Asao was grateful for her most recent rape.

She was standing outside the Head Girls room in the best kimono she owned. The same on she has been pictured in when she had applied to this hell hole. There was a certain kind of symmetry there, but Asao dint want to think about it. She was not about to take the easy way out here, to allow herself to be distracted by idle thoughts. To retreat into the comfort of whimsy and quiet contemplation about anything other than what she was here for.

She kept her mind, and it considerable IQ, on the here and now. On the way her rapid heartbeat was singing in her ears, the way she was about a second away from hyperventilating. On the way her empty stomach churned and rebelled. Her last rape had been at lunch, so she had missed on the meal. She was glad. Had there been anything in her stomach more substantial than water, she would have thrown up by now.

Asao raised on hand to knock om the door , and saw that it was shaking violently. She lowered it and took a couple of deep breaths. She raised them again to her hair this time, and touched it, making sure the raised bun she had placed it in was still in place, demure and professional, by the pair of lacquered chopsticks. She straightened her glasses, smoothed her hands on her kimono, readjusted her feet in her geta's Then, before her nerves could take her, she knocked firmly on the door.

This was it. No turning back now. It was entirely possible, once she said what she had come here to say, that she was signing her own death warrant. But she had to try.

She owed Linnis that much.

I was sitting on my bed, staring at the picture on my nightstand. Sondra, in her cat ears and tail, sitting on a stone bench in the courtyard with me behind her, my arms around her, and myself wearing fox ears and a tail. We were cute and quirky. And innocent. I opened the drawer of the nightstand with a few other mementos and placed the picture inside, closing the drawer with my heart. Innocence was a long time ago. That picture was before we were married, that picture was a different version of myself. A better version of myself.

I probably would have cried and done things to myself to pass the afternoon but I heard a knock, and called out "One second," to buy time to collect myself. I took some deep breaths and slowly rose to my feet. I was dressed in a tight and revealing blue spaghetti-strap top and tight black pants, trading in the normal nudity or hyper-revealing skirt for something a little more somber given my line of contemplation. I tossed on a black mid-length jacket over myself in case I was needed for something professional and, as a true devotee to a cause, I walked, despite falling apart, to my door, opening it slowly, "Lin Van Ryan, can I be of assistance?"

Asao opened her mouth to speak, as soon as the door opened a smidge. A watery croak was all she managed once she was actaully looking Linnis in the face. She had seen pictures, of course, in the course of her work at Project Novae Eve. Of Linnis and countless other prisoners at this hellhole, but sh never really paid attention to them. Their tastes, their sexual tolerance and abilities, that was what she had focused on. Information that helped shaped the project, pushed it forward.

So she was rather taken by surprise just how absolutely beautiful the woman before her was.

Realizing she was standing their with her mouth agape like a 13 year old boy who had just seen his fist pair of breasts, Asao flushed, closed her mouth and cleared her throat. She bowed once at the waist both apologizing for her rude staring and giving herself an extra second to pull it together.

"S-sorry to disturb you, Van Ryan-sama," Asao manged to finally get out, albeit in a shaking approximation of her own voice. She didn't often use Japanese honorifics when speaking in English, but this was a special occasion. "I don't believe we met. I'm Asao Yumi. And I have... have something I need to discuss with you," she glanced up and down the hall. "Privately, if you don't mind, Mrs. Van Ryan."

She stressed the English honorific this time, hoping the Head Girl would get the message. That this was as much about the woman who's name she now shared as it was about her.

I blinked. It seemed the little voice at the back of my mind that whispered 'Sondra's dead' was seeing justification in the form of this little one in front of me, "Come now," I motioned to allow her entrance. I held out hope, but the stressed 'Mrs.' was all that paranoid fear needed. I had suspected for almost a year that Sondra was dead or sold, but there was always hope in my heart. I made her a promise I would always come back, I hadn't prepared for the idea that she wouldn't.

Asao almost tripped in her eagerness to get out of the hallway, and at the firmness of Linnis' single sentence. She slid past Linnis into the room proper, walking to the middle of it before gathering herself with a deep breath and tuning to face the Head Girl.

"Before I begin" Asao said unable to look Linnis in the eye, focusing instead on her chest, before realizing that was even worse and settled on a point on her neck. "I have to tell to tell you: I may be new here, but I know. I know what this school is all about, I know what waits in the shadows for each of us, I know what our final fates are to be. And I -- I know of you agreement."

Another deep breath and Asoa's eyes fell to the floor. "I know these things... because I was part of the conspiracy back home. My part was small, but still a cog in the machine that brought you here. You and Sondra both."

Here Asao closed her eyes and tensed. Ready for the blow she suspected would come. Or the screaming and cursing she deserved. "I am Dr. Asao Yumi," she went on. "Head of Project Novae Eve. And I have placed my life in your hands by reveling this, Van Ryan-sama. I am telling you this now so you do not doubt my sincerity when I come to my point."

Asao paused to allow Linnis to take this in.

I was not enraged, as one might have expected. I placed my hands behind me, leaning lightly against my door and watching her, taking in the situation. I didn't think I had the right to be angry, though, "I'm a part of this machine now too, I would be a hypocrite if I harmed you," I said hoping it would relax her. I had done some awful things since getting this position, so I knew that my hands were as dirty, if not dirtier, than hers. The crimes of the heart... "Tell me... is my wife dead? Or sold? Or whatever they do to the people who don't come back from the dark?"

Asao opened one eye and looked up at Linnis. The second eye opened once the frist gave a satisfactory report indicating that she was not going to be struck.

She pushed her glasses back up her nose. It had slid when she had her head down. "The last time I was privy to such reports," she began, "officially or otherwise, Sondra was not listed as dead or sold. But that was just before my arrival here in October. I cant speak of what may have happened between then and now."

Her eyes widened slightly as something fell in place for her. "Oh!" she gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. "You thought I was here to tell you --" she lowered her hand backhand shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to alarm you. That's is literately the last thing I wanted."

Asao gathered herself one more time, and finally made eye contact with Linnis. "I'll get to the point, Van Ryan-sama. Project Novae Eve was a United Nation joint project with one purpose: To eliminate the need for places like this 'school'. We were to create the ultimate in artificial life, a blend of biological, technological, and magical components to be used a living breathing, thinking, slaving sex toy."

Something not unlike pride creeped into Asao's eyes. "Think about it for a moment. An army of artificial human woman, indistinguishable from the real thing in all the ways that the demon and extraterrestrials care about. No families to tear apart. No innocence to rob. No rape. No slavers. No breeding pits. No need for Shokushu."

The pride died as quickly as it formed. "But I made a mistake. Something went wrong with the prototype. Very, very wrong. I'm the only member of the team that survived the malfunction, and even that was because I wasn't there. The project was scrapped. The prototype escaped, and even now prowls this very island. Shokushu will go on. And its all my fault."

Asao Lowered her head again. "Because I failed, I'm responsible for every horrible thing that happened to every woman here since, doubly so if experienced at the hands of my prototype. My little Eve."

She looked up. "Which brings me to you, Van Ryan-sama."

I didn't think I had been victimized by her prototype, and to be honest, I was more relieved than anything at the moment. As of two months ago, Sondra was still safe. I smiled at that as she spoke, telling me the story of her efforts, and I reassured her, "You did your best. The real monsters are the people who put you and I in this situation. The people who make what I do necessary, and who made your efforts so important. We're all their victims, slaves to circumstance." But it brought her to me? What could I do? Other than give her the absolution I could tell she sought, "I'm at your disposal, miss."

The ease at which the whole thing was going actually made Asao fell worse. Linnis was so... resigned to her fate. It was like she had given up. Asao remembered the reports about her and Sondra. They were like sexual forced of nature, hence the Projects interest in them. Most of Eve's more sexually aggressive personality subroutines were based largely on them!

"A lot of students find love here," she began carefully. "Or as close to it as one can find in this place. But nobody ever became as close as you and Sondra. Sure some other girls got 'married' but you two... you were something altogether special. Back at the lab... the more optimistic among us would point to you two and say "See? That is the triumph of the human spirit, or the power of love."

Asao took a step closer to Linnis, suddenly animated and talking with her hands now. "I could have saved her, Linnis!" she blurted out. "If I had been more careful, had caught the malfunction, had fixed it, had stayed on the project timetable, the Eve series could have been mass produced and sold -hell- given away long before they took her from you, made you sign on for this horrible deal of theirs! You both could be home! Together! Right now! But you're not, and its my fault."


Asao didn't remember approaching Linnis during her little outburst, but she must have done so, as she was standing more or less within arms reach of the other woman now. With a long steadying breath, Asao lowered herself to her knees, then lower still until she was seated on the floor with her legs tucked under her. She then lowered her forehead to the ground, very consciously aware how close this but her head to Linnis feet, and hoped that the head girl didn't decide to kick her. Though she would certainly deserve it.

"I'm so sorry, Van-Ryan-sama," she said from her place on the floor. "I'd do anything to try to make up for what my shortcoming has taken from you. I'm here to make amends."

I frowned a little and crouched down. Had this not been about Sondra, the promise of anything certainly would have triggered that 'aggressiveness subroutine', but heartache trumps lust every time. Still, I couldn't hold myself to hate her, in fact, I kind of admired her. So honest, and coming to me to absolve herself. I wasn't that human anymore. I asked no absolution of the people I hurt. "I am even The natural fool of fortune," a quote from King Lear expressed what I was feeling, "We're slaves to circumstance, Asao. It plays us and makes us powerless against it. You're no more to blame for this nightmare than I am, and you might even be better, because you tried to stop it. When they took her, a year and a half ago, they took my will to fight back. We are fortune's fools, you and I," I reached out, gently stroked her hair, and smiled a warm smile, "If you look for forgiveness, I never could blame you. The true monsters here are the Headmasters. Not even the rapists of this island are the monsters. The Headmasters are the real evil."

Asao nodded, the dared to look up at Linnis. "You're too kind, Van Ryan-sama, to not place nay blame on me. But I still feel responsible. There has to be something I can do for you, even if you don't hold me responsible. I still cant forgive myself, and I don't think I will until I find something I can do to make you're life here just a little more... if not better, than just tolerable."

Asao rose to a full seated position on the floor her legs still folded under her. "Maybe I could help you shoulder this burden they've placed on you. The deal you struck. You cant tell anyone about it, but I already know, so you could talk to me if when it gets to be too much. I cant help, but I can listen. Maybe...maybe next time you can give me to them instead of some poor girl fresh off the plane. I'm going to raped sooner or later anyway, and at least this way you're not betraying anyone's trust; I already know how this works. Or maybe I could --"

Asao fell suddenly silent. Her last idea, offering herself to Linnis, seemed terribly tasteless now, and she was grateful she manged to stop herself before saying it.

"Both those offers I'll keep in mind," I said, but shook my head lightly. Someone to talk to was a great thing to have, but offering herself to the beasts? It didn't seem quite right to me to take her up on that, "Companionship. That's what I need, Asao. I have a lot of people who think highly of me, but since I lost her, I haven't been good at the whole companionship thing. And I know the odds of the school keeping it's part of the bargain are painfully low, so... here we are." I was rather calm about the whole ordeal, though I was now voicing my fears for the first time, "The widow and the girl who blames herself."