Chapter 4

Lucy takes a couple huge breaths as Kate and Alec work above her, connecting her to the VR system. It’s not like it is scary or the first time she has ever been in it, but the thought of meeting Aphrodite in the virtual world makes her a little apprehensive. She is responsible for the creation of both, but meeting her creation for the first time, even in virtual reality, is a little daunting. For Lucy, it is like meeting a child of hers for the first time when they are all grown up. Maybe in a sense, Aphrodite is her child.

“We’ll be monitoring everything from here,” Alec assures her. “If anything goes awry, we’ll get you out.”

“What’s going to go wrong?” she asks, her eyes filling with panic.

“Nothing,” Kate says. “Just a safety precaution and nothing to worry about.” She casts a glare at Alec before returning her eyes and reassuring smile to Lucy. “I told him not to bring it up, but you know Alec.”

Lucy mirrors the smile and nods. Then as the pod begins its decent over her, a strange thought pops in her mind. Since when has Alec worked for the company? She opens her mouth to object, even voice the question, but it is too late. The pod seals shut, her eyes close and instantly Lucy is taken into the system. All memory of the last thirty seconds as wiped from her memory—an unfortunate side effect of the system.

The world around her slowly transforms from pitch back to colorful. The Rushing of water reaches her ears and animal sounds can be heard from afar. Lucy finds herself wrapped in green, lush forestry. In the distance she can see a bubbling stream and a figure standing next to it.

Tentatively, she steps forward. Her movements are slow and careful. The closer she gets the more the figure comes into shape. The woman at the stream has her back to Lucy. By the time Lucy reaches the woman, she spins around, a beaming expression on her face.

“Hello,” the woman says. “You must be Lucy, my creator.”

Lucy is taken aback slightly, but manages to present the AI with a smile of her own. “Yes,” she murmurs.

“I believe that I should probably cry at meeting you,” Aphrodite says, “but my emotion core seems barely active.”

“Yes,” Lucy whispers before finding her voice. “Unfortunately, that isn’t fully functional yet.” Seeing the artificial intelligence working is amazing. If she can perform this well here inside the VR, then Lucy cannot wait to see Aphrodite in the real world.

“Correct,” Aphrodite says. “I am here to assist you with opening that which cannot be opened.”

“Well,” Lucy says with a shrug. “It can be opened, but I seem to be unable to remember how.”

“Of course,” Aphrodite replies indifferently. “I know just where we need to begin.”

Lucy nods and says, “Lead the way.” Even without the emotion core active, she is impressed with the interaction of the AI system. Not to mention the fact that the AI’s looks are based on her.

Aphrodite leads Lucy through the forest. The path is clear but at the same time it doesn’t look like it was purposefully cut out. Lucy’s mind begins to wander about it. The VR is so well constructed, but there are a few changes—subtle ones—that she notices. Even the pod, when she entered it, was of a different design. It is definitely something she needs to ask when she gets out. Then an idea abruptly comes to her.

“Aphrodite?” she asks tentatively. Since they began their trek, neither has spoken. Lucy has been unsure where to begin and Aphrodite hasn’t offered anything either.

Her companion android turns around to the woman, her face completely neutral now and a bit unsettling.

“I’ve noticed a few changes to my system, can you tell me about them?” she asks, then quickly adds, “If you have access to that information, that is.”

“I have full access to the system as well as the company’s computers,” Aphrodite replies. “I also have access to Kate’s private files.”

“Does she know?” Lucy inquires.

“No,” the android instantly replies. “She seems to believe that they are well protected”

“They aren’t?”

“They are, but I am in the system and thus I can fully access them,” Aphrodite explains. “Would you like me to shut myself out of them?”

Lucy quickly shakes her head. “Let’s leave that open for now.”

“I detect mistrust in your voice,” Aphrodite says flatly.

“Are we being monitored right now?” the woman asks as thoughts of the consequences of this conversation come to mind.

“Yes,” Aphrodite confirms. “But I have this blocked out and am rolling a loop of us walking right now. It will go unnoticed by the human eye and cannot be handled by the human brain without assistance.”

“You can do that?” Lucy asks incredulously.

“I am plugged into the system,” Aphrodite answers. “There is not much that I cannot do inside this building. But to answer you’re earlier question, I cannot.”

Lucy shakes her head. For a moment she is too wrapped up in these revelations that she almost forgets what her original question was. “Why can’t you?”

“There seems to be no records of changes to the system,” the android says. “They were either never on the system or they were removed by someone that knew what they were doing.”

“Someone that knew how,” she mutters to herself. She looks at the android. “Well we’ll worry about that later. How about we get back on track?”

Aphrodite nods her head. “It’s is not far now.”

“Why can’t we just zip over there?”

“Because, one of the changes to the system will not allow for that,” Aphrodite replies.

“I thought you couldn’t access that,” Lucy quickly spurts out.

“I cannot,” the android confirms. “But I can notice that something is now impossible, what once was not. However, there is not much information this method is yielding.”

The two walk on a little further until finally, after stepping through the last bit of trees, they arrive on a beach. The sand is white and clean and undisturbed. The sound of the waves lapping against the shore is quiet and soothing. Stepping out onto the beach is entirely different than being in the forest and Lucy cannot believe just how noisy the forest had been in comparison.

“There is our destination,” Aphrodite says as she points to a large wooden box resting in the sand just a few yards out. “There is your locked box.”

Lucy nods and rushes over to it, dropping to her knees. Her hands quickly go to the lock and she tries to jiggle it open. “How do we get inside?” she asks after a few moments.

“There is only one way I know of,” Aphrodite says. “And it means we need to take your maximum pleasure zone.”

Aphrodite drops down beside the woman. She leans in and softly kisses her lips. Aphrodite’s hand starts caressing Lucy’s thighs. They kiss, first a bit shy on Lucy’s part, before she lets passion guide her. At the same time, Aphrodite’s fingers wander along the inside of Lucy’s thigh, up under her skirt. She only stop herself an inch or so away from Lucy’s wet pussy. Lucy is already panting heavily when Aphrodite finally pulls away.

But Lucy doesn’t have time—or need—to regain her composure at the sudden kiss before she felt her head being pulled gently but firmly back toward the android’s face. As the kiss progresses, she feels something slither up her back and latch onto the zipper of her back shirt.

She not only has shivers running through her at the delicate caress, but the shivers actually increase when she hears the sound of the zipper on the shirt. She lets her shirt be taken off, along with her skirt. Within seconds, her bra is being unclasped by the unknown appendage while her panties pulled down by Aphrodite.

Aphrodite slips behind her and lets a hand wander up to Lucy’s chest and starts to fondle her naked breasts. Lucy loves the touch and with her eyes closed and mouth open, she leans back against her physical duplicate, invitingly sticking her chest out. Soon, she feels multiple appendages roaming free over her body, massaging her breasts, sometimes even gripping and pinching her erect nipples. Soon she is moaning with pleasure.