Bioweapons
A secret agent's trial of a stolen weapon succeeds beyond his greatest hopes, but cannot prevent his own capture. (4500 words)
Bioweapons 2011 Gren Drake
A secret agent's trial of a stolen weapon succeeds beyond his greatest hopes, but cannot prevent his own capture. (4500 words)
The night was young with much of the daylight yet to fade. Above, not a cloud hung in the sky, not even in the furthest distance. Zark knelt in some bushes, concealed by their broad leaves as he focused the binoculars on the distant government complex. It was nearly a mile off, but a bit of fiddling with the binoculars allowed him to see it almost as if he were standing there. He didn't move the binoculars as he searched for a particular room, but rather used one hand to adjust the barrel of the Weapon. That was how he thought of the thing; it looked like an especially long rifle, only where the butt of it would have been it was connected to a large box, the controller. From this wires went out to the various components, including the binoculars he was using to aim it.
He knew the room would be visible from where he was. While still inside the complex he had made a point of stopping there to pick out somewhere from which he could he use the Weapon. The bushes had looked ideal sitting just outside a small groove of trees, out of sight, but with nothing blocking the line-of-sight for the Weapon.
Aha! He spotted her, unconcealed by the frameless window. She still had on some of her robes of state, the flowery, multilayered garment that screamed out her position and authority. She was facing away from him and, thus, he couldn't make out what she was doing, but that didn't really matter. Three of the four walls of the room were made of plexiglass so no matter what she did he would have a good view. And, more to the point, so would the Weapon.
He turned his attention briefly to the machine next to him, making sure the controller circuits where warmed up and ready before he directed its wide beam at the woman. Though normally invisible, the binoculars were tied in with the Weapon and so able to 'paint' the beam on their display.
I've got you now, you self-appointed queen of the world, he thought, watching her through the binoculars once more. Now, why don't you change into something a bit lighter...
The full length mirror leaning on the plexiglass that formed the walls of the room perfectly reflected the motions of her hand as she ran it through the long hair framing her flawless face. Fila knew she was was beautiful, that her appearance was without the slightest blemish or imperfection. Exactly as it should be considering the amount of biosculpting she'd had down over the course of her life. The techniques were, ironically, an offshoot of one of the One Nation's original bioweapons.
She spun before the mirror, her robes flaring up to reveal her incomparable legs and her unshod feet. A multitude of oils were necessary to keep them soft and delicate in the absence of footwear, but nothing less would do for the Anointed One of Those Who Came Before.
The robes were not her original design, but her first minister, Grud, had vetoed her design as inappropriate for someone of her position in about every possible way. Though she had the urge to overrule him as her word was the final law in the One Nation, rationality prevailed; what was the use in appointing a minister if she didn't listen to what he had to say?
As she continued to study her unparalleled beauty it occurred to her that she might doff some of the heavy robes to better see the flesh below which was no less flawless than that which was visible. Even before the thought had finished forming in her mind her hands where moving, undoing tiny, delicate buttons, snaps, and buckles. Buttons were slid from their holes and zippers were zipped no longer. One by one, the layers of her rubes fluttered to the floor, billowing outwards as they caught air within them before coming to rest, lifeless, on the ground.
Once more she twirled before the mirror, admiring her perfectly sculpted body. No flaws, no blemishes. Not the slightest mark marred her appearance. As she spun her feet stepped on the fallen robes, delicately crushing them unnoticed beneath her.
Turning, she favoured the pair of guard beasts near the single door with a smile. They were vaguely feline in shape, products of the same labs that'd created her own appearance, and had accompanied her through nearly every moment of her life, even to having joined her as pups in her crib when she was an infant.
Rafk and Bril where chained to a loop in the doorframe with chains so fine they looked more like fine cord, suitable as jewelry even for someone as exalted as herself, but which was, she'd been told, capable of resisting well over a thousand kilograms of force. Her minister would argue that her guardians were not enough protection here, in the observatory, but though the walls were plexiglass, they were said to be impervious to anything that wouldn't destroy the entire complex anyway and they were transparent only to visible light; x-ray and ultraviolet lasers would be absorbed by them. There could be no danger.
Both the animals watched her from where they'd stretched out on the floor, their fur neatly groomed and their bodies well-fed, but muscular rather than fat. They both showed a great interest in her activities, but they always did.
"So, what do you think?" She asked, neither expecting nor receiving a reply. With a laugh she turned to the window, staring out into the growing night. It remained dark to her; for all their prowess, the One Nation had not found a way of increasing night vision without unacceptable sacrifices.
Zark could hardly keep from laughing as he watched the queen of the world, the so-called Anointed One of Those Who Came Before, strip. She even spun around, giving him a good view of her from all angles.
It'd worked! He gave the machine next to him a pat. The best part was that it was their own weapon that had done it. The final component, a liquid compound that allowed the Weapon to have its effect, he had slipped into her food even as he'd fled the complex.
The compound had no symptoms and was nearly impossible to detect even when specifically looking for it. His superiors had found it only when one of the sacred leaders had gone berserk; the resultant autopsy had turned up the rapidly decaying traces, but they'd disappeared within hours. A few other still living staff had been found to have them as well and had been sequestered until the traces faded.
Despite its lack of symptoms, the compound did have one very important effect: it made the victim susceptible to the strange weapon he'd stolen. As long as he remained in contact with it he would be able to make 'suggestions' to appropriately drugged people. Its range limit was immense and it was nearly impossible to block the signal; even lead-lined concrete would only degrade it.
And he'd made her strip without her even realizing it wasn't her idea. According to the field manual, initial test subjects had refused to believe that the implanted ideas where not their own, despite being quite contrary to their nature and having explicit proof. No victim would be able to do more than say 'It seemed like a good idea at the time.'
He rubbed the machine as he considered what to do next. It was imperative that he get both it and the vials of the compound tucked into his belt pouch back to his superiors, but he couldn't help but want to do something more with it first, something that would truly devastate, or at least serious embarrass, the One Nation. More than the pictures of their oh-so-important Anointed One in the nude; she wasn't known for her modesty so such pictures would have more value amongst his own people than hers.
A video-out feed from the weapon was recording everything on a data crystal tucked into a wireless data transcriber in his belt pouch. Along with an electronic copy of the field manual, everything he focused the weapon on was being recorded for future review and study.
An idea came to him as he scanned the room, his eyes never far from the Anointed One. Maybe he couldn't do anything that would cause long-term harm, the room was singularly lacking in content and the plexiglass was capable of withstanding an out of control cargo truck crashing into it at speed, but there was one thing. It wouldn't harm her, physically at least, but the recording he'd get would be truly embarrassing for her and the One Nation.
He smiled as he prepared to 'suggest' another idea to his hapless victim.
It'd been several minutes since Fila had stripped out of her robes, leaving them to fall to the ground, and she was thinking it might be time to put them back on. As much as she loved the sight of her unblemished body, the growing night left a chill in the air that was starting to make her shiver.
She turned, bending over to reach for the robes where they'd landed on the floor. She wouldn't be able to get them all back on, not without several aides, but just one or two layers should be enough to fight off the chill. As she did this she caught Rafk and Bril, her guardian beasts, in her vision.
Seeing them brought an idea to mind. It was an idea that startled her with its suddenness, being unlike anything she'd thought of before, but it seemed a rather appealing idea none-the-less. Inspiring even.
She dropped the robes from her hands, instead walking towards the animals. As she neared them she crouched on all fours and approached the pair on their own level. Both were laying on their sides, watching as she came near.
"Would you like to do more than just look?" she asked them. Though they were unable to speak and no one was sure just how much they understood, she spoke to them quite regularly and had always felt they listened to her, if not always with comprehension. As she spoke, her eyes sought out their underbellies. The anatomy between their legs had more in common with canines than with the felines they otherwise resembled.
They didn't move much as she crawled between them, her body rubbing against theirs, enjoying the feel of their soft, short fur rubbing against her body. She sat back, freeing her hands to rub over the closer of the two, the dark-haired Rafk.
"Mmm," she said as she ran her hand over Rafk's belly, slipping it in between his legs and feeling the sheath between them. He wasn't erect in the slightest degree, but that was something she soon started taking care of as her hand fondled his sensitive flesh. Rafk didn't protest and, indeed, spread his legs apart so that she had greater access to continue her efforts.
Within moments he began to become erect, his vibrant shaft making an appearance from his sheath. She slid forward slightly, taking the exposed end of his shaft into her mouth. It was thin and dry and it pulsed with his heartbeat, become slightly more erect with every pulse. The dryness was quickly taken care of as she used her tongue to spread saliva over the sensitive flesh. It did get thicker as well as longer as she continued, but she knew it would never get as thick as a human's.
She looked up towards his eyes, searching them out as she could feel his heart beating faster in response to her efforts. He wasn't looking towards her, leaving her only to see the soft, dark fur that covered his body.
As she gave his shaft her attention she felt something brush against her bare buttocks. Occupied as her mouth was, she couldn't turn to look, but the need was gone moments later as she felt something warm and moist run over her flesh, sending a shiver through her. Bril, the other guardian, had moved behind her and was expressing his interest in that part of her. Having no objection, she spread her legs apart to make sure he had room for whatever his animal brain was planning.
Most of her attention remained on the shaft of flesh in her mouth; she could feel traces of Rafk's precum leaking onto her tongue, the bitter taste surprising though she didn't let it deter her. From the way his shaft had grown and the sounds he was making, she was clearly doing a good job despite her inexperience.
Bril's forelegs wrapped around her waist as he hoisted himself up onto her. She could feel his weight pressing down on her hips as he prodded at her, his own growing shaft trying to bury itself inside of her. The feeling as it bumped into her thighs and buttocks wasn't nearly as pleasant as she hoped the feeling would be when he actually managed to penetrate her.
She continued her efforts with Rafk, though Bril's continued efforts where increasingly distracting and the quality of her effort fell. Rafk didn't seem to mind very much, though he did turn his head to watch her.
Then Bril found his goal and thrust his well-grown shaft into her. As he penetrated her his thrusts only increased in speed, becoming more forceful and rapid. They caused her entire body to rock back and forth. The motion caused her lips to move across Rafk's shaft more and spread his precum over more of her mouth, making up a bit for the increased distraction having Bril buried in her was causing.
She'd never imagined that sex would be like this when she'd agreed to give it up to become the Anointed One.
The sensations Bril was sending through her body as he thrust into her were indescribable and distracted her from paying as much attention to Rafk as she might have wished, but as she watched him he showed no sign of objecting to her growing distraction.
As the pleasure caused by making out with her lifelong guardians increased she reflected briefly that making out with them was far more sensual and erotic than she would ever have imagined; her only regret about the acts she was committing was that she had never done so before.
She could feel herself clenching down on the shaft that was buried within her and she felt her body drawing closer and closer to its climax. A wave of raw desire ran through her, causing her to gasp just as her muscles tensed, Moments later she felt herself relax, a feeling of bliss descending onto her. What attention she had still had for Rafk faded, his erect member now standing free.
Fortunately for him, Bril reached his own climax then, his legs tightening around her waist, pulling himself tighter against her and burying himself more deeply within her. His claws scratched her belly and she felt his hot breath blow along her back as his shaft pulsed, unloading his seed into her. After a moment he twisted around, hoping off of her. A strand of semen remained, stretched between them.
Rafk didn't delay in circling around and mounting in the other guardian's place, thrusting hard into her. His motions were more vigorous, more eager, and she was all the more sensitive since her orgasm only moments earlier. His forepaws rubbed against her belly, his claws leaving scratches alongside Bril's as he seemed eager to reach his climax and be done.
Despite having just climaxed, Fila found she was enjoying Rafk's attentions all the more for not being distracted and was quickly pushing back against him, trying to bury him deeper into her. His ferocious lust was infectious, far more so than Bril's attentions had been, and she found herself almost as desperate for his climax as he seemed to be.
It didn't take long for him to reach his climax, his forepaws clenching tightly around her, digging into her belly a bit as he rammed himself against her rear, burying himself as deeply within her as he could. He growled softly, his breath coming in rapid pants, as he emptied himself into her.
She barely noticed his climax as his final thrust sent her over the edge once more, adrift in a sea of orgasm for long moments. She sighed as she felt him dismounting, disappointed that he was done even as she felt joy in the knowledge that this would not be the last time.
She joined the two beasts on the floor, wriggling between them as they licked themselves clean before settling in for a nap. Feeling their warm bodies against her and knowing their seed was buried deep inside of her she felt fulfilled in a way she never had before.
She drifted into sleep as she lay sandwiched between the two animals, not even noticing the transition.
Zark lay wide eyed and barely daring to breath in case someone heard him. He could hardly believe what he was seeing, what he was getting recorded. Thanks to the stolen weapon, he'd made Fila do something he couldn't imagine her ever doing on her own, or even willingly, and she wouldn't even realize it wasn't her own idea. Once his superiors had duplicated the weapon the possibilities would be endless!
Only, when he raised his eyes from binoculars he realized there was a problem and his heart sunk. He'd been so distracted watching the Anointed One's activities that he hadn't paid enough attention to his surroundings. A dozen armed guards stood around him, their weapons drawn and pointed at him. He stared at them, raising his hands in surrender.
As he raised his hands he twitched his fingers in a signal to his belt-pouch and the small recording crystal fell unseen into the bushes; should another agent of the Fallen Empire come this way it would ping them so at least the information would make it back, even when he himself could not.
"Mister Zark," one of the guards said. "No need to get up." Hands grabbed him from behind and dragged him to his feet. "We'll do that for you."
A chill ran through him; they knew who he was. No doubt they'd known what he'd done even before they saw the weapon. Like any sensible infiltrator he had used an alias the entire time he'd been here, including false identity papers. Had he been betrayed?
He was half carried, half dragged into the complex. A couple of guards brought the stolen weapon along behind him. Though the journey took only a few minutes, they were minutes that seemed agonizingly long. The only up side he could think of was that the One Nation did not believe in prisons. Whatever was to be his fate he would discover directly and there would be no wait before it was carried out.
The guard's destination was not encouraging. Buried in the very centre of the complex was the throne room, the very seat of the Anointed One herself. It was from there that she made her pronouncements and her judgements. He'd rather have been sentenced by an impersonal judge.
The throne room was a massive chamber, the distant walls adorned with tapestries which looked well aged, though they'd probably been designed with that look in mind. Above, the ceiling was almost invisible, the dark colour that it was painted only helping it blend into the gloom that hung in the chamber. A rather bland looking throne stood in the centre of the chamber surrounded by nine 'torches' with flame-shaped electrical lights.
Sitting on the throne was the Anointed One herself. She was wrapped in a simple robe, one, that is, that had less than a dozen layers and would not have required a small army to do up. The two guardian beasts lay placidly at her feet; he'd never seen any evidence that she went anywhere without them. No other creature quite resembled the guardian beasts of the One Nation and his superiors suspected that they had been artificially created. Zark felt himself flush as he thought about what he had, only minutes earlier, watched her doing with those animals.
"So," she said, drawing the word out. "So you are Mister Zark, secret agent for that slowly crumbling morass that calls itself the Fallen Empire. As if calling on the glories of the past increases your own. Grud has mentioned you several times during our hunt for you."
One of the guards stepped forward. "Indeed, Mistress. He-"
She waved him off. "I have been informed of his crimes. All of them." She looked down at him where he'd been forced to kneel before her. "So what do you have to say for yourself, mister Secret Agent?" From the way she said it, 'secret agent' was not intended as a compliment.
"I have nothing to say," he told her, his voice sounding stronger and more brave than he felt. There wasn't much he could say. He'd been caught stealing a bioweapon as an agent of a foreign nation; what defence was their for that?
"Very well," she said, shaking her head. If anything he would have said she looked disappointed. "Grud?"
A massive, over muscled and hairy man stepped forward. He looked to have as much in common with the animals at her feet as with the human species. A small faux-leather bag hung from one over-sized hand, a narrow spout on the end.
The guards on either side of Zark forced his jaws open as Grud tipped the bag, allowing a small quantity of liquid from the bag to flow into Zark's mouth and down his throat.
The Anointed One stood and stepped gracefully over her guardians to kneel before him, her head level with his own. She reached out, running a single finger along his nose, not quite touching his skin.
"Since you care so greatly for the comfort of my guardians," she said with a smile caught somewhere between being uncaring and outright malicious, "I thought you might care to join them." He could feel a tingling sensation run through his body as she spoke and he dared to look down, away from the powerful and beautiful woman right in front of him. Fur was started to sprout from his skin. His fingers were becoming stubbier, less flexible. "We can't use you as a guardian, of course, but that just means you'll have a life of leisure. You can help sire the next generation of guardians; hardly unpleasant work, I imagine?" With the last word she stood and turned away from him in a single, smooth movement. She took a step away from him.
She turned to look at him. "Oh, by the way, the trinket you tried to steal is rather less useful than you imagine. The controlling compound fades within a few days, leaving the subject immune there-after."
He stared at her as she resumed walking away from him. Even if he'd gotten home the weapon could never have been used on her again. Providing she was telling the truth, of course, and he couldn't see why she'd lie now.
"Mistress!" Grud stopped her as she reached the throne once more. "Your vows! Mister Zark has forced you to break them; he must redeem them."
The Anointed One laughed, turning the same callous smile on her minister that she'd given Zark only moments earlier. "Why goodness. Whatever are you thinking of? I vowed to never touch a man with lust; what man have I touched?"
"But-" he started.
"My guardians are not men. Besides, there is precedent." She looked at Zark for a moment, laughing again. "Bet you didn't know that!"
"But Mistress! Times have changed since then," Grud protested.
"Indeed," she said, starting to walk away once more. "We are more in control than ever; the people believe what we tell them to believe." Her guardians stood and followed her out of the throne room.
Zark could only stare at their retreating forms as he felt his own body being twisted by whatever compound had been forced on him. He didn't look at himself as the body he'd always known was changed into that of an animal, a beast.
After a while the guards dragged him away once more.
The changes ended up taking just over an hour, though it seemed as though it were rather longer at the time. They kept him in a cramped cage for the duration, though as soon as they judged the changes complete enough they took him to the 'courtyard'.
The courtyard was, indeed, largely enclosed by walls and at least partially inside of the complex. But did it really count as a courtyard when the shortest dimension was nearly a mile?
He spent the first couple of days pacing the edges. The courtyard was filled with a substantial population of guardian beasts, though not so many that it seemed crowded. Despite his initial fears about how they would react to him, they quickly proved quite friendly, at least as much so as they could being unable to speak.
Initially he had expected a long period of adjustment at best and he'd had no real expectation of ever really adapting to life as an animal, but he was surprised in this. When he looked back on it later he supposed it made sense what with the mind-altering weapons the One Nation had.
One particular female was especially welcoming and she had smelled so enticing that Zark had not resisted her advances. It bothered him a bit that he didn't know if she was a natural born guardian beast or someone changed like himself or even if it mattered.
Was it aiding and abetting the enemy if he helped breed the next generation of guardian beasts? It wasn't like there was a shortage of males; it would still get done if he refused. Still...
In the end he decided that he really didn't care. The Fallen Empire was unlikely to acknowledge him as the person he had been anyway so he might as well make the best out of his new life that he could.