Alien Mine Ch. 12b

Rhys had never tried anything like this before and had never probed this deeply into the girls' minds. This was Sandy's very core; all the things that made up went into making her what she was. It was all open to him, and he and Bob probed ruthlessly. All her strengths, weaknesses were laid bare to him. But woven through it all was the symbiont.

"This is not natural; look at the way the symbiont has woven itself so tightly into her emotions. The symbiont is not designed for that; it does not understand human emotions. You should destroy it before it gets out of control, more than it already has," Bob said with fear in his voice.

As Rhys examined the emotional lines running throughout Sandy's mind, he could see the darker overlay, like a vine covering a tree, the branches overgrown and almost covered by unnatural growth. He briefly checked Amancia and found nothing like this in her.

"What can I do?" Rhys asked desperately. "I am not going to destroy Sandy; help me fix this," he demanded.

Bob guided him, tracing out the long vine-like structures, showing Rhys the source of the problem, areas where the symbiont had intruded into its host's mind in ways that it shouldn't. "It has infected her emotions, suppressing the one you call love and friendship while allowing her ambition and desire for dominance to control her. "

Reacting instinctively, Rhys' dragon fire roared, the flames reaching out for the roots of the vine. Using his dragon fire to bathe those areas while at the same time reaching for the part of Sandy that made her the person he had fallen in love with. He found them-love, empathy, kindness, but they were buried under a blanket of darkness. Using the dragon fire, he gently burned the darkness away; then, reaching in with his mind, he pulled those brightly colored strands and wove them into a cage. The symbiont roared again in defiance, but it was cowed now and made no other effort to resist.

"Impressive," Bob said as he watched Rhys take Sandy's amazing love for him and the others and use it to effectively bind the symbiont in such a way that it could not harm him or the others.

"Bonds of love are always stronger than anything else in humans, Bob; you should know that by now." But Rhys wasn't finished. First, he delved deep into Amancia's mind, bringing a sharp gasp from her. He was looking for the changes Bob had made to her, binding her to Rhys and making her submissive. The sleek panther was there but caged with a different combination of emotions. That was not what he needed right now though, instead as he focused on Amancia's symbiont, he could see manacles on each foot of the panther and a wide collar with a heavy chain.

Shifting to Sandy, he concentrated on her symbiont. Tendrils of dragon fire encircled the tigers' legs, forming into shackles of purple fire. Smaller than those on Amancia but strong enough, he hoped. Then the collar. Flames surrounded the throat, creating a wider, stronger collar. The tiger roared in frustration but did not try to fight.

The confusion in Sandy's mind slowly dissolved. She had felt a cock go in her, and her mind had been flooded with raw lust, the kind that could not be denied. "OMG," she moaned loudly as Rhys slammed all the way into her body. The heat between her legs was almost unbearable as the hurricane of emotions ripping through her calmed slowly, and the terrible pain diminished. She felt her hands and legs being held but did not fight against it, instead leaning back into Rhys as he thrust hard into her. She screamed again as the wall separating her from her symbiont gradually dissolved, and she felt whole once again. Sandy was only vaguely aware of what had happened, but she could feel Rhys deep in her mind, soothing her, fixing whatever had happened. Her mind welcomed him into it, and the rage she had felt slowly dissipated, leaving only lust and love, nothing else mattered right now.

'Oh God, I love you, Rhys," she shouted out, overcome by the intense feelings as Rhys wove her emotions into a cage for the Symbiont.

Satisfied with his work, for now, he turned his attention back to Sandy. He wasn't done yet, and to her dismay, he withdrew from her, his cock wet with her juices. Her hips moved, trying to get him to fill the sudden void, but Rhys moved, so the head of his cock was at Sandy's sphincter. Holding her steady, he pushed into her, slow but steady until his balls rested against her pussy. Sandy let out a howl as he went all the way into her ass while he finished chaining her symbiont. Sandy came explosively, taking Rhys with her, then screamed again as her symbiote was once again bathed in the dragon's purple fire.

Rhys felt Bob acting as well, but his orgasm kept him from focusing. He was joined by the other girls except for Mei, but especially Amancia. He had never completely withdrawn from her mind. She acted to calm him; gave him a center to focus on. The maelstrom of emotions swirled around the room, growing more intense as the other women added theirs to the growing hurricane until they became so fierce Rhys thought his head would explode.

Sandy collapsed beneath him as the psychic storm blew itself out, and Rhys could see her mind was calm, the tiger rolling around relaxed.

"What happened," Mei asked fearfully from the side of the room.

Thea was standing by her side, holding her.

"Yes, what just happened," echoed Leslie, "and what did you do to Sandy and Amancia?" she said, pointing at Amancia's right leg.

Startled, Rhys withdrew from Sandy and looked at Amancia, hearing her gasp. His eyes traced the claw marks on her arms and ribs and down one side. But they stopped above her right hip, where she now had what looked like a tattoo, a deep purple and green dragon that covered the right hip.

"It's so life-like," Kiania said with wonder in her voice, kneeling by Amancia and running her fingers over it. "It's different, smooth like her skin but different," She added as her fingers traced the dragon. It was about 15 centimeters long, the wings were spread, and the long neck curled around her hip. The fire was coming from the dragon's fierce mouth, and the flames reached down to the bottom of her pubic mound. "The detail is amazing; it's like a picture almost," she breathed.

Sandy groaned and rolled over. "Look, she has one too," Leslie said, going over to Sandy.

"Rhys, as well," Amancia said softly in wonder while looking at his left bicep. There was an identical mark, a dragon curled around his upper arm.

Rhys sat down and pulled Sandy into his arms, holding her as she came awake.

"What happened," she said, "I feel like shit," she said, looking around in confusion.

Kiania started laughing. Amancia and the others joined in, the tension broken. Sandy just looked at them in confusion for a moment before noticing the dragon on Amancia's thigh. "That's beautiful," she said; "when did that happen?"

Kiania laughed again and reached down to run her fingers over Sandy's

"Oh my," she gasped, seeing her own. Sandy traced it with her finger, puzzled by the way it felt. She followed the fire coming from the dragon's mouth across her flat stomach all the way down to her clit ring.

She looked at Rhys with a question in her eyes. "I don't know, but I have one as well," he said, turning to show her the one on his arm.

Sandy could see the mark on Rhys, but she finally noticed the wounds, the claw marks on his face and body. Then, looking around fearfully, she could see similar injuries on Kiania and Amancia, even some on Leslie. "Oh God," she cried out as the memories rushed in. Sandy threw herself into Rhys' arms, burying her head in his shoulder, gripping him tightly as she sobbed. Rhys was relieved to sense the emotions were real, that this was Sandy in control of the symbiont, not the other way around.

"How did I do that," she cried. Then, pulling back, she looked At Rhys' face, then turned to look at the others. Oh, God, I am so sorry I hurt you," she exclaimed in dismay, pulling herself away from Rhys to take first Amancia, then Kiania, in her arms. Then the other girls, one at a time. Mei was the last, and Sandy hugged her tightly. "I am so sorry this happened; I would never willingly do anything to hurt one of you," she said, her voice breaking as her tears began to flow again.

"I felt it happening, but I couldn't control it," she said with a tremor in her voice. "I... It wanted control, and we attacked?"

"You might say that," Rhys replied with a wry smile gesturing to his face and the claw marks on his arms and chest. Besides the claw marks, he had a large gash on the side of his face where Sandy had bitten him while going for his throat. "I have fixed it though, that won't happen again," he said firmly.

Sandy nodded and came back into his arms. She leaned in and kissed the claw marks, the gash, then the ones in his arms and chest. She searched her mind for her symbiont. It was a relief to know it was there as always. But, as she explored the connection in her mind, she noticed subtle differences, and a small part seemed walled off from her. No, she thought, looking closer, more like something was caged.

She looked at Rhys, the confusion plain on her face.

"Your symbiont," he said grimly; it tried to take control of Thea and Leslie. "It didn't react well to being denied," he added with a small smile. Bob had warned me it was growing in strength, and it wanted to be the 'One', but I thought I could control it. I was wrong, obviously. Bob and I have taken measures to see it doesn't happen again," he said reassuringly.

"What measures?" Sandy asked quietly.

"During the fight, I was able to temporarily break its connection with you. I constructed a mental cage around it and added some bonds."

"What kind of bonds?" Sandy replied, concern showing in her voice.

"Two kinds. Your love for me, for all of us, is powerful. You have woven enduring emotional connections to all of us. I was able to use that to erect barriers to the symbiont, build a sort of emotional fence around it," he explained.

"That's not all, though, is it?" Sandy asked, looking at Rhys and then glancing down at the dragon mark across her hip and groin.

Rhys paused before answering, thinking about what had happened in that short but fierce battle with the symbiont. "No, Bob and I added... well chains for lack of a better word. I saw the symbiote as a large tiger, we," Rhys paused, searching for the right words to describe what he had done; Bob and I put manacles around the legs and a strong collar around the neck. These chains restrict the symbiont, bind it to me more tightly, give me more control," he added with a troubled look.

"What does that mean? Am I a submissive now like Amancia, or something else?' she asked, unsure how she felt about that.

"I am not sure yet," he said hesitantly; different, I think, though, but we will have to see. I wasn't in a position to be subtle; the symbiont had to be caged before it destroyed you," he lied. Rhys did not intend to tell her he would have been forced to kill her if it had not worked.

"What about the marks on Amancia and me, and yours," she added.

"That surprised me as well. When I caged your symbiont, I added the mark to it... I was surprised as you were to see it on your body."

"What about Amancia's?"

"She was in my mind, helping me. I remember thinking she was mine, and I wanted to mark her also, but for different reasons," he said, looking at Amancia.

"She came into his arms. I like it," Amancia said in wonder, kissing him. "Thank you. I could feel you in my mind when you did it. You wanted to mark me; I was your submissive, and I belong to you completely."

"Yes," Rhys said softly, kissing her, "you do."

"What do the added bonds mean for Sandy and the rest of us? Does this change anything between us?" Amancia asked.

"No, at least I don't think so. Sandy will respond more strongly to commands, I think, and her symbiont is under control; she is not a threat to anyone," he said, looking at her.

Sandy knew Rhys as well as she knew herself, and she understood there was more to it than he was saying.

"There is one more thing I have to do, though," he said, looking at Sandy.

She stared back at him for almost a minute in silent communication with Rhys. Then nodded her head, a small smile on her face.

There was a gasp from everyone as a silver cloud appeared around Rhys, but instead of remaining amorphous, it became a solid band that flowed quickly to Sandy, encircling her neck. Then, the nanobits shifted their structure, forming a necklace that fit close to her throat. It was delicate but strong and seemed to change color as she moved. Understated but beautiful.

Sandy ran her fingers over it as she felt it settle about her neck. The metal was warm to the touch with a very slight texture. She felt it move under her fingers as additional nanobits formed into a teardrop-shaped green stone resting at the base of her slender neck. Sandy gasped when she saw it in the bedroom mirror, her fingers rising to touch it.

She was quiet for a moment before smiling and nodding her head again. "It's necessary," she acknowledged in a somber tone.

"What's necessary?" Thea asked, looking puzzled.

"This," Sandy said in the same somber voice as she fingered the green jewel. "Rhys controls it, and through this, me," She added. Seeing the others were puzzled, she explained; the nanobits respond to Rhys, if I become too much of a threat, he can just kill me.

Understanding flooded the other girls. "No!" shouted Kiania, "you can't do that, Rhys," she cried.

Sandy raised her hand for quiet before the others could say anything. She turned to Rhys, letting him explain. "You need to tell them."

"You saw what happened tonight," he said solemnly, "Bob warned me that something had changed when I made Sandy my second in command, something in the symbiont, that is. By deliberately giving her more authority, I inadvertently removed some restrictions on the symbiont, restrictions that were there for a reason, it seems. Sandy was growing in power, the symbiont naturally trying to challenge me.

"What have you done to control it," Leslie asked, the concern evident in her voice. She had seen the changes in Sandy, how her body suddenly shifted, the terrifying face, half-human, half-monster ready to rip and kill. "Will that happen to us?"

"No, now I can control it, but then again, nothing is assured. There has never been a human/symbiont, and there had never been a symbiont free from the original programming instructions before now," Rhys said, looking at each of them.

"What about the way Sandy changed? Her hands turned into claws, and her mouth, the fangs," Amancia said, avoiding looking at Sandy.

Rhys looked at Sandy with a raised eyebrow.

Sandy blushed and looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I didn't know I could do anything like that, I...I didn't know what I was doing; it just happened.

"Can you do it again," Rhys asked pointedly.

Sandy thought for a minute, closing her eyes and trying to remember how it had happened, picturing it in her mind. There she thought to herself as she felt her fingers start to shift, but she seemed to hit a barrier.

"No," she said in frustration, "I can't."

"We will talk about it later," Rhys said.

"The nanobits?" Sandy asked.

Rhys nodded slightly.

Leslie was relieved; she didn't want to face something like that. Sandy was scary enough without changing into a tiger.

"What about the rest of us? Being able to change into something like that could be a potent weapon," Kiania said, looking pointedly at Amancia.

Amancia looked at Rhys, who seemed lost in thought. "Perhaps, that's the first time anything like that has happened. Bob thinks it's possible, but it only manifested in Sandy under extreme circumstances. I think we each need to experiment, try it, but under different circumstances," he said in a wry tone as he walked over to Sandy and took her in his arms. He pressed her naked body against him, but Sandy pulled back, looking up at him.

"I think you and Amancia need time in the med units," she said, running her hands over the deep gouges in Rhys' face.

"Yes, I suppose so, but I have one more thing to do first." There were cries of surprise as the cloud formed again around Rhys and Sandy. It extended out toward Amancia, a finger-width band that wrapped around her neck. Amancia let out a gasp at the nanobits encircling her neck, slowly turning into a burnished gold choker. Amancia's eyes filled up as she stared at her image in the mirror, and she hugged Rhys fiercely.

"Thank you," she said through her tears of joy.

Rhys could feel the intense emotions flowing from Amancia like a wave moving through his mind. So could Sandy, he realized.

"You are mine," he said to both of them, taking Amancia's hand and leading her over to one of the med units. ------------------------------------

Kiania motioned to the others, and they all came over to Sandy. "Are you really alright?" Kiania asked, pulling Sandy into a tight hug. "You scared us all," she said, staring into Sandy's green eyes, looking for the woman she knew so well in their depths.

"Yes," she said, staring back, "Rhys fixed me. I am so sorry," she said as tears came to her eyes, "I would never want to hurt any of you, and it will never happen again. Rhys has seen to that," she said softly as tears ran down her cheeks. She raised a hand to her 'necklace', "my symbiont understands," she added, looking into the eyes of each girl. Sandy felt hands at her neck, each of them touching the band and jewel at her neck. The necklace was a thin band, delicate but deadly. "It is there for the symbiont... to remind it of the consequences."

"I didn't know Rhys could do anything like that," Thea said, running her fingertips along the metal band.

"Rhys didn't either until just then. The AI, the one we brought back from the Drans ship, told him how to use it in the fight against the Om, and then again just now."

"But we have not been able to contact it," Thea said.

"No, not until now, and apparently, it only contacts Rhys, not the other way around. It still ignores all queries from the base AI as well."

" What about the mark on your leg Leslie said, running her hands across the dragon emblazoned across her thigh. "The skin feels different, and the dragon looks alive, especially the eyes, the fire," she said in awe as her fingers traced the fire running across Sandy's abdomen and down to her clit ring.

"It's beautiful," Mei said, speaking for the first time. Her voice was almost wistful.

"It is," agreed Kiania, "I wonder if Rhys will give me one," she said, smiling at Sandy.

"Perhaps if you are bad enough," she replied with a small smile.

"Or submissive enough,'' Kiania added, looking at Mei.

Mei blushed but didn't look away. "It is beautiful," she said, running her hands over Sandy's thigh, her fingertips feeling the different textures. "It feels so different, the textures on your skin. Then, kneeling, she ran her fingers lightly across the dragon. As she traced the dragon's neck and head, she could feel the dragon's presence, Rhys, she thought. "It's warm," she said, looking up at Sandy in surprise when her fingers touched the flame stretching across Sandy's abdomen. "Can you feel it?" she said in wonder.

"Yes, It's warm, and it feels very sexy," she added in a sultry voice. Come here, Mei, and the rest of you. I need to make up for what I did. We have at least an hour before Rhys gets out of the med unit, and I intend to show all of you just how sorry I am.

They all moved as one into a group hug with Sandy in the middle. The sudden movement startled Kiania; she felt the pull of Sandy's words, a subtle authority that hadn't been there. It was different from before; now there was an added edge of command to her words. There wasn't the need to obey like with Rhys; it was more of a strong invitation. Softer than Rhys, more feminine, but it was there all the same.