Nucleus 1: The Dust of Moon [Mature Sci-fi Romance]

67:02, Day 578, Year 58133

Lustsong Woods, Shashvat Ananda (शाश्वत आनन्द), the Realm of Eternal Bliss

Lorna's consciousness fluttered open to see an ice giant looming in the twilight sky behind the trees, her senses immediately assaulted by the heady aroma of violet blossoms. She stirred, only to feel the supple embrace of living vines ensnaring her limbs — a bed not of cloth and spring but flora, the sentient tendrils proffering a cradle that both alarmed and soothed.

Gasping, she blinked against the vibrant light, noticing that her silver pendant was missing from around her neck. As she took in her surroundings, her entire body felt lighter, as if carried by the gentle breeze that caressed her skin. Turning her head, with the soft texture of the botanical bed against her cheek, she saw her neatly folded garments: beige trench coat, deep blue turtleneck, silver Psi Shield Device, Quantum Watch, black military leggings and red panties — all resting on a table made of braided Banyan roots.

The sight pricked at her pride; she was a Psi Lynx operative, not some damsel to be undressed and cosseted.

A nearby bush quivered, betraying the presence of another. From the foliage emerged a woman, her body a canvas of alabaster. She stood naked, with droplets of water glistening on her skin. Instead of nipples, she had two large reptilian eyes staring out from her ample breasts. Tentacles, pallid and gleaming, fanned from her back like the appendages of a cosmic deity. They writhed with a grace that unnerved, in tune with their mistress's movements. Below her waist, she had the body of a large serpent, also white and glistening but with a texture reminiscent of a snake's scales.

"Where..." Lorna said, voice drawn out in her vulnerable state. "Where am I?"

"Somewhere safe," The woman's alto voice was a murmur.

"Safe?" Lorna echoed, her tone kindling with ire. She studied the woman closer, noting her features: skin porcelain-smooth, eyes deep and mesmeric voids that seemed to swallow starlight whole, cheekbones high and commanding as a queen's. The tentacles, now moving slower, appeared sculpted from moonstone.

"What are you? A Radi-Mon? Or someone who got the Nucleus Virus?" she demanded, poised on the edge of aggression.

"Kathrin is my name." the woman offered with a tilt of her head and a deliberate slithering to the side, her British lilt caressing each syllable. "Stay here for a while and you may come to learn my true nature."

"Kathrin," Lorna tasted the name. Her heightened sense of smell picked up Kathrin's scent: a blend of myrrh, rich and resinous, with the unmistakable musk of ambergris lurking beneath, musky and oceanic. It was almost too much — sweet and dark, like the sea and fire had mingled on her skin.

But Lorna would not yield, not to this seraphic creature who whispered of safety while putting her in such a humiliating state.

"Alright. Out with it, Kathrin. Are you a Radi-Mon? What's your game?" she intoned, her accent honed by the hard edges.

"Patience," Kathrin's smile was cryptic. "All in good time."

"Fuck! Just tell me already," Lorna cursed, her fingers clawing at the vines. But they did not yield, holding her fast in their verdant grasp.

Kathrin drifted and coiled herself next to Lorna. She reached out and gently stroked Lorna's chin. "You are among friends here, even if you don't realize it yet."

"Friends? You fucking stripped me naked and put me on this — this garden dritt!" Lorna swore.

"Trust is earned, young Lorna," Kathrin said, her tentacles unfurling. "Though I'm amused you know that Jǫturmál curse. Are you a Nordling, then? Living under an alias, fearing persecution?"

"How did you know my name?" Lorna shot back.

"Tanha informed me. You fell through the gravity well and entered our realm through a wormhole. Your companions fought bravely to protect you, though there was no need to," Kathrin said with a smirk on her countenance.

"Manny and Xin, w-what have you done to them!" Lorna stammered before she shouted, her body stiff.

"Calm, young one. They are both safe and under inspection, much like yourself," Kathrin placed an alabaster hand on Lorna's wrist.

Immobile in the botanical bed, Lorna turned her head to look at the Space Rover nearby, its white bulk offering a small sense of comfort. It sat beneath the sprawling canopy.

"Are you with the Alliance?" Kathrin inquired as wind blew through the leaves above.

"How did you know?" Lorna's voice cracked.

"Your chariot there," Kathrin gestured with one tentacle towards the Rover, "was quite the burden for our Weavers. One nearly snapped a leg hauling it from outside Door Valkyris to here."

"This place. What's it called?" Her head turned to look at the violet canopy above them.

"Shashvat Ananda, the Realm of Eternal Bliss. Our moon, Shashan, orbits the ice giant Chandrak," Kathrin replied in an even tone. "What business does the Alliance have at Door Valkyris?"

"Moondust Crystal," Lorna replied. "We need it to defeat Skarn and his Fenris Horde."

"Intriguing," Kathrin interjected, her voice suddenly low, "our goals may align."

A caress feathered across Lorna's cheek, light like whisper, before Kathrin's fingers traced somewhere more dangerous. They settled gently but firmly on the curve of her breast, squeezing as if measuring the cup size.

"The mounds of a well endowed woman," she murmured, her finger continuing down Lorna's sternum until it reached one of her nipples. "You would make a good Sūkṛmuc."

"Whatever that word means. No," Lorna retorted. "I'd rather die than become a Radi-Mon."

"Understandable," Kathrin replied, her purple lips curling upward.

"Hey, I'm not some lab rat for your collection," Lorna retorted once more as she tried to wriggle free from the botanical bed. Its vines held firm, the grip unbreakable but oddly gentle. "Just tell me what you want."

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"It is not told," Kathrin murmured cryptically. "but done."

Before Lorna could say another word, Kathrin descended towards the area between her legs. Alarm shot through Lorna. She could feel was the Radi-Mon's hands now exploring her thighs.

Heat erupted within Lorna as Kathrin's fingers brushed through Lorna's pubic hair, a meadow of soft, blonde curls.

The vines binding her limbs tightened just enough. Her legs were drawn up and unfolded by the living restraints.

"What the…" her voice cracked as Kathrin's tentacles coiled around her thighs. They supported her in an oddly nurturing manner, yet all Lorna's mind could think of was a Draug ensnaring its sexual prey.

"We call it Parīkshaṇa, or 'the Tasting' in you Sol people's tongue," Kathrin's alabaster fingers traced through Lorna's grove. "It does not hurt. In fact, some Sol people find it…enjoyable."

Lorna watched, helpless, as Kathrin expertly parted her. A mix of dread and excitement crept into her veins, making her breath hitch. Her neatly trimmed blonde pubic hair glistened faintly.

"This will only be a moment," Kathrin spoke in an eerie tone.

"I'm not your guinea pig!" Lorna hissed back, her muscle tensing as she attempted to squirm away. But there was no escape; the vines reacted to her struggles, tightening, as if they were part of Kathrin herself.

Then came the sensation of Kathrin's ebony black, forked tongue — a serpentine thing that tasted Lorna's butt before entering her.

"Fuck," she managed to choke out as Kathrin's alien tongue delved deeper, forked tips now exploring her anus.

She inhaled, taking in the heady scent rising from her own depths, like the briny tang of sea-kelp and smoked salmon. The distinct smell filled her own nostrils as Kathrin's tongue went further in, stroking with an oddly measured strength.

"You recently ovulated, but it has been several orbits since your last defecation," The Radi-Mon woman paused to comment clinically. "High stress. Insufficient water intake."

Resuming the act, her tender lips now brushed against Lorna's skin.

Lorna gasped. Her vision blurred as she struggled to maintain any control. The soft pull of the Radi-Mon woman's lips on her buttocks pushed Lorna toward an edge she hadn't known she'd been teetering on.

Kathrin's tentacles undulated over Lorna's thighs as the botanical bed beneath them pulsed in time with Lorna's heartbeat, its vines caressing her skin, as if encouraging her.

Fear tangled with desire, confusion with need. She squirmed, caught between wanting to flee and urging Kathrin deeper. The sweat that beaded on her forehead trickled down, mingling with the damp tendrils of blonde hair that had escaped her half-up ponytail.

"Fuck — !" she cursed again as Kathrin sucked on her rim.

The moans that escaped Lorna grew louder, each more more primal than the last. She writhed, her bound limbs straining against the botanical bed.

Her eyes fluttered shut, conceding as Kathrin's tongue continued its exploration of Lorna's crevice.

And then, without any preamble, a sensation came. As Kathrin's lips and her serpentine tongue withdrew, a low, primal sound escaped Lorna. A sound not from someone at the peak of pleasure, but more like a beast let loose.

A sudden clenching of her abdomen was followed by an embarrassingly loud fart.

It gave way to an intense release, as she could feel her bowels emptying. The hot rush of her stool cascaded unchecked through her intestines, now making a mess on the botanical bed.

The smell of her own shit was overwhelming, earthy and pungent. Like a miasma with the yeasty tang and something like spiced musk or sausage. The foulness filled the forest..

Beneath Lorna, the botanical bed stirred, responding to her stool. She felt the delicate vines snaking towards her.

The vines encroached, closing in on the feces, then swallowed. Literally swallowing it into the bed's surface.

Lorna panted, her chest rising and falling rapidly, her body slick with sweat as the vines' grip eased. Kathrin lower her head once more, her tongue licking Lorna's skin, cleaning her colon and erasing traces of her release.

The strange blend of humiliation and ecstasy blurred into something she could not name.

She opened her eyes to the sight of tall purple trees stretching above, their leaves rustling in the wind.

Kathrin stood, her tentacles retracting. It drew Lorna's gaze upward, locking onto the Radi-Mon's sleek white silhouette and the violet canopy above them. "The Svadavidhi – Bed of Extraction – requires some time to digest your waste. The diagnosis should come in shortly."

"Fuck..." Lorna made a raspy whisper, having no idea what was going on.

"Your body is in good health, with a strong Lunar affinity," remarked Kathrin, her clinical tone a stark contrast to the intimacy of her actions as she rested one hand on the bed. "But your diet — too much bread, butter, sausage — it's evident even here." She gestured at the soiled bed. "It affects your health."

"Jesus Christ," Lorna hissed, feeling the mixture of frustration and lingering pleasure. Her heart pounded. "What's it to you?"

"And, you've had intercourse with dozens of men and women. As such, the taste of your Aether is…excessively layered. I'll need to clean the Svadavidhi after you depart." Kathrin said, her pupil-less eyes now locked onto Lorna, as if to see through her.

"That's my shit…literally," Lorna mumbled, the absurdity of receiving dietary advice in the midst of such a scenario not lost on her. "You can't get any Aether off that."

"Perhaps not with your primitive Sol technologies," Kathrin continued, her eyes blinking twice. "but we Rakshasa know better. Aether flows through everything - your blood, bodily fluids, and waste all hold a unique signature that identifies you as an individual."

Lorna drew a deep, steadying breath, the remaining sensation of her ordeal ebbing away.

Kathrin continued. "You must increase your water intake. It will improve your overall functions."

The vines shifted, lowering Lorna's legs gently back down upon the verdant mattress. Her head rose, her eyes — deep wells of blue — looked over her own body.

The golden forest of her pubic hair, tainted by excretion just a moment ago, lay bare and cleansed. It was as if the entire episode had been nothing but a fever dream, despite the lingering tingling in her muscles.

Kathrin's gaze fixed on a patch of skin near Lorna's collarbone that had gone translucent with stress, revealing the matrix of altered tissue glowing blue. "On a side note, the Nucleus Virus, in its dormant form, courses within you. Went intimate with someone outside your own species, perhaps?"

Lorna's fingers clawed into the bed of sentient vines. "I don't want to say." she muttered.

But then, a sharp throb pulsed through her stomach – something pushing against her from within. That was the third time this week.

An idea came in her mind. With Kathrin's alien medical expertise right here, surely someone could tell her what it was.

But before she could say anything, the movement subsided. The moment to ask slipped away, and somehow, that felt deliberate – as if whatever was inside her didn't want to be discovered yet.

"Is it over?" Lorna asked in a hoarse voice, barely recognizable to herself. "Can I leave?"

Kathrin snapped her alabaster fingers. The verdant tendrils that had ensnared Lorna began to unfurl, releasing their grip.

Freedom. That was it. This was her only chance.

The moment her limbs were free, Lorna exploded into action. She rolled sideways off the botanical bed, dropping into a fighter's crouch. Silver blue light blazed around her hands, poised to channel her first spell.

"Fulmen Argentum!" The incantation ripped from her throat as she hurled a bolt of lunar energy at Kathrin. The spell crackled through the air with silvery radiance.

"Śūnyatā Śāntih." Kathrin didn't flinch as she chanted. With a lazy wave of her tentacles, she conjured a dark green psionic barrier that rippled.

Lorna's spell splashed against it, fragmenting harmlessly.

"There's no need for violence, young Lorna. Our intentions are peaceful," Kathrin said, her British accent unwavering.

"Fuck that! Glacies Lunae Fulgur!" Lorna launched another attack, this one a freezing projectile that left frost in its wake.

Once more, Kathrin's barrier absorbed it effortlessly, the ice crystals dissolving into mist.