I awoke the next morning earlier than expected, so I decided to take advantage of the free time and get something important handled before Eve woke up. I went to the Med Bay to get some blood work done to discover what Eve injected me with. I told the doctors exactly what happened, and before I even finished my explanation they alerted Doctors Gorgam, Wit and Kianna. In moments I was surrounded by a research team and ended up getting a lot more tests performed than I’d initially anticipated.

  “Alpha-03 called it an immortality enzyme?” Doctor Gorgam confirmed.

  I nodded “She said she wanted to make sure I’d live as long as her—said it would advance my cellular regeneration so I wouldn’t age and also help repair any damaged tissues.” I explained.

  After an hour of various tests, scans and labs, they were able to extract several samples of the immortality enzyme and dissect what all it did to my body.

  “Exactly as she said, it will keep your cells young and healthy.” Doctor Gorgam shook his head slowly, “Remarkable, she created a more powerful longevity serum within her own body in a way we’ll never be able to replicate.

  “And you’re sure there aren’t any brain controlling spores? No flesh-eating amoebas?” I pressed.

  Doctor Wit nodded, “She’s surprisingly open and honest about what all she wants.” He looked over at me, “I don’t think she intends to cause you any harm.”

  “Yeah, but that could be a subjective view; something I find harmful and something the crazy powerful immortal Predazoan finds harmful might be wildly different.”

  “For now, her unpredictability is the greatest danger; she seems to be acting on random impulses—like a child focusing their attention on whatever currently engages her.” Doctor Gorgam added.

  “You think her attention could shift to something else?” I asked.

  Gorgam shrugged, “No way of knowing how the Predazoan mind works.” He shook his head and sighed, then looked up at me with a regretful smile, “I’m sorry we put you in this position, Adam. Please act with extreme caution, report on her activities, and don’t let your guard down around her. We have no way of knowing what really drives her.”

  Doctor Kianna scoffed, “Don’t frighten the poor man.” She turned to me, “Adam, do be cautious, but I don’t think we need to be so fearful; the fact she gave you this amazing immortality enzyme, that definitely seems to show a much more benevolent side to Eve.”

  “It might seem that way, but what if it was part of her plan?” Doctor Wit interjected, “Now that we have this sample, obviously we’re going to be spending a huge amount of time researching it, and maybe she knew that would happen all along—knew Adam would bring it to our attention and greatly distract us.”

  I snorted, “She made me immortal as a distraction?”

  “The Predazoans can make and unmake worlds in ways we can’t even imagine. For the sake of her supremacy drive, there is almost nothing beyond her power.” Doctor Gorgam looked at me, a grave expression on his face, “And we would all be fools to take a gift such as this at face-value.”

  ***

  I returned to my quarters after the doctor debriefing to find Eve dressed up in her normal latex-princess gown, pacing around the den with an annoyed look on her face. When she saw me, she turned to me with her hands planted at her hips, “And where did you sneak off to this morning?” She demanded.

  I moved past her towards the bedroom to get properly changed for the day, “Got bloodwork done to see what you’d injected me with last night.”

  Eve followed me into the bedroom, watching me with a smug expression, “And you discovered the immortality enzyme was exactly as I described it—no mind-controlling additives like you feared?”

  I ignored her as I got dressed in my regular work clothes—the futuristic fit that was almost a uniform, with black tactical pants and a grey zip jacket. Eve watched me all the while, her eyes on me like I was some rare treat. I’ve had girls look at me with desire before—Tillia looked at me like I was beautiful, which I’d never experienced before. Eve on the other had looked at me with a razor kind of focus—an obsession beyond mere attraction; she looked at me like I was the center of her universe. It should’ve been unsettling, but I couldn’t help but feel a significant ego boost with the way she looked at me.

  Once I was properly dressed, I gestured to her, “You gonna wear that to the mission briefing?” I asked her.

  Eve cocked her head to the side, “Why, is it not appropriate? Should I change?” She inquired, and held her hands up to the plunging neckline and started to pull apart—

  I rushed forward and held her hands in place, “It’s fine, just leave it.” I sighed, “We’ll need to get you some real clothes soon though, probably shouldn’t just be wearing this…flesh suit all the time.”

  Eve’s eyes sparkled with amusement, and she held onto my hands in an affectionate way, “Would making me seem more human make you more comfortable? It would be fun for me to live like a regular person—eat, dress, and groom myself the way a human woman would.”

  That actually made me a little curious, “Yeah, how come you never needed to wash up or anything? Even back on earth in the terrarium, you never made any kind of mess.”

  Eve shrugged, “I could just regenerate my cells so my body was always fresh—don’t need to wash anything brand new. While recycling my skin, any dirt or grime would be removed as well. But I can start showering and bathing regularly now.” She ran a finger through her hair, “Now that I have actual hair instead of my old tentacle crown, it’s harder to maintain it with cellular regeneration; for that alone I should start washing myself regularly.”

  Her acting more like a human would probably make me more comfortable, but the more comfortable I became around Eve, the more susceptible to her influence and seduction I might become—the lower my guard would be around her. I shrugged and pulled my hands free from hers, “Whatever you want to do.”

  Eve’s eyes danced with renewed mischief, “What I want? Well, I want to give you a blowjob before the mission briefing. You know I don’t have any gag reflex, and my tongue can do—”

  Once again I ignored her and walked around to head straight for the door. Eve caught up with me quickly, giggling all the while. She grabbed my hand and interlocked our fingers as we left the apartment and started off towards the command center. The guards that had been posted outside our quarters seemed to have changed at some point—a new shift, and they followed behind us without a word. Made me wonder what Eve’s escort thought of this new position; was it some boring rotation they all regretted being assigned, or was it considered one of the most dangerous duties to perform aboard The Radiance that had to be taken completely serious. However the guards felt about it, I knew it should be a relatively safe position; Eve wouldn’t risk harming random people for fear of causing an even larger rift between us. For my sake alone, I was sure Eve would behave—at least for other people, obviously she had quite the problem behaving with me.

  Eve and I made it to the command center, and once again all eyes were on us. I tried to pull my hand away from hers, but she wouldn’t let go. That was new; normally she allowed me to put distance between us when I wanted the space, but now she was holding onto me quite possessively—probably putting on a show for the audience, claiming me as hers or whatever.

  We sat down in my normal seat in the top row, and the people around us tried to act like they weren’t uncomfortable being so close to the Predazoan. I didn’t have my usual group of friends with me—Zyno and Tillia were back on Entana. Eve beside me started trailing her fingernails along the arm she held, absentminded affections while we waited; I tried to ignore how much I liked it.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  The command council wasn’t far behind us and took their seats, and without preamble Commander Durgo started the briefing right away. “There will be a few adjustments to the ground team moving forward.” He gestured out to me and Eve, “Alpha-03 will be joining the primary investigation team.” He looked down at his computer console, “Doctor Tillia has already moved to a perimeter team, and Doctor Kianna will be taking her original position down planet-side.”

  Tillia being reassigned wasn’t really a surprise; my budding relationship with Tillia had already been disclosed, and considering Eve’s primary motivations—or at least what she declared to be her motivation, it would obviously be unsafe to keep the two of them on the same team. I wanted to have a conversation with Tillia about what all happened, but I guess it would have to wait—and I’d have to be careful about it all anyway so Eve didn’t get homicidal jealous over the whole deal. Doctor Kianna coming down planet-side was a little surprising, but maybe being the behavioral specialist, she just wanted to be down there for additional support in handling Eve.

  The rest of the briefing was surprisingly basic; the security protocols for Eve had already been discussed with her, and that was more of a need-to-know situation that didn’t need to be publicly announced during a mission briefing. Command also told us what all happened down on Entana during the day we’d been absent; local authorities were still sweeping the area, looking for the cause of the disturbance, but our involvement had been masked completely. The hotel itself was almost completely repaired already—magic futuristic technology at work. It seemed like we’d be totally in the clear. No sign of Gamma-17 despite Eve’s claims her shriek would attract her sister Predazoan. And lastly, we would be making the drop in less than an hour to get back planet-side under the cover of darkness, but we wouldn’t be doing a roof drop this time, instead we’d be landing down in the industrial park same as the first time.

  “We’ll need frequent updates from you, Agent Adam, on the situation planet-side; we need to ensure your safety and efficiency is maintained as the Predazoan handler.” Doctor Gorgam said in closing.

  “Understood.”

  Gorgam turned to Eve, “As for you, Alpha-03, you must understand we’re taking a significant risk in allowing you down planet-side. You must cooperate fully with mission command as well and obey your handler’s instructions. Prove to be an invaluable asset to the mission, and you will be treated as such; we can even reevaluate some of our established safety protocols once you return.”

  “How lovely.” Eve said, entirely unconcerned.

  Doctor Gorgam eyed her for a few silent moments, then turned to me with a worried expression, then just shook his head, “Very well, dismissed everyone. The shuttle departs for Entana in 40 minutes, please finalize your preparations and head to the shuttle bay as soon as possible.”

  ***

  I didn’t have anything to pack—I’d left everything down on Entana in the hotel room, so I was basically already set for the drop. Eve, however, took us on a little detour to one of the supplies managers so she could offer a list of things she wanted procured while she was down on Entana with me. A lot of it was clothes—actual girl clothes so she wasn’t forced to wear my random hand-me-downs. She asked for a few creature comforts of her own, and even some decorations for our quarters, insisting she would make it into a suitable home for us. All the while, the supplies manager was nervous as Eve made her demands; even The Radiance crew members not directly involved with the Predazoans knew well enough to be afraid of her. I knew it would be a simple matter of rumors running through the ship faster than a virus, but I was curious what all the regular ship crew thought of the insanity of letting the monster run free; they had no connection to the science behind the Predazoan creation, or the security like the soldiers. For all I knew, the crew members were just unlucky enough to end up on a clandestine research vessel, given far higher security clearance than they were used to and sworn to secrecy for their tour—probably wished they had just gotten a job aboard some space cruise ship instead. Who really knew how the Empire vetted their employees though?

  We walked through the halls of The Radiance shadowed by our escort, a spring in Eve’s step all the while, “We still have 15 minutes to kill before the drop; want to make-out in a closet or something?” She asked, sounding like a halfway innocent, yet horny teenager.

  “So, Predazoans like making out?”

  Eve smiled brilliantly, “I told you, I have all the same desires as a human, and I desire to experience everything a human does with her lover.” She held our hands up, fingers still locked together, “Even this little affection is something I find wildly enjoyable and exciting.”

  “That’s nice, but I just wanted to grab a quick snack before the drop; mealtimes are stricter when you’re planet-side.”

  Her smile turned flirtatious, “Perhaps I can feed it to you?”

  I rolled my eyes, “Not everything needs to be a couple event, you know?”

  She giggled and shook her head, “No, but you like it—you enjoy turning the mundane into a couple event. You’ve never been spoiled before, but you’re so so sooo eager for me to pamper you.”

  I stopped walking and turned to her, taking my hand away from her as I crossed my arms and glared at her accusingly, “And how the hell would you know that? Sensing what I like and what attracts me, sure, I get that. But how could you possibly know what I’ve experienced in past relationships before you were even on earth?”

  Eve half shrugged, turning a little more serious, “I made a series of simple deductions based on who you are and your desires—your unfulfilled cravings.” She tapped my forehead with a delicate fingertip, “Don’t forget I really do know you, and while I wasn’t around for your past, it shaped you into the man you are now—the man I know so well. I could feel your loneliness, I sensed your dreams and desires and felt your deepest longings.” She sighed and took a step forward, grabbing my hand in hers again, “You don’t need to hide anything from me, Adam. I know you and accept you and I love you, so much. I know you always had to be the strong one in your past relationships—the hunter, and the provider. But it doesn’t have to be like that with me; you can just relax, let down your walls and let me love you—let me spoil you.” She smirked and leaned up to ruffle my hair, “Be my good little boy and let me take care of you.”

  I knocked her hand away, “I was always dominant in my past relationships, you know? I don’t want to be your good little boy.”

  Eve just laughed, “You had to be dominant because you were afraid of being vulnerable, but I know who you are; you’re a switch, neither dominant nor submissive, you change as your mood does.” She cocked her head to the side, “You’re a switch in all things, changing and adapting to your fleeting moods, that’s why you split your focus along so many interests—why you’re always switching around your projects.”

  I didn’t have a good response, so I just turned and grumbled to myself as I continued to the cafeteria, “Like some fucking armchair psychiatrist now, is she?”

  We made it to the cafeteria, and I synthesized a burger while Eve was content to make a couple chocolate bars. Afterwards, we made our way over to the shuttle bay where we found the rest of our crew. Doctor Wit was rather animated talking with Doctor Kianna, with Doctor Runa off to the side apparently in disagreement over something they said, and I saw Agent Kotlokk and Frenk performing some final safety check together. I made my way over to the researchers, “Anything you guys need from us?”

  Doctor Runa made a quick exit—more afraid of the Predazoans than anyone else I knew—while Wit and Kianna exchanged irritated looks. Kianna held out a standard round communicator towards Eve, “Here, Eve’s to have her own communicator.”

  Eve took the communicator as I hooked a thumb back towards Runa, “I assume she didn’t agree?”

  Doctor Wit rolled his eyes, “The bottom of a long list of things she doesn’t agree with; I’m worried this mission is simply too dangerous for someone of her delicate sensibilities.” He nodded towards Eve, “Do you need instructions on how to use that?” He asked.

  In response, Eve already had it open and active and sent me a little message—a couple hearts and a kissy face. She eyed Wit with a rather bored expression, “I could break this apart and put it back together before you could blink. I’ll be fine.”

  Wit didn’t have a response, but Kianna laughed, “We’re still adjusting to you as a person now Eve, you’ll have to forgive us if it takes a few cycles until we get it right.”

  The final checks had all been completed, it was finally time to depart. The team got buckled up and secured in the shuttle as the pilot made his last safety checks. Eve beside me was nearly bouncing with excitement in her seat.

  “Eager, are you?” I asked mildly.

  She flashed me a smile so brilliant my heart skipped a beat, “Of course! Finally, I’ll be down planet-side again. I haven’t been on solid ground since our time on earth.”

  I quirked up an eyebrow, “You prefer being planet-side?”

  She nodded, “Oh yes, very much so. The Radiance is nice and all, a wonderful vessel to call home for now, but it doesn’t help I can feel the vacuum of space all around us, it makes me feel…like I’m falling.”

  “Does that mean the artificial gravity doesn’t work on you or something?”

  Eve shook her head, “No, it works—you saw me walking on the ground, yes? But my perception is vast and goes beyond the ship—outside it, and with nothing around us, it just feels a little empty. Being on a planet, I can feel the life and pull of everything around me, it’s much more grounding.”

  That was quite surprising, but I wasn’t exactly sure why. Maybe because I thought the Predazoans were just some crazy space monsters, I’d assumed they would feel at home out in space. But then again, they were a massive collection of cells—a hivemind of biomass. Being so very full of life, maybe it meant they really connected with life—with all life.

  I still believed Eve was a monster, but the more I learned about her, the more I couldn’t help but feel she was a good kind of monster. It made me redouble my focus so I wouldn’t fall into her tricks or machinations—wouldn’t surrender my control to her.

  “Plus, once we’re down there, we can finally go out on a real date!” She said excitedly.

  Considering how my last date ended, I wasn’t exactly rushing for a repeat performance.