Volume 2: Gamma-17, Chapter 2.10
The Deadliest Lifeform in the Universe Loves Me
Mission command still had a lot to discuss with Eve, and despite her cute little pouting, she needed to go over all those security protocols on her own. They wanted to debrief her more without me present, either to keep her focused or to try and gain some other insight into her motivations, I wasn't sure. Regardless, we split up from there as I had my own debriefing—and was glad to be free of her at least for now.
Doctor Kianna and I walked together to her office, and she barely offered tense, awkward pleasantries that I exchanged with equally awkward responses. The little pink short-stack sat in a chair at her desk that almost seemed too big for her, while I took one before her that was almost too small for me. Once settled, Kinna let out a sigh of exhaustion that almost seemed to surprise her when she finally let it out, "Adam, how are you doing with all this?" She asked simply.
I snorted, "Fantastic, can't you tell?"
Kianna gave me a half-smile, but it drained away quickly, "I always worried we'd given you too much responsibility being Eve's handler, but now this makes it even worse." Her expression was completely sincere, "I'm truly sorry you've gotten so tangled up in all this."
I appreciated her concern, but I still had my own questions, "Did you know about the failsafe?"
Kianna nodded—the lies were well past gone, "I did. We thought we were sparing your feelings by not telling you the truth. We figured if we argued back then, it would've just been an unpleasant back-and-forth until you finally relented, the result of which would be your lack of trust in us."
"Instead, my trust in you has been completely shaken now. Pretty sure this is worse."
Kianna shook her head slowly, "Adam, do you at least understand why we did it—why we had to?"
The shitty thing was I totally did—didn't excuse being lied to, "I'm not a soldier, I was untested and untrained, it was too much responsibility for one person…" I waved it off, "I get it, I get it. Still sucks."
"You know we do trust you, right? This is a huge responsibility we've placed on you, and there's no way we could do it if we didn't trust you."
"We don't trust Eve, but desperation is forcing us to let her free now too—for the mission." I countered.
Kianna cocked her head to the side, "You don't trust Eve either?"
I laughed without much humor, "How could I? You heard everything she said, right? Back in her containment cell too?"
She nodded and looked away, as though embarrassed, "Yes, we all heard it—it's been recorded too, for Eve's behavioral profile."
"So everyone heard her…plans for me." I sighed, "Lovely…" I rubbed at my face in a frustrated gesture, "Why aren't you at the security meeting with Eve and the rest of mission command? Isn't that more important?"
Kianna shook her head, "Debriefing Alpha-03's handler takes priority; more now than ever, the success of the mission relies on you and your bond with Eve." She smirked awkwardly, "We're also going to recommend regular sessions with our designated psychiatrist, just to make sure you're handling the stress of everything well enough."
Been a while since I'd seen a therapist—made me wonder how Sarah was doing back on earth, "Seeing an alien shrink might be interesting."
"But let's circle back for now; you don't trust Eve anymore? What do you think of her motivations then? Do you think she's lying to us—to you?" Kianna asked, pulling out her tablet to officially start the debrief.
I ran a hand through my hair and scratched at the back of my head, "I have absolutely no idea what Eve's really thinking. She's acting like some puppet master holding all the strings, making everyone aboard The Radiance dance to her tune. Honestly, even her allowing me to hold the failsafe might be some weird powerplay. You lot said the Predazoans were smarter than supercomputers; maybe she's playing some game of chess a thousand moves beyond anything we can even imagine."
"Chess? The human strategy game?"
I nodded, "Yeah, and Eve could be moving us along the board as her pawns."
"Do you have any speculation why?"
I sighed and leaned further back into the chair, "No, that'd be your field of expertise—the Predazoan behavioral specialist." I looked back at her, "Do you have any idea what she's playing at?"
Kianna shook her head, "Not even a little. As Eve said, every Predazoan has their own personal motivations, but they always seemed centered around their drive for supremacy—the instinct to become absolutely perfect in however they define it." She held up a hand, "However, Eve's behavior is like nothing we expected from a Predazoan, so there's really no telling what drives her now."
I crossed my arms as I thought about that, "What's so vastly different from what would be expected for Predazoan behavior?"
A subtle red blush rose on Kianna's cheeks, "To be perfectly honest, we never expected a Predazoan to show any kind of…sexual drive." She said awkwardly.
"What, really?"
Kianna nodded, "All studies led to the assumption the Predazoans were asexual—maintaining their biomass through consuming and assimilating, not breeding or propagating. They even have the ability to divide or multiply by themselves, so we never expected them to have any need to find a mate. The Predazoans are all female, but it was never even suggested they might be seeking a male counterpart." She explained.
"You think that has to do with her assimilating all that human DNA for her core?"
She shrugged, "I don't see any other explanation—doubt we'll get one."
I was quiet for a few moments, working out the question in my head—something that bothered me for a while. "You know, I never got proper clarification on the whole human DNA in Eve's core; why's that so unusual? The only major biomass she absorbed came from humans, so doesn't it stand to reason her core would be comprised of those human cells?"
Kianna shook her head, "You're not understanding what the Predazoans can do with consumed biomass." She placed her hands on the desk and gestured to help illustrate her point, "Regardless what biomass the Predazoan consumes, remember they can assimilate and alter the cells to fit their needs. Eve could've taken the human cells and turned them into pure Predazoan core cells—it's what the Predazoans normally do. Predazoan core cells are stronger, offer faster processing speeds of information and control, and can even offer higher or heightened senses beyond what normal people possess. Back on NX-947b, there wasn't a single Predazoan who had more than 6% of any one kind of foreign DNA in their core—and never more than 13% of a combination of multiple foreign sources. However, Eve's core is now 56% human—pure human DNA perfectly mixed with her pure Predazoan core cells."
"56%? More than half?"
Kianna nodded, almost looking nervous at the confession, "Yes, we were astounded when we first saw that. We wondered if she'd somehow been damaged and couldn't assimilate or alter cells properly anymore—like she couldn't recreate Predazoan core cells. But now, after hearing her plans for you, we believe this must be what she considers perfect—her supremacy drive led her to create a core more human than Predazoan."
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"Holy shit…" I leaned so far back into my chair I felt like I was melting—my brain certainly felt like it was melting hearing all this wildly alien information. I looked back up to the doctor, "Any reason you could think she would do that? Is human DNA anything, I dunno, special?"
Kianna almost laughed, but just shook her head, "Human DNA is wildly average by pretty much every metric. They aren't too smart, aren't too dumb, they aren't too strong, aren't too weak, not too big or small, not overly resistance or vulnerable to anything else. Human DNA is a great bonding agent as the perfect middle-ground, but we don't see why a Predazoan would choose that perfect middle mix rather than absorb and assimilate the best, then simply splice out any weaknesses."
I chuckled to myself, "Jacks-of-all-trades, masters of none." I said, remembering how often I said that about myself, and now it was apparently something unique to human DNA.
Now Kianna did laugh, "That's actually a good way to put it."
I smiled at Kianna, then shook my head, "Okay, so we don't think it's anything to do with human DNA. Where do we go from there?"
She nodded, "We consider the behavioral aspect, and then we get back to her own given confession—the desire to have you as a mate."
"And we believe it?" I said incredulously.
She shrugged, "I don't doubt for one second she's playing some long-game in accordance with her drive for supremacy—a game of chess, as you said. But until we're given additional information to say otherwise, it might be best to avoid speculations and assume she was telling the truth—to what end, we of course have no idea."
I let out a weary sigh and put my face in my hands, covering my eyes to try and shut out all the nonsense, "Do you know what a honeypot it?" I asked, and looked up to see her shake her head, "An earth idiom, it's someone who's entire job is to be attractive to trick or entice someone on the opposition to help achieve their goal—like some sexy female thief who seduces the guard at a museum so her team can steal a priceless artifact."
"You believe Eve is acting as the honeypot? Why?"
"Who knows, probably not the failsafe since she's the one who said I should keep it." I snapped my fingers as a thought occurred, "But I've got the cardiac monitor as a back-up to the failsafe; maybe she knows she needs me alive, and she's doing the honeypot until she can be completely free."
Kianna looked at me like she didn't agree at all, "Adam, she had us all completely dead-to-rights back at the command center with invisible spores she spread throughout The Radiance while we remained wildly ignorant. I'm pretty sure she could negate the danger you hold against her at any time; not a one of us is even a tickling of a threat against her, and she knows it. That's why we were forced to agree to her terms; there was quite literally nothing we could do against her power—save play along until we can find a way to be free of her."
"You're going to research another way to control her?"
"Of course, same as she'll have some other way planned to control us—but we'll both keep smiling and pretend we aren't plotting against the other, all while hunting the rest of the Predazoans." Kianna reasoned.
"And where exactly do I fit in all this?"
Kianna shrugged, "As her handler I guess—or her mate, should you submit to her."
My expression darkened, "I'm not going to submit to her."
She held her hands up peaceably, "No one would blame you if you did; same as she's the deadliest lifeform in the universe, she very well could be the most beautiful as well."
I didn't like Kianna's lack of confidence in my resolve. I turned away in a frustrated huff, staring at the sparce decorations in her office—a few awards, a framed degree, a picture of her family back home, it was all so normal for the nightmare I found myself in.
"I'd heard you'd gotten…close to Doctor Tillia." Kianna said delicately.
The change in subject was surprising, and I snapped back to face her with a confused expression, "What?"
Kianna shrugged, looking a little embarrassed now, "Rumors run through vessels like this faster than illnesses. Even before you went to Entana, most people saw something developing between you two."
I snorted, "Yeah, but you heard how that turned out; Eve had her stupid tantrum because I was about to hook up with Tillia—that's what started all this."
"And you like her—Tillia?"
I smiled, but it was a small, sad smile, "I do…I did…" I shook my head, "But that's the end of that."
"You don't think—"
I cut her off before she could even say it, "Eve said she would kill anyone who tried to take me from her. I wouldn't risk anyone's safety just to see what all I can get away with. For now, I'll just have to be Eve's prisoner."
"Adam I'm…" Kianna shook her head, deciding to say something else, "I'm sorry."
I sighed and waved it off like it was no big deal, "What do other people think about this situation—Eve and me? I know you probably haven't been able to talk much yet, but I'm sure you've at least heard the start of some rumors."
Kianna smiled apologetically, "It seems…very strange. In the Empire there aren't any restrictions on sexuality, but to see a Predazoan ask a human to be her mate, it would be like one of your red blood cells asking to date you."
I laughed at that, seeing a funny image in my head of a drop of blood falling off my finger and asking me out in a high-pitched voice, "More like me asking out the red blood cell, right?"
Kinna laughed at that, "I suppose so."
I tapped at my chin as I thought over how to express my next question, "So what if—hypothetically, I did…submit to Eve?" I asked delicately.
Kianna cocked her head to the side in questioning, but she held back any show of judgments, "You mean if you became her mate?" I nodded, "Well, command would want to reassess the security protocols—see if you were more a liability now. You might be able to remain her handler, but they'd definitely look into alternatives; if you were cleared be her handler still, doubtless they'd have to enact strict safety measures to ensure you weren't compromised."
"Like in her control?"
She nodded, "That, and even if you weren't being compelled by her—in your own right mind, they'd need to ensure your judgment wouldn't compromise the mission."
I propped my elbow on the chair to rest my fist against my cheek, "Everyone on The Radiance would probably look at me like I was some freak fucking a science experiment."
Kianna laughed at that with genuine amusement, "Adam, you really don't understand how free sexuality is across the Empire. There're people with android families, people who date computers, people who have sex with their clones." She smiled, "One of the most famous love stories is about a man on a deep space freighter, he's the only survivor after the warp-engine malfunctions. The story is about how he falls in love with the ship's AI, and the AI learns how to love as well. It ends with the freighter drifting off towards a black hole, so the man downloads his consciousness into the AI, and the final scene before the ship is destroyed is a montage of the thousands of lives he experiences with the AI in dilatated time as they die together. It's universally beloved across the Empire, and no one thinks it's strange the man loved an AI—people fall in love with AIs all the time now." She offered kindly.
I shook my head, "But people don't date Predazoans—ancient, Outsider gods beyond human comprehension, able to change their entire cellular structure, able to remake who they are as a person on a whim. No, I don't care how beautiful Eve is—don't care if she made that body specifically to seduce me, I'll resist her. I won't be her puppet—I won't be her fool."
Kianna let out a quiet sigh, "Either way, Adam, know I'll support whatever decisions you make—personally, I trust you, please believe that." She looked off to the side, "And know space can get very lonely after a while and seeking comfort when it's available isn't something to be ashamed of."
"Eve won't let me seek out anyone else's comfort."
Kianna nodded, "That's exactly my point."
I looked up to see Kianna watching me with a sad, lonely expression. I could see she was weighing my resolve, wondering if and when I would submit. Part of me worried I would—that's why I asked what would happen if I failed. But another part of me was sure I could resist—a rebellious, fiery part of my spirit that was entirely human. I knew it would be difficult to resist Eve, but I absolutely could not trust her now, and I needed to be strong and fight against her. Whatever bond we'd once shared, I didn't think it was there anymore. I might play along just to get Eve to obey for the sake of the mission—in that way I would be manipulating her.
Suddenly, I broke out in a vicious smile, "I can play the double-agent—beat Eve at her own game."
Kianna looked a little confused, "What do you mean?"
I gestured to myself, "If Eve really wants me to be her mate, she's going to try and seduce me. The longer I hold out, the harder she'll try. If I can walk right up to the edge, maybe I can even get her desperate enough she'll reveal her secrets—give up parts of her plan. I'm sure she's playing some long-game like you said, but I bet she really believes there's some connection between us, and I can use that to our advantage."
"In what way?"
I shrugged, "Anyway I can. And if she doesn't give up anything—like if she doesn't care about my resistance at all, well, we can just take that as proof I was to be a pawn in her game all along."
"You could be putting yourself at risk if you play it like that."
"Better than being some Predazoan's plaything." I countered. No one had any idea what Eve was planning, least of all me. But I wasn't about to let her play with me as some pawn—I refused to be used. I would resist whatever charms she might throw my way and instead turn her schemes against her.
I would teach that arrogant bitch not to underestimate humans.