Authors: Luca Rossi
She looks at me for a few seconds, silently.
“Forgive me, there are a few things that I haven't told you. Actually I'm not going to be a prisoner for very long: you'll bring me to prison and I'll get out of there easily,” she tells me, with her direct and sincere gaze.
“Ipsia, there are forcefields coded with genetic data, every type of guard, automatic systems. If you try to escape, you'll be eliminated.”
She takes my hand and brings me into the control room.
“Activate the cell forcefield, please.”
She's naked and as marvelous as ever. She walks towards the forcefield and enters the cell without a problem.
I look at her without understanding. This makes me dizzy. What happened? How was that possible?
“Well, the Federation's systems don't work all that well either!” she says with a mocking smile. Then she adds, more seriously: “See, the readers and forcefields are limited to reading the superficial DNA of the epidermis. It's not hard for a mutant to cover itself with a few strands of someone else's DNA. So...I'm sorry, but this time I used yours, since you left a few samples in my body just a few hours ago.” And she laughs, happy.
I look at her again, more perplexed.
“But there's no way the FoW isn't aware of this secret among your species.”
“Actually it's something that only a few of us know how to do. It's an ability that's genetically transmitted and, in order to be used, requires decades of practice. It's a secret that we guard very jealously. Even on the Earth, I imagine there are many people who, throughout history, preferred not to let people know about their abilities.”
It's true, over history many gifted people didn't want or weren't able to make their abilities public, since the people around them weren't ready to accept them.
“Bring me to prison,” she continues, “and when I'm tired of being there, I'll take on the appearance and clothes of one of the staff. I'll fool the genetic readers. I'll get out of prison, steal a spaceship and, if you want, I can find you again.”
“But wait, when I was following you across half of the galaxy, why did you let yourself be detected by the readers that showed me your position?” I ask her,
“I had a mission to complete and I did so on time. I was collecting secret information on the Federation for independent worlds. They needed to have something in hand to negotiate with. I could have done it without being detected, but then I saw the holos of the earthling hero assigned to capture me: a tall, muscular officer with dark and messy hair. And I didn't think he was half bad.”
“You let me run after you because you liked me?” I ask her, incredulous and amazed.
“I'm a mutant, a criminal and...a woman. The more I saw you stumbling around behind me, the more I felt a sense of affection. Then this feeling became something different, and I let you get closer and closer to me. On some occasions, I waited for you and, when you caught up with me, I remained close in a form that you weren't able to detect. I smelled your scent in the air, I watched how you moved and how you looked for me. I liked you a lot. In the end, I decided I wanted to get to know you better so I headed towards the planet where we met.”
A woman! As if that could explain everything!
I can't believe it. It seems absurd. Yet I saw her cross through the forcefield. These systems are as standard as they are insuperable.
We both stay silent. She's embarrassed. She knows that she's been mocking me for all this time. I'm still not convinced enough to do what she's asking me to do.
“System, disable the position localizer. Calculate the route towards Ispis Reliani.”
“Ian...”
“Ipsia, this is my decision!”
“But Ian! Ispis Reliani is an independent planet, outside of the Federation. You're abandoning your work, your country, your culture, everything that you are. You will be accused of being a traitor and you won't ever be able to set a foot into the worlds of the Federation.”
“True, Ipsia, but I'd rather live freely with you together in other worlds, rather than hide my real self in the federal worlds.”
“But I can be whoever I want to be in the federal worlds. I can take on the form that both of us want, and keep it to the end. I can even become your wife, marry you and fool the detectors for the rest of our existence. I can go to Earth or wherever you want.”
“Mutant, take on your form!” I tell her.
Ipsia mutates into her original form. Her alien eyes and face look at me, questioning. Her minute body seems young and in need of care and attention. Nobody could look at her and think she was a dangerous criminal able to evade every type of law and control.
I caress her arms covered with scales. I move towards her purple lips. I kiss both her eyelids, which close over the yellow of her eyes. Then, between her lips, my tongue searches for her tongue, sharp and pointed like a reptile's.
“You don't need to take on any other form,” I whisper in her ear, elongated and narrow. “This is what I love and what I want to live with.”
Ipsia seems to shine with happiness after hearing my words.
“But maybe during the night, we can mess around a little,” I tell her, smiling.
A perverted glint crosses her face.
“Have you ever tried it with a man?” she asks me.
My eyes open wide as Ipsia again changes form.
“Hello, Captain,” Officer Eianus greets me.
Latrodectus Mactans
It's an exciting new game. Violent. For real men only. I've been waiting for years and finally today, January 13th 2079, it's online!
I walk into the transfer booth that's set up in the middle of the living room. It's the latest model, something only an elite gamer would have.
The dirty grey walls disappear. During twenty seconds of darkness, I transfer over to the game's entry portal. Enormous versions of military characters loom before me underneath the CyberGames sign. I need to choose my persona. I'm going to go with the soldier, that'll be a sure shot of adrenaline!
It starts. I enter the arena. My nose is flooded with the smell of wild nature.
I'm only half as tall as an ant. The surrounding plants tower over me like skyscrapers. Augmented reality shows me the positions of my allies at eye level. First objective: regroup.
As I look for my friends, I shoot a couple gigantic insects, which die instantaneously.
We're here, all three of us: me, Jack and Vladimir. I've never met them in real life. But in this world, we're an unbeatable and close-knit team.
We advance. Tension levels are through the roof. When you're this small, even the flap of a butterfly's wings can be fatal.
We proceed towards our objective, the Latrodectus Mactans. Also known as the black widow. We're her ideal prey: small, slow and clumsy. Whoever invented this game is a genius.
We're already close to the web.
“Stop!” I order. We hide underneath a few blades of grass. “The little whore has company.”
Fantastic!
The developers even included a male version in the game.
The conscious minds of actual spiders are transferred into every game session. In real life, somewhere in the labs at the software house, animals are lured into little transfer booths, where they're connected to the game.
“Ha – look! The male is a real romantic,” Vladimir says ironically.
He's courting the female on the web, caressing the tips of her feet. She's much bigger than him and has a red hourglass on her thorax. She remains immobile. He continues his advances, careful to avoid the fatal bite that would bring the courting ritual to a quick end. He jumps on her back and, steadying himself with his legs, deposits his sperm.
“Escape, buddy,” Jack whispers.
The male swiftly scampers away. He's safe.
“Now!” I order.
We approach the web. We climb up using the grappling hook and get into a triangle formation at the top. The vibrations of the delicate threads immediately tip the spider off.
Vladimir shoots first. One of her eight legs is now out of commission, but the black widow still manages to leap towards my comrade.
I shoot. I hit her in the thorax. She stops, trying to decide which prey would be the tastiest.
She lunges towards me. I take aim and...darkness.
Something's not working right! The world disappears and reappears.
A message springs out of the sky, written in a semicircle, as if stenciled on a rainbow: “Hacked by the Savers.”
“Shit! Someone must have hacked the server. Asshole pirates!” Jack exclaims.
The hackers must have introduced a virus or changed the game's code
. But soon everything's working perfectly fine again.
The arachnid is almost on top of me. Jack and Vladimir shower it with gunfire. The black widow doesn't give up. I'm looking right into her eyes, but the vibrations running through the web prevent me from lining up a good shot.
She's hovering over me now. I somersault and try sliding underneath her exoskeleton, but she's quicker with her mandibles, ripping into the flesh of my chest. The poison seeps into my body. The pain is atrocious. I stop breathing. The spider has already started wrapping me in silk. I lose my senses. I'm dead.
What a drag...we have to start the level all over again!
Entry portal. I need to choose a new persona but the only thing in front of me is the image of a big spider. I'd rather leave!
What the...!
Even the word “Exit” has disappeared. A countdown materializes in front of me: 9, 8, 7...
I'm inside again. Eight legs, four mandibles, incredibly sensitive perception and a sickening combination of odors. I want to vomit. I'm a spider. Male.
“Where the hell did Alex go?” I hear Jack ask from somewhere nearby. They're looking for me.
“Ho ho ho, what have we here? A handsome male? Come on, Jack, let's go! Maybe Alex is off somewhere knocking back a beer, trying to get himself together. It hurts like hell when you're KO'd by spider venom,” Vladimir responds.
They come towards me, carefully.
How can I communicate with them?
“I'll mess around with it, as long as it's not as alert as the female!” Jack says.
“Wait, let's push it towards the web. That way she'll gobble him up and we won't have to waste our bullets.”
I try to escape, but every time I head in one direction, a blizzard of bullets stuns me. It's impossible not to follow the path they're forcing me to take.
I reach the web. I have no idea how to court a black widow.
She pounces on me. I try to escape, but she's much quicker. She's starting to inject poison into my body when everything goes dark again.
No optical signal. The guys at CyberGames must have finally regained control of the server and restarted it. Those hackers are such a drag!
Twenty seconds pass.
With the amount of money that I paid, this is really a disappointment! At least I'm going back home now.
I regain consciousness. Eight legs, four mandibles.
What the fuck? Another game as a spider?
The scene has changed, however. I move and run into a plexiglass wall. I step back. There's a gigantic sign on the wall: CyberGames.
This scene isn't part of the game that I bought!
I start to wonder if I'm in the lab of the real-life software house.
But everyone knows that consciousness can only return to the body it came from!
My sensitive legs pick up a pattern of rapid vibrations. Two females are coming my way. Quickly.
Arcot and the Queen
1
The planet Vlaolia is ruled by a powerful species of vampires. Trade with earthlings is rare, and not many space shuttles venture out to the fringes of the galaxy to exchange goods and merchandise with this world. The culture of its inhabitants, the Vlaoli, remains largely a mystery. Vlaolian society is based on the principles of absolute hierarchy. All power is in the hands of Queen Vril, who makes all decisions regarding everybody's life, or death.
When Captain Arcot's ship reached the vicinity of the planet, he was granted permission to land in the capital's biggest space port. He was going to complete the transaction that had previously been discussed via spacelink. Once he landed, Arcot was surprised to find no mere master-at-arms waiting for him, but the Queen herself.
The Vlaoli are slightly taller than earthlings, incredibly strong and keenly perceptive. They've mastered the powers of telekinesis, telepathy and prophecy. Arcot had spent a lot of time practicing with a mental shield to prepare himself for this encounter.
Once he reached the throne room, Arcot noticed that every single emotion he had was directed towards, and strictly dependent upon, the Queen's presence. The hall was filled with towering purple columns and bas-reliefs with inscriptions that narrated the history of the planet. At the top of a long flight of stairs, the Queen sat on her throne. Soldiers stood motionless near each column, then disappeared with a simple wave of her hand.
Arcot felt his blood run cold at the idea of remaining alone in the Queen's presence. He was seized by an irresistible impulse to move forward: it was as if an invisible force led him towards the throne. The sound of his footsteps echoed through the silent hall.
Once he reached the bottom of the staircase, something forced him to kneel. He tried resisting the best he could, but his legs bent by themselves and he found himself on the floor, his gaze directed downwards.
For just a split second he remembered the formalities usually used during business negotiations. He had never before found himself in this sort of situation.
He waited for the Queen to speak, yet was overcome with the curious suspicion that his thoughts and emotions were being intensely scrutinized by the Queen.
He felt another urge he couldn't resist, an impulse to approach her, and slowly began climbing the stairs. He wanted to lift his head and look up but couldn't: he was forced to keep his head down.
Once he found himself closer to the sovereign, his eyes became glued to her nude feet. They emanated an incomparable magnetism. He kneeled again and his head automatically bent down. He tried again to resist, yet her feet gave forth a dark force that slowly came over him, pulling him in further.