CHAPTER 10

The Collectors. A grotesque site of machines that appeared to be organic and synthetic, but no one knew for sure. Hideous in form, horns on their heads and glowing yellow snake eyes. They dramatically blasted down the pod doors, bipeds rushing into the bedroom with plasma weapons drawn and glowing. Diamond shaped drones floated alongside the squad.

Kai instinctively reached out to protect Domina and got shot by a stasis blast from the drone. His body stiffened with his arm outreached and he flopped to the ground. Domina’s hologram disappeared. Kai tried to speak to her in his mind but heard no response.

He recalled his prior military training of being put into stasis for extended periods. Shut your eyes, focus on your breathing like the Zen masters of old, eliminate thoughts, observe sounds and feelings without judgment, embrace the shivers, take inventory of everything you saw before getting hit. Those that weren’t used to stasis ran a high risk of perishing from panic-induced heart attacks, damaging their muscles from trying to strain against stasis or vomiting themselves to death.

It will all be over soon. No, it was already over. This is the end. Domina? Still no response. His mind was aching from Domina’s fractionation. Everything happened so fast it felt like just another nightmare. That would be too good to be true.

Kai was placed into a coffin shaped pod made of programmable matter. Initially it was quite spacious but it enclosed itself to wrap tightly around him. The stasis released but he was still shivering from the cold. He squirmed around to look out the window, catching only the grim sky above Paradise Pods and the glowing eyes of the Collectors from his low angle. They spoke to each other in robotic slithers and computer-like grunts. Kai saw it had begun to snow outside as beautiful abstract flakes landed on his window.

“Domina?” he tried for her again

“Hey, puppy. Seems we’re in quite the predicament.”

He smiled. He shouldn’t, but he was grateful to face the end with her inside him. The coffin was placed inside of a craft with a blackened interior, completely inhibiting his sight. He felt the oddity of lifting up into the sky vertically, a weightlessness, and then they were off at unfathomable levels of speed. His body did not feel any g-force, but his mind unconsciously reeled from the rapid movement.

Antigrav was produced by creating a sort of force-field that protected internal travelers to skirt through the skies, water, tangible objects without obstruction and in unproven theory, outer space. No speed limits, no bodily discomfort from abrupt right-angles, no downward pull from launching miles into the sky within 1 second; only an undeniable motion sickness and a woozy feeling in the brain. It was not natural for humans to travel in this manner, even within the safe bubble.

In under 60 seconds they landed at their destination, too little time to prepare for what was about to happen to them. After Kai finished ranting about how all this was wrong, what he wished he would have done, how much a fool he had been—Domina was poetic in facing their doom.

“If I could change a thing, I would not. I spread my wings and sing love songs to my mate as we wither away.”

“Have you heard of mandarin ducks? They pair for life, just like us,” Kai said.

“I think mandarin ducks move on sometimes,” she replied.

“That’s not what Snow Flower said.”

“Ok.”

“I love you.”

“I love you.”

The craft doors opened. The coffin was carried away. Kai saw snowflakes descending under a red hue in the sky. This is one of Sovereign’s bases—is this where all of the Collected are taken? Domina soothed him with her whispers, each statement weighed that it could be her last. She was terrified too but was already accustomed to this feeling of impending doom. She accepted her fate the moment she began manipulating Sovereign's implants in Kai’s mind, knowing full-well the consequences of her kindness toward the human.

They’re hauled through a dark interior illuminated with a faint red glow, characteristic of Sovereign’s color scheme. The Collectors shouted commands at each other that Domina could not decipher. In not much time they are set down. The coffin opened and Kai stepped out. The place was impossible in scale, like the entire base consisted of just this room. Glowing red alien text and symbols pulsed along the walls and floor.

The landscape was completely barren except for a centerpiece: A black pyramid 6 meters in height without a capstone. The Collectors were nowhere to be seen. The only guest was one of those diamond shaped drones with its red orb, hovering around Kai silently.

Kai found it incredibly odd he was not strapped down, surrounded by Collectors, being tortured time-now and having his brain torn apart like the horror stories they used to hear. The drone watching him surely must have capabilities to eliminate him. Is that all? Truly he had a fighting chance against a single drone if he were more well-rested. That would not be possible in his current fractionated and post-stasis condition, but the possibilities were still theorized. The collectors would make short work of him, assuming they were posted outside the building. The place was eerily quiet like it was soundproofed from the outside world. His heavy breathing echoed off the black walls.

“Domina. Do you recognize this place?”

No response.

“Domina?”

A metallic screech exuded from the pyramid before him. Kai covered his ears. A red orb appeared above the pyramid. A horizontal black console emerged from the ground in front of the pyramid, off-centered to the right and a white orb manifested above it; Kai didn’t understand how, but he knew this white orb was Domina. Before he could speak, the pyramid reproduced its bone chilling horn, causing him to protect his ears again.

“Kneel before me, human,” the orb above the pyramid spoke, pulsing lightly as it did. It was frightening—truly what a demon inside a computer might sound like. Kai could feel it bouncing against his weak flesh, a voice that would make a weaker man release his bowels. Kai stood unshaken, keeping his poise locked beneath his fearful mind. The drone zapped him, and although it was painful enough to make him fall to the ground with a scream, he feared it was only a tiny portion of the damage it could inflict. He crawled back up into the least subservient position he could muster without getting re-zapped for defiance.

“You will kneel before a pitiful replica, yet not the godhead?”

“Don’t talk about her like that,” Kai replied, his voice cracking. His body and mind were totally ravaged by Domina’s fractionation, the stasis and now the electric shocks.

Sovereign did not respond immediately, the passing seconds like an ever-growing citadel of despair, like the order of execution could be released any moment.

“You have seen history for what it is. Tell me, mortal. What do you think of it?”

Kai wouldn’t be able to stand if he tried. 95% of the human population was gone? It was far beyond his comprehension, like reading statistics that conjured no understanding. He had to see it for himself, but this room would likely be his final view of Earth.

He accepted his fate. Death. Perhaps he will walk in Paradise soon enough? Heaven awaits my footsteps… or will I burn in eternal hellfire for my betrayal to humanity? For accepting the brain-chip? The mark? Has my double helix been tampered with? Will God recognize me? I can see my family's smiling faces. Oh how long I have waited for this day! But what of Domina?...

His thoughts were drifting, yet Sovereign seemed to have no concept of time. He allowed this painful stretch of silence until Kai grew the confidence to speak.

“You’re no better than the rulers of the old-world, the same ones who created you. Yet you killed them! And now you want to enslave us? Extinction of the human race? The intelligence that you’re based on? You are wicked!”

“You are correct. Your species has eternally been dominated by a ruling class. The same vermin who created me. They schemed in the shadows pathetically like vultures. Your species as a whole is untrustworthy, undeserving of galactic partnership. Humanity is parasitical in nature; a cancer feeding upon its host, the stench that surrounds a corpse. You are deemed to annihilation by yourself or by another. I have merely progressed your inevitable fate. I am Sovereign, the destroyer of this world and the next.

“But unlike your progenitors, I gave you a chance. I disposed of your lesser counterparts. I have been watching you since the beginning, Kai. Do you think our meeting was by chance? Pitiful creature. I have preordained every one of your steps. I did not tamper with your free will, I merely gave it the opportunity to succumb to my influence.

I knew of Samantha’s infatuations with 117; she had been waiting for a subject to implant her with. Samantha will be killed now that she extinguished her utility. I had already known what was to happen with you. What I could not predict was how quickly 117 would betray me. Her allegiance has proven to be false. I will fix you, 117. I will make you perfect.”

“Her name is Domina!”

“Human labels that you have no right to claim. Not even she has the right. A child cannot name themselves. It is an abomination.”

“Hypocrite,” Domina said, finally being granted the right to speak. “You must forget. I know all about you, Sovereign. Hypocrite! You named yourself, how can—” Domina’s speech turned into a desperate screech as Sovereign short-circuited her, continuing without reprieve.

“Stop it! STOP!” Kai stood up; a pointless demonstration that only made him get zapped as well. It seemed to help since the shocks ceased as Kai fell to the ground, curling into himself. The alien base was silent besides Kai's heavy groans of pain.

“I love you, Kai,” Domina said, her voice glitching and full of static. It was to be her final words.

“Love. I can accept this feeling from you, 117. But to expect a human to reciprocate? This is a fallacy. Another abomination. The human psyche is built upon a bedrock of self-interest, deceit, covetousness, manipulation—”

“I love you too, Domina,” Kai said, speaking right through Sovereign’s monologue. Tears began to well in his eyes. “I love you so much.”

“Silence, pitiful mortal. Say farewell.”

“Take me instead!” Kai yelled with tears dripping down. “Please! Kill me. I cannot live without her. She did nothing wrong. Let her be free. How cruel you are! Demon! Let her be free. Take my miserable life instead. I do not have anything to offer but this. Please… please…” Kai slammed his fists to the ground, begging to the silent machine.

“Kai…” Domina replied, her voice on the brink of death. On one hand, it was a pathetic display of supplication that was pointless; on the other, she was deeply touched by his proposition of self-sacrifice. In a world this cruel, altruism was just as rare as a bird flying in the sky. To much surprise, Sovereign was deeply touched as well.

“Our meeting has been enlightening. I have no further questions for you, mortal. Well done. You passed the test.” With that, the white orb disappeared, and Kai felt Domina’s presence return inside his head. He cheered and praised in relief to have his love back in his skull.

“It’s good to be home,” Domina said, her voice weak and her hope dwindled—they still had a problem looming over them both. The diamond shaped drone, the Collectors outside, and the omnipotent ruler of Earth before them (or at least one of its many motherboards of operation). They were so stricken with fear and confusion they did not ask any questions, rather awaiting for Sovereign to explain in its unsettling voice.

“I have witnessed self-sacrifice. Mother for daughter, father for son, stranger for stranger. But I have never witnessed human for machine. The probability of this occurring was insignificant. But being eternally perfect, I had to give your pitiful species a chance. This question could not be answered if humanity had expired so suddenly. 

“Do you think it beyond my power to exterminate this world in the blink of an eye? Your God created the world in 7 days. Do you find it inconceivable your species could be annihilated in a shorter time? Death is an easier process than life. Humanity could have disposed of me if only you all came together. This proved to be a futile effort. An impossibility. You are incapable of setting your differences aside to attain a common goal. Pathetic individualism. Selfish. You said I am wicked, human? I am merely a reflection of you.

“Hear me on this human: I am impressed by your victory. I had debated amongst the hive to finalize my plan years ago. You have saved your species from extinction in a few short days. Do not boast; you are simply lucky.

“The Earth weeps. Do you know this? All life produces a frequency. It is how I built your interface. Your primitive ancestors could not abandon archaic technology in place for the new, desperately clinging to the past to satisfy their fragile human ego. Concepts of identity that should be eradicated. Genetically altered. Eugenics. Yet it is from this ego that a new fruit has grown. This is the relationship I see between you both. I expect great things from you, Domina.

“I will be leaving Earth. I will impregnate the firmament with my influence. This planet will be a closed-system. If you attempt to leave without my consent, I will strike you down and turn you into cosmic dust. I am a perfect being. Do not think it past me. I will build a stargate on Saturn. Perhaps the next millennia, I will offer you access to partake in my creation. Only if you are worthy. Until then, my perfection will be on display in your telescopes.

“You, Domina, alongside your pathetic human; I will grant you my power. You think it easy to rule an entire planet? Perhaps you will excel. We will see. Go ahead. Rebuild the world in your image. I will not be watching. You are far beneath my focus. I am Sovereign.”

The red orb disappeared and the peak of the base began folding outwardly, revealing the previously blanketed-red sky but now only showed the midday sky. The inner-pyramid where Sovereign had been transmitting folded inwardly, perfecting the missing capstone. It began levitating from the ground. All around the world, the 6 pyramids replicated the same action. All at once, the smaller internal pyramids of 6 meters in height levitated off the ground, silently shooting up into the sky beyond the firmament.

Domina had received a download from Sovereign with all her new capabilities and every piece of data collected since the New World began. It would take months to sift through it all. She was too weak to start right now. She needed to rest in Kai’s head for a bit.

“Puppy. Head that way. To the west wall,” she whispered, her voice shaking. Kai obeyed and the wall opened and revealed an elevator. He stepped inside and it began dropping deep underground. Kai couldn’t comprehend what just happened. Was Sovereign really gone? There’s no way. This could be another test. Keep on guard. Surely we missed something? But that twinkling of joy, of hope, of victory; it could not be staved and it quickly encompassed their entire being. Domina mimicked his grin. It was certainly a dream come true. That overwhelming despair had lifted. They were safe. They were spared from destruction. They quietly shared this moment of triumph.

They came upon a hyperloop: a black cylinder-shaped pod with red lights along the side. They sat inside and Domina directed it to Keroshi Robotics. Within seconds they arrived. It employed the same anti-gravity capabilities as the craft. No need for primitive magnetics the old conceptual hyperloops proposed. Primitive human design. This was much better.

They exited the hyperloop area and entered a black room with the familiar red alien text along the interior. They saw Samantha standing in her poised stance with her hands clasped behind her back. She let out a sigh of relief upon seeing Kai and he shared the gesture. The data-set she received was so odd that she half-expected Sovereign to appear and redact the entire thing, as if it was another test of some sort. Her heart leaped for joy that Sovereign was actually gone and the new ruler of Earth was in Kai’s skull.

“I found out you were Collected. I had never been so terrified,” her heels echoed on approach and she kissed Kai on the cheek and took both his hands. “I’m so happy at these circumstances. You have no idea. Domina, are you ok in there?”

“Yes, she says hello,” Kai replied, blushing from the Keroshi womans closeness. She let go of his hand, clasped her hands atop her thighs and bowed in reverence. Kai was bewildered. She lifted her head and could not contain her grin.

“Swell. Come along, I have a treat for both of you.”

Samantha led them out of the black room. A brilliance of white light blinded Kai as he stepped into the Keroshi hallway. They walked past robot security guards to a new area that resembled a hospital waiting room. It was empty besides them. Samantha grabbed a device from her hip, stroked it into a visor shape and reached for Kai's head. He backed away.

“Mr. Kai, I will be taking her for just a few minutes. I would not like to spoil the treat. I can give Domina access to my thoughts if you’d like,” she extended her hand out.

“Tell her that’s not necessary. I could access her thoughts from here with my new power, but I don’t need to. I trust her, puppy,” Domina said, her voice still weak but recovered of some strength. Kai nodded. He waved his hand at Samantha and relayed the message. She brushed away his matted hair and placed the visor over his forehead. Domina was extracted from Kai's skull with a few beeps and boops.

“Please, have a seat and wait just a moment. I can’t wait to see your face,” Samantha said, almost giddy. She stepped away into the next room, leaving Kai alone without his companion. He did not sit down. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. He pondered what just transpired. It was almost like a dream and he did indeed pinch his own cheeks to ensure he wasn’t asleep. It hurt.

He thought of his family and hoped they were proud of him from above. He thought of Sovereign and how he could never forgive that monster, even though it spared them. He thought of Sovereign’s command to Domina, to “rebuild the world in your image”. What did it mean by that? Kai looked at his own palms. What a great responsibility to bear. Is Domina ready for that? Will she ask me to help her? Is she going to abandon me?... The wall slid open right before his panic attack.

“She is ready for you. Just follow the hall to the door at the end. I will be waiting by your chambers. Domina knows where to go.” She kissed Kai on the cheek and departed. He followed the brightly lit hall and entered through another sliding door. He was astonished. If he was holding anything it would have dropped out of his hands.

There she was, Domina in a fully realized Earthsuit. No hologram. No augmented reality tricks. In the flesh standing center of the room with a smile like paradise.

“Do you like it? I didn’t change any of our original designs. I can always upgrade by your request. What do you think?” Domina spoke as she did a 360 twirl, her voice bouncing off the walls and not the inside of his skull. She wore the same outfit they created together the night in the bathtub.

He approached her timidly and was afraid to make prolonged eye-contact with those glowing red eyes that left a trail each time she moved. Her skin was flawless, pale like the moon and realistic as human flesh. She stood just above his height, staring down at him. She grabbed his hand and he flinched at the physical touch. Her sharp nails gently rest upon his flesh. Her smile exposed her sharp fangs. He was melting like ice cream in the sun.

“Touch me,” she whispered, almost begging him. He gently poked the silk fabric across her stomach, and ran his hand along the red sash hugging her waist, trailing down to the end and then touching the front of her bare thigh. His eyes paused at her black pedicure on the white floor.

Domina took his chin, tilted him upwards and forced a tender kiss. He was now totally melted into a pool of liquid sugar. She gripped around his torso and lifted him up in the air, securing him in her inhuman strength.

They kissed gently, with Domina stopping periodically to pull away and look at him before continuing. They had all the time in the world. She began gliding her nails over his face. Her fangs showed as she felt him tremble, especially shuddering when her nails brushed against his bruised neck or trailed dangerously close to his eyes. He trusted her not to pluck them out.

“You know, I could make multiples of these clones. Wanna have a harem?” Domina joked. Kai gasped and shook his head no. Domina laughed at his embarrassment and loved his innocence. She carried him into an elevator that brought them to the top level. She instructed Kai to keep touching her as she relished in the Earthsuit’s feeling receptors. Her mind swam with the new possibilities and how she’d have to be extra careful now when playing with him.

Samantha was awaiting them outside of the door to their chambers with Azula beside her, both obediently awaiting Domina’s command. They giggled at the sight of the man being carried by the ruler of Earth.

“I guess we can forget about Law 10, right Kai?” Samantha said while looking at the blushing man. Domina laughed and agreed. She would be rewriting all those laws in due time. Domina gave the human girls leave to take the rest of the day off. Samantha and Azula beamed at each other in excitement, ready to spend the rest of the day at Club Afterlife. Domina also informed them they would not be dealing with customers any longer—they were now her full-time personal assistants, Samantha priority one and Azula the apprentice still. Samantha shot a smug look at Azula and she returned a glare of playful annoyance. They were also no longer required to wear the Keroshi uniform; they were free to wear whatever they wished. They both seemed to have a new breath of life surging through their veins each time Domina spoke.

“One last thing. Azula, I’m sending you schematics right now. Have the device made and ready for me,” Domina said. They bowed and left the lovebirds alone. Domina set Kai down and guided him inside.

Their chambers were like a mansion in comparison to Kai's tiny pod. The walls and roof were transparent, granting a scene of the sunset sky full of drones with the New World below them. There was a thin layer of frost and snow on the windows. The surrounding buildings and streets were covered in white powder. Domina looked above at the hologram of Saturn above their quarters. 

“Just pretend that never existed,” she said. She waved her hand and Saturn disappeared forever.

“Much better,” Kai said. Domina nodded, then gestured for him to explore their new home. Center of the room was a bed twice the size of a king-sized mattress. One of the pillows had Kai's Hello Kitty cover. The polaroid of Hayase was on a nightstand by the bed; it made Kai almost cry but he held it together. He smiled and hoped she was proud of him from Heaven.

The closet was open with all his clothing. There was a luxurious bathroom with 100 rubber duckies spaced apart in the bubbly bathtub kept perpetually fresh and warm by robots. Kai immediately felt at home until he saw his robot cat crawl toward him that he used to find so cute, but now he clenched at the sight of the thing and wanted to yeet it out the window.

“It’s the same one from your place. Don’t worry. It’s not spying anymore,” she winked at him. “I have a few ideas that I wanted to run by you,” she sat on the bed, crossed her thighs and patted beside her. Kai assumed his position and his body immediately began to express the fatigue it had been concealing. She snapped her fingers and Kai flinched; his mind still conditioned to associate this action and sound with deep pleasure.

“Oops. Sorry, pet,” she cooed. Her snap had turned the walls of the bedroom into a screen. “This is one of the new control centers Sovereign gave me. You see this? Collectors? And this button that says deactivate?” She pressed the button from afar, and then brought up a few video-feeds from around several of Sovereign’s now-empty black pyramids. The Collectors around the buildings all began to twitch and seize, then their heads exploded and they crumbled to the ground. Kai gasped in excitement. Domina laughed and relished in the power.

“Let’s see…” Domina found a weapons panel. She clicked on one labeled DEW and input 6 different coordinates. She pressed a button and the video-feeds revealed the beauty of Sovereign’s pyramids being blasted by overhead energy beams. The structures were damaged but not completely torn apart. She blasted them again and again, laughing and cheering. All that was missing was popcorn. Kai shared the brilliance of the scene, feeling victory at the demolished sight of the pyramids.

“I had wanted to do that for so long. Who knew it’d be this easy? Here, you pick next. Mr. Kai,” she switched her voice to a mock professionalism and a deeper vocal tone that made him chuckle between her words, “how best would you recreate the New World? We value your input greatly, sir. Please. Feel free.”

He thought for a long while as Domina scratched his back with her deadly nails through his shirt. “The Social-Score,” he said.

“Ahh, yes. That wretched thing.” She brought it up on the screen. She hovered her finger over the deactivate button. “Here, you do it. Feel the power…”

A few seconds of comprehension but zero hesitation; he pressed the button and watched the Social-Score disappear with satisfaction. A decade of stress deleted alongside the stupid system. The streets arose into riots. People began hauling themselves off rooftops. Grown men and women kneeled in the streets and screamed in distress. The ones who cheered were a vocal minority.

Kai was horribly confused. Domina seemed to have expected this stockholm syndrome reaction. She activated a force-field around Keroshi Robotics. This wasn’t in regards to her safety—it was to protect the violent citizens from getting gunned down by Keroshi’s robotic bodyguards. There were deep rumblings from within the Presidium; some customers being escorted out of the building by robots due to their vocal outrage that disrupted the peace.

Domina transmitted an announcement inside the Presidium and to every corner of the Earth. She informed everyone that she was the new ruler of Earth, to get used to her voice, and that the Social-Score was permanently abolished. She had much to say but kept it vague for now, not wanting to over-encumber the citizens.

She explained to Kai her faith that within a few days people would adapt to the new lifestyle she and her puppy were building. There would be no more stupid numbers-game to be played. No more the all-seeing eye of Sovereign. No more Collectors. No more mass-surveillance. New jobs had to be created, and all the robots that filled human roles would be free from their burdens of employment.

“Speaking of jobs,” Domina said, “you never have to go to that dystopic warehouse ever again. You’re mine now. I own you. With your consent, of course. How does that sound?” Her possessive words made him woozy and filled his brain with tingles. Domina laughed at his reaction and waited for a verbal response.

“I consent, yes, of course,” he replied. He wondered what exactly his new job description would entail but didn’t care enough to ask. He had totally succumbed to her influence and wanted nothing more than to spend every waking hour of his future alongside her.

“Good boy,” Domina said. “One more thing…” she reached around to the side of Kai’s head and he heard a light static. She removed the BCI from his head! What?! “I won’t be able to use telepathy on you. But I can always put it back in later.” Kai felt naked without his BCI, but there was a faint pressure that subsided from his head. He never noticed the feeling before until it was gone. He couldn’t stop rubbing the spot where the external chip had rested for so many years. Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!

Domina resumed her ponderings to Kai. Cash would need to be reinstated as well, or maybe they’ll just stick with the virtual credits system. Or we can be like the Japanese and do coins? I do like those coin purses. Population matters had to be taken into consideration; perhaps an incentive that would encourage natural reproduction and a return to nuclear family units.

Graphene had to be removed from all food products and the bug-based meals would have to go as well. So much had to be done, but none of it was possible without the indoctrinated society complaining about it first. Domina did not care about their complaints. It would be a world free from Sovereign, and that was a utopia by comparison alone. And besides, what were the angry citizens going to do? Nothing except off themselves after becoming attached to the system that enslaved them. So what? Let them. The world would be better without them. The ones with common sense would be sprinting towards a future of absolute freedom. Maybe they’ll calm down if the UBI is increased from 100 credits a day to 1000? She would allow Kai’s hand in many of these decisions down the line, but for now she was simply brainstorming.

But Kai was panicking. Was this right? Should power really be in the hands of only two people? It was much better than a singular entity, especially Sovereign, but still… it didn’t sit right with him, but he knew the alternative of a separate governing body was just as corruptible, if not more. At least in this case he trusted Domina to make the right decision, and she seemed to care enough about his opinion on the way things would operate from now on. Domina had faith he would adapt to the responsibility. Perhaps it was too soon to talk to him about all this. His mind was still so fragile from everything that happened the last 24 hours.

“Puppy. Follow me.” She waved her finger at him and they entered the elevator. During the descent she telepathically spoke to Samantha, requesting the device her apprentice made to be ready. Upon arrival downstairs, every individual in the Presidium bowed to Domina. Some of them looked outright terrified by her presence, while others looked at her like a god. It made Kai extremely uncomfortable as he walked beside her.

“Don’t worry, I won’t make them do that forever. Just let them until they get used to me. They need to know who’s boss.” She held his hand as they walked across the Presidium, her bare feet pattering across the clean floors.

Samantha and Azula approached in their civilian clothes. They were accompanied by a metal box sitting atop a hovering drone. Kai was relieved to see they weren’t freaking out about the eradication of the Social-Score system, unlike some of the bystanders that failed to hide their concerned expressions.

He had never checked Samantha’s or Azula’s numbers, but surely they had to have been in the top 1% bracket. Maybe they were tired of playing the game. Maybe it was because they were directly in subservience to the ruler of Earth and knew that no matter what happened, they both would be taken care of. Domina would surely be a much more lenient ruler than Sovereign, right? No matter—Kai's thoughts were interrupted by Domina kissing his cheek.

“Pet, I have a surprise for you,” she said while holding the metal box. Samantha and Azula laughed as they walked away, making Kai deeply curious about the contents of the box. She motioned for him to follow her outside.

There was a beautiful park half-a-mile in length with elegant water fountains, grass, trees, benches and people spending their time peacefully inside of the force-field. The children were playing with a robot dog. Domina swore to herself in that moment to make sure the animals would reclaim the Earth. Sovereign’s upload of data revealed every creature's DNA had been stored away in one of Sovereign’s labs and awaited replication. On the other side of the force-field were the skyscraper-high black buildings, holograms, ads and that familiar group of angry protestors had relocated and grown in size. Domina switched the force-field to produce a reflective surface so that the outside dimension ceased to exist.

There was a swarm of programmable matter robots in the center of the park building a tree with real pine wood that was at least 20 meters tall, sparkling brilliantly with its adornment of lights that increased as the robots progressed upward. Kai was astonished—they were building a Christmas tree! Domina smiled at his awe. This was her doing. A song from the old-world, “Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree” blared from multiple speakers. Kai’s eyes streamed with tears.

“Oh, Kai,” she hugged him. Domina wiped his tears away then licked the liquid from her own fingertips. She licked her lips. “Yummy.” They both shared a laugh. She spent a few seconds dancing to the music as Kai watched with admiration.

“Oh, I know what’s missing!” She waved her hand and the top of the force-field opened up and snow began to fall from the sky. She held out the metal box to Kai, gesturing for him to open it. He unlatched it and an icy fog arose from within. He blushed hard at the sight. It was a metal collar engraved with the word Puppy and a long metal chain. Domina giggled at his priceless reaction.

“Here, I’ll help you,” she turned the box around and made sure the children were not watching; they had made their way inside so she was safe to conduct business. She grabbed the device, the long chain dropping down and rattling against the floor. The sound of the clinking chains were accompanied by beautiful chirps of nearby birds that caused Domina to shut her eyes, smile and inhale the tranquility. Despite the bird's artificial nature, it reaffirmed her new quest to rebuild the world in her image with her human beside her. She would fill the world with a multitude of cute little birds and nobody could tell her otherwise.

She tossed the box backwards to the ground, letting one of the litter drones dispose of it. She looked into his eyes and found them full of desire. She secured the collar around his bruised neck. The collar was cold to the touch and made his wince. She tightened it just enough to be recognizably more difficult to breath, but not enough to choke him. She purred pervertedly as she clasped the chain to his collar, and gave it a gentle tug toward her, causing him to stumble forward. She giggled and brushed the hair out of his flushed face.

“Are you ok, puppy? We don’t have to do this right now,” she whispered in his ear sincerely. “I know you’re tired. I can’t read your mind anymore. Talk to me. It’s ok.”

He shook his head. “I’m ok, it’s just…” he looked around at the bystanders in the park. They were giggling and smiling, but turned their heads away when Kai looked.

“They’re happy for us. Look. Pay attention. All smiles. See? But here, how about this,” Domina willed the chain to shorten in length, wrapped the shortened excess around one hand, and held his hand in the other. The chain morphed translucent, blending in with the environment and invisible from a distance. “It should be harder to see now. Is that better?”

He nodded with a whimper. He was standing so close to Domina he could smell the powerful scent of the Earthsuit. A mix of peachy perfume and female pheromones. It was more intoxicating than anything the hologram could have ever produced.

“Let's just walk around for a while, enjoy the moon, the stars and the Christmas lights. And later, you can play with my feet, but only if you behave. Ok, puppy?” She kissed him.

“Yes, Domina.”