I can't say that I didn't know the risks.
As a new traveller in Aficus IV I had, of course, read the information about the local flora and fauna. The creatures on the planet had quickly adapted to the arrival of humans, and their incredibly fast evolution had already ensured that they were accustomed to us.
In my cabin on the ship, I read the joint entry on the apulcula and the magnus.
'APULCULUS: a simian mammal, with a faint resemblance a small Earth monkey. Has evolved in parallel with the MAGNUS, another small mammal. These creatures are notorious for their reproductive behaviour, which has evolved to incorporate other creatures.
'The apulculus and the magnus do not mate with their own species. They appear to be sexually attracted to other mammal species, which they mount and copulate with. The apulculus wraps its long limbs around the target creature's head and inserts its reproductive organ into the target's mouth, and will cling on for several hours before ejaculating into the target's gullet. Meanwhile, the magnus will grasp the target's hips and insert its reproductive organ (which is telescopic and normally hidden inside the animal's body) into the target's vagina, if female, or anus, if male (but see below). The magnus, too, needs to copulate for a long period before finally ejaculating.
'The semen of the apulculus and the magnus then, by a process which is as yet unclear, seek each other out inside the target's body, and fuse into an egg, which is subsequently eliminated from the target's body, either in menstrual fluid or in faeces. This process is not harmful to the host body. The egg will grow and will hatch out into either another apulculus or another magnus.
'Apulculas and magnuses have been known to mount and copulate with humans: the apulcula will wrap its limbs around the victim's head and the magnus will remove the human victim's clothes before lodging itself between the victim's thighs and penetrating the victim. The earliest known victim of a sexual assault from an apulcula and magnus was Meredith S., a 28-year-old exozoologist on the first mission to Aficus IV. S. was found by other crewmembers while in the process of being assaulted, and her crewmembers found that it was impossible to remove the apulcula and magnus from her person until the copulation was over; any attempt by them to bring the assault to an end caused greater distress in her than the assault itself, which she found humiliating and upsetting but which also induced physical arousal in her. She experienced an orgasm when the creatures ejaculated in her but then suffered psychological problems in the aftermath, for which she received counselling. She went on to write an important research paper, 'Some notes on human/alien sexual contact on Aficus V', which formed the basis for her doctoral dissertation.
'The first male human victim of a sexual assault by an apulculus and a magnus was Andrew L., a 22-year-old student. He was attacked in his bed by creatures which had infiltrated his family's habitat and was found by his older sister. Emergency personnel attempted to remove the creatures but the victim made it clear that their attempts made the assault more distressing, so once again it was decided to wait until it ended naturally. This assault was notable for showing that a magnus assaulting a male human will penetrate the victim's anus. The victim identified as gay and had previous sexual experience, which he credited as one reason why he found the attack less distressing than it might otherwise have been, but like Harriet S. he still found the experience humiliating and painful, even though, like her, he experienced physical arousal and orgasm during it.
'Another notable human victim of an assault from an apulculus and a magnus was Melanie V., a 34-year-old housewife who was assaulted in her kitchen in her habitat. In this victim's case she was not discovered for some hours until her husband returned home from work, the victim having failed to pick up her child from the nursery; she was found with her clothing stripped off, being assaulted on the kitchen floor. This victim found the assault more distressing than usual because the magnus, for reasons unknown, penetrated her anally rather than vaginally; the victim was unfamiliar with anal sex and found the experience intensely humiliating. She was not seriously physically injured but required intensive counselling.
'A form of sex tourism has been observed on Aficus IV, with visitors deliberately seeking out assault from an apulculus and a magnus; 96.8% of visitors who have been 'successful' have expressed regret that they sought out the attack in the first place, because of the humiliation, pain and inconvenience involved. Almost all victims of attacks are discovered by other people while the attack is going on; few attacks have happened in privacy. Most people have not enjoyed the experience of being observed while being naked and raped by an apulculus and a magnus, although videos of attacks have received multiple views online and some more detailed and extensive videos have gone viral.
'To conclude: visitors are warned against approaching these creatures, and should avoid them. They are persistent, practically impossible to resist, and very determined. Although their attacks cause little physical damage, testimony relates that the psychological effect on the human victim is considerable and traumatic. Humans should consider themselves to be prey of the apulculus and the magnus, and should behave accordingly.'
However, I was confident that I could fight these creatures off. I wanted to see them in action, not be their victim. I was sure I could manage that.
At the same time, a part of me was genuinely, uneasily curious about what it would be like to be assaulted by these creatures. Almost all stories about A/M attacks on humans were illustrated by a more or less blurry image of a victim: a naked form with a dark creature enfolding the face and another blurry, brown form affixed to the victim's crotch, the victim's body arching and squirming as it was penetrated at each end. Sometimes there were 'after' photos of the victims looked exhausted and ashamed. I did not want to be one of them, but I was curious to see what it would be like to happen to someone else. Yet I couldn't help imagining being the helpless victim, stripped and stuffed and used.
And so I went out, that dark and damp afternoon on Aficus IV, to witness an A/M attack.
I had no idea what I was letting myself in for.
I knew that the danger zone was the wooded areas on the edge of the city, so that was where I headed. The city of Carnville was expanding rapidly, and the native fauna's habitat was being cut down and replaced with more buildings. This made them disturbed and resentful, as the city knew.
As I walked around the industrial buildings on the edge of the city, I noticed the signs: DANGER NATIVE FAUNA. DO NOT PROCEED UNLESS ACCOMPANIED BY A SCOUT. The Scouts were the reconnaissance teams that were still mapping the area, even as we were colonising it.
There weren't many people about, and it looked like my chances of witnessing an attack on someone else would be small. I was disappointed, especially as I was only on the planet for a couple of days.
As I walked towards the city limit, I turned a corner and saw someone: a young woman in a t-shirt and fatigue trousers, wearing a cap. Her casual uniform was that of the citizen auxiliary of the Scouts. She was examining a tablet.
She was a little younger than me, with a good figure, red hair tied back in a ponytail and a handsome, open, freckled face with no makeup. She looked up at me and gave a friendly nod.
'Evening,' she said. She wore a nametag that read REBECCA HAZLETON.
'Evening.'
'May I ask where you're headed?'
'Do you have that authority?'
'It so happens that I do.'
'Just taking a walk.'
'Okay,' she said. 'You're free to walk where you like, but you should know that there's been a rash of A/M attacks lately. I have to caution you to be careful.'
'I'll be very careful,' I said. 'Don't want that to happen to me.'
'Good,' she said. 'Because we get a lot of tourists who think it'll be some kind of fun, and it isn't.'
'Have you seen one?' I asked.
