CHAPTER 527: RECORD BREAKER

Janine placed a box down and wiped her brow. They had found the ship some time ago and had been going back and forth for the last twenty minutes. After taking a moment’s rest, her eyes naturally darted to the other in the room.

She was nervous as the emotionless woman was organising boxes with an adept efficiency. ’Why hasn’t she asked yet?’ She thought to herself. Yesterday Orchid hinted at knowing something and earlier she said she wanted to talk to her. So why hadn’t she done so yet? The question boomed in her mind again. Over and over.

She finished placing another box off the dolly and Orchid was now staring at her. Waiting. "W-what?" She gulped nervously. She loved Apollo, but his step sister was the most terrifying person she had ever been in the presence of. She had never really been alone with her for a prolonged amount of time for that reason.

"I am waiting for you to complete your boxes so we can walk together for more. That is the social convention... Apparently." Even that. It sounded like she was explaining a nice thing, but for some reason Janine felt goosebumps go down her back as she went back to her dolly to bring the last box upon it.

After placing it down carefully, as it was one of Apollo’s, She received a curt nod from Orchid before the woman began walking towards the front door. Janine couldn’t take it anymore, it was akin to torture this hanging on the balance. "Wait!"

Orchid turned around and cocked her head to the side by the worry in Janine’s tone. "What? Did you injure yourself?" Janine opened her mouth to speak but paused, confused and eventually replied.

"What? How would I have injured myself? They are only boxes." She asked, prompting Orchid to shrug. "Good question. I don’t know enough about your biology, but your species does have less muscle mass than humans do. You could pull something by lifting much easier. But that is irrelevant. Come."

Orchid then turned around, prompting Janine to wail once again. "No, wait, Orchid!" Orchid turned around again, a frowny frown on her face, different to her usual indifferent frown. "I don’t like my time being wasted. Speak what’s on your mind so we can resume our task."

The scolding forced Janine to dig deep, take a deep breath and. "Why haven’t you asked about yesterday? You said you would keep quiet until we were alone and then would ask questions. I am at the end of my tether here. Why haven’t you asked yet?"

Orchid blinked neutrally at this before looking around. It had been nearly 2 decades, but she had centuries of life before Apollo. She was used to order. Used to structure. Sure, she was now considered ’wild’ by hive standards, but she was still hive.

"Apollo gave us a directive to bring our belongings. I was planning on finishing this task before I begin the task of gathering information from you, but I suppose we could split the first task into parts and I can begin asking now. What has Sophia done to you? You cannot lie about it, I know everything about genetic enhancements, you literally smell different, so begin."

...

"Well?" Orchid folded her arms at the stunned Janine. She had just shot herself in the foot. Perhaps Apollo could have come back in time so that she would not have had to say anything, for at least a day longer, but no...

She sighed before saying. "I had Sophia run genetic tests on me to see if I could change my sexual orientation. I love Apollo and want to be with him forever and I know with the way he expresses his love with touch, that being gay would not keep us that way in the long run."

Orchid’s head tilted again, confused. "Or- I was under the impression that sexual desire was unchangeable. Sophia succeeded?" Janine shook her head. "No, Sophia said the same thing, but it turns out that my other alien parentage is a part of this hivemind and they placed in a biological lock and genetic limitations, behavioural imprints and other mumbo jumbo like that to prevent me from both reproducing, hence me previously only liking females, and having access to my latent Psionic powers. Apparently it was why Apollo was able to awaken me so easily, I was supposed to have it by default."

Orchid’s eyes narrowed at this information. Sophia should have said something. Orchids’ role might not be in the active hierarchy of the hive, but she definitely was a caste above Sophia, she should have been told of this information.

Janine took a step back as Orchid paced forward. Like she was struck by an invisible force, she felt compelled to continue backpeddling until *thud* her back pressed against the wall. Orchid then continued to stride forward and then leant down until her face was directly in front of Janine’s, centimetres apart.

Janine subconsciously looked at Orchids lips for a moment before they started to speak. " Apollo already cares about you too much for me to disregard your desire for him. However, you will tell me every scrap of information about this ’hivemind’ you mentioned and you will tell me now..."

...

"I am sorry sir, but our policies are in place for everyone’s safety, you cannot enter the library until you have been given your robe. Please come back tomorrow and have a nice day."

After the lake, I wanted to go and check out the library, because hell yeah! Books! But alas, it was not to be. As we walked away, I looked back at the guy who refused me entry and shook my head.

"They really shouldn’t have someone who looks that punchable and smug be the one to deny people entry, those with violent tendencies might not be as understanding." I said, prompting Gabrielle to look back as we walked.

"Mhm, he does look punchable. I will give you that. Ugh, that thin lip moustache. No thank you." She said, causing me to smirk. It was nice when someone validated your opinion. "Are you not a facial hair kind of woman? Or is it specifically pencils that have you going ugh?"

Gabrielle bit her lip as she thought for a moment before shaking her head. "I’m not sure. I know I don’t like his facial hair, but I am not averse to it. To be blunt, I haven’t thought about what I like and don’t like in a man in nearly eighteen years."

"Eighteen years? As in not even a dalliance in all that time? Or just not cared about who your dalliances look like? Sorry, you don’t need to answer that, I am just curious." She smiled at me before looking ahead.

"No, don’t be sorry, we are two people having a simple conversation about baser urges. Honestly it’s natural. To answer your question. Zero dalliances. I haven’t had the time... Work has kept me busy."

I nodded my head, genuinely impressed. "Wow, eighteen years. That is impressive. My record is sixteen years." Gabrielle looked at me confused, before her brain switched gears and she laughed softly and prettily.

"Oh you joker, being a child doesn’t count. You weren’t even aware of what sex was for a good ten or so I would wager." She said, causing me to sweat. "Oh, yeah... Right. Being a child..."

It took a great deal of effort to keep pure until sixteen. I could have had it the moment I entered puberty, or even before if I wanted to, I could have sped up the aging process and been how I look now a decade ago, just weaker, but I held on for dear life until I felt the moment natural and not forced.

"Well, if we aren’t counting that, my record is probably about a month maximum." Gabrielle nodded at what I said. "That checks out. With all the women you surround yourself with, I wouldn’t be surprised if you engage in those activities daily."

"It’s not daily... Well sex isn’t. We are long lived, being Psionic, and while my companions are... Voracious. I try to spread my fun times out so that it’s not daily in hopes that in a few centuries, I will still enjoy it without having to get... Freaky."

Gabrielle’s eyebrow arched as she looked me up and down. "Freaky? Like what? A finger up there or something? I heard that’s quite common." Her choice of wording caused me to laugh as I already had a few close encounters with tentacles and my water tight seal.

"No, freaky like hedonistic excess. Going beyond what is considered sane. That is something I want to avoid at all costs. As once you go down a road like that for enjoyment... Things can get dark... Or worse..."

"Worse? What do you mean?" Gabrielle asked, not judgingly. She was going to live long as well as her son. She wouldn’t want to fall down a path if her son was not traversing it with her after all.