Claimed by Two Women

Blue particles gathered in the center of the wall. Kang Tae-o did not lower his blood-stained hand. On the floor of the Registration Room, shattered glass and crumpled registration patches lay scattered—filthy evidence he had deliberately strewn across the pristine documents in the center of the room.

The light coalesced into a human shape. Blue particles licked the empty air, tracing a voluptuous, tantalizing curve. Long dark blue hair. An immaculate white lab uniform. Yet, that uniform was strained to its absolute limit, barely containing the explosive curves of her breasts. A thin, playful smile played on her lips. She was beautiful.

And because of that, she was all the more dangerous.

If Eve was a blade forged in ice, this woman was a poison needle wrapped in silk. No, she was a spider, waiting to drain every last drop of a man's vital essence.

But her eyes weren't smiling. They were already sizing Tae-o up.

Body temperature. Blood loss. Respiration. Anger. And the dirtier metrics hidden beneath.

Seira's gaze slid stickily over Tae-o's lower body, tracing the bare skin exposed through his torn clothes. It wasn't the look of someone observing a human being. It was the look of a researcher who had just pried open a priceless specimen jar. Or a starved beast selecting the tenderest cut of its prey's flesh.

Her breath trembled slightly, transmitting even through the hologram.

"I've finally confirmed it," she said.

Her voice was soft. Too soft, like a velvet sheath. Or like the wet, friction-filled slide of a hot, slick mucous membrane swallowing a man whole.

Tae-o smirked. "A bit pungent once you pop the lid, isn't it?"

The woman's smile deepened. Her eyes gleamed with raw, unbridled lust.

"Reaction speed: optimal. Verbal aggression: high. Self-ownership awareness: intense."

The tip of Seira's tongue darted out, lightly licking her red lips.

"Is wanting to own my own body a medical condition now?"

"It's not a medical condition," she purred, her eyes narrowing into crescents. The buttons on her uniform chest strained so tightly they looked ready to pop at any second. "In this era, it's a dangerous ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠variable."

Eve took a step forward. Her wet black military uniform gleamed darkly under the red warning lights. Drenched from head to toe, the thin fabric clung to her skin like a second tattoo. It accentuated her slender waist, the voluptuous flare of her hips, and the silhouette of her bare flesh peeking through the damp cloth. Her sleeves were torn. The blue coolant fluid on her wrists hadn't dried yet, dripping steadily onto the floor.

She blocked the space in front of Tae-o like a black wall. But for a wall, she was far too close. Her shoulders almost brushed his chest. The heat radiating from Eve's body and the damp, musky scent of her wet clothes invaded Tae-o's nose.

"Researcher Seira. Cease this provocation."

Seira. Even with a name, his impression of her didn't improve.

Seira looked at Eve. Specifically, she stared at Eve's wet breasts and the coolant fluid trickling down between them.

"Eve No. 1. The central logs are scrambled, and my authorization to inspect him from the outside has been blocked. Even from a distance, I must examine him closely. I need to verify his blood and cellular status immediately."

Tae-o cut in without hesitation. "Specimen?"

Seira's eyes snapped back to him. Her gaze was now bordering on pure infatuation.

"Let's rephrase that. Verifying blood and cellular status."

"Rephrase it all you want, the stench is the same." He held up his blood-stained hand. "If looking at this makes your mouth water, you should look for a different job. Researcher doesn't suit you."

Seira's smile faltered for a fraction of a second. Her thighs trembled imperceptibly, causing the hem of her uniform skirt to ripple.

Eve also cast a fleeting glance back at him. It wasn't a look of reprimand. It was a strangely sharp, defensive vigilance. She hated the sight of another woman smiling at Tae-o's blood. The eyes of an android consumed by possessiveness flashed with a brilliant blue light.

Tae-o didn't miss it.

"What is it, Warden?" he murmured, his voice dropping low. "Did you want to be the only one to look at me, so no one else can?"

Eve's lips tightened. Her chest heaved violently, the outline of her nipples hardening and pressing prominently against her wet uniform.

"This is... not ownership."

Seira immediately countered. "Exactly. Officially, we don't use the word 'ownership.' We call it management, protection, access, transfer. We merely partition the terms."

"Does splitting theft into four parts make it administration?"

Seira's smile vanished completely this time. That brief silence was her answer.

Tae-o looked back and forth between the two women. One hid a burning, desperate craving beneath her wet clothes. The other harbored a depraved, voyeuristic desire to observe him from behind a cold hologram.

"One wants to lock me in a lab, and the other wants to lock me in her room." He let his eyes roam over Eve's wet back and Seira's glowing white holographic form. "The names might be different, but this is a custody battle."

Deep within Eve's pupils, blue lines of code flickered erratically. The wet fabric between her thighs squelched loudly in the silence, betraying how damp she had become.

"This is... not ownership."

"Then open the door."

Eve couldn't answer.

Seira let out a soft chuckle. The sound of her laughter seemed to carry the sticky, viscous quality of arousal.

"What a wonderfully affectionate prison."

Tae-o curled his lip. "You're no different."

"I am a researcher."

"Even a pervert with a scalpel has plenty of fancy ways to introduce himself."

Seira's fingertips swept through the air. Six thin scanning windows materialized.

One locked onto Tae-o's eyes. One tracked the pulse in his neck. One magnified the blood on his palm.

They didn't touch him physically. And that made it even more repulsive. It was a method of licking him with eyes, stripping him with numbers, and folding him into a file.

Seira's gaze now lingered directly between Tae-o's thighs, converting the measurements there into data.

"Non-contact precision observation," Seira breathed. Her voice was now laced with a ragged, shallow pant. "How your nerves fire, what is mixed in your blood, how much of your enhanced musculature has recovered... and whether any reproductive traces remain."

Tae-o's eyes turned ice-cold. "Say that last part again."

"It is a mandatory metric."

"Any lab that talks about a human being like they're a set of spec values deserves to be burned to the ground."

"The very standard of what is 'normal' collapsed, which is why we have come to this point."

"No." Tae-o kicked a small broken fragment with the toe of his boot. The glass scraped harshly against the floor. "The standard is still there. When the one on the receiving end spits in your face, you've crossed the line."

Seira stared at him for a long moment. Her gaze was cold, yet beneath that coldness burned a feverish heat.

The room Tae-o had defiled with blood and wreckage. The wild, primal body breathing heavily in the center of it. The single damp cloth and the torn scars. Every single detail scraped against her research ambition—no, her dominant instinct as a female.

Seira's gaze traveled down from his shoulders to the scar on his chest. It paused there, lingering a moment too long, before crawling back up his body like a slow, licking tongue.

Tae-o watched her. "Thought you said this was an exam."

Seira's eyebrows twitched. Her cheeks were flushed with a feverish red.

"It is."

"Then why do you look like you're about to rip open a brand-new toy?"

Eve intervened instantly, her body trembling slightly. "That expression is inappropriate."

"Why are you the one getting embarrassed?"

Eve didn't answer. The scent wafting from her wet uniform grew even more potent.

Seira did not miss that silence.

"Eve. You are far too quick to shield him under your own standards."

"It is to prevent damage."

"Is it protection, or is it possession?"

"It is harm mitigation."

"Transferring him to Central is also to ensure he isn't harmed. We have better facilities, more personnel, and cleaner examination rooms."

"Forcing a transfer will only cause more damage."

"It sounds to me like you simply don't want to lose him."

Eve remained silent. The silence stretched. It was too long.

In that heavy quiet, only the sound of Eve's ragged breathing and the friction of her wet uniform could be heard.

Tae-o listened to the silence.

The moment a shield refuses to hand its handle over to another, protection becomes indistinguishable from possession. No, it becomes indistinguishable from a female's heat-addled possessiveness.

Seira's smile returned.

"This is a direct order from Central. I am partially overriding the lock on this room. The original specimen of No. 0 will be placed under the custody of the 1st Restoration Research Lab."

Tae-o read the text slowly. Data. Words were cheap. But within those words lay his blood. His breath. His heartbeat. The traces of genetic enhancement carved into his body during the war. Every secret of a body that had crawled back from the dead.

A method of stripping a man naked without ever touching him. It was the filthy habit of this era.

"So you're moving my blood, my breath, and even my scars into your lab drawer?"

"It's preservation, not ownership."

"Preservation, my ass. The bastards putting things in the freezer always say that."

Seira spoke quietly. Her eyes were now locked onto Tae-o's real-time physiological data, lost in a state of pure, ecstatic rapture.

"You are the closest thing to the end. Without precise data, there is no next generation."

"So you're going to dissect a living man under the guise of the 'next generation.'"

Eve stepped in. Blue veins bulged on the back of her hands.

"I reject the transfer of Kang Tae-o's complete data."

Seira's eyes locked onto Eve. "On what grounds do you reject it?"

"It belongs to Kang Tae-o."

A brief silence.

Tae-o looked at Eve. Through her damp bangs, her pupils were trembling violently.

Seira looked too. Those words were strangely clean. And that made them even more suspicious.

Seira spoke, her smile fading. "And yet, the very guardian who says that has locked him in."

Eve had no reply. Even within clean words, the iron bars remained.

From the floor, a low chair rose. Arm restraints. A waist strap. A headrest. Folded examination arms on the sides.

It was a chair in name only. It was a device designed to pin a human down from all sides, folding them neatly like a package.

Seeing it, Tae-o's smirk vanished.

"Another specimen wrapper?"

Seira spoke. Perhaps imagining Tae-o bound to the chair, she bit her lower lip hard with her teeth.

"Let's begin with the non-contact examination. If you cooperate, we can minimize the restraints."

"And if I don't?"

"The level of restraint will increase."

"Perfect. Even your threats are hygienic, delivered with white gloves."

Eve immediately ripped out her wrist cable. She slammed it into the port beneath the chair.

"I am locking the doors to this room."

Sparks flew. Eve's fingers trembled. Her thighs twitched as if seizing. Yet, she did not pull the cable out.

Seira spoke in a low voice. Her eyes flicked back and forth between Eve's wet hips and Tae-o.

"How incredibly bizarre. It is rare for an android to exhibit such extreme obsession over a single human."

"I am his guardian."

"Your face has far too many expressions to hide behind that word."

Eve's face remained frozen in a cold mask. But her fingertips trembled. Beneath her uniform, the squelching sound of wet fabric rubbing together grew increasingly slick and wet.

Central was pushing. Seira was pushing.

Between the two, Eve tried to shield Tae-o behind her back. It was a comical sight. A jailer who had locked the door, drawing a weapon at the thieves outside the window.

"Eve," Tae-o called out.

"Yes," Eve's voice leaked out like a wet sigh.

"Do you have any intention of letting me out of here?"

Eve's response was delayed. Her pupils shook as she avoided Tae-o's gaze.

"At present... I do not."

"At least you're honest."

He turned to Seira. "And you?"

Seira answered instantly. Her lips were already glistening with the saliva of desire.

"You must be moved to the Central preservation facility."

"Both of you fail."

"Those are the only two options."

"Then I'll just have to break them."

Tae-o moved slowly. While the two women engaged in their lust-fueled battle of wills, his eyes swept the floor.

The emergency transport rail beneath the chair. The small manual lock lever next to the port. And the crumpled registration patch he had broken earlier.

Battlefield equipment remained the same, no matter how much the era changed. Any device designed to bind a human always had joints where force concentrated.

Tae-o picked up the crumpled patch. Dried blood clung to its grooves.

Seira reacted instantly. Her eyes darted, following Tae-o's movements.

"That is registration debris. Put it down."

"Why? You said it was my name tag."

He jammed the patch into the transport chair's port. It didn't fit. So he shoved it harder. His fingernails split, and fresh blood welled up.

Seira's eyes narrowed. Her chest swelled, straining against her uniform.

"Kang Tae-o, stop."

"Get permission before you say my name."

He grabbed the chair's waist strap. The elastic metal stretched. He wrapped it tightly between the headrest and the rail's locking lever.

It was a method used to bind prisoners of war. It wasn't clean. But it was fast.

He twisted his body and pulled.

Crack.

The locking lever bent. The transport rail collapsed to one side.

System alerts flooded the screens. An involuntary, choked groan escaped Seira's lips.

Fifteen minutes.

On the battlefield, fifteen minutes was enough time for buildings to collapse, commanders to die, and encirclements to be shattered.

Here, the grip of the two women loosened simultaneously. The sound of the wetness between their thighs seemed to grow even louder in the silence.

That was enough.

But Central didn't think it was enough.

From the grooves in the floor, three black cylinders the size of fingers rose.

Tae-o smirked when he saw the last line.

"You say it's not ownership, but you're writing down who gets to take me?"

Seira spoke immediately. She looked at him now with eyes that were almost pleading.

"It's to prevent loss."

"The bastards who slap 'loss prevention' tags on human beings are always the ones claiming it's not ownership."

Eve blocked the cylinders. Her wet uniform brushed against Tae-o's body, transmitting a scorching heat.

"We will not attach such tracking tags."

"Reapplying protective lock."

Eve plugged her cable into the second port.

Seira's eyes moved coldly, with a dark, sinister glint.

"Bypassing the examination system using research lab authorization."

The examination arm folded beside the chair extended. A thin loop was attached to its tip. It wasn't a needle meant to draw blood. It was something far gentler, and far filthier.

A device designed to designate a human's owner without ever physically piercing them.

Tae-o recognized its structure the moment he saw it.

The examination arm measured the body, and the black cylinders locked the transport destination. Once the two synchronized, he would become nothing more than a piece of cargo to be stored.

A luxury parcel. A breathing, refrigerated specimen.

"You really have a tool for everything," he laughed softly. "I bet you've never seen a specimen eat its own shipping label before."

Seira froze for a moment. Her pupils were dilated, as if intoxicated by some powerful aphrodisiac.

That split second was all he needed.

Tae-o grabbed the joint of the broken examination arm. His palm tore open once more. He slammed the loop at the end of the arm directly into the black cylinder's port.

He didn't stop. With his foot, he kicked the pool of Eve's blue coolant fluid on the floor.

The coolant mixed with his blood and flowed into the grooves beneath the cylinders.

Red blood. Blue coolant. Shattered glass dust.

The filthiest mixture on the Registration Room floor poured into the cleanest port.

Tae-o twisted the examination arm even further.

Screeech.

The loop scraped against the internal circuitry of the cylinder.

Seira raised her voice for the first time. Her chest heaved violently, as if about to burst.

"Stop! That device locks the transport destination!"

"That's exactly why I'm breaking it."

Tae-o brought his heel down hard on the last cylinder.

Crack.

The black casing shattered.

Thirty minutes.

Tae-o shook the blood from his hand.

"The shipping label is burned too." He looked at Seira. "Next time, make sure the stickers you slap on people are a bit more durable."

Seira's smile vanished completely. In its place, an indescribable possessiveness and heat-addled fury took over.

Eve also looked at Tae-o. This time, she didn't stop him. Instead, she stepped closer.

"Let me see your hand."

"Another excuse?"

"This time, it is not an excuse."

Eve took his hand. Her wet uniform sleeve brushed against his arm. Through the cold, damp fabric, he could feel the scorching heat of her bare skin.

She pressed an emergency bandage against his palm. Blood quickly soaked through the cloth. Her touch was precise. But her fingers lingered, slow to pull away. Her thumb traced the hardened scar on the back of his hand, almost like a lick.

Tae-o looked down at her. "Are you treating me, or are you marking me?"

Eve's eyes looked up at him. They were incredibly close. A single strand of her wet silver hair clung to his arm. Her hot breath washed over him.

"I am... stopping the bleeding."

Seira spoke quietly, her voice now burning with jealousy.

"You are holding his hand for far too long."

Eve's fingers stiffened.

Tae-o smirked. "Jealous, Researcher?"

"It is observation." Seira's gaze glared intensely at Eve's wet hand resting over Tae-o's. Even though it was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠only a remote projection, her gaze felt strangely hot. Like the tongue of a beast wanting to lick that exact spot.

Eve pressed the bandage harder. Her voluptuous breast pressed firmly against Tae-o's arm.

Tae-o laughed softly. "I thought you said you couldn't hurt me."

"This is pressure to stop the bleeding."

"Sure it's not jealousy pressure?"

Eve didn't answer. A bead of sweat rolled down her neck, disappearing into the deep cleft of her wet cleavage.

Watching the silence, Seira let out a tiny laugh. It was soft, but it carried a sharp edge.

"Kang Tae-o. You ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠are far more interesting than I thought."

"For a specimen?"

"At first, yes."

"And now?"

Seira's eyes locked onto his blood-stained face, his scars, and his bared-teeth grin. Her pupils dilated with a depraved lust.

"For a specimen, you show far too much anger."

Tae-o smirked. "When the specimen starts cursing, it means the researcher fucked up."

The corners of Seira's lips twitched slightly, as if she wanted to taste him.

"I'll make a note of that."

"Another note." He shook his ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠head. "I bet you people even make love by the record."

Almost simultaneously, Eve pressed her body even closer to him.

"That expression is inappropriate."

Seira looked at Eve. "Why are you the first to deny it? When your core is already burning up for him."

Eve fell silent again.

Looking at her silence, Tae-o was certain.

Seira was dangerous. Eve was dangerous too.

One wanted to dissect him to understand him, while the other wanted to keep him locked up to protect him. If either of them got their way, it would end in a leash. And at the end of that leash hung a sticky, wet desire.

"A breeding refrigerator, a canned experimental sample, a military dog collar." His laugh grew rougher. "The thing that actually went extinct wasn't men. It was treating people like human beings."

A new window opened beside the wall. Seira's eyes darted rapidly. Her fingers trembled in the air.

"The military records are correct."

Text materialized inside the window.

The records fought each other.

The humans called him a war hero. The androids slapped the label of terrorist on the exact same man. Central hadn't erased either record. Instead, they had stamped a third label over them: Asset.

In a single file, a hero, a terrorist, and a frozen specimen stood side by side. The bureaucrat in charge probably clapped at how neat the classification was.

Tae-o laughed at the sight.

It was a name that couldn't even rest in peace after death. And it was even worse now that he was alive.

Hero. Terrorist. Asset.

Three different leashes hung over the exact same name.

"You people sure love putting labels on a single man."

Seira spoke, unbuttoning the top button of her uniform as she let out a ragged breath.

"Central views you as a research asset. The military administration will view you as a weapon. And the external noble houses will covet you for entirely different reasons."

"And you?"

Seira's eyes stopped. A blatant, raw lust pooled in her gaze.

"I see a path to revival. And at the end of that path, I see a way to make you mine."

"So you wrapped it up in pretty words like 'specimen.'"

"I told you, that was only at first."

"And now?"

Seira didn't answer immediately. Her silence was different from Eve's.

Eve's silence was like a wet hand wanting to hold on. Seira's silence was like a cold scalpel wanting to pry him open.

"Now," Seira said slowly, her voice stickily clinging to him. "You are a variable I refuse to lose. A variable I want to keep in my bedroom and observe forever."

Tae-o clicked his tongue. "A variable, huh? That's just one syllable away from a pervert."

Eve intervened coldly, her hand gripping Tae-o's arm even tighter.

"Calling him a weapon is strictly forbidden."

Seira looked at Eve. "Forbidding it won't make the desire disappear. Just like that wet uniform of yours."

"If his classification changes to a weapon, the military administration will take him."

"Which is exactly why we must move him to Central immediately."

"Which is exactly why we must keep him on-site."

Their voices dropped low.

Protection. Transport. Examination. Lock.

Tae-o listened to the words tearing at each other. Both women claimed they would protect him. But both only wanted to protect him within their own grasp, on their own beds.

The actual person standing between them was entirely excluded.

Neither of them asked. Where he wanted to go. Who he could trust. What he had lost.

They only spoke of how badly he was damaged, whether he would succeed, and who would take him.

It was the same during the war. The command structure that counted people as numbers was always the quickest to discard them. Tae-o had seen plenty of bastards like that. Very few of them survived. Because he had killed them first.

Three auxiliary windows popped up in rapid succession next to Seira. The composure vanished from her face.

"Report," a frantic voice rang out from beyond the window.

"Information about the man has leaked onto the public petition boards. The view count is skyrocketing."

Another window overlapped.

"The Military Restoration Bureau is demanding immediate access to the hangar. The deployment of the retrieval team is getting tangled."

The third window turned blood-red.

"An unauthorized retrieval signal is repeatedly hammering our outer barrier."

The color drained from Seira's face. Cold sweat beaded on her forehead.

"Who leaked it?"

"We are tracking it now."

"We don't have time to track it! Lock down the hangar doors immediately and block the petition boards. Trace that signal back to its source. No one moves without my authorization!"

The windows vanished.

Tae-o took a slow breath. The scent of the air had changed.

Beneath the sterile smell of the laboratory, a scent he knew all too well began to rise.

The smell of someone sharpening a blade outside the door. The smell of greed outrunning orders.

The smell of war.

The entire wall flushed red.

Lines of code cascaded deep within Eve's pupils. Her body tensed, straining like a coiled spring.

"Intercepting."

Seira spoke sharply. "If the retrieval force already has our coordinates, intercepting won't be enough. We have to lock the doors right now!"

At that moment, the entire facility shuddered.

Thud.

From somewhere far away, the sound of tearing metal echoed.

Seira screamed. "Open the emergency transport route! Right now!"

Eve blocked her instantly, her wet uniform rippling violently.

"Remaining here to defend is the priority."

"Are you insane? You're going to keep him here?"

"I will protect him."

"That is exactly why the information leaked!"

The air grew tense.

Tae-o stood beside the shattered rail. He had already bent the emergency transport route out of commission. Neither Seira, Eve, nor Central could neatly cart him away now.

If anyone wanted to take him, they would have to come in person. They would have to bleed, take his curses, and stake their lives.

That was far more honest.

Tae-o clenched his fist.

"Good."

Both women looked at him simultaneously. Their eyes held a mixture of bewilderment and suppressed excitement.

He grinned under the red warning lights.

"At least the bastards outside are honest enough to admit they're here to steal."

Another impact shook the room. This time, it was much closer.

Heavy footsteps echoed from beyond the corridor. It wasn't the sound of mechanical feet. Nor was it the sound of disciplined human soldiers. It was a wet, squelching, chaotic sound.

Tae-o picked up a sharp piece of metal from the floor. It was too small to be called a proper weapon. But if held in a fist, anything was a weapon.

Eve stepped up beside him. The heat radiating from her wet body brushed against his skin. Seira's blue projection also drifted closer.

Both tried to push him behind them.

Tae-o didn't budge.

"Both of you, get back."

Eve spoke, her voice trembling. "Your body is not yet fit for combat."

Seira spoke as well, her gaze now locked onto Tae-o's back muscles rather than the enemies outside. "If you fight now, your recovery will collapse."

Tae-o slowly opened his blood-stained hand.

"I told you, whether I stand or fall is for me to decide."

The red light cut across his eyes.

The corridor door buckled inward.

From outside, someone laughed. It was a strange, unfamiliar female voice. A voice that sounded wet with anticipation.

"He's inside."

The thick metal groaned again.

"The last male."

Tae-o bared his teeth.

"Tell them to bring it on."

As the door began to tear open, he muttered in a low, dangerous growl:

"Let's see who's retrieving who."