Gardener in the dark
Inactive Member
Commune base was a massive undertaking, involving the technologies of several different races cobbled together into a seemlessly functioning mechanisim. One of the marvels of modern technology, and mysteriously located in the dead between stars. Many claimed it a myth, others a paradise. According to the lore it had been opened once, as an amusement park, but that the advertising campaign intended to attract customers had gotten tied up in red tape because the goverments it had been applying to had no place on their forms for a location that wasn't orbiting a body.
That wasn't why the ROM construct was visiting, however. She was visiting due to another rumor. That the primary backer of the project, and majority shareholder was a Mishu seperatist with unusual belifes who went by the definatly non-mishu moniker of Schlock Grunder.
Her ship was a small courier vessel, fast as mercury and manned by one. It had no conventional habitation areas or cockpit - simply a coffin with a Lazarus stasis system and a neural setup little bigger than a fighter, to keep things quiet. The location her sources had given her was correct, the amusement part glittered in her vision like a flying saucer set with gems.
As she pulls into the base Aiesu received a hail. "Welcome, I was expecting you" the deep voice richly intoned. "Do you need assistance finding the proper dock, or can you make it yourself? It's docking bay D43, here are the coordinates"
The small craft coasted in on inertia toward the massive structure - a small angular dart of white with black paneling and deep amber, almost golden panel over its top and bottom halves. A faint spray of a luminous blue flickered as it began to decelerate as it was swallowed up by the bay. A low thud sounded as its gear extended, locking against the ground below.
She soon emerged as the heavy doors of the bay slid closed and the area began to oxygenate, flooding with atmosphere. The golden capsule rose up out of the body of the vessel, opening like two halves of an egg - a pale figure slowly standing on shaky legs - dripping wet in preserving fluids like a newborn as she stared down to see who would be there to greet her - before sitting on the pale hull to take her clothes, dressing there and then for the meeting to come.
Only one person stands in the docking bay, apparently having been in there even when the doors were open, having watched the whole affair - noting the way the figure had no clear evidence of male or female anatomy - though the voice Schlock had spoken with had indeed been female.
The figure was humanoid, in a general way. It also was obviously something cooked up in a tube somewhere and run by remote. It was wearing a deep burgundy suit, with intricate gold stitching, and holding a cane that likely held concealed weaponry. it's face was black as midnight and covered with flecks like stars, and it's hair was coarse and braided into long strings down its head, each one topped with an elaborate bead. It's eyes glowed dimly, grey. it took an elegant bow.
"My lady Aiesu I would suppose?" it asked in a deep and resonant voice. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you... not in person, I suppose, but in mind." It chuckles a gentle and warming sound "Care for some tea in my quarters while we talk about plans and wheels within wheels, and conspiracy, and we plan to stab each other cordially in the back once the other is not useful? I've found that a good cup of tea makes the whole game so much more enjoyable. You can also pick out a more suitable outfit, once we're there."
Aiesu slowly descended from her craft, sitting on its edge in her usual pale shirt, striped white/red tie and bicycle shorts - deciding to remain bare-foot as she dropped sharply from the craft to land before Shlock before staring back at the thing and then up at him - cerise eyes bright as she took in his figure curiously. She was notably shorter than he had expected - and somewhat more cheerful to boot as she stretched - still dripping in clear fluid from the cryo unit that stained her long slender legs.
She took some time to take in the sight of him. It was an unusual appearance, eclectic and rather elegant - which she hadn't expected for a Mishhu. She cleared her throat, feeling translational software burned into her construct kick in - surprised to hear herself speaking High Elysian.
"Outfit? ....Well... Tea sounds good."
"Yes, outfit. I like to be surrounded by elegance, and I have found that most of my partners prefer elegance to the lack thereof as well" he said "Your outfit is certainly useful and utilitarian, I would wear something similar were I making a trip like this. But now you are in the comfort of a station and impractical, beautiful, and comfortable clothing is more suitable for negotiations than utilitarian faire."
He began leading her through the halls. Most of the surfaces had complex mosaics or engraving. A certain symbol seemed to be repeated frequently between them, a heart broken in half and held together by chains. Others depicted battles, some famous, some not. others planetary scenes, sunsets, lovers sharing a moment together. Statues existed in intersections between halls, and fountains. Below her bare feet was a plush and soft carpet, in some places it had a texture like living leather, in others like decadent grass. They pass some workers, all female, in the halls. Some of them are wearing collars, some are not. All of them are also barefoot - something Aiesu took careful note of - and their outfits are as decadent as the surroundings. Some wearing heavily embroidered skin suits, others wearing poofy chiffon dresses with several layers of near see-through fabric. Schlock nodded to most of them as they passed, and gave the ones with the collars a brief "hello, how's it going *name*" to which they blushed and giggled. Some of them watched Aiesu with cold speculation in their eyes, and others with friendly curiosity. Schlock's own feet were booted.
They soon reached a transit tube with a vehicle sitting in it. Schlock gestured for Aiesu to enter the small cabin, then scooted in next to her, the smallness of the car pressing them close together on the plush and comfortable seats. "How are you liking my station, so far?" Schlock asked "I'm afraid I don't have good artistic abilities myself. All of this was decorated by my... employees"
Aiesu peeked back at the corridor, back toward the other area and then up at Schlock. She wrinkled her nose, noting the mural on the ceiling of the cabin. "H...Huh... They say the works of a person are... An expression of who they are..." she said, trying to infer what she could of him. "You're entirely what I didn't expect."
He chuckled gently, placing a hand on her knee reassuringly. "I get that frequently" he says "My people are violent. Culturally primitive. Little understanding of art, other than the art of torture. It still surprises me that people think a separatist would want to share the barbarism, instead of making a clean break with it. Mind, the art of torture is still a beautiful thing"
Aiesu gave a simple hurried and quiet nod, feeling the lights of the tube wash over them, between warm white and the darkness of the tube itself - watching how the light moved over Schlock's face as the thing rolled to a stop.
"just not so much so as this" He gestures out the windows as the transit tube emerges from the station, allowing a close look at the habitats inside. Large translucent domes covering ecosystems full of beauty and mystery. A brightly colored bird passes by as the tram lazily goes close to one of the domes.
Finally they reach their destination, the central dome. The vehicle's tracks plunge into the dome, surrounded by vibrant colors and thriving life, and it comes to a halt in outside a mansion. The architecture here is a sort of warm, open style, with adobe walls and fresnos. There's a slight feeling, however, that the designer couldn't decide what sort of architecture they wanted to use, and some glimpses of the other faces show that they're in a different style.
"You've... Really done well for yourself, haven't you, Mr. Grunder?"
Grunder smiles a very predatory grin, his teeth sharp and pearl white. "Yes, well, my tactics kept me from losing material while inflicting the same damage as other leaders. I redirected the supplies that would have gone to replacing my non-existant loses to this. Five years hard work. I'm quite proud of it!" he patted Aiesu gently on the head, then appeared to notice something. "Miss Aiesu, your ears!" he says "Whatever happened to them? Oh deary me, we should fix them up" he says with genuine concern in his voice as he leads her through the doors.
"W-Well..."
The interior was, amazingly, more humble than the exterior. Full of warm colors, and soft tones, without the complex patterns he favored in the rest of the station. it was gentle, and comfortable. Each room had one carpet, each with a different texture. he lead her through the main hall into a room lit by a false sun through fake windows that opened onto a small model village. Other women sat around the table already, and Schlock pulled the chair next to it away for Aiesu. These women wore distinctive, collars, each unique to the woman.
The construct lifted herself up to the chair, arms out for leverage - the seat higher from the ground than her hips were. Sat, she watched Schlock and then looked over the girls and their... Exotic attire - a hand reaching up to tweak at her glasses, only to realize she'd left them on the ship. She clicked her tongue in disappointment, squinting instead to make sense of everything.
"You left your vision enhancing lenses behind. have one of mine" Schlock says, passing her a monocle. "Let me make introductions..."
She tried fitting the monocle, having some trouble - the focal length different to what she was used to. She instead kept it in her hands, thumbing delicatelyover the metal edge of the lens.
"This is James, my bodyguard" he says, pointing to a very tall woman with a cybernetic eye and arm. The women had some sort of primitive pole-arm strapped to her back, and was wearing a green outfit embroidered with golden dragons. She grunted
"This is Kasha, my... let's call her an adopted daughter" he says pointing to a broad winged patrician youth, who's eyes were milky and white. She was wearing a fluffy pink princess outfit - utterly adorable as she sat at her place at the table, playing with the spoons.
"This is Dionysodoros, my lead tech designer" he says, pointing to a slender woman, with small wings, dressed in an outfit that may reminds Aiesu of a brightly colored bird. Dinoysodoros bows slightly and mumbles 'pleasure'.
"And this is Laquer, my primary artist" he says, gesturing to a woman who wore nothing but body paint and tattoos. The woman does a rather elaborate salute with her napkin
"Hum... Not the crew I expected a ... Gentleman of your particular sort to keep." she smiled - her anxieties of the Mishu reassured somewhat. She thought it was quite an exotic and unusual bunch - but not one of entirely poor taste. While the Mishu's tastes weren't well developed, she felt he was exploring every avenue imaginable. It was as if a child's drawings had come to life in rich, complex ornate and living form - to create something entirely new in and of itself that she found quite charming, if ethereal and abstract - like she'd stepped into a cartoon or imagination of some distant dreamer.
He grins again, patting Asieu on the head as a young Helashio comes in in a french maid outfit, and begins serving tea and pastries to all around the table. "Thank you Zetsu" he says, taking a sip of the tea. The helashio grins and walks off, a bounce in her step.
"You're quite the prince of whimsy, I see?" the construct smiled, watching the maid walk.
"Yes, I feel the need to explore."
"We have a word in Lorath for that, you know? 'Qua'ns'ael' - or 'The little prince who dreams'. There's a whole aesop around him but judging by your decor, you're quite familiar with it."
"And it's quite fitting" James speakes up "Schlock here is quite the little prince, and quite the dreamer. We still havn't figured out how to make some of his most grandeose dreams into reality. He wants to build a Dyson sphere, eventually."
"Funny you should mention that." Aiesu pondered aloud. Even the consortium had lofty dreams of their own.
Schlock nods. "Yes, but my next project is a bit smaller. I'm attempting to complete the unification of technology. Each race's technology is good for different things, I'm trying to grow it together to make something good for everything. So far the price is still overly high, especially as it cannot be mass produced but has to be put together by hand in the workshops on this station"
"Well... If money is a problem and this does have real potential, as you believe it does... We might be able to ... Grease the wheels some."
"And you'll be able to give us an inline into current lorath technical practices?" Dionysodoros asks "My knowledge is a bit outdated at this point"
"Actually, if you play well... We might be able to show what you what they'll get before they get it."
"Now that is an intriguing possibility" Grunder says "One moment... Kesha, dear? While the jam certainly looks pretty spread on your face, it'll get sticky fairly soon..." he stands and walks gently to his 'daughter' wiping the jam off her face. She smiles and hugs him despite his half hearted attempts not to be, and getting the jam on both of them.
iesu curled her lips into a smile, trying not to laugh. Indeed, she was adorable. She took a sip of her tea, surprised by how good it was. She hadn't eaten or drank in ... Well, never, actually. New constructs usually didn't until they reached their objectives.
"So what does your faction want in return?" Schlock asks, still working on cleaning his 'daughter' and himself
"Well... For once, this blending of technologies interests us. Next... There's the ... Well. We don't really know much about the ... About your people, other than the fact Yamatai is scared shitless. We'd just like to know why."
"Oh that's simple. We were engineered to kill and destroy, much like the Nekos were. We just do what we were made to do." Schlock says, deliberately missing the point. "I'm sorry but it's hard to share much about our culture. A lot of it is best left unspoken. Especially not spoken in front of my friends" he gestures around the table. The others nod, clearly not wanting to share Schlock's demons. He extracts himself from his 'daughter' still messy with jam, and walks over to Aiesu to whisper "There's another service I can offer. I can break people down, and extract the information from them, then build them back up into loyal, happy, and strong people. Would you fine that useful?"
"Incredibly, actually... I know its a cliche but... Good help really is that hard to find." Aiesu said, taking another sip of her tea.
"Oh I know." he says. The maid comes back in with an outfit and some makeup. "Ah, here, I had it tailored for you after seeing you. I feel it will suit you well, though of course I can expand your wardrobe..." There's a simple, feathered, collar with it, with a single piece of black jet set in the center carved into a dragon. The outfit it's self doesn't cover her crotch or breasts, and is made of elegant black silk and feathers that shimmer iridescently. it's elegant and nearly immaterial. A small mantle tops the affair, made from some sort of white material that twinkles and refracts light as though it was woven from diamonds. "Would you like help changing into it?" Schlock asks gently
Aiesu felt a strange sensation in her belly. "Wh... " she didn't seem to know what to say. She eyed the material - surprised by how strange it seemed - like liquid spider-web shimmering. "Well...Er..." Her gaze lowered - clearly embarrassed - meek and possibly even demure.
Schlock takes her stammering as consent, gently hooking the collar around her neck, and starting to help her out of her clothing with gentle strength, starting by lifting her shirt.
She stared with wide cerise eyes in confusion, arms up over her head as she stared back - like a child being told it was bath-time. She couldn't really make sense of what was happening. It really was like a dream. "A-Ah?"
Jamie and Laquer take her legs, getting her out of the pants and helping her into the deliberately off kilter skirt while crooning over her legs. "They're quite strong" James says approvingly.
"Hey... Wh... Well..." she wrinkled her nose - dizzy now as she wrinkled her nose. The compliment threw her off
"Could you er... P-Put me down?"
Dionysodoros puts the top on her, and Jamie and laquer slide the bottoms up, zipping them shut and fastening them. Schlock tops it with the gauzy, film like mantle. Zetta brings in a full length mirror as Laquer finishes it up, tying some ornaments into her hair.
It had been almost five minutes now since Aiesu's feet had met the ground - a flurry of attire too and frow in a flurry. She couldn't quite fathom why her body hadn't bothered resisting - her muscles weak and tingly. Whenever she tried to tense, everything just felt warm, bubbly and sleepy. And yet she didn't panic - and she couldn't work out why.
Aiesu felt her pale toes meet the ground - a tightness behind her ankles lifting her onto the front of her foot as he heels just sort of hovered. She noted her pale palms and the black shimmering textured material - almost like a smooth seamless coating of feathers - blending through grays and blacks in slow rich gradients along her arms and her legs. "Wh.. Do you have a mirror or something?" If she wasn't panicking, the construct decided, there likely wasn't anything to be worried about.
Schlock kisses her forhead, then wheels the mirror into position with a "Voila! Like the blackbird's wings and the black lotus' petals. Take a look at yourself." The other girls pose behind her, in ways that, in the mirror, make her look like the center of a dance routine. Kasha jumps onto Schlock's back, slightly ruining the effect. "Pappa made you pretty!" she says "He likes making people pretty!"
Aiesu turned to look at the mirror, eying it suspiciously. To Aiesu, mirrors had always been the enemy - a great source of disapproval and disappointment. The figure that stared back was not these things. That gradient of featherless flew over her arms, her legs - even her neck with rings like the eyes of peacocks as she stepped closer - noting the pale paint taking her milky unhealthy and almost translucent skin and making it now almost doll-like - that red flicker like flame about her eyelids and the edges of her eyes accenting cerise - the dark marks about her eyes painted away with expert hands - and so quickly. And then her hair - straight and flowing, rather than messy - a distinct volume now - two ribbons - one red and the other cerise wrapped in helix about her hair on one side, tied into a knot that trailed down. Her throat felt sore - eyes furrowing for a moment as she tried to make sure exactly what - or who it was she was looking back at.
"I see..." she spoke - irreconcilable in her awe as she downplayed it - clambering for her defense behind an air of inscrutability.
Her eyes fell on the blinding white of her body - treated to the same as her face. Her doll like torso was completely bare, nothing hidden beneath her collar-bone down low beneath her hips and the flat where genitals should have been - her own skin like a swimsuit against the gradient blacks and grays with those spots of slithery glistening rings of color in the collar of her neck and the mantle that clung to the upper half of her clothes - one moment a cowl to hide herself like a cocoon of comfort - the next, disappearing into the upper-half of this quasi-bodysuit.
Her hands moved instinctively to cover herself, back hunched over to hide herself as realization tickled through the pit of her belly.
"D..Did it have to be naked?!" she squeeked.
"You had no problem being naked in front of me when you were thawing" Schlock points out, his melodious voice amused
"W-When you have pretend money, you're not afraid to give it our or even lose it..."But now?" She'd never felt this naked before - even with nothing on and had never tried to hide it. In her own mind she rationalized it.
"The other girls wear outfits even more... flattering." he says "Plus your smoothness is exotic, and I chose to enhance, rather than hide, it" he gently reaches forwards to stroke her belly in a reassuring fashion, his black skin contrasting brilliantly against the white of her skin.
"Exotic" she repeated, her words mulled and sticky as she eyed the flat between her legs in the angled reflection of the mirror - watching where it her her thighs and absolutely nothing happened - the place her belly-button should have been and then the utter absence of nipples despite that faint formation beneath that moved as she walked in a way she still wasn't used to.
Schlock ran his hand gently, comfortingly up, starting with her thighs, and stroking her up the length of her body, running across the bumps under where her nipples should be, and ending with a light touch of her neck. "Exotic, Erotic, Exquisite" he whispered into her brutalized ears.
It descended down her back like ice - pushing her heels further from the ground up onto the fronts of her feet. She noted her toenails had been painted with that strange almost holograph quality the peacock feathers about her neck had - the bodysuit of feathers ruffling as she ever so slowly turned her head. She wasn't used to being called these things. In fact, she'd never even conceived of being called these things, let alone appearing to match her own ideals of such things. She leant her head back, deciding not to look directly at him - only eyeing him from the very corner of her gaze now - a slow sharp intake of breath. And then she felt the feathers flutter on their own as if they were her own, ruffling up - the strange suit responding as it represented her goose-bumps - a whole new universe of body-language represented now that had her small vestegal wings outstretched nervously.
Schlock's hand was there, suddenly, gently pressing her back, tickling the joining of her stretched wings and her back, preening them gently with his fingers. His breath comes hot and loud.
The air deflated from her chest audibly, wrapped in a quiver she'd tried so hard to hide in her throat. She knew Mishu were masters of mind-games but hadn't thought it to go so far. She took a step forward out of nerves, putting space between himself and her in what defense she could make, turning about to face him.
He learned gently forwards, planting a delicate kiss on her lips, gentle, and caring, his hands now at her shoulders. His kiss moves down to her neck as his hands search out her bundles of nerves and rub them away.
She leaned back and yet... The step that should have come with it to whisk her away never came - a quiver in her calves as slowly her heels lowered - hovering just barely over the carpet now. Her heart was pounding in what should have been fight or flight but the feelings dancing through her belly were completely different. The edge of the blade was the same but she was completely lucid, maybe more than she'd ever been.
He lifts her bodily up, now, carrying her with a grin, nuzzling against her. His skin is somewhat dry, almost lizard like, but soft and warm. Other hands were touching her, stroking her, as he carried her. The other girls, perhaps. Schlock's breath had a sweet scent to it, with a hint of Cinnamon, and was overpowering this close to her face. His musk draped it's self around her like a blanket. He touches his nose against hers almost playfully, before leaning in for another kiss
Aiesu's rational mind was screaming - deafening in her damaged ears, telling her what this was and what was happening and what it meant and what would happen. And yet. She didn't care. The facsimile that allowed her to control her own neurochemestry was there but she couldn't bring herself to use it - confused by the complex messy burning heat in her belly. Her bare body was much too warm now - a bead of sweat trickling down over her front - the sensation of it making her teeth chatter as if she were cold. She couldn't look him in the eye. Indeed, despite her dual aspectation, in a situation like this the shark gave way: Aiesu was a prey animal.
Aiesu found herself lovingly placed into a large, sofa nest filled with pillows of various texture and firmness. It's not a proper bed, and is more of a large pit full of pillows with a mattress at the bottom and chairs carved into the sides. Schlock loomed over her, leaning down and caressing her body with his hands, with his tongue, and with tentacles that had slowly spread from under his shirt. The tentacles were slightly slimy, and smooth, but also warm and soft. They gently stroke her, seeking out her points of pleasure, and leaving behind a residue that slightly enhanced sensation.
She panted delicately, like an ornate doll over the pillows - cerise eyes barely open as they watched - his visage so close to her a blurry one she struggled to make out. She could feel her skin shining just barely now with that thinnest sheen of sweat - knees shifting to try and cover herself, to hide what of herself she could.
"I'm... Not a toy, Mr. Grunder" she almost spat, feeling the air squeezed out of her with a motion against her belly - feeling the thick muscle rolling against her and recognizing only with sensation what they actually were.
"Indeed you are not" Schlock whispers "No toy could be as magnificent as you"
She squeezed her eyes tightly shut. A sharp shaky breath tickled through her hips and out through her nostrils before she opened them again. She'd fantasized about this sort of thing but... Reality wasn't the same. It couldn't be the same. She couldn't allow it to be. Already, she was wondering how he knew how to do this to her, which buttons to push and so forth, especially considering she wasn't even capable of the most basic of psionic readings. She owed it to Schlock's experience and his simply being what he was.
"You're a client. A collegue... I'm... Not a token of their appreciation" her voice almost slithered now, back tensing as she refused to let it arched. It was then that it dawned on Shlock that she'd chosen a construct with no sexual features for a perfectly good reason.
"I can give you want you want, in your heart." Schlock responds "I can give you love... if you'll accept me."
"I haven't even been here for an hour and you're..."
Schlock looked like he desperatly wants to press the matter, desire washing across his face. Then he grunts, and punches the bed. Hard. "I'll give you time, if that is what you need" he says "But... I have an infinite quantity of love to give, and I like nothing more than giving of it freely. Please consider my offer." he says, standing with some difficulty, his body soaked and panting. "You can sleep here. In the morning we will have fixed your ears." he mutters as he steps out.
Slowly, she sat up - confused with a mixture of regret and awe in her throat as she watched.
The other girls flutter in, questioning. "So how was it? Did you enjoy it?" one asks with a grin "He's really something, isn't he?" another says dreamly
"Wh..." her eyes dropped, a knee rising and an arm about herself as she struggled, still making sense of the way things were unfolding. "I...I've only known him an hour and... "
"It's actually been about a few days since you got on the station" one of the girl says, starting to fix Aiesu's messed up hair, "You were with him for a long time."
"I... What?" Aiesu stared back now, staring up at the mirror on the ceiling now. "What's... Wrong with me?"
"Grunder's a romantic" one of the girls says "If he's affected you so much, it means you're one too!" she giggles, giving Aiesu a friendly hug.
"R...Romantic nothing... I've only been here an hour." the construct insisted, starting to worry now. "How does an hour become 'a few days'?" She was starting to panic now - grinding her teeth softly, their serrated shark like edges clicking.
"Through love" the girl says "You know, he knows you very well too, has been loving you since before you came. Remember that contact, the Jabberwocky, who told you about this place?"
"...Yes" Aiesu paused her clicking, listening carefully.
"That was him"
"...I still don't see how an hour has become... And what do you mean love?"
"Schlock has a very full heart. He loves us all. And he loves you. He would not have invited you here if he did not. He loves your mind, and your soul, and your body" the girl says "He loves us too of course. Sometimes we like to compete to see who he loves the most" she giggles "He says your soul has been spread thin across the galaxy, like a beautiful spiderweb, touching several bodies and shimmering in the dark between the stars"
Soul, bullshit - a construct doesn't have a soul Aiesu thought to herself - still ever the skeptic. "He... He di... Look, ...You can have him" the construct scoffed - starting to feel like a prisoner of a cult. She couldn't fathom how she'd lost time like that - her brain was synthetic and even had a clock. Even going through her own logs, it was all accounted for and yet she remembered none of it as her own experience - as if she were viewing her own memories from the outside in.
The girl snorts "Oh, so you rejected him? You know that's just going to make him pursue you harder? I wonder how long you'll last" she grins, and kisses Aiesu on the cheek, in a sisterly fashion. "Will you at least join the faimly? We're all faimly here, and we all love each other."
"I'm... Not even used to being around people. I just want to be alone for a little while... This is a lot to process, you know?"
"O.K" the girl says with a nod "But... all of you can join us... if you want, whenever you want" she nuzzles Aiesu gently, then scampers out, leaving Aiesu alone with her thoughts and a plate full of snacks, goodies, and warm milk in the cloying room. A sign on the door seems to signify it a Aiesu's
The construct just sat, surrounded by low light, cushions and plesant things - perfumed and dressed in ways so extravagant she could barely imagine them. In a single day, she'd lost almost a week. She sat there, in the silence of it, trying to work out where her days had gone after slipping between her fingers.
That wasn't why the ROM construct was visiting, however. She was visiting due to another rumor. That the primary backer of the project, and majority shareholder was a Mishu seperatist with unusual belifes who went by the definatly non-mishu moniker of Schlock Grunder.
Her ship was a small courier vessel, fast as mercury and manned by one. It had no conventional habitation areas or cockpit - simply a coffin with a Lazarus stasis system and a neural setup little bigger than a fighter, to keep things quiet. The location her sources had given her was correct, the amusement part glittered in her vision like a flying saucer set with gems.
As she pulls into the base Aiesu received a hail. "Welcome, I was expecting you" the deep voice richly intoned. "Do you need assistance finding the proper dock, or can you make it yourself? It's docking bay D43, here are the coordinates"
The small craft coasted in on inertia toward the massive structure - a small angular dart of white with black paneling and deep amber, almost golden panel over its top and bottom halves. A faint spray of a luminous blue flickered as it began to decelerate as it was swallowed up by the bay. A low thud sounded as its gear extended, locking against the ground below.
She soon emerged as the heavy doors of the bay slid closed and the area began to oxygenate, flooding with atmosphere. The golden capsule rose up out of the body of the vessel, opening like two halves of an egg - a pale figure slowly standing on shaky legs - dripping wet in preserving fluids like a newborn as she stared down to see who would be there to greet her - before sitting on the pale hull to take her clothes, dressing there and then for the meeting to come.
Only one person stands in the docking bay, apparently having been in there even when the doors were open, having watched the whole affair - noting the way the figure had no clear evidence of male or female anatomy - though the voice Schlock had spoken with had indeed been female.
The figure was humanoid, in a general way. It also was obviously something cooked up in a tube somewhere and run by remote. It was wearing a deep burgundy suit, with intricate gold stitching, and holding a cane that likely held concealed weaponry. it's face was black as midnight and covered with flecks like stars, and it's hair was coarse and braided into long strings down its head, each one topped with an elaborate bead. It's eyes glowed dimly, grey. it took an elegant bow.
"My lady Aiesu I would suppose?" it asked in a deep and resonant voice. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you... not in person, I suppose, but in mind." It chuckles a gentle and warming sound "Care for some tea in my quarters while we talk about plans and wheels within wheels, and conspiracy, and we plan to stab each other cordially in the back once the other is not useful? I've found that a good cup of tea makes the whole game so much more enjoyable. You can also pick out a more suitable outfit, once we're there."
Aiesu slowly descended from her craft, sitting on its edge in her usual pale shirt, striped white/red tie and bicycle shorts - deciding to remain bare-foot as she dropped sharply from the craft to land before Shlock before staring back at the thing and then up at him - cerise eyes bright as she took in his figure curiously. She was notably shorter than he had expected - and somewhat more cheerful to boot as she stretched - still dripping in clear fluid from the cryo unit that stained her long slender legs.
She took some time to take in the sight of him. It was an unusual appearance, eclectic and rather elegant - which she hadn't expected for a Mishhu. She cleared her throat, feeling translational software burned into her construct kick in - surprised to hear herself speaking High Elysian.
"Outfit? ....Well... Tea sounds good."
"Yes, outfit. I like to be surrounded by elegance, and I have found that most of my partners prefer elegance to the lack thereof as well" he said "Your outfit is certainly useful and utilitarian, I would wear something similar were I making a trip like this. But now you are in the comfort of a station and impractical, beautiful, and comfortable clothing is more suitable for negotiations than utilitarian faire."
He began leading her through the halls. Most of the surfaces had complex mosaics or engraving. A certain symbol seemed to be repeated frequently between them, a heart broken in half and held together by chains. Others depicted battles, some famous, some not. others planetary scenes, sunsets, lovers sharing a moment together. Statues existed in intersections between halls, and fountains. Below her bare feet was a plush and soft carpet, in some places it had a texture like living leather, in others like decadent grass. They pass some workers, all female, in the halls. Some of them are wearing collars, some are not. All of them are also barefoot - something Aiesu took careful note of - and their outfits are as decadent as the surroundings. Some wearing heavily embroidered skin suits, others wearing poofy chiffon dresses with several layers of near see-through fabric. Schlock nodded to most of them as they passed, and gave the ones with the collars a brief "hello, how's it going *name*" to which they blushed and giggled. Some of them watched Aiesu with cold speculation in their eyes, and others with friendly curiosity. Schlock's own feet were booted.
They soon reached a transit tube with a vehicle sitting in it. Schlock gestured for Aiesu to enter the small cabin, then scooted in next to her, the smallness of the car pressing them close together on the plush and comfortable seats. "How are you liking my station, so far?" Schlock asked "I'm afraid I don't have good artistic abilities myself. All of this was decorated by my... employees"
Aiesu peeked back at the corridor, back toward the other area and then up at Schlock. She wrinkled her nose, noting the mural on the ceiling of the cabin. "H...Huh... They say the works of a person are... An expression of who they are..." she said, trying to infer what she could of him. "You're entirely what I didn't expect."
He chuckled gently, placing a hand on her knee reassuringly. "I get that frequently" he says "My people are violent. Culturally primitive. Little understanding of art, other than the art of torture. It still surprises me that people think a separatist would want to share the barbarism, instead of making a clean break with it. Mind, the art of torture is still a beautiful thing"
Aiesu gave a simple hurried and quiet nod, feeling the lights of the tube wash over them, between warm white and the darkness of the tube itself - watching how the light moved over Schlock's face as the thing rolled to a stop.
"just not so much so as this" He gestures out the windows as the transit tube emerges from the station, allowing a close look at the habitats inside. Large translucent domes covering ecosystems full of beauty and mystery. A brightly colored bird passes by as the tram lazily goes close to one of the domes.
Finally they reach their destination, the central dome. The vehicle's tracks plunge into the dome, surrounded by vibrant colors and thriving life, and it comes to a halt in outside a mansion. The architecture here is a sort of warm, open style, with adobe walls and fresnos. There's a slight feeling, however, that the designer couldn't decide what sort of architecture they wanted to use, and some glimpses of the other faces show that they're in a different style.
"You've... Really done well for yourself, haven't you, Mr. Grunder?"
Grunder smiles a very predatory grin, his teeth sharp and pearl white. "Yes, well, my tactics kept me from losing material while inflicting the same damage as other leaders. I redirected the supplies that would have gone to replacing my non-existant loses to this. Five years hard work. I'm quite proud of it!" he patted Aiesu gently on the head, then appeared to notice something. "Miss Aiesu, your ears!" he says "Whatever happened to them? Oh deary me, we should fix them up" he says with genuine concern in his voice as he leads her through the doors.
"W-Well..."
The interior was, amazingly, more humble than the exterior. Full of warm colors, and soft tones, without the complex patterns he favored in the rest of the station. it was gentle, and comfortable. Each room had one carpet, each with a different texture. he lead her through the main hall into a room lit by a false sun through fake windows that opened onto a small model village. Other women sat around the table already, and Schlock pulled the chair next to it away for Aiesu. These women wore distinctive, collars, each unique to the woman.
The construct lifted herself up to the chair, arms out for leverage - the seat higher from the ground than her hips were. Sat, she watched Schlock and then looked over the girls and their... Exotic attire - a hand reaching up to tweak at her glasses, only to realize she'd left them on the ship. She clicked her tongue in disappointment, squinting instead to make sense of everything.
"You left your vision enhancing lenses behind. have one of mine" Schlock says, passing her a monocle. "Let me make introductions..."
She tried fitting the monocle, having some trouble - the focal length different to what she was used to. She instead kept it in her hands, thumbing delicatelyover the metal edge of the lens.
"This is James, my bodyguard" he says, pointing to a very tall woman with a cybernetic eye and arm. The women had some sort of primitive pole-arm strapped to her back, and was wearing a green outfit embroidered with golden dragons. She grunted
"This is Kasha, my... let's call her an adopted daughter" he says pointing to a broad winged patrician youth, who's eyes were milky and white. She was wearing a fluffy pink princess outfit - utterly adorable as she sat at her place at the table, playing with the spoons.
"This is Dionysodoros, my lead tech designer" he says, pointing to a slender woman, with small wings, dressed in an outfit that may reminds Aiesu of a brightly colored bird. Dinoysodoros bows slightly and mumbles 'pleasure'.
"And this is Laquer, my primary artist" he says, gesturing to a woman who wore nothing but body paint and tattoos. The woman does a rather elaborate salute with her napkin
"Hum... Not the crew I expected a ... Gentleman of your particular sort to keep." she smiled - her anxieties of the Mishu reassured somewhat. She thought it was quite an exotic and unusual bunch - but not one of entirely poor taste. While the Mishu's tastes weren't well developed, she felt he was exploring every avenue imaginable. It was as if a child's drawings had come to life in rich, complex ornate and living form - to create something entirely new in and of itself that she found quite charming, if ethereal and abstract - like she'd stepped into a cartoon or imagination of some distant dreamer.
He grins again, patting Asieu on the head as a young Helashio comes in in a french maid outfit, and begins serving tea and pastries to all around the table. "Thank you Zetsu" he says, taking a sip of the tea. The helashio grins and walks off, a bounce in her step.
"You're quite the prince of whimsy, I see?" the construct smiled, watching the maid walk.
"Yes, I feel the need to explore."
"We have a word in Lorath for that, you know? 'Qua'ns'ael' - or 'The little prince who dreams'. There's a whole aesop around him but judging by your decor, you're quite familiar with it."
"And it's quite fitting" James speakes up "Schlock here is quite the little prince, and quite the dreamer. We still havn't figured out how to make some of his most grandeose dreams into reality. He wants to build a Dyson sphere, eventually."
"Funny you should mention that." Aiesu pondered aloud. Even the consortium had lofty dreams of their own.
Schlock nods. "Yes, but my next project is a bit smaller. I'm attempting to complete the unification of technology. Each race's technology is good for different things, I'm trying to grow it together to make something good for everything. So far the price is still overly high, especially as it cannot be mass produced but has to be put together by hand in the workshops on this station"
"Well... If money is a problem and this does have real potential, as you believe it does... We might be able to ... Grease the wheels some."
"And you'll be able to give us an inline into current lorath technical practices?" Dionysodoros asks "My knowledge is a bit outdated at this point"
"Actually, if you play well... We might be able to show what you what they'll get before they get it."
"Now that is an intriguing possibility" Grunder says "One moment... Kesha, dear? While the jam certainly looks pretty spread on your face, it'll get sticky fairly soon..." he stands and walks gently to his 'daughter' wiping the jam off her face. She smiles and hugs him despite his half hearted attempts not to be, and getting the jam on both of them.
iesu curled her lips into a smile, trying not to laugh. Indeed, she was adorable. She took a sip of her tea, surprised by how good it was. She hadn't eaten or drank in ... Well, never, actually. New constructs usually didn't until they reached their objectives.
"So what does your faction want in return?" Schlock asks, still working on cleaning his 'daughter' and himself
"Well... For once, this blending of technologies interests us. Next... There's the ... Well. We don't really know much about the ... About your people, other than the fact Yamatai is scared shitless. We'd just like to know why."
"Oh that's simple. We were engineered to kill and destroy, much like the Nekos were. We just do what we were made to do." Schlock says, deliberately missing the point. "I'm sorry but it's hard to share much about our culture. A lot of it is best left unspoken. Especially not spoken in front of my friends" he gestures around the table. The others nod, clearly not wanting to share Schlock's demons. He extracts himself from his 'daughter' still messy with jam, and walks over to Aiesu to whisper "There's another service I can offer. I can break people down, and extract the information from them, then build them back up into loyal, happy, and strong people. Would you fine that useful?"
"Incredibly, actually... I know its a cliche but... Good help really is that hard to find." Aiesu said, taking another sip of her tea.
"Oh I know." he says. The maid comes back in with an outfit and some makeup. "Ah, here, I had it tailored for you after seeing you. I feel it will suit you well, though of course I can expand your wardrobe..." There's a simple, feathered, collar with it, with a single piece of black jet set in the center carved into a dragon. The outfit it's self doesn't cover her crotch or breasts, and is made of elegant black silk and feathers that shimmer iridescently. it's elegant and nearly immaterial. A small mantle tops the affair, made from some sort of white material that twinkles and refracts light as though it was woven from diamonds. "Would you like help changing into it?" Schlock asks gently
Aiesu felt a strange sensation in her belly. "Wh... " she didn't seem to know what to say. She eyed the material - surprised by how strange it seemed - like liquid spider-web shimmering. "Well...Er..." Her gaze lowered - clearly embarrassed - meek and possibly even demure.
Schlock takes her stammering as consent, gently hooking the collar around her neck, and starting to help her out of her clothing with gentle strength, starting by lifting her shirt.
She stared with wide cerise eyes in confusion, arms up over her head as she stared back - like a child being told it was bath-time. She couldn't really make sense of what was happening. It really was like a dream. "A-Ah?"
Jamie and Laquer take her legs, getting her out of the pants and helping her into the deliberately off kilter skirt while crooning over her legs. "They're quite strong" James says approvingly.
"Hey... Wh... Well..." she wrinkled her nose - dizzy now as she wrinkled her nose. The compliment threw her off
"Could you er... P-Put me down?"
Dionysodoros puts the top on her, and Jamie and laquer slide the bottoms up, zipping them shut and fastening them. Schlock tops it with the gauzy, film like mantle. Zetta brings in a full length mirror as Laquer finishes it up, tying some ornaments into her hair.
It had been almost five minutes now since Aiesu's feet had met the ground - a flurry of attire too and frow in a flurry. She couldn't quite fathom why her body hadn't bothered resisting - her muscles weak and tingly. Whenever she tried to tense, everything just felt warm, bubbly and sleepy. And yet she didn't panic - and she couldn't work out why.
Aiesu felt her pale toes meet the ground - a tightness behind her ankles lifting her onto the front of her foot as he heels just sort of hovered. She noted her pale palms and the black shimmering textured material - almost like a smooth seamless coating of feathers - blending through grays and blacks in slow rich gradients along her arms and her legs. "Wh.. Do you have a mirror or something?" If she wasn't panicking, the construct decided, there likely wasn't anything to be worried about.
Schlock kisses her forhead, then wheels the mirror into position with a "Voila! Like the blackbird's wings and the black lotus' petals. Take a look at yourself." The other girls pose behind her, in ways that, in the mirror, make her look like the center of a dance routine. Kasha jumps onto Schlock's back, slightly ruining the effect. "Pappa made you pretty!" she says "He likes making people pretty!"
Aiesu turned to look at the mirror, eying it suspiciously. To Aiesu, mirrors had always been the enemy - a great source of disapproval and disappointment. The figure that stared back was not these things. That gradient of featherless flew over her arms, her legs - even her neck with rings like the eyes of peacocks as she stepped closer - noting the pale paint taking her milky unhealthy and almost translucent skin and making it now almost doll-like - that red flicker like flame about her eyelids and the edges of her eyes accenting cerise - the dark marks about her eyes painted away with expert hands - and so quickly. And then her hair - straight and flowing, rather than messy - a distinct volume now - two ribbons - one red and the other cerise wrapped in helix about her hair on one side, tied into a knot that trailed down. Her throat felt sore - eyes furrowing for a moment as she tried to make sure exactly what - or who it was she was looking back at.
"I see..." she spoke - irreconcilable in her awe as she downplayed it - clambering for her defense behind an air of inscrutability.
Her eyes fell on the blinding white of her body - treated to the same as her face. Her doll like torso was completely bare, nothing hidden beneath her collar-bone down low beneath her hips and the flat where genitals should have been - her own skin like a swimsuit against the gradient blacks and grays with those spots of slithery glistening rings of color in the collar of her neck and the mantle that clung to the upper half of her clothes - one moment a cowl to hide herself like a cocoon of comfort - the next, disappearing into the upper-half of this quasi-bodysuit.
Her hands moved instinctively to cover herself, back hunched over to hide herself as realization tickled through the pit of her belly.
"D..Did it have to be naked?!" she squeeked.
"You had no problem being naked in front of me when you were thawing" Schlock points out, his melodious voice amused
"W-When you have pretend money, you're not afraid to give it our or even lose it..."But now?" She'd never felt this naked before - even with nothing on and had never tried to hide it. In her own mind she rationalized it.
"The other girls wear outfits even more... flattering." he says "Plus your smoothness is exotic, and I chose to enhance, rather than hide, it" he gently reaches forwards to stroke her belly in a reassuring fashion, his black skin contrasting brilliantly against the white of her skin.
"Exotic" she repeated, her words mulled and sticky as she eyed the flat between her legs in the angled reflection of the mirror - watching where it her her thighs and absolutely nothing happened - the place her belly-button should have been and then the utter absence of nipples despite that faint formation beneath that moved as she walked in a way she still wasn't used to.
Schlock ran his hand gently, comfortingly up, starting with her thighs, and stroking her up the length of her body, running across the bumps under where her nipples should be, and ending with a light touch of her neck. "Exotic, Erotic, Exquisite" he whispered into her brutalized ears.
It descended down her back like ice - pushing her heels further from the ground up onto the fronts of her feet. She noted her toenails had been painted with that strange almost holograph quality the peacock feathers about her neck had - the bodysuit of feathers ruffling as she ever so slowly turned her head. She wasn't used to being called these things. In fact, she'd never even conceived of being called these things, let alone appearing to match her own ideals of such things. She leant her head back, deciding not to look directly at him - only eyeing him from the very corner of her gaze now - a slow sharp intake of breath. And then she felt the feathers flutter on their own as if they were her own, ruffling up - the strange suit responding as it represented her goose-bumps - a whole new universe of body-language represented now that had her small vestegal wings outstretched nervously.
Schlock's hand was there, suddenly, gently pressing her back, tickling the joining of her stretched wings and her back, preening them gently with his fingers. His breath comes hot and loud.
The air deflated from her chest audibly, wrapped in a quiver she'd tried so hard to hide in her throat. She knew Mishu were masters of mind-games but hadn't thought it to go so far. She took a step forward out of nerves, putting space between himself and her in what defense she could make, turning about to face him.
He learned gently forwards, planting a delicate kiss on her lips, gentle, and caring, his hands now at her shoulders. His kiss moves down to her neck as his hands search out her bundles of nerves and rub them away.
She leaned back and yet... The step that should have come with it to whisk her away never came - a quiver in her calves as slowly her heels lowered - hovering just barely over the carpet now. Her heart was pounding in what should have been fight or flight but the feelings dancing through her belly were completely different. The edge of the blade was the same but she was completely lucid, maybe more than she'd ever been.
He lifts her bodily up, now, carrying her with a grin, nuzzling against her. His skin is somewhat dry, almost lizard like, but soft and warm. Other hands were touching her, stroking her, as he carried her. The other girls, perhaps. Schlock's breath had a sweet scent to it, with a hint of Cinnamon, and was overpowering this close to her face. His musk draped it's self around her like a blanket. He touches his nose against hers almost playfully, before leaning in for another kiss
Aiesu's rational mind was screaming - deafening in her damaged ears, telling her what this was and what was happening and what it meant and what would happen. And yet. She didn't care. The facsimile that allowed her to control her own neurochemestry was there but she couldn't bring herself to use it - confused by the complex messy burning heat in her belly. Her bare body was much too warm now - a bead of sweat trickling down over her front - the sensation of it making her teeth chatter as if she were cold. She couldn't look him in the eye. Indeed, despite her dual aspectation, in a situation like this the shark gave way: Aiesu was a prey animal.
Aiesu found herself lovingly placed into a large, sofa nest filled with pillows of various texture and firmness. It's not a proper bed, and is more of a large pit full of pillows with a mattress at the bottom and chairs carved into the sides. Schlock loomed over her, leaning down and caressing her body with his hands, with his tongue, and with tentacles that had slowly spread from under his shirt. The tentacles were slightly slimy, and smooth, but also warm and soft. They gently stroke her, seeking out her points of pleasure, and leaving behind a residue that slightly enhanced sensation.
She panted delicately, like an ornate doll over the pillows - cerise eyes barely open as they watched - his visage so close to her a blurry one she struggled to make out. She could feel her skin shining just barely now with that thinnest sheen of sweat - knees shifting to try and cover herself, to hide what of herself she could.
"I'm... Not a toy, Mr. Grunder" she almost spat, feeling the air squeezed out of her with a motion against her belly - feeling the thick muscle rolling against her and recognizing only with sensation what they actually were.
"Indeed you are not" Schlock whispers "No toy could be as magnificent as you"
She squeezed her eyes tightly shut. A sharp shaky breath tickled through her hips and out through her nostrils before she opened them again. She'd fantasized about this sort of thing but... Reality wasn't the same. It couldn't be the same. She couldn't allow it to be. Already, she was wondering how he knew how to do this to her, which buttons to push and so forth, especially considering she wasn't even capable of the most basic of psionic readings. She owed it to Schlock's experience and his simply being what he was.
"You're a client. A collegue... I'm... Not a token of their appreciation" her voice almost slithered now, back tensing as she refused to let it arched. It was then that it dawned on Shlock that she'd chosen a construct with no sexual features for a perfectly good reason.
"I can give you want you want, in your heart." Schlock responds "I can give you love... if you'll accept me."
"I haven't even been here for an hour and you're..."
Schlock looked like he desperatly wants to press the matter, desire washing across his face. Then he grunts, and punches the bed. Hard. "I'll give you time, if that is what you need" he says "But... I have an infinite quantity of love to give, and I like nothing more than giving of it freely. Please consider my offer." he says, standing with some difficulty, his body soaked and panting. "You can sleep here. In the morning we will have fixed your ears." he mutters as he steps out.
Slowly, she sat up - confused with a mixture of regret and awe in her throat as she watched.
The other girls flutter in, questioning. "So how was it? Did you enjoy it?" one asks with a grin "He's really something, isn't he?" another says dreamly
"Wh..." her eyes dropped, a knee rising and an arm about herself as she struggled, still making sense of the way things were unfolding. "I...I've only known him an hour and... "
"It's actually been about a few days since you got on the station" one of the girl says, starting to fix Aiesu's messed up hair, "You were with him for a long time."
"I... What?" Aiesu stared back now, staring up at the mirror on the ceiling now. "What's... Wrong with me?"
"Grunder's a romantic" one of the girls says "If he's affected you so much, it means you're one too!" she giggles, giving Aiesu a friendly hug.
"R...Romantic nothing... I've only been here an hour." the construct insisted, starting to worry now. "How does an hour become 'a few days'?" She was starting to panic now - grinding her teeth softly, their serrated shark like edges clicking.
"Through love" the girl says "You know, he knows you very well too, has been loving you since before you came. Remember that contact, the Jabberwocky, who told you about this place?"
"...Yes" Aiesu paused her clicking, listening carefully.
"That was him"
"...I still don't see how an hour has become... And what do you mean love?"
"Schlock has a very full heart. He loves us all. And he loves you. He would not have invited you here if he did not. He loves your mind, and your soul, and your body" the girl says "He loves us too of course. Sometimes we like to compete to see who he loves the most" she giggles "He says your soul has been spread thin across the galaxy, like a beautiful spiderweb, touching several bodies and shimmering in the dark between the stars"
Soul, bullshit - a construct doesn't have a soul Aiesu thought to herself - still ever the skeptic. "He... He di... Look, ...You can have him" the construct scoffed - starting to feel like a prisoner of a cult. She couldn't fathom how she'd lost time like that - her brain was synthetic and even had a clock. Even going through her own logs, it was all accounted for and yet she remembered none of it as her own experience - as if she were viewing her own memories from the outside in.
The girl snorts "Oh, so you rejected him? You know that's just going to make him pursue you harder? I wonder how long you'll last" she grins, and kisses Aiesu on the cheek, in a sisterly fashion. "Will you at least join the faimly? We're all faimly here, and we all love each other."
"I'm... Not even used to being around people. I just want to be alone for a little while... This is a lot to process, you know?"
"O.K" the girl says with a nod "But... all of you can join us... if you want, whenever you want" she nuzzles Aiesu gently, then scampers out, leaving Aiesu alone with her thoughts and a plate full of snacks, goodies, and warm milk in the cloying room. A sign on the door seems to signify it a Aiesu's
The construct just sat, surrounded by low light, cushions and plesant things - perfumed and dressed in ways so extravagant she could barely imagine them. In a single day, she'd lost almost a week. She sat there, in the silence of it, trying to work out where her days had gone after slipping between her fingers.
