Chapter 31 The Twins Together, Eve
THE TWINS TOGETHER, EVE
I’ve taken a break from checking in guests.
I’m letting Lira handle everyone without a human in tow.
I almost lost my composure a few minutes ago.
A young human couple was brought in on leashes attached to their nipples, completely nude, with their Imperial owner.
What twisted the knife even further was that that they were about my age, but their eyes were completely vacant and empty.
I am a handmaiden for the Devil here.
I didn’t even have to say anything to Lira, she came over as soon as they left and gave me a new assignment. “This needs to be completed right now. I will cover any guests arriving who aren’t human. Mark your desk as closed.”
My new assignment is reviewing guest movement logs for the west maintenance ring.
It’s boring work—time stamps, access permissions, redundant security sweeps.
Which is why it’s perfect for me right now.
It gives me a chance to calm down and put some distance between me and the slavery, I’m not only witnessing, but participating in.
Almost mindlessly I scroll through the logs, manually checking all the flags and then I notice it. There’s a gap. Not a blackout, glitch, or tampering. Just an absence of time. A time stamp that jumps forward twelve minutes.
I scroll back to make sure I haven’t made a mistake.
Still there. Or not there. The system registers the passage of time, but no movement, no personnel tags, and no environmental data.
That shouldn’t be possible.
I check all the metadata. The file hasn’t been altered and there are no override signatures from management or the Sovereigns.
I cross-reference it with a different archive—maintenance drone activity. The same gap is there. The same twelve minutes are just missing.
I tap my finger on the side of my terminal.
This isn’t erasure; it’s omission.
I stare at the screen.
Rafe never said the records were complete. He said they were true.
True.
I don’t flag it, or annotate it, nor do I ask the system to explain itself. I just close the archive exactly the way I found it. Then, I open a private note—one the system doesn’t index—and I write a single line:
West Maintenance Ring — twelve minutes unaccounted for.
I don’t speculate.
If it never happens again, it means nothing. If it happens twice, it means everything.
I spend the rest of my shift doing what I’m supposed to do. I checking guests. Some have human pets with them. It makes me feel filthy.
So when the rush ends, I go back to the West Maintenance Ring logs. I just want to make sure all of this wasn’t in my head.
It wasn’t.
I decide to send a message. Nothing official. Just a clarification. I route it through standard internal channels, tagged low priority.
I don’t mention time gaps or missing logs, nor do I reference the twelve minutes.
I send it and the reply comes back shockingly fast.
I stare at the message. I hadn’t asked for a review or a suggested failure.
I scroll down further. There’s a courtesy addendum beneath the response. Unprompted. Almost kind.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.
“Sovereign-level operations.” That phrase wasn’t in my query. The system answered a question I hadn’t even formed yet.
I close the message.
Around me, the Spire continues like clockwork. Guests come and go. Staff bow. Naked humans are led past my desk without looking up.
Whatever happened in those twelve minutes mattered enough to be removed.
I stand very still at my desk for a second. Then, I decide that moving forward, I won’t ask the system real questions again, or challenge what I’m shown. But I will listen for answers that come too quickly, and I’ll remember explanations I never asked for.
Silence counts.
The summons comes at the Third Chime.
I knew it would come today, and I have mixed emotions that it’s here now.
Without a word, I approach Lira in between guests and show her the new scheduling on my IC:
Lira stares at the directive, and her grey lips part in shock. “This has to be a mistake. I can’t imagine you doing anything that would warrant a punishment.”
I shake my head. “It’s not a mistake.”
“What did you do?”
“Sovereign Lorian gave me a choice. And I chose the wrong thing.”
Lira’s green eyes widen. “Goddesses, Eve. I’m so sorry. The only thing you can do now is to endure it and be grateful it’s not public. Good luck.” She squeezes my hand. “I will check in on you later and take you to Dr. Veil myself if you require it.”
I nod, then turn and begin walking toward the elevator that will take me down to the shrine. I clutch my ID pendant like a rosary, whispering under my breath, “Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned.”
The corridors are bright, reminding us all it’s the Third Chime.
It seems so wrong that I’m walking to my punishment at such an upbeat time of day, surrounded by a clean citrus smell.
But I guess even on beautiful sunny days, executions still happen.
I cross myself. “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.” The words softly leave my lips in a whisper, half remembered from childhood, half choked by fear.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners…
I can’t even finish. Because that’s what I am now. A sinner. Not just in their eyes, but in mine too. I begged faceless holograms to fuck me. I let them gag me with my own underwear. I spread my legs for shadows instead of resisting.
And the Sovereigns know everything.
Please, God, let me live through this.
The guards outside the shrine don’t even speak.
They register my ID and open the doors. The air is cooler, and gone is the bright atmosphere of the Third Chime above.
Down here, time is constant; it’s dark, and incense burns low in braziers.
Twelve pedestals circle the space, each bearing the shimmering holographic form of a goddess.
The silver floor glows with the Empire’s crest. I remember kneeling here yesterday for Lorian alone.
Now, both of them are here. Identical alien twins.
But only identical in their appearances.
Rafe stands rigid, arms behind his back, and his face is unreadable. Lorian leans against a pedestal, loose hair falling across his shoulders, and he has a hint of a smile on his face.
I have the feeling that they are going to enjoy disciplining their sex-crazed human employee.
Jesus, take the wheel.
When I bow low, I’m reminded of the wretched state of my body. My thighs ache from what happened last night, my pussy is still sore from those holographic dicks, and my body is still woefully unsatisfied. And the Sovereigns know. They have readouts on every part of me, inside and out.
Sovereign Rafe speaks first. “Rise and face us. You enjoyed yourself last night, Eve. Thought that you could trick us.”
Before I can say anything in my defense, Sovereign Lorian adds, “I knew you would give in to the temptation, and I wasn’t surprised by what you chose. I’ve looked through the kinds of books you like to read. You want to be dominated by big men, like us.”
I don’t know why I’m so embarrassed by Lorian’s words, but I am. Hearing my fantasies spoken out loud by a man who I also wish would fuck me with his brother is both a humiliation and, if I’m being honest, a turn-on.
Maybe this is a turn-on for them too?
But one look at Rafe’s face and I dismiss that thought. He looks like I’ve disrupted his carefully planned day of important business meetings.
“Step forward, Eve,” Rafe commands. “It’s time for your punishment.”
I take a deep breath and obey him. I notice he now has his IC in his hand, and I wonder if it’s open to the Venus Lock controls, and my mind begins spinning with the pain he might be able to cause with that.
“You activated Ghost Mode,” Rafe says.
Heat rushes into my face. “Sovereign, I—”
“You stripped, allowed yourself to be gagged and tied up, then you opened yourself for phantoms, all the while thanking them as they used you like a common human pet on an Imperial ship.” His voice doesn’t rise. It doesn’t need to.
Lorian pushes off the pedestal and circles me.
“It was glorious to watch you beg the holograms to ruin you. To fuck your mouth and cunt. You were so close to release, and you actually thought I was going to let you have it.” He tilts his head.
“Tell me, my sweet heretic, did you imagine one of them was me fucking you? Or my brother? Or did you prefer not knowing at all? Just strangers with erect dicks needing a hole?”
“I didn’t choose it, Sovereign Lorian. You left the Venus Lock open, and the computer in my room—”
“Exactly,” Lorian interrupts. His hand brushes my cheek with mock affection. “I gave you the freedom to choose. The rare gift of temptation. And you showed us who you really are. Oh, my beautiful little sinner. I see you.”
The words hit the core of my soul, unexpectedly. He sees me. This great galactic alien man sees me.
Rafe runs a large hand down my back. “You betrayed us with your human body. Obsessed with sex. We can’t have this, Eve. We have to punish you, or else you will never learn to resist your natural human impulses.”
I start shaking my head. “Please, Sovereigns—”
“There will be no excuses. Today we will have a special punishment session to remind you of your position and how important it is that you keep your mind off sex and on your job,” Rafe says.
“Wait, Sovereigns, I—”
“If you try to make another excuse, we will do this publicly. Is that what you want?” Rafe asks.
I feel sick at the thought. “No, Sovereigns.”
“Strip.”
My fingers tremble as I peel away the tunic, then the trousers, until I’m naked except for the obscene bra Rafe had made for me and my underwear. My nipples protrude through its open cups, framed like trophies.
Rafe’s hand gestures sharply. “We are past this, Eve. Take it all off.”