Five centuries after the development of quantum hyperdrive, the first human-built robotic drones reached the solar system of the giant blue star Zeta Ophiuchi. Traversing the vast, sterile expanses of space, these ultra-sophisticated cybernetic emissaries found the Zeta Ophiuchi system to be a dazzling realm of light and colour, a place of astral wonders and planetary marvels.

Bewitchingly beautiful as the system was, authorities on Earth, 440 light-years away, also deemed it a valuable economic asset. As a result, hundreds more drone ships arrived and began construction of a huge orbiting city above Melanchthon, the system's ninth planet. Melanchthon was a vast, jewel-like gas giant, a dark, spectral world of ceaseless electrical storms and swirling iridescent colours. This remarkable world also possessed twenty-six sizable mineral-rich moons.

The system's natural resources served the city's builders well over the next two hundred years, and the city developed rapidly, attaining a high degree of sophistication, wealth and luxury. It eventually grew to the size of a large asteroid, and was notable to all who saw it for its elegant biomorphic lines, stately domes and towering crystalline spires. And they gave the city the name of a goddess, a queen of the underworld from the ancient depths of Earth's mythology: Ereshkigal.

* * * *

Near the centre of Ereshkigal's affluent 71st district, a beautiful raven-haired woman stepped out onto a spacious, 21st-floor balcony of polished purple marble. She was tall, athletic, and totally nude, with her hair in an elegant braided ponytail. She carried two curving swords of notably different lengths, encased in shining black lacquer sheaths. It was early morning, and the city's gradually brightening artificial daylight was still mixed with the turquoise-hued rays of the system's colossal parent star, rays that filtered down from the elaborately latticed sky windows far above. The result was a period of greenish illumination that Ereshkigalis fondly called viridian hour.

Conscious of a pair of admiring eyes watching her, the woman knelt before a large silken floor cushion and reverently placed the swords upon it, with the larger of the two at the top. With her hands together and her head bowed, she quietly recited a short incantation.

Illusory world,

Your veil of unknowing falls

To my swords of light

For I am the enemy

Of darkness and deception.

She then unsheathed both swords and took one in each hand. An instant later, her limbs were a blur of lightning-fast motion. Polished blades of tempered steel reflected the green light and flew above her head and upon each side of her like the gliding green tree snakes of Earth. Not unlike those snakes, these blades were predators, and they were also her willing instruments.

Coming to rest at last after several electrifying minutes, she turned towards the sound of heavy hands laboriously applauding. With her chest rising and falling rapidly after her exertions, she smiled as she saw the kindly, lined face of her elderly neighbour Lucrezia.

"Bravo, Selene. I feel safe living in this district with you around."

"Good morning, Lucrezia. You're up early."

"It's worth it just to sit here sipping espresso and watching the exquisite symphony of flesh and martial grace that is you."

"You shameless flatterer!" she giggled.

"And, by the way, where is that darkly handsome new man of yours?"

"Hardly new; it's been two months."

"Ah, wonderful."

"He's training for space service."

"To join your crew on the Bellerophon."

"Exactly!"

"Oh, how exciting!"

"It'll be quite a change for him from ice-mining on distant asteroids."

"Ooooh, tough and gorgeous!"

"Hands off, I saw him first."

"Never fear, my dear; from what I just witnessed, you'd make quick work of this old body with those deadly blades."

"And don't you forget it."

"Is he ISSC?"

"Yes, he's a Private 1st Class, and the ISSC are putting him through his paces even as we speak."

"Where in fifty parsecs did you find him?"

"We were teamed up on Wolf, Fox, and Cottontail. Don't tell me you missed it. I did send out notifications."

"Forgive me, I have so many shows to catch up on. I've been watching Seesaw Head."

" ... Can't get into that show."

"Oh, it's so good."

"I've been busy. 16th Anthesterion is Jesse's birthday."

"Oooh, I bet you have something special planned."

"Mmmm, I certainly have."

* * *

Two days earlier, in the evening, Selene was sitting in her living room with her elegant legs tucked beneath her. She was casually perusing the day's news feeds while Jesse was out of sight, busily cooking dinner.

"I can't find the salt."

"Pantry, middle shelf, extreme right," she replied dryly.

"Got it!"

She smiled and shook her head. "It's ok, ice-miner."

"Thanks."

A moment later, she heard the warm, matronly voice of Xoannon, Ereshkigal's omnipresent computer system. Xoannon's helpful, reassuring presence kept the city running smoothly more than any other of its many technologies.

"Selene Kheperkare, attention."

Although the voice was soft and gentle, it seemed to fill the entire room, and the computer's formal tone told Selene that she was about to deliver an important message.

"Yes Xoannon."

"Good evening, Selene. I have a private and confidential, priority communication for you."

"Please put it through to my phone."

She activated her phone's holo screen, a broad, curving projection that appeared above the phone's main body and was only visible to the person in front of it. Next, she drew out two filament-like transparent earpieces. Xoannon's logo appeared on the screen, followed by a prompt for her security code: Kheperkare S 0119.

Then the acronym I.G.O.C.A. appeared, followed by the words Mission Briefing. Her eyes narrowed, and a sly smile played upon her lips.

She vaguely heard Jesse's voice from the kitchen as data, pictures, and detailed instructions filled the screen in rapid succession. She paused the information stream a couple of times, but Selene was quite capable of taking it all in. When Jesse ducked his head around the corner and entered her peripheral vision, she silently dismissed him with a commanding finger.

Twenty minutes later, she looked up, beaming with excitement and anticipation.

"Kronokrator," she whispered, "Mmmm, yes, let's kill two birds with one stone..."

"Allora! Fettuccine Putanesca is served!"

* * *

Kronokrator, 16th Day of Anthesterion. 21:00 hours.

Jesse's 30th birthday.

Of all the many establishments devoted to pleasure and sensual entertainment in the Zeta Ophiuchi system, Kronokrator was, by far, the best and the most exclusive. However, the majority of people lacked the credentials and criteria needed to spend an evening there. Demand was always great, and admittance was strictly the management's prerogative. These few facts were known to Jesse and to the public at large, but the establishment did much to maintain its air of mystery and mystique.

As he navigated Selene's car through ten levels and forty city districts, Jesse frequently noticed the occupants of other vehicles turn their heads to admire it: a sleek, silver Halcyon E360 - A

"I still can't figure out how on Ophi you could afford this thing?"

"Meh," she answered, flicking her wrist dismissively.

"I mean, on an engineer's pay. The ISSC..."

"Chief Engineer to you, Private."

Jesse laughed and shook his head. "Still, I can't..."

"If I tell you I'll..."

"I know, I know, you'll have to kill me. Why am I starting to think that statement isn't as rhetorical as it sounds?"

She gave him her most charming smile, and he sighed as, once again, the full impact of her beauty hit him. If beauty could be weaponised, he thought, then his girlfriend of two months was a deadly Crimson Hawk-Moth missile. Just the type that her Chimera-class battle cruiser, the Bellerophon, was armed with.

The Halcyon climbed steadily into the traffic, but once it had entered the stream, Xoannon ensured that it kept its altitude, its place in the lane, and adhered to the speed limit.

Half an hour later, the building that contained Kronokrator came into view. It was a towering domed structure of glittering polished glass but otherwise quite unremarkable. As the Halcyon approached it, electronic signals informed Jesse that the vehicle was going to be automatically admitted and parked. He smiled at Selene and settled back in his seat. The building's wall soon loomed up, and a circular fish-eye portal opened. The car glided in and passed row upon row of parked vehicles of all shapes and models. Jesse was totally delighted.

After a blank, white corridor, they entered a spacious chamber. By any definition, this room was of amazing design; biomorphic walls containing not a single angle or straight line gave the impression of being inside some living thing. Shifting colours of blue, purple, green, indigo and an all-pervading iridescence reminded Jesse of the large labradorite ring that Selene wore; an antique from faraway Earth. The chamber was sweetly and subtly scented, but exactly what the scent was, Jesse could not tell.

Pulsing violet lights and slender tubes of circulating fluid were woven into the walls, and what furniture there was, also seemed to grow out of the walls and the floor. Seams in the walls also opened periodically to admit more people until there were about thirty in the room, with roughly equal numbers of men and women.

Selene led Jesse to a bay where she directed him to undress. He hesitated momentarily until she indicated that several people nearby were already fully nude. She touched a control, and a section of the bay wall opened.

"We leave our clothes here."

"I'm in your hands."

She smiled slyly as she unclipped her robes at the shoulders, revealing her perfect breasts. She untied her hair too and let it flow around her exquisite shoulders. Her body was more than enough to take his breath away, and as she walked up to him and started to undress him, he found himself relaxing and becoming aroused. Sensing this, she whispered in his ear,

"Good, you'll soon get used to this place. It's strange but full of wonder."

That statement did little to throw any light on what he might expect, and he was about to say so when Selene said,

"The house rule is that on your first visit here you cannot fuck your partner. It helps novice members get acquainted. So I want you to meet a couple of new friends of mine."

She stepped aside. Two women stood behind her. They seemed to be identical twins and were indeed of a similar height, slim build, and seemingly in their early thirties. One had auburn hair in a luxurious mane while the other was honey-blonde with abundant golden locks cascading past her shoulders. Selene tilted her head demurely as she touched the blonde gently on the shoulder,

"Jesse, this is Kaia." Kaia nodded, with wide, turquoise-blue eyes.

"And this is Timandra." Timandra smiled and narrowed her jade-green eyes, adding,

"Oh, Selene, you didn't tell us he was so gorgeous; just look at that brow, those perfect abdominals and pectorals, and that rich velvet skin."

"Well, you'll just have to get better acquainted."

As the two women closed in on Jesse, he abruptly asked Selene, "Where will you be?"

"Oh, I'll be...around."

With that, she kissed him, "Happy birthday, my darling," and casually strode away.

* * * *

Without a moment to lose, Selene slipped back and donned the upper part of her robe, arranging it so that the wakazashi it concealed sat between her shoulders. Ten minutes later and nine floors above, she emerged from an elevator into a room where a party was in progress. A knot of elegantly dressed people crowded around a tall, refined blonde dressed in a floor-length white silk gown. This, Selene knew, was violinist Alexandra Nefedovna. She smiled adoringly and moved into the crowd of admirers, meanwhile glancing discreetly around her until she caught the attention of a woman who frowned at her and glanced towards a door on the left side of the room. Almost imperceptibly, Selene nodded in reply, then slowly made her way there. A long service corridor led her to a corner beyond which she encountered an elegantly attired, white-haired girl with delicate facial tattoos. She seemed to be in her late teens and stood before a partially broken panel inside which Selene could see heavy-duty plasma and fiber-optic cable junctions. She stepped closer.

"No tools, how clever of you!"

"I found it like this."

"Oh, then I guess that broken fingernail down there isn't yours."

As the girl looked down, Selene's hand darted out and brushed her exposed shoulder. Astonished, the girl stared at her wildly,

"What the fuck are you doing touching me? Do you know who I am?"

"I know who you're supposed to be."

"What the fuck does that mean bitch!?"

"Look at your shoulder. I just cut you with this ring, and you didn't bleed."

"Fuck you! I'm Carla von Ehrenstein, the senator's daughter!"

"I know what you are. You are a parody."

"Fuck you, Necrowhore!"

With that, the girl snarled beastially and launched herself at Selene's throat with long, deceptively delicate fingers. But Selene was well prepared. Drawing the wakazashi from its sheath with lightning speed, she brought the sword's blade down on the girl's shoulder with force enough to cleave a human torso in two. But the blade merely left a considerable dent. The girl staggered, soon recovered, and glared with murderous intent in her glowing red eyes. She then turned and gripped the plasma cables, attempting to break them. Selene summoned all her strength and swung the sword in a tight arc. The android's head flew from its body, but the body persisted in trying to damage the cables, so Selene lunged forward and kicked it aside. The body crashed to the floor, shaking, and slid several feet before becoming inert. Selene looked up, panting.

"Xoannon, inform the management that this was part of an ongoing IGOCA investigation. Oh, and... add my apologies for the mess."

"Of course, Selene. Bravo."

* * * *

Upon Selene's departure, the twins had each gripped one of Jesse's shoulders. They kissed him in turn, and he found their kisses sweet and refreshing. A pair of hands then gently placed him against one of the items of 'furniture' that grew out of the floor. This immediately reconfigured itself into a low bench, upon which Kaia made him lie. Both women knelt beside him, and he soon felt Timandra grip the base of his cock.

Kaia meanwhile continued to kiss him with growing passion until he felt Timandra's lips encircle his cockhead. She pumped his shaft with increasing speed and occasionally slid her hand down to massage his balls. Kaia giggled and smiled as he finally took the initiative and began to suck, lick, and gently bite her nipples. She sighed and let out an appreciative "Mmmmm."

Kaia then turned his head to the side, nibbling and kissing his neck while working her way down. For the first time, he was able to see other couples and groups of up to four kissing, sucking, licking, and some even fucking nearby. These reassuring sights relaxed him further as he savoured the sensation of both women sucking and deep-throating his cock. Propping himself up on his elbows, he thrilled at the sight of two beautiful heads bobbing up and down on his cock. He threw his head back and glanced up at the high ceiling where a pulsing violet light seemed to be keeping time with the fluid moves of the girls working his shaft.

But as soon as he looked back down, they stopped, and he saw an expression of sheer, unmasked lust in Timandra's eyes.

Breathily, she said, "Fuck me, Jesse."

As soon as he nodded his head, she slid his entire curving shaft deep into her cunt. He watched it glide in and out, focusing on her brushstroke of auburn pussy hair. Timandra used her muscles to great effect, slowly milking and massaging his shaft as she fucked him with athletic grace. Her green eyes were focused on him a great deal of the time, but she shut them and threw her head back, moaning each time he gripped her hips and met her powerful, precise downward thrusts with equal force.

By his side, Kaia giggled and purred gently, and he detected a restless, impatient energy in her. The reason for this soon became obvious as her sister increased the speed and force of her thrusts, emitting a musical howl and clasping her breasts. She came again soon after and growled at Jesse as his engorged cock slipped reluctantly out of her. Her place was soon taken by her sister, who mounted Jesse's hips and took his cock just below the head between two fingers. Jesse found her cunt tighter than her sister's, although his shaft was still thoroughly slick with juices.

Kaia, too, tensed and relaxed the muscles of her cunt as Jesse thrust into her. They kept this up for several minutes until Kaia slowed and asked,

"Fuck me in the ass, Jesse."

Jesse grinned and nodded, then found both girls gripping his arms. They stood him up and again, the bench upon which they had lain reconfigured itself into a slope. He noted that its surface was soft, pliant, and smooth as he steadied himself facing the two girls. Kaia spread her cheeks for him, and he instantly felt a pleasant tension in his balls as he first caught sight of her perky pink hole. Once she blinked it at him, he was immediately down on his knees licking and lapping its sweet ring of flesh.

Kaia giggled and shivered with pleasure, pressing her ass harder and harder up against his lips and tongue. After a few minutes, he replaced her hands with his own, stretching her ring gradually and flicking his tongue deeper and deeper into it. He then became conscious of Timandra crouching next to him, fingering her dripping cunt and using the juices to lubricate her own ass. He nodded and smiled approvingly, then stood and took his tawny, tapering cock in his hand. He marvelled at how hard he still was and wasted no time in sliding his entire length deep into Timandra's receptive hole.

He immediately felt his head slide past her ring, which gripped his shaft deliciously. From then on he wound his arm around her collarbone and fucked her ass with an insistent wave of ferocity which surprised even him. Kaia, meanwhile, had taken advantage of his stance and slid a wet hand down the cleft of his butt cheeks, over his hole and down to his loose, heavy balls. Expertly, she caressed and massaged them as he propelled lust-filled stroke after lust-filled stroke into her sister's hole at every angle. Timandra came again and again, howling and plunging two or three fingers deep into her drooling cunt. Her primal sounds seemed to break Jesse out of the semi-trance that he was in, and he exhaled heavily, laughing and only then realising how much he was perspiring.

Both girls turned and faced him, smiling and watching him with unblinking eyes as he gradually caught his breath.

"My...goodness...ladies... you, you certainly know how to fuck."

"We're pleased to have met you too," said Timandra huskily.

Then Kaia added, "Now we have an extra special birthday treat for you."

"Oh?"

From behind her back, she produced a slim, smooth wand made of some dark, metallic compound. He noticed that it tapered to a blunt point at one end as she held it delicately and waved it slowly in front of her face. He looked at Timandra, who gently said,

"You did such a fine job on our asses, Jesse; we feel the need to reciprocate."

No stranger to anal play, Jesse grinned broadly as the girls lay him down once more.

They regarded him seductively while raising his knees and positioning themselves before his cheeks. He lay back and found that the bench was now in a sloping position, allowing him to watch them. Soon their hands spread his cheeks, and he thrilled to the sensation of one long warm, wet tongue after another licking and lapping at his ring. He relaxed it gladly, allowing them to moisten his hole to a considerable depth before they slid their fingers delicately past his ring into his inner depths.

He was hardly surprised that they knew exactly where to stimulate him, and in no time at all he was well on the way to hardness. But this was only the beginning. Now Timandra gripped his shaft and sank her lips over it while Kaia slipped the wand into him; slowly at first, then deeper until he began to feel a strange and primally satisfying sensation.

Ripples of energy radiated from the wand, travelling up his spine until he felt a rush of energy in the pit of his stomach. This was followed by tightening balls and a deep-seated warmth and euphoria. It almost felt as if he'd been drinking and enjoying a delicious meal. The waves of pleasure continued, rising gradually in intensity until he shut his eyes and saw a spectrum of nameless colours.

Then the sensations amped down a little, and he opened his eyes to see Timandra deep-throating him without gagging even slightly. Now the waves of pleasure increased again until he felt a deep guttural growl escape his throat. He arched his back almost involuntarily and came in a furious barrage, firing thick rope after thick rope of come straight down Timandra's throat. She swallowed every spurt, enveloping his shaft with her tongue as she did so.

As Kaia gently withdrew the wand from him, Timandra cleaned his cock with a feather-light touch, then both girls sat, one on each side of him while he slowly recovered. Several minutes later, with the erotic sounds of the room gradually filtering back into his mind, he sat up and saw two smiling faces; one green-eyed and one with eyes of turquoise, regard him. In his astonished state, he didn't return the smiles immediately, and then a strange thought suddenly struck him; both girls had spoken to him, but throughout their encounter, not a word had passed between them.

* * * *

When Selene returned, she found Jesse amidst a wild orgy of entangled flesh and was happy to see that he was embracing the spirit of a night at Kronokrator. As she watched, he licked the pussy of one woman, while another pumped his cock with a view to riding it. She waited several minutes, adjusting her robe to hide the wakazashi sheathed again between her shoulders. As Jesse caught sight of her, he slowly and discreetly disentangled himself. He was glad to see another man take his place, and the two ladies involved didn't seem to mind. He wiped his chin with the back of his hand,

"There you are. Where have you been?" he asked playfully.

"Oh, I've been around. You were having such a wonderful time with the girls that I went on my merry way."

"That's a very quaint thing to say," he laughed.

They walked over to where their clothes were stored and found fresh towels and a few complimentary cosmetics.

"It's tradition to shower at home, so let's go."

Once back at the vehicle park, Selene insisted on driving the Halcyon, and Jesse was more than happy to sit back and relax. Just after they left the building, Selene asked,

"Did you like the girls?"

"Are you kidding?!" Then he added, " I would have liked to get to know them better, but they just melted back into the crowd, and I lost sight of them."

"Pity,"

As they climbed into the traffic lanes and Xoannon placed them on the route home, Jesse shut his eyes and folded his arms contentedly, but about twenty minutes into the journey he began to feel strange. He became restless and found his breathing deepening. He shifted in his seat several times, then reached out almost unconsciously and gripped Selene's knee.

Finally, she asked, "Are you ok?"

"Er... fine, I just feel horny again. Crazy, isn't it?"

She reached over and felt his forehead, then asked him to give her his wrist, and she checked his pulse.

Suddenly he whispered, "Can we stop somewhere and fuck?"

"Oh, I was afraid of this," she said with mock gravity. "That wand that... the girls... used on you was set too high."

"You know about that?" he said vaguely.

"Uh-huh. Xoannon, take over."

A reassuring three-note signal chimed as the city computer took over full control of the Halcyon. Selene checked the time. It was 01:30 hours, and she spent the next thirty seconds activating various controls on the car's virtual dashboard.

"Xoannon, park us on the nearside of the Trilithon building, right by Municipal Lane 12, should do it."

When the computer answered, it was with a slight tone of mischief, "Affirmative, Selene."

Jesse only half heard this exchange as he was developing an increasingly insistent erection in the confines of his underwear. Selene leaned over to him,

"Ok my adamantine hero. Out you get."

As Jesse exited the car, Selene touched a panel that released a drone from the Halcyon's roof. This machine was shaped like a brutalist-inspired insect and was called an Iron Butterfly. It quickly gained altitude, hovered above the car, and zoomed in on it.

Selene removed her top robe and threw it along with the wakazashi in the back seat. As soon as Jesse saw her bare breasts, he was upon her. He gripped her shoulders and pressed her up against the Halcyon's door. She embraced him and kissed him while pulling off his robes and unlacing his trousers. Once she had released his cock, she was immediately down on her knees, furiously pumping it and rolling the head around her tongue, across her palate and rubbing it against the inside of both her cheeks.

Jesse grabbed her head and face-fucked her while she adjusted her breathing to accommodate his thrusts. After several intense moments, he threw his head back and breathed heavily as his balls tightened. He had often told Selene that she gave him the best blowjob of his life, but right now it didn't surprise her that this oft-repeated compliment had slipped his mind. Instead, he became vaguely aware that several vehicles had landed nearby and that their occupants were watching.

In his present state of mind, Jesse could not determine how this had come about, and neither did he care as the divine vision that was Selene now shed her long skirt, spread her exquisite legs, and leaned upon the car. Jesse knelt and devoured her pussy, licking and lapping at her labia and finally parting her slit and burying his tongue in its ambrosial folds.

By now some of the gathered spectators had left their vehicles and were cheering and taking holo-shots and stills with their phones. By the time Jesse raised his lips from the sweet chalice that was Selene's pussy and plunged his cock deep and hard into her, the Iron Butterfly had been transmitting footage of the event to one of the local media channels for some forty minutes.

Across the city, free subscribers could watch an ultra-high-definition holographic edit of the stream or the full holovideo for a minimal membership fee. It was one of ten holovideos sent in that day, and Selene had high hopes of winning one of the generous weekly prizes for placing in the top three.

Jesse fucked her ravenously in several positions both on the car and up against it, and Selene did her best to present as aesthetic a performance as she could under the circumstances. Finally, Jesse came deep inside her, and she laid him on the ground on his back and let a surprising amount of his come drip out of her and into his eagerly waiting mouth. The small crowd of onlookers registered their appreciation as Selene stood up and waved to them gratefully. Then the Iron Butterfly started its descent but not before announcing to the crowd,

"Jesse and Selene, thank you. Please don't forget to vote for us on Hotline Zeta-Ophiuchi's Public Fuck Challenge!"

* * * *

Seven hours later, a recovered and refreshed Jesse emerged onto Selene's balcony to find her relaxing and reading on her phone. He bent down and kissed her.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Um, fine, just a little light-headed."

"I trust you liked your present."

He kissed her again. "I loved it, thank you. What are you reading?"

"Metropolis by Thea von Harbou."

"...Don't know it."

"Oh, and speaking of light-headed, I have another little surprise for you."

She reached under her seat and produced a rectangular black box. Inside were two metallic ovoids. She touched a panel on each, and they flew out of the box to hover a couple of meters above the floor. Suddenly Jesse saw two spindles of golden light coalesce into Timandra and Kaia. He was momentarily stunned.

"Thank you, Jesse and Selene, for choosing Ultradyne Systems Holographix," said Kaia sweetly. Then, in a much more formal tone, Timandra added,

"Ultradyne Systems, a division of Tetsunoko Dynamics Corporation. Embrace the Light."

Jesse laughed, almost spilling his coffee. He sat down and said jovially,

"Nice to see you again, girls!"

He stood up and gave each of them a tentative kiss on the cheek.

Behind him, Selene said, "No time to get reacquainted; they go back tomorrow."

Jesse turned and by the time he had done so the 'girls' had vanished and the ovoids were on their way back into their box.

Jesse sat back down. "Hard light holograms, I'll be damned."

"The very same."

He took a sip of coffee. "Oh, by the way, how did we do in the Public Fuck Challenge?"

Selene looked up from her text, wide-eyed, and said,

"Oh, yeah, we came third!"