Britannica braced herself against the forthcoming assault. Each of her muscle flexed under her skin-tight, red, white and blue uniform, making it feel even tighter, almost constricting. Belying her short size and slender allure, her body had turned to steel as she delved into her innermost reserves and summoned will and firepower to the rescue. Well, in this case, it would be a matter of will, mostly. She extended a leg backward, heel dug in. The rubber sole of her combat-stockinged foot squealed against the unyielding shiny metal plates that made up the ground of the warehouse. Her short black mane wavered imperceptibly, her deceivingly girlish face put on a ferocious smile, baring white, even teeth.

'Bring it on, you apes !', she groaned.

Barely a whisper, yet it echoed in the huge, ice-cold construct, sending ripples of unease into her adversaries. The closing circle of CY-Doms stopped for a moment, uncertain what to do, their primal, destructive programming fighting against the instantaneous perception of impending destruction. Long, cyber-boosted metal legs froze, armoured bodies hummed delicately as the ghosts in the machine rebelled against wave after wave of vengeful master bytes.

There was a low, ear-tickling sound as the conflict went on. Then it was over. Forty identical heads looked up, gleaming almond-shaped eyes focusing on their target. Tentacle-like dreadlocks rustled on statuesque backs. Deadly sharp fingernails clicked in unison, a hungry paean for the battle to come.

Britannica crouched down, one hand touching the ground, one clenched fist close to her breast, her uniform stretched to breaking point as she extended her leg further backward, bringing her crotch almost level with her heel. The all-embracing, shiny material felt strange on her power-filled, molecular-sensitive skin, and for a moment she swayed between claustrophobia and relief. Deep within, her transforming self cried out for nakedness and the raw, electrifying touch of physical reality. Her whole body hungered for the abundance the world offered, so many manifestations out there to explore, so many energies to merge with, pump in and bleed into. So much to shape and pattern as her fancy would have it. So much. Including herself...

The lull persisted. Tension reached a paroxysm.

Freedom. To be herself at last. But the cute, young office girl in her still balked at taking the blind leap. Sought shelter behind doubts and fears. Refuge in a costume. However gnawing the hunger, however deep the thirst, she still felt the need for some tangible evidence of protection. No way she would find herself naked and helpless ever again. In that the costume helped. But neither could she hide inside forever. She knew. She felt.

There was an imperceptible rustle in the air.

She focused.

Then all heel broke loose.

A hurricane of thrashing limbs engulfed her, cold armour against supple rubber-covered flesh, bent on destruction. Britannica leaped and found herself hovering for a second over the melee, before gravity claimed her again and she landed feet first onto the head of an assailant. The point of her joint feet snapped the skull open, and a shower of static sparks burst out as she slashed clean through the hapless Dom, tearing an arm out in the process. The attack was lost in the confusion and she had time to down three more with unforgiving leg thrusts before the
swarm realised their prey had escaped and targeted her again.

Britannica took a quick breath and double-flipped backward, the suddenly electric air brushing her torso and backside with a slight crackling sound. Having won a few yards' respite from the next wave, she looked up and spotted a huge chain hanging out from a crane just above. She crouched again and give her upper lip a hungry lick as three killer Doms raced towards her, heads first, claw-like fingers spread wide. She jumped just as they made a grab for her, used the backs of their necks as a stepping board and stretched gloriously towards the cable. Adrenaline rushed through her body as she reached out, made her feel invincible. She could pull it out, no sweat !

Something hard and supple at the same time coiled around her right ankle. Her hands clasped on nothing and she was jerked back towards the waiting mob. Britannica just had time to see the thin cable that had twisted itself around her ankle and seemed to be crawling up her legs of its own accord while two strong hands pulled her back towards the ground. She twisted in mid-air, made a somersault and landed on metal shoulders. Her skin registered the inhuman cold of the material despite the protection afforded by her suit, and she shivered inside. Her thigh muscles contracted painfully as she reached out again for safety. She was at mid-distance between the ground and the crane when two more cables whiplashed against her left arm and wrists and started wrapping them up. She tugged, her flight broken. The first cyber serpent had now twined itself solidly around her leg and was reaching for her waist. She turned aside, trying to bring more strength into her pull, but this turned out to be a bad move as several more cables sprung up and grabbed her now open waist and torso. Britannica cried out as they squeezed her flesh mercilessly and proceeded to lace her body into submission. She saw in a blur an inverted rain of living metal flashing towards her, whipping her limbs, probing, crawling and coiling around her like the hair of Medusa. She gave one last reflex twist and let inertia carry her aside and down to the ground where she crashed with bone-breaking violence.

The world had started spinning madly and she felt nausea rising. She took a deep breath, gritted her teeth and rolled over. More tentacles grabbed her and she felt her legs being pressed together as if they should merge. Her uniform squealed in protest as it was forced into her flesh. She started to slide down towards the rising metallic clamour, a modern-day mermaid brought to shore by nightmare fishing creatures. She clawed the ground under her but the smooth surface offered no catch. She felt her breast constricted as more restraints wound themselves around her torso and pinned her left arm against her side. She tried to reach for them with numbing fingers but the cables reacting by shifting slightly and she let out a shocked gasp as her arm was brought backward and fastened alongside her back, just above her buttocks. With one arm free now, she writhed desperately, now using her elbow to stop the drag, now tugging at the bonds with a vengeance.

Her last hope vanished when some of them lashed viciously at her fingers, swaddled them hungrily and flashed up her arm like demented monster ivy. Britannica's scream of rage and distress was lost in the renewed clamour of her victors who shouted and jeered in their strange, soulless way at the defeated heroin. With both arms and hands now strongly tied behind her back, the young woman could only thrash out feebly with her bound legs. She soon had to give even that up when she realised each show of resistance only serve to tighten the bonds enveloping her body. She saw the wall and a possible exit recede to the shadow as she slid on the ground, her breasts squashed under her own weight and the pressure of the cables.

Then she was lying motionless on the ground. All noise had stopped. She looked up to a host of dead, expectant-looking faces. With the last of her strength, Britannica rolled onto her side, curled up into a ball, and pushed against the ground with her head until she could stand on her knees. She felt her flesh throb under her uniform and sweat starting to run past her wet hairline down her temples. She sniffed in disgust.

'So, looks like you bunch of big girls finally managed to get hold of a single girl. Not bad for mishappened mechanics !', she sneered.

One of the CY-Doms moved forward. Her shadow loomed over Britannica, her eyes two beads of lights.

'You have been a nuisance to us', the Dom said evenly. She produced a small jellyfish-like creature as she spoke.

'Wha… ?', Britannica started as she saw the strange life-form squirm in her hand.

'And you speak too much.' The creature jumped out and plastered itself onto her mouth.

'Hwwmmpppphhh !!'

She shook her head wildly and pressed her lips tight against the invading parasite but however hard she resisted, the « jellyfish » would not let go of her mouth. Her whole body shuddered and she gasped in pain under the renewed punishment of the cables. Her lips parted slightly and the creature rushed in, weighing against her tongue, filling her mouth, pressing against her teeth.

'Hmmmm !!!' Panic rose and she breathed through her nose in a panic. The thing slipped a tail back out and spread it into a thin membrane which came to cover her lips in a crushing embrace. Britannica lost her balance and fell backward, landing awkwardly on her back, her bound legs and thighs caught under her.

Reality dimmed suddenly.

'Take her to the Nexus', she heard a voice say, like a receding echo in her head.

She was unconscious by the time two strong hands lifted her and one of the Doms shoulder-carried her out of the warehouse.

*

Britannica came to with a groan that resounded in her throat and sent dull vibrations down to her stomach. She breathed in and opened groggy eyes. She was lying curled up on the floor in a dark room, the only source of light coming from somewhere above and bathing her body in a circular pool of light. She raised her head and tried to appraise her situation. Her arms, hands legs and ankles were still tightly bound in a web of cyber-cables and she felt the moist, squelchy substance of the organic parasite pressing against her tongue and palate, filling her mouth and sealing her lips. She uncurled softly and tried to shift her hands. She felt the tell-tale pressure of her bonds threatening to tighten up at the slightest sign of struggle. She relaxed her sore muscles as best as she could and slowly brought her right elbow under herself. She propped her weight against it, gathered her legs to her and carefully rose to a sitting position. She felt a small tremor coursing around her body as the cables quivered but nothing worse happened.
The room was silent but she could distinctly feel a presence around her. The Cyber-Disseminated Organism Manifestations had not left. They were waiting. Their anticipation was almost palpable, tiny electric currents flowing erratically within the confines of the room, resonating with her own suit, covering her skin in static goose-bumps.

She waited.

The circle of light started to expand and she felt (more than heard) a rustle around her. The room around her came out of the darkness. Britannica found herself sitting at the centre of another high-ceiling warehouse-like construct. Hosts of CY-Doms surrounded her, standing by the walls, on platforms and metal footbridges. The place was empty, except for a huge, ovoid form looming over her a few yards away. It glowed slightly, like a fantastic egg about to hatch, she thought.

A low, guttural hum started to fill the space, an almost imperceptible vibrato that seemed to hover around the egg, wrap it, bump against it then flow back to the CY-Doms. Britannica watched in fascination as the glow intensified. She tensed instinctively, her stomach vibrating in unison to the now throbbing environment.

The egg seemed to waver, its edges dissipating in a preternatural glow, like an inverted event horizon, leaking liquid light rather than absorbing it.

A point at the centre of the egg irradiated intense light. The young heroine blinked but kept staring. The light seemed to flow, whirl and concentrate around a small nexus that grew steadily until it assumed a humanoid shape. Then it moved forward. Towards her.

Britannica cringed. She brought her legs up to her chin. Never before had she felt so utterly vulnerable. Yet she could not avert her eyes from the apparition, like a mouse paralysed by a basilisk's stare. The shape extended what could now be called an arm and more light oozed from it, flowing onto the floor and running towards her. She gave a start and flung herself back. Strangely the bonds did not tighten their grip on her, as if they too were affected. She grew bolder and dragged herself a couple of yards away. The poodle of light extended dramatically in size until it came to lick at her feet.

'Hmmff !!'

The light swaddled her feet and ankles and the side of her legs like a rising tide of living light. She shook herself free, only to notice that the fabric of her uniform had been somehow eaten away, leaving her feet bare against the warming floor. The cable tying her ankles had also disappeared and before she had time to realise she felt all the cables coming alive and snaking away from her. She made to crawl on numb limbs, panic rising in her throat. The organic gag itself seemed to be coming loose. She threw a feverish hand at it, gripped with a vengeance and tore it out of her mouth. The thing scuttled away before she had even been able to throw it.

'Ahhh !!'. Her horse cry of relief almost died in her throat as she turned to see a wave of light rising above her. She threw herself sideways but not fast enough to escape the flow. Her right leg, side and part of her back and belly were submerged in warm, radiant matter. There was no pain but instinctive fear of alienness ruled her as she struggled frantically to get free. She gasped as she drew out naked limbs from the writhing mass. She rose to her feet and prepared to leap away when a new wave caught her on the side and she rolled down to the ground. Her head came up to the 'surface' and she half-swam, half-crawled her way to safety. The light clung to her like soft jelly, pressing against her skin, enveloping it more pressingly. She raised herself on stretched arms. Her naked breasts came and stomach came out painstakingly but her legs were definitely caught in the mass. She clawed at it angrily, fear and anger merging into deadly strength. More waves assailed her as she fought back. She could not move her legs or waist any longer. She turned her head, trying to free her hand. Something caught her on the side of her face and she went under.

Britannica felt herself being swallowed. The living light suffused her, like millions of gloved hands swarming across her body, embracing her, caressing her, making her their own. Once again she felt her limbs being pressed together, arms along her legs. The matter seemed to constrict against her until she was cocooned in it. Still she could breathe and feel, smell even. But she could not see or speak. She felt she was lifted up in the air. Then she lost all notion of time and space.

'Accept me', a voice cooed in her mind.

*

She did not know if she had lost consciousness once again, or if time had simply ceased to be.

The world was silent.

The light was everywhere.

She was tightly held in a cocoon of light. She could not see yet she saw herself, an improbable chrysalis suspended in the air in the middle of nothing.

'I am the Nexus', the form said. 'You need not fear me'.

The top of the cocoon slid down and freed her hair, eyes and nose. She watched, bemused, as the being assumed the shape of a CY-Dom, long tentacle-like hair sweeping her back and buttocks. Her face seemed to be made of flowing gold, her shapely armoured body rippled with energy.

'You need not fear me', it/ she repeated. Her hand reached to her waist and slowly came up to her breast, sucking in the fabric that encased her. She took a naked nipple between two fingers and stroke it delicately.

'Hmmmm….' Britannica squirmed in her cocoon, torn apart between anguish, astonishment and sheer embarrassment.

'Yes', the Nexus said silkily. 'I know you can feel it. Feel me.' Another hand brushed against her thigh, cupped a buttock, always revealing more bare skin.

'Accept me, young human', she said.
Britannica felt her heart hammer against her ribcage, threatening to burst free. Her brow was covered with a fine sheen of sweat and she felt an almost painful hunger in her stomach, a want that made her feel like crying out.

'If you would just let go', the Nexus whispered, her liquid lips closing on her imprisoned mouth. Her hand moved down from her breast to her belly, trailing heat in its wake and came to nestle into her crotch. Light parted before the soft touch, palm and fingers cupped the dark shadow of her pubis, probing softly, seeking entrance.

'Hmmmmmfff…. !!!!' Britannica's whole body arched, muscles like twisted iron, feet pointed, toes curled up.

'Yesss…', the Nexus breathed encouragingly. Britannica' s mouth came free.

'NO !!!!', she yelled.

The sound ripped through the dimensional fabric of the place, shattering everything on its path. Reality wavered. The shock wave blasted the Nexus away. Britannica was flung into space, cart-wheeling, her limbs coming free and thrashing about as if she were a rag doll blown away by a storm.

She was on her knees on the ground. Only there was no ground, only the void, and she had not fallen. There had been no thud, no pain. She gave nervous looks around her, panting heavily. Some of the cocoon had clung to her waist. She grabbed it and tried to tear it off. The matter reacted by swallowing her hands. She snatched them away in alarm. The light smothered her wrists and upper arms and solidified once more in a tight restraint.

Britannica tugged and tore at it, in vain.

'Why are you fighting ?' a voice asked.

She turned and froze. Tony was looking at her, mild concern filling his beautiful eyes.

'Tony… ?', she gasped. 'What… what are you doing here ?? Help me ! No, run… !'

'Why run ?', he asked, looking at her fondly.

She felt a hot blush rise to her cheeks. She brought her hands down, trying to cover herself. Of all the times, to meet him here, and she had to be butt-naked !

'Why hide ?', he asked. 'You have a beautiful body. Don't be ashamed of it'.

'Tony, I…', she stammered. 'Please don't look. I don't know what's happening…'

'Of course you do', Tony said, reassurance pervading his voice. He stepped forward.

'What… What do you mean'. She kept tugging feebly at the fabric around her arms.

'Is it not what you wanted ? What you secretly yearned for ?' he continued, squatting in front of her.
'Wanted… ?'

'Is it not a relief, to be free from this uniform and the burdens it carries ?' He took her chin between two fingers, never allowing her to look away.

'No…', she said, 'no, no I don't…'

'Is it not good to feel helpless, to be nothing but naked desire ?' He lifted her face to his. The hunger was returning, burning inside her with renewed intensity. 'Is it not what you wanted all along, to be taken and offered and opened ?' He rose to his feet and she followed effortlessly. 'Doesn't it appeal to you to have nothing but desire to clothe your skin ?' She shuddered. The light round her waist moved up, covering her belly like the finest corset, enhancing her naked breasts, outlining her dark triangle. 'To have nothing to oppose but a hungry mouth and quivering legs ?' Her arms came up above and behind her head. The light flowed from her bound wrists, down her neck, slid under her armpits and fastened around her torso, pushing up her breasts and erect nipples.

'Nnnnn….'

Her heart was reaching breaking point. She could hear the blood racing through her arteries, stretching the veins, suffusing her nerve tissues. She hiccuped.

'Haven't you waited long enough for your white knight ?', he whispered in her ear. Through half-closed eyes, Britannica saw his beautiful face, the long hair, the white flowing shirt and black trousers, the sword tapping against the shiny riding boots.

She arched back till her spine was ready to break. Her legs quivered and opened, making way for him. His lips were on her nipple, suckling and teasing maddeningly. She throbbed achingly as he slid in, invading her deeper self, submerging her till pain and pleasure meant nothing any longer.

'Yesss…', he egged her on, breathlessly.

Britannica tensed suddenly.

'Accept me', the Nexus said.

'NOOO !!!!'

Reality burnt out. Britannica landed hard on the metal floor of the warehouse, each cell in her body crying out in outrage. Just before her, the Nexus was rising to unsteady feet, smoke and static sparks surrounding her.

'You are far stronger than I thought, Daughter of Camelot', it said in a voice that was steadily losing all human touch. Its shape wavered, shifting from female to male, human to bestial.
'I must have you.'

'What for ?!', Britannica shouted defiantly, rising to the menace. Her naked body pulsed with an energy almost equal to that of her adversary. 'What are you afraid of ?'

'I am the Source', the Nexus said, englobing the waiting CY-Doms with an outstretched arm.. 'I must breed strong children. You will be the mould for the next generation.'

'Not a chance, queenie', she spat. She stepped forward, fists at the ready.

'You will', the Nexus boomed. It lost all shape, reverting to a huge liquid halo of light. 'You must'.

The tide engulfed her with dizzying speed. She felt the Nexus toppling her into space again, the warm, enervating substance that was her essence racing across her naked flesh, invading her pores, drinking her and letting herself be drunk. Britannica thrashed about madly, fighting the invasion. It was a battle of wills, hers against the Nexus, her determination against her clamouring body thirsting for more feelings, more sensation. Every nerve, every erogenous zone was assailed, broken into, suffused. Her breasts and buttocks were sending alarm signals, her legs burning with cramps, her mouth drowning in the warm substance while her belly was consuming itself into a chaos of nervous overrides.

This was a losing battle…

She could not give up…

She let out a primal cry.

*

A series of knocks echoed through the ceiling. Susan raised a sweaty, dishevelled head from the jumble of pillows that smothered her face. She tried to move and realised with a start that she was pinned to her mattress. She looked around frantically. The Nexus was nowhere to be seen. Her bedroom was still in the dark but the early morning light was starting to pierce through the curtains. She glanced at her clock. Red figures. 7.30. Sat.

Damn !

She shifted. Somehow she tossed and turned into her sleep until she had wrapped herself into her sheets. Cocoon-like. Even her mouth had barely slipped from free from the embrace of slightly moist fabric, allowing to cry out. She flexed numb fingers, trying to locate her hands. One arm had slipped behind her back, she could feel the top of her buttocks and the small of her back. The other was caught under her belly. She flexed some more. Found her moist hair. Squirmed.

'Hmmmm…', she moaned as a delicious shiver ran through her spine.

With no Nexus around, she did not need to fight, did she ?

****

 

© Nathan Dayspring/ Tish Summers, 2004/05
© Tish Summers, 2004/05