A mockery of a woman, most decidedly feminine in feature, stood before me appraising me in silence.  In return, I examined her as well, more curious, at the moment, than afraid, although I wasn’t entirely without fear.  She would have once been regarded as beautiful, I surmised, despite that her features were somehow alien in cast – her single eye slanted and overly large, a lavender pupil filling the entirety and her features somewhat sharper than any human I had ever encountered.  And her hand also gave away an origin other than mine.  Five, not four fingers, and a pair of thumbs, all slender to the point of appearing fragile. Her skin was milk white, though that could be simply her lack of exposure to sunlight for an extended period of time.  Those characteristics, however, were not her most astonishing feature.  She had been remade at some point, her body fused with machinery that appeared far more advanced than anything I could have imagined.  I had once heard the term cyborg used in relation to a fictional literary being - half man, half machine.  If such a creature could truly exist, It was she.

One half of her appeared organic, mostly her right side – one side of her face and torso including her breast.  One arm.  A goodly portion of her stomach and one hip. A portion of her genitalia, although it was impossible to say how much.  More than fifty percent, I surmised, although how much more I could not say for sure. And one thigh, ending just above the knee.  All else was fashioned of polished metal the color of silver which I studied with mute fascination. 

Someone had taken great pains to maintain her symmetry, with some exceptions.  Even her missing breast had been refashioned perfectly to match.  She had eight eyes, one organic, the others colored lenses that glowed faintly red from some source within her skull.  Cylinders and clear tubing served as joints, connecting shoulder to bicep, bicep to wrist, wrist to fingers – again, seven slender digits - and so on. It was clear that she was capable of full motion.  Dark colored hair hung from one side of her skull while the other was smooth, resembling a silver dome. 

“Do I frighten you?” Her voice was human, or at least not that of a machine. 

“Oui,” I admitted, grasping the bars of the cage that held me prisoner, my gaze meeting those of her octet of eyes.  “Had you not imprisoned me, I might be less wary.  Should I not be?”

“You would be foolish not to be, little insect.  Very foolish indeed.”

I shrugged, taking a step away, and crossed my arms across my breasts. A heartbeat later, she stepped forward, not making a sound, moving with an inhumane grace, my eyes drawn to movement as a series of smaller limbs unfolded from behind her, each as slender as one of my fingers.  Six of them in all, each tipped with a trio of spear-like digits. They seemed to emerge from her back, and I found myself imagining a compartment fused to her spine from which they might unfold.  I struck me, suddenly, that she had the semblance of a giant arachnid. 

“What are you?” I murmured out loud, both fascinated and repulsed.

“What I had to become to survive,” she answered, cold amusement coloring her voice. “Not unlike you.”

Not knowing how to respond, I held my tongue.  This time I stepped back in response to her moving forward once more, not unlike an unwitting dance partner just now learning the steps.  She paused, smiling for the first time, revealing a mouth full of needle-like teeth. Shivering, I backed up against the bars, my shoulders pressing into them, adrenaline surging as fright overcame my curiosity.

“I can smell your fear, little insect.  Taste it.”

Licking her lips with a serpent-like tongue, she moved even closer, until her face was framed between the bars, all eight eyes seeming to regard me like a living specimen.

“I would taste other emotions from you.  In time.”

Her single living eye bored into me like a physical thing, seemingly brushing my fear away, replacing it with the stirrings of desire that tugged at me, urging me forward.  Resisting, I grasped the bars behind me, gripping them hard as I fought the impulse to move towards her.

“I could make you my little puppet.  Make you dance for me.  If I wished.”

 I found myself suddenly in control of my actions once more, gasping with terror as I backed away once more, much to her amusement.

“However, I am not the monster you believe me to be. Good night, little insect. Sleep.  We will continue our conversation when you wake.”

Sleep did not come easy in this strange place, caged as I was by a creature beyond my darkest imaginings. Plagued by uncertainty, my thoughts awhile with what she planned to do with me, I paced the floor of my prison, the cold metal beneath my feet sending shivers through my flesh, looking for some weakness that would allow me to escape. Finding none, eventually I succumbed to weariness and settled on the floor, my lids growing heavy as I surrendered to, thankfully, dreamless slumbers.

oOo

I awoke, my limbs stiff, my muscles sore, startled from my sleep by a strange sensation – a pin prick that pierced the flesh of my upper arm that left a burning sensation that faded just as quickly as it dissipated. I struggled up into a seated position, using the bars of my prison while fighting a sudden wave of dizziness as I focused, once more, upon my captor who crouched beside me, the door of the cage wide open behind her.

“What have you done?” I whimpered, flinching as she cupped my chin with her metallic hand, tilting it so that I was forced to gaze into her eyes.

“It’s for your own good, little insect. A drug that will calm any rash instincts and sooth your fears.  There are a few unintended side effects as well, but I think you will find them… not unpleasant.”

It was true that, the panic I might ordinarily have felt seemed distant. Not only that but I felt a pleasurable tingling where the tips of her fingers came into contact with my flesh.

“What do you want with me?” I asked softly, more curious than frightened.

She bared her sharp teeth in a mockery of a smile as three of her eye lenses glowed softly, one red, one blue, and one green. She regarded me with the solitary organic orb after a moment.

“For now, your obedience, insect.”

“Olivia. My name is Olivia,” I corrected her, blushing softly as sharp fingertips trailed down my throat slowly, electricity trailing in their wake, making me gasp softly, and then moan as they continued over the swell of my breast.  I felt my pulse quicken and my chest rise and fall, the dread I had felt at our last meeting replaced with something more insidious. desire. 

“Olivia,” she repeated, trying out the word as a single finger brushed my nipple. The resulting surge of pleasure was unexpected and I was unable to suppress a lust-filled moan nor a disappointed whimper as she withdrew her finger.

Smiling, she stood, looming over me. “See? I am not such a monster, am I. Olivia. I see you are already experiencing the side effects of the medication.”

Breathless, I lowered my eyes to the floor, refusing, or perhaps unable, to answer, much to her apparent amusement.

“In time you will come to crave my touch, little insect. Even now, you feel a small loss.  Soon you will be able to think of nothing else, longing to feel what only I can give you.”

“Non,” I managed, my breath catching in my throat as whatever drug she had injected me spread through my veins like an infection. Curling my fingers into a fist I vowed to fight her as best I could. I would escape her clutches and find my way back to the surface and rejoin my beloved companions. For now, I would wait and watch and perhaps, I might learn something that would aid me.

“Come, rise. This cage has served its purpose, as long as you continue to behave.”

She put out her hand and I took it, allowing her to help me to my feet, my heart beating rapidly as flesh met metal and ecstasy spread through my fingers and hand, slowly fading when she released her grip, leaving me to stand within the doorway unsteadily, her knowing chuckle resonating in my ear.

“Would you like to see your new home?”

“Oui,” I whispered, unable to dredge up the fear that I knew I should feel at my predicament. Instead, it was replaced with an urge to be touched, once more, by my inhuman captor.

Come, then,” she said, her fingers cupping my elbow and directing me towards the doorway through which she had entered, her touch, once again, sending waves of pleasure through my flesh until I could barely concentrate on our journey as she led me down a corridor of burnished steel that was flanked by a pair of sealed hatches, large enough for either of us to pass through, a numeric keypad, or so I surmised, although the markings were undecipherable.  We paused before a third portal, one that blocked our way. I watched as her fingers danced gracefully on the keyboard, too quickly for me to follow. A moment later the hatch opened away from us with a soft hiss.  

“My chambers,” she announced, pausing a moment, the semblance of a smile playing across her alien features as she regarded me stepping through.

Curiosity stirred within me as I stood, trembling, in the doorway of her quarters. From where I stood transfixed I could pick out a faint, almost melodic hum being emitted from a frosted glass tube that orbited the ceiling and bathed the room in cold white light, illuminating the interior.  Like her, it was a hybrid of organic and machine – the absurdly normal meshing with the fantastical. 

I concentrated on what was familiar as I tried to get my bearings and overcome the vertigo of strangeness that threatened to overwhelm me.  In the center sat an oval shaped bed, large enough that I could only assume that, at one time, she had shared it with another.  Or perhaps more.  Surveying the walls, my breath caught at the sight of dozens of books carefully shelved.  It had been so long since I’d had the opportunity to read that I wondered if, perhaps, it was a skill I’d have to relearn.  An aquarium against one wall, and a terrarium beside it, although the creatures within were exotic and strange.  I could only surmise that they were not denizens of the island that I had become to think of as home.

A wardrobe, fashioned from a dark red wood stood near the bed, as well as a small desk with a single chair upholstered with fabric the color of a summer’s sky.  A collection of items what appeared to be tools or, perhaps, strangely fashioned utensils, lay haphazardly upon the desks surface.

What I presumed was a large circular portal was set into the wall opposite me, overlooking the bed. Currently it was shuttered by a metallic screen.  I wondered what it looked out upon for a brief moment before my attention was drawn by the soft chuff and grind of machinery to my right.

A glass tube rose from a platform that looked like the inner workings of a clock lain on its side.  The tube was large enough to hold a being of my size and filled with a thick swirling emerald colored smoke.  Clear tubes, through which a honey hued fluid seemed to flow, and thick copper wiring were attached at intervals. My breath caught in my throat as I caught a hint of movement within that implied something hidden with in the undulating fog, but what or whom I could not guess. 

An octet of dark glass panes filled the wall to my left, the spaces between them filled with dials and faintly glowing lights that blinked on and off in seemingly random patterns of red, green, amber, and blue. A rectangular door with rounded corners was set near the far corner, a small metallic wheel directly in the center. 

The floor matched that of the rest of the ship; unyielding metal with faint seams.  Here, though, it felt warm beneath my bare feet.

“Join me.”  I’d almost forgotten my captor’s presence.  Her words were accompanied by a soft touch upon my spine accompanied by pinpricks of ecstasy through my entire being as if bourn by the network of unseen nerves just below my skin.  I answered with a startled gasp, involuntarily stepping further into the room.

“You may use the bed, if you wish.  I have little use for it.” 

I responded with silence, taking strange delight in her touch, despite my better instincts.  I was, after all, her captive.  Still, her touch, slight as it was, ignited a spark within my very core.  I could not help but wonder if it was due to the pharmaceutical she had given me earlier or if it was something deeper, a desire and need that the berries had opened up within me initially and been fanned by my time spent with Issha…

Those thoughts fled as her touch continued slowly down my spine in a leisurely manner.  Unable to help myself, I closed my eyes, heat blossoming within my core. I let out an anguished moan as I felt its hold in my sex as well, my sensitive button aching with need as my honeyed juices began to build and flow until I could no longer contain them. I felt my face grow heated with a combination of desire and embarrassment as the dam burst and I felt them tickle my inner thighs.

“Sit.”

She guided me to the bed and I did as told, perching upon the edge while panting softly, the effort to regain control taxing me as she made her way to the desk, returning just as I has finally mastered my body’s reactions once more.

“A present,” she said simply, her voice devoid of warmth.  “Give me your right wrist.”

As though entranced, I raised my arm, holding it horizontally, observing almost indifferently as placed a golden manacle around my slender wrist, fastening it closed with a strange looking key.

“The left,” she told me, repeating the procedure.  “There. Your body will, eventually acclimate to the drug within your veins. I could inject you with a stronger dosage when that occurs, but it may be too much for your fragile system and you are too rare a subject to take risks with.”

“Do you intend to chain me to your bed, then?” I asked, a hint of defiance in my voice as I pushed myself up on the bed and away from her, focusing all the fury I could muster on her.

“Perhaps, but only if you desire it, little plaything. The cuffs serve a different purpose.”

She held out her inorganic hand, turning it until her palm was facing out. Set upon the surface were a pair of small buttons, side by side.  Without preamble she curled a single digit, the sharp tip pressing against the rounded bump. I was overcome with a pain so intense that I simply could not move. It burned through my entire being. I tried to scream, but even my vocal chords were paralyzed. It lasted no more than five seconds and yet, it seemed like an eternity. It wasn’t until she withdrew her finger tip that it relented, allowing me to slump over on the bed, panting and sobbing. I realized, without much surprise, that I had emptied the contents of my bladder and reclined in a warm puddle of my own urine.

“You claimed not to be a monster,” I whimpered, trembling uncontrollably as I lay upon the damp covers, the memory of the agony inflicted still overwhelmingly fresh.

Her smile was enigmatic as she curled her finger once more, the tip hovering over the second button upon her palm.

“Non, please, don’t, I-“ I cried, panicking as I watched the inhuman digit landed once more.  This time, however, it was not pain I felt. It was pleasure such as I had never imagined. What I had felt with my shipmates paled by comparison. Not even Isshu have given me such ecstasy. This wasn’t the slow build up of pleasure that I was used to. This was an onslaught the burned through me like molten fire, burning within and without as I writhed and moaned, my nipples so swollen I thought they might burst, my cunt and my clit almost volcanic, the pressure within me building higher and higher until I thought I might go mad with it, eclipsing all. And yet, the dam would not burst. My climax seemed to taunt me. It felt as if it was a moment in time away for an eternity. I was vaguely aware that I pleaded, begged, promised everything for relief, eventually screaming obscenities and threats at her as I clawed at my flesh, my fingers attempting to do what the cursed shackle could not, all to no avail.

Eventually, she either tired of my cries or, perhaps took pity upon me. It stopped, leaving men worse shape that the earlier demonstration had.

“Do you understand now?” She asked dispassionately after I’d grown still and silent, sprawled like a rag doll on my back, my limb twitching, feeling like a million bees had somehow burrowed into my flesh, buzzing and stinging, the pricking of insect legs reminding me of what I had just endured.

“I hate you,” I managed, putting every once of emotion behind the sentiment. “I will find a way to escape and I will make you pay.”

“And lose this, forever, little insect?”

I watched in horror as she pressed both buttons simultaneously.

I cannot with any accuracy describe the physical effects as agony and ecstasy tore me apart. Nor can I recall my thoughts or emotions. I climaxed. Not once, not twice, but countless times, each orgasm bleeding into the other, each with an intensity impossible to voice. How long this went on for, I cannot say. Mere minutes, perhaps, or hours. It felt like a lifetime. An eternity where each time I died and was reborn, each climax dwarfing the previous until I was sure I would lose my sanity. Thankfully I blacked out before that happened, my body unable to take anymore.  Afterwards I floated, lost, in blackness, unable to remember who, or what, I was as I drifted upon a sea of nothing…

Eventually, I awoke to find myself cradled in her surprisingly gentle arms. I think we were still within her chambers, but I was unable to be certain. I tried to speak, but could not form the words, so I simply closed my eyes and slipped back into oblivion once more.