She nods slowly, respect reflected in her eyes. “Most humans eventually request the modification. It can become overwhelming.”
“Then let it overwhelm me. I will not drug myself out of it. I only have to watch their suffering as they live it.”
“I understand you completely,” she says, and then her expression grows more serious. “I’ve seen what human pet owners and trainers can do and what they call ‘discipline.’ I often treat the ones who survive. That’s why I stay here—to help the humans I can. Now, before we proceed with the medical exam, I must inform you about your predecessor, Denise.”
I freeze. “I knew her. What happened to Denise?”
“Not too long ago, a guest abducted her. She was spirited away in the night.” The doctor's fingers dance over her holographic controls. “This is why additional precautions are now required for all human employees. Direct orders from Sovereign Rafe.”
I keep my expression neutral, filing away this discrepancy from what Cal told me. One of them is lying, and I need to find out which one and why. But now is not the time.
“What kind of precautions?” I ask, trying to focus on the here and now. But in the back of my mind I keep thinking:Is Denise a collared companion now?
Dr. Veil turns and takes a small, dark-green case off the counter. She opens it to reveal a thin, metallic band with intricate circuitry embedded throughout it. It looks more like alien jewelry than medical gear, and I can’t help but wonder if this is the moment when I become lobotomized and collared. “The Venus Lock. This is a pheromone suppression device. A new protective measure for humans.”
My pulse quickens. “Protection from what?” I ask, trying to figure out what my pheromones have to do with being abducted.
“Certain species react aggressively to human pheromones. This will regulate your sexual impulses and dampen your pheromone release. In addition, it acts as a tracking device, so if you are unlucky enough to be abducted, our security can retrieve you from anywhere in the galaxy.”
I stare at the device. “So it’s a chastity belt with a tracking device to retrieve your property.”
“It's required under your employment addendum, section 27, paragraph 3. The language was deliberately vague but legally binding.”
“It’s a chastity belt,” I say again in disbelief. And I wonder if my behavior on theIgohad anything to do with this now. But I’m too embarrassed to ask.
“It primarily suppresses pheromones for your safety, but also has behavioral modification protocols which the Sovereigns can activate. But it’s not a chastity belt as you’re imagining it because it can interface with your suite’s companion simulations, although for the moment, that access is restricted. Overall, I want to reassure you, that this is for your safety. Denise didn’t have either of these things, and that made her more vulnerable. Sovereign Rafe is many things, but he never makes the same mistake twice.”
I hate the logic of it, hate that survival in this place requires surrendering my bodily autonomy. But if the choice is between violation, abduction, death, or worse...
“There’s something else,” Dr. Veil says, pausing with the device still in her hands. “And I want you to understand it before it’s installed, not after.”
Oh Jesus, what now?“Understand what?”
“The Venus Lock doesn’t just suppress pheromones. It regulates sexual response itself. Desire, arousal, denial, release. All of it.”
“You mean it controls whether I can—” I hesitate.Is she really talking aboutthis?“Orgasm.”
“Yes. It can grant orgasms just as easily as it can prevent them, and just as cruelly, it can induce arousal and hold you in a sustained state of sexual need, indefinitely. In addition, it will learn your body. Your stress responses. What motivates you…”
“And who controls it?” I ask with dread, hoping she is going to say she does.
“The Sovereigns.”
No. No. No.
I can’t stop shaking my head. I don’t want this. But what can I do? I can’t go back to Earth. I’m stuck here for at least a few months.
“This isn’t a punishment device, Eve. It’s a conditioning one. It was designed for species classified as volatile, impulsive, or easily influenced by sensation. Humans fall squarely into that category under Imperial metrics.”
“So it’s a pet’s collar around my vagina to keep me safe?”
“In the Sovereigns’ eyes, it serves two purposes: to keep you obedient and to keep you safe.”
Dr. Veil doesn’t say *collared*. She doesn’t have to.
“Finally, I must warn you, the device responds only to what your body feels, not how youthinkabout a situation. Submerged fantasies you never knew you had, may be brought to the surface.”
I am speechless and mortified. I think all about my hidden fantasies that I’ve imagined from the romance novels I’ve read.
