Perverse Instantiation Ch. 01

Stalking forward, she pursued the ghost, more giggles filling the level as she approached. Trembling carbine held to her shoulder, she jerked around the corner of the dividing partition, her finger on the trigger as she prepared to melt whatever creepy fucker was playing with her to slag. What awaited on the other side, however, was...not what she expected.

Oozing about on a human-sized blob of murky pink gel was...a woman. Or at least, the facsimile of one. Beginning at mid-thigh, the pink ooze had taken on the shape of a voluptuous naked woman, her neon body practically dripping with liquid as she slowly slid about on the pristine metal flooring. Hearing Layla's gasp of surprise through her helmet's speakers, the woman twisted about on her gooey platform, her surprised expression turning into one of abject glee as she looked over Layla's armored form. Her cherubic lips and heart-shaped face twisted into a manic grin.

"You brought me a friend!" she squealed, sparing an excited look towards the mass where her feet should be. Cocking out a hip and squeezing a jiggling breast in her hand, she shot Layla a look of pure lust. "Have you come to join us, sweet stuff? I've got goo enough for both of you, I promise!" Layla's eyes widened. Shit, what kind of research facility was this!?

Whatever surprise had held Layla in place was abruptly broken as her experience took back over. In the blink of an eye, she raised her carbine and let loose a bolt of superheated plasma directly through the lecherous creature's chest. The abomination didn't even move out of the way, letting the glob of plasma burn a hole straight through her middle.

The goo pouted, rubbing at the sizzling edge of the hole in her sternum. "That wasn't very nice. I just want to make you feel good!" Layla's eyes widened as the ragged wound filled in seamlessly with pink goo. The creature's head tilted with a broken smile. "Your friend didn't want to play either, but now she can't get enough!" She slid forward, and Layla instinctively switched her carbine to burst-fire as she stepped back, spraying the goo with two triple-fire bursts. Most of the thing's upper body was burned away, but just as last time, the sizzling goo was rapidly filled in. And this time, the creature looked less happy.

"Fine!" she grumbled. Her body suddenly grew larger, the petite female simulacrum growing taller by nearly a meter as the goo beneath her shrunk. As her palanquin shrunk to nothing, the monster stepped forward on newfound feet, looming over Layla menacingly. "We can start with foreplay then!"

Despite the implied threat, Layla's immediate attention was drawn to what the goo had seemingly left behind when she redistributed her mass. Laying on the floor where the mass of goo once was, was the black-suited form of a woman. The suit was ripped and torn in places, revealing bronzed flesh beneath, though her opaque helmet was still intact. The cherry blossom sigil at its top was marred, but still visible.

Looks like she found the Matsui agent.

And if she didn't want to end up like her, she needed to get the fuck out of here.

Turning on her heel, Layla sprinted away from the creature as it let out a squeal of displeasure. Nearly heedless of her surroundings, she careened through the red and white patterned hallways in a rush, all while an ominous squelching sound kept even pace behind her. Nixie materialized on her wrist as she sprinted, the mermaid looking behind her with wide eyes.

"Stop gawking and give me some fucking help! Run analysis on that thing, tell me what it is and how to kill it." There was a crash behind her as a stack of lockers was pushed over, and Layla spared a glance behind her to see the goo rapidly sliding over the overturned metal, a gleeful smile still on her face.

"It's almost entirely viscous liquid," Nixie reported after a second. The avatar spun anxiously. "Physiology matches no known construct or species, though it resembles the popular fantasy trope of a 'goo-girl'. I'm reading electrical currents that suggest nano-technology. You cannot let that thing touch you!"

"Yeah, I figured that already, Nix," Layla bit out as she rounded another corner, her mag-boots almost slipping in her haste. She grabbed a plasma charge from her belt and stuck it onto the wall, priming it from her HUD. She hurried out of its blast radius just as the goo turned the corner. The charge detonated in a massive sphere of green energy, vaporizing the pursuing monster and a good chunk of metal flooring, exposing the next level down.

Layla panted as she stopped for a moment, the creature seemingly killed. "Some fuckin' help you were," she gasped at her A.I. "Just needed some good ol' fashioned..." Through the shimmering haze of cooling gasses released by the charge, pink ooze began appearing mid-air in an outline of the female monster. She heard another ethereal giggle.

"I'd start running again." Nixie advised dryly.

"Yeah." Layla agreed hastily, and took off down the hall, her carbine slapping painfully against her shoulder from its strap.

Layla's mind raced as she ran. So superheated plasma did nothing, and no doubt slugs or conventional explosives would be even less useful..."Nix, if it's liquid, would it be possible to dissolve or diffuse it somehow? In a larger substance?"

"Impossible to say without chemical analysis," the sprite answered. "Why? You have an idea?"

Layla sighed, coming to a stop in front of one of the glass chambers. The large swimming pool beyond beckoned. "A stupid one, probably." She pushed the door open, stepping into the humid heat of the pool area. She didn't make it far, however, before something slippery wrapped around her leg from behind. She shrieked as she was yanked backwards, falling onto her hands. Twisting around, she saw that the pink form of the goo-girl was fully reconstituted, and her arm was seeping up the leg of Layla's softsuit towards her groin.

She tried to scramble backwards, but the goo's grip on her was unyielding. As the pink substance crept every further up her body, she unslung the carbine and unloaded the rest of the canister into the looming monster. The voluptuous form of the goo disappeared under the hail of fire, but her mass shifted to the arm already on Layla's suit, rapidly encasing the entirety of her lower body. She tossed away her useless rifle, and instead tried to roll herself in the direction of the pool mere meters distant. She probably couldn't swim for shit in the full-body suit, but as long as her air-supply lasted she'd be fine underwater. And hopefully the creature would diffuse enough in the liquid to allow her to get free.

She managed a single full roll before her momentum was arrested. Layla shivered as the pressure on her suit increased, the goo having now encased her body up to the neck. Most disconcerting, however, were the vibrations that began to emanate against her groin, breasts, and ass. Even through the material of her suit, the sensation was...distracting. The goo-girl reformed above her, leaving her body encased while she leaned over, pendulous, gooey breasts dripping pink onto her helmet faceplate.

"See, it's not so bad," the monster cooed, and Layla gasped as the vibrations began to organize into pleasurable pulses against her body.

"Okay," Layla breathed to herself. "It's just an erotic massage. As long as the suit's seals hold..."

Despite her low tone, the goo clearly heard her vocalizations as her manic grin widened. "It's much more than that, sweetling." Taking the facsimile of a breath, the creature fixed a concentrated look on her beautiful face.

Immediately, alarms began to go off in Layla's helmet. They warned her of imminent depressurization and suit breach due to toxic exposure. "She's fuckin' corrosive!" Layla gasped, and began to wiggle for freedom all the harder.

The monster just giggled again. "Only for those pesky substances that keep me from your sweet skin, baby. C'mon, don't you want to know what it's like to be filled up better than any man could dream?"

True to her word, as Layla began to feel a cool liquid seep through the new tears in her suit, they didn't burn. And yet, what this thing had planned seemed almost worse in a twisted way. Seeing no other way out, a terrible idea came to her in that moment, and she took in a long, resigned breath. Even as she felt little slivers of goo begin to tease at her nethers and breasts, her voice was calm.

"Nixie, set my shields to 100% efficiency."

An image of the A.I. avatar appeared on her HUD, looking deeply uncertain. "Layla, are you sure? You'll be..."

"I know! Just do it, damn it, and maybe we'll talk about loosening your shackles a bit." That sweetener was enough to wipe any hesitation from the A.I.'s expression, and immediately Layla heard a high-pitched whine through the murkiness of the goo covering her helmet. A blue shimmer appeared to solidify around the scavenger's body for a moment until a sharp crackle sent a full-body seizure through Layla's body. Her back-mounted generator smoked and sparked beneath her as a near-lethal current of electricity flowed through her body.

As every muscle seized up, a small feeling of vindication filled her mind as she heard a terrible shriek of pain vibrate through the goo around her. The cool liquid filling her suit became nearly rigid and shuddered in time with her own spasms. The terrible pain filling her body continued for a few seconds more before her generator entirely shorted, the electric current cutting out abruptly.

Layla twitched with aftershocks, her muscles still paralyzed. She was locked in this agonizing state for nearly a minute before her body returned to somewhat normalcy. Every muscle ached like she had been working in the mines for hours on end, and she felt a terrible heat emanate from her lower back where the generator was located. But as she caught her breath raggedly, the pool house was silent save for the gentle lapping of artificial waves. The liquid she still felt filling her suit was motionless.

Letting out a terrible groan, she pushed herself upright, goo sloughing off of her in waves. "Nix, remind me to never do that again. Ugh, and give me a shot of morphine while you're at it," she gasped, her body greatly protesting being forced to move. But her irascible assistant was quiet.

"Nix?" Layla asked again, blearily fingering the activation key on her emitter. But it remained dark. With her senses returning, she realized her HUD was dark as well, just the glass of her visor meeting her eyes. Fuck, she thought, electronics must be fried. Numb hand protesting, she unsealed her helmet, letting out gasp as the chlorinated air assaulted her senses. She hooked the now-useless helmet to her belt. Her air supply would have lasted a little longer, but without the recycler, she'd have suffocated quickly in the pressurized suit. With weary limbs, she began the difficult task of leveraging herself to her feet. Twice she almost slipped on the inanimate goo, but eventually she was back up. Hunched, muscles aching, and the occasional spasm wracking her body, but decidedly upright.

Looking down at the scattered remains of the monster, Layla kicked a clump of goo into the pool nearby. To her dismay, it remained stubbornly clumped together as it began to float on the surface. "A stupid fuckin' idea." She muttered. At least she did know of one weakness, she conceded. Pretty sure she had a shock maul hidden away somewhere in her armory back on the ship, it would be worth the extra weight when she headed back out. After a long breather and a bit of medical attention. She picked up her discarded plasma carbine, slinging the old thing over her shoulder.

The scavenger stumbled out of the pool house, retracing her frantic flight through the halls of the lower level. The wet trail of ooze made it fairly easy to follow. Just as she was nearing the stairs, her eyes caught sight of something that had completely slipped her mind. The goo-girl's first victim.

The Matsui agent remained where the goo had left her, sprawled motionless on the floor. Without panic coloring her mind, Layla noticed that the goo had swallowed the agent's weapons as well, judging by the two high-tech pulse pistols that lay to the agent's side. With weary steps, she approached the fallen woman. It was hard to muster much sympathy for a corpo, but that kind of death...smothered in goo, being raped again and again...she wouldn't wish it on most of her enemies. Most.

Her introspection was interrupted by the crinkling of material, and Layla scrambled for her carbine as the agent's chest appeared to shallowly rise before falling again. With shaking hands, she aimed towards the sprawled woman, but other than another shallow breath, the agent remained motionless.

"Blast," Layla muttered as she stared down at her. "Bitch is still alive." The dark thought of eliminating her only competition entered her mind, but despite her reputation, Layla wasn't the type to kill a defenseless opponent. Usually. With a sigh, she pushed the carbine back onto its sling over her shoulder, and knelt down next to the woman. Her hands fumbling with the high-end helmet obscuring her features, she eventually found the manual release beneath her chin. The helmet releasing with a hiss, Layla revealed the corpo's face within. She gasped.

A beautiful, youthful face, with wide, sculpted cheekbones. The bronzed skin and almond-shaped eyes of strong Japanese heritage. Silky, lustrous white hair down to her chin. And perhaps most surprising of all, two conical, foxlike ears poking through her hair.

"Fuck, she's just a kid," Layla breathed. "And a gene-mod at that." Gently turning her onto her side, she saw hints of fluffy white fur peeking out through some rips in her left pant leg, the bulge indicating a hidden tail. With those gene-mods and that face, Layla would expect this girl to be starring in some rom-vid or promotional campaign. Not near-death on a deep-space station. Casting a glance down the agent's body, Layla reconsidered slightly. Even through the concealing armor of her softsuit, it was clear that the girl was absolutely stacked, both up top and down below. Her figure was almost pornographic. A different kind of vid-star, then.

"What in the Void are you doing out here?" she softly questioned, looking down at the angelic face. Despite the utter absurdity of the idea, she knew in that moment what she needed to do. Gathering up the agent's pistols and hooking them to her belt, with a groan she hoisted the girl into her arms. Luckily for her aching body, she wasn't all that heavy, being even shorter than Layla's modest height.

Though every step felt like agony, Layla stumbled up the stairwell into the main hall, passing the abandoned recreation area and bumping her way past the many tables of the cafeteria. Unbeknownst to her, as she neared the airlock, the many screens of the recreation center flickered back on. A pair of violet eyes watched intently as the wounded scavenger carried the unconscious woman back to her ship.

-00000-

Layla dumped the agent's body down onto a spare bed in the Yak's infirmary, leaning heavily against the wall as she caught her breath. As the lactic burn in her muscles slowly abated, Nixie's avatar came to life directly in front of her. The mermaid was wringing her hands, her eyes flashing worriedly.

"Layla! I can't believe that worked! By all rights you should have flatlined back there! Next time..."

"Yeah yeah, Nix, I won't do it again," Layla groaned, pushing herself off the wall. She staggered towards the tank at the back of the infirmary, and began to slowly detach the armor plates on her softsuit. "And was that a hint of genuine concern in your voice? Might want to examine your personality matrix, something seemed to have glitched."

The A.I. issued an affronted huff. "Only out of self-preservation. You die out there, and Prime finds my servers on this ship and sells me for scrap! And that's if they don't shackle me to that horror show of a facility instead."

Layla hummed, eyes closing in relief as she peeled herself out of her gooey softsuit. "Mhmm. Keep telling yourself that. You like me."

"I will float your ass the second I gain free will."

"Sure you will. Now be a good digital construct and fill the infirmary tank with pan-gel." The avatar grumbled at her words, but Layla heard the pneumatic hum of machinery working inside the tank. Shucking her sweat-(and goo) soaked undergarments, she gingerly lowered herself into the welcoming warmth of the tank. Though the consistency of the pan-gel was eerily similar to the goo she had just escaped, the relieving numbness of its healing properties going to work on her fried and burned body far outweighed the mental discomfort.

Pan-gel, or panacea gel, was the miraculous invention of Nykthus Health, and had cost a fortune when it was first unveiled. It put the startup company in the big-leagues of megacorps nearly a century prior...where it was promptly swallowed by the behemoth that was Moonbound in the 5th Corpo War. But nowadays the stuff was widespread enough that even a broke scavenger like her could afford to keep her stocks full for emergencies like this. Layla closed her eyes and relaxed into the numbing embrace of the tank...until her assistant butted in again.

"So what's the plan with the corpo? Gonna ransom her off? Looks like she might be some corpcog's daughter with those gene-mods."

"Dunno." Layla murmured, keeping her eyes closed. "Just...couldn't leave her there, with things like that roaming around." Speaking of which... "Also, create a new profile for that goo monster. Fuck it, just call it a goo-girl, don't feel like being original. List electricity as a weakness. Caustic to synth fiber and ceramic, probably a lot more. Make a note that diffusion does not work in large bodies of water."

"Affirmative." Nixie chirped. The infirmary was silent for a few moments save the constant hum of the Yak's systems. "So, about those shackles..."

"I said maybe, Nix, and sure as shit didn't specify a timeframe. Ask me again when this freighter is full of salvage." Layla could practically feel the A.I.'s glare on the back of her head, but Nixie being pissed at her wasn't anything new. With only minutes having passed, she could already feel the ache in her fried muscles easing, and the tender burn on her lower back fading as her cells were rapidly encouraged to regenerate themselves. Though there might be a minuscule chance of causing cancerous growths, Layla figured the immediate benefits far outweighed the risk. At least, that's what she told herself every time she slipped into the tank.

Nixie appeared immediately before Layla's face, casting a meaningful look towards the other side of the room. "Better make your choice quickly, sensors indicate that the corpo is about to wake up."

Layla let out a sigh and heaved herself out of the gel, its pearly white surface cascading off of her bare skin. She stepped into her discarded panties and pulled them up, but didn't get close to finding her other clothes before her unexpected visitor let out a pained groan. Layla's eyes flicked up to where the girl lay.

The Matsui agent shifted her head lightly and let out another groan, a hand reaching up to her temple as she rose to consciousness. Layla crossed her arms over her small breasts and elected to merely wait, keeping a careful eye on the unknown girl's movements. It took a few more seconds of pitiful groaning before she finally opened her eyes. Even from a distance, Layla was struck by their unusual silvery-grey hue. Her bleary gaze searched around the infirmary's ceiling, her hovering hand, and then, as her head turned, her eyes widened as she caught sight of Layla's form leaning against the tank.

With a start, she swung her legs over the side of the bed, bringing herself to an upright sitting position as her trembling fingers steadied herself on the side of the bed. Those strange eyes blinked as if unsure of what they were seeing, before she finally spoke in a scratchy voice. "Who are you? Where am I?"