Adult-FanFiction.org : Books

Cellulose & Steel	By : Not-Taylor Category: Misc Books > FemmeSlash Views: 1028 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own HDG or its characters and I don't make money from this work.

Chapter List
- 13
- 14
- 15
With a reaction time undulled by sedatives, Olivia is able to move first. She puts on a derpy expression and takes a step forward.
“Olivia! It’s been so long! I thought I’d never see you again.”
“Yeah, it’s been a while.” Ginger isn’t catching on, but that’s fine. It’s workable.
“But I’m saved now. And we’re together once again.”
“Olivia” and “Ginger” embrace tightly. They truly did miss each other, especially after how they’d parted. Olivia starts to feel guilty that she hadn’t tried to save her sooner, but pushes aside the thought. There’s no time to feel bad about ruining relationships that don’t look at all ruined. She’d not had time to think about much other than keeping herself together before, either.
After several long minutes of hugging, Olivia is the one to break away. Ginger is smiling at her happily. Good, something of the real Ginger is still there and can still be saved. She’s wearing a loose sky blue dress, pinched together at her waist with a shoelace belt. Olivia has to admit that it’s very flattering, for floret attire. She wishes the xenos would leave so she could catch up with her navigator more privately.
There’s a vine on Olivia’s shoulder. She flinches. Ginger says something that Olivia can’t hear. It hurts that she can’t hear it. It’s like a chasm has been carved between the two Terrans. Olivia can’t feel Ginger any more, and that feels so wrong, like a part of her brain has been removed. This is only going to get worse with time, she’s sure. At least being around her flight partner would help a little…
“If you two can handle each other by yourselves, I guess we’ll be going. I’m sorry we missed your Mistress.”
“Thank you for rescuing me, comrades.” That sounds to Olivia like something the Affini would say to one another. ”I’m already starting to feel safer.”
They both smile and give Olivia an affectionate pet and a briefer pet to Ginger. They both seem to have legs with which they walk out the door, finally leaving the two humans alone. They say nothing for a moment, drinking in the sight of one another.
“Olivia, what’s going on?”
“I’m getting you out of here, Ginger. These weeds haven’t taken my will yet. I refuse to sit still and die while they infect my mind and body with their toxins.”
“But they’re so nice! And they make good food and give such nice massages. I don’t want to leave. I couldn’t do that to Mistress. She’d miss me and would be able to cuddle me any more.”
“But I missed you! I can’t leave you here. We have to get out, maybe we can save some of humanity and leave for somewhere better. Maybe if we stay on some remote planet without FtL they won’t come for us. I don’t care, stars know I won’t benefit from that future. Please.” She takes Ginger’s hand in hers, begging her to make the right choice. Her eyes, dampened to LED blue, stare intently, while Gingers look back a far more muted shade.
“But why would I leave when I can stay here and have chocolate and sushi for every meal? It’s really chocolate, Liv. You know I’d never had that?”
“Then we take their reconstituter thing. We just have to escape. I don’t care where we are if I have you with me. You’re most of what’s been keeping me going these past few weeks.”
“Then stay here. We can be so happy. I haven’t been sad once since I stopped resisting my mistress. And she gives foot massages.”
“What kind of happiness is there if you’re never sad? How would you know it’s the real thing? How do you know if they’re stopping you from remembering what it was like to be actually happy? I remember what you said about what life was like before you stopped trying to date men.”
Ginger grimaces. She remembers. “But we don’t have that here. We don’t have to be or do anything. Our owners worry about all of the silly stuff for us.”
“That’s not happiness to me. I want to be something, and do something. I can’t just sit. I don’t believe you can either. There’s no way the woman I met on assignment day would feel or think that.”
“I’ve changed, I guess. Please sit with me, Liv. I’ll get you a slice of apple pie.” She drags her former pilot to a couch and sets her down. Soon she’s back with two plates of what does look like apple pie with ice cream on top. It smells really good. Cinnamon?
“Here, have some. You think we’d ever have something like this again on the run?”
Olivia can’t help but take a bite, and another. Creamy, flakey, pungent, spiced…
“But we can’t jump when we want to. We can’t go the long way around a black hole for fun. We can’t…” She doesn’t want to admit what she’s thinking.
“But we can. Nobody’s going to stop us from fff- touching one another.” Why did she not just say what she meant? Are they stopping her from swearing? That’s disgusting.
“Now that we have the same Mistress, we can see each other all the time! We don’t have to ever be apart again. We can just… do what we wanted to do back when we were on the Song. Remember what we talked about? Ginger puts a hand on Olivia’s thigh. Olivia winces. It’s still a little sore, but she doesn’t want that hand to move. “Because I.. I-” Ginger can’t finish.
“I remember all of that, but there’s still a lawn that needs mowing. I gave my word I would see that through and you did too, Ginger. How can you ask me to become a liar? A traitor?”
The woman in the dress flinches at the word. She doesn’t like what she’s becoming, Olivia sees that. She just… needs a way to get through! To talk her out of hedonism!
“I… don’t think you can betray a government that doesn’t exist, Liv. They’re gone. Didn’t you see the broadcast?”
“What broadcast?”
“They had a bunch of important affini giving speeches about how easy it was to beat us- the Terran Accord I mean. It was kind of depressing, but at least we’re not on that side any more. We’re with the winners. Don’t you want to be a winner, Liv?”
“Is that the one with the admiral?”
“That’s it!”
“And you didn’t see any of the slaves speaking?”
“We’re florets, not slaves. The affini treat us really well, you know that.”
“But no?”
“No, why would a floret get to talk?”
“But Ginger, I was there. I gave a speech in front of everyone.”
“No, I would’ve seen. Everyone was watching…”
“I remember it. I was ‘punished’ for telling everyone the truth about the war, about the evils of our new overlords. How could you have missed me?”
“I- I don’t… I should remember that… Why…” She starts crying into the slowly melting ice cream. Olivia wraps her in her arms to comfort her, just how she did when they were crewmates.
“Ginger it’s ok. I’m here. I’ll beat the fuck out of any of those plant things that tries to hurt you, ever. I promise.” That just makes her cry harder.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you before. I’m sorry I let them take you from me. I’m sorry I got so upset about what you said right before they got to you. I should’ve been better. This is my fault. If I’d been more level headed they wouldn’t have gotten to us and then you’d still be with me and we wouldn’t have been caught again. That yellow belly of a captain surrendered as soon as they got near us, you know that? We lasted a week after. I wish I’d shot him but flushing him out the airlock was all right. Sic semper plantfuckers.”
There’s something very wrong about Ginger’s body. She’s way too limp. Olivia looks at her and tries to look into her eyes, but she keeps turning away. They just sit. Eventually she tries to reply, but it takes time for her to figure out how to make her mouth work properly.
“So you’re not willing to try life here?”
“No, it’s been almost a week already and I can’t stand it. I can’t stand the way these things act, and what they do to amazing people like you.”
“Liv…”
“It’s all right, I’m here.”
“I can’t…”
Olivia just squeezes and pats. There’s nothing more she can do here.
“Do you remember what I said? Before I disconnected?”

The Song of Destruction is in its tank, fleshy limbs barely perceptible against the constant stream of tingly tasty data. It feels so good and so free, so alive, just by drifting through the nothingness around it. It doesn’t feel like human consciousness any more, it’s something else. Its memories are encoded in carbon and silicon, scratched with magnets and crystals. Describing that would be like explaining… something. Song can’t remember what the simile is supposed to be.
It sits in its tank and embracing its tank, embracing its navigator. Ginger is so pretty, her brain is a Christmas tree and a Rembrandt in one. It feels her lapping against its side like a little wave on the shore. She only touches a small part of it, passing back and forth calculations and maps. The little human is cute. Song reaches out to her, just to cuddle a little. She’s so stressed right now, she could use a hug.
Olivia says “hey, unlost getter. You look nervous. Want to talk about it?”
Ginger smiles in a way Olivia’s cameras and LAN sensors both pick up. It parses a sensor anomaly and focuses back on the only other composite life around. “No, Liv. Not really. Will you let me mope in peace now?”
“Not a chance.” The Song feels its lips rise as it sends that message through its system. “We can’t have a navigator with emotional distress, can we? Come on, let’s take a break.”
“Fine, I’ll come unplug you. You’re the one who’ll answer to the captain for this, though. :3”
It’s impossible for Olivia’s circuits to perform with reduced efficiency as a result of this, but it’s happy now, and very. It enjoys every femtosecond it can spend with its navigator, especially when it can feel her by literal touch. She’s so comfortable as a pillow…
It takes just a few seconds for Olivia to break free of the wires whose adapters are still connected to her skull and spine. It doesn’t hurt. She’s done this a hundred times before at least. She’s just happy Ginger doesn’t care about her cybernetic look with adapters glued on everywhere. Her vision normalizes and she sees the girl she’s spent the last year and a half with almost 24/7. Would the stars take her away as easily as they’ve given them this little slice of Valhalla?
It didn’t take long for them to work out the stresses of pursuit. It never did, not with the bond between them running so deep. Sometimes it felt like they were a single mind with two bodies when they did this. They don’t have long so they don’t delay as much as they’d both like. Soon enough, it’s time for Olivia to ask again. It won’t let her get away with being sad on its watch!
It strokes Ginger’s arm gently, absorbing warmth it had lost in the isolation tank. “So are you going to tell me what’s going on or do I have to name everything in the universe?”
Ginger smiles at it, nodding the hair away from her face. She’s beautiful. Olivia’s function is no longer immune to such things and it pulls her in for a kiss.
“I’ll tell you I guess, if you promise not to hate me.”
“I don’t think I ever could.”
“OK <3” Olivia never found out how it was possible to say symbols without being attached to the interface. Maybe they’d been part of it too long. Would they start beeping at one another soon?
Beep!!! Beep!!! Beep!!!
They never caught a break. That must be the Affini, preparing to take them from each other. Why does Ginger look so scared? They’ve done this a hundred times already. Olivia gets back into its pod without any help, just like last time. Nobody would stop it from being so familiar with another officer since there was literally nobody else who could fly her, but being too overt was going to cause objections from the crew, even if everyone already knew and had known since forever. Her? It. Olivia shakes it’s- HER head. Ship and pilot both need some sleep.
Weird. This time the Affini barely care enough to chase them through the second jump. It’s like they gave up. They didn’t even last long enough for Ginger to get back to her post (let alone get dressed, Song digitally smirks. A little tiny technically illegal peek confirms this.
There’s no time to think about that. Ginger is online again and Song is filled with an ineffectual fizzly feeling. It missed her. She seems off still, but rejects any urging to discuss it for now. Probably better to focus on evasion anyway.
<hr/>
“Olivia.” The name pierces through everything, textured and flavored with Ginger’s signature. Literally everything about her is in front of Song’s awareness, and all of that is adorable.
“Online.” It hates that that’s the default response, but it hasn’t changed that since Ginger thinks it’s cute.
“Can we talk?”
“I always have time for you.”
“I’m ready to ask you about something. I trust your advice, so I want to know I’m not crazy right now. Will you help?”
“Of course.”
‘Thanks, Liv. I… don’t think we’re going to win. We’ve been on the run so long, and we haven’t scored a real win since month one. We’re out here wasting our time getting picked off like horror movie extras. The slut’s gone, the nerd’s gone, the fat chick’s gone… How long do we have?”
“The clueless autist is saved for last and makes it out every time.”
“That’s the virgin, Liv. And I hate to break it to you…”
Song laughs to the extent its circuits let it.
“I know. What’s the alternative? Letting those things put their roots in your brain?”
“It can’t be that bad, can it? The pets on their broadcasts look kind of happy, don’t they?”
“You think they’d really put the failures up for everyone to see?”
“I… guess not. I just think it’s only a matter of time. Maybe they won’t hurt us if we give up.”
“That’s coward thinking. Why would we trust their mercy when they want us all as slaves? Maybe if we divert them a little longer, some other ship can escape. We just have to hold out. If we all do… maybe they get bored and leave?”
“You know that’s not going to happen. They wouldn’t have come if they didn’t think they could keep us in their grasp. We don’t have Earth, we don’t have Sol, we don’t even have Polaris!”
“We can’t just let the weeds win. Then all of this… what’s the point? Why even live?”
“Maybe we could live at least a little with them. It’s something.”
“It’s insane. Do you actually think they have any reason to treat us well, especially after how hard we’ve fought? They would make examples of us, lock us in some pit where we’d never photosynthesize again.”
“Liv… we’re not plants.”
“I was making a joke :(“
“Something tells me we can trust them. Do you trust me?”
“Less so now. Why?”
“I’ve been thinking about surrendering. You have no idea how easy it would be from my terminal. I just push a button and they take our call on the frequencies they’ve already broadcast. 00:05:00 and they’re here, and we never eat a synthcube again.”
“Listen to yourself! Have they got their spores in your ears already? Those THINGS aren’t our friends. They butchered every other pilot I know and enslaved everyone else. How could you think they’re our friends?”
“They seem like real people under that megalomania. At least… they sound that way when I…”
“You listen to their lies? Ginger, I thought you knew better. That’s how they subvert you. How would you like it if I were talking about turning Terra over to some space slugs with molars?”
“I wouldn’t,” she replies as quietly as the connection will allow.
“Then don’t suggest we give up everything that makes us human just because it’s easy. You didn’t expect me to say something else, did you?”
“No.”
“Good.” Song sighs.
“I promise I want what’s best for you Liv and I’ll never hurt you.”
“You too, soulless thot <3”
Ginger disconnects completely. Her device shifts to offline mode. She’s just… gone. Song hopes she’ll come to her senses soon, but that’s unlikely. She’ll get over it eventually. It’s sure of that.
Not long after, Song’s sensors pick up something very wrong. An entire Affini scouting division is directly ahead, as if they’d been anticipating them. They have to get out of there NOW! But it’s too late. One of the grapples attaches to the bow, pulling out two Terrans. Unforgivable. Death to the enemies of Terra! But it’s too late. They can’t be saved. Song launches itself backwards. Its body lurches and smacks against the side of the interface tank, but it doesn’t really feel it. It seals the gap after the jump. Everyone else made it. They’re down a navigator and a hyperdrive engineer, and the engines are already on minimum maintenance. This is the final act of whichever cosmic play they’re acting in.
“You.”
“I did.”
The Song of Destruction freezes. She doesn’t know how to think any more. This is wrong. She wouldn’t. She could never… That’s so… evil. Ginger knew better. She would never do that. How could she sell out her… What were they again, back then? They’d never talked about it. It didn’t matter, but Song had thought it was something, that she'd meant something to the meatbag before her. They way they had danced as one during those later battles… didn’t she feel anything from that? Was it just extra VR for her? Song sheds a drop of optical lubrication fluid.
“Plantfucker.”
“Like you wouldn’t too. You’ve seen these girls, haven’t you? Their tendrils-”
“I know quite well. That doesn’t mean I’d sell out my species for a fetish.”
Ginger is silent. Song is silent. What can either say? They just sit and avoid eye contact. Song doesn’t want to leave because when she does, everything that she and her navigator had been will be gone, permanently.
- 13
- 14
- 15
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Cellulose & Steel