Tower of Babylon Pt. 05

After a mid-day meal, they were taken to a launch facility where the long, tubular shape of the heavy lifter was being stocked. Its holds would carry various supplies as well as personal items for the wife and her entourage. Her trunks stored an array of finery. For the trip, Annabelle was wearing a silken gown that was barely more than lingerie. It left her chest and genitals exposed while flowing in gossamer silver tails that gently winged up as she walked. Okano wore a fresh reverse body stocking, and even Bee was given a jeweled belt sash and matching bracers which were gifted to her by the estate. Matt had a freshly minted custom tuxedo that was elaborately formal yet quite comfortable.

The farewell party was made up of servants from the household and some of the wife's confidantes. Matt had no idea if they were truly friends or just opportunists. None of the family attended, not even the patriarch's avatar, and to Matt's relief, the son and his desultory crew were absent.

One of the items being loaded was his new wife. A servant held out a touchpad for him to sign for the bill of lading. She was stored in a transparent box within which she was somehow suspended in a humiliating pose, facing up on her back with her legs splayed over her shoulders. Her crotch was in full display and her hands posed to splay her ass cheeks. If she was conscious, she did not seem to acknowledge it.

"The suspension gel will keep her alive for the duration of the journey," Annabelle explained. "I've done it myself a couple times. You are sedated and only partially aware of anything. It's quite relaxing, actually. In my case, when I was merely mistress, it was used for displays back when that was in vogue. People prefer active statuary these days." The servants hauled the box away, pulling it on rollers up into the maw of the giant bay where stevedores arranged the cargo.

"What exactly is the purpose of all that?" Matt asked.

She put a hand to her mouth and giggled coquettishly, "I thought it was obvious. Clearly, it is the objectification of the feminine aspect, for the purpose of fetishistic power games to assuage the masculine ego. I think it's actually quite hot." She used her other hand to toy with her own crotch.

Matt's lust fired up again and he barely managed to hold himself back, resisting, "I mean, who's all this for? Your husband?"

She looked at him coolly, "For you, darling, and for us, and everyone. Society. It's a game that keeps us relevant to each other. I thought you'd understand since you produce pornography for a living."

"Exactly, we do it for revenue, fair compensation and media ratings. It's not real, it's all for show! But all this is absurd!" He spread his arms to encompass the estate as well as the scene before them.

"It always has been, and I fail to see a difference," she replied, waving a hand as she headed toward the passenger ramp. "Come along, dear."

Like a ducklings, Matt and the others followed along in a line.

The heavy lifter gradually reached cruising height as the long afternoon light washed over the landscape. Despite its size, the estate was already behind them and the hills below were mostly unoccupied with few signs of development. They soon passed the outer perimeter of the Protectorate and were now officially in the lawless no man's land. The lifter had enough weaponry to protect itself and its unique IFF transponder would be warning enough to any would be bandit that attacking it would mean death for them as well as their families and associates. The Protectorate would be indiscriminate in its reprisals.

Matt stood with Annabelle in one of the observation lounges, although there wasn't much to look at. The sprawl of the Buffer was wide but depressing for its squalor.

They would reach their destination after nightfall. The lifter was much slower than the jet aircraft of the past age, closer to the dirigibles of that era although more maneuverable than those vehicles ever were. It was a refitted military airship, so its interior had creature comforts yet retained much of the armoring and utilitarian design. The crew areas had been upgraded to luxury cabins where Bee and Okano had retired, exhausted from the past day of endless fornication. If Annabelle was tired, she showed no signs and Matt had determined not to retire until she did.

His lust now rarely ebbed and mostly flowed. Unable to help himself, he freed his penis and unclasped Annabelle's silken skirt. She automatically leaned against the glass to allow him access. Her folds twitched around him as they looked out onto the strip of Buffer as it scrolled below them. Someone with a telescope might have a good view of them for no charge, but otherwise they were too high to discern much from the ground.

"I was a refugee, you know," she remarked as she casually ground her firm ass into his crotch. "We were orphans being shipped to the Combine breeding farms but it was interdicted somewhere out there by a Protectorate reclamation squad on patrol. My virginity was intact, so I was educated in a Buffer preparatory school and given a visa to enter the Protectorate once I came of age and passed an examination. They were less restrictive back then or maybe I was just lucky. Later, I became a mistress and through another lucky stroke, met the elder Weaver, his avatar actually, at some minor function. He was using a different model back then, one with a usable phallic attachment with sensor feedback...you can guess what happened."

Matt shushed her. After a pause, she continued, "I've never actually met his real self. I don't know anyone who has seen him in decades. He always uses different avatars. Originally, they were more...functional...in every way. It's only been recently that he seems to have tired of that as well. He mostly just watches from his secret bunker, wherever it is. No one knows the exact location as he is very paranoid about assassination. We don't know how his medical needs are handled. The oldest wife claimed to have met him, but no one has seen her in years either. He paid to have my body upgraded, spared no expense. Only the best. For a while I worried he was only remodeling me to become his final avatar." She shivered. "But I was wrong, he only takes on male ones, even if they don't actually have any sex organs attached."

"It must have been lonely..."

Before she could answer, a voice spoke from a hidden speaker, "But dear, I have never been parted from you."

Mood spoiled, Matt pulled away without finishing although his member never faltered though he tucked it away. The tip complained from under his belt as if demanding to be released but he ignored it.

"No reason to be shy, my boy. I am used to being cuckolded, it is the last remnant of any of my old passions I have left these days. Sharing out my wives and mistresses is one way I gain social favor. I am a spider and they are my web into a lot of secrets around the world."

"Are you sure you want to be admitting to this?" Matt asked, incredulous.

"I wouldn't be saying it if I didn't want to, dickhead. Try thinking with your other brain for once. I rub your back, you rub yours out. Haha. Mutual benefit, kid, you should read up on it. I know you're not going to turn her away just because she'll be my spy into that tower of yours."

"Why her? Why not my own wife you've graced me with?"

"Eh, you won her fair and square. Well, not quite fair, actually, but I'm square with it. She's clean, I haven't touched her in any way. Franky on the other hand..."

Matt grew angry, "What are you implying?"

The voice laughed without humor, "You want twenty paces at dawn or something kiddo? I can order this ship to crash and burn if I wanted to so don't bother with the cock and bull dance, boy. I'm the old lion and you're the cub. Get back to me when you are full grown and then try to fight me for the harem."

Annabelle put her hands on her hips, "I asked for more discretion, husband."

"Whoops, sorry. I have some other business to attend to, ta-ta!"

"So, you know you're just a plant. His eyes and ears. How many of you are there?"

"I don't know but I hope this doesn't mean we can't sleep together. I did enjoy it," she coyly. "He's not always online or listening, though I think he can review everything I see and do if he wanted to."

He'd suspected as much but it put a damper on his lust, momentarily. It only lasted for an hour or so before he asked her back to the main cabin where Bee and Okano awaited them. He didn't care if it was the hormones at this point.

As dusk fell, the heavy lifter rolled over the empty wasteland, dotted by the lights of those few left struggling out there in the lawless territories. The airships flight crew operated it within an armored blister on the forward spine, monitoring every potential threat with their combat helms. The craft itself flew automatically on a preset flight plan. Below, the only hardy survivors eking out life in the barrens were probably villains themselves who eyed the fat airship with repressed greed, held back only by fear. Even the most desperate would not bite, and if they even barked, the ship could call in fast movers as backup if needed.

The passengers inside didn't notice when someone desperately stupid did launch something up at them during the flight, an obsolete seeker munition that didn't even manage to reach their altitude. An autocannon returned fire instantly, sending a single burst round back at the launch site, obliterating it and anyone foolish enough to stick around. Just in case, a drone package was released from a launch bay of the heavy lifter. They searched out anything living within a preset kill zone and eliminated anything bigger than a small rodent.

The wasteland became ever slightly more barren, but no one above gave a damn.

The crew resumed their scans, sipping on their nutrient feed tubes, ever diligent.

Meanwhile, Matt had the three women spread before him in a star pattern on their hands and knees with Annabelle front and center. He splayed his arms to grab each ass before he enjoyed himself with each, announcing to a particular someone, "If you're watching, you can't beat this buffet, old man. I'm the one feasting today."

Bee rolled her eyes but he couldn't see it from his position. Hurry up and give me the dick, she thought to herself.

Soon enough, she got her wish.