FIC: The Honeymoon Suite [Darker than Black, Amber x Hei]
Title: The Honeymoon Suite
Author: Omnicat
Spoilers & Desirable Foreknowledge: Tensai Okamura & co’s Darker than Black: the Black Contractor anime.
Warnings: Doll and Contractor breeding programs, serious consent issues.
Characters & Relationships: Amber x Hei & OC medical personnel
Summary: Once she recovered from the birth, she was introduced to her next donor. Time and time and time again. // 1120 words
Author’s Note: Enjoy!
The Honeymoon Suite
Once she recovered from the birth, she was introduced to her next donor.
"UB-001, meet BK-201. BK-201, UB-001." The doctor motioned to each of them in turn, barely making eye contact, and then buried himself in their medical dossiers. Meyer & Hilton’s interests were always transparent, but some of its employees made them clearer than others. "UB-001 has been with us for several years, so BK-201, she’ll show you the ropes. You won’t be seeing this guy as often as the others, UB; he’s new and his sperm is a hot commodity. Promising new variables, you know how it goes..."
That, and the excitement in the doctor’s voice, caught her attention, more than the new guy himself. He was so dead-eyed and unresponsive that she wasn’t sure if he was a Contractor or a Doll, or even a Moratorium. She hadn’t been matched with a Doll since the first time, and given the choice, she’d rather keep getting fellow Contractors. At least there was a chance of arranging some fun while they worked when her bedmate wasn’t catatonic.
When she asked, the doctor looked up at her and blinked owlishly. "What? Oh, a Contractor - we think."
UB raised an eyebrow.
The doctor laughed. "Don’t get me wrong: he’s not a Doll, we’re pretty sure about that. But there are some irregularities in how he became and now functions as a Contractor. Fascinating stuff! We have high hopes for this one."
She studied BK-201 from the corner of her eye. He sat with his shoulders hunched and his eyes unfocussed. If he was paying attention at all, he certainly wasn’t showing it. "Really? Good for you."
This was going to be a boring one.
"Anyway." The doctor clasped his hands. "He’s young and virile, has a great sperm count, so to start, he’ll be breeding once a day, with a break every Sunday. We’ve got four Contractor girls open right now, so that’s a good start to covering all the power variations -"
"What is his power?" she asked.
BK-201 clenched his fists, hard enough to drain the colour from his knuckles. But nothing else changed in his posture, expression, or breathing.
Hm.
"He generates electricity," the doctor said, happily oblivious. "Any amount of it, and a little static electricity never hurt anybody, so that’s promising. At this point we’re not yet confident enough in his control of his ability to incorporate full use of it in the fertilization process, but we’re confident he’ll get there. UB, you get the usual arrangement; you inactive, he on hold. Stay alert though; BK here is very new. BK-201, are you listening?"
Though barely audible, the answer was immediate. "Yes."
"Make absolutely sure you don’t accidentally unleash your power and harm your assigned carriers upon ejaculation. You will not like the consequences."
"Understood, sir," BK-201 said, still as a statue.
"Doctor," the doctor corrected.
"Doctor," BK-201 aped.
"See, it does speak," the doctor quipped, winking at UB. "Well, that about covers it. You’re free to go. Cameras will be on for the usual length of time."
She nodded and stood. BK-201 got up too. His eyes remained downcast.
"My room is this way," she said, and he fell into step behind her. "I go by UB. UB-001 is a mouthful, and I’m the only ‘UB’ around anyway. But I answer to Number One as well. What should I call you?"
"Number One. Because you were the first star in the sky?" he asked quietly.
She looked over her shoulder. He was still staring at the ground ahead of them. "Yes. My reputation proceeds me, I see. If that’s what you choose to call me, you can be Number Five. Make us a matched set."
"Five?"
"Fifth man. Fifth baby. Fifth futile attempt to make me pop out something interesting," she said without looking back. "We’re not supposed to know anything about the offspring once they take it away, but word has it that this program has never produced anything but perfectly normal human ba-"
"Hei," BK-201 interrupted. He sounded a little strangled.
"Hey what?"
"Hei," he repeated, putting a little more throaty rasp on the ‘h’. "My name."
"Oh. ‘Hei’ what?" she asked, smiling.
"Just Hei."
Of course. Real names were not forbidden, but definitely discouraged. It made things easier on the human doctors.
She slowed momentarily so they were walking next to each other. "Code name?"
A nod.
"What does it mean?"
"Black."
"Ah. You came from the Syndicate, then?"
Finally his head shot up. His eyes were sharp enough to cut - and, she realized suddenly, blue, not black like she’d thought. A deep, inky blue, like the old night sky.
Look at that, she thought; there’s life in him after all.
Maybe this wouldn’t be as boring as it had seemed at first glance.
"How did you -"
"They tried to recruit me once or twice. I said no. Camera," she warned as they rounded a corner, and every hint of an expression vanished from his face in an instant. Ha. Knew it.
This was definitely an interesting one.
Head once again bowed, Hei looked at her through a fall of black hair. "You said no to the Syndicate but not to Meyer & Hilton?"
UB shrugged. "I couldn’t stay with MI6 any longer. Out of the alternatives, Meyer & Hilton was the least of all evils. The odds of dying in childbirth in here - even if I do have to do it once a year every year - are negligible compared to anything waiting for me out there. This is my room."
She swiped her card and held the door open for Hei. He froze in the middle of the hallway. Not as before - like there was nobody home - but like it took a terrible amount of willpower not to lash out or run away. The human breeders got like that, sometimes, but UB had never seen it in a Contractor before.
"Are they sure you’re a Contractor and not a Moratorium?" she wondered aloud.
"I don’t know," he whispered, voice rough and tight. "I don’t know what I am."
She cocked her head, wondering at him - and at herself even more so. She’d thought she was past this kind of curiosity. "Have you taken your pill?"
He jerked his head in a nod. "Right before you entered the office."
"Then you’ll be fine. The Viagra will take care of the difficult part." She held out her hand. "Come. It’s not so bad."
He looked at her but didn’t move.
"And it’s better with good company," she added, smiling wryly.
They stared at each other until finally, steely-faced, he took her hand and stepped inside.
PSAN: ...to be continued?
On the one hand, while this is a good stopping point as any, it feels woefully incomplete to my hindbrain, and I want to continue. On the other hand, I currently have no idea what would come after, other than lots of angsty, consent-compromised sex. Which is its own reward, obviously, but I like to have some idea of how a story is going to end before I start writing it, and right now this one is giving me a great big blank.
Author: Omnicat
Spoilers & Desirable Foreknowledge: Tensai Okamura & co’s Darker than Black: the Black Contractor anime.
Warnings: Doll and Contractor breeding programs, serious consent issues.
Characters & Relationships: Amber x Hei & OC medical personnel
Summary: Once she recovered from the birth, she was introduced to her next donor. Time and time and time again. // 1120 words
Author’s Note: Enjoy!
The Honeymoon Suite
Once she recovered from the birth, she was introduced to her next donor.
"UB-001, meet BK-201. BK-201, UB-001." The doctor motioned to each of them in turn, barely making eye contact, and then buried himself in their medical dossiers. Meyer & Hilton’s interests were always transparent, but some of its employees made them clearer than others. "UB-001 has been with us for several years, so BK-201, she’ll show you the ropes. You won’t be seeing this guy as often as the others, UB; he’s new and his sperm is a hot commodity. Promising new variables, you know how it goes..."
That, and the excitement in the doctor’s voice, caught her attention, more than the new guy himself. He was so dead-eyed and unresponsive that she wasn’t sure if he was a Contractor or a Doll, or even a Moratorium. She hadn’t been matched with a Doll since the first time, and given the choice, she’d rather keep getting fellow Contractors. At least there was a chance of arranging some fun while they worked when her bedmate wasn’t catatonic.
When she asked, the doctor looked up at her and blinked owlishly. "What? Oh, a Contractor - we think."
UB raised an eyebrow.
The doctor laughed. "Don’t get me wrong: he’s not a Doll, we’re pretty sure about that. But there are some irregularities in how he became and now functions as a Contractor. Fascinating stuff! We have high hopes for this one."
She studied BK-201 from the corner of her eye. He sat with his shoulders hunched and his eyes unfocussed. If he was paying attention at all, he certainly wasn’t showing it. "Really? Good for you."
This was going to be a boring one.
"Anyway." The doctor clasped his hands. "He’s young and virile, has a great sperm count, so to start, he’ll be breeding once a day, with a break every Sunday. We’ve got four Contractor girls open right now, so that’s a good start to covering all the power variations -"
"What is his power?" she asked.
BK-201 clenched his fists, hard enough to drain the colour from his knuckles. But nothing else changed in his posture, expression, or breathing.
Hm.
"He generates electricity," the doctor said, happily oblivious. "Any amount of it, and a little static electricity never hurt anybody, so that’s promising. At this point we’re not yet confident enough in his control of his ability to incorporate full use of it in the fertilization process, but we’re confident he’ll get there. UB, you get the usual arrangement; you inactive, he on hold. Stay alert though; BK here is very new. BK-201, are you listening?"
Though barely audible, the answer was immediate. "Yes."
"Make absolutely sure you don’t accidentally unleash your power and harm your assigned carriers upon ejaculation. You will not like the consequences."
"Understood, sir," BK-201 said, still as a statue.
"Doctor," the doctor corrected.
"Doctor," BK-201 aped.
"See, it does speak," the doctor quipped, winking at UB. "Well, that about covers it. You’re free to go. Cameras will be on for the usual length of time."
She nodded and stood. BK-201 got up too. His eyes remained downcast.
"My room is this way," she said, and he fell into step behind her. "I go by UB. UB-001 is a mouthful, and I’m the only ‘UB’ around anyway. But I answer to Number One as well. What should I call you?"
"Number One. Because you were the first star in the sky?" he asked quietly.
She looked over her shoulder. He was still staring at the ground ahead of them. "Yes. My reputation proceeds me, I see. If that’s what you choose to call me, you can be Number Five. Make us a matched set."
"Five?"
"Fifth man. Fifth baby. Fifth futile attempt to make me pop out something interesting," she said without looking back. "We’re not supposed to know anything about the offspring once they take it away, but word has it that this program has never produced anything but perfectly normal human ba-"
"Hei," BK-201 interrupted. He sounded a little strangled.
"Hey what?"
"Hei," he repeated, putting a little more throaty rasp on the ‘h’. "My name."
"Oh. ‘Hei’ what?" she asked, smiling.
"Just Hei."
Of course. Real names were not forbidden, but definitely discouraged. It made things easier on the human doctors.
She slowed momentarily so they were walking next to each other. "Code name?"
A nod.
"What does it mean?"
"Black."
"Ah. You came from the Syndicate, then?"
Finally his head shot up. His eyes were sharp enough to cut - and, she realized suddenly, blue, not black like she’d thought. A deep, inky blue, like the old night sky.
Look at that, she thought; there’s life in him after all.
Maybe this wouldn’t be as boring as it had seemed at first glance.
"How did you -"
"They tried to recruit me once or twice. I said no. Camera," she warned as they rounded a corner, and every hint of an expression vanished from his face in an instant. Ha. Knew it.
This was definitely an interesting one.
Head once again bowed, Hei looked at her through a fall of black hair. "You said no to the Syndicate but not to Meyer & Hilton?"
UB shrugged. "I couldn’t stay with MI6 any longer. Out of the alternatives, Meyer & Hilton was the least of all evils. The odds of dying in childbirth in here - even if I do have to do it once a year every year - are negligible compared to anything waiting for me out there. This is my room."
She swiped her card and held the door open for Hei. He froze in the middle of the hallway. Not as before - like there was nobody home - but like it took a terrible amount of willpower not to lash out or run away. The human breeders got like that, sometimes, but UB had never seen it in a Contractor before.
"Are they sure you’re a Contractor and not a Moratorium?" she wondered aloud.
"I don’t know," he whispered, voice rough and tight. "I don’t know what I am."
She cocked her head, wondering at him - and at herself even more so. She’d thought she was past this kind of curiosity. "Have you taken your pill?"
He jerked his head in a nod. "Right before you entered the office."
"Then you’ll be fine. The Viagra will take care of the difficult part." She held out her hand. "Come. It’s not so bad."
He looked at her but didn’t move.
"And it’s better with good company," she added, smiling wryly.
They stared at each other until finally, steely-faced, he took her hand and stepped inside.
PSAN: ...to be continued?
On the one hand, while this is a good stopping point as any, it feels woefully incomplete to my hindbrain, and I want to continue. On the other hand, I currently have no idea what would come after, other than lots of angsty, consent-compromised sex. Which is its own reward, obviously, but I like to have some idea of how a story is going to end before I start writing it, and right now this one is giving me a great big blank.