The Priestess' Punishment Pt. 01

Author's note

Hey, there, reader! This is the first of a 5 part story, and I should mention that Part I has minimal erotic content; the real naughty stuff is from part II onward. The back story presented in part I is riddled with sci-fi concepts, but for those who would rather get straight to the action, I've tried to pace it so that you could start from part II instead.

The story is inspired by various sub-genres of sci-fi/fantasy anime, and (just to warn you now), that means that the sex is very much 'hentai'. That is (often), of the non-consensual variety. Expect violence, bondage and something akin to that ridiculous line "I don't think I want this so why is my body so..."

When I wrote this my style was rather detail heavy (I think I'll always struggle with this), resulting in the entire 5 parts being dedicated to just one epic sex scene. So please don't expect much in the way of plot progression. Having said that, I've invested so much polish here that I'm happy to post it for what it is.

Relocating unit [HF-7763296] Class: Human/Female to Main World...

The residents of the Unified Empire think, feel and live just like their creators on the other side. However, their world is ultimately an extravagant piece of software, residing on a purpose-built supercomputer as one tech giant's venture into expanding the frontier of artificial intelligence.

Reproducing genuine human consciousness was never going to be easy, but their innovation was to store each individual person's unique neural network inside its own, physical vessel - the 'soulpod'.

The independence of each soulpod was a key business requirement of the entire project. Because if an AI's consciousness could advance to the point where it could question its existence, it might also accept being transferred into an external host. Possible applications include an android body, or a driverless car, or an advanced weapon system...

The administrators of the virtual world also have the means to interact with it using VR equipment and logging in as super-users. They created an Application Programming Interface (API) for an administrator logged into the system to perform all kinds of special tasks, particularly to do with overriding aspects of the environment as needed. The intention was to give the AIs a head start in forming their society and technology from within.

However, after just a few human generations (in the virtual world, which processes time about 100 times faster than our own), something happened that they had never anticipated. A little girl - an AI unit from a noble family within the Unified Empire - discovered how to access the API request system herself, as well as the means to increase her Access Level. This girl, called Linarei, was predisposed to great ambition, and the course of artificial humanity was altered in ways the creators couldn't have imagined.

Part I - Judgement

The girl opened her eyes. Slowly, for they were heavy from a long period of slumber. Her first thought as she awoke was how hard it was just to pry apart her eyelids - and how odd that seemed.

She assessed her surroundings. She was in her own bed, in her personal quarters at the top level of Principal Cathedralis, exactly one hundred stories high. A familiar and safe place. That was all as expected, but she felt unusually confused; disorientated. She didn't know how long she had slept, or whether or not she had been dreaming. But she had the most queer feeling of lost time, and couldn't quite recall her most recent memories.

It was common for her to spend long periods of time in her bed, which was a monstrosity of a thing of cushions and satin and curtains that could have slept a handful of people. However, something was different today. The curtains were all drawn open - that was odd. Her intuition buzzed a warning; she had awoken not just to an unusual reality, but a hostile one. She was confident that nothing in this world would be able to threaten her, and yet, the ill feeling could not be shaken.

She sat up against a small mountain of cushions, and winced at the effort. Had she slept even longer than usual? There was an unfamiliar pull here and there on her body, and she looked down to learn that she was wearing a thin cotton night shift. Her eyes narrowed. That was not her usual bed dress. And while she didn't doubt that she probably owned such a garment, she was certain that she hadn't put it on. But someone had.

"It seems you've awakened, your eminence." She turned towards the sound and sighted a woman seated at an unfamiliar lounge area that had been added to the room. She was quickly putting away a book and rising to her feet.

"Fili-" but her voice failed her, and the word came out as barely more than a coarse whisper. Again - she was accustomed to arising from a long slumber and speaking immediately if required, so what was this?

"Just a moment, your eminence. I'll bring you some water."

The addition of furniture besides her bed wasn't the only change to her quarters. It had been a vast area of polished marble and stained glass murals, but it was now mostly carpeted, and recent repairs to the walls and ceiling stood out like a sore thumb. By her opinion, the hastiness of the workmanship was outdone only by the poor taste behind the design choices.

Knight-captain of the Society of Primordial Paladins, Filipia Designation Zwei, approached with a goblet. She was not wearing her armour, but her primary weapon - the Star Prism Blade - hung from a simple leather belt that bound her purple tunic. Filipia looked more... feminine than usual. The tunic was nothing scandalous, but it was of fine cloth - obviously new - and it was cut to show that the wearer was certainly of the female persuasion.

And that's the part that struck her as odd. Filipia was not known to dress in a way that revealed her figure. But today she indeed wore women's clothing; the fitted tunic was paired with black leggings that moulded to her strong, shapely legs and rump. Yes, that was certainly odd for Filipia. In fact, all of this was rather out of the ordinary, for one of her paladins to be in her personal chambers - and not because she was messing around with them. And certainly she had never done that with Filipia.

"W-Water?" The girl had not needed to consume food or drink for centuries - ever since she had absorbed the burden of the Conservation Checksum. She was about to scold Filipia, but... so it was, for the first time in so long, she realised that she was desperately in need of taking water. And, though it could wait, she could tell that she was hungry as well.

She took the goblet and spilled the cool liquid between lips that felt like crumpled paper. Her whole mouth was incredibly dry; it was no small wonder she could barely speak. She sipped gingerly, immediately feeling unsightly for allowing someone to see her swallow from her throat, as if she were like any other mortal creature of the world. But to consume the basic, life-giving resource felt so good. It was instantly revitalising her, and she continued drinking in spite of her vanity.

Filipia, however, seemed preoccupied. "API request," she murmured. "Spawn entity: class anti-block volume." A small shadow sparked into existence before the paladin's fingertips. It had the appearance of a ball of black smoke, but it's true nature was more like a barrier that could pass through space and matter completely unhindered. Such an occurrence was commonplace to the girl upon the bed, who merely sighed with an unfamiliar feeling of satisfaction, having completely drained the vessel in her hands.

Filipia completed her spell, and the ominous shadow shot down into the floor, and disappeared. The girl remained unconcerned. She closed her eyes, relaxed, and allowed the water to circulate throughout her body, to power her brain, alleviate her dizziness and restore her sensibility. And then she remembered.

"Oh!" She sprung out from under the sheets, and checked over her body frantically. She sat on her heels and leaned back to assess the condition of her chest. She pulled at the neckline of her dress and peered down at her breasts and belly. She had suffered grievous injuries - but her chest, her arms - they were miraculously intact. No - she was completely, impossibly, unscathed!

But so hastily she assessed her condition, she paid no concern to her rather indecent state of dress. The white shift she wore was sleeveless and sported a plunging neckline as was her style, but it otherwise flared out widely over her midsection, hiding her enchanting female curves, and ending at her thighs with a pretty hem of pink and silver embroidery. Presently she sat on her feet with her knees spread out before her in a bent 'v', causing the dress to ride up to her hips. If she had cared to check, she might have known that she wasn't wearing any underwear.

Filipia felt the colour rising to her cheeks as her eyes were instinctively drawn to a place they were not meant to go, and she witnessed a striking arrangement of female anatomy. Her charge possessed a healthy, well cushioned mons pubis, carpeted by a modest patch of light curls. Curiously, they were of the same shining silver as the extravagant curtain that flowed from her head, all the way down to her ankles. But even more curious to Filipia, unlike her own pubic hair, those curls did not grow over her mistress' private parts.

Her outer labia were bare, pale pink cushions, so plump that they pushed hard up against each other. Halfway down her cleft of Venus there sprouted petal-like lips that fanned out slightly, and for a second Filipia thought they were painted. But no, the deep mauve colour there was entirely natural, though it seemed an unlikely contrast alongside her pale complexion and hair.

Is that what other women's... parts look like?

All of a sudden, her own vulva seemed obnoxious and ugly. It was a baseless assumption, and exactly the kind of unhealthy thought process that risked allowing the return of recently conquered insecurities.

The girl must have finally noticed that Filipia was frozen, and she traced her subordinate's stare to the space between her lewdly spread thighs. She squealed slightly, immediately pushing the hem of her dress down, whilst bringing her legs together protectively.

But to show anything but indifference to being seen in such a fashion was distinctly out of character for her. She was arguably the most beautiful woman in the world, and she knew it. One of her amusements in life was to see men and women alike dazzled by her looks. There was not one person or authority whom she needed to answer to, and she couldn't remember a time when she could have been made to feel shame. And yet, all of a sudden, she was awash with it.

If anything, Filipia was even more embarrassed, and bowed deeply in subservience. "Forgive me, your eminence. I would not look upon you so, merely I was startled-"

But the girl regained her composure and all but ignored Filipia's apologetic gesture.

Modesty is of no concern to the Debugger!

Surely, her knee-jerk response was just because of her confusion after such an unusual slumber.

And, with that settled, she was brought back to question number one. She shouldn't even be here!

Linarei, the Archpriestess of the Primordial church, self proclaimed as 'Debugger', and ruler of the Unified Empire, found herself at an unlikely loss for comprehending her own situation. It was a rare event - and rather novel, that she needed to lean onto one of her retainers. "What," her voice was still a little croaky, but the water was working. "Filipia Designation Zwei. What happened, and how did I arrive here?"

"Well, do you recall your encounter with the rebel Kainan, and Elicean Designation Driezig?"

Linarei groaned. It would have been wishful thinking to hope that the battle had been but a nightmare in one of her months-long slumbers. "Yes. I remember. In the end, I toyed with them for too long. That insolent boy!" She turned her hands over and over, studying them with an unpleasant expression, some combination of fury and wonder. "Somehow, he defeated me. His sword sliced through both my arms, and then he pierced my heart. I was dying, Filipia! But then... did someone intervene?"

"The only account we have is from Elicean. She was barely conscious at the time, but, according to her, after your defeat, you attempted to flee in a most unusual manner. You said you were leaving to... the 'other side'?"

Linarei's eyes widened. Yes, the ascension! She remembered now. Or rather, in the last memory she could recall, she was operating her secret console that was her link to the 'real' world outside of their own. The ascension process should have begun immediately, so what happened? She needed to know, but naturally she could not share the details of her plan to abandon her realm with Filipia. "That was a contingency I had to preserve myself, but... it seems that failed too. I must know what happened! Speak, knight-captain!"

Filipia pounded her fist to her breast in a gesture of compliance and apology for keeping her mistress waiting. "Forgive me, your eminence, but it is hard to say it, for the account from Elicean is so odd. This... process you speak of, to preserve yourself after the battle went ill. It was interfered with by the Chairman, Nikeluch. He attempted to join you... in some sense. Unfortunately, he too was dying, and his body was ablaze with fire from his own dimensional works. Elicean recalls the result to be nothing short of horrific, as, embraced by Nikeluch, both of you perished in the flames."

"Is that so?" Linarei pondered, "and yet, here I am." She had no memory of that last part, but she was beginning to understand the situation, and of course, there was only one possibility. "The console!" she blurted, and immediately felt foolish; what did she expect Filipia to know of it?

"Yes, your eminence. The swordsman Kainan approached the machine and was mysteriously struck down. When Elicean was finally able to stand and assist him, the knight-general, Dencule Designation Einer entered this very room, and he can confirm that there was nothing left of your body at that time.

"It was a short time later, as Elicean mourned the day's tragedy and attempted to ascertain Kainan's condition, a strange miracle occurred. She reported that at some point, she looked up from Kainan's unconscious body... and saw yours. Untouched by flame, and untouched by sword. You were lying beside that machine, unconscious and... naked."

Linarei smiled. "Don't be prudish with me, Filipia. You should know I have no need of cloth nor armour, even if I'm to draw my sword. So it is as expected that I would be just so when I was returned. If anything, I am surprised to find myself in this... rag." She pulled the flanks of the thin cotton slip back behind her. It hugged the swell of her bosoms, accentuating the perfectly rounded shape that Linarei had first possessed in her youth.

She had lived a long and purposeful life as the figurehead of her church. As the decades passed, Linarei had aged like any other; her once glorious breasts sagged over time and eventually shrivelled. And, inevitably, there came the fateful day - 283 years ago - when death had finally come for her. But even as she lay down in her bed without the strength to stand again, still she could not accept her end. Could not let go of her life, much less her power. Even in what should have been her final moments, the Archpriestess had continued experimenting with the language of the dimensional texts for an answer. And by some miracle, she discovered it!

She stumbled upon a great secret of their world, a simple phrase uttered as an API Request, or a 'dimensional work' as she had coined the system to disguise it's true nature. It was a secret found only by chance after many decades of trial and error. Quite simply, it allowed her to view a full catalogue of all the request definitions of the system, putting an end to her lifetime of guesswork. Among the secret commands and previously unknown parameters, there was a tool to disable simulated cellular ageing.

Thus she rescued herself from what should have been a natural end to a lifetime fairly spent. But cheating death even as it climbed the foot of her bed had been just the beginning. More significantly, Linarei gained tremendous increases in her abilities, and powers that were virtually absolute. God-like, many would say. At that point, it had been a simple matter to set her Access Level to the highest possible value, and to restore her body to it's youthful glory. Since that moment, the Archpriestess' breasts once again sat high and pointed; their rounded fullness to be eternally celebrated.

"My apologies, your eminence. It was my lord Dencule who dressed you, and I thought-"

Linarei waved her hand dismissively. "I care not for such trivial matters. So, how long have I been-" it was hard for her to admit it, but the word eventually came out as a whisper. "-Indisposed?"

"A little over five weeks. It seemed that your body stayed in good health despite no food and water, so..."

Suddenly, as if from the mere mention of a certain word, a most audible grumble came from Linarei's belly. Both women froze; Linarei because she was simultaneously astounded and mortified that her body would do something so undignified, while Filipia was embarrassed on her behalf, and could not think of anything to say to alleviate the long and awkward silence.

"Say Filipia, it is odd that I'm so thirsty now. A refill, if you would, please." Linarei found the goblet on the bed and thrust it out towards the woman, an eyebrow twitching in consternation.

Her knight-captain hastened to obey, and, after Linarei took another long pull, she prepared her next most pressing question. The console was not as she had left it. She presumed it had returned into it's dormant position beneath the floor, but there was now carpet over the marble in that area. "And what happened with my console, this 'machine' where my body was found? There should have been..." She wasn't sure how to describe what she sought, but fortunately Filipia already understood.

"I thought you would ask that. I have my orders to supervise your awakening, but I saw no harm in showing you, so I had a copy made."

The paladin produced a piece of paper from her tunic, and Linarei was so eager to view the contents that she didn't stop to think about why she found that last comment so strange.

"At the time, the... magic window on your machine showed writing. Elicean suspected it would be important, and so she transcribed the text word for word. Later, the glass was lifeless, so we could not confirm it".

Linarei was ignoring her. She alone was aware of the truth of their existence, and the system that governed all that was. She knew of it, but had never needed to properly comprehend how it actually worked - merely how to utilise it to her benefit. But she at least understood that she was looking at a program log. It was the results of her attempt to disconnect her soulpod from their artificial reality, and to be reborn in the real world beyond. She had been planning her 'ascension' for a long time, only to be forced to rush the execution of her plans by the rebel Kainan. And then, apparently, it had failed because of that fool Nikeluch.

Again, she knew that she should be dead, her soulpod extinguished like any other deceased human in this world, this miserable farce that they all perceived as their reality. So why was she still here? The console log should contain the answers, and Linarei eagerly read through each line.

Isolating target soulpod in podbank #1 for transfer into external host...