Notes: This story is primarily focused on the development of a relationship between M-Human and F-Viper. Obviously, there will be intriguing things that will happen other than that, but if you don't want to read about the MC getting some snussy don't read this, or skip over those parts.
Summary: Sometime after Advent arrived and established dominion over Earth, things are starting to heat up again. The terrorists have been reinvigorated, and are causing chaos in the city. A cynical Advent VIP with a checkered past, and a distrust of aliens, has his usual routine shaken up when he gets a new bodyguard, which may or may not be a Viper. Can he maneuver though this new world without getting killed by rebels or executed by Advent, and maybe get something out of it? Read on to find out.
Opening Monologue
Life's never been all that good to me, but Advent, Advent has been real good to me. Advent has been good for many people. Thanks to them there's no poverty, no homelessness, and no unemployment, in the cities anyway, but that didn't come without a price. You never get anything for free. My job is ok; I enjoy it a lot more than my old one. Going to events, giving some speeches, and maybe cutting a ribbon or two, is preferable to wage slaving and recovering from an 8-hr shift. While everyone else got busy enjoying themselves in this new world.
The truth is, I have no illusions about the work I do, what I represent, and who I work for. I know full well the Elders are the monarchs of our new world, and that they do shady things, but it doesn't really bother me. The only difference between how the world was before and how the world is now, is that the puppet masters are out in the open, and don't look like the puppets. Maybe that's their way of showing just how powerful they are. People worship them, and there are statues of them everywhere, it's real fucking obvious who's pulling the strings around here, and it certainly isn't us humans anymore.
Though it's not all bad, this new world they made really is an improvement, for me at least. When Advent took over, it reset the pecking order in society. Guys at the bottom finally had a chance to make it to the top, guys like me. All it took was an opportunity, a little ambition, and you could have a brand new life ten times better than it was before. Honestly, I still don't regret doing what I did. Because of it, I'm one of their shining examples of what every citizen should be.
It's never been a question of if I like where I'm at now; it's always been a question of how long the good times will last. And, if there's anything I've learned, it's that nothing lasts forever. With these rebels getting more bold and organized, something is bound to happen. I'm not stupid, I know that without Advent, I'm nothing, just another citizen with useless skills. If they were disposed, I'd be right back where I started, and everything I've done to get here would be pointless. But, no matter what happens, I'll make sure I'm on the right side of history, whichever side that ends up being.
Chapter 1
The advent officer to my left grumbled something about how we were getting close to the new clinic. I shook myself from my thoughts, looking up from my brown leather shoes and tan slacks. The shoes were actually made of real leather, one of the few relics I had from the old world. My eyes drifted around the limo, there were three other Advent troopers in the limo with me. Two sat at the other end of the limo, and one sat closer to me and the Advent officer. Their black armor reflected what little light came in through the tinted windows. Every time one of them shifted, the cushioned pleather seating creaked in response. The trooper across from me sneezed, and it brought my attention to the lower part of his face that his helmet didn't cover.
I smirked. To most of the citizenry, these science experiments were human, but I knew better. One of the many privileges I enjoyed because of my position: knowledge of Advent. When I was getting set up with security a few years ago, I specifically requested human bodyguards, and Advent provided me with these disgusting hybrids. I know how Advent operates; I wanted guards that were human, at least genetically untouched by Advent, so I could ensure their loyalties were to me. Of course it wasn't that simple. Turns out Advent doesn't employ many humans that they didn't tamper with. At least I was one of them.
I looked over at the Advent officer that woke me from my thoughts and nodded at him. "How much time do I have left before we get there?"
The officer straightened up and looked down at something that was hidden from my view behind his rifle. "Five - minutes." I always hated the voices of these hybrids. They sounded like they were speaking through a cheap synthesizer and it grated on my ears.
I nodded again. As I reached into my tan suit jacket, my eye caught the glint of black metal from my mag pistol poking out from the holster it was sitting in. It was a surreal experience when my manager handed it to me this morning because civilians were not permitted to carry weapons, and I had never been assigned one before. He didn't answer most of my questions about it. The words "Just in case" echoed in my mind. I hoped this was just a policy change, and that Advent didn't know something they weren't telling me.
No time to worry about that, I had a speech to do soon. I pulled out the notecards I made for the speech I was going to give. I reviewed the main points Advent wanted me to hit, and the jokes I was going to make. I'll admit, I was nervous as hell the first few times I gave speeches, but I've given dozens of them at this point, and Advent practically writes them for me. I, of course take a little pride in my work, and threw in a few pieces of humor throughout the speech to keep myself and the crowd entertained. Advent doesn't mind. So long as it makes the speeches seem more genuine, they don't care what I add in. Truthfully, I'm a little proud of this one, it might be my best speech yet. I'll definitely get em with the one about going in and getting your liver fixed twice in one week because of all the drinking you've done. Giving these little speeches had almost become second nature to me.
Chuckling to myself and putting my cards away, I looked out the window to see the crowd that had gathered to watch the opening of the new gene clinic. As I went to push on the button to roll down the window next to me, a hand grabbed my shoulder. I looked over at the Advent Officer that sat next to me. His blocky red helmet, that looked like a rejected Tetris piece, was in my face, and from what I could see he was frowning.
I looked at him for a few seconds and furrowed my brow. "Look, the crowd wants to see me. Are you suggesting your security for this ceremony is inadequate?" After I finished speaking, his frown deepened, so I ripped my shoulder from his grip.
The officer leaned back slowly and pushed a button on the side of his helmet close to his mouth. He spoke a few sentences of that advent language they used before facing forward.
I returned to the window and rolled it down. As it slid down, the increasing sound of people cheering assaulted my ears. Once it slid all the way down, people turned their attention to me. Some people pointed, some waved at me, others just looked on with a smile. There were a lot of people here, way more than I had expected for a gene clinic opening ceremony. Luckily, there were enough Advent troopers to keep them at bay. Seeing their excitement, and all the families that were here, made me smile genuinely. I didn't do this for Advent; I did this for myself, but also for them too. My people, and as long as I didn't let Advent change me, they would continue to be my people. I don't look down on them. After all, It's not their fault they don't know everything that's going on, it's mine. Of course I don't let that bother me. Even if I didn't do this, someone else would take my place. Hell, there'd probably be people lined up around the block to take my job. Some of whom might actually be qualified for it. But unlike those jackals, I'm still fully human, and at least I still have my free will. I waved back at them, shifting my gaze from person to person.
After waving for a while, I sat back down in the limo and grabbed my glass of ice water from the cup holder by the window. As I took a drink, everything changed in an instant. A loud bang knocked out my sense of hearing and left me with a constant ringing sound in my ears. I didn't even have time to regret never wearing my seatbelt in the limo. My ass left the seat, and the sensation of gravity disappeared. For a moment I was suspended in the air, and watched the inside of the limo spin around me like one of those vertigo tunnels. Then I hit my elbow on one of the doors, and I smacked into everything in my path as it moved around me. I crashed down onto the floor as the limo came to a stop. My whole body ached and something cold was pressed against my chest. I opened my eyes and tried to look around, quickly realizing I wasn't on the floor; I was on the ceiling. As my vision focused, I saw broken glass scattered about the cabin. The Advent officer next to me unbuckled his seatbelt and fell onto the ground, taking his time to stand up. When my hearing returned, first I heard gunfire and a few smaller sounding explosions. Then as it adjusted further, I heard screams and the sounds of people running in panic.
The Advent Officer looked at me and grunted. "Are you injured?" He asked in a mechanical way that implied he didn't personally care.
I looked myself over. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a few minor cuts on my hands from the glass... I think I might have a bruise or two." I held up my hands to show him.
He nodded. "Stay in the limo."
I clutched my head. "What happened?"
The officer pursed his lips and tilted his helmet to the left. "Explosion. Bomb, or rocket."
I pointed towards the window. "It's those damn rebels, isn't it? I can't believe they'd attack an event like this, in the middle of the city."
The Advent officer ignored me and started speaking in advent on the communicator in his helmet. He stood up and barked some orders to the troopers that were in the limo. Only two of them stood up. The other one lay in an increasing pool of orange liquid. When the explosion went off, it must have hit right where he was sitting, as evidenced by the large inward dent by his seat.
My eyes went wide, and I looked away. "Damn, that must have been some explosion." I remarked to myself.
The Advent Officer waved his hand and opened the door to the limo. The two troopers rushed outside, and he followed closely behind. I poked my head out the door and saw him point at something that was on the other side of the limo. As they shot back at the rebels, I leaned back inside the limo and eyed up the Magnetic Rifle of that dead trooper. It would be better than my pistol, but pulling the trigger would give me a lethal jolt of electricity. I could attempt to bypass the Genetic verification system, but I didn't really know how to do that and I definitely did not have the tools or the time to start disassembling it to figure that out.
Technically, I wasn't supposed to know how to disassemble one, but I used to work at a weapons factory that manufactured small arms for Advent. I didn't go out of my way to learn that initially, but if you assemble 300 magnetic rails a day, you start to figure out how they work. That job sucked so much. I had played with the idea of stealing parts to build a Magnetic rifle at home, and then shooting my worthless boss with it outside of work. That bastard was a terror, and I would have been doing everyone involved a service, even Advent. I don't know if I'd actually have gone through with it though because before I made any progress I found "other employment".
I pulled my pistol from its holster and pushed the button above the trigger. It activated, and I pointed it at the door that the Advent officer exited. I've never actually fired one of these, but I figured I didn't have to be a good shot if a rebel stuck his head through the open door 5 ft away from me.
I waited, time passed and the battle outside didn't show any signs of slowing down. It felt like hours had passed, but when I looked at my arm to check my phone, only a few minutes had passed. I held my pistol with a death grip and didn't look away from that door for a second. More time passed, and after an explosion, from what I assume was a frag grenade, went off the sounds of gunfire died down, and then it just stopped. I swear I could feel my heart trying to escape my chest. The inside of the limo was getting hot now that the AC had been disabled for a while. At least the drink I spilled on my suit was keeping me somewhat cool. I wiped the sweat away from my eyes and focused on that door harder.
Multiple sets of footsteps approached the limo. Hard leather boots hitting the ground, crushing broken glass and crushed concrete. It sounded like I was being surrounded. My breath got caught in my throat, as I silently hoped these were Advent Trooper boots. A single set of footsteps paced around the limo and stopped close to the door. The shadow of this humanoid figure was cast into the limo. I held my breath and waited. After a few moments, the shadow moved, and a guy wearing a balaclava stuck his head through the door. He was wearing some shoddy grey padded armor, and it had markings on it that clearly weren't Advent. I looked right at his face, and he looked at mine. His eyes lit up and he looked at me like he had finally found his missing sock. But that didn't last long. His eyes flicked from me to my gun.
I think he exclaimed something, but I didn't hear it. My kidneys had pumped me full of adrenaline, and the shock of not seeing an Advent helmet poke through that door caused me to pull the trigger instinctively multiple times. Three shots rang out and splattered red gore across the wall and floor of the limo. His body collapsed inside the limo. It was over in an instant, and his limbs twitched. I gasped, and I stared at what I had just done for a few agonizingly long moments. My vision blurred, but I shook myself out of it. As if possessed, I crawled over to the body, pulled it inside the limo, and reached for the door. As I grabbed the handle, bullets whizzed past and hit the wall behind me. I yanked the door shut with all of my strength.
I crawled back to my spot and tried to not look at the two corpses that I was now sharing my limo with. Looking over at the door, I saw a red handprint where I had grabbed the handle, and looked at my own hands to see they were covered in that rebel's blood. Probably got some on me when I touched his body. I leaned against the limo and heard the rebels shouting obscenities as they pumped as much ammo into the limo as they could. Even though I knew the limo was bulletproof, and built to withstand large explosions, I couldn't help but fear what they would do to me if they managed to get in. If they managed to rupture the gas tank, there wouldn't be much of me left to pull out of the limo. Not long after, I heard the sounds of multiple Advent dropships pulling up to the scene. Relief washed over me like a wave of cool water. To me they were the sounds of my salvation, but to the rebels, well, I'm sure they were shitting their pants right about now. I crawled over to the window of the door I closed to get a better look at what was going on, averting my eyes from the corpses as I passed them. I saw five rebels spaced out along the concrete barriers that sat alongside the road across from the limo; they were all wearing similar looking grey padded armor and had balaclavas on. Two of the terrorists were close together and conversing, so I focused my attention on them.
The one on the right pointed at the limo. "If you buy me some time I can get the VIP out of that vehicle."
The one on the left shook his head. "Look, he's just not worth it, let's just blow up the clinic and cut our losses while we still can." I had never been happier to hear I wasn't valuable enough to someone.
The one on the right looked at the limo and furrowed his brow. If I didn't know the windows were tinted I could swear he was looking right at me. "He killed TJ man, we can't let him get away with that."
Left rebel replied. "Look, it's not any of our faults TJ got all gung-ho and wound up dead. We can't take on all of these reinforcements by ourselves."
The rebel on the right punched the cover he was by and grunted. "...Okay, but you're gonna take the blame for this. You know how pissed he's gonna be."
The left rebel didn't speak for a few moments. Probably weighing his options. "I'd rather get back alive and be yelled at, let's pull out."
The rebel on the left yelled to one of his cohorts, who produced a detonator and pushed a button on it. The clinic exploded into an orange ball of fire, ripping apart the wooden platform I was about to give my speech on, flinging debris everywhere, and scorching the surrounding grounds. As the clinic exploded, it raised a cloud of dust into the air, which blanketed the surrounding area and made it impossible to see beyond the concrete barrier the rebels were at.
I frowned. "Guess this event'll have to be postponed for a while, then. Maybe it's not so bad, I'll need a break after this, a long one." I mumbled to myself.
After thoroughly and completely ruining my speaking event, the rebels ran off, but not before exchanging some more words.
The terrorist with the detonator spoke to one that hadn't spoken yet. "Watch our backs for a second Fink, we'll make sure there's a clear path to the extraction point for you."
The rebel he called Fink nodded. "I'll hold em back as long as I can."
The terrorist squad leader made a hand gesture to move to some location behind my limo. They all left except for one who stayed behind. The rebel crouched by the concrete barrier and reloaded his gun with a fresh magazine. As he pocketed his old magazine, I noticed he became more alert. He looked up over the barrier and examined his surroundings. Then the silence of the area was broken. Gunfire between Advent forces and the terrorists started up again. I couldn't see much from my angle. There were light poles and large bush plants at the edges of the road, and the concrete barriers. And the dust cloud that covered the area wasn't helping. Suddenly, the terrorist's behavior changed. He stood up and pointed his rifle at something beyond the limo that was behind his cover. He backed away slowly, parallel to the concrete barrier, and fired a few shots from his rifle from the hip. A moment later I saw what he was shooting at. A large, intimidating figure loomed in the dust and slithered into my view. It looked like a 15 foot long yellow and orange armored cobra wielding a green plasma rifle. It's armor was made of metal and colored black and gold. It didn't cover much besides the chest and the top of its head.
I looked closer at it. That's one of those viper units I've heard about. Advent must be taking this attack seriously if they're deploying heavier troops. Good for me, but bad for these ill-prepared terrorists.
The rebel fired his whole clip at this viper as he continued backing away. He was only like 20 ft away from it, but he missed every shot, and when he went to reload, the viper was on him in an instant. It coiled around him from toe to head. The rebel dropped his gun in shock. Not that it would have done him much good with an empty clip. I had never seen one of these Vipers up close. Sure, I had seen them around, but I'd never examined them, or thought twice about their presence when I passed by them. It was around this point, now that I got a side view of it, that I realized something weird. It was not an it, but potentially a she. Her breastplate had two extensions on it that seemed to be making space for, well, tits. The armor extensions were pronounced, but not humongous, average size for a human, maybe. But, I should not be thinking about that. I was just happy this rebel would be dead soon. Then I could leave this fucking makeshift tomb I was in and go home.
The viper dropped her gun too. I raised an eyebrow at that. Why would she disarm herself? She looked at the rebel intensely with her crimson reptilian eyes, that contained a hunger I hadn't seen from any Advent personnel before. The rebel looked defiantly at her and somehow pulled a grenade from his belt. As he reached for the pin, the viper grabbed both of his hands with hers, holding his hand, and the grenade with one hand. She hissed and her hood flared out. The rebel flinched, probably as intimidated by this display as I was, and released the grenade, which the viper let drop onto the ground. He looked at the viper. I couldn't see much of his face, but he looked scared shitless as his grenade shaped last hope fell to the ground.
The viper's hood retracted a little, and she seemed to calm down. She squinted her eyes and took her time looking around the area. Whatever she saw, or didn't see, seemed to satisfy her, and she returned her attention to the rebel. That was also strange. This thing seemed intelligent, so what was it looking for? Other rebels, I guessed.
The two just stared at each other for a few moments. Her pupils dilated as she looked him up and down like a piece of meat. Her tongue was flicking in and out slowly, and it reached out far enough to brush against the rebel's balaclava a few times. The viper glanced around the area again, before reaching out and ripping the balaclava off of the rebel's face. Once she dropped it on the ground, I saw a manic look in her eyes that scared me; she was too excited about what she was about to do. Her pink tongue slithered out of her mouth and down to the rebel's head. It moved forward and pressed against the rebel's cheek, flattening out as it touched him. She traced lines around the exposed parts of the rebel's neck and face using her tongue, leaving behind trails of saliva that glistened in the light. She seemed to be taking her time, and savoring... well, something. I was certain this was not standard Advent procedure, and I started to think it wasn't other terrorists she was looking around for. She tightened her coils around the rebel and felt up his body with her hands. I felt dirty watching this; I wanted to turn away. To just go back to my spot and pretend there wasn't a 15 ft long snake lady molesting some unfortunate terrorist outside my limo, - but I just couldn't. It was like watching a car accident take place. I couldn't turn away, I had to know what was going to happen.
The rebel looked just as confused as I was, and he didn't get any less confused when the viper pulled her tongue back into her mouth, and adjusted her grip on him. At first I wasn't sure what was happening, I still couldn't see much from my window view on the ground. She lifted the rebel up higher until their hips were level and then started rhythmically rubbing against him. A minor explosion went off, and she froze, breaking eye contact with the rebel to scan her surroundings yet again.
The rebel, now realizing what was happening, shook himself out of his trance, and he yelled. "What the fuck are you doing? Get off me, you disgusting freak!"
The viper looked back at the rebel, and lowered her... eyebrows? These vipers appeared more expressive than I had initially thought. She looked angry and wrapped her tail tip around the rebel's mouth. She began grinding against him more viciously, her tongue flicking in and out erratically. The rebel tried to kick and squirm, which only seemed to excite her as she rubbed against him. She hissed as the tip of her tail gently slapped against the side of the rebel's head. This horrifying scene came to a crescendo as she tensed up and clenched the rebel close to her body, wrapping her arms around him and squishing his face up against her breastplate. The viper's whole body convulsed, and after a few moments, her movements slowed to a halt. She was breathing heavily as her tongue lolled out of her mouth, and her eyes had lost the intensity they once held. She released the rebel's mouth. He had stopped squirming and gasped for air. From the way he hung limply in her grasp, he seemed to have resigned himself to his fate.
The viper looked at the rebel, and her features softened a little. She moved her serpentine neck to put her head at eye level with his. The rebel tried to look away from her, but she grabbed his chin and gently pointed his face at hers. I don't know if vipers can smile, hell - I don't know if these things even have real lips, but this one's lips curled slightly upwards as if to mimic one. She moved her head forward, almost like she was going to kiss him or something.
Suddenly, an unnerving thought came to mind. "Oh god, what's she going to do now!"
Even in thinking that, I still couldn't turn away. When their lips were almost touching, her pupils contracted, and she opened her mouth wide to reveal her long sharp fangs dripping with some sort of green fluid. She shot her head forward and bit down hard on the rebel's neck. I turned away when his body started convulsing. My... morbid curiosity - had been satisfied, and my day ruined. I crawled back to my spot and sat down, unsure what to make of what I had just witnessed.
I just stared at my shoes for a while. "Screw getting a break. I'm probably gonna need a therapist after seeing that!" My eyes drifted over to the door. "I really hope she isn't going to be the one to save me from this limo and that the rebel is still there when I leave."
As luck would have it, I was pulled from the limo by an advent trooper some time later, and that viper was nowhere to be seen. As I stepped out, I saw that rebel's body laying face up with some green fluid dripping from his neck. I shuddered when I saw the wet spot on his pant leg near where that viper... I didn't want to think about that. At least this entire ordeal was over now, and I could be taken home.