“-wn. Repeat, Epoc. First Light of Dawn.”

Epoc had never fallen from an extreme height – outside of a Frame, at least – nor had she taken an ice bath before. Despite an invitation to run into the sea during winter at a local festival, twice, it had never really appealed to her. 

Despite never having fallen from a mile in height onto freezing water that immediately drenched every inch and pore of her, Epoc now knew exactly what that felt like. It was like ice had been injected straight into her veins. 

“Fuuuck me,” she groaned. Pain exploded behind her eyes, so hard it made her open and close her jaw a few times, trying to equalize the pressure in her head. “Handler, what the fuck is happening?” Epoc asked, suddenly worried if releasing the Command Lock had some kind of effect on her brain they hadn’t expected. 

“Well,” Winter said, “you were punched very hard, several times, right on the cockpit. Want me to give you something for that?”

“Oh. Uh. Yeah.” Well, that explained the headache at least. She wasn’t hungover, she was beat the fuck up. With a hiss, a needle shoved into the base of her neck and very briefly, Epoc could feel the inside of her own skull, which was a new and unpleasant experience. The pain quickly soothed though.

“Your dopamine and adrenaline levels are finally dropping. I’ll be sending these results to the Doctor because they’re a bit high.”

“Define ‘a bit high’.” She stood up and looked around. Bossier was uh… it was a lot flatter than it had been. Most of the skyscrapers they’d built here had been toppled, halved or quartered. Even the streets had massive gashes in them in what looked like claw marks. She looked down at Nexus Alpha’s hands and pressed a few buttons on her grips. The Frame’s fingertips slid back. The claws under it glittered in the evening light. The paint had been completely stripped. 

A memory came back to her. Of her claws digging into an enemy cockpit, of ripping out the fleshy inside like the marrow from a bone. 

Of killing another human being. With these claws. 

Of liking it. She shuddered. 

“Enough to kill a horse,” Winter said. “I think you might have shaved a few years off your life there with heart rate alone. We’re going to have to look into that.”

“Could we replace it with an artificial one?” Epoc said. 

“That’s a little drastic, Epoc,” Winter said. “We can probably look into lessening the effects of your conditioning first, and then–”

“Wardog and Barrier are alright?” Epoc asked, cutting her off, and immediately bit her tongue. She knew her Handler wouldn’t appreciate being cut off like that, but she wanted to make sure. 

“Yes, pilot,” Winter said a little coldly.

“Assessment as Handler,” Epoc continued, “would the damage have been as minimal without my interference?”

“...”

“Handler?”

“No.”

“Then, in your opinion, as CEO of Mako Group, do you think it is worth the investment of an artificial heart to keep me at maximum combat effectiveness?”

“Epoc,” Winter said, “that’s not fair.”

“It is, Antimony,” Epoc said. She took a breath and flicked a few buttons. Nexus Alpha’s cyberwarfare suite spooled up. A little guarantees were called for. This was the kind of conversation that could cause serious problems if it got out. “I’m yours, Antimony. I belong to you, and you command me, body and mind. But if you thought that wouldn’t make this company, these people, also a little bit mine, then you haven’t been paying attention.”

“Epoc.”

“I’m putting my life on the line here already,” Epoc said, “optimizing my body for that is only fair.”

“Epoc.”

“I’ve made up my mind, Antimony.”

“I believe you, Epoc,” Winter said. “I believe that part. I know you want to. But you’re lying.”

“What?”

“I think you’re lying. About why you’re doing this.”

“What are you–”

Winter’s voice was in her ear, suddenly. “Epoc,” Winter said, “you like this. I believe that you think you would do anything for Aaliyah and Hex but be honest with yourself. With me. It’s just us here.” Winter’s hands slid across Epoc’s body, teasing the still-sensitive flesh. “You barely know them. You barely know me. I don’t own you, Epoc. She does.”

“Who?”

“Nexus. That moment where it’s just the two of you and you become a machine made for killing and fucking. I’ve never heard you, hell, I’ve never heard anyone so happy. It’s terrifying.”

“I…” Epoc started to protest and found her voice faltering. Winter was telling the truth. Epoc never felt so alive as when Winter unshackled her. Her Handler was a smart woman, but she wasn’t as smart as she thought she was. “I think you’re close, Handler, but I think you’re wrong.”

“Oh?”

“It’s not just me in here, Handler.” She smirked, and unleashed Nexus Alpha’s codebreaker, forced it through the connection with Mako Group, and turned Winter’s camera on. The woman in the chair was not the composed CEO she presented herself as. Her hair was unkempt. The top few buttons of her blouse were open. She was blushing. Antimony was flustered. Frazzled, even. 

“What– How did y–”

“She really is very smart,” Epoc said. A little light on her visor turned on, letting her know a punishment was waiting for her back at base for this kind of insubordinate behavior. Good. Good. But Antimony Winter was smiling and Epoc had been the one to make her smile. “And if you pretend like I don’t know you enjoy the show I put on for you, Handler, then we’ll be here all day.”

“Fine,” Antimony said, and flashed the camera her teeth in an exaggerated grin. “Happy?”

“It’s an improvement,” Epoc said. “Now admit that I’m not just doing this because it makes me horny but because it’s you, Handler Winter, and nobody else in here with me, then I can finally get to making sure the area is clear.”

“You know,” Aaliyah said, “I thought I was effective.” Cerberos stepped around the corner, one hand against one of the last remaining buildings to steady herself. “I’ve never seen something like this.”

“This isn’t over,” Epoc said to her Handler. Winter winked – winked! – and turned her camera off. Turning to the other Frame, she noticed that Wardog’s leg dragged. “You alright?”

“Yeah,” Aaliyah said. “Some kind of rail cannon took out my leg at the start. Fucking stupid.” There was a real anger in her voice. She wasn’t used to losing, and she almost had. 

Epoc tried to alleviate things a little. “We had bad intel,” she said. “Their cloaking tech caught us with our pants down.”

“Well,” Hex said as she joined them, “in here I always have my pants ddddddd-own.” Her voice vibrated a little. Something nice was happening to her bottom half. “You’re not wrong, though. Reefdancer wasn’t kitted for this kind of engagement. I was expecting something different.”

“That’s on you, Barrier,” Aaliyah barked. “You need to come equipped for any kind of encounter.”

“Bit rich, pogo stick,” Hex said as Cerberos tried to keep its weight on one leg. The only response was an angry huff. “Speaking of dog behavior, what the fuck was that, Epoc? I’ve never seen CQC like that! I mean, I knew you were – hngf – good, but this was some feral fucking behavior.”

“Yeah, turns out the conditioning is a little stronger than we thought.”

“I’ll fucking say. Glad you’re on our side.”

“It’s not going to keep working,” Aaliyah said, walking over to one of the Alphas. It was one of the ones Epoc hadn’t pulverized. Its cockpit had been ejected, the pilot fired off several miles into the air where they were now hanging off a little balloon and waiting for STA recovery. The pilot wasn’t what Aaliyah was referring to. She reached down and flipped the Alpha over. There was a complicated machine on its back. She rammed her fist into it. “Transmitter.”

“Our jammers should have taken care of it,” Epoc said, but she dumped Nexus digital warfare kit on it regardless and opened the connection home. 

“Doing a sweep,” Winter said. “Shit, she’s right. There’s a bunch of them. A net that strong, every time you blocked a signal another would open a channel. The whole fight has been sent back. Wardog is right. They might not have much data about Nexus Alpha, but they’ve seen you move now. Shit.”

“It was bound to happen,” Epoc said. “What can we expect going forward?”

“For now?” Winter said. “A hot bath and post-mission stress reduction.” She opened a channel to the others. “All hostiles in the area have been neutralized. Time to come home, ladies. Wardog, we’ve got transport coming in for you. ETA ten minutes.”

“Oh, fuck yeah,” Hex said. “I could fucking eat.”

“Honestly, yeah,” Aaliyah said. “There’s a dal makhani place close to the base. I’ll take you. They don’t have much but what they have will blow your cock off.”

“Don’t, she needs it,” Hex said. “For fucking.”

“Sounds great, Wardog!” Epoc said, cheerfully ignoring Hex. 

“Hey so what’s her callsign going to be?” Barrier said, ignoring the fact that she was being ignored and ignoring the conversation. “She can’t be a dog, we already have one of those and I don’t have a dog one so that would make the naming scheme all weird.”

“Your brain is so fucked,” Epoc said. “And that’s coming from me.”

“Thanks!”

“What about Lupercal?” Aaliyah said. 

“That’s just ‘wolf’ with extra steps,” Epoc said. “I don’t think it’s me. Can’t it just be Nexus?”

“That’s your Frame’s name, dumbass,” Hexacorallia said. “Can’t use that. Speaking of which, when are you going to give her a name? Can’t keep it at factory default.”

Epoc nodded and stayed quiet. She didn’t want to rename Nexus Alpha. It didn’t feel right. Still, Hex and Aaliyah had given her something to think about, and she thought about it all the way back. Names. About Nexus herself. And there was the matter Winter had brought up. About why she did this. 

Throughout all of it, the chair had continued its subtle movements, keeping her gently aroused the whole time. 

Epoc was in a strange headspace, being both in a sort of afterglow while simultaneously aching for a release that wasn’t coming. She was simply completely spent from the fight. 

When Nexus Alpha was slotted into her berth and her chair opened, Epoc laughed when she saw actual steaming coming off of her, and that was only in part because the cockpit was kind of chilly. 

“Knock knock,” Winter said. The back of the cockpit was already connected to the skybridge, and the Handler stood in the doorway, backlit and fucking glowing. 

“Hi,” Epoc said, standing up. She was hard, naked, sweaty, her cock twitching slightly from the cold air’s stimulation and Antimony’s eyes resting on it in what Epoc liked to imagine was hunger. “What, uh, what’s on the docket?”

“Well,” Antimony said, “I’m… I have a confession.”

“What’s that?” Epoc said as she stepped closer. Winter stepped backwards into the skybridge, which moved when they were both inside. She could tell where they were going. 

“You were right,” Antimony said. “I love it when I tell you to lose control. When you go feral. Berserk.” Epoc approached and Winter didn’t move, just looked her in the eyes, standing her ground. “I think your bloodlust is deeply, horrifyingly attractive. When you’re carnage incarnate.”

“Fuck, Antimony,” Epoc said, putting her hands on her Handler’s hips. 

Winter took her wrists and pulled them away. “I wasn’t finished,” she said. “I really, really want to see what you can do with this–” she wrapped her fingers around Epoc’s cock and squeezed. Her hand was warm. “– but not today.”

“Oh?” Epoc said.

“Sorry,” Winter said, “but right now, we need to relax your mind.” The door behind her opened. The relaxation room. Play room? Whatever it was. The one with the furniture and toys. “Go lie down,” Winter said. “And put on the blindfold.”

“Yes, Handler,” Epoc said.