He doesn't need to look far-- Isabel is always nearby

When the commander had been narrowing down the list of possible spy suspects in his head, what he imagined was someone from the corps. Most likely, someone from Missilis, looking to get a drop on their competitors even if it meant resorting to clandestine methods, but the other corporations could be plenty shady too, when they wanted. He'd been so distracted with the potential fallout of Missilis finding out about his app that he'd failed to think about the one person who was always watching him, who had a way of hiding her presence, even in this place, completely hostile to her.

The best way to speak to her was to simply go home, sit down at his couch, and cross his hands in his lap, then speak her name. "Isabel."

"Darling!"

The voice came from behind him. How had she gotten there? It was impossible to say and, in this case, it didn't matter. Isabel emerged from the dark corner of the room and moved to stand in front of him with an eye-catching swing of her hips. Her yellow-tipped, mechanical wings were retracted into a pack on her back, but she looked otherwise the same as ever, with long, purple-blue hair, combed off one side of her forehead, and a doting-yet-sinister smile on her face. Her orange eyes had a sort of shadow over them-- the kind that made it look like she'd caught him in the act, somehow. She was dressed as provocatively as ever, wearing a deep purple suit of armor with swimsuit coverage that did little to hide her womanly curves.

This Nikke was one of the mythical Pilgrims. Though not one of those from the Goddess Squad, the first Pilgrims who'd been trapped outside of the Ark, she cohabited the surface paradise, Eden, along with one of them. Most from Eden would never dare to be caught this close to the Ark, but Isabel routinely defied that isolation due to her obsession with the commander. Her obsession was something like love... but it had resulted in countless instances of stalking and one of **** in the past. In short, it went far beyond healthy limitations.

It was difficult to explain. The woman had been infatuated beyond reason from the moment she'd laid eyes upon him, almost as though she was under the effect of the app from the very beginning. Not that it made her actions easy to predict or control.

The commander couldn't help but be on edge around her, and thus, he found it hard to fish up the right words to appease her. If she knew what he was doing with other women, she'd be furious. The woman had a horrifying jealous streak, at times.

"You've been busy today, haven't you? But now you're finally home to rest," Isabel greeted him, leaning forward with her hands on the seat in front of him to show off her impressive breasts. A smile was fixed on her lips, but it did nothing to take the fear out of him. "You seem stressed. Would you like me to make dinner? How about a bath? Or...?"

"It's a little early for dinner, a bath, or that," the commander responded, trying harder to hide the anxiety in his voice. "I need to know what you know."

"I know that your most recent check-up at the clinic seems to have gone a bit differently than usual," she responded, watching the reaction on his face without blinking. "A thorough examination... behind closed doors," Isabel cooed. "And speaking of closed doors, I know that you took that dreadful gangster woman into the bathroom, then locked the door. I know that you rode around the surface with the woman who sells coffee at that place, too." Her eyes narrowed and her smiled widened. "I'm not concerned about those things, though."

"You aren't?" the commander asked, raising one eyebrow dubiously.

"I'm not," she reiterated, raising her body back up so that her shadow fell over the commander. "I'm actually pleased. You live like a monk sometimes, although that stoicism is part of what I love about you. It's healthy for you to embrace the feelings you have! Surrounded by such pretty girls all the time... you're just a bit horny, aren't you?" She bit the tip of her little finger, grinning around it. "I've been waiting for you to feel that way. Now I'm here for you. You don't need to spend a second with those other women any more. Lock your door... lie on your bed... I'll do everything for you."

The commander gulped, reminding himself that he hadn't spent a single gem on Isabel yet. This was just the way she was. She wasn't at all unattractive, far from it, but she was dangerous. Even if he didn't have an important mission right now, he'd be afraid to fully surrender to the way she wanted to treat him. In this specific case, however, doing so would mean abandoning the important mission he'd been given to investigate the app and contain the fallout.

He pulled up his phone and opened the app. He'd saved up a decent stockpile of gems after interacting with Sakura, having had to use very little to influence her and gotten a big payout for little cost. He needed something to get Isabel to change her behavior.

His eyes widened as the woman's clawed gauntlet came down over his phone and pushed it downward, away from his eyes. Her smiling face suddenly filled his vision. "Are you talking to other women right now? On Bla Bla?"

He shook his head furiously. Forget the app, for now. He wouldn't even have a chance to use it if he couldn't manually distract her for a while. He asked what brought her into the Ark.

"You, of course. Always you."

But did she have a mission?

Isabel took a few steps backward, releasing his phone, and placed one hand so that her chin rested upon the backs of her knuckles. Her expression became sly. "That's another thing I adore about you, darling. You're so cute when you try to act tough and mission-minded, like you're Johan," she giggled. "As it so happens, I do have something to tell you. I've been watching some of your messages... The things you're talking about with other women are always interesting to me. In this case, though, it's who you're talking to, not what you're saying. That woman... Lilith..."

Crap. She knew a lot more than she should already.

Isabel's face suddenly grew more serious. "Dorothy's mentioned her before. Something strange is going on here. Lilith is dead, sweetie. You can't possibly be communicating with her."

... Dead? The commander looked at the phone in his hands with a growing sense of unease. What sort of person was Lilith?

"To hear it told, she was one of the world's only true heroes. The strongest Nikke to ever live. A true fighter. A beautiful woman with white hair, a little like Johan's, but more chic. My, my... If she's so impressive, I'm lucky you never met the genuine article before, aren't I?" Isabelle continued with a subtle grin. "I don't need more competition."

White hair? The commander rubbed his chin thoughtfully. That didn't match what he knew of the woman. Perhaps this strange succubus was playing a trick on him? She'd seemed to adopt that name, Lilith, almost carelessly. Now he realized: it definitely wasn't her real name.

More importantly, for now, Isabel had given him some distance. This meant that he had a chance to quickly view his phone and find an option that would work to distract her.

Cost 3: Isabel will become obsessed with using other men as a way to make the commander jealous.

That would work. If she was focusing her attention there, she couldn't hang around him any more. He wasn't going to be able to accomplish a thing if she stalked him like usual. Without further hesitation, he swiped his thumb across the screen and accepted the new behavioral modifier.

Isabel's eyes flashed for a moment, but her expression didn't change. Her motivations probably hadn't either. "Whoever this fake Lilith is," she continued, watching the commander out of the side of her eye as she walked about the room. "You should quit speaking to her. It's obvious she's playing at something dangerous. Ah... I should report this to Eden, really."

The commander shook his head slowly.

"But there's so much to do here on the Ark. So much to see! It will probably be a while before I go back," she continued, wearing a cute smile. "If you're not in the mood to be lovey-dovey with me right now, maybe you will be when bed time rolls around? I'll check in on you later. Oh and keep an eye on that phone, will you? I'll be keeping in touch..."

Isabel walked behind him, seeming to vanish from the room. He was too scared to turn around and check. Suddenly, her arms reappeared from the darkness, wrapping around his neck as she whispered into his ear and pushed her breasts against the back of his head.

"Darling."

Then, she was gone. The room was silent, empty apart from the commander. He sighed deeply, exhaling all of the held-in air, and sank into his seat. He was drenched in a cold sweat. The guilt he felt about using the app was magnified in the presence of Isabel, who seemed most likely of anyone to punish him for his actions. He was as high strung as he could possibly be.

And that's why he almost shrieked when his phone buzzed. It was a new message. From Isabel? From the fake Lilith? No... neither of those two. Of all people, it was the Tetra-corp commander, the eccentric Mustang.

The commander is very popular today! <Good boy!>

Young men be energetic! I love it!

A little date with Sakura? It makes me smile, as Tetra CEO!

The commander winced. It was as hard as ever to get a read on Mustang, but he seemed well-informed. How much could he afford to say? While he was still pondering the answer, more messages arrived.

I know about that app you're testing for Andersen!

Don't worry! I was informed by the man himself! No spies, non!

Not this time anyway! Ho ho ho ho! C'est bien!

We CEOs have a task to carry out as well, oui?

There is a concern that this app could hurt our Nikkes!

No no! Je ne le peremettrai pas! This cannot stand!

So we are developing countermeasures.

And we need you to assist in testing them, mon ami!

As the communications went on, the commander got a better idea of what was to come. It sounded like Tetra-corp had taken the first step in developing a counter-measure for Lilith's app-- a barrier that was designed to affect Nikkes in a certain range and prevent outside tampering. They'd had most of this technology on standby and had simply buffered it to additional bandwidths. Mustang seemed to think it would prevent any kind of remote tampering and wanted to test that in a live scenario. The live scenario he had in mind was a bit drastic: a concert, involving several Tetra-corp Nikkes, where he would attend as an audience member.

The commander had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. There was little chance Tetra-corp already had what it took to repel this app's supernatural power. Still, this definitely fell in line with the testing mission he'd been assigned. He had not choice but to obey Mustang's summons.

As he was preparing to head out to the night's concert, he heard his phone buzz again. He picked it back up, prepared to get back in touch with Mustang, only, it wasn't him this time. It was Isabel.

One file attached.

Curious, but also filled partially with dread, the commander opened the attachment. A video played, showing Isabel's familiar smile, filling the screen.

"Hello, darling! I just wanted to let you know, I'm doing well. I'm sure you're worried sick, with me flitting about town instead of remaining by your side as usual. The Ark can be a dangerous place if you don't stick to the right areas, can't it? The Outer Rim, for instance."

The commander relaxed for just a moment. Apparently, she was still going to obsessively check in, even when occupied with other distractions. As the camera re-adjusted, however, he found himself leaning forward against his chair. She had indeed flown herself all the way to the Outer Rim-- and not a good part of it. It looked like she was in some seedy back alley, with two giant, half-cybernetic men on either side of her, the kind of cobbled-together look that showed they were junkies. What was worse: they each had their cocks out, long and hard. Isabel was still clothed, but they were clearly ready for action.

"I found a few nice gentlemen to show me around the area. The best part is they didn't ask me for a single credit! Isn't it nice that a girl like me can pay in... other ways? There's a currency all men understand. Well... most men." She paused and licked her tongue up the sharp curve of one of her gauntlet's fingers. "Some men just don't understand that exchange, no matter how many times I offer it to them. For those men... this might be an instructional video."

Isabel took a squatting position between the two men. Her armor was so immodest, especially on the lower body, that the camera showed almost everything as she placed her phone down at a low angle. With a coy smile on her face, she grabbed each stranger's rod and began stroking it with her armored hands. The commander wasn't sure if that would actually feel pleasant. According to the expressions on the face of each man and the way they started leaning into her touch, working their hips in time with her strokes, it must feel pretty good after all.

"I'm such a poor, unwanted girl," Isabel continued, putting on a pouty frown as her side-swept bangs fell a bit over her face. She whipped her hair aside so that it went back over her shoulder, then grinned. "All I can do is stroke these big, dirty cocks and dream that they're my darling's cute penis instead. Woe is me."

"Start sucking it, Nikke bitch!"

"That's no way to talk to a woman," Isabel chastised him, but her actions didn't match her words-- she obliged. The Nikke opened her mouth wide, then began to circle the head of the man's dick obscenely with her soft, pink tongue. "How am I supposed to pretend you're my darling when you have such a foul mouth? And such a stinky cock..." Despite her protests, she wrapped her lips more fully around the head of the man's member, then pushed her head down on it, taking the length of his shaft into her throat. With a soft purr, she began to bob her head up and down on it, fondling his balls while eagerly stroking the other man's dick using her unoccupied hand.

"Fuck! This bitch is pretty good!"

"Heh, who's this video for? Jackass doesn't know what he's missing!"

"There we go. That's what I wanted to hear," Isabel chuckled, speaking around a mouthful of dick. The guy's precum was leaking out of one corner of her mouth as she momentarily moved her hand from the other one's cock to flash a peace sign. "I'll be waiting on your call, darling! Until I get it... I'm just going to have to keep entertaining myself in other ways. The men here in the Outer Rim are so neglected. So backed up." She quit speaking, now devoting herself more fully to the task of sucking the huge, dangerous-looking stranger off.

The commander knew she was in no real danger-- Isabel was far more of a threat to those thugs than they were to her, whatever they might think. Still, it felt wrong to keep watching. As one man grabbed her hair to **** her down harder onto his cock, the commander closed the video. Had he gone too far? In his desire to get Isabel off of his case, he'd subjected her to something she'd never normally do-- something she'd probably protest strongly to.

Then again... was there anything she wouldn't do in the pursuit of her beloved? In reality, this sort of thing might not be so out of character for her. The only difference was that she'd been made to think it would work.

At any rate, he should really delete the video for her sake.

... Gulping quietly, the commander found his finger hovering over the delete button. The video was still paused with Isabel servicing two men's cocks, with one held in her mouth so that her lips extended slightly out over its length, her drool already covering the man's flesh to the base of his groin. Her eyes were still smiling as her mouth was occupied.

He hesitated. He closed the video and left it on his phone instead of deleting it.

He could think about it more later. For now, he had a concert to attend.