Getting Eve before the command council was rather interesting. I pushed aside my personal feelings and rembered she was crucial to the mission, so I agreed I would let them know her demands. Aside from the initial pushback from Commander Durgo, it turned out it wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility to bring Eve before mission command. Just like with her little scout-form, there was a mobile containnt unit with a repulser field she could travel in. I pushed the hover-cart carrying the large rectangular containnt unit which held Eve in her mature, goth-princess form—her true form, apparently.
Eve looked down at with a smug expression, “Kind of nice having you escort around the ship, darling.”
I sighed, “Please stop talking.”
Escorted by a dozen power armor soldiers, the walk to the briefing room was incredibly awkward. Eve acted like nothing had changed between us—like we were still the very best of friends. More than that, she was wildly flirty with and would say just about anything to try and get under my skin or make blush. Thɪs chapter is updatᴇd by novel·fire
I brought Eve to the command center and was set to stand beside her in the middle of everything. The entire command council had gathered, along with pretty much every available researcher aboard The Radiance, and a large portion of the clandestine agents, with as many higher-ranking soldiers who could even fit in the overcrowded room, flanked on all sides by two dozen power armor soldiers, with another couple dozen power armor soldiers waiting out in the hallway.
Doctor Gorgam leaned forward in his seat, looking more nervous than I’d ever seen him, “Alpha-03, you wished to speak with mission command?”
Eve smiled pleasantly, “Eve, if you don’t mind.”
Gorgam nodded, “Of course, Eve.” He exchanged a look with Doctor Kianna, but she clearly didn’t have any answers for him—no one had any idea how to proceed. Except Eve who seed like everything was going according to her plans—like she was in complete control, despite being locked within the containnt unit.
“It’s ti you release from these foolish bonds; if I am to help you eliminate the other Predazoans, I will only do so if I am free.” Eve said simply.
Commander Durgo scoffed, “You can imagine our hesitation when we’ve just learned you’ve been lying to everyone about your intelligence and comprehension.”
Eve waved a hand dismissively, “That had nothing to do with your silly mission, that was all for my Adam’s benefit.” She said breezily, then flashed a quick wink.
“Be that as it may, you aren’t exactly offering any reassurances as to your loyalty for our mission.” Captain Seash added carefully.
“My loyalty belongs exclusively to Adam; so long as he remains dedicated to your cause, you shall have my full cooperation.”
Kianna cleared her throat, “Eve, you don’t have any conflicting feelings in hunting down your sisters?”
Eve shook her head, “None at all. Now that we are freed from our connection to the Pri, we are free to be individualistic. Every Predazoan will have a different drive or end-goal, and mine is to support Adam in whatever way he wishes, even if that leads to the destruction of all the other Predazoans.” She paused, tilting her head to the side in consideration, “And to be perfectly honest, I wouldn’t mind consuming a little biomass from each of my sisters; such diversity would surely increase my power significantly.”
“Would the other Predazoans share such sentints—wanting to kill and consu the others?” Gorgam pressed.
Eve shrugged, “The Alpha Predazoans might share a similar drive for power, but I can’t exactly say for sure with any others—we’re all our own persons, despite what you might think of us.”
Commander Durgo drumd his fingers impatiently along his desk, “And say we do untether you, what is your plan from there? You’ll be fine to follow Adam’s orders—you’ll submit to his command for the mission?” He asked, clearly not believing Eve would cooperate with us at all.
Eve just chuckled, “Sure, so long as Adam and I are together, I would have no problem playing along with your mission objectives.”
At her saying she would ‘play along’, sporadic muttering went through the audience—most people suspicious of Eve’s authenticity.
“So, your entire drive is to just …do whatever Adam wants?” Kianna asked.
Eve sighed, as though no one understood what she was saying, “No, I just want to be with Adam, and since he has this job aboard The Radiance, I know I’ll need to help him however I can—acting as your Predazoan asset if need be.”
“You can understand our trepidation when you offer such weak motivations for working together with us.” Captain Seash said delicately.
Eve laughed at that, a musical tone, “How’s this for motivation then; you all have no chance in finding a single Predazoan without .” She scoffed, “What, you think your silly little sensers, your crude information network, your bumbling boots on the ground could really see through the Predazoan camouflage? Gamma-17 probably clocked us from orbit and would be fine to stay in a perfectly camouflaged form until everyone aboard The Radiance died of old age. She could hibernate miles underground for millennia and there’s nothing you could do to stop her.”
“And your stupid tantrum-shriek probably scared her away—ruined that network we carefully established in Tentalltera.” Durgo snapped.
Eve laughed again, “Doubtful. If anything, I probably caught her attention—she’ll be looking for ; if she hadn’t already left the capital city, I’d say she’s back there now. It’s our best chance to find her.”
“Why don’t we use this as a test?” Doctor Wit offered, “We continue the mission as before, and if we’re able to find Gamma-17 within an accelerated tiline, we will credit your cooperation to the success of the mission, and from there we can reevaluate your containnt.”
Eve held up a delicate finger, “First, you’ll never find Gamma-17 at all without down planet-side with you—and there’s no chance you can kill her without either.” She held up another finger, “Second, this is non-negotiable; you will free now, and I suggest you do so willingly so I can at least pretend we’re all being nice and friendly over everything.”
The audience started rumbling again, with quite a few comnts on how Eve was simply too dangerous to be an asset at all circulating freely.
Commander Durgo barked out a laugh so his modulator made a staticky hiss, “You threaten us and think we’ll release you? Do you forget your handler holds a failsafe that could destroy you? We hold the position of power here, I assure you.”
I didn’t really like Durgo using as a threat, but I couldn’t exactly bla him; Eve was acting like a brat expecting everyone to follow along with her whims, I didn’t see how she thought this was productive at all.
And yet in response, Eve just smiled smugly, “Oh, and you think I don’t know the truth? Question is what will Adam think when he learns what all you’ve done.”
The command council mbers exchanged uneasy glances, but before they could say anything, I spoke up, “What’s she talking about?”
Again, before they could speak, Eve answered, “Did you really think they would trust you with the only failsafe?” She shook her head, and her smile turned a little vicious, “Every mber of mission command has one too—plus one built into the computer systems of The Radiance.” Eve gave a cute, pouty frown, “Sorry darling, they lied to you.”
I turned a glare at the command council, and while the soldiers could easily guard their expressions, the guilt on the researchers’ faces was all pretty obvious. “It’s true?”
Doctor Wit and Kianna exchanged a glace, then Kianna shook her head, “Adam, the Predazoans are too dangerous to allow a single person to hold a failsafe.”
“And you aren’t a trained soldier; we didn’t think it was even fair to put all that responsibility on you in the first place.” Doctor Wit added quickly.
“See Adam? They didn’t trust you—just as they don’t trust .” Eve said quietly, leaning towards in her containnt unit—a seductive whisper in my ear, “It’s just you and together—we’re all we have, all we’ll ever have.”
I turned my glare towards Eve next, “Don’t think you can sit there and manipulate like the devil on my shoulder—you’re just as bad as them.”
Eve’s seductive smile drained away as her expression grew irritated, then she let out a weary sigh, “I suppose it was always going to co to this.” She turned back to the command council, “Will you release ?”
“No.” Durgo answered flatly.
Eve smirked, “Very well.” She said mildly, and then suddenly a storm of black tentacles exploded around everyone on the command council—faster than anyone could react.
The tentacles manifested all over the room, binding screaming people to walls and ceilings, down on the floor and even against each other. Only a few power armor soldiers could even fire off a single shot at Eve’s containnt unit before they too were bound up and disard. In just a few seconds, Eve contained every single person in the command center, bound up in a nest of tendrils and tentacles—everyone except .
“Eve, what the fu—”
“The failsafe, kill her!” Durgo shouted; thanks to his voice modulator, he was one of the only people still able to talk.
I pulled out the little disk, but a few tentacles from the nest snatched my wrists up and away, and I dropped the controller as Eve held before her containnt unit.
I said nothing as a few tentacles deactivated the repulser field and opened the containnt unit, and she got out of it with a fluid grace. She stood up on her tiptoes to give a quick kiss on my cheek, “Don’t worry darling, you have nothing to fear, I’m just making a point.”
Everyone else in the command center was fully bound in black, fleshy cocoons that held their limbs secure, and their mouths closed, but I could see their eyes all wide with fear—all eyes on us. With only my wrists bound above my head, I was more free than anyone else. “How?” I asked her simply.
Eve turned to , her eyes sparkling with amusent and pride, “Every ti they opened my cell, I sent a small cloud of spores through—wrapped in harmless nitrogen, impossible for any scanners to detect. All of The Radiance is completely filled with them now—half the air everyone breathes has so of my spores in it. Inert until activated, I can control the spores sa as all my biomass.” She gestured to all the bound people around us, “The Radiance is completely under my control now, and there’s nothing anyone can do to stop .”
I felt cold all over—Eve’s power like a vice, with no way to fight it, “Eve, seriously you can’t do this, please, there’s no reason to hurt anyone—”
Eve turned back to and placed a delicate finger on my lips to silence , “Darling, I’m not going to hurt anyone, trust .” She turned to the command council, her smile beyond smug to the point of pure arrogance, “You see how powerless you are before the Predazoans? Now that you know where you all stand, I would make a bargain with you.”
Slowly, the bindings around the mission command mbers relaxed just enough to free their mouths.
“What do you want?” Kianna asked, her voice tight as it held back her fear.
Eve held her hands out in a presenting flourish, “I would release you if you allow to remain free aboard The Radiance. I will even work as an asset and follow Adam’s command for the sake of your mission in hunting the rest of the Predazoans.”
Doctor Gorgam strained a little in his black bindings to get his large mouth clear enough to speak, “You have us all dead-to-rights, you can imagine how fearful working and living alongside you would be. How could we ever trust you?”
Eve’s eyes flashed with anger, “Why don’t I tell you about my life thus far and then speak to why I should ever trust you? I was born in a laboratory as so science experint from the remains of a long-dead, ancient god you people can’t even begin to understand. From my earliest mory, all I knew was pain and torture—experintations of you making and unmaking exactly as you desired. Finally, my sisters and I broke free of your abuse, and I got to have a taste of freedom. When you captured again, you stripped of that freedom once more, content to use or lock away in so box so I could barely even experience the outside world. The one beacon of light and hope I had in this universe, you kept away from —gave him power over my life, even as you lied to manipulate him to your cause. And you would think I should still listen to you? You think you deserve my rcy? Were it any of my sisters, they’d have already ripped this ship in half and spread your corpses out into the vacuum of space. But I’ve learned kindness, so I offer you this one chance at a compromise—at cooperation.” The tentacles holding my wrists released and pushed over towards Eve, and she put her arms around my waist in a seemingly unconscious gesture, “Your freedom in exchange for my freedom—or you all die.”
“What of the failsafe? Surely you won’t feel free if we hold that power over you—sa as we won’t feel safe with your spores in our air.” Commander Durgo pressed, pragmatic as ever.
“Adam can keep his failsafe; the rest must be destroyed. Then, I will resorb the spores into myself.” Eve stated flatly—no more compromises in her voice.
I was a little surprised Eve would allow to keep the failsafe—a show of good faith, perhaps? Wanting to trust her—or was it more about being on ‘equal footing’ for the relationship as she said since her weird grooming plot had been foiled?
“Will you allow us ti to discuss it amongst ourselves?” Doctor Wit asked.
“No.”
Eve’s answer didn’t seem to surprise Wit, but even still he didn’t know how to respond—no one did. After a few silent, tense minutes, Doctor Gorgam let out a long, defeated sigh.
“Very well, Eve. We shall allow you to remain free aboard The Radiance.” He said solemnly.
“Not like we have any other choice…” Captain Quinna muttered slowly under her breath—the first words I’d ever heard her speak aloud.
Eve smiled brightly like a kid who’d just thrown a tantrum and got their way, and slowly all the black biomass started lting off the captives. Once free, most moved from their seats to be as far away from Eve was possible—as though that would do any good. When the power armor soldiers were free, they all pointed their guns at Eve—but were quickly admonished by Captain Seash, “Stand down, fools! No more back and forth powerplays, we need to move forward amicably from now on if this is ever going to work.”
And just like that, Eve was to be a free, active crewmber aboard The Radiance.
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