Chapter 16 Rekt
REKT
She reeked of him. The alpha. I could smell his cum on her, despite their efforts of cleansing her body.
A vicious warning any dynos would heed.
Except me, apparently. Because I shouldn’t be touching her, even innocently. Traces of my scent would be on her. He’d know me in an instant. He’d track me down in a murderous rampage for even thinking about breeding his mate. Let alone putting her in danger.
Because she was in danger. From everyone and everything in this facility.
Skin no thicker than the fragile leaves of the tree above, thin enough for me to detect the faint lines of veins beneath.
No armory or weaponry to speak of. Even her clothing did nothing to shield her vital organs.
How had humans spread to billions on their planet without developing some kind of protections?
I wanted to ask how she’d survived the alpha’s attention with such minor injuries, but for the first time in my conscious memory, I hesitated to even think such a thing.
Snyder’s controllers were always listening, especially now while I had her in some semblance of privacy.
They’d analyze her every word, looking for anything suspicious.
Contamination. Betrayal. Security breaches.
A squad gone rogue.
Such a thing would never have occurred to me. Yet staring at her delicate features, blue eyes shimmering with moisture, her slight body tense with anxiety, I understood. I felt the biological instinct to protect her. Even if she wasn’t mine.
Yet.
The urge intensified the longer she touched me.
As if my programming at a molecular level was already shifting and aligning to her needs.
Snyder’s controllers would not like such a shift.
Not one bit. So I disguised and minimized the responses, hoping they wouldn’t look too closely at my biologic signatures. At least not until I had the chance to…
What? Breed her? Impossible. Mate her? Even more unlikely.
Perhaps another alpha might be more amendable to such an arrangement, though I found it unlikely.
The BGR++ in this facility was far too experimental and unreliable to compute the likelihood of survival, even if we were on the same squad.
Which we weren’t. The BGR++ had never been a part of a squad.
He had no baseline programming to even build upon for sharing responsibilities or coordinating strikes in a mission situation.
Somehow, she’d survived. Even when DSC themselves couldn’t force him out of his beast with tungsten. He’d shifted. Willingly. For her.
I understood, now. I’d shift my entire being too. Just for the chance to hear her laugh again and touch my hand.
So dangerous.
They had a private grid here. Separate from DSC. It’d never occurred to me that such a thing could be done. But if done once…
It could be done again.
“I feel very strange,” she whispered, her fingers quivering ever so slightly in mine.
Concerned, I whipped my attention up to her face. “Are you in pain? Ill?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think so. I just don’t feel… right. I’m not myself any longer. I’m changing, and it’s… scary.”
I had access to her scans, both from her arrival and after retrieval from the BGR++’s cell. Even with only a brief passage of time in between, they were significantly different. The mrions had infiltrated her entire nervous system.
To what end? I started to wonder, though I immediately knew why.
They were building infrastructure. The nervous system controlled everything else.
Her enhanced brain needed increased sensitivity and networking capabilities.
Mrions were interfaces. They plugged into any species, which was why they were so feared.
Or rather prized, if I understood the latest intel from Snyder.
Plugged into any species… Or network.
I blinked my eyes to reset the thought as quickly as possible, hopefully before it could materialize on the grid.
“I don’t know who I am any longer.”
Her voice cracked with emotion, bringing me back to her lovely face. Moisture streaked her cheeks. Her lips trembled. Her fingers gripped mine, small and delicate but surprisingly fierce. She searched my face, unfazed by what she saw, even though my features were so very different from hers.
“May I scan you now to look for any issues?”
She hesitated, her gaze flickering up to the knob on the right side of my head. Then she nodded.
Slowly, so as not to alarm her, I allowed the implement to expand from its protuberance. I carefully extended it toward her face, allowing her to inspect it as she wished. She even dared to touch it with one of her hands, though she kept her grip on my fingers with her other.
“It looks different than Snryx’s implement.”
The tip of her finger trailed down its length, and I fought the urge to shudder all over. If touching my implement was so pleasurable, I would surely expire in a fit of convulsions if she thought to touch my genitals. “What was he crossed with?”
“I’m pretty sure he’s a Spinosaurus base, but each of the fan thingies down his back is more like a tentacle.”
I paused to send a firm desist command to my cock before replying to her. “If they looked like tentacles, then he was likely crossed with some kind of cephalopod.”
“His designation is SPX. Does that tell you?”
“SPX is what you would call the gold standard medic designation. My databanks confirm his implements would then be prehensile cephalopod limbs formed from liquid metal.”
“What are yours made from?”
“The same metal but designed from decapod antennae.”
“What can you do with it?”
“Scan, deploy anesthesia or medication, perform basic surgeries like incisions and retractions, cauterize blood vessels to stop bleeding.”
“You have two, right? Can they both do the same things?”
Her questions helped steady the intensity of my physical responses, though blood still rushed to my groin.
Hopefully she didn’t notice. I didn’t want to alarm her with fears that I would disregard the addendum orders.
“They are identical and perform similarly to the SPX’s implements, except mine aren’t strong enough to restrain a dynos for treatment if necessary. I would need to use my pinchers.”
I didn’t miss the faint shudder in her shoulders. While she might not be repulsed by this form, my beast gave her pause. At least the pinchers. Noted.
“So you can also change the implement into a weapon, like a spike or cutting sword?”
“Yes. Simple weapons are possible.”
Her fingers glided over the rounded knob where the implements retracted. This time, I couldn’t suppress the physical response. My breath caught, rattling my throat in an alarming sound close to a growl.
Her gaze flickered to mine, but she didn’t remove her hand. “Is this—”
“Please continue. I was merely startled by the sensation.”
“Is it bad?” Her brow furrowed, and she caught her bottom lip in her teeth. “I don’t want to hurt you. I’m just curious.”
Snyder’s warning replayed in my head. “Curiosity isn’t a desired squad trait in our program.”
Evidently her curiosity abounded, which only increased my desire to indulge my own curiosity.
Like if her hair was as soft as it looked.
Or what her skin would feel like against my mouth.
“Not bad,” I rasped out. “Indescribably good.”
Her cheeks turned a delicate shade of pink. Such a tempting color. I fought the urge to lick her to see if she tasted as good as she looked. “Inappropriate? Especially for a first date?”
“Not at all.” Especially if we mate. Though I didn’t voice the last part out loud.
“You didn’t scan me yet, did you?”
My cock throbbed at the thought of sensing the inside of her body. “Not yet. Are you sure you’re alright with me touching you?”
She nodded. “For a scan. Yes.”
“Noted.” I extended the implement and lightly touched the tip to her forehead.
Data flooded my system, and I basked in the knowledge of her body’s inner workings.
Heart rate. Temperature. Mineral composition of her bones.
She’d lost weight since the last scan Snyder’s team had done.
I posted to the grid. :She needs to eat more nutrients and calories to maintain her weight. :
:Acknowledged,: Snyder replied. :Note any other recommendations to improve her health.:
Her neural network gleamed like brilliant star clusters and swirling galaxies yet to be explored. Brighter than her earlier scans, which was not unexpected given the improvements her mrions were making.
Her left ovary held the largest follicle they’d documented in her last scan. :Follicle now measuring at fourteen millimeters. Projected ovulation for human females should occur in the range of eighteen to twenty-four millimeters.:
:Do you recommend more hCG to encourage maturation?:
Maturation. When the follicle would erupt and release the egg for fertilization. My job. If I survived the alpha long enough. Though I couldn’t imagine anything restraining him once she ovulated. It would be the equivalent of heat for us.
Or worse. Rut.
If the BGR++ came into full rut, we’d all be dead. Though the chances of a successful fertilization would increase exponentially. Assuming she even survived.
:Negative. I recommend you allow her body to progress toward ovulation normally unless there’s a pressing need to reduce her cycle time.:
:Acknowledged.:
Her fingers roamed down the side of my neck. Gliding softly across my shoulder. My chest. I refocused on her face, watching the emotion flickering over her features. Curiosity. Yes. But it was more than that. Since I was still connected, I felt the subtle changes in her body.
The rising temperature in her core. Increased blood flow to her genitals and breasts. Involuntary tightening of the mammary nipples and vaginal walls. Her natural lubrication increased. Her pupils dilated, darkening her blue eyes to nightfall.
She’s aroused. By me. By these simple, innocent touches.
“See?” She breathed out a shaky sigh. “This isn’t… I shouldn’t feel this way.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know you. This is crazy.” Yet she didn’t stop sliding her palm across my pectoral muscles. “The more I touch you, the crazier I feel.”
“Your body recognizes a potential—” I hesitated in saying mate. The alpha was clearly her mate. I would be only an inconsequential substitute while he was separated from her. Breeding partner seemed too brash and arrogant, especially coming from me. “Squad.”
“Do you feel the same way?”
I leaned forward ever so slowly, so I could touch my head to hers. “As soon as I smelled you, my body attuned to you. Even though you smell like the BGR++.”
“I do? Still? I’m glad, I think. Or is that bad?”
“He’s your mate. You should wear his scent rather than these flimsy clothes. But I also smell your scent beneath his musk, and I would follow you to another galaxy just to hear you breathe and laugh again.”
“But you barely know me.”
“No matter. My body knows you. My dynos knows you.”
“You have orders.” Her tone sharpened slightly, and a bitter trace entered her scent. Fear. Doubt. Possibly betrayal.
I rubbed my face gently against her hair. It was even softer than I imagined, wisps flowing against my skin like downy feathers and sweet blossoms. “I would defy orders for you. Even if it meant termination.”
:Acknowledged,: Snyder’s voice echoed in my skull with a sharp, sarcastic bite. :Beware you don’t end up contained in a cell like the BGR++ while another candidate takes your place.:
I had no response.
No, that wasn’t true. I did. Now. Though I didn’t dare send it to the grid. Go fuck yourself.