Chapter 38 You’re Only Human, Eve
YOU’RE ONLY HUMAN, EVE
The salty taste of sin still lingers on my tongue as I sit in the Staff Canteen, mechanically stirring sugar into my tea.
My hands won't stop shaking. The blessed compound Lorian gave me has mostly worn off, but my body remembers everything.
Every touch. Every command. Every forbidden moment in the shrine.
And it was both humiliating and intoxicating. And I would do it again.
I don’t know when I became this woman. I certainly didn’t choose to become like this. But I learned how to be this way to survive life at the Spire with the Sovereigns and the Venus Lock, because the alternative was going to be me breaking into a thousand pieces.
And I will not be broken by anyone.
“You look terrible," Lira says, sliding into the seat across from me. Her green eyes show genuine concern. "Are you feeling alright?"
"Just tired."
She doesn't look convinced, but before she can press further, Rae sweeps into the room. The Reima Two Interspecies Resources officer’s gaze lands on me immediately, and she gives me a fake smile.
"Well, well. If it isn't the Sovereigns' special project.
" She moves to the beverage station, her movements deliberately casual.
"I saw you stumbling out of Sovereign Rafe's office yesterday.
The whole executive floor heard you wailing like an animal.
Very professional. But I guess a human would do anything for a piece of shiny jewelry. "
Instinctively, my hand goes to the pin Rafe gave me. I knew it would cause problems as it’s worth more UCs than they paid for the Terra Sanctum hotel, but no one has said anything out loud to me until now. “Are you questioning a Sovereign’s gift?”
“No. Just letting you know we heard your human grunts.” Her nose wrinkles as she gets closer.
"And now you reek of Imperial incense. Did Sovereign Lorian have his turn today?
That's what you humans do, isn't it? Spread your hairy legs for anyone who promises you an orgasm?
" She tilts her head. "Tell me, have they made you their companion yet?
I don't see a collar, but then again, you probably don't need one.
You seem eager enough to debase yourself without it. "
"I was summoned by Sovereign Lorian to discuss the Grand Championships and the same the day before with Sovereign Rafe," I say, but my voice comes out wrong. Too guilty.
"Of course you were. We all do our jobs, though most of us manage to keep our clothes on while doing them.”
"Rae," Lira says, "that's completely inappropriate. Eve has no control over what she is asked to do."
"Doesn’t she? When she was fitted with the Venus Lock, we all thought it would keep us safe from having to witness the wantonness of a human female, but apparently Eve’s sex drive is stronger than technology.
So who can blame the Sovereigns? Look at her with her big breasts and brown eyes, just begging for a fuck.
And now these constant summons to their offices and their personal shrine.
Goddesses. Humans aren’t meant to work behind a desk. "
I feel heat rising to my cheeks, shame and anger warring for dominance. "I'm their employee just like you are," I say carefully. “We both signed contracts that included the word obey.”
Rae laughs. "Right. How many times have you been given the Devotional Drink at the morning meal? You could have kept your position and not drank it, but not only did you drink it the first time, since then you’ve been eager to have it. It’s a wonder you don’t beg for it every day.”
"You're imagining things," I start, but Lira touches my arm gently, to give me support or try to calm me, I don’t know which. But I am beyond both. "I can’t control what the Sovereigns ask of me," I say.
"Only because you don’t want to," Rae says. "Do you know what happened to the last human receptionist who caught their attention? Denise?"
“Yes, she’s at Kamos’s Palace.”
Rae's smile is cruel now. "She’s a sex slave. A human with a collar being bred like an animal.”
"Stop it," Lira says sharply.
"You see, the Sovereigns acquire beautiful things, use them up, and then discard them when they're done. You're not special, Eve. You're just their latest acquisition. And it’s annoying to the rest of us to have to pretend that you’re equal to us when you’re not."
Her words hit me hard, You’re not special, because those are exactly the same words the other girls said to me when I read that box NO CONTACT. So I bite back. "At least I'm not bitter about being passed over like an unworthy prude," I say, using the Reima Two swear word unworthy to be extra cruel.
Rae's face darkens. "Passed over? You stupid bitch. You think I wanted their attention? No sane person would want to be their toy!"
I stand up and face her. “I think you’d drink their piss if they asked you to.”
Rae raises her hand to slap me, but Lira comes between us.
“Stop. Rae, you can have our table; we were just leaving.”
“You saw how she treated me,” Rae says as if I started this whole thing. “That human. She needs to be kept on a leash.”
Lira tries to guide me away, but I don’t budge.
All my anger at being discriminated against for being human in the galaxy is now directed at Rae.
“Don’t touch me, Lira. I can fight my own battles.
” Then to Rae I say, “You’ve been acting like a bitch ever since you met me on Falcon Station.
And it’s clear now you’re jealous of humans.
You wish your body looked like mine. You wish you didn’t have a flat chest and grey skin. ”
Rae raises her hand to me. “Without a collar, I will have to discipline you the old-fashioned way. But I hear humans like it better this way. You’re all barbarians.”
“Hit me and see what happens.”
“Eve, you don’t know our customs. You don’t know what you’re saying,” Lira says.
I ignore Lira and don’t break eye contact with Rae.
She strikes me hard across the face. It stings, but I’ve felt much worse.
“Is that all you’ve got?” I ask.
This infuriates her, and she slaps me again. It’s weaker than the first time.
I make a fist and punch her in the face, breaking her nose with a crack. And I continue to punch her in the gut until she goes down.
Then I say to her crumbled body on the floor, “Let me know if you need another demonstration of human equality. It would be my pleasure to show you again just how equal we are.”
Silence falls over the breakroom. Lira guides me to the door, and we exit, leaving Rae behind us.
"You are right, she is jealous," Lira says after a moment. "The Sovereigns have never shown interest in anyone the way they have with you, and it makes people uncomfortable. Not only is it a hierarchical difference… but—"
“I know,” I say, not wanting to hear her say the word human. “But what if she's right? What if the Sovereigns are making me into their plaything and then they are going to sell me like they did to Denise?"
“They’re not. If you weren’t from Earth, people would think they were grooming you to be their wife.”
Those words stop me dead in my tracks.
Lira turns. “You didn’t know?”
“No, I didn’t know. How… When… What? I don’t understand. I feel publicly humiliated most of the time.”
Lira takes my arm, and I begin walking forward with her again. “This isn’t something to discuss openly. And try not to think about it. As much as the three of you like each other, it’s impossible for you to be together. Eve, you will always be their employee. But that should be enough.”
I look her in the eyes, questioning her last statement.
“It’s enough for me, so I hope it will be enough for you too. I will never marry. Not here. No one will ever have a woman who has chosen to work off-planet. And for you, well, you’re human. But this is a good job, and I’m happy to work alongside you for years to come. And I mean that.”
“But what do I do now… you just told me…”
“I shouldn’t have. Try to forget it. And if you can’t, we can talk about it later in private.
But knowing or not knowing changes nothing.
The Sovereigns are complicated men. Everyone knows that.
What they’re doing with you…well, any one of us would trade places with you in a second to see where this ends, for better or for worse. ”
“How bad is worse?”
“Maybe eternal heartbreak or even death. The Sovereigns are not men to be trifled with. But you had no choice. They never gave you one. Try not to think about it, Eve.”
"I like the way they make me feel," I admit.
"Even though they own this place where humans are slaves and humans will die in that arena.” I point towards where the Grand Championships will take place.
“And despite never having a a choice, I would still choose to be with them. And I worry about what that makes me.”
"That makes you a woman. They’re attractive and powerful men, and they didn’t make the laws in the galaxy. And for what it’s worth, they don’t personally own a human companion."
I resist saying, not yet.
It’s still Second Chime when I discreetly open the transfer window at my terminal without resistance.
The files are, coincidently, exactly what Terra Ka asked for—arrival windows, trainer assignments, holding locations, internal access routes. I don’t alter the numbers or corrupt the logs. I only remove one thing. The custody transfer timing.
Not the locations or the names. The hand-off intervals—the minutes when responsibility shifts between security teams, when no one is officially accountable for a human being.
Without those windows, Terra Ka will know where the humans are, but not when they are most vulnerable. They’ll plan fast extractions instead of precise ones. They will read this and see confirmation. Proof that the Sovereigns are careless.
The Sovereigns will see the same packet on their end and recognize the signature they expect. A controlled leakage. A betrayal that behaves itself.