The Pindira World-Shaper completed its six-hundred year journey to Sol with an approach that aligned with the system's plane of the ecliptic. It positioned itself behind the system's largest gas giant, placing the latter between it and its target -- the third planet outward from the star, which was to be the Pindira's next agricultural planet.
Once in a jovian-stationary orbit, World-Shaper -- a living thing -- split its mass. Eighty percent remained in orbit and began work on the gigantic hypergate that would bring the Pindira to this system in seconds instead of centuries.
The other twenty percent was Planet-Former, the ancient, tried and true artificial life form and AI that had conquered thousands of planets for the Pindira. It fell downward, into the inner system toward the third planet, already absorbing the electro-magnetic chatter of that globe's primary intelligent species and considering various bio-invasion strategies. Planet-Former approached by stealth, keeping the planet's single moon between it and the blue and white globe. Then it slipped into a high geostationary orbit and as intended went undetected.
Over several days Planet-Former absorbed the collective knowledge of the dominant species, humans, a bipedal hominid race. The humans had conveniently placed that knowledge on an unsecured worldwide computer network, so Planet-Former had a lot of biological data on humanity before it even began to strategize, but the human state of biological science was so primitive that it needed more. So it sent several probes down to remote areas where they found, consumed, and analyzed individual humans and transmitted the results before self-destructing.
Hmm. Humans. Sexually dimorphic, pair-bonding with both limited monogamy or polyamory depending on conditions. Female carries the young in a womb... mating is a conscious act and it uses the pleasure centers of their brains... there was same-sex mating for pleasure and evolutionary benefit... the brain chemistry supports intense ideation and behavior modification... yes, this was good. It could work with this.
Four days later Planet-Former launched a single bio-pod toward the west coast of a medium-sized continent, aiming the pod to land just north of a major population center. It didn't send more because it had learned over time that multiple launches were multiple failure points. But it didn't think failure was likely here -- it had confidence in this design.
And its confidence was well placed, because with that launch humanity was doomed. Not to die, not completely, but far, far worse.
* * *
On a bright and sunny Tuesday morning in June, Carol Cross woke at 9AM, just an hour after her mother had left. Twenty-five years old and a chemist at Palimed Inc, Carol was at her parent's house in Santa Barbara for a the weekend. She loved her parent's isolated home out in the woods. She loved her home town with its warm sunlight and clean air off the ocean, so different from L.A.
She dressed in denim shorts and a gray tank-top and then went into the bathroom to put herself together for the day. She brushed her blonde shoulder-length hair, applied some light makeup, and looked herself over in the mirror -- tall, with breasts a bit large for her frame, and in good shape, she was happy with her appearance. The men she'd dated over the last few years certainly had been. She considered going back to the guest room for a little fun with some toys she'd brought, but thought better of it -- her Mom was showing houses and could be back any time.
She made herself some coffee and was seated at the kitchen counter reading the L.A. Times on her tablet, when she smelled something like... cinnamon? Coffee? It seemed to be coming from outside. She rose, walked to the large sliding glass door that led out to the garden, and opened it.
Oh God, the smell! It was glorious -- a smokey mixture of spices she didn't recognize, so earthy and sweet. She had to find where it was coming from. She scanned the fenced in back yard and spied something black and purple on the ground, in the far right corner. She walked toward it, the odor increasing with every step -- it was heady and wonderful. Intoxicating.
There was a hole in the fence, and lying just inside the yard was a lump the shape of a loaf of bread, only larger, about two feet long and a foot high. It was the source of that heavenly smell and it was beautiful, covered in glistening black slime threaded through with purple and green veins that pulsed slowly. Some distant part of Carol's mind knew she should find it disgusting and even horrifying, but she just didn't see it that way -- it was so beautiful in its roundedness, and the way the ichor glistened in the morning sun and the delightful veins pulsing meant it was full of life.
She knelt down beside the Planet-Former's pod. "Well, hello there," she said. And then tentatively reached out and ran her index finger across the top of it. It was soft and spongy, and her finger picked up a glob of black slime as she trailed its tip across the surface. She held her finger up and looked at the black goo dripping down it, and then without thinking popped her finger into her mouth.
"Oh...ahhh...oh!..." Bliss...overwhelming spiritual bliss. Happiness on a level she'd never felt before. Peace and contentment went right to her center, right to the heart of her. As Planet-Former's nanites melted on her tongue her mind expanded, her sense of ego dissolved, and she was rocked with an almost religious joy.
No, not almost. She'd found God. She would do anything to protect this... Master. Her Master. Anything. She'd die before she let it be hurt, she'd kill anyone who tried to hurt it. Being allowed in its presence, being allowed to protect it was a gift and an honor. Then her brain buzzed with nanite communication and she realized that the Master had another gift to give. Her hands went to her waist; she quickly unbuttoned her denim shorts, shoved them down to her ankles along with her pink panties, and stepped out of them. She shucked off her tank top.
She laid down nude on the wet grass, parted her legs, and placed her vulva with its neatly shaved blonde landing strip just inches from the Master.
It wants to put something inside me...
She smiled; she'd love that. She knew on some level she was being controlled, that she was being made to like the idea. She knew it was going to implant something inside her.
A parasite
, she suddenly thought. It wanted to implant a parasite in her. She knew she should feel horror, should be running away, but instead she was happy. She wanted to spread her legs for her Master and host its young; it's what she was for, after all. Her reason for existing. To serve.
She pinched and squeezed her breasts; she could feel wetness dripping from her cunt.
Cunt, pussy...
I've never thought like that... But the crude words seemed right, seemed true. Her body was for her Master. She wasn't a person, she had no dignity. She was to be used.
Used... Yesss...
Pleasure coursed through her brain at the thought.
I obey my Master. I obey.
She reached down and rubbed her already engorged labia --
Yes, a parasite inside me, attached to my uterus like a leech. Growing into me. Ohh!
She quivered in pleasure at the thought and pressed down on her clit, rubbing it hard.
I want to be infected. I want it to feed off me. I can imagine it inside me pulsing, growing, using my blood... Oh God! Oh God!
Her body shuddered with an intense orgasm that seemed to go on and on...
