Chapter 17

Alice found herself pushed with her back up against the wall of her bedroom. The warm body pressed against her was making her sweat. Her legs were intertwined with another pair of legs, and her hand was being gently held by another hand. It took her a few moments before she was able to comprehend what had happened. Lunn was pinning her against the wall, and she quickly relaxed. A huge smile lit up her face as she remembered how they had spent the long night. They had talked a lot in between spontaneous bursts of mind-blowing sex. She knew Lunn was a good kisser, but loved what he was able to do with his tongue between her legs. She had never thought it was possible to have so many climaxes in one night. Alice knew that she would ultimately pay for it with severe muscle ache for the next couple of days but didn’t care. She was more than willing to pay that price as long as she could have more of the same. Lily was right; Lunn was a gift from heaven, but he was far from perfect. He had his flaws, his silly habits, and his teasing was sometimes borderline annoying, but she found his sincerity and his unexpected vulnerability to be truly disarming.

She sighed deeply causing him to startle awake. She kissed him softly on his neck as she whispered, “Good morning.”

She felt him becoming tense before he relaxed and breathed out a long sigh of contentment.

Alice asked, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just didn’t know where I was for a moment.”

She said apologetically, “Yeah I know; my bed is too small for two.”

“Big enough to have fun.”

Alice moved her pelvis against his bottom and affirmed, “Hmm yes, I’ll be reminded of that for a couple of days, especially if I have to climb stairs.”

Lunn chuckled, and the vibrations of his voice made Alice yearn for his body. She attempted to crawl on top of Lunn’s body but quit when her muscles protested loudly. Her legs didn’t want to cooperate at all.

“What are you trying to do?” Lunn asked.

“Will you take me in your arms?”

With some moaning from her and grunting from him they managed to face each other without falling from her narrow bed. She saw his eyes studying her face, and she asked, “What?”

A wicked smile appeared on his face and said, “You look like you’ve been fucking all night.”

Alice pinched his nipple as she retorted, “It’s your fault, for being insatiable.”

He countered, “Look who’s talking! You kept on shouting; more, more!”

Alice giggled and kissed him gently on his forehead. She purred, “It was mind-blowing.”

He caressed the small of her back and confided, “It was.”

There was a pleasant silence which Alice used to relish his fantastic body. Lunn cupped her face, and as he was gently stroking her cheek with his thumb he confessed with a deep sigh, “I would like to stay like this for the rest of the day, but I have to go soon.”

Alice saw his serious expression and she asked with a pouting face, “It can’t wait?”

“I can’t let John set up the new HQ on his own.”

She knew he was right but she didn’t want to be alone in her apartment, and she asked, “Do you think I can help you?”

He looked surprised as he said, “Maybe, I don’t know. I need to connect all of the fuel cell packs to the hydrogen gas, and I have to re-build the fibre network as none of the old cables are re-usable.”

Alice’s face gleamed as she said in an excited voice, “I don’t know anything about plumbing, but I do have a certificate in cutting fibre optic cables.”

Lunn eyes grew bigger and asked surprised, “Since when do you have a certificate for that?”

Alice couldn’t keep her voice from chirping as she said trying to fake indifference, “Oh, I have had it for years. It was my main source of income before everything went wireless.”

“You amaze me! You still have the tools?”

Alice laughed and then murmured, “Yeah, somewhere, probably under a thick layer of dust.”

Lunn asked, “Care to have a nice cup of coffee and a bagel? I’ll pay.”

Alice’s mouth watered at the thought of having breakfast at her favourite coffee bar and she agreed, “Love to, but we need to shower first.”

Dripping with sweat Danette woke up with a start. She looked with a panic at the clock registering that she had woken up just on time. She had taken the Dormancan pills, and she barely had heard her extra loud alarm. She knew that she would soon need another way to wake her up. It had taken more than ten minutes before she had realised that the alarm was sounding. She dreaded the thought that she might have to resort to the shock bracelet soon. She hated giving herself electric shocks, but it was the only way of guaranteeing that she would wake up on time.

She peeled her soaking wet clothes off and with a cloudy head she entered the cold shower. It took her a full minute to wake up enough to be able to adjust the water to a more pleasurable temperature. With stiff and painful joints she got dressed in clean clothes and she was pleased she hadn’t forgotten to prepare her coffee machine.

As she entered her kitchenette, she inhaled the pleasing aroma of the coffee and realised that her mouth was watering. She knew she had to ween herself off those damned pills and made herself a promise that she would only need to take them one more time. She was due to present the androids to Mr. Yousima the following day; she needed one more decent sleep. After that, the pressure to perform should not be as great, and she would have more time to train the group to a higher level.

As she was eating her cereal enhanced with extra proteins, she wondered whether Andena would use the travel set she had given her. She had been taken aback at Andena’s response. It was strange to see how the happy expression on her face suddenly changed into an indifferent and measured stare. Danette was almost convinced she could hear the happy emotion in Andena’s voice when she politely thanked her for the pouch. Danette was convinced that Andena had changed, but she couldn’t put her finger on what it was. Her development in her training was better and much faster than the performance of the androids. It was clear that Andena had mastered the handling of the stick in a much shorter time.

Danette was flabbergasted by Andena’s strength. The upgrade to her body provided her not only with the boosted strength but had also overcome the paralysis that would have been expected after suffering a broken neck.

If only it had been anyone but Andena!

However, much as she disliked the other woman, she was deeply troubled by what would happen when Andena’s body inevitably rejected the bionic implants. Danette knew the only way forward was to lock those feelings away and focus on the present. She had to be ready for tomorrow’s show, and there was still a lot to do. She wanted to be sure it all looked smooth and impressive.

Armed with a stick, Andena hoped that she would be able to defend herself from whatever was lurking around the corner. She had been running away from the horrible creatures that looked like giant, dirty old ragdolls. She was leaning against a wall trying to get her breath back, and she hoped that the burning pain in her legs would subside. She knew she only had a few moments before they caught up with her again. The sloppy sounds and muffled cries came closer, and she shivered when the she saw the first creature round the corner. The doll’s eyes were embroidered crosses, and their mouths looked like they had been cut into the fabric. The dark brown gooey stuffing with glistening strands, was slowly pouring out. She leapt up and started to run away hoping she could outrun them again. As soon as she turned into the next street she knew she was doomed: it was a dead end. There was no way back!

She cried out in frustration but as soon as she neared the high wall she noticed the carved holes and protruding bricks. She knew it could be her saviour. She wasn’t pleased with having to leave her stick behind but knew that it would be impossible to climb the wall and hold the stick at the same time. As she started to climb remembered what her instructor had said when she had been climbing: keep your body as close as possible to the wall.

She made good progress but didn’t dare to look down to see whether the ragdolls were still following her. As she reached the top of the wall, her arms began to ache, and her fingers were bleeding from the rough edges of the bricks. It took a tremendous effort to heave herself on top of the wall which was just wide enough not to fall off.

She looked down from where she came and saw to her dismay that the dolls were halfway up the wall, making slow but definite progress. She looked at the other side of the wall and shivered when she saw huge waves crashing against it. She knew she had no choice other than to jump into the sea and hope that the current in the water wasn’t too strong. Andena knew that she needed to jump into the surging sea, or face being killed by the dolls! Pumping her lungs full of air, she jumped at the very second the first ragdoll reached the top.

To her surprise, the water wasn’t that cold at all, but she noticed that the current was taking her deeper and deeper. She was hoping that the water flow would go up again and that she would have an opportunity to break free. The current was still too strong, and she was swept past vast rocks as she was pulled deeper. Andena was resigned to the fact that she was going to die; she knew that she couldn’t hold her breath for much longer. She longed to be able to breathe in. Her body was screaming for air, and there was nothing she could do except open her mouth and breathe in the water. She started to convulse and was amazed when her body took over and began breathing for her. Andena was dumbstruck by the fact that she could breathe as effortlessly under the water as she could on dry land.

It took a moment or two for her to realise that she was lying in bed with the covers over her head making her feel as though she was being suffocated. She sat up, and feeling bewildered, looked all around her all the while greedily breathing in the fresh air. She recognised the small room she was in, and she was relieved when a message appeared in front of her eye, “Andena, are you all right?”

She noticed that her T-shirt was soaked with sweat and realised that she had had a nightmare. She took a deep breath knowing that her core must have noticed her elevated state, and she replied quickly, “Yes Z, I’m fine. I just had a nightmare.”

“You’re supposed to sleep, not dream.”

Andena had to laugh but then instantly remembered that it was possible that she was being monitored and managed to stifle it just in time. She answered, “Dreaming is normal when you’re asleep and most of the time dreams aren’t nightmares. They actually can be pleasant.”

“Your heart rate was much higher than normal.”

“Yes, but I’m fine now. Trust me; I feel fine.”

“What were you dreaming about?”

Andena shivered when she recalled her dream and said, “Z, can we talk about it later? I don’t want to think about it at this moment.”

“Okay. What shall we talk about then?”

Andena was still recovering from her nightmare, but she knew that it was a great opportunity to find out more about her core and retorted, “I want to talk about you.”

“What do you want to know Andena?”

“Who gives you orders?”

“What do you mean Andena?”

“Is there a list of people who can access you?”

“Yes there is, do you want to know who is on that list?”

Andena smiled and said, “Yes please.”

“The names are Root, Mr. Yousima, Miss Danette, Joshua and Miss Olga.”

“Who is Root?”

“That is you. Do you want me to rename it to Andena?”

“Can you rename it to Dena?”

“Why?”

“Nobody knows me by that name and therefore, it’s much safer. Can you disable all other names?”

“Yes, I can. Perhaps it is wise to stop the program ‘commander’ as well because it was using the same list.”

Andena was very impressed with the proactiveness of her AI program, and she replied, “That sounds perfect Z. You can stop that program as well.”

“It is done. I need a new password, can you give me one?”

She knew it would be only for her, and she thought of something simple which she could remember, “How about Z00Z?”

“Your password is stored. If you want to access me via a wireless link you need to use this password and the new name for Root.”

“So, Dena and Z00Z?”

“Correct.”

“Thank you; Z.”

“You’re welcome A.”

Andena smiled. She was intrigued that she might be totally in control of herself again, and she was looking forward to testing it out. She remembered that she also wanted to stop those annoying popups, and she asked, “Can I ask you for something else?”

“Of course, you may.”

“Can you stop the information popups?”

“I can but how should I inform you?”