you just transfer so control back to your old body?” I asked.
Eve shook her head, “My mind was split apart with no easy solution; I was still controlling things from the void, although my window for keeping my presence contained was closing. My original body was locked within the inhibitor field, preventing full access to my power or the ability to revert the transfer. And then of course my new biomass core was locked inside you, but it was lacking in biomass to act as the new controller for my body, and I wasn’t about to risk your safety by unleashing it. Instead, I just had to hope my primitive mind was able to work things out, and thankfully my first instinct was to consu Gamma-11, which gave a resurgence of void energy so I could properly control all my separate parts and get the plan back on track.” She flashed a bright smile, “Thank you baby for freeing .”
It was insane listening to all this magical nonsense, but even crazier, I was starting to get the big picture—I could understand my all-powerful, Outsider god girlfriend’s convoluted plan.
“So from there, once we were back on track, the plan was to confront the Lord Generals knowing they would try to kill us using the failsafes, and then fake our own deaths and escape into space, that right?” I surmised.
Eve’s smile was twice as brilliant, “Exactly baby, good job. I knew if we just escaped, obviously they would co looking for us—would never stop or leave us alone, desperate to reclaim their valuable assets. Instead, we fake our deaths and disappear, ready to start our lives for real.” Her smile fell away, “And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the plan ahead of ti, but not only were we working during a very tight tifra, I couldn’t risk our enemies thinking my death wasn’t real—your grief needed to seem genuine.”
I scoffed at that, “Oh it was genuine.”
Eve’s smile totally died then, and she clearly looked guilty over what she’d done to , “I’m so sorry baby, but this was the only way.”
I was obviously upset—reasonably so, but I was elated over the idea we were really truly free.
I could scold Eve later for what all she put through.
Eve’s smile returned, looking mischievous, “Don’t threaten with a good ti.”
I rolled my eyes and tried to collect my thoughts and see if I understood everything so far; for the most part I got it—definitely required a lot of luck, and no small amount of nonsense magic I would probably never understand, but it seed like we were totally clear and safe.
Eve reconnected with her void soul while she was trapped during the Derrion System mission, sohow transferred consciousness control to her soul in the void, then manipulated the Predazoan cells in my body to create another core, and then started transferring her hivemind control over to that new core—fucked things up for a minute when we traveled through the void again, like the floodgates being opened when she was trying to be delicate, but after consuming Gamma-11 and getting a resurgence of Predazoan biomass and energy, she was back on track to work through the rest of the plan. Then of course we boarded The Judicator, confronted the Lord Generals and let them think they killed us, and then escaped amidst all the confusion during the mysterious enemy assault.
Actually, there was one thing I totally didn’t get now.
“Wait, wait a second Evie, how did you know soone would be attacking The Judicator?” I pressed.
Ever the troublemaker, Eve flashed another mischievous grin, “All part of the plan, darling.” She said, then the strange viewing tube lowered before my face once more, “Have a look.”
I felt like she was purposefully being vague and mysterious now to make everything seem more impressive—always a flair for the dramatic. I sighed and snatched up the tube and put it back on my eye, hoping I wouldn’t have to wait for anymore answers for so grand reveal or sothing.
The mysterious interceptors were still fighting the Imperial ships, but I could see the bulk of their forces were held back towards a warp gate.
Actually, the gate was different from anything I’d ever seen before; normally when a ship entered void space, it shot out this weird black orb that erupted into a mysterious vortex that would open and close on its own. The gate we were flying towards however seed to be frad by so massive tal ring—as though it was being stabilized manually or was sohow created artificially.
I was about to ask what the deal was with the strange gate, when I realized we were traveling straight for it—about to enter the void without any shielding.
“Eve, shit, I’m sure it’s different for you, but for the void is like nightmare.” I insisted, pulling the viewing tube away from my eye.
Eve just laughed, “Oh Adam.” She smiled kindly then, as though she’d already taken care of everything, “Do you trust ?”
The answer was obvious, but I still paused as I took a deep breath, then let it out slowly.
“Of course, sweet-thing.”
Eve trilled an adorable giggle, then clapped her hands together—genuinely excited for my answer.
“Then off we go, into the wild unknown—the strange and unusual, the first stop in our journey, the start of our forever.” She said grandly, sounding quite giddy.
I put my eye back on the tube and sighed again, but I didn’t protest as I watched the warp gate draw closer. Trusting Eve as always—despite my fears, I held my breath and braced myself as we entered the void.
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