"Sarah . . . Sarah . . . Come on, come back to us now . . . Please . . .?" That pretty voice just keeps talking, whoever it is. It sounds and feels so very far away, a million and more miles away . . . but in a good way, somehow the best of ways . . . the only way that could ever matter.

"Come on, Patina . . . You need to come out of this . . . You're the one with a clue of what you're doing . . . of what we were going to be doing . . ." The second voice sounds a little more insistent but neither of them seems especially important. Afterglow is so much more important. Just feeling good and warm and melty . . . The hot needy feelings are all gone but maybe that's just because my body feels all used up. I don't feel sore . . . I feel more like my libido just got a really good workout.

It's the weirdest feeling. If it felt any different it would probably be alarming, but as it is it's almost soothing! My body feels rejuvenated as if I actually got the sleep I skipped. Masturbating - or whatever I should call that - has either not felt that good in a long time or never has.

Maybe masturbating with sparks felt as good but I sincerely doubt that. Whatever happened made all of my body feel so much more sensitive than it ever has. Mmm I'll need more of that someday.

The ship makes a loud sound all around me, and then there's a loud hissing sound. A few moments after that the air doesn't smell nearly as good, but I'm starting to feel little by little more complex as things start to come back together. I feel wet and sticky, more than a little sticky too, but I don't feel any compulsions to obey. The only compulsions that I was feeling before were driven by my own desire and not any subliminals or things like that. It just felt like my own sex drive and then it quieted down afterwards.

My head feels normal. It feels better than normal. "Wow. Let's take this shuttle everywhere. There's gotta be more space stations we'll need to visit. You know - to save the world. This would definitely be the best way to get us there. That's my vote."

"Patina?" Pandora's voice, I think, sounds oddly confused. She sounds the sort of confused where she's sure the world is supposed to be going to hell but for whatever reason it just isn't. Good for her.

"You're all thinky again and we didn't need to do anything to you? No smacking you upside the head, no screaming for an hour . . . you just cum and poof you're back to normal instantaneously?" Aureus sounds disbelieving and I don't really blame her, but . . . I do feel perfectly fine. Better than fine. If I could do this instead of sleeping then I don't think I would need a bed anymore.

Nodding I look around and slowly blink my eyes. For a minute or so there my vision was so fuzzy but now I can see and everything feels just fine. "It doesn't feel like it usually does when something goes into my head. Usually I can feel something pulling me, directing me, or pinning me down at least. This felt more like just letting go and being a servant of myself, or something like that, but that's a bad description seeing as how I can, you know, actually end up being enslaved by an alternate version of myself."

Both of them stare at me and I can't get myself to stop laughing. I'm not sure if I've ever heard anything more amusing or if I'm just easily amused thanks to all of the endorphins. I was already seduced by myself once, and took control of myself once for a brief period of time, so the sky is the limit on that!

Nothing will make you feel more split from standard definitions of reality than trying to think logically about something that shouldn't be able to happen.

"Well . . . If it's all the same to you, I'm going to be cautiously pessimistic. If you start acting crazy or suddenly obeying some random hidden compulsion . . ." Aureus smacks the back of one golden hand into the palm of the other and I can't help but shudder. Ouch.

"You know what? I think you just scared any lingering post hypnotic suggestions away."

"Good." She grins, and I'm not sure if it's a serious grin or a mischievous one. All I know is that I do not want to feel that metallic fist enjoying itself against any part of my body. "I'd hate to think I was losing my touch."

The ship around us shakes a little bit more, and then slowly settles into something. It's a hard feeling to describe, but it's a lot like when a rollercoaster stops moving. I hate the damned things, but I got suckered into my fair share of them before I learned that. A part of it reminds me of when my mother would have to drive us down gravel roads and then we'd stop on hard cement.

All of us must be thinking it, but Pandora is the one that speaks up. "We've stopped. We must be inside now, huh?" If we're finally here then it's finally time to get up and kick some ass.

Kicking ass isn't something that I do often but I'm not sure if we'll be left with any other choice at this point. Turning the whole world into perfectly controlled little slaves is not a pardonable offence. That's the kind of thing where they throw away the key and feed you through a small little slit in your door.

That is, if they let you live.

None of us seems to be ready to make the first move. I'm sure as hell not ready. I've never done something like this before. The closest was with Yanta and I remember how well that wound up.

Heather walks past us with her fellow slave. In their hands is the same box as before. "We've arrived, Domina! You may follow us if you wish to inspect the final work being done on The Spear, or after depositing the box we can return to bring you to your briefing room. Which would you prefer?"

Okay, I take back what I said before. Even if I was in a deeply involved relationship I can see the sick perverted delight in being called Domina by a bunch of slaves. If you already need slave laborers you mine as well make them into perks instead of something to groan about. Why not treat them like sex objects after all?

"We'll follow you to the spear, Heather." Reaching down I start to click open the restraints and finally stand up. My whole body feels stiff, but still tingling. "By the way, what happened earlier . . .?"

"Are you still dazed from the gas, Domina? Was I in error that you wanted something to make the flight a little better? Did you not wish your companions to enjoy it as well? Whenever you brought other project heads or potential project heads besides Doctor Raine you requested the gas, I apologize if I was in error." Heather's face does show a deeply apologetic slant.

If that was the Argentum Project's idea of in flight entertainment I'd love to be invited to one of their parties! Then again, knowing the woman who started the project, maybe I wouldn't.

Nodding I yawn and stretch, arching my body this way and that to start to feel a little bit more solid. "Just a little. You know sometimes it can get to me . . . And I would rater show my associates the Spear of course. So, I'll just follow you two cute little worker bees. Aureus, Pandora, if you would be so kind as to accompany me? I think you'll be quite delighted in the result."

My own grin must be too realistic, because Pan and Aureus noticeably wince as they stand up. Once Heather and company start to walk I fall back between them with a sigh. "Sorry. I just don't want to take any chances. Sure, we took one talking flippantly in front of them before but plus, well, it's fun to pretend to be your evil self a little. I figure we can find some way to sabotage the spear, and then go wait for them in their lounge. If either of you have any better ideas though, I would be more than happy to hear them."

Pan just shakes her head and watches the two drones walk as we start to follow. "Nah, sounds like a good plan. Everything has worked out so far, I should be back home to check on mi familia in no time."

"Yeah . . . It has been working out pretty good so far." Aureus's voice sounds worried and I don't blame her. The only reason I'm not worried is that I can't be worried. I have to stay focused. I have to get this done right and done quickly. There's too much at stake to let a little lack of confidence ruin everything.

We follow them out of the shuttle and into the actual Argentum Array and . . . it's impressive. The corridors remind me of so much and at the same time nothing at all. All of the walls are painted an off white that looks close to nonmetallic silver. Occasional windows that can't be any kind of glass I've ever seen before show us the earth and the cosmos. The planet really is so small and blue. I'd always thought the earth would look more brown or green, but I can see why everyone insists it looks blue.

The clouds give it a gorgeous smattering of white. It should look more impressive to me, but I must be jaded with all that's happened. Jaded . . . I wish that Jade could be here to see this. She would appreciate it . . .

Our mindless tour guides stop in front of a pair of large doors that lock together in the middle. They set down the crate only momentarily to press a button on either side in perfect unison, and the middle circle slowly uncoils, before the two doors pull apart. Inside is the most amazing apparatus I have ever seen.

Most of the station I've seen so far has metal plating on the floor. Leading in to what must be the spear is a catwalk only wide enough for maybe two women and a large piece of equipment between them. As it continues it slowly moves upwards to encircle the spear apparatus at several points that seem more open than the rest of it. My vocabulary isn't big enough in any technical field to describe it, but it looks like a giant generator with millions of connecting parts and varying mirrors and . . .

This is beyond me.

"Mierda!" Pandora's voice rises up well over anything I've heard it do to date, even her moans, and I can't say I blame her. It is an amazing sight to put it lightly. "What the fuck are we supposed to do to stop that?!"

"We don't." Aureus sighs and we all step in a little further to get a closer look. "We can't destroy it. That would ruin everything. What we need to do is . . . find some way to . . . alter it. If we could tweak it just enough so that we could stop it from working without being obvious . . .? Anything else would throw up too many red flags. If we break it, they'll just push back their plans. If they put it all out and then it fails, they would be taken off guard."

I nod and slowly look around. The Domina must have researched this for years to get it all planned out just right. It would probably take me twice as long to find some way of sabotaging it.

The smallest mistake now and the entire world becomes The Domina's toy box . . .

Wait a second, why the hell am I afraid of taking care of this? We're a team - I can't be expected to do everything. I'm the leader, so it's my job to make sure we use our various skills to the fullest. "Aureus, you seem to have a much better understanding of how all of this works. I understand their team better, so I think you should stay here and sabotage the spear. Pandora and I can set up a lovely surprise in their own briefing room."

Pandora grins. She's been waiting for this, and I'm embarrassed to admit that I have too. Aureus nods firmly and starts to look over it a little bit more closely. "It won't be easy, but I'll do my best. Once I have all of this done I'll try to meet you there. I don't want to miss my chance at a rematch."

"Heh, we'll try and leave you some scraps!" Pandora's confidence in our likelihood of success makes me feel a lot better. With her at my side I should be a lot harder to take down.

Hopefully we won't even need to worry about that, but we can't hope that if it happens we wind up on top . . . "Then come on Panny-girl, we've got a party to prepare . . ."

She nods and we leave Aureus behind. The doors seal behind us and a deep part of my stomach twists. If something happens to Olivia I'm just not sure if I'll be able to forgive myself. She's become my friend, my lover, and my partner in all of this. What if I'm really not fit to command? It is a distinct possibility.

"Come on Patina! We can kick some ass and save everyone, you'll see! Don't worry about it so much!" This is the first time I've noticed just how young she really is. I can't tell her exact age but she can't be more than twenty. I'd be surprised if she was twenty.

Nothing about Pandora lacks spunk or passion. Was that me when I was twenty? Can that be me again?

"You bet." A grin has never felt so good . . . now here's hoping the future's events won't make it hollow.

"Every corridor looks the same, I swear! You'd think if they built it in a year it would be smaller or something, but no, it's fucking huge! All of their directions assume we know where things are . . . If you really were The Domina, at least we wouldn't be lost!" Pandora is one hot walking companion, but she's definitely not the most patient.

With a groan I turn to look at another door. Once again the number is just a little off from the one I want. I think we're in the right section this time at least. "We'll be there, we'll be there . . . If anything, this just gives Aureus more time to break everything into place."

Pandora grumbles. I can't really blame her. We must have spent a half an hour getting lost and turning around on ourselves. At least we never walked into The Spear's room twice.

It would be hard to pull off getting lost that badly. No other set of doors are nearly as intricate.

"A-ha! Fifty one! Pandora, we're finally here!" With a grin I reach out and press the shining red button on the panel beside the sliding metallic door. It opens up with a satisfying rush of air, but the sight inside is not nearly as satisfying.

Inside is very gorgeous. There's a long table with plenty of chairs. The walls are covered with gorgeous tapestries and there are even a few plants here and there. How they can keep plants alive in space I don't want to consider. It makes them sound far too impressive compared to what I'm prepared to think I can stop.

At the end of the table closest to myself, is Alyssa. She's sitting at the end of the table dressed only in a single ribbon. It wraps down between her legs, carefully over her breasts just over her nipples, crossing over, with a bow at the very center of her chest. Hanging from a collar around her neck is even a small little bent piece of cardboard that looks much like I've seen on a large amount of gifts.

"Who the hell is she, Patina?" Pandora's voice is shaky. Once again I can't really blame her reaction. It's taking every bone in my body not to twitch, shake, or whimper.

I clench my fists to regain my composure. The revealed curves of Alyssa's breasts, and her twitching, shuddering thighs are distracting me from what I need to be worried about. "That . . . is Alyssa. She's the one who got us the information about the Array. She's the one who got us our flight on the shuttle . . . She's the one . . . who lead us right where they wanted us to be . . ."

"But . . .! If they wanted to stop us, why didn't they do something in the shuttle?!" Pandora's voice is panicked. I step closer to Alyssa. Alyssa's eyelids are fluttering and behind them her eyes are rolled back to the point where they seem almost wholly white. Her hair is tied up and makes it so easy to see her creamy shoulders. Damn it. Why did my informant need to be so delicious?!

"Think, Pandora. If we resisted in that shuttle we could have damaged it. In here . . . They can perfectly control the situation and I doubt that there is any way that we could stop them. You're immune to most of their tricks I'd like to think, Aureus too . . . but not me. I'm just immune to one." Reaching down, I open up the gift tag and read.

To: Lucia Colloten. From: Sarah LaSilvas. I hope that this gift reaches you in high spirits and then smashes them. The entertainment will be in shortly to deal with any party poopers. I want to deal with you myself.

The doors open but there's no way I could be quick enough to do anything about it. In the door way stands a woman with hair I can only describe as a fusion of purple and pink. Her uniform is black with red trim - a knee length skirt and a low cut top. Gloves go without saying. The other woman is dressed in a matching outfit, only white and ice blue. Her hair is a very bright white with just enough of a blue hint to make it look how cartoons draw icy landscapes.

Ember and Mourning Frost are both blocking our exit, and they're gunning for Pandora. "Pan, get d-!" Before I can even finish trying to warn her Frost holds out her hand and a wide brick of ice smashes right into the center of my chest. It doesn't kill me, but it knocks me right on my ass.

Pandora stares at me a moment too long. She doesn't have time to see Ember raising her hands above her head, slowly twirling her palms around each other, and then forcing them out towards Pan. A strong gout of flame dashes towards her, shaped like a dragon. It's maw opens wide, and closes around her once it envelops her.

"It's too late, Patina . . . Pyria's flame will use your friend's own to burn away at her mind . . . and her soul . . . until she is nothing more than a conduit of obedience." Ember's voice is so full of desire and lust, but not sexual. It's a raw thing, stronger than anything I've ever felt before.

Inside of the flame, Pandora doesn't stop screaming for a moment. Her body shudders and twitches, twisting and grinding against nothing as the flame laps at her. Her moans are far more sexual than anything I could imagine. Slowly her clothes are burned away, and her body begins to yield to the flames as well. They cup slowly around her breasts, and inside of her between her legs. The flame moves through her hair, into her eyes, her open mouth and her ears . . .

It really is consuming her! For a moment the flames change from the color Ember threw at her to something more purple, more like Pandora's own, but only for a moment, like a flicker or a puff of smoke compared to a bon fire. Her legs begin to part as her screams grow louder, and I can only imagine how she feels.

It must feel so intense, those flames burning her away so deeply. Ember's fingers keep dancing as the flames lap over her body, and there seems to be a subtle connection between them. They don't move the exact same way, but it seems like they take guidance from her. This isn't her first time melting a woman down to nothing but a body, and that makes her as attractive as it makes her frightening.

The flames make both of their bodies glisten and shine . . . all of Pandora's body shines with the perfect combination of sweat and light, looking like a model posing covered in baby oil. All of Ember's revealed skin is practically glowing. I can almost feel the flames glowing off of her body . . .

That concentration she's keeping must be so intense. If I could throw it off even just a little Pandora might have a chance of getting her mind back.

"Embrace Pyria's cleansing flame, Pandora. Mmmm I can taste your power in my mind, and in my soul . . . You have so much potential, and by following the path of Pyria, by following my lead, by melting into my power, you can achieve it . . . You can become so much more . . . Cleanse yourself for me Pandora . . . Cleanse . . .!" Ember's voice is so charged, so firm, and every word makes Pandora shudder and lightly flail more. Each syllable makes Pandora's eyelids flutter more.

Slowly I reach down to my belt and pop open a compartment. A flash of my palm beacon and- "I don't think so, Patina. Really, did you think I was here just for show?" Mourning Frost flicks her wrist, and both of mine are hit with another shot of ice.

It's so cold and firm that I can feel it vibrating and freezing me down to my bones. I can't stop my teeth from chattering and my hands are barely able to make fists.

"Pandora . . . Panny . . . You need to fight it! Please! For me, just fight it, think past it . . .! You have to be able to do this, I believe in you!" Even my voice shudders, and Pandora doesn't even react. Her expression just grows more and more lost as her body continues to shake.

Her rolled back eyes look filled with Ember's flame. So much of it keeps moving against and inside of her ears, her mind can't be holding up to this. They must be burning away every last bit of her . . . I failed my team. If this is happening to Pandora . . .

"Don't worry, The Domina is going to be a little bit late, so after we're done here Mind Bore is busy making a little home video. She loves cataloging her conquests." Mourning Frost's voice is far too satisfied. I wasn't being ingenious any of this time. I was just following a trail of breadcrumbs that I'd left for myself. If The Domina was able to come into my mind in my dreams she must have been able to find Alyssa. She wouldn't be prepared for this since I didn't tell her everything I could . . .

Pandora lets out a final scream before the flames all seem to absorb into her body, and Ember's hands drop down to her sides. My vampiric teammate sinks to her knees with her legs spread. Her thighs don't stop clenching for a moment and she's overflowing.

Having your mind fucked right out of your body never stops feeling good. "There, now that Pandora is all finished up . . . Rise my little drone, and help Patina up. Be sure to keep a good grip on her."

I try to move away, but Pandora isn't frozen to the bone. Her hands firmly grasp my wrists and in a moment I'm on my feet. She moves behind me, and just waits. Her eyes are white. Alyssa makes a cooing sound from the table but I don't bother to look back. I know what I'll see well enough.

"Come now Pandora . . . Patina . . . It'll be a bit of a walk. At least we've already whet your appetite. You should be ashamed for being taken so poorly off guard. You make a horrible heroine." Ember's voice turns from over confident taunting to classic cackling as Pandora pushes me along just a little ways behind her new owner. "Frost, go check on the power flow regulators. The Domina wants to be sure they've been upgraded after the last test didn't hold up."

Frost moves away and it's just the three of us. Only two of us have working minds. "So Smokey the Villain, looks like you have everything planned out. Not worried about me breaking out of Pandora's grip, trouncing you, and saving the day?"

"No, Patina. Not after seeing how effective you were against Frost . . . Frankly . . . If I were you, I would rather be burned away than have to live knowing I failed so miserably, but The Domina has plans for you that I have no desire to interfere with . . ." The way her voice quivers, I know that she did have such a desire, or would . . . but she's been twisted around The Domina's whims just as much as I've been if not more. "And I'm sure that once she's started neither will you."

"You know, somehow, I was sure you were going to say that." I try to struggle, but Pandora's grip is stronger than any I've been in before and certainly stronger than any I've ever found a way out of.

"Hmm. There might have been hope for you, Patina. As it is, you should be hoping The Domina wants to keep you sentient." The rest of the walk is in silence . . . and I'm glad. Whatever The Domina has planned I'm sure I'll end up loving if I can't find a way out of it. Here's to hoping for a bored deity just waiting for their time to lower onto the stage.