Symbiota Sapiens 28

 

Synopsis: Jeremey finds himself inducted, against his will, into an ancient organization that claims to protect and guide humanity with supernatural powers. But what happens when the price of that power is losing the brother he loves?

Disclaimer: This is science fiction. To my knowledge there is no such organization as the Guardians of Atlantis. Nor is there any such technology as the Esseren, although our scientists are working hard to correct that lack. If anyone knows something to the contrary, I'd be happy to hear about it.

Disclaimer: Contains incestuous and homosexual relationships between consenting adults, references to quasi-vampiric sexual acts, and may eventually include graphical descriptions of sexual acts (between males). If you are offended by this sort of thing, please do not read this.

Disclaimer: The aforementioned sexual relations will not occur for a while. This is a "plot" story rather than a "sex" story. There will be sex because the main character is a healthy, good-looking young man with a healthy (if somewhat confused) libido. And also because part of the plot involves his developing relationship with his younger brother, who happens to also be healthy, georgeous, and blessed with a similarly active (but not quite so confused) libido. All sarcasm aside, sex is part of life so it'll happen in this story.

Now, enjoy the story...

SYMBIOTA SAPIENS

CHAPTER 28

by Dean

email me at PrettyDean82@yahoo.com

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     "You have something that is owed to me." Damion's perfectly calm voice held a chilling
note of menace.

     Julian was walking away. Walking towards him. I scrambled to my feet.

     "You cheated on our trade." He said.

     "That wasn't a trade. It was a fucking ransom demand." I spat.

     I launched myself at Julian, hitting him from behind and tackling him to the concrete.
He struggled weakly. His body was trembling with the poison still coursing through his veins.

     "Ransom. That's just a loaded term for trades concerning objects that are priceless."
Damion shrugged.

     "The Esseren can't be tricked, Damion. Your program wasn't enough to hide the truth."

     I rolled Julian over, straddling his waist and pinning his arms to my thighs. He
lifted his head up, tucking his chin to his chest. Fear-filled eyes met mine.

     "Well then. Perhaps you should have mentioned that to me. Discussed things like
civilized beings. Instead of giving my love a heart attack to serve as a distraction for
your escape!" Damion's voice rose on the last sentence, and I caught the murderous anger
behind those words.

     Julian's head tilted forward just another inch and then slammed backwards. My hand
let go of his wrist and shot forward impossibly fast, catching the back of his head before
it could smash itself on cold stone.

     Damion was walking forward, and I knew it wouldn't be long before he'd keep me from
stopping Julian's self-destructive movements.

     "You were irrational. You ARE irrational. You expected me to just take the chance
that you wouldn't go ahead and hurt Julian? Fuck that! I'd kill you, Elizabeth, hell, I'd
fuck over the whole world to keep him safe! You should understand that of all fucking
people! What would you do in that situation, huh?" I demanded, cradling Julian's head.

     Damion was only a few feet away now, walking slowly, implacably.

     "The same thing you did. We are the same. So you must understand why, after you have
risked her life, I now do what I do." He said quietly.

     His expensive shoes came to a stop immediately to my left, facing us.

     Julian's head turned slowly to look at him. I saw his eyes widen in fear.Damion
waited until my own head turned, and my eyes raised to meet his, and gave me a
significant, sad smile. I swallowed and nodded my understanding of the rage in his eyes.

     It happened as if in slow motion. The metallic tendrils extending from openings at
his wrists, quivering as if in excitement as they elongated and squirmed about, exploring
Damion's body familiarly. His peaceful expression didn't change.

     I felt the moment he withdrew his control over Julian. He started trembling
violently in my arms. Not just from the poison. Apprehension. He'd seen those tentacles
in action before.

     I recalled my dream with vivid force. God. No. I wouldn't let him hurt Julian.

     :Don't let him hurt Julian.: I begged my AI.

     A tentacle whipped forward probingly, Julian flinching back from it.

     "Julian, here!" I grabbed him and wrapped my arms and legs around his torso. Another
tentacle dipped towards us teasingly. I scrambled backwards, crablike, still holding him.

     Damion just took a single step forward, maintaining the same distance.

     "They bite." Julian warned me through chattering teeth.

     "I know. I'll try to stop them from getting you bro." I told him.

     One of them lashed forward, and my hand moved in a blur to intercept it. I caught
the sharp tip on the back of my hand and it burned like fire.

     ::Poison. Very bad.:: The AI told me.

     "Don't do this! Please don't hurt him! I'm the one who hurt her, not him!" I begged
Damion desperately.

     "If you had harmed me, I would return the favor. But you didn't. Did you?" Damion
said calmly.

     Again, a tentacle darted forward, and I caught the stinging slash on my forearm.

     "I didn't kill her!" I protested.

     "You could have. You might as well. She will still die of old age because of your
treachery."

     Another attack, this time both at once. I blocked one with each arm. The pain was
excruciating.

     :Shut it off!:

     ::I can't! The toxin coats your Esseren so that they irritate any cells they
touch. I could cut off the nerves from the brain stem but that would cut off your motor
functions too!:: The AI told me frantically.

     :Maybe we can damage them?:

     ::Doubtful.::

     Another attack, this time a series of slashes, one after the other, each opening a
painful slice in my skin. But my left hand suddenly twisted around and caught a tendril! I
wound it quickly around my hand and jerked hard.

     Damion staggered forward, the other tentacle swiftly moving to stab at the hand
grasping its mate. One, two, three, four, five times it embedded its tip into my hand
before my other hand snatched at that tendril too.

     I held it fast, my left hand continuing to wind the first tendril around itself.

     Damion pulled himself to a stop and resisted my pull on the tentacle.

     He looked down at me for a moment, then his mouth quirked up in an ironic smile.

     "Thinking like a mortal."

     The tendrils in my hands suddenly shocked me with some strange energy, and my flesh
went momentarily numb. My fingers went limp and the tentacles retracted out of my reach.

     I looked at my limp hand. It tingled as feeling slowly returned to it. I tried to
clench my fist and saw my fingers spasm minutely in response.

     ::We can't stop him.:: The AI told me, solemnly.

     Damion stepped forward again, and now the tentacles whipped around, displaying
double images and a mass of tangles and fuzziness to my enhanced vision.

     "Stealth field." Damion informed me smugly. Then he stepped forward and stood
directly over us.

     I pulled Julian closer and gathered myself around him to try and fend off what I
knew would be the final assault.

     ::TORTURING CHILDREN, DAMION?::

     Damion spun around to confront Elena, who had appeared at the top of the ramp.

     "Elena." He said warily. Suddenly forgotten, I snatched up Julian and dragged him backwards away from the two.

     "You okay?" Julian asked me, noticing my wounds hadn't closed.

     "Yeah. Some special poison keeps the Esseren from doing anything." I told him. "How
about you?"

     "Yeah. I'm c-cold though."

     A few feet away, Elena's mental and audible voice continued to boom.
     
     ::YOU'VE SUNK TO A NEW LOW, DAMION. I KNOW YOU'RE AMBITIOUS. I SURE AS HELL KNOW
YOU'LL DO ANYTHING TO ANYONE TO GET WHAT YOU WANT. BUT THIS? THESE YOUNG ONES HAVE NOTHING
TO OFFER YOU FOR THEIR LIVES.::

     "They haven't attached yet." Damion said.

     ::ANOTHER PET PROJECT DAMION? ONLY...OH. OH MY, HOW VERY RICH THIS IS.:: Elena's
voice was unmistakably bitter now.

     "We've come full circle, then." Damion agreed tiredly.

     ::OH NO YOU DONT! THIS IS NOT THE SAME AT ALL! I DIDN'T TORTURE ANY CHILDREN FOR
YOU, YOU MONSTER! THANK THE ELDERS I HAVE NO SUCH BLOT ON MY CONSCIENCE ON YOUR ACCOUNT!::

     I pulled Julian to his feet and started walking, carefully, down the ramp.

     "You would have." Damion said simply. Then he raised his voice. "Don't think I've
forgotten you two. You're not going anywhere until we've finished our conversation!"

     Julian suddenly went rigid under my arm, and suddenly I was wrestling with him as
his body tried to squirm away from me.

     ::THIS HORROR STOPS HERE, DAMION! LOOK AT YOU, YOU'VE BECOME ALL YOU PROFESSED TO
HATE! THE SLAVE HAS GROWN TO FORGE CHAINS OF HIS OWN, HAVEN'T YOU?::

     ::Interesting.:: The Kid mused.

     :Later.:

     I forcibly picked Julian up and slung him over my shoulder, running down the ramp.

     I skidded to a halt as a sizeable crowd of autonoids turned as one to face us.

     :Fuck.:

     ::Looks like we're cheering for Elena.:: The AI agreed.

     "And what the hell would you know about chains, you pampered bitch?" Damion demanded
in a dangerous tone.

     "I've seen enough to know they're horrible." Elena's normal voice sounded weak in
the echo of her amplified shouts. I looked at her. Her face was drawn with remembered
pain.

     :I don't think she's going to win. I don't think she can kill him. She still loves
him.:

     ::Nonsense. Rom told us he tricked her into loving him so he could betray her. She
can't possibly love him now that she knows.:: The AI objected.

     :Can't she?: I said, simply.

     ::It's not logical.::

     :Usually not, no.:

     The AI was silent.

     ::If she doesn't kill him...I think he will not be similarly restrained.::

     :No he won't. She's dead. We're fucked.:

     As if reading my mind, Damion's face suddenly softened.

     "You remember. When they discovered us." He said quietly, taking a small step in her
direction.

     "I thought they would kill you." She said.

     "They didn't. But it hurt." He winced visibly against a memory, and took a couple
steps forward. His tentacles had slid into their hiding places inside his arms.

     "You said...you said it was worth it all, for me." She said.

     "You were so beautiful." Damion said intensely, his voice low and gravelly. "So
perfect." He took two more steps towards here.

     "I thought you were so brave. You...you were there the very next week after your
beating. You said we would have to be careful, or they'd take you from me forever." Her
voice shook. I saw a tear trying to escape the corner of her eye.

     Damion took the final step towards her and raised her chin with one finger.

     "You set me free," he said, simply.

     "I gave you everything. Everything I could possibly give." Elena whimpered.

     "I hurt you in return." Damion replied, stroking her cheek with his thumb.

     "You destroyed me", she whispered.

     Damion leaned forward to brush a kiss against her cheek before leaning in to whisper
into her ear.

     "Not completely."

     Elena's eyes snapped open at that, just as Damion's tentacle whipped out and stabbed
out into her chest. She twisted to the side, and a bloom of red on her white blouse showed
it had pierced her torso.

     ::NO!!!:: She boomed out, and there was a sudden discharge of static electricity as
Damion was thrown bodily from her, flying through the air to slam into a concrete wall.

     "We've seen enough." A young voice called out. Again appearing at the top of the
ramp was Rom, his skin blazing with some internal light as he strode down towards Damion.

     "Rom!" I shouted. "Julian, he's been poisoned!"

     "All of you. Get out of here. This is the Affair of the Elders." Rom snapped.

     Elena stepped forward, her face set.

     "Elder. I am involved in-"

     "No Elena. Even you. Guardians cannot witness an unmaking." Rom told her. "Help the
young one. He doesn't fully know what to do."

     "Elder, if you mean...no I couldn't possibly...you know how-" she gestured at
Damion, who was painfully getting to his hands and knees.

     "Yes, you could! You have been broken by the misuse, it is time you oversaw it as it
should be. You need to heal. Justice is only half the equation, Guardian." Rom told her
sternly.

     Damion was shakily standing, crouching defensively as he saw the Elder in front of
him.

     "NOW! Take them and go!" Rom commanded.

     The autonoids took a threatening step towards us, but then there was a sudden
dampening energy that filled the room, restricting my sensors and cutting off all stray
signals from outside.

     The autonoids jerked as if struck, then started to mill about in confusion.

     "None of your tricks, Damion. Now you will face the Judgment of the Elders." Rom
told him.

     "Jeremey. Julian. Come. We cannot be here." Elena told us briskly.

     "Elena. He needs medical attention. Poison." I told her desperately. Julian was
shaking badly now, and I all but carried him after Elena.

     "THERE HAS BEEN AN EMERGENCY! PLEASE FOLLOW ME TO A SAFE LOCATION." Elena boomed,
using a minor version of her amplification trick to make her voice carry. The autonoids
turned towards her, confusion and fear on their faces.

     "What's going on?"

     "How did I get here?"

     "I was just taking a coffee break, did I black out?"

     "A concussion, I think. I must have bumped my head. Only there's no contusion. I
don't suppose-"

     In moments the confused group of medical professionals were comparing symptoms and
discussing possible causes.

     ::They're avoiding fear through clinical detachment. Interesting.:: The AI noted.

     "PLEASE. WE NEED TO VACATE THESE PREMISES. THERE HAS BEEN A TERRORIST ATTACK." Elena
told them desperately.

     She led the way down the ramp and across a small enclosed walkway into a hospital lobby.

     "Agents will be interviewing each of you individually. Please try not to discuss the
incident until then." Elena told them. "I'll start by interviewing you. And seeing to your
wounds." She pointed at me.

     ::Some of the local Guardians should be here any minute to handle crowd control.::

     :An assassin stuck him with a hypodermic about fifteen minutes ago.: I told her, and
transmitted the details of the poison I'd analyzed earlier.

     "We stay together. My brother is very sick." I said demandingly.

     "Fine. Bring him quickly then." She said, for everyone's benefit.

     I carried Julian after her as she led us into an empty wardroom.

     "Put him on the bed." She directed me, opening a drawer and pulling out a few
packets.

     She came to the bed and took a careful look at Julian as she opened the packets. A
plastic tube, familiar-looking needles. I rolled up my sleeve without being asked.

     "Yes. I think now is the time if you're sure. Are you very sure?" she asked me
sternly.

     I looked at Julian's face. His lips were turning blue and he was grinding his teeth
to keep them from chattering. His whole body shook and his eyes were rolling wildly in
a fever-induced panic.

     "I love him more than anything." I said.

     "It wouldn't work if you didn't." She told me. "You have to understand that doesn't
guarantee reciprocation. You know my history."

     "Yes."

     "And you're still positive?"

     I looked up at her challengingly.

     "Would you still do it for Damion, even with what you know now?" I asked her.

     She closed her eyes in pain.

     "I'm sorry." I said.

     "No. You're right. I would. Even knowing he cares little for me." she said sadly.

     "No, I wasn't apologizing. I'm sorry. It sucks." I said sympathetically.

     "I don't think you'll have to go through what I did...am going through." Elena said,
warmly, and looked down at Julian contemplatively. "We watched the two of you for a long
time. I watched him, especially closely. To repeat what happened to me would be...but no.
He had chosen you long before you chose him."

     "I know." I said, feeling suddenly full inside.

     "So. You've made your decision."

     "Yes."

     "Do you know what you are doing?"

     "I did it once before. Damion tried to make me-"

     "Attach his...his choice." Her voice wavered slightly. She pressed her lips
together and swabbed the inside of my elbow with an alchohol pad, pressed a needle into
my vein. Bright red blood flowed down the tube and squirted onto the sheets. She pinched
it off and quickly slid the other needle into Julian's skin.

     "Form your intent."

     :I love Julian. I want him to live. I want him to be healthy. I want him to be my
attachment and live forever with me.:

     I watched my blood flow into my brother's trembling body. Billions of Esseren,
swarming through that tube to their new host.

     With a tiny knife, Elena made a little cut just below Julian's Adam's apple.

     "Taste his blood."

     I leaned forward and tasted it, direct from the wound. Hot and coppery in my mouth.
Julian murmured feverishly at the touch of my mouth on his skin. I licked the wound shut
and drew back, his blood coating my mouth.

     "I taste this blood. The blood of my choice."

     The DNA structure of his blood was suddenly imprinted across my brain, and I could
almost feel the information being given to the Esseren as they flowed through that tube,
identifying their new charge by the code written in every cell.

     Julian gasped and inhaled deeply as the Esseren already inside him were suddenly
activated. I reached down with my free arm, and clasped his hand tightly. He gripped mine
back.

     "You're going to live forever bro." I whispered in his ear. "We can be together for
a million years if we want. I promised you I'd make you mine forever and now you're gonna
be. Can you hear me?"

     Julian nodded, teeth still chattering, but his eyes were open now and his gaze held
mine.

     "I love you Julian. I'm giving you the best gift I've got to give you."

     A whimper escaped his lips, and I leaned down to capture them with my own mouth.

     "Shhh. We've got a long time to talk about it. Let's let you heal you first." I
whispered into his mouth. His eyes filled with tears. I kissed them away.

     "That's enough blood I think." Elena said. Her voice was thick with emotions of her
own, and I restrained myself from looking at her face as she removed the needles.

     I started to crawl into the bed but paused with my knee on the edge.

     "Can I-"

     "Go ahead. He will fall asleep soon. Rest with him." She told me.

     I crawled on top of Julian and gratefully accepted the soft blanket Elena pulled
up over both of us. I rested half on top of him, putting an impulsive kiss on his nose
as I settled in. Julian squirmed and let out something between a giggle and a whimper.

     "We've got a whole new future now, bro." I said into his ear, nuzzling the side of
his face. He turned his head to face me.

     "Jer'my? Did Damion get me?"

     His teeth had stopped chattering now, but his lips were blue...cold as I met them with my own. He moaned into the kiss.

     "No. I got you. You're mine." I whispered when we had parted.

     "Mmhm. Forever." was his faint reply, his eyelashes fluttering as he tried to
keep them open.

     "Sleep Jules. I'll be here when you wake up. And a long time after that, too." I
laid another kiss on his sweet mouth and laid my hand on the side of his face, my thumb
resting on his lips as if to keep my kiss from escaping.

     "Love you, Jer." He mumbled past my thumb before slipping into dreams.

     I heard a faint sob from the door, then a faint 'click' as Elena left the room.







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