Beasts

Beasts 2

By Vic James

vicjames2@hotmail.com

Copyright 2014 by Vic James

http://www.vicjames.com

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This story is fiction. None of the characters are based on real people. You can see a list of my stories at the Nifty Prolific Authors page by my name.

Three

Harry told us that Digger and Pan were awake and waiting for us in Aegina. We thanked him and walked to Richard's office. His door slid open. He spun around in his chair.

"Em just said the damnedest thing," he said to me.

"That she wants a sex change?" I said.

"She told you, too?"

"Are you going to do it?"

"I begged her not to do it."

"Did you convince her?"

Richard sighed.

"I don't know. She said she wanted to be prettier. I think she looks good, don't you?"

"Yes, but my opinion doesn't get her dates."

"I know if I spent more time with her, she would be happier. I like her and she likes me."

"Can't you pull yourself away from work for a couple of hours a day?" I asked him.

Richard sighed.

He looked at his computer display. He frowned.

"Of course I can. I'm the one setting deadlines, but I feel useless when I'm not working."

I was surprised at that statement.

"Making people happy isn't useless," Digger said.

Richard sighed.

"I know that."

"We wanted to go to Aegina," Alek said.

Richard nodded.

"Are you going in with us?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Maybe Em would like to come," I suggested.

Richard tapped his meme, while he nodded his head.

I looked at Richard's crotch. I couldn't help it. He was half- hard and big.

Jock put his hand on my butt and squeezed it. I grinned at him.

"Spend a little time with Pan, alone, will you?" he asked me.

"Sure."

"Will we look like ourselves?" Alek asked Richard.

"You can choose another avatar, but you will be going in today as yourselves. Picking and setting up an avatar takes time," Richard said.

He handed out headsets to us. We each put one on. The door to Richard's office opened. I smiled at Em as she walked into the room. I walked over and squeezed her hand. Richard handed her a headset. She pulled her long, brown hair back.

"Will you put it on while I keep this out of the way?" she asked me.

"Sure."

I put the headset on her, making sure the contacts were close enough to her skull.

"Are you ready?" Richard asked us.

We all nodded.

Richard typed something on his computer. The room disappeared and we were standing in the sunshine in a field of red and yellow wildflowers. The red ones looked like poppies. I bent down and plucked one. I smiled as I looked at it. It seemed so real, even down to the black center and the anthers. I sniffed it. It didn't smell sweet, but it did have a scent. That amazed me. I looked down at the other flowers. I saw a bee fly from flower to flower. I bent down and looked at the ground. There were short, ground- hugging plants with small pink flowers. Every flower was intricate and seemed completely real. There was grass, too. I wondered what kind of computer power was required to provide so much detail for every object in Aegina. I stood back up. To our left was a town. It looked like it had been there for centuries. Nothing about it looked new. But that didn't mean it was unpleasant. It was just the opposite. There were colorful flags hanging from balconies. Flowering vines climbed up the sides of some of the buildings. There was a large fountain spraying water into the air. I looked behind us. I could see the sea, although it appeared we were fairly high above it. No beach was visible from where we stood. I saw two ships sailing. There was a small island not too far from us. I continued looking. There were white- capped mountains behind, and to the left of the town. Alek took my hand. I grinned at him.

Three people walked towards us from the town. Richard walked towards them and we followed. It was two men and a woman. They were all smiling. One of the men caught my eye. He was human, and stunningly attractive. He wore a cloth, wrapped around his waist. He wore nothing else. His hair was black and curly, and he was built like a body-builder. He walked up to Em and knelt on one knee.

"Goddess!"

I almost laughed at Em's expression.

"The oracle foretold your arrival, but it made no mention of your beauty."

Em's mouth was open.

"My name is Heracles, named after the goddess Hera. I am your eternal subject."

He kissed her hand and she looked embarrassed. Heracles, on the other hand, had an erection, and it was not small. It lifted the wrap he wore high enough for me to see his balls. Em glanced down and gasped.

"Do I please you, goddess?"

"Please, call me, Em."

He smiled up at her.

I looked at Richard and he was frowning.

Go for it, Heracles! I thought to myself.

The man and woman who had come with Heracles were speaking to Richard, who was looking at Em.

Richard turned to them.

"Where are the visitors I sent earlier?"

"Waiting at the inn," the woman said. "They are both tired."

Richard nodded, as though that was expected.

I looked at Em.

"Yes, Heracles. You please me very much."

"Let's go find Digger and Pan," Richard said to us.

"A goddess should not walk like a mortal woman," Heracles said, as he picked Em up. She looked at me and grinned.

"I love this place!"

I laughed.

"But Heracles, I am not a goddess. I am just a woman. A mortal."

"Please do not use the word 'just' for yourself. If you are not a goddess, then Hera surely sent you to me as a reward."

He carried her to town, walking in front of us. She looked at me over his shoulder and mouthed, "Wow!" I laughed. She wrapped an arm around Heracles' neck.

"It's beautiful here," Jock said.

"It really is."

"I can't believe the detail," Alek said. "I've counted four kinds of insects, and seven different kinds of plants. All of them fully detailed, and moving independently."

"The AI that controls the environment adds and removes details as the situation requires," Richard said. "When no one is in this field, for example, it looks the same from a distance, but the detail is lacking."

I nodded. That made sense. Why have insects flying around if no one was there to see them. The flowers didn't need to be pollinated. They weren't real.

"What is that island over there, Richard?" Alek asked.

"It is called Talos. The Merfolk live around it and on its beaches. You can visit there, if you like. Say, 'Take me to Talos', and you will be transported there. You can also say 'Take me to the beach', 'Take me to the mountains', 'Take me to the oracle', 'Take me somewhere private', and 'Take me somewhere else', for a random destination. Once you have a room in the inn, you can say 'take me home' to return to your room."

"What is the Oracle?" Jock asked.

"It is the AI that controls the environment," Richard said. "The inhabitants sometimes request things like sunny days for events, or rain."

We were almost to the town. The land close to the town was farmed. We walked down a path through the area. People were standing in the streets, smiling at us. Some were human, some were not. I saw Centaurs, what I guessed were Gnomes, and other short persons who might have been Elves. I saw a small woman the size of my forearm fly into a building. Was that a Fairy? They all looked happy to see us. There were booths set up, where food was evidently sold.

"Do we need money?" I asked Richard.

"No. They do not use it. Their needs are provided for. Fish are plentiful, the land is bountiful, and gold and jewels can be found in the mountains, by those who desire them."

Em looked happy. I wasn't surprised. Heracles would have been a video celebrity on Earth. He was handsome and rugged. His shoulders were wide and his waist, narrow. Carrying Em made his biceps bulge. They looked like melons. I had only seen the base of his cock, but it was wider than my forearm.

Richard was speaking to the woman who had met us, but he kept glancing at Em and Heracles. Go, Em!

I looked at Jock. He didn't seem happy.

"What's wrong?"

"What if Em falls in love with him? He isn't real," he whispered.

"Actually, he is real," I said. "Richard said the inhabitants are sentient, so he is an AI. If Heracles wanted to leave here, he could get transferred into a humanoid robot body. Sex would be better, here, of course."

Jock's mouth fell open.

"Are they all?"

"As far as I know. Richard tests his Beasts here. He told me if they don't like their form, he changes them into a shape they would like to be, including human, and they continue living here."

We were inside the town, by that time. I saw more non-human Beasts. I gasped when I saw a Dragon. It had a long neck, a tail, and wings. The head was more human than reptile-like, though. The dragon nodded at me. I waved.

"Is this the only town?" I asked Richard.

"There are people living elsewhere, but this is the only town in an Earth-sense. Elves and Fairies live in the forests. Dragons live in the mountains. Then there are the Merforlk at Talos, although they frequently visit Crete."

"Where is Crete?" I asked him.

"Oh. This island is Crete. The entire environment is Aegina. It consists of three islands and the seas surrounding them. Crete is the largest island. Talos is the smallest. The third island is Olympus. The Oracle is on Olympus. I will show you all of it, but not all in one day. It is too large and would take too much time. I assume you want to spend time with Digger and Pan. You can explore the town today, if you like. Tomorrow, if you are interested, I can begin showing you some of the other areas."

Heracles had put Em down. His arm was wrapped around her waist. She was leaning towards him, so she obviously didn't mind.

What if she did fall in love with him? I thought. It wouldn't be the first human-AI romance. As a matter of fact, one of my favorite movies, 'The Sun Never Sets', was about such a romance. It told how the couple managed to overcome the differences in their natures as well as the opposition of their friends and family. Heracles would be Timester and Em would be Ghia.

People greeted Richard and smiled, and occasionally bowed to us. They all seemed happy. They lived in a utopia, though. Still, conventional wisdom said the human nature would be stifled in a utopia-that we need challenges. AIs weren't human, though. Maybe they didn't. It was complicated. I was no psychologist. But Em was. I wanted to get her perspectives on Aegina and its inhabitants. I didn't see any children. Were there any?

I wondered if Olympus had gods. Was Hera another AI? Em had told me that Richard didn't claim to be a god. She had been relieved about that.

"Here is the inn," Richard said.

We went inside. A man and a woman sat at a table by the door. It looked like a bar. There were two stairwells leading up at the back of the room. Digger and Pan were seated at a table. They looked the way they had before they entered their tanks. They stood, grinning. I ran up to Digger and hugged him. He kissed me, and it felt completely normal.

"Do you feel strange at all?" I asked him.

"Just tired. Harry said that was the sedative wearing off."

I nodded.

Jock was hugging Pan.

I looked around at the Aeginians. Heracles still had his arm around Em. She looked happy. Heracles kept glancing at her. I wondered about his sudden and complete interest in her and then I remembered how few humans there were in Aegina. If he wanted a wife, she might he his only chance.

"Do these people believe they are in ancient Greece?" Alek asked.

"I don't know. We would have to ask Richard."

"It seems strange for an AI to speak of gods," I said.

"Enough humans do it," Digger said. "Is that better?"

I chuckled.

"Maybe not."

Alek walked over to Richard, while Digger and I sat. I smiled at him.

"I missed you."

Digger smiled. "Did you?"

I nodded. I took his hand and held it.

I touched my meme to ask Digger something privately. I didn't have one. I decided to ask later.

Alek sat down next to me.

"They don't go in for public sex, here."

"Oh. I was just about to grope Digger."

"Big mouth!" Digger said to Alek.

We laughed.

"He suggested we get a room and then say, 'Take us somewhere private.'

"Let's get a room," Digger said.

We got up. I decided to talk to Em, first.

"How's it going?" I asked her.

"Can't you tell?"

Heracles looked smug.

I was reminded that Em thought any man she liked had to be gay.

"Do you like women, Heracles?"

"No. Just Goddess Em.

"Heracles, I told you I am just a visitor, not a goddess. I'm a teacher."

"Teach me the ways of love," he said, with a serious look on his face.

"I don't know how long I will remain here. Richard brought us."

She looked up at Heracles.

"Heracles, I need to speak to Eric for a moment. Privately. It won't take long."

He smiled and went to the back of the room.

"I don't want to hurt his feelings, but he isn't real! Or at least, not a person."

"He's an AI, Em."

She sighed.

"And I'm no Ghia."

"No. She was a blonde."

Em laughed.

"Exactly! I look terrible as a blonde!" She paused. "I don't want to hurt him, Eric."

I sighed.

"If you like him and he likes you, getting to know him better won't do any harm," I said.

"He might fall in love with me and then I would hurt him."

"I bet the Oracle could help him forget. If not, Richard probably could."

She nodded her head, slowly.

"That's true." She shook her head. "I need to stop thinking this is a video game. He isn't just a simulation of a person."

I nodded.

I took Digger's hand.

"Jock thinks we should share a room," Pan said.

"That's fine with me," I said.

I leaned forward and whispered to Pan, "I was hoping you would fuck me."

He grinned at me.

Pan turned to the man behind the bar.

"We would like a room."

"It has already been arranged. First door on the left, at the top of the stairs," the man said.

We walked up the stairs and entered the room. It was quite large, but mostly unfurnished.

Digger wrapped his arms around me.

"How do you feel?" I asked him.

"Better. Not as tired."

I looked over and saw Pan kissing Jock.

Someone-it had to be Alek-pulled Diggers pants down. He was erect. I ran my fingertips over his erection, and Digger shuddered.

"Make me come, baby."

I grinned at him.

"I was wanting Digger juice."

I knelt and took his erection in my hand. I pulled the foreskin back and began licking the head. There was a complete lack of taste. My tongue was moving and I felt friction, but not taste. I wondered why. Then I realized the computer couldn't know how Digger's cock tasted. I was disappointed, but it was just the nature of what we were doing--or not doing. We were really in Richard's office, and Digger was in a tank in another room. Besides, I was there because I wanted to spend time with Digger. I stopped sucking, and began stroking his pretty cock.

"Does it taste weird?" Digger asked.

"It's tasteless. That's fine though. If I need to taste you, I'll open up the tank and lick you while no one is looking."

Alek and Digger laughed. Jock joined it.

"I can't help but wonder what we are doing on Beasthold," Jock said. "Am I licking the floor in Richard's office?"

We all laughed, and I felt better.

Digger pulled me up and we kissed. Alek moved behind me. He pulled down my pants. Then I felt his cock at my hole. He pushed inside me, as I continued to kiss Digger. Alek had fucked me about an hour earlier, so I was very aware that the sensation of having him inside me was different. Like the taste of Digger, the computer didn't know exactly what Alek's cock felt like inside me. It was irrelevant, though. Alek could fuck me any time, for real. There was no point in expecting the sensations in Aegina to be like real life. After all, Alek's and Digger's cocks didn't always taste the same. If they just bathed, sometimes there was a hint of detergent taste. If they had been exercising, there was a hint of sweat. I wrapped my arms around Digger and just enjoyed being with him-and kissing him.

"Can I fuck you, Eric?" I heard Pan asked.

I pulled away from Digger.

"The answer to that question is always going to be yes. I hope we will be making love at some point, and not just fucking."

Pan smiled.

"I want that, too."

Alek pulled out of me and Pan took his place. Pan pushed inside me and I immediately returned to Richard's office. Richard was pulling off his headset.

"What happened?" I asked him, as the others took off their headsets.

"It has to be some sort of computer problem. I'll let you know as soon as I get it figured out. The computer may have exceeded its resources."

Richard turned to Em.

"Where were you and Heracles?"

"We went to the Oracle on Olympus. I asked Heracles to show it to me."

Richard nodded.

"And I was on Talos. I think it was trying to maintain too many locations at full detail. It has to maintain the locations we were in, as well as the locations where any inhabitants happen to be. It knocked us out of Aegina when it ran out of resources."

"Digger is probably awake. I think I will go see him," I said.

"That's a good idea," Jock said.

Jock, Alek, and I left Richard's office. We walked to Dr. Rosenbloom's lab, where the tanks were located. Harry was sitting at a desk. I walked up to Digger's tank.

"Can I open it?" I asked Harry.

"Sure."

I opened the tank and Digger opened his eyes. I smiled at him.

"What happened?" he asked me.

Jock opened Pan's tank.

"Richard thinks the computer overextended itself. I guess it crashed."

Digger nodded.

I reached out and felt his cheek.

"This is real. I think I like it better," I said to him.

Alek brought two chairs over to me. I sat in one, and Alek in the other. I couldn't see Digger, seated, so I raised the chair. I took his hand and held it.

"Are you in any pain?" I asked him.

"No."

A siren sounded.

"The system just crashed," Harry said, from his desk.

"What do you mean?" Alek asked.

"I mean the system shutdown. Went caput. Stopped. Ended. Fizzled," Harry said.

"Are we under attack?" Jock asked.

"I don't know yet. I have severed out connection to the outside world. I am going to the control room to talk to the AI," I said.

"Is Digger in danger? Or my mother, or Pan?" I asked.

"No. The tanks have completely self-contained computer systems. They are designed to prevent system crashes and attacks from affecting the occupant."

Harry left the room.

"Neos," Alek said.

"Maybe not," Jock said.

I thought Alek was probably right. But there wasn't any point in speculating. I walked over to my mother's tank. She was asleep, of course. Her skin looked odd, sort of semi-translucent. I could see veins and arteries in her arms and her neck. Harry had shown me a simulation of how she would look as she was transformed.

"I wonder if that is why we were kicked out of Aegina," Jock said.

"Probably," Alek said. "They happened at the same time."

I wondered if Aegina and its inhabitants were safe. I suspected we were kicked out in order to isolate it from the attack.

I walked back to Digger's tank. I looked at his dick. Digger chuckled. I watched him become erect. I wrapped my hand around it. Digger sighed.

"I like this better than Aegina," I said to him.

"Is that weird?"

"No," Alek said. "Real sex is always better than simulated."

Digger nodded.

I leaned down and kissed him. I opened my mouth and he thrust his tongue into it. It was better! He tasted right, smelled right, and it felt better, too.

I pulled away. I looked over at my mother's tank.

"I'm glad she's asleep."

"Why? Are you considering doing something with my erection?"

"No," I said.

Digger looked surprised.

"I'm wondering if I can climb in the tank with you and spend the next few months sleeping with you."

"Oh, baby."

He smiled at me.

"But I have a job, and I love it," I said.

"What job?" Alek asked.

Harry walked back in.

I whispered to Alek, "Keeping your balls drained and making sure your cock has its hourly workouts."

Alek laughed, loudly.

"I'm glad you love it," he said.

I told Digger what I said. He grinned.

Maybe it was silly, not talking openly about sex in front of Harry. He had probably watched the video of me drinking Alek's spunk. Four billion people had! But he wasn't family, even in the sense that Richard seemed to be.

"Malware arrived on the power beam from the power satellite," Harry said. "The systems have shut down. For now, voice commands for doors, temperature, and entertainment are unavailable."

I turned around.

"Has it been eliminated?" Jock asked.

"It's been isolated, we think. We are still checking that. We are running on battery power. I don't know how long that will continue. We have enough battery power for the entire station for up to twenty-four hours. Obviously, we don't need the entire station. There are only twelve of us who aren't in suspended animation or a tank. If we remain on the station, we can consider closing off parts of it. I think we should begin dimming lights to conserve power. What we do really depends on how certain we are that the threat has been eliminated."

"Do it. This place is way brighter than anyone's home," Alek said. "And it isn't particularly flattering light. It's bluish, like a lettuce garden."

Digger and I laughed.

"Uh oh. He's reached the age when he can be 'unflattered'," Digger said.

We all laughed. It dissipated some of the tension, for me, anyway.

"What about power for the tanks," Jock asked.

"They have backup batteries that are good for about a week, right now. At this stage of their transformation, nanites are doing most of the work and they have their own power supplies. Later, when life support is necessary, they will use more power. But we are definitely not staying here for a week if we remain under attack. We may not even stay here a day. I want you all to be aware of the emergency panels. If the air in the station is evacuated by the attackers, take a respirator from the nearest panel and go into the nearest room. Lock the door, and the air in the room will be replaced. Keep the respirator handy, though, in case the attacker manages to open your door. We have hundreds of respirators and only twelve of us need them. The people in suspended animation and those in these tanks have their own oxygen supplies. Jeff will be awake in a couple of hours. We will discuss our options, then. We have some solar panels on the station. I am going to talk to Richard. After I do that, I am going to have the panels deployed. By the time I finish that, the AI should know more, and Jeff will be awake."

Harry turned and left. He didn't bother to check Dr. Rosenbloom's tank, so I tried to stop worrying about Digger. In fact, we twelve were probably in more danger than those in the tank. The attackers could open the external hatches, and we could get swept out into space!

"We should avoid walking near airlocks," I said.

Jock and Alek looked at me.

"If they are opened."

"Oh, god!" Alek said. "We could get shot out into space!"

I nodded.

"I think we should all carry a respirator, until we know we are safe," Jock said.

He opened an emergency panel and grabbed a bunch of respirators. He handed me one, and gave one to Alek.

"You two should stock up on nanites, too. Does anyone know where the canister is?" I asked.

"Yeah. I saw it in Richard's office," Jock said. "Personally, I feel safer with a respirator."

I nodded my head. So did I.

I turned to Digger. He was still hard! I laughed and wrapped my hand around his erection.

"Do you think the tank will use more power if I give you a blow job?" I asked him.

We laughed.

"His heart rate will increase," Alek said.

"I don't mind," Digger said. "Really!"

We laughed.

I bent down and swallowed Digger's erection. He tasted right. I saw Alek's hand. He was tugging on Digger's balls, while I sucked him. I heard Digger sigh in satisfaction. Alek got behind me. He pushed down my shorts. I reached back and aimed his cock at my hole. He pushed inside me. It was a wonderful feeling, having both of them inside me. Having both Alek and Jock inside me was nice, but it wasn't quite the same. I pulled on one of Digger's nipples while I sucked him. He groaned when I twisted it. He began moaning, as he approached orgasm. He cried out as his semen shot into my mouth. I swallowed his warm cream. It still tasted the same. After the transformation, it would taste like mine, which was tasty, but I would miss his. When his orgasm ended, I kissed him again. I wished he could wrap his arms around me, or I could hold him, but his arms needed to stay where they were for the monitors. I stroked his stubbly cheek as we kissed. Alek was still fucking me. He leaned over me.

"I'm going to come. Do you want it in your ass?"

I pulled away from Digger.

"Come in my mouth."

"I thought you would like that."

He pulled out of me and I knelt. Alek fisted his cock, while I sucked on the head. He groaned as he came. He shot a lot and much of it ran down my chin onto my chest and the floor. I swallowed as much as I could, though. I began caressing Alek's balls, making him groan. Alek finished. I pulled off his cock. I stroked it a few times, just admiring it. I looked up at him. He was grinning.

"You aren't tired of it, yet."

"No. I still love it."

His grin grew broader. I kissed it and stood. Alek pulled me into his arms and kissed me. I pulled away sooner than I wanted, though. I could kiss Alek all day. Digger was only awake for a short while. I turned back to his tank and held his hand.

"I love you, Digger. I just decided that."

He laughed.

"So when you said it before..."

I nodded. "I was lying."

Alek and Digger laughed.

"You don't mind, do you?"

"Well, I wish I had known that you only loved my cock."

"Now, that is not true! I have always loved your balls, too."

We laughed.

I stroked the side of his head. He closed his eyes. His breathing seemed to slow. I wondered if he had fallen asleep.

"Digger?" I said, softly.

He didn't respond. I turned to Alek.

"I think he's asleep," Alek said.

I nodded. I stood there, holding his hand. Jock didn't seem to be talking to Pan. I decided the sedatives had kicked in.

Harry entered the room.

"The AI has generated new memory, so the system is clean. We don't have to worry about catastrophic failure. The AI doesn't trust the power beam, though, and it doesn't want to connect to it, unless we are certain the beam is clean. I don't know how to do that--make certain it is clean, without connecting to it. I'm a biologist, not an engineer. I'll talk to Jeff about it. Meanwhile, we are still on batteries. The AI is going to shut down life support in the sections of the station we aren't using. It is also going to monitor our locations and only light areas we are in. That will extend how long we can run on batteries by a full day."

Jock walked over to us. I took his hand and held it. He smiled at me.

We headed back to our rooms. We sat. I could see Jock was hard. I walked over to him. I knelt and began rubbing his erection. He sighed and smiled at me.

"Sperm production is up," he said, grinning.

"Actually, it's semen," Alek said. "There are different enhancements to boost sperm production. With the enhancements we have, more semen is produced, but not more sperm."

"I have eggs in my stomach from breakfast. Does that mean Jock doesn't have enough sperm to fertilize them?" I asked.

We laughed.

"I still want to try!" Jock said.

I pulled his cock out. He stood and undressed. Alek pulled my shirt off. I had Alek's cum all down the front of it. I took it and tossed it in the corner. Jock pushed my shorts down and I stepped out of them. He took me in his arms and we kissed. Alek pushed inside and pressed his body to my back. I felt surrounded by love. I loved both of them very much. And while Alek never gushed about his love for me, the fact that he was on that admittedly boring space station with me, proved he did more than words could ever convey. I ran my hands over Jock's muscular back and butt. I grabbed his butt and pulled it closer. He pushed his erection against my belly. He pulled away from our kiss.

"I love you, baby," he said.

"I love you. I even love Alek."

Alek laughed.

"And that's hard to do!" Alek said.

"Not to me," I said. "I started falling in love with you when I met you. A major porn star acted like he was my friend."

"I'm not that big a star, you know. Hetero stars are much bigger. The gay and bisexual market is just smaller."

"Didn't four billion watch our video?" I asked him.

"I guess that's true. We didn't get paid for it though."

"That doesn't seem fair," Jock said.

"There's nothing we can do about it, now," Alek said. "We could make another video and sell it. It would probably do well, but I don't think it would sell a tenth as many copies."

"That would still be four hundred million copies," Jock said.

"We could use those internal cameras," Alek said. "I still think a flik with dual internal orgasms would be a hit. I don't know if it would be a four hundred million copy hit, but we could make some money." Alek sighed. "I don't know. Part of me still wants to be a porn star and part of me is fed up with the whole thing. After all, my last flik almost got three of us killed."

"The money could go to the colony," Jock suggested. "And we won't get shot by Neo's up here. Hackers might be able to attack the station, but we won't get shot."

I wrapped my arms around Jock's neck.

"Do you want to be in a flik?" I asked him.

"I wouldn't mind."

"How would Pan feel about it?" I asked.

"I don't know how Pan will feel about anything," Jock said. "Sometimes, I think I should just say fuck it."

"Uh-oh," Alek said.

I looked into Jock's eyes. I could see he was irritated.

"What's wrong, Jock?"

"I'm not sure what my relationship with Pan is based on. He wanted to know what I had done while he was in the tank. I said 'not much'."

Alek laughed.

"He hasn't been in long!"

"I know! And we are on a space station!"

"He asked me if I had fucked you. I said yes. I think he was irritated! I don't know what he wants. We have an intimate, almost platonic relationship. What is that? What is allowed, and does Pan make all the rules? What about what I want?"

"I thought he went in the tank so we could become closer, I said.

"Don't try to use logic," Alek said. "This is about how Pan feels, not what he does or says."

"Oh, Jock," I said. "Does that mean you want to stop having sex with us?"

"No! It does not mean that. I love you, Eric and we have fantastic sex. Why should we be less happy to make Pan happy?"

I looked into Jock's eyes.

"I love you, too," I told him.

"I've said it before. You two have a toxic relationship," Alek said.

"I don't know about that, but it does seem like a relationship where I am expected to obey rules I don't know about."

"That's what I mean!" Alek said. "Pan wants you to be his bottom, Jock. You know that. You have never been willing to give him what he wants, and I don't think you ever will. Neither one of you wants to change. I don't think that is necessarily bad, but it does make you incompatible. It would be like me, a porn star, dating someone insanely possessive. It just wouldn't work. Even if I gave it up, fans of mine would continue to watch my fliks and would continue to tell me how much they like watching me."

Jock sighed.

"Maybe Pan was irritated because you fucked me, when he couldn't," I suggested.

"That might be true if the argument hadn't started long before they met you, Eric," Alek said. "This isn't a new situation."

I looked at Jock. He looked so unhappy. I wrapped my arms around him and rested my head on his shoulder. He let out a breath.

"This is what you need, Jock. Eric is offering it. You can have a happy, sexual relationship, but you have to stop playing this relationship game with Pan. If you don't, you won't be able to have a relationship with Eric. Every time you have sex, Pan will get irritated. Eric will stop having sex with you in order to not upset his brother-in-law."

I lifted my head up.

"That's true," I said.

Jock nodded his head.

"What should I do, Alec?"

"Be his best friend and not his lover. Stop having sex with him. If he doesn't like it, have a three-way with Eric. If he tries to suck you, tell him you want Eric to suck you. Eric is your lover. You know how to treat a lover, and how to treat a best friend."

"It's going to be ugly," Jock said.

"Wouldn't you rather have a blowout than a continuous fight?" Alek asked.

Jock nodded his head slowly.

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