Page 58 of She Who Devours the Stars (The Astral Mess #1)
I bit down, hard, on the inside of my cheek. I couldn’t let myself go again. Not this soon. The first ten times, I’d kept notes. By the twentieth, the notes had dissolved into wet stains and sketchy, broken math.
The projection cycled, flickering through every forbidden color, and I felt the familiar wave build in my gut. I pressed my hand there, desperate, but it didn’t help.
“Seventy-two… seventy-three…” I counted the cycle, the count itself a ward against total collapse.
When the release hit, it was full body. I moaned, helpless, echoing off the walls and the bare floor.
My pelvic muscles clenched around nothing, legs shaking, eyes rolling white.
I gripped the edge of the projection table, the ridges cutting into my palm, grounding me just enough to keep from screaming.
The crash after was almost worse. The resonance wouldn’t let go—it just wound down, then started again, every cycle tighter, sharper, closer to the edge.
“Why can’t I—” My own voice stuttered, turned to static. I dug my nails into my thigh, desperate to ride it out, but the next wave was already rising.
The data on the wall twisted, a new layer surfacing on the overlay.
It was Fern’s waveform, mapped in real time to my own responses.
The system was supposed to ignore the user, but somewhere along the line, the feedback loop had become personal.
Every spike of pleasure from me matched a spike from her.
Every time I gasped, the blue-white curve on the wall pulsed brighter.
I let myself go, this time. I dropped to my elbows, face on the cold tile, ass in the air, fingers clawing at the floor. The projection washed over my bare skin, and I felt like I was being devoured alive.
I thought of her—Fern—and my body broke again, shuddering so hard I thought I might actually vanish. My clit throbbed, and I leaked down my thighs, sweat and spit and snot all mixing together in a desperate, animal need.
The world blurred. The only thing real was the taste of air, the burn of my lungs, and the crash of feedback every time the cycle reset.
I saw her, in the data. I saw her everywhere.
The projection twisted, repeating her name, over and over.
I started to whimper, but it didn’t sound like me. It sounded like someone else—a ghost, a myth, a warning.
“Ninety-nine…” I whispered, voice breaking. “One more. Just… one more.”
I pushed up, swaying on my knees. My hands shook so bad I could barely adjust the projection, but I needed to see her. I needed to watch the waveform sync with my own.
The resonance hit. This time, the pleasure was so bright, so absolute, it burned away every other thought. I sobbed her name—loud, raw, shameful—and the wave shattered me.
Something in the air changed.
The lights flickered, just once. My fingers, braced on the table, slipped through the projection. For a second, I thought it was a hardware fault, but then the world got lighter. My body—sweaty, ruined, hungry—was losing its grip on the floor.
“Oh fuck,” I gasped. “It’s happening.”
I felt myself stretch, the edges of my skin dissolving into light. The projection folded around me, like the world was a page and I was just an annotation in the margin.
The next wave came, and I cried out, louder than ever. My cunt clenched, spasming around nothing, but the feedback didn’t stop. It just built, and built, until my whole body was a single, perfect scream.
I felt the room vanish around me.
My last thought was of Fern, the curve of her hand, the wild blue of her eyes, the way her pulse had found mine in the hallway and never let go.
I came, and the world went white.
Then, nothing.
The projection on the wall kept running, a ghost of blue light mapping the empty air.
Lab E17 was silent. The only evidence I’d ever existed was the scent of sweat and the stains on the tile.
And the echo of my moan, still lingering, long after I was gone.
Thread Modulation: HoloNet Axis Alignment: HoloNet
OP: OKAY, NOBODY PANIC, but has anyone seen Aenna Caith since last night?
She checked out E17 at 02:34 and logged a sysdiagnostic at 03:17, but no ping since.
She didn’t go home. Her roommate says she left her commlink on silent, and the trash is still full of her weird protein bars.
The last time this happened, the archives got quarantined for three days.
I am NOT cleaning up another feral mathematician.
RE: [ProphecyMeme] — 07:15 AM
Did you check the freezer? After the SGR event, my whole cohort lost time and one of us woke up inside the library’s industrial fridge. Not a joke. Also, the waveform from last night is still running in every glass surface on B floor. If she was close to it, she’s probably in the wall now.
RE: [CatastropheQueen] — 07:15 AM
lol are you really worried or are you just mad about the protein bar thing
RE: [Redacted] (Lab Tech) — 07:16 AM
She owes me 14 credits and all the blue ink is gone from the print shop, so YES, I am worried
RE: [LustforLogic] — 07:18 AM
She was seen in the corridor around 6am. Hair wild, no pants, carrying a stack of overlays taller than she is. Looked like she was going to eat the sun. Pretty sure she was following the new Nullarch signature.
RE: [CatastropheQueen] — 07:18 AM
That’s hot
RE: [ReverseMigraine] — 07:19 AM
Am I the only one who can’t concentrate since the mythquake?
I keep getting “phantom” resonance spikes in the middle of exams. Like, not even close to a normal headache.
Feels like someone is draining your soul out the top of your head.
Please help. Also, I saw the Vitrine coffeepot move on its own.
RE: [ProphecyMeme] — 07:19 AM
It’s called a “reverse migraine.” It’s a thing now.
RE: [CatastropheQueen] — 07:19 AM
You guys have migraines? I just keep— nm
RE: [LustforLogic] — 07:20 AM
Finish that thought
RE: [CatastropheQueen] — 07:20 AM
No. But I have questions about what counts as a “resonance event.” Asking for a friend.
RE: [NullarchSimpsUnite] — 07:21 AM
just want to point out that ever since the mythquake, the dorm showers are running full hot and there are no towels.
also, all the compads on our floor are stuck on the Convergence feed.
if this is a System prank, it’s the best one yet.
if not, please warn us before the next mythic disaster so we can wear less clothing. (again, asking for a friend.)
RE: [Redacted] (Lab Tech) — 07:22 AM
SOME OF US ARE TRYING TO TRACK DOWN OUR COWORKER HERE
RE: [ReverseMigraine] — 07:23 AM
Sorry, just wanted to know if anyone else was getting the “phantom” stuff. Also, all the fish in the vivarium are swimming in a circle. Is that a symptom?
RE: [ProphecyMeme] — 07:23 AM
It’s a sign
RE: [HoloNetMod] — 07:23 AM
This thread is approaching the vibrational limit. Please keep responses on topic.
RE: [LustforLogic] — 07:24 AM
On topic: Aenna is probably stuck in the recursion. No one told her the “echo” effect could become self-propagating. They never mention that in orientation.
RE: [CatastropheQueen] — 07:24 AM
If she’s in the recursion, can we send snacks? Or is this like the time someone tried to DM the mythic feedback loop and got trapped in their own inbox for two days?
RE: [NullarchSimpsUnite] — 07:25 AM
she’d love that tbh
RE: [Redacted] (Lab Tech) — 07:25 AM
REAL UPDATE: Her compad pinged B12 at 05:48. No one there except for a bunch of old mythprint, a single cup of espresso (??), and a sticky note that says “For Fern.” Has anyone checked the Tunnel yet? Maybe she was following the mythquake signature and got pulled under.
RE: [ReverseMigraine] — 07:27 AM
If that’s true, we should send a rescue party
RE: [CatastropheQueen] — 07:27 AM
I volunteer, but only if we go in pairs. For safety.
RE: [LustforLogic] — 07:27 AM
Smart. Also, for the record, the legend of “Fern’s Bra Incident” is already trending on HoloNet. Not sure if that helps, but it might explain why the compads are glitching on her signature.
RE: [ProphecyMeme] — 07:27 AM
What happened
RE: [NullarchSimpsUnite] — 07:28 AM
Apparently Fern Trivane did a mythic pull so hard during the event she collapsed the primary containment, overloaded three floors, and then lost her shirt. But like, in a spiritual way. Not sure if her actual bra is still missing, but the memes are already out there.
RE: [CatastropheQueen] — 07:29 AM
I love science
RE: [ReverseMigraine] — 07:29 AM
Is it weird that I keep hearing Aenna’s voice? Like, after the resonance spikes? It’s just a whisper, but it’s always math.
RE: [HoloNetMod] — 07:29 AM
Thread locked due to excessive vibrational content. If you have legitimate updates on Aenna Caith, use the emergency incident channel. Further posts will be deleted.
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Did anyone else hear her voice after the thread locked?
Or is that just my fillings humming again?
Curious.
Will update.