“What are you doing?” Faelin asked as soon as she removed the simulation helmet from Cosette’s head and pulled the mouthpiece from her mouth. “Why did you type the escape sequence?”



“They killed Summer!” Cosette said, tears forming in her eyes. “They shot her! Oh god, it hurts!”

“I don’t think so,” Faelin said. “She’s mostly indestructible. I don’t think that they can kill her.”

“They shot her with an arrow! Right in her heart!” Cosette cried. “Then they dropped her from, like, a hundred feet in the air! How could anyone survive that? Ow! Ow ow ow! And I felt it all! I’m in pain! Am I bleeding?”

Faelin scoffed briefly, then glanced down at the location where electrodes were attached to Cosette’s left breast. “Ooo! Uh… let me call Dr. Markov.”

“Am I bleeding?” Cosette asked, unsuccessfully struggling against the straps holding her in the chair. 

“No! No, you aren’t bleeding, but you do seem to have some sort of hematoma,” Faelin said, as she pressed a button to page the Dr.

“A what?” Cosette asked.

“Like a big, fresh bruise is forming on your chest,” Faelin explained. “We’re just going to relax and wait for the doctor to arrive. Settle down, Cosette. It’s against protocol to undo the straps in this scenario.”

Within minutes the doctor arrived. They decided to wheel Cosette down to the medical wing to get a chest x-ray.

Cosette was still strapped down thirty minutes later, when Dr. Markov returned with the x-rays.

“No ribs are broken,” Dr. Markov said. “ You are going to be perfectly fine, Cosette. I think that your body reacted so violently to the idea that it was you being shot, that your muscles seized up. You have to train yourself to disassociate yourself from Summer. You are not Summer.”

“I know I’m not Summer,” Cosette said, somewhat annoyed. “But, I think that she must be dead.”



“No, sweetheart,” Dr. Markov said somewhat dismissively. “Summer is mostly indestructible. We need you to go back into the simulation and observe what happens next.”

“Okay…” Cosette whimpered, fidgeting uncomfortably against the straps.

They wheeled her back into the lab and Faelin hooked Cosette back up.

     <>--+-     <>--+-     <>--+-

Darkness…

I heard a pained scream cut into my blissful peace. The scream, despite its piercing quality, filled me with an odd ecstasy for a moment, believing that my voice had been restored. 

But that was only a dream.

I opened my eyes to a bright morning sky. My mask had been removed. Too, my arms and legs had been unshackled and I began to flail painfully. 

"She's waking up! Hold her down!" Peregrine screamed.

I remembered having been shot by the arrow. The pain of the wound sliced back into my brain. It felt like the arrow was alive - like it was a serpent digging around in my ribs. 

     <>--+-     <>--+-     <>--+-

“What the fuck are you doing?” Faelin asked. “Why did you type the escape sequence again?”

“Mmmm!” Cosette tried to explain, even though the mouthpiece was still securely lodged in her mouth.

“Summer’s alive, isn’t she?” Faelin asked.

Cosette nodded.

“You need to just ride this out, ok?” Faelin said. “I’m sending you back under.”

     <>--+-     <>--+-     <>--+-

I began to flail painfully. 

"She's waking up! Hold her down!" Peregrine screamed.

I remembered having been shot by the arrow. The pain of the wound sliced back into my brain. It felt like the arrow was alive - like it was a serpent digging around in my ribs. 

I turned to find Tawny leaning over me. The fingers of her hands were inside the wound. I thought she was going to rip the flesh from my frame. She seemed to pull my flesh away. Her eyes were transfixed upon my wound, focused with something like fear.

She noticed my gaze fall upon her and quickly began to whistle and hoot. She pulled her bloodied hands from inside the wound and began to press and compress the hole.

"What is Tawny saying?!" Woodlark demanded.

Sora looked white as a ghost, but surprisingly compliant. "Bring some skins and water!"

Everything went gray again.

I was in my cage again. My mask had been re-secured as had my arms and legs.

I felt pain. Indeed it was all over my body, but not as bad as I would have thought. In fact, I felt something warm and tender lazily stretched across my hip. I felt long thick strands of hair twitching across my knee in the breeze. I heard slow, soft, heavy breaths and the smell of caring and love that made my heart swell with emotion. It was Woodlark! Somehow she had fallen asleep lodged partly in my cage with me.

I didn't want to move. I didn't care if I could move. I wanted to lie with Woodlark like this forever more. Oh! The memories rolled in from happier days. Carefree days. I remember snuggling into her, breathing in the scent of her hair and skin. I remember lightly brushing my lips against the skin of her neck. I remember the way she would smile and shiver, tickled by my breath.

I leaned closer to press my lips against the back of her head. It was too late, before I remembered that I no longer have lips, only a hard, cold dur plate. And when I nudged her, she began to stir and a sadness fell over me so deeply that I almost wished to die. I would have perhaps, had she not been here next to me.

     <>--+-     <>--+-     <>--+-

A week had passed and Faelin was busy preparing to pull Deepa from her stasis in a few days’ time. So, Cosette had a day off from the simulation. Dr. Markov took the opportunity to interview Cosette about how things were going. 

“Looks like the bruise is healing well,” Dr. Markov said. “Unfortunately, it will probably get a little uglier yellow and brown before it fades, but… all in good time. You can go ahead and zip up.”

Cosette pushed her breast back into her Simuverse one piece bodysuit. “At least I’m getting some sympathy points from some people.” Cosette wanted to sound enthusiastic.

“So, how is Summer recovering?” Dr. Markov asked.

“After being shot, Summer’s cage was moved into Woodlark's shelter,” Cosette explained. “It’s, like, a very small, spartan shelter - little more than a roof and bedding. I get the sense that it is not the shelter that Summer and Woodlark had shared before. Summer has noticed that Woodlark has done nothing to make the shelter more like a home. It really saddens her.”



“Maybe having Summer there will be a good thing for Woodlark,” Dr. Markov said.

“Hopefully,” Cosette said. “Now, I’m basically the only decoration in Woodlark’s shelter. My cage is dangling from the ceiling and tends to rock about a bit every time I move.”

“Uh-huh.” Dr. Markov was being very attentive.

“Woodlark was also given all the keys,” Cosette continued. “She lets Summer out when she returns from her patrol.  For a brief period of time Summer and Woodlark are almost like lovers again. Woodlark sings to me about things that are going on around the camp. I, uh… Summer, I mean, gesticulates expressively. They are slowly developing a series of signals Summer can use to communicate basic things.”

“You are doing a wonderful job, Cosette,” Dr. Markov smiled. “I’m so happy to have you on our team.”

“Thank you so much,” Cosette said, smiling. “I’m happy to be contributing!”

“Anything else?”

“Well, inevitably, every day after a few hours, the pain creeps in and Summer climbs back up into her cage, locked and blindfolded. She’s sad when that happens, but also… well… How do I word this?” Cosette thought for a moment. “Every time she discharges her wastes, it’s like a mini, um… maybe a frisson?... uh…”

“An orgasm?” Dr. Markov said.

Cosette blushed. “Yes... But, not quite. It’s kind of a tease, I guess. And then she just fixates on Woodlark the entire time she is locked in her cage. She is, just, I don’t know. Horny as hell?”

<>--+-

“Oh, my god, Faelin!” Cosette said as she stepped into Faelin’s room. “I’m so fucking horny!”

Cosette unzipped the top half of her bodysuit, exposing her chest and pulling her arms from the sleeves. “I need you to fuck me!” She grabbed Faelin and kissed her forcefully on the lips. 

“You don’t have to ask me twice,” Faelin laughed. “How can I resist you with that big bruise on your chest? You look so tough! My warrior chick!”

“Mmm! Every day it’s the same…” Cosette said between kisses. “Woodlark is so beautiful and I only get a short glimpse of her before the blindfold goes back on. And that metal underwear thing is basically a chastity belt. Summer wants to make love to Woodlark, but she can’t say anything. She can’t even kiss her. It’s driving Summer crazy. And it’s driving me crazy too.”

“Oh! I know what you need,” Faelin said - a wicked smile slowly taking over her face.

Cosette smiled, “What?” She pressed her breasts more tightly against Faelin’s, grinding her crotch a little against Faelin’s thigh.

“Take off your clothes. Go kneel on the bed,” Faelin commanded.

“I like the direction this is going in,” Cosette said as she tossed her bodysuit and panties into a pile on the floor.

Faelin was digging around in a drawer for a moment before pulling out a pair of fuzzy handcuffs, which she held up and twirled around her finger.

“Ooo!” Cosette said. “I like those!”

“How is Summer locked in her cage? Where does she keep her hands?”

Cosette was trembling with excitement as she placed her hands behind her back. Two clicks later and they were secured. Cosette leaned her torso towards Faelin, “You’ve got me now.”

“Wait! There’s more!” Faelin found another set of cuffs. “You are supposed to be kneeling!”

Cosette repositioned herself on the bed with her legs folded underneath her. Faelin attached the cuffs to Cosette’s ankles, but also yanked Cosette’s hands down as far as possible. When all the locks were secured, Cosette found that Faelin had entwined the chains between the cuffs, resulting in a loose kneeling hog-tie.

Cosette moaned and pulled at the cuffs. The restriction was making her even more aroused.

“Summer wears a blindfold,” Faelin said. “You should too!”

In due course, Cosette knelt in darkness, patiently waiting for Faelin to continue. Instead, Faelin teased Cosette for a few minutes purposely making sounds around the room as though she were ignoring Cosette. 

“Mmmmhhh!” Cosette groaned in frustration after a moment. 

Finally, Cosette felt Faelin’s weight settle on the bed. “Now… What does Summer want Woodlark to do? Would Woodlark do this?”

Cosette felt hands run up her thighs slowly pushing them apart.

“Mmm-hmm!”

Cosette felt Faelin’s hair sweep across her lap and a soft kiss press against her knee.

“If you are a good, quiet girl, Summer, then Woodlark will give you what you want.”

“mmm…”

     <>--+-     <>--+-     <>--+-

Woodlark sang to me the song of Jaye. 

Apparently, the full contingent of the camp had gone searching for me shortly after my disappearance. Jaye, alone, was in the camp. Never before had we been attacked in our camp. Regardless, Jaye was alone when the Mosguitos raided the camp and stole the Homestone.

The search parties returned to find her beaten and unconscious in the dirt. She was bleeding from her place of health. When the Supreme Aderyn was able to revive her, Jaye told of how the Mosguitos swarmed her. They pulled forth their stingers and pressed them into her wherever they could, filling her with poison.

Woodlark explained that Jaye's body no longer contributed its blood offering to the Moon like an old Aderyn whose body was beginning to shut down to prepare for her soul's flight.

Jaye could no longer eat apparently. No matter what food she was fed she would become ill with a pain like a burning knife in her chest. Then she would start throwing up.

After her song, Woodlark led me to Jaye’s shelter.

She lay naked in her nest. Her abdomen was bright red with irritation. Meanwhile her eyes were sunken and surrounded with dark patches. Her face was gray. 

Even her eyes moved slowly as she rearranged her position to see me, but a small smile tried to play across her lips for a brief moment. "Summer," she breathed.

I squatted next to her bed and pressed my forehead to hers for a second as a greeting.

"You and I," she said weakly as she took in my new adornments, "we're not the same anymore. Are we?"

I dropped my gaze to the floor for a moment and shook my head sadly.

"I'm so sorry that I lost the Homestone. I was a fool. I've doomed the family." Tears began to spill from her eyes. I shook my head again, vigorously. It was not her fault. No animal can defend against a swarm of Mosguitos. 

I looked up at Woodlark who stood impassively. How could I comfort Jaye? If the loss of the Homestone was anyone's fault it was mine. If everyone had not been looking for me, the Mosguitos would not have even attempted a raid. How could I explain that to Jaye? I stood up and kicked at the dirt on the floor.

Jaye was right though. Without the Homestone, our family was doomed. How would the new young find us? Even worse, they would be drawn to the Homestone. What if the Mosguitos still had the Homestone? Would the new young be lured into their lair? I had visions of young sisters being killed for food and an increase in the Mosguito numbers for years to come.

If we could not retrieve the Homestone by the end of summer, we would have to sacrifice a sister back to the Aderyn nation. Then our group would be a rogue group. Not just left to die out, but actively hunted down and killed.

"When I am gone, Summer, the Goddesses will be appeased," Jaye whispered. "Peregrine and Gannet and the others will be able to reclaim the Homestone. Right, Summer? Mosguitos are not so smart."

I nodded enthusiastically. It was our only hope. Jaye sobbed audibly and Woodlark knelt by her and began to stroke her hair.

Jaye's cries suddenly turned to laughter. "Tawny said that I should not be released, Summer. Maybe I'm not infested. Maybe my body can fight the infestation. Maybe she knows!"

"Maybe so," Woodlark toned in softly.

"Fuck that!" Jaye said, suddenly angry. "There's no way!"

I looked at Woodlark and then back to Jaye.

"Tawny said that I shouldn't be released. I asked her if I was not infested. Sora translated that Tawny thought I was indeed infested. She said that the beasts were growing in me. They were eating me from the inside out. That's what Tawny said. I am nothing but an egg now!"

Woodlark held some water up for Jaye to drink.

"Tawny didn't want me to be released. But, Sora and the Supreme Aderyn reminded her of the Ancient Wisdom. Still, Tawny started whistling and hooting like crazy." Jaye started to laugh again, but it quickly evolved to a cough and then a heave. Liquid spilled down the side of her face. Woodlark grabbed a fur and dabbed Jaye's face.

"Sora refused to translate for Tawny any more which only made Tawny more angry. They had to drag her out here. She's such a crazy bird. The Ancient Wisdom says..." Jaye closed her eyes and more tears rolled down her face. She did not say anything more.

Woodlark stood up quietly and took my hand in hers. After another moment of silence, we began to tip toe out of the shelter.

     <>--+-     <>--+-     <>--+-

“Fuck!” Cosette exclaimed to Dr. Markov and Faelin. “Oh! Sorry, Dr. Markov. It’s just that I hadn’t really noticed, which I should have… There are no children in the tribe. No girls. No babies. I would think that if you have a big enough tribe of women of various ages that some of them would be pregnant.”

“Well, there are no men, right?” Faelin asked.

“That’s true, but how do they reproduce?” Cosette asked, rhetorically. “I think that there must be a baby farm somewhere. And when they reach a certain age the women are dispatched to one of many possible tribes. The ‘Homestone’ that they have lost must be like a homing device for the new tribemates to find their assigned tribe…”

Cosette paced the floor thinking for a bit. “But, this ‘infestation’ that Jaye has is… well… I think that she is pregnant! I think that she has a bad case of morning sickness.”

“Wait! There’s no men, so how could she have gotten pregnant?” Faelin asked.

“The Mosguitos!” Cosette said, suddenly realizing…

“Are you suggesting that a swarm of blood sucking insects got Jaye pregnant?” Faelin laughed. “That’s a pretty weird universe!”

“Not mosquitoes. Mosguitos!” Cosette explained. “They must be, like, a tribe of feral men.”

Cosette paced back and forth for a moment. “The sad thing is, they don’t realize that Jaye is pregnant. They don’t even know what that means. They think that she is ill. They keep talking about some ‘Ancient Wisdom’... I think that they are going to kill Jaye. I think that they think they need to euthanize her.”

“That’s one way to get out of babysitting,” Faelin laughed.

Cosette shot her a cross look. “Not funny.”

     <>--+-     <>--+-     <>--+-

Woodlark is not singing much when I am installed in the cage these days. She has been paying little attention to me recently. She sobs quietly at night alone in her nest. Sometimes she wraps her arms around me and the cold emotionless bars of dur that make up my cage. Even still, though she rarely sings a single note to me directly. She simply shakes with sadness.

Set let me out of my cage as normal. Desire forced my hand. I needed Woodlark so badly. I convinced her to lie down and I made love to her the only way now available to me. I used my hands to massage her limbs and stroke her hair. Soon, I felt her relax quite a bit. I even saw a smile trip across her face every once in a while. I pulled her furs off of her and pressed my presence to more intimate places. I held her place of health in my hand. I teased her with my fingers. At one point, she pulled the chain that is attached loosely to my tailbone and slipped it underneath the palm of my hand as I caressed her. Soon after, she shook and moaned. 

I let her relax and watched her drift off to sleep. I was happy that she was sleeping. As she spends most of her nights crying.

I took a moment to marvel at the place where The Wanderers arrow had pierced my chest. A red scar was all that remained, and it seemed to be fading quickly as well. I seemed to heal very quickly.

I could not lay with Woodlark for too long. The furs of her bed irritated my skin. I knew that soon the pain would come, so I slipped out of the bed and quietly reinstalled myself in my cage. I curled into a small ball and spent the rest of the afternoon listening to the wonderful, soft sound of Woodlark's breathing.

The eyes, I suppose, must crave light and images. Sometimes when things were really quiet, I would begin to see images of places and people of whom I have no knowledge. At first, I was certain that I was asleep and dreaming, but more than once I have moved around in my cage, wrapping my fingers around bars of dur, pulling on them. All the while the visions in my head would continue without interruption. 

In my visions I had been chosen not to be a gatherer, but rather I had become a nurse for young ones. I have dim memories of my own nurse-sisters when I was really young long before I made the journey to my Aderyn family. I remember feelings more than images though. Smells. The feel of a nurse-sister's hair - the taste of her skin. In my visions though, I was the nurse-sister. I was the ever silent nurturing presence feeding the young with my breasts. Mine were the sore nipples. 

Sometimes I would be rocking a young one so small and innocent, holding her mouth, teaching her not to cry out loud. Sometimes I would be laying with one or more other nurse sisters, none of whom I recall having ever seen before, quietly resting.

     <>--+-     <>--+-     <>--+-

Faelin was pacing about nervously in her room one evening. Cosette’s playful hints that she wanted sex were being totally ignored.

“What’s wrong, Faelin?” Cosette finally asked.

“Nothing’s wrong,” Faelin replied. “It’s just… We extracted Deepa from stasis today.”

“Oh! Is she okay?” Cosette asked, concerned.

“Oh, yeah. Everything went perfectly! But, they took her into quarantine for the next two days… Which is standard, you know. They want to make sure that her brain is functioning properly. They want to make sure that Deepa is, you know, actually Deepa.”

“Oh! Could she be someone else?” Cosette asked.

“No! Of course not,” Faelin said. “They are just being overly cautious. This is a new technology, after all. I just wish I could see her.”

     <>--+-     <>--+-     <>--+-

Woodlark pulled me from my cage and told me that Jaye had requested to see me again. When I stepped into Jaye's shelter, Scaub was there using a stone to grind leaves of hemlock and foxglove into a thick paste.

"I have begun to swell," Jaye said with a heavy sigh. "It is time to proceed as prescribed by the Ancient Wisdom." She sat up slowly, propping herself on rolls of furs. Indeed, I could see that her abdomen had begun to bulge a little. I knelt next to her bed and rested my head on her shoulder.

"I know that some have blamed you, Summer, for my condition," she continued, her voice quiet and controlled. "I forgive you, Summer."

I felt my tears begin to run down my cheeks and drip onto her breast.

"Do you remember that night, Summer, before either of us were called to the tribe, before we made the journey home and we saw the spirits flash across the skies in long thin streaks of light? We cried for the Aderyn who were giving their lives for us. We dreamed of the day when we would fight for our family and die nobly. We were determined to be one of the bright streaks in the sky... when we were released."

I nodded my head to let her know that I remembered.

"I looked for a streak every night after you disappeared. I was certain that your release would cause a light so bright that for a breath it would seem like day. Each night went by without any streaks, though. I knew that you were somewhere still. That is, until the second time that the moon turned away. It was early in the morning and I had just been awoken to go on patrol. I was drinking a handful of water from a pool. The water flashed and glowed for an instant and I turned to the sky to see, knowing in my soul that it was your light that was reflecting on the surface of the pool. But when I looked to the sky  you were already gone. I lied that I was ill that morning and forced Hoopoe to go on patrol for me. I was too sad to go. That is when the Goddesses knew I was weak and chose me for my fate."

I sat up and shook my head vigorously.

"What's it like to be released, Summer? Were you frightened?" 

I stared into Jaye's eyes and shook my head.

"That is why you cannot speak, now," Jaye said as she pulled my head to her chest. "You were released, but you were so strong that you came back. The Goddesses won't allow someone to be released and then return to tell people about it. That would upset the balance of life."

I did not know what to do. I felt like a complete fraud. I have no memories of being released. I have no memories of anything during my disappearance.

Woodlark pulled me to my feet. "You need to rest, Jaye. Summer must go now."

"I always loved you, Summer!" Jaye called to me as Woodlark led me to the exit. "Look for my streak in the sky tonight!"

There was no way for me to tell her that I had not seen the stars since my return. My eyes were always covered by my mask.

I was in my cage that night. Jaye's release ceremony began after sunset. I heard the chanting of my sisters. I smelled the smoke from their fires. 

The rhythms were broken by angry whistles and clicks from Tawny. Soon I heard Sora screaming at Tawny, calling her names. Accusing her of blasphemies. I also heard Scaub’s voice trying to calm the two down. I heard the sound of struggling and Tawny's whistles stopped suddenly. I heard Sora's angry voice and Scaub's soft replies travel across the camp to Tawny and Sora's shelter and then back towards the release ceremony.

I knelt alone in my cage inside Woodlark’s shelter and cried. I knew I would never see Jaye again. Not in this life.