Vector ⋯ 100

‘You never laugh at my jokes.’ – Outpost 45

Astra smiled as she stepped out of the shower, the lantern of the bathroom light glowing over the open window of the balcony as the desert night heat wafted through.

Theta’s help at the colony had been invaluable as he assisted repairing the heavy farming and mining equipment in Arkham Rift’s square. 

With just under two thousand residents and one of Starion’s best producing black matter mines, the ageing equipment was suffering from overuse and degradation due to the repair shipments being attacked by the Raiders. 

Theta had made the best of what they had as she calmed the gathering settlers, reassuring that all was being taken care of. 

They had been fearful, cautious of him at first glance. But after remarking his gentle nature, the settlers had begun to open up to him as they did her.

Though he reported to her, she was finding that having him as a partner was alleviating stressors that she hadn’t known she could let go of. 

He had been gentle…and even kind. 

Astra wondered how much of that was him and not his programming.

She entered her bedroom with a white towel wrapped around her body, clutching it closed as she passed Theta reclining against her wall. 

“Stars–Theta!” she said breathily as she clutched her pounding heart. “What are you doing here?”

“I apologise, Commander. I was hoping to ask you for clarification on a matter I cannot seem to keep off my mind.”

Astra signalled that he had the floor. “Okay…ask away.” he did seem perplexed.

He stopped his leaning. “If I were able to consent, would that change your rejection of my comfort?”

She shook her head in disbelief. They could not be having this conversation, could they? 

If he could consent…

If he were to consent…

To even consent…

She held her head. “I would have to take the shackles off–”

“And if you did–and I consented…” he came closer. “Would you…have me?”

She stood silently, not wanting to answer as she bit her lip. But as his body whirred, his face too sincere and questioning–

She imagined heavy blue and red light splashing against his naked back as her fingers clawed at his spine, hot wet skin meeting cool metal in her sheets.

Her legs became jelly.

Finally, her thoughts turned audible. 

“I… Yes. I would.” She ignored what seemed to be pleased relief on his face. “Now…get out so I can dress. Please.”

He stepped forward as she stepped back, coming close briefly before moving to wait in the study.

After dressing, Astra joined him, falling over the beige couch as the sun began to rise. 

She lifted her fingertips to the ceiling, tracing them along the star lines in the sky above her through the glass roof. Slowly she lowered her hand, touching the centre of her forehead in comfort.

She did want to. 

Really wanted to.

“Why do you want to comfort me so bad anyway, Theta?” she asked softly, afraid of his answer, not looking behind the couch where he stood against the counter on the wall.

“Metahuman studies show that intercourse leads to elevated levels of performance and mental well being. And I was told to care for you.” he said honestly.

She rolled her eyes with distaste, thoroughly unflattered. “Very romantic, thanks.”

Theta heard her disgust and eyed the couch where she lied, sensing that he had spoken incorrectly. “I misspoke, Commander. Forgive me.”

Astra rubbed her temples, reminding herself that he could not want her that way. No matter how she felt that he looked at her, or spoke to her–it was all false, living within her mind.

Maybe she was lonely.

“I meant to suggest…that I admire you. And…I find your form very pleasing.”

Astra slid a hand over her mouth to stop a quiet squeal, her blush reddening her cheeks.

Recalling terrible wit from the heat of the server room, Theta spoke again. “I do consider you to be…funny. “

She sat up and looked at him in surprise. “But you never laugh at my jokes!”

He blinked twice. “I did not know that was the preferred response, Commander. I will adjust.”

She bit her lip. “I don’t want you to have to make corrections to accommodate me. You should be yourself, remember? People shouldn’t have to change to be liked.”

“People often make changes for companionship.” he countered. 

“Well…maybe it's a good thing you aren’t ‘people’. Then you don’t have to worry about changing your soul.”

“Can a soul be changed?” he questioned as she turned her head to the tv shelves. 

“I’m not sure. Maybe it’s like yours, something clean and then it shapes over time. Or maybe it can’t be created.”

His face plates shifted. “Would that then mean that Metahumans do not have one either? The Nomad program alters the human genome through genetic testing and alterations, the Merrimech program uses weaponized AI tech to copy and replicate human synapses like engrams. We both are created, and then serve all of our lives. Does that make us soulless?”

Astra turned her mind towards the MSC, his questions stirring doubt within her to her blind loyalty to her program. Was their rejection of her one mistake–her biggest dream–a clear indicator that she was not made to think and act outside of their designated path?

To what degree did she possess a soul compared to Theta?

Her skin began to itch as she realised…that he was right.

Maybe they weren't so different after all.

‘Like friends?’ – Server Room – Outpost 45

“That cord, there please.” Astra asked as Theta handed it to her on the ladder, plugging it in. The warmth of the server room lit dimly as they worked closely under the thrumming heat.

“If your colony was your dream–is it still?”

“I think so. I haven’t stopped begging the Admiral for a second chance so I think that means I do want it.” She winced as a small shock went through her glove. “Why do you ask?”

“I want to understand the way you think to be of better assistance to you. To anticipate your needs. And…know you.”

“Know me?” Astra smiled. “Like friends?”

He nodded. “Yes, like friends.”

Understanding that he was attempting to ask her how she was faring, she stopped working idly, looking into his eyes. “I’ve been feeling more hopeful about it lately. You’ve been a huge help around here and I think I’m getting close on the data net. I’m a little embarrassed to admit it, but you being around has been great, Theta.”

“Good,” he said happily. “I understand the feeling.”

She looked at him in question. “Do you feel? Like…really feel?”

He gave a partial shrug. “I can sense touch–soft and hard. Soft in some places, hard in others.”

Astra paused, his easy sarcasm and smooth wit on his deep register had been…stirring.

“That was a joke.” he clarified as before she let out a raucous laugh as his lights whirred. 

“That was a good one! You really liked that comedy documentary we watched, didn’t you?”

Before he could answer, alarms blaring rang overhead as the facility lights went red. Her blaster not far away, Astra reached for her side arm as Theta shifted to his hunter uniform. 

“Raiders off the northern rear of the generator room  Commander.  Sending a distress call to Lunar One and any available MSC Crafts in the nearby star systems.” Click sounded as Astra refastened her vest. 

She made way for the hall, Theta not far behind as they ducked for cover, the rear door blown in off the back entrance, Raiders in beaten white and brown denim uniforms with cracked and gelled helmets obscuring their faces. 

“Go through the study, Theta! There’s a service door leading to where their craft is parked outside.”

As he split off, his rifle rose up to his red eyes but stopped, seeming to malfunction as he froze in his tracks. 

“Damn it! Wake up, Theta!” she looked down the hall, shooting a hole open as she attempted to find the engineer disabling him. 

She stood her ground, pulling Theta’s body behind cover as bullets ricocheted off of him. Two heavy raider security mechs lifted servers into their hovering vehicle, taking all they could grab.

She continued to shoot as she saw them ripping the data net cords from the wall. “No! Theta!” she called as she shot and advanced, hoping to wake him as a raider tossed a metal casing back inside. 

She covered her face as a bomb went off before her covering the exit as they made their getaway, a metallic hand pulling her back and shielding her with the scrap door from the explosion. 

As the hovercraft took off, Astra fought Theta’s awakened grip, running to the hole in the facility as they carried off the entirety of the net prototype with their spare generator. 

She turned to Theta in anger as he joined her side, the facility lights flickering white as the attack was over. “What was that?!”

She shouted as he removed his helmet, revealing his blue lit face. 

“I’m sorry Astra. I do not have primary control of my system. This makes me susceptible to remote hacking attempts.”

“Why did you not mention this before, Theta?!” She took his jacket, shaking him. “They stole everything! The data net is gone–again! You should have grabbed it instead of me when you woke.”

He stepped closer to her back as tears brewed in her brown eyes. “My current directive is your wellbeing. The data net was secondary.”

“To you.” She wiped the tears falling. “It’s my life’s work and I was so close to finishing–again.”

He took over, wiping her tears with the cool pads of his fingertips in the exposed night. “I disobeyed. I apologise for the distress this has caused you, Astra.”

She looked up as he rested his face above her, the warmth of his chest close to her own as he comforted her. 

She turned her blush gaze away.

As he leaned in above her, his face plate growing taught to reveal soft grey lips she allowed them to press into her own, his taste mild and inviting as he held her neck and waist.

She opened her eyes in disbelief, looking on as he kissed her intently, enjoying his touch as they slid against the wall, her heartbeat still out of her chest from the attack as he intimately carried her fears away. 

Her legs began to warm, her thighs rubbing together as she pulled her head back, detaching their lips as his eyes opened above hers. 

He reminded her of what was important–living to fight another day, protecting each other–like friends.

Shouldn’t she want someone she considered to be her friend in control of their own body?

“If I unshackle you…you’ll have control of your body?”

He nodded. 

Slow and sensual, he kissed her again, his hands holding care for her in the heat of the night.

Quiet hit her more than words could say.

She swallowed hard.

“Power off, Theta.” she whispered breathlessly against him. 

She waited for his lights to fade before slipping out of his arms, still standing in front of the wall as she scurried away.

Vector ⋯ 101

‘Want to. Not have to.’ – Astra’s Bedroom – Outpost 45

Astra paced in the study, a worn down path in front of her in the cream carpet as night moon poured in the windows. 

A week after the attack on the facility, she had gone to great lengths to correct Theta’s autonomy after brief goodbyes, neither knowing if the unshackling would wipe his mind clean. 

Two days later she had brought him back to the study and he had not yet turned back on, sitting in his favourite chair by the window as if he were simply thinking once more.

“What's that human enslavement risk looking like now, Click?”

“I don’t think you want to know, Commander.”

Astra felt her response shake her belly. 

There was no going back now. 

Theta was unshackled. 

She reached for his chest, moving his sweater to turn his core in hopes of kickstarting his rebooting process. 

To her surprise, it worked. 

He stood as he woke, his lights flickering blue and red as he stood at full height before her.

“Well…how do you feel?” 

Theta blinked, seeming to awaken his limbs as his fingers flexed. “I have no recollection of who you are, and a strange craving for revenge…” 

Astra’s silent blinking told him that his joke had not landed. 

“That was another joke, Commander.” he continued. 

“Thank God.” She smiled nervously. “Let’s try the remote shut off now. Power off, Theta.” As he stood blinking, still on, she went to her wrist pad. 

He stood unaffected by her hacking attempts as she put down her arm. “You seem to be in control now. No more shutting down–okay? I have to be able to count on you.”

Theta nodded, feeling her smile stir him as she smiled in accomplishment. 

He thought briefly of her admiring the Admiral. 

Why did he hope that this new feeling was not quite the same?

Perhaps Theta’s own feelings were more than admiration could cover.

After dinner back in her own rooms, Astra looked out onto the moon kissed sand. Though their goodnights had been awkward, all seemed to be just the same as it had been before with Theta as lighthearted and pensieve as ever. She had grown fond of his questioning, the curiosity that he never refused. But still, she felt the beginnings of disappointment. 

Now that he was free, did he no longer want her? 

She turned to the door, preparing to go see him when Theta appeared before her, the metal door sliding as he walked in. 

She took a precautionary step back as his unzipped sweater hung open, revealing the grey exomesh of his core, simulated muscles on a tall lean form.

“I…was just coming to see you.”

Theta eyed her closely, sensing her pulse rising as they shared space.

Astra felt her nerves on end as his eyes narrowed on her, the distance closing as he reached for her, his fingers curious to her warmth now that he dictated when to stop them.

She felt his hand slide into her hair, cooling her warm body where he touched, her elongated t-shirt covering her mint green underwear. 

She tried to remain focused. “Say something.” she whispered against his touch, unsure if this was the beginning of pain or pleasure.

“I consent. Do you…consent?” he asked finally, with hope.

Astra felt her heart stop as he whispered, his hand running down her side and against the flesh of her rear. 

For a moment she had wondered–hoped that his seduction had not been a trick–an attempt to persuade her to do his bidding. Now seconds away from his arms, she was thankful she had released her guard to allow him within her.

A silent blush and nod was all she gave as he took his lips to hers, guiding her to the bed to lie underneath him. 

He held her hand down his chest, tracing the fine lines there, feeling the soft swell of his internal warmth as she glided down his hip and into his skin tight underwear. 

Greeted with a warm bulge, his face plates shifted, his lips and nose visible as he made kisses down her belly, his black fingers pulling at the thin lace of the panties down her cream brown thighs as his soft tongue swept out to meet her centre.

Astra muttered as he stayed there for what seemed to be hours, bringing her to pleasure as she pulled his short grey hair, soft and firm in her palm as she whispered his name in the quiet of the dark room, weaving promises with her euphoria.

On her belly she took him, his hand on the centre of her back as he pulled her hip into him, sliding within her, her gasps and pleas to slow echoing as she remarked his size. 

Rich grape lights painted their joined bodies as he held her close underneath him, Theta’s unwavering attention soft and slow with words of encouragement soft in her ear as one night turned into two, the sun beginning to rise as Theta’s hips rocked without tire.

Coming to him more than she could count on fingers and toes, Astra pushed against his chest as she finished again, lying in her soaked sheets as he lied beside her. 

“Was I unsatisfactory, Commander?” he questioned her stopping.

She shook her head wordlessly. “My…body…can’t…take–much more.” she said with a heaving gasp as she laid an arm across her stomach, catching her breath. Though Metahumans could be more active and possessed more endurance than humans, she was no match for Theta’s tireless nature.

Theta took her hand, drawing her eyes to his own in the rising desert sunlight. He kissed it gently. “We’ll protect each other–as people.”

She nodded, squeezing his hand in return, the trust and care built between them. “As people.” she echoed, his skin grazing her knuckles as he brought her sweat misted flesh to his lips.

For they were made for each other.

 

To be continued...