Hermes Ch. 03

With one hand furiously playing with her clit, the other holding onto the wall. She seemed content to experience her second orgasm soon. Without warning her head flicked up and her eyes focused on the shower head. Within seconds she had removed it from the holder and was changing the steady spray to a stronger massage stream, all without breaking her rhythm on the dildo. The shower head was soon after placed on the floor and, with small tugs of the hose, the stream was directed at her clit.

A new wave of pleasure surged through her and I could feel myself nearly coming again. She continued to slap against the wall and play with her nipples again. Picking up the pace a second time and pulling on her nipple like she wanted to rip it off, I could feel the orgasm nearing.

With a final slap, she rammed herself on the dildo and we both came again. Her vision turned blurry and her legs started to shake so much that she nearly fell, only her shaking hands on the wall could steady her. She rode the weave, held up by the strong stream of water steadily hitting her clit, for as long as she could. But her body couldn't take it much longer, her legs gave in and she slid down the wall and her ass hit the floor.

With a shaking hand, she turned the water off and pushed the shower head away. She sat there for multiple minutes slowly catching her breath only interrupted by small giggles.

After her legs could hold her again she stood up and started to dry herself up. I was still completely overwhelmed by the pleasure I just experienced, but my mind came back slowly. After she had dried herself up and cleaned the dildo, she moved back to her drawers and pulled out new clothes. I enjoyed every moment of it, the feeling of her skin, the clothes moving over them, her soft hands reaching for a new piece of underwear. It felt so different from anything I had ever experienced before, the tight pants on her, the bra tightly fitting her breasts, everything felt so real and surreal at the same time.

After she had finished changing and put the dildo back into its place she reached for the small device and pressed the small button.

—

I was pulled back into reality as the message "playback ended" appeared and the darkness faded away. The sensation of my body slowly returned and within a minute, I was fully aware of my surroundings and the semen in my pants.

I just laid there, in her bed, feeling sad and strangely enough jealous. I felt like I could pass out at any moment but I gathered my strength and slowly sat upright on the bed. I felt utterly exhausted, my body wasn't used to having multiple orgasms in such a short amount of time.

I shut down the LiveDream and stood up. It took me several attempts to regain my balance.

"Max, how long have I used the device?" I asked.

"58 minutes, sir," Max replied, always obedient.

"Wow, it definitely didn't feel that long," I said to myself.

"I should go back and take a shower," I thought to myself, then I stopped and looked at the shower in the corner.

"I wonder if it's functional," I said as I walked over. I pointed the shower head away from me and turned the water on. Within a few seconds, it started to spray water, and moments later, it got warmer. I turned off the water and decided to move into one of the quarters. But first, I needed to get back to my ship and take a proper shower. I put the LiveDream back on the desk and left the room.

—

Back at my ship, I dropped my clothes on the pile in the bathroom and took a quick shower. My thoughts were occupied with what had happened in Alina's old room. Everything in the recording felt better than it had ever been for me, not just the sexual parts, but also her body, clothes, and movements. It all felt more natural. I didn't know what to do with this feeling, but maybe I could talk to Pyra about it. For now, I needed to push these thoughts aside and focus on other things.

As I stepped out of the shower, I noticed the pile of dirty clothes in the corner. I realized I needed to wash them before moving downstairs. I put on some fresh clothes and was about to start using the portable washing machine when I remembered that I could probably find a washer on deck 20. I decided to eat first and then search for the washing machines.

—

Later, I packed my clothes and other belongings into boxes and moved them to the elevator. I left the boxes in the elevator, at least nobody would get angry because I blocked it. When I reached deck 20, I searched for the washing machines and was surprised to find them easily. The quarter decks were still circular, like the docking deck, but instead of having odd-shaped rooms, the center square of the deck was used for quarters. The half-circles in each cardinal direction were used for utilities.

I decided that the docking port was located in the south, so that the north part was used as a mess hall, the east part for waste and recycling, the south part for washing, and the west part for storage of household items. The rooms had everything you would expect to find in them - tables, chairs, food dispensers, and fridges in the mess hall, a trash compactor and huge recycling tanks in the waste room, washing machines and dryers in the washroom, and storage crates in the storage room.

In some of the rooms, I saw service bots all docked and charging. I asked Max about them.

"Max, What's up with those service bots?" I asked.

"They are mainly controlled by the main system, sir," Max replied.

"Can you control them?" I asked.

"Yes, I can control up to three of them at the same time without overloading my processor," he said.

"Perfect, Max," I said, "New standing order: use up to two bots to keep the common areas of the station clean, on the decks I've visited. Also, my quarters, after I've decided on a room."

"Affirmative, sir," Max acknowledged.

I decided to search for a room and let the bots handle moving my boxes and clothes. I told Max to fetch my dirty clothes and wash them, while I went back to the elevator. A second later, a service bot rushed out of the washing area and headed to the elevator to get my clothes.

When I arrived back at the elevator, I walked to room 20-06 next to Alina's old room. The room was nearly identical to Alina's, with the same size and furniture. However, it looked like no one had ever lived there. Even the mattress was still wrapped.

"Guess I got lucky," I thought and instructed Max to move my boxes into the room and prepare it. I wanted to check out other rooms and see if I could find more recordings or a way to access other decks.

—

A few hours later, I returned to my room, feeling disappointed. The other rooms were all empty and while some showed traces of previous owners, none had any useful items or were in the same state as Alina's old room. I discovered that the rooms further from the elevator were used as group rooms, with bunk beds for up to four people. It seemed only the rooms closest to the elevator were single rooms, and all of them, except mine, were used, but completely cleaned out. Alina must have been too lazy to pack her stuff, too rich to care, or in a hurry when she left.

When I entered my room, I saw that Max had prepared it. The mattress was out of its wrapper and the bed was made, and my boxes were neatly stacked next to the bed. I walked to the desk and activated the console. Instead of a passcode prompt, I saw a blank desktop after booting up.

"Max, can you connect the console to the ship's systems?" I asked.

"Affirmative, sir, connection established," Max replied.

The display changed and I could see my familiar desktop with all of my programs and files. I also had access to the ship's main systems.

I put the console to sleep and stood up from the chair. After I moved my things from the boxes to some drawers and shelves, I got into bed. With a command, the light dimmed and I was lying in darkness.

I thought about the events of the past few days and the strange situation I was in. Only a week ago, I was a smuggler trying to score big by stealing a prototype reactor core. The core led me to this lost, dormant station in the middle of nowhere where I now lived. There are still many secrets the station holds, such as the inaccessible decks, the main system, and its purpose. I could partially answer the last part - I had found the MedHands and the LiveDream, both astonishing devices. If I could find the blueprints and develop them until they were marketable, it would secure my future.

Then there was the LiveDream. My thoughts snapped back to what I had thought earlier in the shower. What was happening to me? I never felt so jealous and sad as I did when the recording ended. Not because of what I saw and felt, but because I was still myself and not Alina. I wondered what it would feel like to be someone else, to feel her body instead of mine. But what was the difference? We were both human. She was probably more successful in her career than I ever would be, but the only real difference between us was that she was a woman.

But it couldn't be that. I never felt like I was in the wrong body. How would that even feel? I had wished to be a woman a few times in my life, but every man does that, but now I felt like something was wrong with me. Not because I had a problem with being transsexual, I was always a supporter of trans people, but because I felt like I could feel better like I could feel more whole. It was as if I had never been able to smell without knowing. Then one day, for just a few minutes, I could smell. And after that, I was back to not being able to smell anything.

Now everything made sense. I hated shaving, I hated my body hair. I didn't really hate my penis, I was mostly neutral about it, but now, thinking about it, I realized I never really liked anything about my body. I never felt like I looked the way I wanted to. I always felt out of place in pictures. I thought about how my life would be different if I had been born a girl. For the first time in years, I started to cry silently.

—

The next morning, I woke up on my own. Initially, I believed that I woke up before Max could wake me up, but then I realized that I was so preoccupied with my thoughts that I never instructed him to wake me in my new room. I stretched and took pleasure in the enormous bed for a few more minutes before getting up and walking to the toilet.

"Max, apply my sleep routine from the ship to this room," I stated after changing into some new clothes.

"Affirmative, sir."

Next to my door, I discovered a box containing my washed clothing. I placed them inside and then considered what to eat. I realized that I had never asked:

"Max, is there food on the station?"

"Affirmative, sir," he replied. "However, food processing was disabled before the station was reactivated, and there is presently no consumable food on the station. Basic rations will not be available for another 47 hours."

I sighed and headed for the elevator. As I made my way to the ship, I noticed that Max had cleaned up the garden, removing the fallen leaves and other debris. While it was neater, it also appeared less organic.

After collecting some food from the ship, I stored it in the fridges in the mess hall and prepared a simple breakfast. While I ate, I considered that Pyra would be arriving soon, and I should plan how to meet with her.

"Max, what would happen if we undocked from the station?" I asked.

"The ship would no longer be connected to the station, sir."

"Yes, specifically, the system and consoles I activated and the food processing," I responded, a little irritated by his literal answers. Sometimes I wondered if he did it on purpose. However, he was only a basic AI, incapable of self-awareness or sarcasm.

"As long as the reactor has enough fuel, the system will remain active, sir," he replied.

"And how long is that?" I inquired, even more irritated. Maybe I should conduct a full system check on Max.

"Estimated time on station power is 72 hours, sir."

I guessed it should be sufficient time to meet Pyra and return to the station. I rose from my chair and let Max clean and clear the dishes. Just as I arrived in my room, Max notified me that the long-range sensors of Hermes had detected a new contact. I checked the console and, based on the position and retro-thrust, concluded that it must be Pyra. Max verified my suspicion a second later.

"Voice message from Pyra received, sir," he said.

"Play it," I said, already on my way to the dock.

"Hey, Chris, I'm almost at the coordinates you sent me. Either send me new ones or come out of your hidden castle so I can kick your butt."

Ah, the Pyra I remembered, always pleasant and cheerful. As soon as I boarded the ship, I instructed Max to undock and head to the rendezvous point. I wanted to arrive in 30 minutes and chose the distance since the station would no longer be visible, allowing me to check for possible followers. I would also ask Pyra to board my ship and let hers drift since her ship could have a tracker for all I knew.

—

One hour later, I saw her ship arrive. Thanks to my fancy paint and lack of a heat signature from a fusion reactor, she couldn't detect my ship even when close.

"I can see you," I sent over the voice channel, smiling as I imagined her surprised face.

"Good for you, where the hell are you?" she responded.

I turned on my transponder and used maneuvering thrusters to move closer to her ship.

"I'm here," I said. "Also, I have some bad news for you."

"Okay, I see you. What bad news?"

"Well...you have to board my ship. I don't know if your ship is clean."

"That's terribly nice of you to assume that my ship has a tracker. Also, what the heck are you hiding here that you're so paranoid about tracking?"

"You'll see soon," I said, preparing to dock my ship with hers.

"Dickhead!" was her only response. While she seemed annoyed by my request, she performed the maneuvers in sync with me, and a few moments later, our ships were docked.

As the airlock opened, she practically jumped into my arms and gave me a big hug. After she let go, she looked around the storage bay and noticed my connection to the core.

"Is that the core?" she asked as she walked toward it. I confirmed, and she started to inspect it closer. That was when I noticed that her left foot was replaced with a cybernetic prosthesis.

"Nice robo-foot," I said. She looked at me surprised, then down at her foot.

"Oh yeah...I never told you about it. There was a riot in prison, and some idiot with a prosthetic arm crushed my foot with a steel pipe," she said with a sad face. "Completely pulverized all the bones, and they gave me this piece of shit as a replacement. It works, but that's all it does."

"I'm sorry," I said, and I truly was. Prosthetics were expensive and required expensive maintenance, but still better than completely losing a limb.

We exchanged some more pleasantries, and after she satisfied her curiosity, she packed some stuff, and we undocked from her ship. I instructed Max to return back to the Hermes a bit faster than how we got here.

Pyra lifted one eyebrow and asked, "Hermes?"

"Yes, Hermes. It's an abandoned station I found a couple of days ago, by accident," I said. "It should come into view in a couple of minutes."

~~~

That was Chapter 3, I hope you enjoyed it.

Thank you all for your support and feedback.

Also, I wanted to say that some distances and times are not realistic, I want to write and not do orbital calculations. I will just refrain from adding them in the future and use relative times.

See you in the next one.

Kat