I watch Autumn. She remains oblivious, lost in Father's caresses. He knows exactly where to touch her after all these years, and she seems to have no interest in whether humans are free in the galaxy.
“It will be decades before that law matters. If the IGC truly cared about humanity, Gael the Returner's wife would have been released. Instead, she was stuck in limbo at the Fertility Goddess’s Temple and only became recognized as a citizen because Gael married her and forced the issue.”
“A fig leaf of compliance,” I remark. “Gael is half Imperial, and we all know his marriage to Lara was just some kind of stunt to get back at Kamos. Who knows what really happened or how Tribune Jin Kol was involved. But I heard a lot of UCs changed hands.”
“There are always credits involved.” Father says. “I suspect Gael married the human because he didn’t want to lose his pet, and she was too valuable for the IGC to just let go. Simple as that.” He stops stroking Autumn for a second. “I have seen the footage from her sale at Gala. She is a prime human specimen. So Gael did what any sane man would do at the Fertility Temple—he married her.”
“I'm not so certain, Father. I doubt a man like that would keep a mindless human. Maybe Lara is more intelligent than we realize.”
“Oh, Lorian. Some humans are bright, I grant you that. But most humans are impulsive, short-sighted, and have IQs barely above animals. Which is why they make the perfect pets. Most are too wrapped up in their next meal or their next orgasm to think about tomorrow. Provide a good home and they never even require a collar.”
He flips Autumn's collar idly. “But the collar is adorable on them, and they flourish under our care, much better than on that toxic planet of theirs. If not for me, Autumn would be cowering in some Earth slum, having borne some ungrateful human man countless children, or even worse, dead. With me, she is safe, happy, well-fed, and satisfied.”
He gestures, and she stands, stepping gracefully over to me. She kneels, her upturned face brimming with a docile and eager expression. The same expression she's worn for decades.
“Stroke her, Lorian,” Father coaxes.
I stroke her hair; it’s silky and well-cared-for. Her eyes are pleading, as if hungry for any attention.
“All she wants is sexual pleasure,” Father says. “She would not object if you took her here and now.” Then to Autumn he commands, “Autumn, stand and show yourself to Lorian. Remind him of how beautiful you are.”
Autumn stands and then turns and bends over, showing me her human sex framed by curly golden fur.
I can't help myself. I slap her rounded ass and then run a finger around the entrance to her core. She's wet and ready… for anyone?
Always ready.
The realization hits me with an unexpected force; she's been trained to be ready for thirty years. Every day, every moment, available for our use. And that this may not be humans’ natural state. That they may be able to be trained out of it if they have a high enough IQ.
“She misses the days when my officers and I would share her all at once.”
Despite my growing arousal, I gently push Autumn back toward my father.
She returns to Father's arms, and he cradles her as though she's been wounded. “Maybe it is not just Rafe who's confused about humans,” he muses.
“Times are changing. Perhaps humans are evolving.”
“Not a chance,” Father says, then he sends Autumn back over to me.
She has the same expression as before, as if I hadn't just rejected her. Can't she remember what just happened? Or has her training made even her memory conditional on her master’s approval?
We hold eye contact as she puts her face against my thigh and looks up at me with anticipation. Her pink mouth is slightly ajar in a way that makes it clear what she wants.
What she's been trained to want.
I don't push her away this time, and she moves her head closer to my groin, never breaking eye contact. Her practiced submission stirs something dark in me, but what's the point of perfect submission if the mind behind it has already been hollowed out?
“You see,” my father says, “she only has one thing on her mind, filling her cunt with an Imperial cock.”
I finish my drink and then stand up to leave. “I need to eat and have a bath. Rafe will want a full debrief when he returns.”
On the balcony adjoining my chambers, I breathe in the cool night air. In the distance, Alba's city lights shine. Subconsciously, I press my fingertips to my lips, tasting the faint trace of Autumn's desire.
I'm about ready to go back and retrieve Autumn when my IC chimes with an incoming call. I know it’s Rafe before I even look at it.
“Lorian,” he says without preamble. “Tell me you didn't actually buy those disruptors.”
“Greetings to you too, dear Brother. How did it go with Nira?”
