An alien nestled at the base of Vincent’s spine.

He knew he should be creeped out or at least uncomfortable but in truth it felt, almost disappointingly, normal. Only a slight cold sensation, like the back of a spoon pressed against his lower back, gave an indication something was there at all. He wasn’t sure what he had expected. An expanded consciousness? A sixth sense? Super powers? If the Symbiote granted some special ability then accessing it was beyond him.

The doctors put him to sleep for the operation explaining that the Symbiote formed a connection during REM, though Vincent could not recall having any dreams. Now, he lay in the recovery room he had woken in the morning after his first encounter with Sadie. No one had made it clear how long they planned to keep him there.

Suddenly a new sensation flickered on in his mind, like a fluorescent light sputtering to life. It was a strange perception-- like a sound dimly heard, only there was no sound-- just a sensation that something was there. He could have pointed in its direction only… It was moving. The sensation zig-zagged towards him as though navigating a maze. It was drawing closer. Vincent felt a creeping sense of unease as it approached, more from not understanding why he could sense it than from any menace it gave off. It reached the hallway outside his room. Gripping the rail on the side of his bed Vincent tensed.

The door opened.

Sadie walked into the room and answered his discomfort with amusement. “Relax, little man. I won’t bite… Yet.” Her smile was equal parts mischievous and predatory.

“I could feel you,” Vincent blurted out.

“Your Symbiote is in phase one of maturation,” Sadie said as though that explained everything.

“What does that mean?”

“It means get your ass out of bed, we’ve got a long way to go today.” Sadie ordered.

Vincent sighed. His clothes were on the side of the room. “Do you mind?”

Sadie made a scoffing noise but turned away. Vincent rushed into his clothes and, when dressed, asked, “Where are we headed?”

“Follow me.” Sadie lead him through the compound to one of the access elevators. Vincent could feel her the entire way. Even If he lost sight of her he was certain he could have followed that sensation to her exact location. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Did it work both ways? That thought gave him pause. No wonder the G.I. had not been worried about him running off, the Symbiote was basically a tracking device.

The elevator arrived and they rode up to ground level in relative silence in spite of Vincent’s attempts to pry information from the tight-lipped Sadie. Above ground they were taxied a short distance to a nearby airfield. A small plane was there waiting for them. “Now,” Vincent said stopping on the tarmac. “You need to tell me where we’re going.”

“Nowhere.” Sadie replied without bothering to slow down.

Vincent opened his mouth to demand a real answer when a voice startled him from behind. “Sir, please board the aircraft.” He turned and saw the driver, in full military dress, looking at him solemnly.

“No one is going to tell me where we’re going?” Vincent asked, exasperated. Stone-faced the man gestured toward the plane. Scowling Vincent spun and stalked after Sadie, consoling himself with the sight of her extraordinary ass bouncing up the stairs to the cabin.The inside of the plane was dimly lit by scattered overhead lights. All of the windows were shuttered. A stewardess, also in military dress, pointed him to a seat next to Sadie who was wrestling with her armrest. “These fucking seats,” she complained. “They make them smaller every year.” Her hips compressed between the armrests so tightly that she couldn’t lift the one between them. Vincent sat down easily.

“Need some help?” Vincent asked and got a glare in response.

“Fine,” Sadie huffed. “Push it towards me and I’ll pull up.” Together they worked the armrest slowly upright. Sadie’s hip flooded into Vincent’s seat, the outer curve of her posterior resting warmly on his thigh. There were a couple inches of space on his other side, but the contact was sort of nice. “Much better,” Sadie sighed.

The seats faced the aisle and Vincent quickly lost interest with inspecting the cramped cabin. Fortunately, the plane started rolling towards take-off almost immediately. “Well, I’m strapped in and still have no idea where we’re going.” Vincent said pointedly.

“I told you,” Sadie said, “We’re going to Nowhere.”

“Fantastic,” Vincent said dryly. “How long does that take?”

“An hour or so,” Sadie shrugged. “Or longer.”

“Gee, don’t be too specific.”

“I think they take different routes so we can’t guess the location.” Sadie explained.

“Wait, you mean you really don’t know where we’re going?”

“No, I know.”

As the plane climbed into the sky Vincent had a realization. “You know where we’re going but you don’t know where we just left from.”

“Smarter than he looks, folks.” Sadie said with a smile that took the sting from her words.

It made sense. A secret base wouldn’t be much of a secret if everyone knew where it was. Still, it was surprising that someone who had been around as long as Sadie didn’t know where the underground base was located. “Why all the secrecy about where we’re headed then?”

“I told you, we’re headed-”

“Nowhere. Fine. Great. Whatever.” Vincent threw up his hands in defeat. Nothing to do but try to enjoy the flight. “How many times have you made this trip?” he asked after a long silence.

“This will be the third.”

One for each Operator. “And final,” he said, surprising himself. Sadie studied him with renewed interest and he slouched lower in his seat. The silence remained unbroken for a long while after that.

Yawning, Sadie stretched. Her green shirt strained over the full orbs of her chest, lines of puckered fabric pulling taut from the side of her bust to beneath her armpit. The swell of each breast was like the tip of twin warheads. Her overburdened bra traced clear lines in the thin fabric, outlining the soft curvature of the excess tit it failed to contain. “Every time I bulk up they get bigger,” Sadie said nonchalantly.

“Err, sorry,” Vincent mumbled awkwardly and looked away.

“My butt too,” Sadie continued, ignoring him. “No matter how much I lift it ends up bigger than when I started bulking. The others lift a little but mostly they do cardio routines. Probably imagine they can return to normal lives when this is over so they try to maintain their ‘girlish figures’.”

“You don’t think about going back to a normal life?” Vincent asked, genuinely curious. He certainly looked forward to returning to whatever was left of his when this was over.

“Do you think professional fighters lie around imagining about how great life will be when they leave the ring for the last time? Some do, I’m sure. But the good ones, the ones who make it… They stay focused on the next fight.”

Vincent nodded, thoughtful. “That is hard way to live.”

“The alternative is an easy way to die.” There was no answer to that. Fortunately, Sadie steered the conversation towards less turbulent waters. “In any case, I’m due for another round of bulking up. The food where we’re headed is nothing to write home about, but there is a lot of it. I should have ordered new clothes.”

“How long are we going to be there?”

“For as long as it takes you to complete stage two of maturation.”

“You mentioned something like that before, what does it mean?”

Sadie pursed her lips and said, “It means your Symbiote needs time to adjust to your body and you need time to adjust to your Symbiote.”

“How long does that take?” Vincent asked, becoming acutely aware of the cool sensation at the base of his spine.

“Depends on the person. More than two weeks. Less than six months. Typically.”

Vincent imagined spending six months with Sadie. Was she planning to bulk and lift the entire time? He wouldn’t put it past her. With her current outfit practically painted on it wouldn’t be long before she outgrew it completely. The only question was would her pants or shirt be the first to give up the fight. Her tits appeared poised to explode out of her inadequate bra and her pants were practically painted to her ass. Did they really get bigger every time she gained weight? She must have incredible genes. Most girls got dumpy as they put on weight. Apparently Sadie became more voluptuous.

Warmth spread across Vincent’s lap as Sadie shifted in her seat and her ass invaded his space. He glanced at her nervously, worried her hip would bump against his growing erection, but she seemed to be preparing to take a nap. Feeling like a bit of a pervert Vincent couldn’t help but be aroused by the feel of her soft ass sliding across his thigh. Sadie leaned away from him, lifting her left asscheek and sandwhiching his leg in the crack of her ass. Alarmed, Vincent retreated into the vacant inches of his chair opposite of Sadie. His erection was half mast and even after pulling away and the slightest movement would brush his penis against the skin tight fabric encasing her ass.

Sitting so close she seemed so big.

Sadie must have shifted again because her butt inched firmly into his lap, smothering his erection in soft warmth. Vincent froze, certain he was caught. Only Sadie didn’t react. Had she fallen asleep? Her expansive body was beginning to crowd him but he couldn’t wake her up with an erection poking into her. Her ass continued to eclipse his leg, like thick novel closing on a bookmark. Had her butt always been so huge? Vincent glanced over and gasped in shock. Sadie wasn’t moving--

She was growing!

The moment he realized what was happening it stopped. Sadie murmured, “Mmm, I wondered when you were going to catch on.”

“Wha- How?” Vincent stuttered in shock.

Sadie wiggled hips, now wide enough to cover her seat and half of his own, rubbing his erection. “You were imagining me bigger, so I grew.”

“That’s impossible…” Vincent couldn’t accept her words despite the evidence. She was huge, well over seven feet tall. The standard-issue shirt had pulled up to reveal a taut stomach and hugged her bust like a crop top three sizes too small. Sadie laughed. A rich, deep sound that made him want to laugh with her even though he was still struggling to overcome his incredulity. “That can’t be all it takes?” Vincent implored.

“No, it isn’t. But it was enough in this case,” Sadie replied calmly.

“If I imagine you getting smaller will you shrink?”

“Try it.”

Vincent imagined her shrinking, her towering body pulling in on itself. Nothing happened. “Its not working,” he said.

“Nope,” Sadie said, and laughed again.

“You’re fucking with me,” Vincent deadpanned.

Sadie laughed harder. “Maybe a little,” she said with a grin.

“Seriously, how does this work.” Vincent demanded.

“You’ll learn soon enough.”

“So you’re going to crowd me for the rest of the flight?” Vincent said irritably.

“As if you aren’t enjoying it.” Sadie wiggled her butt over his crotch and Vincent flushed with embarrassment. In his shock over her growth he had forgotten his erection, much less noticed that it had become fully hard.

The worst thing was that it stayed that way for the rest of the flight.

---

Their ride took off immediately after they deplaned.

Vincent walked stiff-legged away from the runway. Sadie tromped loudly behind him, her heavy steps kicking up dust that scattered in every direction across the shapeless desert. Ahead were a set of three two-story houses that looked a century out of date, relics from another era. Nothing else was visible in the cracked desert landscape aside from squat shrubs and the occasional cactus. Closer to the houses he noticed a wooden sign hanging from a post. It read:

Welcome to Nowhere

“Hillarious,” Vincent muttered. More loudly he said to Sadie, “What is this place? And if you say ‘nowhere’ I will strangle you in your sleep.”

Sadie laughed and said, “I think it’s a decommissioned nuclear test site. The military used to build houses like these so they could blow them up. The G.I. uses them for training.”

“So we’re here to train,” Vincent thought aloud. He had assumed that was what the trip was about, but that opened other questions. “Why not train at the base?”

“Because we need the space.”

The base seemed plenty big to Vincent but he wasn’t going to complain about getting fresh air. Even if it was the dry, desert variety. “Which one is ours?” he said, looking at the houses.

“Doesn’t matter. We are the only ones here.”

He examined at the houses, one red, one blue, and one green. Family homes, larger than two people would need, they seemed at once inviting and foreign. “Let's take the blue one,” Vincent suggested. “It matches your eyes.”

“Why Vincent, are you flirting with me?” Sadie said coquettishly.

“It must be working.” Vincent replied, smiling.

“What makes you say that?” Sadie asked, confused.

Vincent turned to face her and said, “That is the first time you’ve used my name.”

Sadie’s lips twisted sourly. “A slip of the tongue, little man.”

“I don’t know,” Vincent said skeptically. “I think I’m starting grow on you.”

“We’ll see who is growing on who soon enough.” The setting sun surrounded her in a red nimbus, lending a devilish aura. Vincent felt a chill that had nothing to do with the Symbiote.

The furniture in the house was sparse, but comfortable. After flipping on the television and finding an excellent selection of channels Vincent thought he wouldn’t mind staying for a few weeks. It was sort of like a vacation home. In the middle of a desert. With no means of escape.  And a spine hugging alien as houseguest.

On second thought it wasn’t like a vacation home at all.