The Key and the Anchor

— This is all your fault! — Raiden’s voice, now high-pitched, ringing, even slightly cracked, cut into Leon’s ears more painfully than any laser blast. He felt the fingers of his former enemy — now, technically, a woman and a fellow victim — digging into the lapel of his crimson uniform. She (and just a short while ago — he) stood right in front of him, wrapped in the tight blue uniform of the rebels, her breasts clearly pushing out under the fabric, stirring a strange awkward feeling inside, somewhere between memory and reality.

— Are you saying I was the one who hit the emergency airlock and trapped us in the commander’s cabin and activated the protocol? — Leon cut him off dryly, not breaking eye contact.

— I was trying to blow up this fucking ship, and then you showed up and ruined everything! Like always! Why the hell do you always get in my way?! — Raiden went on coolly, but his voice cracked, pitching up as if mocking him. He was trying to sound confident, shouting upward, because now he had to look at Leon slightly from below — he was shorter. This whole body felt like it had been designed just to humiliate him — the new hips strained his old pants and threw off his balance, while the uniform, once tailored for a male figure, now dug painfully under a pair of rather substantial tits that made it hard to even breathe steadily.

— Shit… — Raiden snorted and quickly let go of the lapel. In doing so, he accidentally brushed against his own protruding boobs and froze, pupils widening. A sudden jolt shot down his spine, like someone had shocked the new nerve endings. He instantly recoiled, clenched his hands into fists, and held back a moan.

— Done with your tantrum? — Leon asked coldly, not moving an inch.

— This isn't a tantrum, goddammit! — Raiden squealed, then winced as he heard his own high-pitched yapping instead of a proper angry growl.

Leon blinked, just barely.

— Synchronization protocol with the "female neuromatrix model", — he recited almost automatically, like reading a briefing. — The program’s old, but effective. Only a female hormonal map could activate the controls. Apparently, you fit the... parameters.

— What fucking parameters?! — Raiden shrieked, lifting his hands and staring at the thin fingers. — Did you see what that thing turned me into?!

— Including you, only two pairs survived on board. Out of those, only you met the criteria for emotional… plasticity.

Raiden shut his eyes and froze.

— Translate. Without the snobby bullshit.

— You’re impulsive, emotional, and unstable. The system figured you were the perfect fit for the role of "key". And I’m the "anchor". Together, we’re the required pair to launch control of the ARK-Orion.

Silence fell.

— I’m impulsive?! — Raiden exploded, throwing up his arms, then instantly grimaced when the tight sleeves squeezed his forearms and his breasts jiggled under the uniform with a treacherously realistic weight. — You’d be screaming too if you suddenly had tits that make it hard to breathe and an ass that forces you to walk differently just to avoid falling flat on your face!

Leon calmly watched as the “pilot-key” paced the cabin with an aggression that was impossible to miss… especially because of how his — no, her — new body moved now.

— Considering how fast you’ve adapted to... gravitational changes, — he chuckled, not even trying to hide the irony, — I’d say the system wasn’t wrong.

— You want me to punch you in the face right now? — Raiden spun around sharply, and her tits swung under the uniform with such force that she had to take a step back just to stay upright. — Though fuck knows if I even can with these... — she glanced down at the unexpectedly heavy, tightly bouncing breasts. — Fucking bombs strapped to my chest.

Leon didn’t even blink.

— We’re running out of time. The system’s in standby mode, and if a stable link between the “key” and the “anchor” isn’t established within two hours — he emphasized the words with an icy tone — the ship will initiate a purge protocol. That means disintegration. Of us.

— Wait, wait… — Raiden raised her hands like she was pushing something away. — I… I need… fuck… just a minute to pull myself together. This is all… — she fell silent, swallowed hard, and looked away. — This is way too fast.

— You don’t have time to adjust. — Leon stepped closer. — You have to be ready for activation.

The word have to cut like a blade.

— Don’t talk to me like that! — Raiden snapped. — I don’t owe anyone a damn thing, especially not you! I...

Raiden hesitated, realizing she didn’t really have any options. She looked off to the side. Mumbled something under her breath about this being “the most humiliating moment of her life,” and without giving any signal that she needed five minutes, she walked out of the cabin.

...

The dull beat of hearts. The muted light of emergency mode. The bed that remained in the commander’s cabin creaked as Raiden took a deep breath — and immediately snorted, feeling her hard nipples dig into her forearms, crossed over her chest. Leon, blushing, sat next to her, covering his face with one hand as if trying to erase what had happened from memory, if not from reality.

— That wasn’t... — he started.

— Shut up. Just shut up. — her voice sounded different. Softer. Fragile. — I... don’t want to talk about it...

Leon only nodded, slowly lowering his hand from his face. The air in the cabin was thick, smelled of sweat, hot metal… and something else he didn’t want to name. Clearly, neither of them felt okay right now.

— The system... didn’t activate. — Leon finally forced out, trying to keep his voice steady.

— No shit, really? — she hissed through her teeth. — And here I was thinking that screaming orgasm hitting the fucking ceiling was the launch sequence.

— That was an impulsive release. An animal reaction. The system requires... — he looked at her. — A stable emotional link. Synchrony.

Raiden snapped her gaze up.

— A link?! — she shrieked, grabbing her tits and barely staying upright as her body jerked clumsily again. — You just fucked me like... like...

— You jumped me first — Leon reminded her calmly. — You said, “If we’re gonna die here, I don’t want to hold back.” What the hell was that?

— That... — she gritted her teeth. — That was a breakdown, alright?! I can’t take this anymore!

— You can’t just lie there and moan while I do the work? Why’d you have to take control? — Leon turned his head and narrowed his eyes slightly.

Raiden whipped around to him, her tits jolting under the blanket with that infuriating independence again, making her grit her teeth and clutch her arms tighter around herself. Her cheeks were bright red, her hair was a mess, and her lips... fuck, they were still slightly swollen.

— I... — She froze. — I didn’t mean to... God... — She dropped back onto the pillow, staring at the metal ceiling. — Did I seriously suck you off?

Leon didn’t answer right away. He just slowly turned his head, his gaze heavy, lacking the usual cold detachment. There was a strange mix in it: exhaustion, irritation... and something he’d rather not acknowledge.

— Well... not exactly. — He looked away. — You stopped halfway.

Raiden let out a choked groan, covered her face with her hands, and let out a low, nearly soundless wail:

— Oh God... oh God. I... I got on my knees in front of you, shoved that thing... — she couldn’t even finish the sentence. — I just... I didn’t even think. It just happened. Like it wasn’t me… Like my body already knew what it wanted. You were moaning, and I just clenched up inside, I... I could feel something flowing, pulsing — down there...

She fell silent abruptly and hugged the pillow tightly.

— And you didn’t do anything?! Didn’t stop me?!

— You looked... — Leon hesitated. — Like stopping you would’ve been the more dangerous move. Besides... — he tilted his head slightly, his voice softening, — for a second, it actually felt like something... real.

— Real?! — Raiden sat up sharply, her breasts jolting under the blanket, and she grabbed them again like she was trying to strap this body back onto her old self. — Real is when I lead a storming op on the Frontier, when I’ve got a plasma gun in my hands, when I’m burning down Imps — not... not soaking my panties just because you looked at me like I’m some chick at a bar on Starport!

Leon just sighed.

— Sadly, the system doesn’t respond to your heroism, Raiden. Only to your... sensuality.

— Fucking hell... — she covered her face with her hands and cursed so quietly that even the air in the cabin seemed embarrassed. — And after that... I climbed on top of you. You remember how? I pressed in close, and... — She shook her head. — It all just happened without thinking. I could feel you slide in. It was like a lightning strike up my spine. I started moving, bouncing on you like...

— Like you wanted the ship to crack in half. — Leon couldn’t hold back a sarcastic smirk. — Honestly, I thought you were gonna break me.

— Don’t play the fucking victim! — she flared. — You grabbed my waist so hard I still have your fingerprints! And when I started... grinding my hips — she spat the phrase with particular venom — you moaned like the fucking world was ending!

— Because you... — He stopped short, his voice dropping to something almost intimate. — You knew how to move. Without knowing. Like you were born in that body. It just... figured it out so fast. You did good.

Silence fell. Sudden. Pressing.

Raiden stared at him. And then, in a completely different tone, much softer:

— Do you really think so? That... I’m doing well?

Leon didn’t respond right away. But eventually, in a near whisper, he said:

— It suits you. Even when you’re mad. Especially then.

Raiden clenched her teeth. She stood, pulling the blanket around her shoulders, and took a step toward the panel. Her gait was awkward, her breasts still swaying far too visibly, her hips moving like they had their own agenda... and each step reminded her of what she was now.

She looked at the screen.

SYNCHRONIZATION: 12%.

Stabilization status: Unstable.

— We’re not there yet. — she muttered. — And fuck me, if I have to suck you off to the end or ride you again just to make the system work... I want a bonus. Or at least a proper bra. This thing — she tugged angrily at the edge of the uniform — is absolutely useless.

Leon nodded.

— Noted. Bra’s on the priority list. Right after we don’t explode.

Raiden hurled the pillow at him. The system registered:

Resonance: 16%.

Mutual adaptation threshold: Approaching.