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///WELCOME, ADMINISTRATOR SOLAN///

///OPENING: FAUSTUS SISTERS DOCUMENTATION///

///CONNECTED: SR-21 AFTER-ACTION INCIDENT REPORT///

///RUNNING AI RECONSTRUCTION OF CRITICAL EVENTS///

///FABRICATING NARRATIVE///

///PARSING VIDEO RECORDS///

///INSTANTIATING PERSONALITIES///

///NARRATIVE RECREATION COMPLETE///

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///CONNECTED: NARRATIVE CONSTRUCT 03-83421-Figment-45-Echo-3121///

It was day six. No, five.

No. Yesterday was six. Today was seven. A week.

Her stomach growled. She hadn't eaten anything after the first day. After that first meal, actually. When she felt the warm flush of chemically-induced arousal flood her system, Iris knew it had been her first mistake to think she understood her enemy. This was the Empire. 'Monsters' was what they called themselves in polite company; just dinner party jokes between diplomats and party functionaries that did nothing to hide the way they reveled in malice.

Iris' youth - before she became a rebel - had been spent around that malice. She'd drunk it deep. There were times she felt like it'd left a stain, but it had its uses. The first day, they brought her to a different room than the cell in which she now residered. There were lights and a machine. Some cocktail of drugs that were supposed to be foreign to her body. She didn't tell them that by sixteen she'd grown a tolerance to them from her nights out clubbing; or that without them, that woman with her piercing eyes wasn't shit. Just an annoying, pasty stick trying to rile her up.

Maybe they caught on because they unstrapped her from the machine while it was still running. She swore she saw that implacable woman scowl. Serves her right, asking dumb shit like "who are you?" Next thing Iris knew, she was in this cell and six days had passed. Today was seven.

One week in this godforsaken hell hole. She'd been in and out of consciousness after her and her fellow pilot - Cross - had been captured. Fucking nuke depot. Should've been easy pickings. Then they were outnumbered and cut off. She remembered too vividly hearing Cross say how much she loved her partner just before everything went dark. She wasn't sure how how much time had passed in the infirmary, but one moment Cross was there next to her. Next she was gone.

After Iris was lucid, they transferred her here. Iris knew that each moment she spent alone in this cot was bad. She'd heard what they did to pilots like her. Like they did to that traitor Thrace. She didn't know all of it, but word had gotten out that it hadn't just been capture or trauma. It was something...deeper.

Outside the cot was a small bathroom and a table with a chair bolted to ground. A door with a massive mechanical locking mechanism dominated the wall opposite the cot. Other than that, the room was featureless and gray. Iris didn't care.

She'd spent the time exercising, continuing to keep her body a killing instrument. Iris used the opportunity of the crunches to try to spot any cameras. If she were smart - which she was - she would find a gap. Something. It took until day five. She'd clocked the four concealed cameras in each corner of the room. To anyone who hadn't been drilled in counterintelligence by General Tarragon Nicholl Faustus, may the bastard burn in hell, the slight change in hue would've just been an imperfection.

The Empire didn't do imperfection. Not when it came to this. That same slight change in hue led her to discover the seven other cameras surveying the room. It left a small gap where Iris couldn't be observed. She didn't have tools. Those could maybe come in time. She'd play along as best she could, ration her food to keep the chems from addling her, and find a way through.

Hell, given the width of the gap, she could maybe even just ride out the chems on her fin-

The locking mechanism of the door - another problem, given how secure it was - disengaged with a loud CLUNK! Day seven. Of course she'd be back. Iris knew that whatever they were doing, it was purposeful. She would meet it with the defiance it deserved. She rolled over to face away from that corpse of a woman. Iris would resist her every attempt. It's not that she wasn't broken. It's not that she was some paragon of virtue. It's that she already held herself in contempt. What was a woman like that going to do, build her up?

The locking mechanism to the room re-engaged. The moment it did, she heard the footfall of boots charging at her. Iris slackened, rather than tightened. Dead weight was harder to move. She felt arms wrap around her waist. They pulled her into a tight hug as a crisp, floral and citrus scent flooded her nose. She knew that scent, but it couldn't-

"Oh my god, Iris, I can't believe you're okay!" Mara's voice was whispering to her. This had to be a joke. It had to be a cruel prank. Some audio file, Mara's signature perfume. Perfectly designed to draw a reaction from Iris. Perfect to break her with. She stilled her hands before they reached to hug back at this...liar. Pretender. Apostate. "Why aren't you saying anything?" Iris felt the impostor shift, the tight hug loosening. "Are you still mad about the courier?"

"You're not gonna trick me." Iris' response was flat, scrubbed clean of the emotion she felt.

"Trick...you...?"

"Nobody, not even Amaranth Thelxinoe Faustus would be stupid enough to to sweet-talk her way into a facility like this. She sure as shit wouldn't do it to, what...check on me? Free me? It's stupid, even for you Empire types. Nobody would buy her impression of Ravella, the one who probably should be the one doing this based on how fucked up you all are. Yeah, Mara got mom and dad a few times and people did get us all confused and Mara got her mannerisms down...pat..." She'd been so sure, but horror and a strange giddy feeling grew in her as she talked because...yeah.

Nobody except Mara would be this stupid. And annoying.

Iris felt hair tickling her cheek. She opened her eyes and saw blond strands dangling from above her.

Fuck.

Iris turned and looked up into the eyes of her twin sister, Mara. She had her normal, bright grin. "Hey sis!"

"Mara, what the fuck?" Iris spluttered because it was all she could think to ask. This wasn't just dangerous for Mara, it was suicidal.

As if someone had flipped a switch, the warmth fled Mara. Her face was calm and implacable. "I believe you mean Handler." That impression of Ravella. She'd always thought it was silly, but now it was...impressive. Imposing. The clipped, gravelly voice coming from a woman who looked exactly like herself sheared through Iris' defenses. For the first time in seven days, she was right and truly scared.

Then Mara gigglesnorted and pushed at her arm. "Ohmigod you should see your face! Bhahaha! Like I could pull that off."

Iris had made a sport of rolling her eyes, gone pro before she was preteen. Even the best athletes get the yips. It took her a second too long to react and it felt forced.

Mara plopped next to her, snuggling close. "Anyway, I'm gonna just vibe here for a bit, help you escape. Shouldn't be an issue. Everyone thinks I'm mean and scary."

Iris furrowed her brow. "Is that gonna work? What if someone looks at the many, many cameras?"

Mara just waved a hand. "I told 'em to turn 'em off or they'd be kneeling next."

The thought of Mara using that voice to put some lowly guardswoman in her place sprang into Iris' mind unbidden. She felt a shiver trying to work though her body. She managed to keep her muscles from twitching, save for her leg.

"Okay, but...how do we, uh...get out?" Iris asked. This was such a dumb plan.

Mara blew out a long breath. "Well...that's the part where you're right about being observed. The way I figure it, you're the tactical one. I can leave, but you? You're...complicated. We'd need to break out."

Warmth bloomed in Iris' chest. "You actually came here to break me out?"

Mara laughed. "Duh! God, dummy. I'm not gonna let my sister get mindbroken and turned into a dog for the Empire. Like, you were a jerk, but I'm not mean."

"D-dog...?"

Iris felt Mara tense. Then Mara slid away and stood up. Iris, now concerned, propped herself up.

"Okay, so I know it's maybe shitty and a bit illegal and a bit...treason, but I kinda snooped on Rav's whole...deal? Turns out, our kid sis? Into some dark stuff. That word I used before, it's what they call themselves. Handlers. When they capture pilots they...Ris it's like some fucked up petplay shit! I'm not kink-shaming, but it's really extreme and so not my thing. And probably unethical. Definitely, actually, what with the torture and the drugs and brainwashing." Iris had to hand it to her sister, when she got rolling, she got rolling.

"Anyway, the good news is that we've got about a week, maybe, before one of the Senior Handlers actually checks in, figures out what's going on, and I'm...well, I'll probably end up, like...dead? Or here next to you. And what're the odds of Ravella Mirabelle Faustus busting us both out? Slim! Okay, none! Fine. You win on that one. So with all that said, I'm gonna need to brainwash you a little bit."

Iris stared. "What."

Mara raised her arms, palms up. "Like, just...a little! For the bit! As a prank!" A small band on her wrist chirped. "Oh, shoot! Gotta go. Okay. We'll start tomorrow." She headed over to the door and pressed the band to a small panel next to it. The door's lock disengaged. Mara spun back around to face Iris, that emotionless mask back in place. "You will break for me." Her voice had returned to that low register and Iris felt something tug in her. An urge. Then Mara smiled. "See ya tomorrow, sis! Toodles!" And now her voice was light and airy, like she'd not just been that other person. Mara pushed open the door, stepped through, and vanished.

Iris cradled her head in her hands. As much as she was scared, she was also just...relieved that her sister was here. And also exasperated. And furious. And all sorts of other emotions.

When the evening meal slid through the panel, she was so caught up in the day's events that she'd eaten it without thinking. After all, it didn't matter: she'd be out in a week. Or dead. Or subject to whatever fucked up fetish shit these Empire monsters were doing. What did it matter if the food was spiked?

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Seven yesterday. Eight today, and Iris was glad she found that gap in the cameras. The lust-drugs hit harder than before for some reason. Had they upped the dosage? Either way, the arousal was back. Painful, now. She'd have to make this quick. She unzipped her flightsuit all the way down until the zipper stopped, just below her navel. Then she darted one hand underneath it. Iris gasped as her fingers found her clit, swollen and sensitive. They circled and danced around it before she plunged three fingers into herself. Ambitious, but she wanted to be filled. Her legs almost gave out as pleasure pulsed and scorched through her. She was sure that this is what they wanted from Iris. How they made them...what had Mara said? Hounds? Loyal and subservient and on their knees. Stupid idea. She couldn't imagine herself like that for anyone. Especially not Mara. Decidedly not Mara. Iris wanted to think of anyone except Mara as her palm ground into her clit, sending her over the edge.

As she was working through the waves of her orgasm, though, the door to her cell clunked, lock disengaging. Fuck. Iris pulled her slicked hand free as she turned to face away from the door. She zipped the flightsuit back up, the material adhering to her sweat. She turned back around, making sure she hid the hand she'd just used to fuck herself silly. Mara stood just inside the doorway as the lock re-engaged. Her eyes were narrowed to slits. "What were you doing?"

Iris shrugged and moved toward her cot, eying corner of the fabric where she could discreetly wipe off her fingers. "Nothing, I was just...exercising."

"In the blindspot of the cameras?"

Iris' movement hitched for just a moment as a bolt of unease struck her. Had Mara heard her and decided to stop her? Catch her in the act? For what reason? Iris grunted before flopping down on the cot. "Why're you here?"

Mara cleared her throat. "Uh, right. Well, listen. I wasn't joking yesterday. I am gonna have to brainwash you." Fucking lust-drugs. Had to be that's why Iris was getting wet again. "But like I said, only just a little bit! Only just for show! Besides, you and I both know that you're too stubborn to be brainwashed."

Iris shook her head. "Fuck it. Fine. I guess we can't be wasting time." She pretended to stretch, using the cover of the movement to slide her soaked hand over the sheets. Then she stood. Mara stared at her for a second. "...what?"

Mara blinked. "Oh, um...nothing. You just uh...guess you must've been real sweaty. From your workout."

Iris' gaze fell to her sheets. Her handprint stretched across it, all too visible. Iris whipped around and glared at Mara. Without a word, she tromped over to the door. Then Iris wrapped her hand around Mara's wrist and guided it to the door. The lock disengaged. "We're going."

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Iris followed Mara down a hallway she remembered from the last time they'd tried to break her. "I'm not clocking anything we can use, Mar."

"I know, I know. There's a compliance session that you didn't get through. I can't get you out into the rest of the complex without completing it."

"So when you said 'I'm gonna have to brainwash you a little...'"

"Yep. Anyway, we're here." Mara stopped outside a non-descript room with a four letter acronym emblazoned on it.

"E-E-R-M?"

"Emotional Engagement, Reconditioning, and Modification."

"And you think these are the good guys?"

Mara set her jaw. Iris saw the muscles flexing. "I don't...we're not...just...Hells, Iris. Can't we just get this over with?" Tears beaded at the corner of Mara's eyes.

Iris stepped closer, resting a hand on Mara's arm. "Hey. I'm sorry. I-"

"I thought you were gone, Ris. Sure, they said 'taken for interrogation', but I'm not stupid enough that- Titus gave me this look when I asked, this grin and I knew what it meant. I'm scared. I know I'm just some dumb, bubbly Imp girl to you, but..." Tears streaked down her face. "This isn't easy on me. I'm not Ravella."

Iris brought her sister in for a hug. "I know. I know. And we'll get through this, okay? I promise." She kissed the top of Mara's head and then withdrew, keeping her hands on Mara's shoulders.

"You've got this. I trust you." Iris meant that she trusted her to get her out of this situation, psyche intact. Hadn't she?

Mara nodded, bringing up one of her hands to take Iris' in her own. She gave it a little squeeze as her other hand swiped her access band across the panel next to the door. The door clunked open. "Just think happy thoughts." Mara said, lip twitching into a smile.

Iris rolled her eyes. "You're fucked up."

Mara shrugged, grinning, and pulled her into the room.

A few minutes later, the restraints clicked in around Iris' wrists and ankles. Her weight sunk against the metallic table even as she had to strain to keep upright. Mara's hand went to a bank of monitors with strange, juddering, sharp images. It attached to a swiveling joint in the ceiling, like a light in a surgery bay. Mara brought it close and the shapes flooded her vision. "Are you sure I have to...do this?"

"Relax. I'm gonna ask silly questions. I'm not gonna try to break you. I just need to log that the system was active for a set period of time, that the compliance visuals ran, and some other stuff. Slight pinch."

Iris felt a needle slide into her skin, followed by the cold sensation of something being injected into her veins. "Mara, that's not gonna...work on...mmmmmmmeeeeee." Iris' head began to fog as words became more difficult. "Wha- whaddijou dotome?"

"They need to detect the proper brain patterning, Iris. I'm sorry. You can yell at me afterward once we're free, but don't worry. I'm not gonna go beyond Compliance Level 1. That's all we need."

Iris barely heard those words as her eyes drifted to the patterns and lights flashing before her eyes. The last time she was here, they were just...weird and sharp and obvious. They deflected off her like indirect munitions striking the Tritanium alloy of Hook Echo. Now, though, those distinct and sharp images blurred and twisted. They became a swirling, warm sea of visual stimulation.

"Okay, so...first question. Can you hear me?"

"Yehcanhearyou."

"Maybe I gave you too much of a dose. I knew from our clubbing days that the stuff they used would've been pretty lightweight, so I changed it up."

"Changeditupthatssneakyyyyy." Iris giggled.

Mara sighed. "Okay. Let's wait."

She flicked off the monitors and pulled them away. Iris let out a sad little moan. "Pretttygone."

"Yeah. Pretty gone. It'll be back once you're a bit more lucid, though, okay?"

Iris wanted pretty back. She pushed against her restraints. "Promise?"

"Of course!"

"Jus's'gottabesober?"

"Yep."

Iris could do that! She could be sober for pretty! She drew in a deep breath, making sure to focus on Mara. "Okay. Fine. I'll be sober for it. Jeez." She even threw in an eyeroll.

Mara smiled. Had it always been that...radiant? She opened her mouth to say something, then paused. Iris could tell Mara was trying to decide something. She shifted a little bit, rolling her shoulders back. "That's a good girl. Just be yourself." Iris felt herself squirm.

Then the pretty lights were back, blurry and so right. Iris couldn't let herself get caught in them, though. She had to be sober...she had to be herself.

"Alright. Second question. Who are you?"

"What a dumb question."

"Just- Iris can you- just answer it."

"Pffft. Fine. Iris Chlodechilda Faustus. Pilot. Rebel. Sister to two annoying Imperial jerks."

"Rude!"

"Hey, you asked me to be me."

"And you forgot which one of us is strapped to the brainwashing machine." Iris didn't have to see her to recognize the smirk in her voice. Smart move, Iris. Antagonize her. That would end well.

Mara cleared her throat and Iris knew what she was going to do. Then Mara was gone and Handler was here, bubbly warmth replaced with gravel and cold steel. "The thing about this machine is that it's more of a...truth-telling device. It tells truths to you, yes, but it compels you to tell them back."

Iris' heart thumped faster. That voice Mara used...it cut deep. It was like Mara could see parts of Iris when she used it. Like she knew what Iris was really thinking. Like Mara knew the truth she was hiding.

"So, tell me the truth." Iris felt panic grip her. This was not good. She'd been fighting the haze like a good girl but she wasn't ready to admit to this yet. How could she-

"When we were in eighth grade and we slept over at Macey Hall's house, what really happened between you two?" Mara's voice was back to bubbly and teasing. Iris blew out a deep breath as relief coursed through her. Thank god it had been that.

"Oh, uh...well, we waited until you were asleep then slipped away to hook up."

Mara clapped. The sound jolted Iris and for a moment she got lost in the sea of static and shapes flashing before her eyes. "I knew it!"

The words drew Iris back. "Yeah, okay. You caught me!"

"Was she your first?"

"First what?"

"The first girl you had sex with!"

"What?! That was eighth grade, Mara! No. God. Cassidy Halberd-Brex, senior year."

Mara yanked back the bank of monitors to stare at Iris. Iris didn't mind so much now. Even without them, the pretty images danced before her. They made pretty little curved lines behind Mara. "Cassidy?! Like, pep squad captain Cassidy? Wasn't she always going on about how much she hated the gays?"

"Yeah she was. Not gonna lie, it made it even hotter when we finally hooked up. That kind've self-loathing, if you channel it right? Mmmf."

The pretty images skittered across Mara's cheeks in bright scarlet. Must've been them, otherwise her sister was blushing at how honest Iris was being. Either way, Iris liked how pretty it was, so she kept going.

"It was right after homecoming. I made her ride my fingers in the locker room showers. You should've seen her face, the way it went from indignant that she wanted to fuck me to so pliant."

"I didn't know you liked them so...cheerful."

"I had a thing for the plugsuit leotards. It's why I became a pilot."

Mara cocked an eyebrow.

Iris shrugged, shooting her a cocky grin. "I figured I knew my way around getting them off well enough, how hard could the rest be?" The pretty images exploded in big red and purple sparks across Mara's face.

Distantly, Iris heard a chime. Mara kept staring at Iris for a long moment before she tore herself away. She looked at a display on the machine.

"Oh. Um. Huh. Okay. Well, um...haha. Okay. So, uh...I guess we're done?" Mara swallowed hard and pressed a button to release the bindings. "Can you walk?" Her voice was squeaky.

Iris took stock of herself. If Mara needed her to walk, she would walk. She slipped out of the machine and for a second her knees were wobbly. "Oof. Those drugs were no joke."

Mara reached out a tentative hand, but Iris waved it away. "I'm good. Really. I can walk. Just...maybe let's do that in silence? I can only focus on talking or walking."

Mara nodded a little too vigorously. "Cool! Good! Great. Awesome, let's not focus on that at all and get you back to your cell. I mean, room." Mara's eyes flicked past Iris to something on the machine, then back to Iris.

Iris glanced backward and saw a display panel. She didn't make out a lot, but she did notice out the words "Compliance Level" and see the number 9. Huh. Weird. She shrugged and followed Mara back down the hallway. Thankfully her sister had been kind enough to not say a word. She did so until they got back into Iris' room. And then she started talking.

"Okay, listen. I'm really sorry. I didn't think that that would happen," Mara blurted and Iris felt her gait begin to stumble. She was so close her cot, dammit. "Thankfully it's just brainwashing which never actually takes just one session so you'll be better tomorrow and- oh, you're on the floor."

"Can't...walk..." Iris grunted.

"Shit. Sorry," Mara grimaced. She rushed over. "Um..." Iris felt Mara's hand touch her back. She closed her eyes and melted into the touch. She wasn't sure if it was under her own power or Mara's, all she knew is that she'd ended up in her cot. She opened her eyes and Mara loomed over her, arms on either side of Iris' head. Mere inches away.

"You're a good sister, Mara." Iris said, reaching up a hand to brush Mara's cheek. It was meant to be light and instead Iris found she couldn't move it away. Instead her thumb started stroking Mara's cheekbone. The pretty images had faded mostly, but that brought them back. And Iris was thinking of something she shouldn't.

Then the pretty images became everything except for the bottom of Mara's face as she felt...well now she had to be hallucinating from the drugs because Mara was getting closer. Leaning in. Iris' breath hitched. Then Mara had pushed free from her.

"Right. Hey, uh. Good work. I'm gonna get some sleep. You get some sleep, too! We should both sleep! Separately! Or do whatever normal, non-brainwashed rebel pilots do in a room, uh...okay." Mara gave her a wave and then retreated to the door.

Iris giggled. "You're so weird."

Mara stopped when she said it. "Yeah, I am." Her voice was small and tender. She swiped the band against the panel, pushed the door open, and was gone.

Iris chuckled to herself because her sister was freaking out over nothing. This would all blow over. She'd sleep it off. And besides, it's not like anything happened, she just asked a few questions! How could that hurt her?

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Eight yesterday. Nine today.

Fuck.

Iris jolted to wakefulness. Nine. Fuck fuck fuckity FUCK. Did she remember that right? Compliance Level 9?!

FUCK.

And there were other things drifting back about yesterday. Had she really said that stuff to her sister? And now, lying in her cot, her mind replayed other moment on a loop. Mara using the voice. Mara blushing. Mara leaning in.

No. Absolutely the goddamn not.

Iris stood up and punched the wall. "HEY. Send in my GODDAMN Handler. NOW." Silence. She threw another punch. "Right fucking NOW." And another. Then another and another until the skin of her knuckles began to crack and bleed. After thirty seconds, the door opened and Mara rushed in.

Iris was on her in a flash. She grabbed her sister by the lapels and pushed her up against the wall. "Compliance Level 9?!" Mara wilted.

"I know. I'm sorry. I- I must've messed up."

"HOW?!"

"I thought I was just messing with you, but I read up more and our being so close, i-it bypassed your cognitive defenses and got in deep."

"How do I know this isn't just some fucked up power play?"

"I went too far, I know, Iris!"

Iris punched the wall next to Mara's head. "Damn right you did. You went too far and then you-" Stopped. But Iris couldn't say that word. Tears blurred her vision. This was so wrong because she could never say that word. Or all the others. Even when they were apart, when she'd stolen Hook Echo from the academy to become a Rebel...Mara had always been there. She haunted Iris long before Mara had texted her. But Mara was straight and she had Titus and-

And then Mara's lips were on hers. Coconut lip gloss. That citrus-y floral scent. Iris closed her eyes, embracing the swirling images from yesterday. It felt so good. Too good. Damnably, impossibly good. And then it was over. Just a chaste peck before Mara pulled back.

Iris opened her eyes. Both of them were flushed, their breathing labored. They stood like that as seconds slipped by, not talking. Just staring. Like if they could just breathe enough that it didn't have to be anything other than normal.

It was Mara who eventually spoke first. "You hurt your hands," was all she said.

Iris let go of Mara and stepped back, gaze falling to her battered knuckles. "I needed to get it out..."

"We'll have to work on that."

"Yeah."

"You need to go to the infirmary." It wasn't quite Mara's normal bubbly tone, but it wasn't that cold and gravelly one, either. And Iris realized that it was somewhere between. Somehow both imploration from her sister and command from her Handler. And Iris felt both parts of her assent to it.

Mere minutes ago, the thought would've scared her. Instead she just shrugged. "How do we get there?"

"Uh...well. With this."

Iris hadn't even noticed the loop of leather Mara had been holding until now, when she held it up. A collar. For her. Mara studied her, waiting. Iris knew she could say "no", even now. That Mara would take the risk or find some other way. Instead, Iris just kept staring as she knelt. Mara stepped forward and Iris kept staring. She didn't dare look away. She was aware of what she was doing. Mara opened the loop. Inside it, Iris saw metal studs and circuitry.

"It monitors your mental state. They wouldn't let us in without it." Mara murmured. She sounded...remorseful. And that confused Iris because couldn't she see what she'd done? What she'd created? Then Iris stopped thinking as the leather looped around her neck. When it slid into place, she sighed with a contented shudder. Then Iris grinned. She couldn't help it because Mara was blushing. "So not your thing, huh?"

"Hey! Be nice or I'll..." Mara chewed at her lower lip, then cleared her throat. "Y'know what? Let's just get going. You've gotta figure out how to get us both outta here."

Nah. She wasn't getting off that easy. Not now. Not after that kiss. Not after everything it confirmed to Iris. All her life, Iris had been one to push. She'd driven Hook Echo to its limits because she had to know them. She realized now that it was never about breaking the rules. It was learning exactly how far you could push them. And now she needed to know.

Iris stood and stepped closer to Mara. She leaned in and Mara's eyes closed. Iris' hand closed around Mara's, fingers threading and then clasping around each other. Iris let herself breathe in that amazing perfume as she pressed closer, angling her head. She took the moment to just breathe against Mara's neck before she whispered "Then lead the way." And Iris pressed Mara's access band to the panel.

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The infirmary trip had been easy. Iris stayed silent and let Mara do all the talking because, well...she wanted to say it was because she enjoyed seeing the way Mara got all flustered around her now. To anyone else, it wouldn't have been obvious. Mara's mask hadn't slipped, but now? Now Iris was aware that it could slip. That if she pawed at, it would.

But Iris didn't speak because she was also keenly aware that she hadn't been commanded to speak...and the more she felt the warm leather collar around her neck the less important words felt to her. She knew she'd have them, but she didn't feel that urgent, pressing need to verbalize them. Plus, she had to stay silent for this crazy scheme of Mara's to work. Except it didn't seem so crazy to Iris now. She was still alert and highly trained. The Empire wanted perfection, but perfection required curation. War required the opposite and she'd picked up a half dozen vulnerabilities just on the walk over. That everyone around her thought she was little more than a mindbroken pet helped people discount her presence.

And it made her appreciate that Mara had spent her life doing the same. Iris had always considered that Mara blended in because she didn't know any better. Now she saw it for what it was: active, purposeful camouflage. God, this woman. Amaranth Thelxinoe Faustus was so much more to Iris now.

She didn't keep herself from blushing and picking at her bandages as they headed to the mech bay. If it had been any other time, Iris would've been mortified. Her flightsuit was skin tight. It hid nothing. With Mara next to her, though, she didn't care. How could she when the collar around her neck felt this right?

"There." Mara pointed and Iris followed it to see a tall and agile mech that Iris herself had always though looked like a Dead Man's tornado. They'd even repaired the rotary shoulder cannons.

"Hook Echo!" Iris didn't try to keep the excitement from her voice. She looked to Mara.

"That's right. Rebuilt, too."

"Can I-"

Klaxxons sounded in the mech bay as yellow lights flashed. "Friendly Mech incoming! Clear the deck!" The pre-recorded voice repeated over and over as the 20 meter high blast doors scraped open. Iris held her breath. Something about the display set her on edge, a pit forming in her stomach. Iris' eyes darted to Hook Echo, then the empty spot in the bay next it.

The mercury sheen of Fall-From-Grace's sturdy frame caught her eye and the light tore through Iris' mind. Oh god. She'd been so stupid. So selfish. She watched in horror as the mech then strode into the bay and then locked in next to Hook Echo, linking into the service trammels. Bonded. To them. To the Empire. Iris closed her eyes, willing it to not be true. She opened them again just as the she saw Cross - Marianna Highcross, her friend and fellow rebel ace - step free. She wore a collar and a muzzle.

Cross looked at her and her eyes lit up. She skipped - skipped - toward Iris and Mara. Marianna Highcross didn't skip. She grimaced and swore like a sailor and lumbered. As she drew closer, Iris realized that she wasn't looking at Iris at all. Cross was looking next to her. There stood a severe looking woman with close-cropped red hair. Her gaze was pitiless and cool. A Handler. A real one.

The collar around her neck sent a pacifying jolt as Iris felt the urge to strangle the woman where she stood. Iris didn't move. She didn't even flinch. This collar could send a megawatt through her and she'd be still and ready. Iris knew where that urge came from and that it was instinctual. Feral. An attack dog ready to protect. She just watched as Cross walked over to stand in front of her Handler.

"Good job, Marianna." Iris wanted to scream. She wanted to raze whole entire worlds. She wanted to destroy and burn everything that this woman next to her had ever touched. The red-haired Handler turned to face Iris, and Iris realized that she'd done so because Cross' gaze had fallen to Iris as well.

"You know this one?"

"Yes, Handler. She was captured with me."

"Hmph. And you. You're her Handler?"

Mara stepped between Iris and this other woman. "I am." Her voice was ice and steel. It took the edge off Iris' runaway emotions.

"Why is your Hound not muzzled?" The woman looked to Iris. "Have you not been properly broken, mutt?" Iris felt the snarl itching at the corner of her lips. Felt the low thrum of discontent in her throat. Her muscles tensed.

"Marianna, sit." Marianna complied. "Tell this mutt what a Hound should be."

"Everything that Handler tells her to be. She broke me. Made me see the Hound. It's so nice to go away, Faustus. I get to be away when I'm Hound. I get to not exist and it feels...amazing." Iris felt her body shaking. Cross had always had a way with words. Iris remembered the sonnet Cross had written her before Cross had met Jonni. Jonni. Sweet, brilliant Jonni. Love of Cross' life. And now Iris understood the muzzle. She got the need for it because without it she believed she really could rend this insipid excuse for a Handler in twain with her teeth.

"Marianna." The Handler's gaze bore into Iris' skull. "Off the leash." Iris watched as Cross, who'd read Proust between sorties, disappeared. And in its place was a beast. A Hound. It barked at Iris and Iris felt something within her want to snarl back, even as her mind went to that first day Mara had arrived. How if anyone caught on, Mara might end up dead...or subjected to this destruction of self. Iris' fingers balled into fists and that thrum in her throat had become a powerful, insistent rumbling. It took her a moment to realize that she was growling. She bared her teeth.

"This is what you should be, mutt." The Handler's words made no purchase on her mind, save to stoke the primal fury growing in her by the second. Iris felt something itching to let loose. To slip its bindings. "Perhaps your Handler isn't up to the ta-"

"Enough. Iris, heel." Iris dropped at Mara's words. She hadn't even looked at her. Iris knew she didn't need to. "My pet is under my care. Is loyal to me." The red-haired Handler began to say something but Mara barreled on. When Iris' Handler got rolling, she got rolling. "And therefore is loyal to the Empire. You believe you are superior to me because you have done something rote and mundane. I understand I am more than you ever will be because I do things that are miraculous. Do not ever question me again...or I will make you wish for a end you will never see."

The red-haired Handler sneered, but Iris saw it. The smallest crack in the facade. Fear. She wanted Mara to set her loose. To destroy this...liar. Pretender. Apostate. The order didn't come, but it didn't matter. She didn't need to because Iris' gaze flicked to Hound...and Hound was glaring at the Handler's neck.

"Hound, on the leash." Cross came back, but she kept staring at the Handler's neck. "Follow." The red-haired Handler said, a small quaver in her voice. Marianna paused for a moment before she complied. There. A seed of reckoning. As Marianna moved past, Iris reached out and grabbed her hand and gave it a little squeeze. She let go just as quickly. Marianna kept following her Handler, but Iris saw the way she pulled her hand to her heart.

"Iris. Come." Mara's voice was sharp and angry. Had she done something wrong? Iris took one final look at Hook Echo and Fall-From-Grace as she left the mech bay.

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"I hate them. God, I fucking hate them," Mara fumed, pacing back and forth. They were back in Iris' room. Iris sat on her cot, watching as Mara continued to rant. "You were right about them, Iris. The way she treated you. The way she threw in your face what happened with your friend. This is fucked up. And I'm part of it! I did it to you! I'm exactly as bad as that other Handler." Mara continues to pace and then stopped and looked at Iris.

"Tell me I'm wrong, I bet y-"

"You are wrong." Iris said.

"That's the collar saying it. It reinforces your programming. My programming of you."

"Fine. I'll make you a bet, then." Iris took off the collar and dropped it on the floor between them. "Keep this from me. Ask me again tomorrow."

"Y-you'd still be under the effects, I- it takes a week to be clear of it."

"And do we have a week?"

"No."

"No, we do not. Do you believe I'm still enough me to escape?"

"...Yes."

"Then why the freak-out?"

Mara sat on the cot with Iris, trying to keep as much distance from her as possible.

"I don't know what's real or not anymore."

Iris shrugged. "Kinda goes hand in hand with brainwashing."

Mara's hands fidgeted and she fell silent. The weight of everything they weren't saying was awful and imposing. Iris hated that her sister felt this way. She wanted to do nothing more than make the pain stop.

"I can't be like her to you." Mara's voice was so gentle and quiet that Iris almost missed it over the background hum of the base's air circulation systems.

Still, it was absurd. "I'm not asking you to be."

"And that would be fine...? If I...wasn't?" Mara still wouldn't meet Iris' gaze.

Iris placed her hand on Mara's knee. "Amaranth Thelxinoe Faustus, I need you to listen to me. You are enough." She gave her sister a soft smile. "I don't want what she's offering. I want what you are."

Mara looked at her now and Iris didn't even need the pretty images from yesterday to see the sparks radiating off her. Then Mara's access band chirped. Her face fell.

"I have to go." Iris wanted her to stay. She wanted to kiss her again. Instead she watched as Mara took the collar, got up, and swiped the access band on the panel. Only then did Iris feel brave enough to say it.

"I'm already yours, Mara."

Mara didn't answer. She just left. Iris just curled into her cot and closed her eyes. Maybe Mara didn't get it, yet, but Iris was determined to make her understand. Her mind couldn't stop replaying the kiss. Or the way their bodies had pressed against each other. She remembered how Mara had had to concentrate to keep her eyes from roaming across Iris' body afterward.

Iris didn't bother with the gap in the cameras. She didn't want to. Instead she turned to face it. She stared at it and waited. She wasn't sure what for, but...she waited. And then something tugged at her mind. Now, it whispered. Iris spread her legs wide, not breaking eye contact. Her hands roamed across her body. They pinched and twisted her nipples, hard. One went to her mouth and she suckled the fingers. The other went to her overheated core. Iris imagined they weren't her hands, but another set. Ones that looked like hers.

Iris' body spasmed as she came hard. She rolled onto her stomach and kept going, hoisting her ass into the air. Her body trembled as a second orgasm hit her even harder. She kept going, letting herself climb further and further. It didn't feel like defeat, even as she felt the Hound clamp its jaws around her and twist.

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Iris woke up groggy. Oh, right. She'd spent her whole evening giving her sister a lewd display on the cameras. The afterglow of it faded as she grew in wakefulness. That was stupid. It was a thunderous, calamitous, ruinous lapse in good judgment.

She needed Mara to get out of here and yet here she'd gone, pushing things. Things that she shouldn't have pushed. Iris knew what she needed to do. She just hopped that Mara would still show up. Part her doubted it. Mara had told exactly one person that she'd wanted to join the rebels. Iris had shrugged and said, "you should think about it" even as she wanted to beg and plead for Mara to run away with her.

But Mara didn't show up after Iris' first feeding of the day. She waited by the door but seconds melted into minutes into hours. Mara didn't come. Her second feeding passed and Mara didn't show. Iris curled herself into a ball. Third feeding. Iris was tired. She needed to rest.

"Hey." Mara's voice was soft.

Iris stood and took in Mara. She looked contrite. Her body was pressed up against the door, access band able to dart to the panel. Her other hand hid something behind her back. Iris knew what it was. She knew what it meant.

"Hey."

Neither spoke. Then Iris did. "Um...you were right. About yesterday. The things I said, I wasn't really myself."

"Oh." Mara said in that small voice. It broke Iris' heart. "Well good! Okay. Um, let's just get ourselves out of here and then we can focus on the lifetime of therapy we'll both need!" Mara's bubbliness was forced.

"Yeah. We can just blame the lust-drugs."

"Huh?"

"They put 'em in the food. I was so hungry after a week that I ate some and they must've upped the dose or something."

"Right." Mara swallowed. "I uh...had them stop drugging you, right after I got you pulled out of that first conditioning session."

It felt like the circulation systems were removing the oxygen from the room. Iris wanted to be sick because there were no excuses. This was really her. And Mara, she hadn't been conditioned. She was of sober mind, which meant...

Which meant Iris needed to say it. "There's no avoiding this. Avoiding yesterday."

"I know," Mara said. She seemed so weak. So defeated. And Iris was, too. She wasn't sure why. There were plenty of reasons she should be, but...it felt like she was mourning. Like they both were. Grieving something that neither of them could name.

"And we can't stay here. We have four days to break out. Hook Echo can seat two. It'll be tight. You'd be pressed up against me. Can you be comfortable being...uncomfortable with that?"

"I...don't know."

"Well get comfortable with it. I'm not fucking around, Mara. I won't let them hurt you. Yesterday, when that red-haired fascist was next to me, I wanted to tear her apart. And it wasn't for the rebellion. It was because I was scared. I was scared she was going to hurt you." Iris was all wild-eyed, aggressive fury as she stalked toward Mara. "No matter what happens, you are my sister. They want you, they come through me."

Tears rolled down Mara's cheeks. "I'm sorry."

"You never have to be. Now shut up and do whatever fucked up pet play shit you need to to get us out of here safe." Iris meant it to be serious, but Mara looked at her, brow crinkling before she laughed. And then Iris was laughing, too, as she heard what she'd just said. They dissolved in a puddle of crazed mirth. Iris pulled at Mara, giggling, as Mara sobbed and chortled. "Lifetime of therapy," Iris choked out between laughs as Mara affixed the collar around her neck. The words only made both of them cry and laugh harder, grip each other closer. Mara brought out a muzzle and Iris tried to keep herself from breaking into another giggle fit as Mara tightened the straps.

"So not my thing," Mara whispered, full of mischievous glee. There she was. Iris was worried she'd lost her to whatever darkness had been swirling around in Mara's head. Now, though, as Mara clipped the leash into place, Iris saw confidence. Good. This could work. They didn't have to take it any further. They wouldn't. They were siblings. Close siblings. It'd be just fine.

Then Iris felt the laughter, that giddiness, drain lower and ignite. Oh shit. They were really doing this. Okay. She sank to her knees. It'd be fine. Iris could be normal about this. Her hands touched the floor and she was, like...so normal about the unbelievable thrill of being used like this.

"C'mon. We're going for a little walk." Mara said, tugging the leash.

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It wasn't normal. It was better than normal. Iris was so proud as she bounded along the floor next to Mara. She couldn't help it. Now that she was here, she was straining at her leash to look at everything. It was the guise of a curious Hound even as Iris - the trained professional - took in patrol patterns. Key cards. Access bands. By the time they'd done a second lap a half hour later, Iris knew with a supreme certainty that SR-21 was a cakewalk. It all boiled down to hubris. The Empire needed to project invincibility. Just like Iris, though, she knew how easy it was to rip through that when they missed something glaring. When they missed her and Mara.

Eventually Iris bounded up to Mara and pawed at her. Mara ducked down.

"What's up? You okay?"

"Yeah. I've got everything I need."

"Good. Let's make one more stop."

They wound through some labyrinthine hallways until they were outside of a squat set of double doors. Iris' ears perked up as she thought she heard...barking. She shot a concerned look to Mara.

"Don't worry. It's okay."

And Iris didn't worry as they stepped into the kennels. Because Mara, her Handler, told her not to. She'd been getting progressively more and more turned on by the thought as she'd done the laps, but now? Here? It was like a lightning bolt of arousal coursed through her. Mara led her past a row of cages. Inside each, Iris saw broken creatures playing at humanity. Some of them she recognized from after-action reports. Listed MIA. They'd have to update those reports. Iris wasn't sure if it was better to put them under 'Captured' or 'Killed'.

Iris felt her collar tug and she realized Mara had stopped. Iris turned around and then padded back over to Mara. She stood in front of one of the cages. Mara gestured to it. Iris studied it. It was entirely unremarkable, save for the woman in it: Cross.

Mara crouched next to Iris. "Sway her to our side." She removed the leash from Iris and opened the door the cage. Iris trotted forward. Our side. She'd have talked back before and questioned if Mara had meant the Empire. Now she knew better. Her and Mara were apart from the others. The imperfection that would undo an Empire. It started here.

It started with Iris grabbing Cross by the scruff and yanking her out of the cage. Cross stumbled, confused.

"Faustus? Are you-"

Iris pounced and pinned her to the floor. It was easy. Too easy. Cross had pounds of muscle on Iris. And yet she put up no resistance.

"Shhhhh. No, no. You don't speak." Iris felt her voice get higher. Lighter. Bubblier.

Cross looked confused, but she obeyed.

"Thaaaat's it. Good girl." Iris ran her fingers through Cross' hair. "I'm going to make you go away, Cross, but I want you to know that I'm doing this for you and your Hound. Off the leash."

Iris saw the change. She saw Cross disappear as the violent beast asserted itself. Hound snarled and bucked underneath Iris. The creature almost pushed her off before Iris got out the word: "Heel."

It was bright and kind leaving Iris' mouth, but the effect was devastating. Hound stilled, letting out a whimper. "Good girl." Iris' knee slid between Hound's legs and Hound began to grind herself against it.

"You see it, don't you? Even a hound like you knows it. What I am. What we are." She looked back to Mara, who watched in stunned awe. Iris' heartbeat faster and she returned her gaze to Hound. What did it mean? There was something. She couldn't quite understand it until she felt Mara press behind her. Iris felt Mara's breath on her neck. She felt two hearts racing and slowing until they beat as one. "Drink us in. What we are." It was that cold steel. Hound whimpered, gaze flitting between Iris and Mara and back. "Understand it. What it means. How much more we are than the one who holds your leash." Iris' words soothed. "How undeserving she is of a meaningless-"

"-valuable creature like yourself." The two words overlapped as Mara and Iris spoke them.

It was the paradox she was trying to square within herself. Iris wasn't sure this would work. She did it anyway because Mara was here. Mara was dangerous and safe.

"Know the truth." Iris said.

"Let it soak into you." Mara said. She felt Mara's hands reach up to slide along her body. Iris' eyes closed. She didn't know who said what. Her or Mara, it didn't quite matter.

"If she is unworthy, then she did not conquer you."

"You did."

"She is a pretender."

"You dominated yourself."

"She is a liar."

"Your submission is to yourself."

"She is an apostate."

"On the leash."

"You are Hound."

"Off the leash."

"You are Cross."

"On the leash."

"Cross is Hound."

"Off the leash."

"Hound is Cross."

"Onoff the leash."

"Cross is Hound is Cross."

"Offon the leash."

"Hound is Cross is Hound."

They kept going. Iris could feel her own mind melt with it even as it had never felt stronger and more resilient. Submission as dominance as submission. The woman and the beast beneath her barked and snarled and wailed and flung curses and heaped praise and begged for salvation. And to think some people used a boot when you could hurt someone this well with just words. Iris was close.

So close to revelation. Her eyes blazed open with a furious serenity, calm as raging water. The beast beneath her was transfixed even as it panted. She could see it. The strain. Cross was ready. Hound was ready.

The words they uttered were in perfect, contradictory unison. High and low. Soothing and grating.

Submissive.

Dominant.

"Break the leash."

Hound imploded. Cross exploded. The competing psyches roiled and collided as the woman who had been Marianna Highcross' become something new. A new type of violation. Impure and contradictory.

Iris felt Mara's labored breathing against her as it happened. She felt how close her hands were to where she knew Mara longed to touch. And she could tell from the shuddering exhale of Mara's breath that she, too, was being very normal about all of this.

"Fffffuuuuck." CrossHound bucked off the two of them and stood. "Holy shit. What the- I'm all of it and none. How...? And damn, you two. Ohhhhh this is seven shades of fucked."

"Shhhhh. Just our little secret." Mara said, throwing her a wink.

"I'm gonna need rounds with both of you...right after I take out that-" She growled.

"All in due time," Iris said. "Oh, manners. Uh, sis meet Cross. Cross meet my sister Mara. Shake." CrossHound obliged. Of course she would, but she looked to Iris and there was a knowing twinkle in her eyes. "Sister..."

"If it helps I tell people she's adopted," Iris said, turning her fawning gaze to Mara. Mara ran a hand through Iris' hair. No. That was the wrong word. The way Mara stroked her scalp could only be called petting. And Iris deserved it. She'd done such a good job.

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Iris was still drenched when they got back to her room. She could feel the slickness of it running down her thighs. Whatever they'd done, however they'd mindfucked a Hound back into something resembling a person had changed something. She couldn't turn it off. She'd been so close to it. As the door to Iris' room clunked close, she let out what was supposed to be an irritated groan. It came out a whimper.

"You're really good at acting," Mara giggled. It came out a little strangled, like her throat was scratchy.

Iris shot to her feet, wrenching off the muzzle. Her hands carded through her hair. "Yeah, haha! Yep. Acting! You know me. Great at that. Just pure acting." Iris let out another throaty whine. She didn't mean to, but she was keyed up.

Mara didn't say anything for a moment. Iris didn't want to look, shame burning in her cheeks almost as hot the arousal coursing through her. Arousal that she knew wasn't just artificial anymore. Whatever the machine had done, it'd been like water finding ground. It'd taken her love and affection and twisted it. Perverted it into something truer than anything else she'd ever known. She'd thought they were all weak, but Iris knew the truth now. It wasn't weakness. It was awesome, horrifying, powerful truth confronting you when you could not refuse. In any other place, at any other time, she would have. And if she was honest, really honest? She knew that part of herself. Toyed with it. Given it treats, let it lap at her hand. She'd never denied it, she just never acknowledged it out loud. It was always there with her. That Hound. Cross had spoken of the split. The fracture that made them someone else, but this wasn't that.

"Look at me, Iris." Mar- Handler was talking to her. When She used that voice She was Handler. The words yanked her head. It was like the leash was still attached and Handler had given it a tug.

She thought she was looking at a mirror, given the flush in Handler's cheeks. Iris was still enough herself to know - really know - that it wasn't just her. It was fucked up. All of this. The situation. These feelings. The tension that had been tightening in her. That errant kiss. Ah, what the hell.

She'd been fractured. Iris and Hound. She thought of all the times she'd been piloting Hook Echo where she'd thought of Handler. Moments of lust that she'd poured into fury. The same fury she'd pounded into the wall yesterday. She needed this. She'd been living without her other half so long. So close, but removed. Iris. Hound. Hound. Iris. They began to blur and warp.

She chuckled, stepping toward Handler. "Y'know...I bet you're feeling pretty bold now. You just took your sister for a walk and then helped her mindbreak a rebel pilot." Her hand went to the zipper of her jumpsuit. She pulled it down, relishing the way Mara's eyes followed it. Each step toward Handler brought the image of herself into sharper focus: Iris. Closer. Hound. Closer. Hound. Closer. Iris. Her head swam as she remembered touches that were too intimate. Eye contact that lingered a little too much. Excuses they made. Both of them. Both of her. Because Hound was Iris was Hound. Infinite and recursive. Mirrored.

Twinned.

This wasn't like the others. She didn't go away. She went toward. Became one. Let the Hound ravage Iris because Iris needed it and the Hound needed Iris. It wasn't oblivion, like for all those other traumadolls. This wasn't about survival, it was about clarity.

And it was clear to her that she was going to do this. Pulled to it by an inevitability she'd known for far too long. Iris was going to fuck her sister Mara. Hound was going to fuck her Handler. The same truth, overlaid and spiraling out into fractals that snapped whatever had been left of the barrier between the two.

It'd taken until this moment for IrisHound to realize that she could never break because IrisHound was already this. She'd been a Hound without knowing it. All it took was a little love. Someone to build her up. Didn't she owe it to her wonderful, godly Handler to do the same?

"I bet you think you could get me to do just. about. anything."

IrisHound slipped free of her jumpsuit. She wouldn't need that again. That was for some woman named Iris. Not hers anymore. She was so much more and so much less. MaraHandler's gaze raked up and down, unsure where to settle until She spotted it. Yes. The proof. An invitation of want that would build up Handler into the perfection She needed. This is what sisters did, right? They supported each other.

MaraHandler dove at her, gripping IrisHound's hair tight and then yanking back. She planted urgent kisses along IrisHound's pulse point. "Fuck. What the fuck, Iris?" MaraHandler murmured. Even as she writhed against IrisHound, seeming to be conflicted, her knee had found its way between IrisHound's thighs. "I can't. You're so wet for me and I can't- why can't I resist you? You're so..."

IrisHound ground against Her, whimpering. There was no pretense here. She was a pet. A Hound. She would have one Handler. Only one person could have broken her like this. It was salvation and damnation. MaraHandler bit and nipped at her. "I've wanted you for years and convinced myself that I was wrong for it."

IrisHound shook her head. "No, this is right. Everything you say is right."

"God, that's so hot. I've been thinking about this since I watched you last night."

"I'd hoped you di- FUCK!" MaraHandler jutted two fingers into IrisHound and IrisHound yelped.

"Naughty of you."

IrisHound managed a dopey grin. "Yeh."

"I can't believe it. You're mine, aren't you?"

"Fuck! Ye-yes. Fuck, it's so amazing when you say it. IrisHound wants this."

"IrisHound?"

"I'm not exactly ju-just mmmmmm Hound. You wanted me to be me, but you always wanted Hound. So I am both. Just like you are Mara and Handler. My MaraHandler."

"You don't want to be separate from it?"

IrisHound froze and she shook her head. "No. Please don't make me forget it."

MaraHandler caught IrisHound's gaze. "Not a single moment, okay?"

IrisHound nodded. They kissed. It was deep and passionate. It was every moment of longing they'd felt for each other and more. It was a promise. IrisHound groaned as she came, shuddering so hard her knees gave out. She sank to the floor with MaraHandler.

IrisHound let out a whine as MaraHandler withdrew Her fingers. MaraHandler sucked one into Her mouth, eyes fluttering closed. "I always wondered," She breathed. "Always wondered if we tasted the same." MaraHandler brought Her fingers to IrisHound's mouth. IrisHound lapped and suckled at them. "Did you?"

IrisHound nodded, continuing to clean MaraHandler's fingers of herself.

"Wanna find ou-" MaraHandler didn't even get to finish her teasing words before IrisHound was pulling off Her pants. "So eager!" She giggled. "But like any good pet, you won't start before I tell you to, right?"

IrisHound glared up at her, annoyed, but she obeyed. MaraHandler booped her nose. "This is so much fun for me, Ris. I get why you want us to always be like this. Honestly? I don't think I could go back if I tried. In fact...sorry in advance but I'm gonna brainwash you a bit more, okay?"

IrisHound nodded. "Oh god, do it. Obliterate me."

"Good. Then you may taste me." IrisHound lunged toward Her panties before MaraHandler booped IrisHound's nose again. "But." IrisHound stilled, looking at MaraHandler. "I want you to get yourself off as you do, thinking about all the other women you've fucked. And you're not to come until I do. See, you're my only girl. The only one I've fucked. And I don't think it's fair for you to have all those other women. So when you come, as I get off to your tongue in my cunt? You'll replace them with me. I'm your only girl. Now and forever."

"Fuck yes."

"Good. Now, off the leash or whatever those losers say." MaraHandler rolled her eyes, but she took back her words as IrisHound's eyes lidded. Her grin went feral as she tore away MaraHandler's panties and lapped at MaraHandler's cunt. Iris was still there, but Hound was able to have the fun. It was better this way, actually. Iris got to just observe as her sister and Handler came entirely undone at her touch. And She was right: they did taste the same. Twins.

Nine days yesterday. Ten today. As MaraHandler's hips bucked, so did IrisHound's. She felt the amazing violation as everything about her life rewrote itself. Of course this was inevitable. It'd been inevitable when they snuck away from Macey Hall's sleepover in eighth grade. It'd been inevitable when she'd made her sister ride her fingers in the locker room showers after homecoming her senior year. It'd been inevitable when they kissed yesterday for the first time. This was inviolable truth to her now. It bulldozed away the rebellion. They were right, probably, but if she was honest with herself? Wherever this marvelous, dangerous, fucked up woman went was where IrisHound was at home. And they had the rest of their lives tomorrow.

IrisHound would burn the world for MaraHandler. She knew MaraHandler would do the same.

*̵̥͒*̷͕̻͉̃*̴͓̫̂̾͑*̸̡̧̟̭̄̀̓*̶̩̒̃̋̇

///CONNECTED: SR-21 AFTER-ACTION INCIDENT REPORT///

///23:07 - SR-21 DEFENSIVE PERIMETER BREACHED///

///23:08 - CASCADING SYSTEMS FAILURE DETECTED IN UMBRIEL LOGISTICS CORE COMPUTE SERVERS///

///STATUS OF SR-21///

///MASS CASUALTY EVENT///

///102 KILLED IN ACTION, 356 WOUNDED IN ACTION, 23 MISSING IN ACTION///

///SUSPECTED CULPRIT IS AMARANTH THELXINOE FAUSTUS///

///VIDEO RECORDS AND TESTIMONY SHOW INAPPROPRIATE CONTACT WITH REBEL CO-CONSPIRATOR BEFORE OFFENSIVE SYSTEMS FAILURE///

///STATUS OF E-E-R-M PROJECT ASSETS///

///ALL ASSETS LIBERATED BY INSURGENT FORCES///

///SUSPECTED CULPRIT IS IRIS CHLODECHILDA FAUSTUS///

///CURRENT STATUS OF AMARANTH THELXINOE FAUSTUS: WANTED FOR TREASON AND CRIMES AGAINST FAMILIAL INTEGRITY, LOCATION UNKNOWN///

///CURRENT STATUS OF IRIS CHLODECHILDA FAUSTUS: WANTED FOR RE-EDUCATION, LOCATION UNKNOWN///

///CURRENT STATUS OF ASTREANI CORPORATION MODEL X-53A MECH, CALLSIGN HOOK ECHO: REFURBISHED, PRESUMED STOLEN, LOCATION UNKNOWN///

///CURRENT STATUS OF YENTAR FOUNDRY MARK 8 SERIES 43 MECH, CALLSIGN FALL-FROM-GRACE: REFURBISHED, PRESUMED STOLEN, LOCATION UNKNOWN///

///CURRENT STATUS OF RAVELLA MIRABELLE FAUSTUS: EXONERATED FROM CHARGES OF MATERIAL COLLUSION AGAINST THE EMPIRE, HONORABLY DISCHARGED///

///CLOSE SESSION, Y/N?///