As we walk, another pulse from the device makes me stumble, but Dr. Veil steadies me with a gentle hand on my elbow. “How long since the session with the Sovereign ended?”
“However long it took me to stumble from there to here.”
Once the door to the examination room seals, she activates a privacy field, and the air shimmers briefly around us. “Sovereign Rafe conducted your first training session,” she says. It’s not a question.
“He explained how he was going to use the Venus Lock to help me learn what I was supposed to do for my role. I don't understand how I'm supposed to endure this for months. Why does he think humans are obsessed with sex? I wanted to tell him that the humans who worked here before me were fools and that I would gladly take the money over this orgasmic torture.”
“It’s a commonly held belief in the galaxy that humans are obsessed with sex above everything else.” She holds up her hand to silence my retort. “This is because human technology has been driven by sex. Pornography and all. Humans don’t even try to hide this; anyone passing by Earth can see. But conveniently, men in the galaxy don’t take into account how far behind humanity is technologically, and that it’s a patriarchal society.”
“So the cruelty of human men is still following me? Even into the galaxy?”
“Unfortunately. However, looking at your vitals, I wouldn’t say you disliked your first training session.”
I blush. “While it was going on, it felt good, of course.” I don’t bother lying. “I enjoyed answering the questions correctly for Sovereign Rafe. It’s just that now the pain of my never-ending arousal seemsunbearable.”
“It’s because the Venus Lock isn't simply a restraint device. It's biologically integrated into your nervous system. It reads your arousal patterns, your stress responses, and your emotional states and it learns. Each time it’s triggered, it maps your responses more precisely. Overtime, it becomes capable of triggering those responses independently. The arousal you're feeling isn't just from being denied release from Sovereign Rafe, the device is independently stimulating your neural pathways.”
Horror spreads through me. “It’s changing my mind?”
“No, it’s suggesting behavior that you already possess. Your body’s reaction was your own, but it’s rewriting the conditioning from your upbringing,” she says this without judgment then moves to a cabinet, retrieving two small vials. “I can't remove the device, but I can help you manage the symptoms.”
She holds up the first vial. “Hallo root extract. It dampens neural sensitivity without affecting the lock's monitoring systems. The Sovereigns have not forbidden you to use it. Take three drops under your tongue when the sensations become overwhelming.”
I hold out my hand. “Give it to me.” I take the vial, and without too much thought as to what this alien root is, I place three drops of the Hallo extract under my tongue and feel the overwhelming sensations dull to a manageable ache.
Thank God.
The second vial she shows me contains a powder. “This is a meditation enhancer. Mix this with water and drink it before you go to sleep. It will help quiet your mind and reduce the intensity of your dreams.”
“Dreams?”
“The Venus Lock often triggers vivid sexual dreams as part of its conditioning protocol. Dreams where you submit willingly and beg for the controllers’ touch. This powder will help minimize those desires.”
I have no problem submitting to Sovereign Rafe. I find him exciting and sexy. If I could masturbate to completion, I would think about the way he just came all over my breasts and rubbed the come around my nipples with the tip of his penis.
Reading my thoughts again, she replies, “That is as it may be, but you won’t sleep well if your arousal levels are high and your mind, even in sleep, is on a circular loop about submission. But if it’s any consolation, your body cannot get any closer to maximum arousal without release than it is now.”
“So you mean it can’t get any more painful than it was a few minutes ago?”
“Exactly. And don’t underestimate Sovereign Lorian.”
“What do you mean? I’m not. He’s the one I’m most afraid of.”
“He’s the opposite of his brother. Where Sovereign Rafe has pulled, he will push.”
When I look at her blankly, she replies, “Push you over the edge if you please him.”
“But I thought…”
“Forget human logic. You’re at the Spire now and under the Sovereigns’ control.”
“But I don’t want to become a mindless human slave.”
“That is the last thing the Sovereigns want from you, Eve. They want your loyalty.”
“I have given them that. I have drunktwoDevotional Drinkspublicly,bowed, and thanked them for it.”
The doctor tilts her head. “That’s devotion, not loyalty.”
