It had been a week since the ADD warship, the Pandora, had fallen to an insidious menace known as the Harvesters. Though, virtually unheard of and largely an unknown, the ADD was taking this as a serious threat, for few others had the capabilities to disable and hijack a warship as powerful as the Pandora, especially when most of its crew was still aboard. It had been under surveillance by ADD ships patrolling the perimeter around the conquered vessel thus far, but it was expected that the ADD would be working on retaking it.

Hence, the window of opportunity was growing increasingly smaller and smaller for a certain scientist. With far more than a passing interest in these Harvesters, a pirate crew had been hired to take the scientist into the area, evading ADD fighters and breaking through the defenses set up by them, only to escape by entering the warship via one of the few remaining open hangar bays. She had, since then, made her way deeper into the warship, largely transformed into a living Harvester vessel by now, with the crew of pirates at her heel. They had been unnerved by the sight of the Harvesters, but for some reason they could not fathom, the creatures did not seem to be interested in attacking them.

Or rather, they had not been ordered to do so yet. It was only when the group had entered the cargo bay, vastly different after a week, and filled with so much Harvester flesh that many of the females had to be moved to different rooms in order to accommodate the growth of the colony itself. By now, the colony was nothing less but a living behemoth, with far more eyes than any creature had a right to, along with being heavily red-tinted from generous uses of the one agent it had focused on capturing. Most of the Harvesters, as well, had become similarly colored as well, which only meant that whatever strength the colony had acquired from its favored prize, it had shared with the entire hive.

In any case, it was then that the pirates were attacked by the Harvesters, forcibly restrained and held down against the fleshy floor. The scientist, however, only smiled as she marveled at how the Harvesters had developed outside an controlled environment. She knew the ADD would be taking the ship back, one way or another, and that it was a danger to allow Harvesters free into the galaxy. So, she would come to retrieve samples as well as collect specimens to study later on. But her true purpose was to find one Lieutenant Minerva Rocha, the agent that had discovered a weakness she never expected to find, the Harvesters' one and sole Achilles' heel.

Dr. Steiner, thus, took control of the colony by implanting one of her engineered Harvesters into the monstrous behemoth's flesh, making it into just one of her pets. And with the colony under her command, so were the rest of the Harvesters aboard the Pandora. It was then that she had Minerva released from her living prison and gave the female time to recuperate from her inhuman ordeal. She had to be interrogated, after all. It was now that Dr. Steiner was seated upon the back of one of her Harvesters, a Thrasher in fact, as she waited for Minerva, who was still in the clutches of the tentacle-chair but only had her ankles and wrists restrained by tentacles, to wake up.

Minerva had no idea how much time had pasted, it could of been like a week, but it felt like months. Every time she was awake she dealt with wave after wave of mind crushing orgasms as the tentacle chair continued to do what it what it was designed to do, to harvester her juices. It was only when she was asleep or just before or after being asleep was she allowed any rest. Her chair provide all her nutritional and biological needs somehow, though she didn't know how exactly. It was only as she was drifting off to sleep or waking up that she could observe what the Harvesters were up to. She could see the other women being moved out of the cargo hold to elsewhere. She could see the Harvesters and the colony slowly turn red to matching her hair for some reason. Mostly she observed these things and made mental notes to keep herself sane, for if she didn't she just reduced to a mindless animal existing to only support the hive.

So when Minerva came to this time she expect alot of the same, maybe with some slight differences. However the first thing she was surprised was to feel was a blast of cool air, a sign that the tentacles that normally were wrapped over her body were for some reason gone, that was weird. Since the first time she since she sat down in this chair she never had this happen before, she wondered if the hive was prepping her to move somewhere to move. She struggled to move her arms and legs but found that they were still bound. She let out a soft moan as she tried to focus.

As she began to hear the sounds of pirates screaming to be let go, or just screaming in general. There voices even out threatened to drown the women who were remained in the cargo bay. She didn't understand what was happening as she clicks of a Thrasher moving about. Had pirates attacked the ship looking for slaves to take back, did they not realize how much trouble they had gotten themselves into. The young woman eyes began to open and the hive started to come into focus, she was not ready for what she expected.

The absolutely last thing she expected to see was a Thrasher in front of her with a woman riding it like it was some sort of horse. The woman was fully clothed where a dress with a labcoat, clothes being the last thing she expected to see on a woman here on the Pandora. She had long black hair and was wearing glasses of all things down here in the cargo bay and the Harvesters were leaving her alone. Uh, w-who are you? Why aren't the Harvesters attacking you?

Dr. Steiner could only smile as she heard the redhead moan, revealing that she was in fact waking up after sleeping for a while now. She knew the agent would still be hungry for more of the slime, not having taken any for a while, but she really did need her to be able to at least think and talk for herself.

All the same, she remained silent as Minerva tried to get her bearings, watching as she tested her restraints. It was a surprise to see that she hadn't lost her mind like all the other female victims of the Harvesters. But then again, maybe there was a reason why she had been apparently given a 'place of honour' among the Harvesters, a prison of her own, used only by the colony. She could certainly see how the Harvesters would be interested in that sort of mental strength. It even explained all the Harvesters having a red tint to their flesh.

A most curious development in the Harvesters, one she was more than interested in researching. Dr. Steiner smiled as the redhead asked her questions. A most amusing reversal of positions. Still, might as well be polite.

"My name is Dr. Katherine Steiner, and you would be... Lieutenant Minerva Rocha, yes? As for the Harvesters not attacking me... Well, I haven't given them any orders to do so. As you can see, they're well behaved now. Isn't that so, baby?" The scientist cooed as she patted the head of the Thrasher, which whined in response. "Incidentally, I saw this one floating in space. After the pirates pulled it in, it took some doing to warm it up to the point that it'd be active again. And, Miss Rocha? It was not pleased at all."

At that, the Thrasher growled threateningly enough, which brought a laugh out of the doctor. Patting the monstrous thing, Dr. Steiner then looked back at Minerva. "But I won't let it eat you. Now, any other question?"

The redhead woman nodded a bit. Y-yes, I am Lieutenant Minerva Rocha. This had to be the most surreal conversation she had ever had, to be talking to another person in ordinary conversation while being trapped in a nest like this. Then again it the first conversation she had in she didn't know how long. The agent watched as the woman patted the Thrasher on the head; she mentioned that she can had the creature in space. The redhead looked shocked that it was able to survive being space for so long but then again it still had the explosion scar.

It didn't give me much of a choice, it was either I space it or it ripped my head off. It I hadn't done that we would be able to have this conversation today! The creature growled at the captive female menacingly, but the scientest was able to calm it down, telling the lieutenant that she didn't have to worry. What a minute, how are you controlling them anyways. They should be pretty hard to control since they use scent as a way to communicate with each other. Do you have some sort of special perfume or chemical you are using?

The agent was really taking a guess but she only saw the creatures growl or make noise, it was with her interactions with the women on the ship. When ever the creatures operated among themselves, they didn't seem to make any noises. Though Minerva did detect a stronger odor when they did that.

Amused at the response she had received from the redhead, Dr. Steiner remained where she was on the Thrasher for the time being. "While I can't agree with your actions, I do suppose you have a point there... Well, in any case, you needn't worry about this bad boy taking revenge on you for that.

The doctor then looked around at the rest of the Harvesters, noting how they remained as docile as ever, before looking back at the pirates she had hired. They were still on the floor, now gagged and restrained by tentacles of the final stage of the Crawler strain, the Warriors.

"Something like that..." Dr. Steiner smiled at Minerva, thinking of how her pheromones, while similar to the Harvesters, were of a more pleasant fragrance. "I've been studying the Harvesters for a while now, actually. When you understand their physiology, understand how their chemical processes operate, then it's easy to establish dominance over the lesser strains."

It was then that she got up, patting the Thrasher as she did so, and watched as the monstrous creature began moving off, leaving the cargo room. "Patrol." The doctor smiled as she approached Minerva, a gesture with her hand resulting in the tentacle-chair releasing Minerva from the tentacles holding her down. "Now, I don't know how this ship managed to find a Harvester but... I suppose that doesn't really matter. This infestation needs to be contained. The Harvesters cannot be allowed to rampage out of control."

The scientist then brought her face close to Minerva, looking at her at eye level. "Would you tell me about what happened to you? From what I could understand from them, you seem to have been a rather difficult one to capture, which is rather impressive."

Well I didn't have alot of options with that thing charging down on me while one of the crawlers was in me. I had to get creative if I was going to live.

She felt a little disturbed that the Harvesters had just sat around them doing nothing but holding down the pirates. It disturbed Minerva at how quickly the pirates had been taken by the Harvesters, true they were not an ADD Assault Squad but they would they should have been able to put up some resistance. Lesser strains? There are versions more comples than the ones that are in this hive. The redhead shuddered at the though of such of creature. These guys are dangerous enough.

The agent watched as the sciented hopped off the Thrasher and patted once, with a single word the creature was sent out to 'patrol', no longer being a close threat to the redhead. The doctor seemed to smile as she waved her hand, with single jester the agent's hands and feet were released from the chair. The young woman was happy to finally get out of the chair. Yes, we must stop them. They can't leave this ship or else this entire sector space is doomed. We have to fight them off.

As Minerva was about to stand up, Dr. Steiner stepped in front of her and got into her face. The scientist asked what happened to her. How are you able communicate with them so easily? I was attacked by one of the little one pretty early in the attack, but I managed to continued to keep heading to my fighter. One of the larger creatures attacked but I luckily found a fire extinguisher and was able to fight it off with a couple of blasts of the fire extinguisher. The agent had now idea that at some level that the scientist was really one of the Harvesters.

"Dangerous is an understatement, Lieutenant." Dr. Steiner smiled as she kept on staring at the redhead, preventing her from getting up just yet. "The genetic material of approximately thirty-seven species were used in the creation of the Harvesters. What you must have seen so far, is simply the collaboration of at least two or three species' DNA being combined. These lesser strains are simply as simple as they can get, being based on an already pre-determined framework of chemical and molecular systems. The Crawler, as you put it, is simply the most basic form, a clean slate for them. Their mature forms is simply as far as they can get without branching off."

Even now, she had to marvel at the evolutionary potential of the Harvesters. It was virtually limitless, under the right conditions. And the Harvester that just left, the one you 'spaced', that was only its juvenile stage. The adult stage is roughly three times that size. Newborns come with none of the mandibles. Juveniles only have a single pair. Adults, well, they have three pairs. As you can see, the lesser strains are more than just dangerous. But you're right, if they did get out, the sector here would be virtually defenseless."

It was then that Dr. Steiner eased away, allowing the agent to get up now. She was not done speaking, however, not when there were some things to point out. Beside, she couldn't always contain the Harvesters forever, and it would have been beneficial to allow the ADD to know how to handle a hive if another one came up. "I doubt you know this but this ship is almost entirely covered in Harvester flesh. It's no longer a warship as we categorize them. If anything, it's a bioship now, a living vessel. The entire ship is essentially one very large Harvester, and that pillar behind you, it's the controlling intelligence behind that, the 'brain' and 'heart' of the ship. Once the transformation is completed, it'll begin developing some sort of propulsion system, either gaseous or plasma-based... Then, the bioship would be able to move. If it were given the freedom to go anywhere it wanted, it would be able to seed planets with Harvester spores, transform them into hive worlds."

Though, she had spoken a lot, she had said little on her ability to control the Harvesters. It was then that Dr. Steiner smiled at Minerva, a smile that promised nothing good at all. "As for how I can manipulate them? Simple... Once upon a time, I nearly lost my life in a laboratory explosion. But a Harvester saved me, by merging with my flesh. I suppose you could say that I'm a hybrid, a bridge between humans and Harvesters. The best of both worlds." The doctor then smirked, amused by the woman's reaction at this revelation. "And unfortunately, I'm here only to gather some specimen to test on, perhaps even crossbreed with other Harvester strains. And... Of course, to debrief you. I must absolutely know everything you know about the Harvesters. You were able to last against them for a long time, after all!"

Minerva was a bit frustrated that the scientist continued to standing over her, preventing the lieutenant from getting up. Still it was quite disturbing on how much she knew. Thirty-seven. Thirty-seven different species were used in the creation of the Harvesters? How would she know that!? There was clearly a lot more to the scientist than meets the eye. It was then that the first bombshell was dropped on the the poor agent's mind. These things were only the basic creatures, made up of only a few two or three species. She could believe what a thirty-seven species Harvester would look like.

Then the scientist moved on to discuss the Thrasher, it was a frighting to learn that the one she faced had not fully developed and it could have far more mandibles that one she faced. The scientist and the agent did agree on one thing, that the Harvesters can't be allowed to escape the ship and take over the sector. It was then that the black haired woman stepped back allowing the agent to finally stand out of the chair. Minerva stepped up out of the chair, wondering what would happen after her body had spent so long sitting in it. The young woman found her head spinning at first, having not used her sense of balance in a while. Surprisingly her hands and legs were fine, as if the slime and the tentacle stimulation had kept them in great shape and she found they were quite relaxed.

The scientist continued to mentioned that the Pandora had been turned into a bioship, literally a giant Harvester slowly preparing itself to send through the sector. All it had to do was to develop a propulsion system and it will be able to leave this area and whatever blockade the ADD had built up. Obviously, Lieutenant Rocha was going to have to go something before its too late. If they ship began to move the ADD would have no choice but to blow it up regardless who was on board.

It was then that Dr. Steiner dropped her next bombshell, Minerva's eyes went wide with shock. You are part Harvester? You are one of them, you are one of these creatures capable of doing all this? The agent tried to back up a little. Y-you are here to crossbreed, with them? The redhead who hair matched the color of the ship now didn't like this was going. Or how much she wanted to learn from her.

The scientist only smiled, bemused by the woman's questions as if she could not believe what she had heard. Though, what else could have explained it? Her apparent control over the Harvesters, the fact that she had not been attacked but her companions had been, along with how she seemed to know so much about them. Clearing her throat softly, Dr. Steiner made another gesture, a dismissing wave of her hand, and the tentacle chair that had plunged Minerva into her pleasure-hell slowly withdrew from sight, as if it was rejoining the rest of the alien flesh that covered everything.

Though, at the same time, tentacles began sliding around her feet, keeping her rooted in place quickly. Ignoring any remarks the agent might have had, the scientist merely looked around, taking another examining notice of the redden Harvesters, the byproducts of leeching nutrients from Minerva after her week-long ordeal. "Not part Harvester, Lieutenant. I am Harvester, just as much as I am human. The proper term is 'hybrid', please do endeavor to use it more often. I do so dislike it when things are improperly categorized. Although, I would say that I'm not quite like the Harvesters you've had the pleasure of encountering thus far. With my intelligence, I would think I'm far more dangerous. After all, the ones you've faced up to now, they were guided solely by their instincts. Harvesters with the ability to predict your next moves and plan accordingly, wouldn't you say that's much worse?"

Dr. Steiner grinned as another Harvester settled in behind her, a Warrior this time as the woman lowered herself onto the back of the alien creature, appearing quite relaxed herself. "As for crossbreeding... No, I'm not here to do that with them. Even if I am a Harvester, I'm still a woman, and a woman's best weapon is her looks, no? Frankly, I think I'm allowed a bit of vanity here. After all, I'm quite beautiful, wouldn't you say?" The scientist smiled, albeit a bit smugly. "No, I'm here to see what you've done to these Harvesters. The red tint is rather interesting, an unexpected side-effect from prolonged absorption, I suspect, but... All the same, if they've retained beneficial mutations from rutting with you, then it would be best to share those mutations with all other strains. Still, I'll give you a choice. You can either cooperate with me, in which case, I will allow you and all your fellow agents to go free... Or you can resist, in which case, I still get what I need from you and I keep you with me for the Harvesters to rut with for the rest of your life. The choice is yours."

Minerva looked on as the Dr. Steiner made another gesture with her hand. Slowly the tentacle chair that the poor agent had found herself trapped in for so long, began to withdraw from sight. It faded into wall of alien flesh, very soon the redhead couldn't even really tell where the chair existed. Or that it even existed at all. It was very disturbing to see something that had tormented the poor woman for so long simply faded away like just like that.

Minerva soon felt a tentacles wrap around her feet, the agent struggled to get her feet free of the tentacles but she was rooted to the floor. The agent continued to struggle to get her feet free as the doctor continued her monologue. It was then the doctor corrected the lieutenant, calling herself from a hybrid as much Harvester as she was human. She mentioned how dangerous she was as she was the intelligence now controlling the hive. Having something like a human in charge was far more dangerous than the instinct the creatures displayed.

The redhead could only watch helplessly as a Warrior allowed the doctor to rest on its back as she explained her true purpose. You want to know what I did to the Harvesters? They did stuff to me, not to I did stuff to them. Its not like they gave me much of a choice. It was then the poor agent was given a choice, the first was to save herself and her fellow agents, all she had to do was to cooperate. Well what ever what it was it wasn't good. The other option was to be a sex tool for the Harvesters for the rest of her life. Minerva didn't like the options she was given but she had to rescue the crew, Fine, what do I have to do to cooperate.

"As that may be the case, I don't really care. What happened was a cycle of feedback between you and your captors. Between prey and predator. Changes in the prey produce changes in the predator, which then produce further changes in the prey, and so on and on. In fact, this cycle can be applied to other forces, not just natural predators. The point being, the Harvesters that went after you, they ended up learning more than they normally would, accumulated more changes to their genetic material than they normally do." Dr. Steiner smiled at Minerva, still comfortably seated on the Warrior. As far as she was concerned, the agent had nothing better to do than listen to her.

Still, one did not prattle on. She did come with a purpose after all. "All the same, this is something that doesn't happen often, I'd like to have the opportunity to research this further. But unfortunately, I have no time for that and keeping an ADD Agent as a specimen would only bring the attention of your superiors upon me. Instead..." Dr. Steiner gestured at the Agent's feet, the tentacles allowing her free once more as the scientist peered around to the side, another Harvester scuttling into the great chamber, this one unlike any of the others she had seen so far. Though it was armored, it did not seem to be a type meant for conflicts, and as further evidence, it had an container strapped to its back, attached to the creature by numerous harnesses. Once the thing was next to the scientist, Dr. Steiner unsealed the container, reached in and pulled out a smaller Harvester.

It was quite similar to the basic stage of the Harvesters, the Crawler, and yet there were clear differences that set it apart from the Crawler. "This little bad boy, I like to call a 'Breeder'. You've had experiences with the Crawlers, I gather. This baby work somewhat the same as them, except they don't evolve into different forms. Instead, they take on the characteristics and genetic material of what they choose to attach themselves to. In essence, they become you on a genetic level." Dr. Steiner smiled as she held the slimy creature up, the thing squirming around as it was held up in open air. Then, with what could only be a smug smirk, the scientist continued. "Slide this into your vagina, Lieutenant, and let it harvest you. I have quite a few Breeders here I'd like to improve on, then I'll allow you all to go free. Guaranteed."

Minerva was forced to listen the doctor explain about how prey and predator evolve via their interaction with each other. It was something that the agent really wanted to stop listening too, but she had been trained as a journalist first and foremost. The red headed agent knew that anything she could learn from the doctor would be useful in attempting to defeat these things. Still it was disturbing to see the scientist sitting on top of a Warrior, like she own the place. Of course being a Harvester herself, she did actually have the entire colony under her complete control. It was very insect like on how the hive seemed to respond to its new queen bee.

Still the Doctor wanted seemed to want to study her specifically. With a single gesture, the tentacles wrapped around the agent's feet began to pull away leaving the young woman completely naked in front of the scientist. Minerva now had the opportunity to run, but with the entire ship being covered in the Harvester flesh wall there was nowhere to run to. It was then that the redhead heard the scuttling noise of another Harvester over the moans of the remaining women trapped in the room. She looked over and saw an armored Harvester scurying in the room, a container strapped to its back.

It moved over to Dr. Steiner who then removed the container and pulled out its contents. It was then that the scientist revealed a small Harvester in her hand, it looked like a crwaer. It squirmed as it was exposed to the open air of the chamber, no doubt it had already picked up on Minerva's scent. Still the young woman wanted no part of the creature that was going to harvester her. Y-you want me to put that inside me?

Smiling, the doctor was just about to speak when something stopped her. It was nothing obvious to the Agent, but it appeared as if she was listening to something, or perhaps someone. She was, in fact, detecting a wave of pheromones that washed over her, the colony 'speaking' to her. With only a smile on her lips and no forthcoming reaction to what she had just 'heard', the doctor merely stared back at Minerva.

"Well, it may interest you to know that there is someone else on board. Sentries were alerted to her presence and others are now mobilizing to capture her. I suspect one of your fellow Agents have come to try and rescue you and the crew. Very brave of her, but quite foolish. In the end, she'll be captured and brought here, then we can watch her get broken by the Harvesters just like the rest of the crew." Dr. Steiner spoke as she looked at the specimen she had been holding, and it was only when she had finished talking that she placed a loving kiss upon the Breeder, which then calmed down.

Only then did the scientist look up at Minerva again, "Now, where were we? Ah, yes... Though it's a simplified assessment of my request, that is precisely what I want you to do. You can either do it yourself, or I can force you down and put it in myself. Though, if you force me to do the work myself, I probably will end up having fun with you as well." Dr. Steiner smiled, but it was a smile that promised nothing good.

"Actually, you know what? That does rather sound more promising, so... I think I'll do it myself after all." The woman then stood up, staring at Minerva as she still held the creature in her grasp. "But, don't worry, I'll still let you and the crew go free afterward."

Minerva watched as the doctor was about to speak only for the black haired suddenly stopped and seemed to pay attention to something. The agent couldn't quite figure what was going on but she assumed it had to be pheromones. Unfortunately, her own sense of smell had been overwhelmed in the last week she could not even detect when new pheromones were released. If it even bothered the doctor, she gave no hint of it as she continued to smile.

It was then that the doctor that a single woman had boarded the ship. Minerva's mind began to think through the options that of who would even attempt such a task. Then it popped into her head exactly who would be brave enough, Nallia! Minerva quickly covered her mouth with her hands as she realized she had said too much. The doctor however was in the middle of calming down the Harvester in her hand simply by kissing it.

It was then that the doctor turned towards Minerva, she mentioned that Minerva was going to have to corporate or she would hold her down and force her to accept the Harvester. It was then that Doctor gave a mischievous grin as she realized that that she would have fun doing that with the attractive red head. Your going to do it yourself? The naked agent began to back up as she realized the doctor was standing up and heading over with the creature in her hand.

"My, you do ask a lot of questions, don't you, Lieutenant? Yes, I do plan on doing just precisely that, and I doubt you can stop me. Of course, if you were alone, then it would certainly be a good idea to resist and oppose me. But as seeing as there are, what, hundreds of lives on aboard that depend on you cooperating..." Leaving it at that, the woman approached Minerva, still smiling as she held the creature in her hand, now coiling up around her fingers and behaving itself.

"I doubt you would be as willing as to sign the death warrants of all these women. That is something your precious A.D.D would look down upon, I suspect. But as things are, I leave the choice to you. If you wish to resist, then so be it. I'm sure the lives of these women are well worth your dignity." Then, Dr. Steiner stopped moving, staying where she was. "And if you wish to protect them... Get on all four, now..."