Chapter 8 - The Burden of Love

"NO! SKY! DON'T DO THIS!"

"…"

"SKY! YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO ME! DON'T DO THIS!"

"…"

"CAN YOU HEAR ME!? CAN YOU STILL HEAR ME?"

"YES! I CAN! I HAVE TO, ALLI! I HAVE TO!"

"NO, YOU DON'T! STOP THIS! IT IS INSANITY!"

Even if she yelled at me, using a voice she had never used before, one that was neither female nor male, her natural voice, a distressed one, it was still a relief to hear that she was still with me. Skylar wasn't protecting me anymore, though. I was naked and cold… I felt sick in my stomach… She had stopped taking care of me… She was serious about leaving.

But it didn't matter… I wouldn't give up… I JUST COULDN'T GIVE UP!

Even here, in the middle of the night, in an unknown location in the middle of a nasty storm, overwhelmed by the deafening noise of the wind in the trees and the cold temperature, the frightening lightning and neverending thunder rolls, where nothing was reassuring, I was determined not to give up on Skylar.

"WHY, ALLI!? WHY DID YOU HAVE TO BEHAVE THAT WAY? EVERYTHING WAS SO GOOD! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DO THIS TO ME!?"

"SKY! Stop screaming and talk to me instead! I don't even know what you are talking about!"

"NO! I'M GOING! YOU… YOU JUST HAD NOT TO DO THAT!"

Once more, I placed my hand on that black mass attached behind my neck, knowing that there was pretty much nothing I could do to prevent it from leaving. Skylar could overpower me without even thinking about it. But at least, I was hopeful when I felt her staying in place. It was the only sign I received that I still had a slim chance to reason with her.

"Stop, Sky. Don't go. Just talk to me."

"WHY? SO THAT YOU CAN BECOME IMMORTAL AND RULE THE UNIVERSE?"

Immortal? Rule the universe? That was new and way out in left field. I did my best to use a calm voice, but I firmly asked for clarification. She wouldn't have said something so ludicrous without an underlying reason; at least, it was my impression.

"What in the world are you talking about, Sky? I never asked you to make me immortal, let alone help me rule the world."

"BUT YOU WILL!"

"What!? No, I won't. Why would I? That's stupid!"

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! IT'S A MATTER OF TIME!"

"No, it's not. And I don't care if you don't believe me. I just want to understand why you are doing this."

"YOU KNOW WHY!"

True, I kind of knew what had triggered the conflict, but the part I was confused about was why this was worth ending our amazing relationship in such a dramatic way. I've made a mistake. I had no problem admitting it. But how was I supposed to avoid it in the first place? I just wanted to talk about it. Skylar still had a lot to learn about humans, and here, right now, I had the feeling that she jumped to conclusions and that her reaction was way over the top.

Actually, since I knew what had triggered her rage, it was only logical to use this as a starting point to rebuild a bridge that could lead to a more sensible dialogue. At the moment, she wasn't listening to me at all, and I needed to restore some sort of connection.

"Sky. Listen. Humans are full of flaws, it's true, but they are also capable of apologizing and learning from their mistakes.

"IT'S TOO RISKY! I… I CAN'T LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN!"

"Again?… I don't know what you are referring to. But if you tell me…"

"NO!"

"So, that's it? You don't care about me anymore? I thought you loved me."

"… I… I DON'T ANYMORE! I'M LEAVING!"

"Alright, that's a lie. I know you love me or you'd not react that way. And what are you still doing here, then? Let's do a little test for fun to see how much you don't care about me…"

"…"

Was I crazy? What kind of idea had just crossed my mind?

My hand grabbed a big rock from the ground, and I looked at it for a moment. If I were wrong about this, it would really hurt.

"A… Alli… What are you doing?"

"I'm going to smash that rock on my head. Will you prevent me from doing that?"

"…"

"You don't care?"

"… N… no… I know you won't do it…"

"I will… unfortunately."

"… F… fine… Go right ahead…"

Easier said than done, but what did I have to lose? I wouldn't last for an hour in this forest without Sky's assistance. I was already shivering from the cold, I was lost and wet, and more than anything, she was the person I loved the most in the entire universe, even though she was a creature from space. Losing Skylar would be way more painful than smashing this ball of agglomerated minerals on my forehead.

Anyway, despite her irrational ire, I still trusted her. She wouldn't let me do this to myself… She loved me too much… I was convinced of it.

I stared at my rock for another moment, trying not to think about natural selection too much…

… and I went for it.

Using all my strength, I smashed the big rock on my forehead…

PAK!

And everything went dark as I fell backward on the damp ground. My ears were ringing in an unhealthy way.

As I lost consciousness, my last thought was along the line of…

… okay, this didn't go exactly according to plan.

***

A moment ago…

"Mmmmph!"

"Alli. You like being Lilian, right?"

"Mmmhmmm!"

Right now, yes. Since Sky had transferred me to Lilian's young and sexual body, I couldn't do anything other than enjoy myself. I made love to my real body, and now I was trapped inside a tight cocoon, pleasantly tortured and abused by Sky. I lost track of time, but I was pretty convinced that I had spent more than one day in this hot situation.

Pressed firmly against me, my real body was warm and erotic. Skylar had transferred half of the eggs I was carrying to Lilian's body, incessantly repeating that Lilian would have loved this if she had been conscious of it, convincing me that what we were doing wasn't such a big deal.

Since I knew Skylar wouldn't hurt any of us, I gradually adopted the stance that everything would be alright. Nobody else in the world could provide me with such an extreme experience, and I had bought in the idea that Skylar would ensure Lilian's physical and mental integrity… somehow…

Yet… Inside my sexually altered mind, it only felt partially right… and that little wrong portion increasingly bugged me.

Was this really okay?

Yes, it was hot, and nobody would get hurt. Lilian would never learn about any of this. But ethically, it was a bit on shaky ground. It just might have been that Sky was from space and could not fully understand the right and wrong of the human race. She might have never heard about some concepts specific to our culture.

I knew Sky had good values at the root, the ones that made me fall in love with her in the first place. She saved a child from the flames and protected me more than once. How could I not love that? So, perhaps it was what bugged me right now—this little annoyance. I questioned why I was going along with this. I had my part of the responsibility, I wasn't going to be as pretentious to claim I was perfect, but I was also a bit worried for Sky. It was unlike her to go as far as using another person without permission for our sexual games.

Okay, okay. Step back.

I reminded myself that Sky had taken control of Lilian's mind due to a misunderstanding. So that part wasn't really her fault. She was willing to release her, but she found something important enough to delay her withdrawal; Lilian was sick.

So we talked about this and decided to help Lilian, which was a good thing. But then, after we fixed her, Sky transferred my consciousness to her to confirm that Lilian was okay. We lost control at that time.

On my side, I lost control because being inside Lilian's body was so fucking hot, and then I decided to enjoy the moment while it lasted. I didn't think it would go as far as this, where a day later, I would still be inside Lilian, making her carry fake alien eggs. But here I was, and I would have to find a way to accept what I have done and make sure it doesn't happen again.

So, what about Skylar, then? If I had acted in this odd way because of a highly unusual series of events and feelings, it would have been hypocritical to blame Skylar for following a similar devious path. She took control of Lilian, she helped her, but then saw a very nice opportunity to have some delicious innocent sex and lost control. It was extremely plausible…

… or not.

Skylar wasn't human. She was a million times smarter than me, a million times stronger than me, and a million times older than me. So, yes… it was a bit strange on her part.

And less fun…

I wiggled inside the cocoon that Skylar had formed around me and my real body, not out of eroticism but out of a desire to talk about this before going any further. Not wanting to make her feel guilty, I would try to discuss this in a humorous way, or at least not in a way to cause friction. The Skylar I knew was definitely talkable and playful. Unsurprisingly, she read my body language and crawled off us.

"Hehe. Alli… oh, I mean, Lilian!"

"Hey… I'm not Lilian… Can… can you transfer me back to my real body."

"Mmm… maybe. But what if I do that first?"

Skylar, in control of my real body, plunged her fingers inside my overly wet crotch.

"Oooh, someone is still excited."

"Mmm… Yes… Lilian's body is so hot. I'm jealous."

"Let's keep it, then. We can keep her in the closet."

"Hehe. You are an idiot, Sky."

As she played with my swollen clitoris, Lilian's, I couldn't blame her too much for being creative. She had learned well that human sexuality is much related to our imagination. So the thought of keeping Lilian forever in my closet was kind of hot. Before tackling the difficult part of the conversation, I chipped in with my own version of this fantasy.

"Mmm… No… Not the closet. Let's keep her in a box, just to make sure she can't escape."

"Oh? A box… with a lock?"

"Good idea. We will have to gag her too."

"And keep her wrapped inside a latex bag?"

"Sounds like a plan. I sure would love it."

Okay, that was a bit too hot now. My body contorted at the thought of something so unrealistically perverted. Imagining myself in that predicament was far from unpleasant.

My real body climbed on my hips and stared into my eyes, Lilian's.

"Hehe… Sky… What are you doing?"

"Shut up!"

"… Uh? Hey, that's not nice…"

"SHUT UP, ALLI!"

"But… What did I do?"

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"

What? What was going on? My body, leaning over me began crying, and its face turned into anger. Genuine anger. Scary anger. Skylar had never used this tone with me, and it left me very confused. A second ago, we were having fun fantasizing about some kinky stuff, and now she had this murderous look on her face, my face.

Something was definitely wrong.

"ARE YOU REALLY OKAY WITH THIS, ALLI?"

"… Uh? With what? Okay with what? What are you talking about?"

"TAKING OVER LILIAN'S BODY… WISHING TO KEEP HER UNDER OUR CONTROL!?"

"Woah, woah! Sky! I was actually going to talk to you about this and…"

In my head, an angered voice I had never heard before resonated. Was this… Skylar's real alien voice?

"I GAVE YOU MORE THAN ONE DAY!"

"… I'm sorry? What? What's with the voice all of a sudden? You are scaring me."

"YOU COULD HAVE STOPPED ME… YOU COULD HAVE DONE SOMETHING! WHY DIDN'T YOU, ALLI? WHY?"

"Heeey! Calm down Sky… What got into you?… I said I was about to…"

"IT'S TOO LATE! IT'S TOO LATE NOW! I'M SO HEARTBROKEN! SO DISAPPOINTED!"

"Okay… okay… I don't know what is going on, Sky, but we need to discuss this. I've never seen you this angry before. Transfer me back to my body, okay? Then, we can talk…"

"OH, NOW THAT THERE IS A PROBLEM, YOU WANT YOUR BODY BACK!? WHAT ABOUT LILIAN? DID SHE GET TO CHOOSE? I'LL GIVE YOU YOUR BODY BACK!"

"…"

Before I could even process what she meant by that, my vision became all blurry, and then I got extremely cold. When my sight returned, something was unarguably wrong.

I was sitting uncomfortably on the ground, in mud and rocks, surrounded by trees, and it rained heavily. With my hair plastered on my face, I was completely confused as to where I was.

And I was naked…

"S… Sky? What… What is going on? Where am I? I'm cold…"

"…"

"Sky. Talk to me."

"I'M LEAVING, ALLI."

"… What?"

"… I… I THOUGHT I COULD TRUST YOU! BUT… I CAN'T…"

"Wait wait wait… What are you talking about…? Where are we? Why are we in a forest? Where is Lilian?"

"LILIAN IS HOME. HER HOME! WHERE SHE IS SAFE!"

"I… I don't understand…"

As I voiced my disorientation, my current dire predicament provided me with many answers. Skylar had many abilities, but I was pretty sure teleportation wasn't one of them. A minute ago, I was in my apartment, on my bed, inside Lilian's body, and having sex with my real body. From there, I instantaneously appeared here, cold and wet, in the middle of a forest that didn't look remotely close to the small woods around my place. This new location was too wild to be a random city park.

There were not a thousand options here…

"Sky… Don't tell me that…"

"YES! IT WASN'T REAL!"

"… It wasn't… real? You… You made me dream all of this?"

I rushed my hands to my belly. I carried no eggs, and a quick look down there was sufficient to confirm that my chastity tattoo was gone as well. What was happening? Did Skylar manipulate my mind to make me believe all kinds of crazy things?

"Sky… Why… Why did you do this to me?"

"IT'S OVER ALLI! YOU SHOWED ME THAT I COULDN'T TRUST YOU."

"Oh, wait wait wait, now. You can trust me! You just have to explain yourself. Why did you do this? Why such anger? We have to talk."

"NO! IT'S TOO LATE! YOU SHOWED YOUR TRUE COLORS! IT'S POINTLESS TO DISCUSS THIS. I DON'T WANT TO DO THIS, BUT I HAVE TO. IT'S INEVITABLE. GOODBYE, ALLI!"

"WAIT! SKY! What are you talking about? YOU CAN'T LEAVE! What is this? I thought we had a good relationship…"

"WE DID! BUT NOT ANYMORE!"

"Sky! Come on… Let's talk about this…"

"I'M DETACHING NOW."

"NO! SKY! DON'T DO THIS!"

***

"Oooww! My heaaad…"

Okay… Hitting myself this hard in the head with a big rock wasn't my brightest idea ever. I blinked my eyes open, and everything was kind of blurry. Lying on my back like this, I could still make out the shape of the trees, but they didn't seem to wag as violently as before. The storm must have died down a bit after I had turned my brain into purée.

And why did I feel warm now? The rain was still coming down, even though not as heavily, so I should still feel miserable. And Skylar? Did she… leave?

I raised my hands above my face and let a long sigh out when I saw that they were coated in a black latex-like mixture.

"Aaah… Sky… You are still here… I knew you wouldn't leave me like this."

"Pfff… I don't know why I'm still here."

"Aaah, come on, Sky. Can we just talk about this? Why were you so angry?"

"You deserved that rock on the head. It did quite a bit of damage. Just stay still while I'm fixing your skull."

"I didn't like it."

"Yeah, I bet it hurt."

"Not the rock, silly. I didn't like to see you this angry. You scared me very much. I thought you would leave me."

"I should have. I probably will."

"Okay, Sky. Why don't you take a deep breath in and tell me what is going on? Clearly, we are not on the same page here."

"Pfff…"

"Start at the beginning. When did you start making me see things that weren't true?"

"…"

"Sky… you have to talk to me. I'm just trying to understand. Tell me when."

"After the pool."

"The pool? Like, in the backyard of the luxury house?"

"Yes."

"So, Lilian in the sleepsack, that wasn't real?"

"No. Nothing after the pool was real. We came here, in this forest, and I improvised everything else."

"But… why?"

"Because… You asked me something when we were in the pool… It made me think."

"I asked you something?"

"Yes…"

"Sky… Tell me… I don't remember…"

"Mmmph… Fine… I suppose I can tell you. That way, you'll understand why I have to leave you."

"Hey! Stop saying that! I'm not letting you go that easily. What did I ask? Why did it trouble you that much?"

"You asked me if I had attached to another sentient being."

"Ah yes. That. You didn't want to talk about it. But it's okay. You know, I don't like talking about my exes too, it's normal…"

"That's not it, Alli. It wasn't my ex. We are not the same… Your past is inconsequential… Mine is not…"

"That's a rude thing to say, but I think I see what you mean. You live much longer than I do and…"

"No, Alli! You are missing the point… again."

I was getting a bit frustrated. I was doing my best to understand what Skylar tried to tell me, I clearly struggled to do so, but it was not a reason for her to look down at me. Her life was far more complex than mine, I couldn't agree more, but suggesting that I wasn't smart enough to understand her double meanings was a bit condescending. Parasite or not, I wasn't raised that way by my mother.

"Sky… Screw you!"

"…"

"It's not me that is not smart enough to understand! It's you who sucks at explaining. I'm doing my best to understand why you took over my brain without permission, staged some sort of ultra-perverted adventure, and then freaked out at me. And now you are so uncomfortable with your past that you are not even capable of putting two words that make sense in a row."

"…"

"So, why don't you just make an effort and articulate something that will help me understand how you feel instead of blaming me again?"

"… But… I'm not good with words… It's… It's complicated…"

"Well, find a way because I'm at a loss here. If you want to leave me, fine, I will respect your choice. But at least have the decency to tell me why."

"… I… I can…"

"Can what?"

"I can… show you. Instead of… talking. But…"

"… But what?"

"You are going to… hate me."

"Hate you? Whatever… It's not your call. Tell me or show me, but don't think for me. Okay?"

"… I'm sorry… Okay… I… I'll start now… It will be… like a bad dream…"

"Can't be worse than cracking my skull open with a big rock…"

"… I suppose… Stay still…"

To be honest, I was really worried about what Sky was going to show me, but it was necessary. It was interesting to see how much more courageous I was when driven by a strong desire to protect something I loved. After admitting having tampered with my brain for the last little while for some obscure reason, I could have simply been okay with letting her crawl away from me, as it was not something I was okay with, particularly after she promised not to do it. Yet, she had shown me over and over in the past that she was a good person. So this whole fiasco hid something much more important, and I felt that it was critical for me to learn more about her past. Maybe, after her story, I would be the one leaving her, and that was the scariest part.

Still lying on my back in the mud and moss, with the raindrops crashing on my protective black skin, I closed my eyes and let Skylar send me some images, with my consent this time.

Everything faded to black as if a movie was about to begin.

***

"Chidoh! Wake up! Wake up!"

My host poked me in the flank and pulled me out of my slumber. It was the first time that I encountered such a race in my entire existence. His metabolism was running so high that I couldn't stay awake for a whole day, which was about 73 hours long on his planet. I needed to rest here and there if I wanted to spend quality time with him.

"Mmm… Lans? What is it? Why the panic?"

"They are coming! We have to leave! Now!"

"What do you mean, they are coming? The Elarkans?"

"Yes! Who else? I told you we shouldn't have shared my research with our leaders. These careless fools!"

"… What… what happened?"

"The information leaked. The Elarkans know, and now, they are coming for us. We have to leave right away!"

"They are coming already?"

"Yes. And as you predicted, it's to wipe off my race from existence."

"I'm sorry… I really am…"

"It was just a matter of time… Their goal has always been to expand their empire. You know that better than I do, Chidoh. It's our turn. They will annihilate us, and there is nothing we can do to stop them."

"No! There isn't. I'm very sorry…"

"We will do what we have to do, Chidoh. Fulfill your role, and I'll fulfill mine."

"…"

Sadly, Lans was right, and he knew very well that his time had come. How did it come to this? It was so unfair.

As Lans put on his uniform, made of the softest black fabric in this star system, and packed a few items that would be useless against a potential encounter with the Elarkans, I took this opportunity to review everything I knew about our situation, just to make sure I didn't forget key elements. What we were about to do was too important to risk an omission.

It all started when I landed on the Elarkans' planet seven hundred years ago. It didn't take long for me to attach to one of them and experience the most unusual feeling of my life. Not only were they a relatively strong and ambitious race, but they were also warmongers. Since I had lived for so long before I met them, I knew better than to judge a race by its cover. I wasn't a God, and it was not my place to dictate the fate of the universe and its countless inhabitants. Space explorer was a more suitable term for who I had become since my previous duplication. My role was to observe and live among the infinite diversity offered to me. I was to merge with this Elarkan individual and absorb the knowledge and experiences he would provide me with.

In one way, I was life itself, evolving, witnessing, unexpecting. I merely felt time sliding around me like a viscous fluid and shared it with my host in the most pleasant way.

But then, I discovered the Elarkan blood.

I always thought I was impervious to everything. For the first time in my existence, a host affected me in the most pernicious way, as if I had drunk the most intoxicating beverage. This organic agent within his blood made me obedient; it made me feel like what I promised never to become, a God. My host provided me with an unlimited amount of this exceptional compound, and I couldn't have enough.

To preserve my supply, I quietly followed my host everywhere, did everything he asked from me, even when his actions were questionable, immoral. Together we rapidly took over the leadership of his homeland; we killed, conquered, destroyed entire cultures, and disrupted the normal course of life. This wasn't supposed to happen… I went as far as granting my host immortality so my source of compound would never be limited by time.

I couldn't let the Elarkan blood disappear. I became an addicted slave.

Absorbing the Elarkan blood was beyond ecstasy, to the point that my host wasn't enough for me anymore. It led me to do something almost unthinkable; duplicating. I created a new life out of my body, one on which I would have no control. If this copy of myself were to turn evil, it could eventually lead to the end of the universe itself. Without any sense of morality and ethics regulating its actions, this copy of myself could be the end of everything. Usually, my race only duplicated when we knew for certain the new entity wasn't at risk of being corrupted. Our abilities were just too powerful.

Yet, I did it anyway, due to my altered judgment. I wouldn't even be the one attaching to a new Elarkan host; it would be an independent member of my race on which I would have no control. All of that because I wanted more Elarkan blood, even though I couldn't really have it. My judgment was clouded, and I made the gravest mistake of my life.

Shortly after sharing my body with a second host, my new copy did it too… and I did it again… and again… and again… All of us, independent thinkers corrupted by this intoxicating blood, we replicated over and over, always wanting more and more, attaching to the Elarkan children, granting them perfect health and correcting any genetic anomalies so their blood would stay intact for the rest of eternity.

We stopped evolution.

We stopped life.

As it stood, our Elarkan hosts and we were immortal and on a perfect path to vanquish all and everything. The Elarkans were driven by a deep desire to exterminate each and every star system to prove their worth. For their blood, we shared our infinite knowledge with a race of warmongers and begged them not ever to abandon us, which was absolutely unnecessary; without us, they would have vanished like stardust; without them, we would have lost our source of blood.

But life was life, and it had a mind of its own. This mysterious force that couldn't be defeated would always find an effortless way to turn things around in its favor.

Life couldn't cease. Life didn't need to fight back. A universe without life simply couldn't exist, if only due to the absence of witnesses.

On our way to the next star system to conquer, an unpredictable asteroid struck our vessel and obliterated it, the lowest probability that couldn't have been accounted for. This minor event wouldn't have had any consequences since my race was more than capable of protecting our host from any kind of disaster, keeping them alive and floating in space for an eternity while making them feel as if only a minute had passed. We were determined to preserve the Elarkan blood at all costs.

This incident would have been irrelevant if it had not been for this new copy of myself that didn't have a host yet. Aboard the ship, preciously guarded, this new copy was destined to be attached to the child of an expecting mother. But life had a different plan for it. As the large spaceship broke apart, as the asteroid tore through the metal as if it was a sheet of silk, this new copy was projected into deep space, carrying the entire knowledge and memories of our race.

This drifting space slime, this lost copy torn away from its people, deprived of Elarkan blood, was me. Aimlessly floating in the vacuum of space, the withdrawal was as violent as the unquenchable desire to taste the Elarkan blood again.

It took a few hundred years, but I finally landed on this remote planet, where a modest race of sentient beings lived peacefully.

I attached to Lans.

Devoured by a burning desire to return to my source of Elarkan blood, I thought about taking over his body after regaining my strength and doing what was needed to return to the Elarkans.

But his body was nothing like what I was used to. His core burned so hot, for me to stay attached to him was so demanding, and due to my fragility caused by my long travel, I fell asleep for the first time ever.

A deep sleep…

And then I dreamt… My first dream…

I saw my birth before the Elarkans. I saw my values and ethics before the Elarkans. I saw my goals, I saw my powers, I saw life as it was before the Elarkans.

What have I done?

This dream stirred all kinds of emotions within my soul. Part of me attempted to justify my actions as another part, stronger, made me realize that I had been tricked by a new experience that I had not yet learned to control.

The Elarkan blood was an illusion or, at the very least, a lesson that my race would have to learn from. I would be the one putting an end to this.

When I woke up, I decided to talk to my host, and I gave him a clear choice.

I introduced myself, which frightened him at first, and let him decide if he wanted to keep me or not. This could have been the end of me. A sentient being refusing to be my host was risky. It could have led to my end, which would have been fitting to redeem myself for my terrible actions, the ones of my race. I needed to give my life away, or at the very least take the risk to lose it without fighting back.

Lans, even if a bit scared at first, agreed to be my host. It didn't take long for me to tell him everything I had done in the recent past and what was coming for his world. It turned out that even if very primitive, his race had already gathered enough technology to access space, and they were already in contact with the Elarkans.

They were coming. Lans just didn't know that they were the representative of darkness. He didn't know his end was near and that his entire civilization would be wiped out.

The Elarkans had established diplomatic ties already, but it was simply a cover for an upcoming single and final assault. It was the modus operandi of the Elarkans, and I was very aware of it.

I granted Lans enough of my powers for him to force his way to the leadership and clearly expose the fate of his people to the entire population. He exposed me and all my knowledge of the Elarkans, leaving his leaders with no other choice but to listen and believe.

And a plan emerged. My plan. The only one I could think of—a plan as dark as my past, as dark as my scarred soul.

Fighting the Elarkans wouldn't be enough. Keeping them at bay wouldn't be enough. Actually, the Elarkans, from a certain point of view, were just victims; victims of my race, a race that had lost its self-control, a race of leeches that drank their blood and fueled their sentiment of invincibility.

But in the grand scheme of things, to stop this intoxicated parasitic plague, as horrible as it was, an unalterable fact was present.

As a source of corruption for my limitlessly powerful race, the Elarkans had to die.

For months, Lans allowed me to use his body and mind to come up with a way to end an unimaginable threat. It would be me, us, against my entire race, at least the part of it that was spreading unwillingly and ruling in this whole sector.

Using the extensive knowledge that had been passed down to me by my predecessors, I quickly came up with the most drastic and disagreeable solution I could think of. When I looked at myself, I didn't only see the ugliness of someone capable of committing genocide, I also saw a hero, someone capable of distinguishing right from wrong. If uncontained, my race would unarguably become the end of the universe. It was a matter of time.

My solution? Using the one vulnerability my race, my enemy, had; the Elarkan blood and the most fundamental principles of evolution.

Life in this universe was one and only. What started from a single point had spread around relentlessly and slowly over billions of years and more, and time was what regulated its spread. Millions and billions of years were required for races to emerge and become what they were. It was not a fast process. My race alone was almost as ancient as the universe itself and still made baby steps through time.

Based on this reality, the Elarkans were vulnerable. If I were to remove the environment in which they thrived, and an unstoppable chain reaction would ensue. They wouldn't have time to adapt elsewhere. One could think that their intoxicated parasite, my race, would be able to maintain them as they are for the rest of eternity even without their original environmental source, but it wasn't the case. Given a few hundred thousand years, the Elarkans would end up weakening and dying.

Time.

Time was the weakness of these space parasites, my people. Replicating an entire ecosystem on another planet wasn't a knowledge I possessed, and therefore my corrupted counterparts didn't know either. They could try, but it was highly unlikely to succeed. The reason was that only life knew how to do this. It was a mystery never pierced.

Take two identical planets, feed them with the exact same elements and conditions, and you'd get two completely different results. The infinite number of variables, once respected, would only lead to many more.

If I were to shatter the Elarkans' homeworld to dust, the space parasites would certainly survive, but their host would vanish over time, over the next hundred of thousand years, and the damage caused to the universe would gradually cease. Once deprived of the Elarkan blood, my siblings would go through a withdrawal phase and then remember their original values and ethics and keep this experience in memory for the rest of their infinite life, therefore, preventing such a disaster from happening ever again.

Lans' homeworld wouldn't survive this, and he knew that. It was heartbreaking but unavoidable. I showed him the terrible reality of what my race had done; I showed him everything. He knew his death was coming. He knew his race would disappear as I executed my long-term plan.

But from as far as I could remember, I had never encountered a sentient race as courageous as Lans', or perhaps it was only Lans himself who carried this trait. He told me he would support me until the end, no matter what would happen. He made me believe that I wasn't alone in this fight and that he would be my vessel until it wasn't required anymore.

Courage came at a price, though—the most painful one. If I succeeded in ending this threat, he made me promise to do the most difficult thing a parasite could do; that I would kill him. A life without his race, without his loved ones, would be meaningless. Far from loving me for what my race had done while controlled by the Elarkans, he said it would also be my punishment for setting up such a theater of destruction. A few million years floating aimlessly in space would give my race time to think about what they have done, he said. It was hard not to hear the anger in his voice, but at the root, even if it was painfully heartbreaking, he wanted to do the right thing and assist me in ending this.

That said, for the past few months, we prepared this counterattack, and now that the Elarkans had learned about my existence and my intention to fight back, there was no going back. They now knew where I was and also knew I had the potential capacity to end them and to take the Elarkan blood away from them. As for them learning about my secret plan, it was not a problem, on the contrary, as I had done it on purpose. Even Lans didn't know about that part. By letting his leadership know about a plan I didn't intend to use and having this mistakingly relaying this useless information to the Elarkans force, I simply hoped to generate some additional confusion in this whole story to create a window of opportunity. That window was now.

Lans tightened his belt and exited his home for the last time. A quick look at the sky allowed us to see the massive Elarkans' spaceships positioning themselves already for the most efficient assault against a planet such as this one. My people gave them the technology to overheat planet cores, which could rapidly cause irreversible damage. In less than an hour, this doomed planet would turn into a ball of magma.

"So, Chidoh… That's it, uh?"

"I'm sorry, Lans."

"Ah, it's alright. You are not responsible for this."

"My people are."

"Yeah… They are, but you are nothing like them. So, you think your plan is going to work?"

"That's all I got… So it better work."

"If you manage to destroy their homeworld, a few hundred thousand years is a long time to wait."

"It probably will go faster as my people lose their hosts."

"Ah. Time is really meaningless to you."

"It is… It is…"

"Alright, let's go to the hangar before it's too late."

Borrowing my strength, Lans ran at an accelerated pace to the shipyard, where our special ship waited for us. His ship. Unfortunately, this attack was way earlier than we had expected, so the ship was not as ready as I wanted it to be. I wouldn't mention this in his presence so as not to worry him about the success rate of our mission, but somehow, I was under the impression that he already knew and didn't care. He was expecting me to do my best and outsmart our opposition anyway.

It only took a few minutes to reach our destination. We could tell that the Elarkan attack had already begun as the ground shook under our feet and pieces of buildings were already falling. It was already too late for this world, but we knew that for a while already. Panicked people were running left and right, and there was nothing we could do to help them. Guilt was not a sentiment I loved, and as I observed these people for the last time, this race, I couldn't digest that it was all because of me, of my people, of our weakness to resist the cursed Elarkan blood. If we had been wise enough to recognize the threat before becoming addicted to it, things would have been very different. But instead, we wanted more and more, addicted.

But in the grand scheme of things, I had mixed feelings about our responsibility. I, myself, had never experienced the Elarkan blood, but just the memories that had been passed down to me were strong enough to make me want to taste it. I would have to stay focused during this mission because if I were to be offered it in exchange for standing down, I wasn't convinced I would be able to resist. This flagging self-confidence was not something I had confessed to Lans. Little did he know that he might be carrying the end of the universe on his shoulder.

"Chidoh! Give me more strength!"

"You got it!"

The main gate had collapsed, blocking our way to the hangar. My skin crawled around Lans' body, and with my strength, we slammed into the pile of rubble. We dug our way through in the most violent way. A mountain of incandescent debris wasn't something that could stop us.

The good news was that the hangar was still intact, and our ship, modest, was ready for us. For the past few months, whenever it was possible, I took control of Lans' body and worked tirelessly on upgrading this thing. He understood nothing of what I was doing, how could he? Everything I was doing came from the most advanced civilization my race had ever encountered in the past, stuff that his brain couldn't even begin to understand. Folding time and space and ripping through it was not something remotely possible for him and his race nor advisable. Months wouldn't have been enough even to begin to explain the principles of what I was creating.

He humbly understood that, though, and he wasn't asking any questions even when he was conscious as I was building my components. On the contrary, he always kept as quiet as possible and allowed me to focus on what I had to do. He knew very well that not only did I have to build the most advanced spaceship in the universe out of what I considered junk, but on top of that, it had to take into consideration that it would face an opponent possessing equal knowledge.

Technology wouldn't win this fight; strategy would.

Building the hardware wasn't a challenge as a few round trips to the nearest asteroid belt provided us with all the rare necessary materials, but coming up with a viable plan was the real challenge. Our goal was to destroy the Elarkans' home planet, but our enemies also knew that and would be prepared for any eventuality. So how was I supposed to counter that, knowing that they would be aware that I would try to counter it?

Lans entered the ship and immediately handed control of his body over to me.

"Do your thing, Chidoh. It's all up to you now."

"Yes. But…"

"But what? Don't tell me you are having second thoughts about this!"

"No… but… I'm scared."

"Scared?"

"Would you mind… staying with me for a while?"

"I don't want to be a distraction, Chidoh. You should put me asleep this time."

"You won't! Stay with me… Please."

"Fine, Chidoh. I don't care. Just do what you must."

I took control of his body but didn't render him unconscious. Not yet… I was a parasite, and my host was important to me. Even if our goal was extremely important, my inner feeling was that my host was the most precious thing I had. It was the nature of who I was. Lans was not just my host; he was me. Losing him would hurt me more than anything in the world, as it always has been when I lost my previous hosts.

After starting the engine and enabling everything I had to enable, I initiated my main travel device, something that my race had promised never to use again.

"Hang it in there, Lans. This technology is going to hurt us like you can't even begin to imagine."

"Nice, you never told me that part!"

"First distortion! ENGAGE!"

I slammed his hand on the trigger and, immediately, the fabric of time shredded in front of our eyes. This maneuver was not possible. The universe wasn't designed to withstand such a wound. Even me, an almost invincible space slime, couldn't do anything else but suffer greatly from this rupture. I would never tell Lans that what we just did put an immediate end to his planet.

My first genocide.

Only us, protected by a time shield, survived this distortion despite the massive pain it inflicted us.

As our ship emerged millions of miles away, I knew that I had played my first card and that I couldn't reuse it against Elarkans' home planet later on. My people just witnessed what I did and would know how to protect themselves against this specific technology.

"AAAAH! CHIDOOOH!"

"Sorry, Lans… I know it hurts… But we have to do it two more times right away before they can react so we can reach the Elarkans' system.

"What… what was that? What did you do?"

"A little technology I learned from an ancient civilization. There is nothing comparable to this… It's very unlikely that another race will ever learn how to do that. They tend to disappear way before they reach that level of advancement."

"Why… Why does it hurt so much?"

"You and I are the universe itself. You and the universe are one single entity, and when we cause a tear in it, it causes a lot of anguish. Second distortion. ENGAGE!" "

"YAAARRRRG!"

This next distortion was a particularly violent one. So unpredictable. To my initial guilt, I added my selfish desire to keep Lans conscious just so I wasn't going through this alone. Hurting him wasn't fun, but it was necessary. I didn't think I could do this without him.

My real plan…

It was something I had never done before. It was something so unthinkable that even I was terrorized by it. It was something my race had never done before. We knew of only one previous instance, an ancient race that had done what I was about to do, and even then, it had been an accident and not a voluntary action. It was so long ago that my memories about it were faint. But the truth was, I had never been this scared.

"AAAARRR! CHIDOH! IT HUUURTS!"

"I know! Hang in there… Please. I need you!"

"Are… are you serious? You? The strongest being in the universe? You don't need me."

"Yes… I'm terrified."

"…"

"Please, just one more distortion… Stay with me, Lans…"

"F… fine… But… I don't feel so good… Can you do something about it?"

"No. I can't… You won't survive this…"

"Haha… I knew that already… Alright, space slime… Let's finish this, then."

"We are not far now. One more distortion, and we will be in front of Elarkans' home world. They know we are coming."

"If they know we are coming… How are we supposed to…"

"Third distortion, ENGAGE!"

"YAAAAARRGG!"

Shredding the fabric of time and space was no joke. It really shouldn't be possible. It should be forgotten. The simple fact that the Elarkans and their parasites also knew about this technology was troubling me deeply. In the wrong hands, it would be the end of everything, and it WAS currently in the wrong hands.

"Bbuuaarggh!"

As our ship integrated its new position in front of the Elarkans' home planet, Lans vomited blood all over the control panel. I was doing my best to keep him alive, but most of my efforts were on my self-preservation. If I were to die, everything would be over.

Our smoking ship was a venting atmosphere, the metal was carbonized, none of the displays were functional anymore, and in front of us was our enemy, healthy and more powerful than ever.

At least five thousand interlinked spaceships formed an impenetrable net between us and the planet we wanted to destroy.

As predicted, they knew.

They knew we were coming. They knew we were going to use this ancient technology to slice the planet in half. They knew my goal more than clearly. They also knew that my host was at its limit, and if I were to lose him, I would be nothing else than a useless black mass. Without a host to carry us, our race was nothing else than irrelevant. They knew I couldn't put up a fight in my current state. How could I, with my dying host and an archaic carbonized spaceship?

But…

I knew they knew…

I was even surprised that they took the bait.

I couldn't complain about that…

But, it didn't matter. My new problem was that I had a choice to make and wasn't strong enough to make it.

It was time to tell Lans the truth.

"L… Lans?"

"Aaarrr…"

"I… I really want to taste the Elarkan blood."

"Is… is that so?"

"Yeah… That's what I feared…"

"Ah well… I'm disappointed, then… All that for nothing…"

"No! Help me… Help me, Lans… I can't do it…"

"Help you do what?"

"You… you have to press that button…"

"The flashing one? What will it do? I thought your people could counter everything you threw at them."

"They… they made a mistake… They are protecting the planet."

"That's not a mistake… we came here to blow it up… and now we can't…"

"Not… not really… I kind of… lied… to you… I couldn't take the risk…"

"What do you mean, Chidoh? What are we doing here then?"

"Well… I kind of had a different target…"

"Do you? What is it?"

"One that would kill both of us…"

"Kill you? You are pretty much immortal, sooo… Wait… Why am I thinking these things all of a sudden?"

"Yeah… I just showed you, in your mind… Everything is programmed… you just have to push the button…"

I shared everything… the real plan… I let him know how monstrous I could be…

"This is INSANITY! CHIDOH! IF WE DO THIS, YOU ARE GOING TO DIE!"

"Yeah… Probably… And you will be the one killing me… Because I'm too scared… Too weak… Do it now… Please… Lans…"

"…"

"… Please…"

"You are one messed up parasite, Chidoh…"

"Do… do it… I'm so close to the Elarkan Blood… I'm not sure… I can resist much longer. There is no more time left…"

"Chi… Chidoh…"

"I'm… I'm sorry Lans… for everything… This death… I deserve it…"

"… Nah… It's me who is sorry… because you don't deserve it, actually."

"…"

"And you know what, Chidoh? You'll survive this… I promise… I'm sure you will…"

"… Goodbye… Lans…"

"… Farewell, Chidoh… You'll get your happiness someday. I promise… Just hang in there, okay?"

I wasn't controlling him anymore, it was too risky. My thirst for the Elarkan blood was too strong, so I detached from him as I didn't trust myself anymore. He taught me courage and selflessness when his finger pressed the flashing button on the console. I would never forget this moment… and him.

I lived a long time. Longer than most of the other lifeforms could ever hope to. I've seen everything. I've seen more than everything.

Immortality was a relative term used to define a myth. Only my race, due to our longevity, could tell that there was no such thing. We were giving the illusion, to our hosts, that it was a thing because, from their perspective, a million years seemed like an eternity.

But it wasn't. Immortality didn't exist.

Plants could die…

People could die…

Planets could die…

Stars could die…

Galaxies could die…

The universe itself could die…

It was only a matter of time.

My people knew this fact very well, even if their judgment was currently clouded by the Elarkan blood controlling their minds.

After Lans pressed that button, they also understood what I had just done with this junk spaceship… The unthinkable; something that should never have been repeated, a revolting act that defied all sense of empathy and self-preservation.

It threw them off…

I triggered the most incommensurable bomb that could be found in the universe, short of igniting the universe itself.

I knew I wouldn't be able to destroy their home planet directly…

So I decided to detonate their star…

They had anticipated all possible scenarios. I ignored them all. I gave them the least likely and the most extreme one…

… A supernova.

It would wipe out the Elarkans' home system along with hundreds of other civilizations in the vicinity. The ones who would have all died at the hands of the Elarkans eventually.

It was my second genocide.

My solution was the equivalent of a nuclear bomb to take care of a splinter.

With their natural environment vaporized and forgotten, in a few hundred thousand years, there would be no more Elarkans and their cursed blood, and my people would have regained their free will.

After Lans pressed this button, our ship emerged at the center of the star, and the disturbance in the space and time fabric triggered a chain reaction that would be devastating for the entire sector.

An artificial supernova… and an act of destruction that should never be forgiven.

I knew this would work… Of all scenarios, because of its disproportionated violence, it was the only one guaranteed to succeed.

The proof was in the past…

It was how the ancient civilization that had created this impossible technology had perished accidentally.

Defying the universe came at the highest costs.

It was inevitable.

***

"…"

"…"

"Sky…?"

"… that's it, Alli. I showed you everything…"

"You… you are… Chidoh?"

"Chidoh… Skylar… My hosts apparently like to give me names. But no… I'm not Chidoh, I'm a direct copy of Chidoh created 8326 years ago. Lans was right… Chidoh did survive the supernova… barely. But it doesn't matter… What happened before, this horrific disaster, it is also my responsibility."

That was far from what I had expected Skylar to tell me. I was speechless. There was a slight margin between my initial supposition that, maybe, Sky had a difficult relationship with a previous host or perhaps had experienced a tragic loss, and having committed a full-fledge intergalactic genocide along with an almost successful suicide attempt to save the universe.

This whole story turned my stomach upside down. None of my future questions could even remotely get close to relevancy. My life and Skylar's life had no commonality.

There was, however, only one thing that really bugged me at the moment. I sat up, still covered head to toes in Skylar's black flesh.

"Sky? Why are you even spending time with me?"

"… What do you mean, Alli?"

"You said you loved me and that you wanted me to be your girlfriend and all… It doesn't seem to make sense. You can do so much more."

"Because it's true. That's what I want."

"But… You are so… powerful. Why waste time with me?"

"Love is simple. I need simple."

"…"

"Alli… Do you understand what happened earlier when I was so angry? Why I did what I did and why I reacted so strongly when you seemed to be okay with what we did to Lilian?"

I reached behind my neck and massaged Skylar a bit while carefully choosing my next words. It was a unique situation, and none of my experiences could help me come up with a canned answer. To be honest, I wasn't even sure if this was another test or if Skylar was genuine about this question.

The rain had stopped, and there was even a bit of sunlight piercing through the branches. With this light hitting my eyes, I couldn't help but remember that Skylar was capable of destroying our Sun. Such a concept was beyond comprehension for a mere human being like me.

But did it matter?

"You were scared?"

"Yeah, Allison… Very much so…"

"You were scared that I would become like the Elarkans and use you to cause chaos."

"Yeah… Something like that."

"But, Sky… I don't have Elarkan blood in me. How could I even begin to control you? You could turn my brain to mush just by thinking about it."

"You do have your own Elarkan blood, Allison."

"Uh? No, I don't. I only have Irish blood and American blood. I swear. Maybe some Italian too, but my grandmother always refused to talk about it."

"I was paraphrasing… Alli, I fell in love with you… I really did. Humans are… special… very special. You experience relationships in a unique manner… A manner that I had not seen anywhere else in my whole life. This is something I want to cherish and preserve."

"But… Sky… I know you love me… but I still don't have Elarkan blood in me…"

"Love IS your Elarkan blood, Alli. It feels the same. You could use it to get things from me and…"

Sometimes, a few simple words were enough to explain something seemingly complex. I understood that Skylar was an extremely powerful being, possibly the strongest in the whole known universe. But at the root, she was pretty much like a child who knew nothing about life because life took an infinite number of shapes and therefore was a topic impossible to master. Despite her insane abilities, she was as ignorant as I was. Or perhaps, the human race was truly exceptional, and what our race possessed couldn't be compared with whatever else existed in this universe.

No matter where the truth lies on the spectrum of rationality, I was friends with a traumatized space slime who needed a bit of help to get her bearings together.

"Sky?"

"Mmm?"

"You are really clueless…"

"Hey! What was that for!?"

"You know NOTHING about humans. This test you imposed on me when you moved my mind to Lilian's body was utterly stupid."

"… but… I needed to know if you had good values and wouldn't use my power to do bad things, like the Elarkans…"

"Oh, shush!"

"…"

"Do you know what true love is about? Trust."

"… Trust?"

"That's right… Living in symbiosis with me is cool and all, but it's not important. Keeping me healthy isn't important, feeding me or preventing me from getting sick isn't important. What is important is trust."

"… But…"

"Shhh… Let me finish."

"…"

"You have a thing or two to learn about humans. We make mistakes all the time. We are full of flaws, we get angry, we do things without thinking… But that's why we have each other. When we decide to share our life with someone else, we take a risk. We hope that the person we love will do the right thing. We TRUST that the person we love will do the right thing. It's critical. If we don't believe in that person, love cannot thrive. Do you understand? There is no guarantee that it will go the way we want, but we must trust that it will."

"But… I need to know for sure… I cannot take the risk… I'm too powerful… I showed you… I can't ever let what happened to the Elarkans and Chidoh happen again…"

"Then we cannot be together, Sky. If you can't trust me, if you can't forgive my mistakes, if you expect me to be perfect, love cannot exist."

"… But…"

"Sky… What you did to me was very nasty. You took control over my brain and made me experience something humans are not supposed ever to experience. It was not nice, and it was not fair. Too much. I never wanted to use Lilian for pleasure without her consent. But you twisted my hormones so much, and you presented me with impossible choices along with all kinds of strange perversions. I couldn't win your test if we can even call it that. You set me up for failure. We can't do that to each other."

"… I'm sorry… I just…"

"I think you were so scared to make a mistake that you pushed me until I failed and until you had the justification to ditch me. You used the easy route to avoid dealing with your own feelings."

"…"

"Am I right?"

Of course, I was right. I was also very proud to be human today. What other race could have scolded an intergalactic space parasite this way?

But I had no interest in losing Skylar. I was just trying to make her understand how things worked down here.

"Look, Sky… I'm not sure how I feel about what you've done in the past. The scale of it is way beyond what I'm capable of judging, so I'm not going to condemn you for it. If I'm lucky, maybe I'll live until I'm 80 years old, so the fate of the universe is not mine to decide. It may be something for you and your people to manage and safeguard. Just thinking about time and space makes me dizzy."

"I… I understand…"

"What I do know is that you, above all else, deserve a bit of love. Despite your insane age, I don't get the feeling you truly experience it, and I'm willing to show you. I want to give you something that you'll be able to carry with you for the rest of your eternal life, something that will help you make future choices, something that will bring you some sort of balance, something that will help you distinguish good from bad. Something that you will share with your future copies. I believe you are well on your way to understanding what love means. But for that, you must trust me, and you must learn to trust yourself too."

"Mmm.. That's not going to be easy… I wiped out a full sector of this galaxy. I'm extremely dangerous."

"Chidoh did. Not you. Bah… Anyway, one day, you'll see, you'll meet one of your people again, perhaps one who had been under the influence of the Elarkan blood, and they will thank you for what you did. You have an eternity to redeem yourself."

"Redeem myself… I don't see how that's possible…"

"Hehe… You started already. Remember? You saved a child from that burning house. Start with something small, little things we can do together, and work your way up. I wouldn't mind being a hero, you know. Working at the firm during the day and saving people at night in the sexiest way."

"Alli?"

"Yes?"

"You are weird."

"Haha… I know. That's why you love me. Alright, Sky. Let's go back home now. Show me the way. I have no idea where we are."

"Okay… It's this way… 527 kilometers northeast."

"WHAT? Sky! Why do you always take us this far from home! It's unnecessary!"

"The Universe is over 94 billion light years wide… Do you realize how silly what you just said is, Alli?"

"Oh, shush! Just lead me to the nearest road, then. I'll have to use my boobs again to get us back home before I'm 80 years old."

"Ah, I won't mind making your chest bigger again… It was fun last time."

"Yeah… Silly parasite."

Epilogue - Random Isn't a Thing

"Mmmph!"

"Shhh, Alli! You always make noises when I'm watching the lottery."

"Mmmph!"

"No! You are wrong. This time I'll get it right. Last time I only overweight the influence of Venus' gravity. It was a rookie mistake."

"Mmmph!"

It's been six months since Skylar told me about her troubled past, and to me, it has been an amazing moment together. My space parasite decided to put her trust in me, after all, and I did the same. After that dramatic event, she showed me more and more about her past. She held nothing back. Often, when she showed me some alien worlds she had visited, it was a bit scary, but it was a humbling experience. Most of it was very positive experiences. The universe didn't belong to humans. If one thing, we were insignificant, even if very unique.

We had no more doubt about it; Skylar and I were in love and were a darn solid couple too. To make things easier, she lowered herself a bit more to my level, so she wasn't using her infinite knowledge to change my life, but I did my best to learn as much as I could about the different things she was showing me. My latest project has been to upgrade my kettle to make the water boil within two seconds, not what I could call a threat to the universe. Who knew we could do something like this by using some copper wire, a bit of chromium tape from old music cassettes? It just required some patience.

As for our love life, it has simply been a continuity. I was a pervert, and Skylar gave me a run for my money. She fucked me in every orifice on a daily basis and in all the most unusual locations. We continued to visit random houses around the city, we never got caught, and we built a list of some cool places. Some wealthy people were leaving mansions unoccupied for extended periods, so we used them as if they were our own. That was our reward for doing some good in this world.

Yeah, Skylar and I were heroes now. It's crazy what we can do when we have no limits. Just last week, we dismantled a drug and weapon network. I wasn't scared to be seen anymore when I was wearing my super sexy outfit and disrupting the bad guys' life. I was definitely the talk of the town. The police put a bounty on my head, but they didn't try very hard to get me as I wasn't doing anything else than helping them… a lot. The other day, we helped the firefighters again by walking into another burning house and rescuing someone. They didn't even try to stop us. They even thanked us instead.

But not everything was perfect.

Yes, I was well cocooned and fucked hard on the couch, enjoying my life to the max, but Skylar, as stubborn as before, was trying again for the millionth time to guess what the friggin lottery numbers would be. I had to give it to her; she was one perseverant parasite.

"Hmmmph!"

"Stop, Alli! I'm trying to listen!"

She jammed one large tentacle down my throat and blocked my airways completely. By regulating the oxygen level in my blood, she could keep me alive like this for a long time while fucking me hard, which was just so hot. I wanted more of this, always, and she knew it.

At least this lottery program only lasted a few minutes. I had no problem enduring it as long as I was sexually entertained. But I wished that Skylar didn't always try to share her passion for mathematics with me. It was always the same thing… She would tell me the numbers she predicted, and she would fail miserably.

It was kind of cute, though.

"Okay, Alli. If I get it right, I'll keep you encased during the whole weekend to celebrate."

"…"

Yeah, cute. She would have done it anyway because I kept asking her to.

"So, you'll see, Alli. Tonight, the numbers will be 03-07-21-23-41-48… I'm sure of it."

"…"

As if! But I didn't care because a million tiny needles had gripped my boobs and tortured me with love. I was in paradise. And because she had increased the sensitivity of my clit using the same technique, I didn't mind letting her soak in her delusions.

When the lady on the TV began to draw the numbers, I refocused a bit, though. Secretly, I still had a hope that I could get ultra-rich and leave my accountant job. Living in one of those luxury houses we borrowed wouldn't be too bad… I would love my own place.

"… And the numbers for tonight are… 03… 07… 21… 23… 41… and… 48! Congratulations to all our winners!"

"Haha! Alli! I KNEW IT. SEE! SEE! It was my fault all along. Stupid Venus gravity. Liquid iron cores are always so tricky to gauge because of the capillary action."

"…"

Capillary action? Well… I guessed I would be able to quit my job soon. But for the moment, Skylar had to fulfill her promise and keep me encased for a whole weekend of intense sex.

That was way more important.

Epilogue - Me, her, and our parasite

"Mmm!"

"Mmm!"

Lilian was such a good kisser. We've been at it for two days straight. Skylar had formed some sort of rubbery egg-shaped sack around us and had generously lubricated its inner layer. Both naked inside of it, Lilian and I had tons of sex and didn't know when we would be freed. It was a game we loved to play with Skylar.

Over a year ago, I won an incredibly large amount of money at the lottery, I left my job, and lived with Skylar in our new mansion just out of town. Shortly after leaving the office, I bumped into Lilian, our cute administrative assistant, at a local café. We had breakfast together, and it turned out that she was extremely friendly, and also very attractive.

She didn't know that Skylar had used her image and personality in the past to test me, something that we had agreed to be highly inappropriate after the fact. Even if we couldn't tell Lilian about it or even apologize as she wouldn't understand anything, we decided to invite her over to our place for a nice luxurious weekend. That was the least we could do for her.

We really had no intention other than to be nice to her, as a treatment for our hidden culpability. But one night during her vacation with us, this cute creature, driven by a friendly desire to have fun, sneaked into my room, into my bed, and she made me experience my first real lesbian sex. I had no idea she was playing for that team and that she had developed a serious crush on me during her short stay. Her actions really took Sky and me by surprise as we never had an intention to attract her under our blanket.

It was very challenging to conceal Skylar around Lilian, but we managed to do it for a while. Lilian was unsuspecting.

One night, though, after discussing this long and large with Skylar, we decided to tell her the truth. Since she was aware of a strange and sexy superhero intervening here and there in the city troubles, we started with that. I admitted that it was me and came out of the bathroom dressed in my sexy superhero outfit, the one I used to fight crime and save people. At first, she didn't know Skylar was my outfit, but after a few more months, we were confident enough that she would understand my motive for hiding my alien parasite. We remembered that loving is trusting, and we took the risk.

It paid off. Lilian, even if surprised at first, embraced Skylar as much as she embraced me, and as a perk, she quickly wanted her share of alien fun.

And this was, in a nutshell, why we were both encased inside this slimy egg, unable to escape and do anything else than having lots of hot sex. Lilian was a bondage beast, and so was I.

And this time, everything was consensual and sweet.

As it happened in my forced dream in the past, Skylar could connect to Lilian's brain and do the same to her as she could do to me, ranging from body mods to feeding to taking over our body. As long as we remained connected by a thread, it worked fine.

But then, Lilian admitted that she wanted to be controlled more and play as our slave for the kick of it, we were happy to oblige.

Apparently, she and Skylar had agreed to do that for my birthday next week. They would transfer my mind to her body, and Skylar would be taking possession of mine, all that while Lilian would only be able to observe and feel everything we were doing with her body.

That would be so fucking hot.

But for now, while we were prisoners of the cushioned egg, we could only appreciate how lucky we were.

Particularly me because yesterday Skylar had decided to give me back my 20 years old body.

What a rush…