cw's for:

This chapter might be upsetting, I recommend you read until the end, but in case you don't want to risk it (spoilers):

 

Bone fucking tired, Epoc dropped onto her bed with a sigh and groan. She was fucking wiped. Diana had worked her over until deep into the night and not even in like, a sexy way. She’d barely managed to switch into her pajamas. After the floors she’d been told to scrub the walls and then she’d been given a toothbrush and told to work the seams between every single one of the metal panels and 

and

and

She groaned. It wasn’t even like her limbs were sore like they might be after a heavy workout or intense manual labor. She’d just been on her knees scrubbing for hours, her mind drifting into nothingness. But then again, that had been the whole point. And it had been nice. At first she’d been worried but Diana had been there the whole time and it was clear to Epoc now she’d been keeping an eye on her. Every time Epoc had started to spiral, she’d told her they were taking a break, she’d made her a coffee or handed her an energy bar, and they’d just talked. About their educations. About their families. About just, well, stuff. 

And it had helped. It was mind numbing and it worked and Diana made her clean the coffee machine after their little breaks so it felt like she was doing more work but that, too, was the point. It was punishment but Diana had also isolated her from the world for a bit and in a way, Epoc had needed it. To not be, for a little bit. Or to not be Epoc the brain-fucked Frame pilot but Epoc the idiot rookie who had to scrub the kitchen. That was an Epoc she was a lot more able to handle at the moment. 

Allowing her heavy eyelids to do their thing, Epoc heard the call of deep sleep, and decided to pick up. 

“Knock knock.” Epoc blearily blinked her eyes open. What time was it? Where was she? What year was it? It took her a second to realize the voice came from the intercom by the door. She frowned and stumbled out of bed, the whole world swimming in roughly the same direction as she was, like wading through treacle. 

Pressing the button by the intercom, Epoc rested her head against the doorframe. “Hello?” she asked. “Who is it?”

“Devah.” Oh. She opened the door. Devah was still in uniform. Already in uniform? Was it early, Was it late? The woman smiled at Epoc apologetically. “You don’t look so good. Should I come back some other time?”

“No,” Epoc said, “no, that’s alright. Come, uh, come in. Can I get you anything?” She tried to tidy up a bit but she was so fucking tired it was hard to do anything but sway. Devah took her by the arm and steered her back to the bed. 

“Hey,” she said, “calm down. Sit.” She looked worried about Epoc. “I heard you got back, but then you got snatched up, then there was talk of you maybe going rogue and killing other Frames and now they’re talking about the cold corporate war going hot and you’re in the middle of all of it and someone said you trashed the med bay and I just want to know what’s going on with you. If I can help, in some way.”

“It’s… it’s a complicated story,” Epoc said. How was she going to tell Devah about any of it without breaking the terms of her contract? But on the other hand, Antimony had told her about it before she’d signed so yeah, it was an industrial secret but maybe it was allowed to tell people if they could be trusted or if they already worked for Mako Group.

“Well, I’m a complicated person,” Devah said. “I’m sure I can manage.” She sat down next to Epoc and gently nudged her down so she could rest on the pillows. “Talk to me, puppy.” She stroked some of Epoc’s hair behind her ear. “Please.”

“I… don’t know if I should,” Epoc said, groaning and putting her face in her arms. “This is all so fucked, Devah. Everything’s fucked and I don’t know what to do or who to be or where to even start.”

“Well, usually people start at the beginning,” Devah said, scratching the top of Epoc’s head. 

“You don’t understand. There’s something wrong with me. What if you’re the one who did it to me? You had access to me after the Gecko fight and then again at night while I was compromised and–”

“Hold on,” Devah said, peeling the Epoc cocoon with a confused look, “what are you talking about? What was I supposed to have done here?”

“Someone programmed me,” Epoc said. She held up her com. There was an audio file on it. She handed the handheld to Devah, who took it gingerly. “Play it.”

Devah pressed the button. She practically jumped when Winter’s voice came out of the little speaker. “Speak. Who contacted you?”

The response from Epoc was instant. Her entire body locked up, a desire to please her mistress, her owner, her Handler, to say the words she knew would make her Handler happy, because her voice was here so that must have meant that she was here. 

“Eat my shit and hair, Mako Group. I’m going to fucking kill every last one of you if it’s the last thing I fucking do on this shit fuck forsaken planet,” she said. The voice was full of hate and had a weird inflection Epoc had only had in her life once. When the last word left her mouth, she was overcome with a mixture of lust and disgust. Her body twitched a little. She was ready for her reward. 

“Fuck,” Devah said. “I… I’m so sorry. Do you, do you think I’m the one who did that to you?”

“I don’t know!” Epoc said. “Someone sure fucking did!”

“But it sounds like that was CEO Winter’s voice,” Devah said. “Could it have been her?”

Epoc hid her face under her pillow and groaned. “Yes and no,” she said. “It’s a long fucking story, Devah, and I don’t know if I should tell you because if I do then you’re involved and I’m going to have to tell everyone else you know too and that could be a whole lot of paperwork and headaches and I don’t know what to do.”

“You don’t have to tell me,” Devah said. “If you’d rather I just stay here, that’s okay.”

“No, I think you need to know because, like, if you’re a mole you already know all of this and if you’re not then it’s just easier if you know and then maybe you can help me figure some of this shit out. Fuck.” Epoc sighed, then explained it. 

Everything. 

Starting at the beginning, she explained her ‘medical mishap’ during her time at the academy, and she explained what it had done to her brain. Explaining the way it made her more susceptible to conditioning as long as it involved only what she’d been up to while studying. Piloting. Firearms and hand to hand combat. Kinky sex. Her inability to develop new skills beyond those unless, again, she was being conditioned. Trained. Like a dog. Like a Hound. 

Devah nodded, asking the occasional question for clarification, which Epoc was happy to provide. Otherwise she didn’t interrupt and was happy to just listen to Epoc. Well, not exactly happy. She seemed genuinely upset at Epoc’s story and when the crying finally started, she wrapped her arms around the miserable ball of pilot and made gentle shushing noises. 

“Can I ask you something?” She asked when Epoc finally relaxed. 

“Of course.”

“So… did you really just… fuck that much at the Academy?” she was clearly a little bashful about it, blushing slightly as she spoke, but also a little turned on. Her breath was shallow. Epoc recognized that look. She’d seen it on others and wondered what she looked like when her brain grabbed the dial that said ‘sex’ on it and dialed it up and over the limit. 

“Yeah,” Epoc said. “It was the best way to let off some steam that wasn’t working out, and dating was hard in that environment. You got to have human contact, a workout and you got your dose of endorphins. It was actually recommended by some of the older graduates. In some cases, actively encouraged.” She managed to waggle her eyebrows a little, and Devah laughed, a hearty and pleasant sound. “But yeah, I learned a lot about myself. And sex. I learned a lot about sex.”

“Well,” Devah asked, “like what?” Her breathing was shallow.

“I’m… I’m not sure I’m in the mood to talk about that right now,” Epoc said, sighing. 

Devah looked at the com in her hands. “Would you… like me to get you in the mood?”

“What?”

“I mean, from what you’ve told me, these controls are linked to your desire for a ‘reward,’ overriding your active thoughts, right? I can tell you feel like shit, so, why not use it? For now, I mean? If you have a tape of Winter’s commands, we can use them to make you feel better for tonight. If you want to, I mean.” She held up the com. 

Epoc looked at the device in Devah’s hand. There was a part of her that shouted ‘of fucking course not!’ and demanded that she snatch it away. Recordings of Winter could turn her into putty. Literally turn her brain off. But then again… right now… that didn’t sound too bad. She wasn’t scared of being a mindless automaton, she was a mindless automaton, just one with delusions of agency, and that made her sad. And there was a woman right here, someone she’d had sex with several times, who she kind of trusted. She hadn’t said anything that would make Epoc feel otherwise, at least. 

And Devah could just… make all of it go away. She nodded. 

Pressing a couple of buttons, Devah summoned the Handler’s voice again. 

“Speak,” it said. Epoc barked, the sound rising out of her throat like a happy yap. She sat upright and smiled proudly at nobody in particular. Devah laughed in surprise at the immediate response and, that monster, scratched her behind the ears. Epoc giggled, her brain flooding with endorphins. She was a good Hound. 

“Good girl,” Devah said. “Good dog. Good puppy.” 

Epoc nodded and got on her knees, sitting opposite Devah and nodded at the com. More.

With a look of intense concentration, Devah took the device and typed in a few things. Epoc didn’t realize what she was doing until the voice rang out again. It sounded a little artificial, but enough like Winter for the knot in Epoc’s stomach to relax and something a little lower to tighten. 

“Give paw,” the voice Winter said. Epoc laughed and she held up her hand. Devah giggled and shook it. “Good dog.” Praise from the simulated Handler felt good. Very good. Epoc’s hips moved on their own. She panted. “Speak.” Bark. “Beg.” Laughing, Epoc whined like a puppy. 

With a devilish look, Devah went back to typing for a bit while Epoc waited patiently and diligently. She wasn’t trained for any of these, but the conditioning wasn’t just about the immediate commands. It was about the desire to follow them. The desire for a reward. 

“Closer,” the voice said. She scooted closer. Devah held out her hand and put it between the pilot’s legs. When her fingers touched the bulge, Devah gently peeled the pants back a bit until Epoc’s cock poked out of the top of her waistband. She put her hand over it, holding on to it. 

“Hump.”

Even though she had to deliberately obey the command, it was almost like Epoc’s hips started to move on their own. She’d been in this position before, at the firing range. Devah’s hands were rough, rougher than Antimony’s, but she knew what to do, carefully coating the underside of Epoc’s dick with pre-ejaculate while she humped. She shivered. 

“Good dog. Treat?”

With a whine, Epoc nodded. Devah slipped out of her pants and laid back, spreading her legs. 

“Eat.”

That was all the encouragement she needed. She knew what Devah tasted like and she was happy to give pleasure. She was made to give pleasure. Even without touching herself, just bucking her hips, Epoc felt an orgasm wasn’t very far. Not that she could speak, her tongue currently doing its best to vibrate against Devah’s pussy. 

“Good dog,” Winter said. “You are such a good dog. Good Hound. Treat?”

Epoc whined in the affirmative. 

“Fuck. Fuck, Hound. Fuck.”

Her heart caught in her throat, Epoc practically jumped up, sliding her cock into Devah without issue, both of them completely ready. Lovemaking was something that happened to other people. This was barely having sex or fucking. This was rutting. Animalistic, slamming into the other woman with a wild, animalistic abandon. 

“Speak.” 

Her barking, howling was loud and real and full of desire. Her partner was in ecstasy, somewhere past laughing and mid-orgasm, a smile plastered on her face, biting her lip. 

With a little confusion, Devah looked at the com. “What’s this one?” 

“Wait–” Epoc tried to say but her voice wasn’t working. All she could do was bark. Bark and whine and fuck and rut, because she’d received the commands and none to stop. 

“Kill,” Winter said, and Epoc’s hands wrapped themselves around Devah’s neck without hesitation. 

After all, she deserved it. She had abused Epoc’s fragile mental state to pressure her into sex, into a space where she was literally incapable of saying no, on top of the fact that it was very possible that Devah was the mole, that she was the one who had done this to Epoc. 

And her Handler would be so proud, Epoc thought as Devah’s eyes rolled into her head, Epoc’s cock still pounding into her, if she brought the mole in herself. She’d be the best Hound she had ever had. She’d give her treats. She’d let her come. Feeling that her orgasm was close and she wondered if she should call Winter to let her know how good of a job she was doing following her commands. To beg her to come inside the traitor one more time. 

That was hard, though. She didn’t have the ring on so she wasn’t sure if she could contain herself and Winter had told her to fuck, so fuck she did, as Devah clawed at her throat, gasping for air that wasn’t coming, spasming in the final throes of life. 

Finally, Epoc failed, orgasm blooming in her cock when she heard something crunch under her strong hands and she shot load after load into what had been Devah. 

 

“Epoc?” Gently, with the patience of an Angel, Devah shook Epoc awake. “What’s wrong?”

Epoc’s scream was loud enough to wake everyone on the floor. Devah held her for hours, but there was no way she was going to get any more sleep. Ever, if it was up to her.