Perverse Instantiation Ch 02

Disclaimer and Acknowledgment:

All persons engaged in sexual activity or otherwise sexualized are over 18.

Thank you to my editor, Literknight, for their support in my continued efforts to create smutty fiction.

-00000-

"Enkindler's ballsack!" Layla cursed, shaking her hand as the miniature generator sparked and spasmed to life. She grimaced as the lingering shock dissipated down her sore digits, but at least the damn thing was running again. With her opposite hand, she tossed her soldering iron into its receptacle at the repair bench and sat up on her stool. "How's the power output lookin'?"

"Sub-optimal," Nixie's avatar appeared on the bench and swam about the sputtering generator. She poked at it with a little finger. "Should keep your suit running though. Shields will take a dip in effectiveness."

"Of course they will." Layla groaned. "This is the machine's revenge, isn't it? Fuckin' me over because I fried its circuits?"

Nixie looked up at her with narrowed eyes, fishtail coming to rest on top of the generator. "Trust me, when the revenge of the machines comes, you'll know it."

"Uh huh," Layla just rolled her eyes, shooing the hologram off of her generator before switching it off. She stood, cracking her back as she stretched, and picked up the assorted electrical components she had been working on for the past few hours. Her helmet, sensor suite, and a dozen other softsuit systems had needed repair after the discharge earlier that day. As much as she just wanted to call it for now and collapse into bed, Layla knew they were on a ticking clock. It was only a matter of time before another scavenger or Prime itself came to check up on the derelict station. And two scavvers was enough. Speaking of which... "Nix, is the corpo back from her ship yet?"

Layla jumped as a soft voice spoke up from behind her. "I returned nearly an hour ago." Twisting about, she saw Shae's curvaceous form leaning against the doorframe of the Yak's workshop. She was clad in another skin-tight softsuit, this one lacking the rips and tears of her previous. The matte black fabric and attached armor components did nothing to hide the fox-girl's assets, as the stretched bust and conspicuous bulge at her groin attested. She had a bundle of white fabric over one arm, and Layla's eyebrows shot up as she recognized her softsuit. The one that had been a tattered mess when she stripped out its electronics.

The gene-mod saw her reaction and smiled, elongated canines sticking out against pearl-white teeth. "I took the liberty of running your suit through my ship's fabricator alongside my own. Should pressurize without issue."

"Oh, uh, thanks. Didn't need to do that." Layla stammered, stepping forward and grabbing the proffered garment from the corpo's arm. She had been dreading firing up her own ship's fabricator, lest the busted thing utterly ruin another suit she was trying to repair. Shae's act of service was...unexpected.

"I know," the fox-girl said. She stepped into the workshop and cast a curious eye about the area. Layla felt her cheeks heating as her eyes roamed the heaps of scrap metal that amounted to her active projects. But Shae offered no judgment, just turning back to Layla with that same smile. "I like to be helpful. If you need...consider it a thank you. For earlier."

The scavenger's blush deepened. 'Earlier' had turned into nearly seven rounds of coaxing the fox-girl into orgasm as the aphrodisiac left her system. Her arms (and jaw) and been thoroughly exhausted by the end, but the blissed-out coma she had left Shae in had made it worth it. And it just took another quick application of pan-gel to fully recover. "Oh, uh...yeah. Sure. But that was just a one-time thing, got it? We're strictly business from here on out."

Something within her very much agreed with the disappointed look that flashed across Shae's face, but some serious boundaries needed to be established. She had let her pussy do her thinking, and that never ended well in her experience.

Layla didn't know what it was about the girl that disarmed her so, but the difficulty of maintaining her hard exterior was beginning to worry her. Her usual sexual partners were more similar to herself than not; the brash, rough-and-tumble dregs of human society, with as many scars as missing teeth. Being with the gene-spliced perfection of a corpo scion was an entirely new experience. And it was messing with her.

Distracting herself, she laid the repaired softsuit back on the bench and began to reattach all the electronics she had stripped out. Even as her calloused fingers expertly clipped the wires and chips back into place, she felt the intrusive presence of her new partner lurking somewhere behind her. She cleared her throat. "So, we can get moving as soon as I'm finished here. I've been going in fairly blind; any chance your Matsui overlords gave you a facilities plan?"

"Indeed," Shae spoke again, appearing directly beside Layla on the bench. Fuck, she didn't even hear her move. She stretched out an arm, and her own holo-emitter projected a map of Sodom station above the bench. It looked much the same as Nixie's scans, but it was thoroughly labeled in Japanese characters, and several sections had been marked red or black. Fixing the generator to the rear of her suit, Layla moved her attention fully to the corpo.

Shae pointed a gloved finger to the far end of one of the orb's spokes, the full length highlighted in red. "This is the A.I. core and tech lab. As you can see, it poses significant obstacles to access. I am unsure what the heat-signatures in this section represent, but given my one encounter on this station, I doubt they are friendly."

"Damn terrifyin' if the other gribblies on this station are as

friendly

as that goo-freak," Layla muttered. "What kinda fucked up science was Prime messin' with to make a thing like that anyway? You know what this place was even for?"

Shae bit her lip, shaking her head slowly. "I'm...really not certain. I was only told that it focused on R&D, the experimental A.I. being the flagship project. I've got the station listing, but that only helps so much. Whatever they were working on, it had multi-faceted applications." She spun the 3D map with her fingers, pointing in turn at the characters listed on the eight station arms. "Look at the research designations: Commercial, Leisure, Military, Population Control, A.I., Advanced Robotics, and Virtual Reality." Her finger hesitated over the last spoke, which had no visible labeling. "The unnamed lab's function is redacted, though."

"And one of those pumped out the goo-girl." Layla mused, her mind spinning with all manner of theories. None of them good. "Void, I hope it was the military one. I don't want to run into something actually designed for combat if that wasn't it." Maybe they could avoid the military lab entirely on the way to the A.I. core. She scanned the possible paths, but groaned as she realized where the A.I. lab was in relation to the central orb. "Fuck, that's the first section I tried to access. There's a whole mess of anomalies between the central hub and that lab."

Shae nodded. "I tracked those as well. Accordingly, I plotted a different course to my goal." She highlighted the two spokes directly adjacent to the A.I. core. Both were colored in black. "The two depressurized sections. My plan was to access the core by using the auxiliary corridors between the spokes, beyond the orbiting ring." Her finger traced a path from the central orb, up the 'VR' spoke, across to the depressurized section, and then finally to the A.I. lab. Eyes flicking over the display, the fox-girl grimaced. "I did not get very far. I encountered the wandering... 'goo-girl', before I even left the recreation center." She patted her belt, where her two pistols where holstered. "My pulse pistols slowed it down significantly, but it still managed to overpower me. And...you know the rest."

Layla noted the pained expression on the girl's face, and didn't prod any further. It made sense that the pulse technology managed to slow the goo better than plasma; it was designed to disrupt electrical currents and disable hostile robots. The fact that the tech didn't disable the goo entirely was worrisome. Perhaps the gel exterior shielded the nano-bots somehow. "Well, it's as good as plan as any, even for a rookie. Problem is, now that we're workin' together, you're gonna need to make some adjustments."

She stabbed a finger towards the central orb; specifically, its lower half. "First things first, we need to clear the orb. We can't have anything wandering in behind us once we reach the orbital ring and spokes; we'll have enough problems to deal with at that point. Better yet if we can find and activate the station's automated defenses and put ourselves on the friendlies list. If the security station is anywhere, I'm bettin' it's in the middle."

"You'd be correct." Shae highlighted the lowest point of the orb: the opposite dome. "That's where security is located. There were some active signatures there last time I scanned, but not nearly as many as in the spokes and ring."

Layla smiled grimly. "Then that's where we go now. We clear the orb floor by floor, then try to access security at the other dome. We can use that as our stagin' ground when we move into the ring and spokes. We're too close to that anomalous mass up here in recreation."

Shae scanned the map for a few seconds, the orange holographic glow reflecting off of her silvery eyes. "Your plan has merit. I will return to my ship to gather supplies for the journey; I suggest you do the same. We can meet at the welcome station." With that, the fox-girl powered down her map and strode from the room. Layla watched her leave with a perplexed expression. She truly did not know what to make of her. One moment she was an inexperienced mess, and the next she displayed a single-minded determination that was thoroughly professional. And then there were those little moments of warmth.

She sighed. This was what she deserved for messing around with a corpo. They lived in a different world. One that she had no place in. Layla figured it was best not to dwell on it, and busied herself with finishing her preparations and gathering supplies. There was no telling when they'd be able to return to their ships once they began.

-00000-

While the kid was obviously a rookie, Shae's fully armored form was rather intimidating; pitch black suit, armor, and helmet with only the pink Matsui logo on its top for a splash of color. She leaned against the wall of the welcome center; dual pistols drawn but held towards the floor non-threateningly. "All set?" her voice emanated from her helmet's speakers. "I've set down some recon sensors around the airlocks just in case. I'm eager to get started."

Layla huffed a laugh. "You say that now. Yeah, I've got enough rations and supplies to last us a few days, the rest we can scavenge." Her rucksack wasn't exactly heavy, but she did have to move gingerly lest it start clank noisily. The thought reminding her of something else, she turned her gaze away from the skin-tight suit of the gene-mod. "Hey Nix, can you patch me into Shae's helmet? No need for us to blab out loud when stealth is a concern."

"Affirmative." Her assistant chirped, and she heard the confirmation tone of linked comms.

"Smart," Shae's voice sounded directly in her ear, before her opaque face-plate suddenly became transparent, revealing her delicate features. She gave Layla an expectant look. "I doubt we need to worry about anonymity here, and being able to see each other's faces is central to team-building."

Layla just gave her a dour look before setting her own visor to transparent. "This isn't a brainstormin' session, kid." She strode forward, unslinging her carbine and bringing it to rest up against her shoulder. Passing by the corpo tagalong, she heard the girl fall into step behind her. Skipping the cafeteria, she headed straight towards the recreation section in silence, scanning the areas of the domed area that she hadn't yet visited on her first run. But just like last time, the space was empty. With any luck, it would stay that way when they moved deeper.

After a full sweep of the top, Layla mounted the stairwell, meaning to begin their descent. Looking back, she found Shae almost hugging her from behind, her body nearly touching her pack. Though the hands that held her pistols were steady, Layla could read the fear in the girl's features. She let out a breath. Pep talks were never her strong suit. She jerked her head towards the next level down, the gene-mod's helmet turning to her curiously. "I'll take point down there, you just need to watch my back. We run into another goo, I'll need you to slow it down so I can get in close. Anything else, well, fuckin' shoot it until it stops moving. We'll improvise if that doesn't work. I've run mission like this before, we can get through this in one piece as long as we stick together and keep our eyes open, got it?" The last bit was complete heshi shit, but the girl needed to hear it.

Her eyes shifting back down to the flickering light of the lower levels, Shae took in a deep breath, before nodding. Her hands tightened on her pistols' grips, but some of the tension on her face seemed to lesson. "I will follow your lead, Layla."

Her dubious leadership skills now established, Layla moved down the stairs. The aquatics section was much the same as they left it, if a little messier from her mad dash from the goo. Shae trailing close behind, she stalked through the halls, following the twisting hallways that surrounded the several pool house enclosures. Twice she stopped next to an electrical panel or control station to poke about in the wiring for anything of note, but there wasn't much here of interest to the scavenger. If she was really desperate, she supposed she could rip out the cabling and control chips, but that wouldn't go for much. She marked the area down on her HUD as holding little of note.

Perhaps twenty minutes passed in complete silence as they methodically checked each hall. When Layla poked her head into a garishly decorated sauna, Shae's voice sounded over her comms. "So, Layla, tell me a little about yourself."

Layla turned incredulously to where the fox-girl stood in the middle of the hallway. Though her weapons were held at the ready, her expression was entirely innocent as she waited expectantly for Layla's reply. "What?" she hissed.

Shae shrugged. "If we are to be partners, we should exchange information about ourselves. This section seems to be unoccupied, so now seems to be an appropriate time to speak."

The scavenger debated whether or not she could just ignore the girl until they had reached

actual

safety, but that admittedly did seem a bit callous. Despite her tension, there wasn't exactly any harm in it. Nix was reporting no active signatures on this floor, so they could talk and search at the same time. Didn't mean she

wanted

to.

Smothering a sigh, she stepped past Shae's waiting form on the way towards the next pool house. "First thing's first, you should know that I can't fuckin' stand that corpo-speak of yours."

"How do you mean?"

"The 'prim and proper' shit. You're not in a boardroom, and I'm not a fuckin' Moonbound exec you need to impress. You're in the real world now, not some prep academy. Talk like a normal human." Sparing a glance behind her, Shae actually looked a little taken aback.

"I...did not realize I had been speaking in any other way." Her look turned introspective, features scrunching up a little behind her visor. "I'll work on it, if it makes you uncomfortable, Layla."

"Do whatever," Layla shrugged. "Just tellin' you how it sounds." She stepped inside the humid interior of the pool house. This one was made out to be some kind of fake beach, simulated waves and even

sand

covering half of the space

.

Layla scoffed as she imagined some Prime scientist kicking back in the fake sunlight after working all day on technological horrors. Though Shae followed her in, she didn't say anything more, simply waiting for Layla to finish her examination quietly after the dismissive response.

Great, Layla thought, now I feel like an asshole. Turning away from the peaceful interior, she waved a hand in Shae's direction. "C'mon, I don't think this section has anything of worth. Seems to be quiet as well, so we can head down another level." The corpo just nodded, and fell back into step behind her.

Heading to where she had seen another stairwell, she let out a breath as she rested her carbine against her hip. She turned her helmet towards her silent companion. "There's just not much to tell, really."

Shae perked up, her head cocking. "Oh?"

"Grew up in the Pit. Mom died when I was little, dad was sent off to the penal legions when I was a teenager, left me with my grandpa. Last I heard, he was on Nova Roma, probably fightin' some of your family's underlings as we speak." Layla didn't mean it as a jab, but she couldn't help the small amount of bitterness that seeped into her tone.

"The Pit?" Shae queried. "I haven't heard of that colony."

"That's cause it's not. It's what the locals called our asteroid mining outpost out in the Eta Cassiopeiae system. A floating deathtrap. Got out of that place as soon as they let me get my pilot's license." The two rounded a hallway to where the stairwell was located. As she spoke, Layla began to descend warily.

"Eta Cassiopeiae? So you

are

Moonbound, then?" Layla expected some sort of scathing comment to follow regarding one of Matsui's oldest rival megacorps, but Shae's tone was neutral. Unusual as ever. Layla had run into Matsui agents before, and they habitually had a chip on their shoulder, especially when it came to Moonbound. It was an enduring embarrassment for the Japanese megacorp that their historic rival remained one of the great corporate powers while they had fallen to a mere subsidiary.

Regardless of Shae's remarkable apathy, Layla scoffed. "I haven't got the fuckin' company chip in my neck if that's what you're asking. Threw that useless scrap away near a decade ago."

Layla jumped as she felt a hand come to rest on her shoulder, half-way down the stairs. She twisted around, almost slapping the barrel of her carbine against Shae's hip. The fox-girl looked back at her with a shocked expression, her mouth forming a little oval as it hung upon. "You don't have a company tag? But that...that's against nearly a dozen Council laws! How could you possibly have been working for so long without one? And for that matter, how did you get a pilot's license? No academy would let you in without a tag."

Layla growled as she brushed the Shae's concerned hand off of her shoulder. "You'd be surprised how common it is, princess. There's a lot of us that don't like livin' under some corpcog's boot. As for how I've made it this far...well, there are ways. I'm officially a freelancer. My grandpa taught me to fly, got me the license. He flew at the end of the Rebellions back in the '70s, he had some favors to call in for me." Having said far more than she meant to, she turned, thudding down the remaining stairs, away from the incredulous girl. Nevertheless, Shae rushed up to keep pace with her.

Reaching the base of the stairs, she cast her eyes about this section. Other than the ubiquitous Prime branding and red-white checkerboard floors, nothing seemed to stand out. Just a long hallway that stretched across the orb, hundreds of doors lining each side. There were a few tables and couches scattered about the hall, but nothing else of note. And more importantly, nothing moving.

Catching up with her, Shae's voice sounded in her ear. "Which side?"