Chapter 6

At his DIA office, Terry Wagner's AI instance, Ishmael, called to him. "This is a nice enough office, but would you mind moving to a new suite that would help familiarize you with Confederacy practices? You know, generally, that our ships often carry standardized pods. In one respect, they're like the intermodal transport containers you use in Earth logistics. They are bigger, and, most importantly, they are made of materials dosed liberally with nanites, so they can reconfigure themselves. They can be dropped from space and provide housing on the ground.

"There's an underground area near your building, where we can place pods. We'd like you to establish offices, work areas, and housing for your households, laying them out in pods and having you learn their constraints. Back in the building, we'll set up a conventional security double-doored entrance lock, which actually hides a transport pad to the pod.

"Another AI, Martha, will help you with pod living. You really need to understand pods to understand Confederacy logistics – they are like your standardized shipping containers. At DIA, you have offices, built as pods, which are part of a larger pool of rooms, intended for mission teams working there, or to stage field teams. That pool had space for children and for common areas, and the Confederacy had even provided a few AI and residential functions, such as a grav lift, for them to gain familiarity with a pod environment. His office and living space was meant not as a luxury, but a facility with considerable flexibility. With access to replicators, however, he was able to indulge personal taste in decorating, and it was a very nice apartment and set of offices.

"While it is impractical to incorporate actual pods into the existing building, as many features as possible were included. It was possible to use pod nanites to remodel interior spaces, to give practice in working with Confederacy standards. Martha, an AI instance who had been impressed by Martha Stewart, became the construction expert.

Terry and Dolores shared an apartment, but not a bed. Both definitely saw the matter as "yet". "Dolores, it was great to start seeing you again with Denise. It was even more so when you were rejuvenated. Why, though, did we have to lose Denise?

"I think, though, Denise would like it if we can be all we can be. At the very least, that's redoing our youth, but with the wisdom of years? We have the opportunity, dreamed by many but realized by few, of combining the energy of our youth with the wisdom of maturity.

"In our case, however, doing so can involve some real results for the planet."

"When I first knew you, I was too shy to approach, although I had near-constant fantasies of your taking my virginity. You were a sex goddess to me, whom I saw as the source of learning about great mysteries." He grinned. "Hey, did you ever see 'Revenge of the Nerds'? Remember the observation that nerds were better at sex than jocks, because nerds thought about it all the time? That's probably true."

"Terry." Dolores said, in a thoughtful tone, "When we first knew another, I pretty much ignored you. At that point, I was interested in the jocks and the bad boys. Remember, though, I was also still pretty young and foolish. Still, even though we actually didn't talk that much, I was aware of you watching me, with an intensity I saw in no one else."

"Believe the intensity. Did you realize I was still a virgin?"

"Omigod. Omigod. Terry, let me be direct. I think we're ready to move our relationship to a more intense stage. We'll both enjoy raw sex, but it won't be casual sex. It also won't be exclusive sex.

"Unless you have some objections, we're going to be in bed soon, and for a long time. Would you indulge an old lady's fantasy?"

"Old and wise woman, perhaps, with an old and wise man. Does old really fit? Not just the appearances -- from what I've heard of you, you have an active and inquiring mind. What's the fantasy?"

"I'd like to assume you are a virgin that I know it, and I'm going to teach you to be a magnificent lover."

"How horrible. I suppose you can force me to do that. Of course, my dear, of course.

"But could I find out more of what happened to you after we stopped working together? After all, that was a big opportunity for me as well -- I changed from being a junior editor to being a junior programmer, when that was a pretty rare skill. It was a big help, though, that I came to programming from a background of being a strong writer.

"You had quite an image around the company, of being the hottest slut in the place, and not especially bright. Nevertheless, I picked up some vibes from you that someday, you'd be very interested in nerds."

She grinned. "I said I was interested in bad boys at the time. Looking back, I was seeking strong men, but they weren't really strong. Terry, you probably have no idea how much Denise and I talked, but the security people probably would have shot us both. I know how powerful you are. Frankly, it turns me on."

Terry coughed a bit, wanting to slow it down a little. "So, I last saw you when we were all getting laid off by the Army logistics contractor. What did you do next?"

"Laid. How appropriate a term! Yes, laid off fits nicely, unless it's laid on, or maybe just laid. At first, I worked some temporary jobs. My boss at one was an investor in the Le Marquis strip club, and introduced me to the manager there. She talked me into trying out, and I did dance for a while. Great exercise, great pay when I ... um ... mingled a lot. Best of both worlds ... got paid to mingle with customers there, but it left me time for swing parties on the weekends."

"Mingle? You're using that in some idiomatic way, Dolores."

"Well, yes. Mostly buy champagne and have various levels of sex when not dancing. I wouldn't object if you called it prostitution." She raised her eyes and tried to look innocent. "It came to an end. Didn't think it could happen, but I got pregnant.

"Later, I ran a high-end escort service, but that was too cold. I wanted to be more involved with people. Wound up getting a nursing degree, and then did some sexual surrogacy. "She batted her eyelashes."Need some sexual therapy?"

Kissing downward, he looked forward and muttered, in his best Indiana Jones impression. "No panties. Why did it have to be no panties? How did I kid myself that I wasn't going to find that?"

"Did you really think of me as the kind of girl that would sing 'with a thong in my heart'? Thongs cheat, and can be damned uncomfortable. There is a very soft, very short slip inside my skirt. Serves just as well as panties, unless there's a major drip problem."

Terry loudly grunted, and lunged forward to bury his face into her crotch. He lifted his head for just a moment and moaned, "How many years did I put this off?" His lips surrounded her clit as he gently sucked, and lashed it with his tongue. His arms surrounded her lush yet firm thighs.

Dolores moaned, "If I had known you had a mouth like that when you were nineteen, I'd have dragged you back to my cave. With that, Terry rocked her back until her buttocks and anus were exposed, yelled, "And I don't care if coveting my neighbor's ass is still in, either!" and began teasing her crinkled rosebud. After more play, he returned to her clit, a finger exploring her rear, much to her approval.

Terry looked the picture of a distinguished scientist, still active but also a government adviser. Nevertheless, his enhanced strength was enough to sweep Dolores into one arm, stand up, and use the other hand to yank down his pants. He repositioned her in a cowgirl position and thrust his hips, driving his rod into the head of his staff. She screamed with joy, and his sounds did not suggest dissatisfaction with the situation.

"Hard! Fuck me hard!"

"You want it hard, babe? You want me to talk dirty?"

"Hell yes!"

"Then feel my cock slamming into you! Just remember that no matter what the stories say, I will never call it a manhood; I will only drive gender-neutral cars. Back to the fucking, even though we missed the spanking and the oral sex!"

Neither one of them needed to wait long for orgasm. When Terry didn't jill her, she did. When he wasn't sucking and biting at her breasts, she was pulling her nipples. Rather quickly, she screamed through her first climax. As he grunted he was close, she swept his head between her breasts as his finger plunged deeper into her ass. He exploded, and brought her with him.

"Dolores, my mother was a psychiatric social worker, and I grew up with access to her professional library. While it's generally agreed that nerds think about sex all the time, I did so systematically, in both psychiatric and anthropological terms.

"While she theoretically could answer questions, she wasn't very good at it. When I was eight or so, I asked that classic question 'but how does the seed get into the mommy?' Her answer was worthy of some tech support hotlines: absolutely accurate and absolutely useless. I quote: 'The male has the penis and the female is equipped to receive the penis.'

"What did I get from that? I figured that making babies involved detaching the penis, holding it by the stem part, and giving it, like a bouquet, to his lady love." Dolores was rolling on the floor, holding her belly so the hysterical laughter didn't hurt as much. "Luckily, I concluded the release button came when I got pubic hair, so I didn't try to detach it then."

"You know, my dear, that for the rest of our lives, I'm sometimes going to ask you for a bouquet -- wink wink nudge nudge, know what I mean? You bastard -- you'll sometimes confuse me with roses."

"Getting back to my reading, Dolores, I started going alphabetically through kinks -- I mean, paraphilias -- in Karpman's The Sexual Offender and his Offenses." She giggled at the thought of deciding on things by alphabetical sequence. "Also, I spent time with Patterns of Sexual Behavior by Ford & Beach, and, for anthropological magic, The Golden Bough by Frazier.

"From the anthropological standpoint, a fetish is something that contains or contains a supernatural force. Sometimes, that is just what we first encounter when in puberty, such as miniskirts for me. More strongly, though, it could be something that one wears or uses deliberately to show or focus sexual energies. For me, that became stiletto heels high enough that they are at the limits of fashion, or beyond."

"You too, Terry? Believe me; I wear stilettos not just because they look good. They might not be the most comfortable thing in the world to wear, but they do great things for my head. In fact, I can even use them as sexual toys, while alone." Dolores reached into her large tote bag, pulled out some 6" patent pumps, and daintily sucked the heel as she fingered herself. She then reversed the shoe and rubbed the pointed toe in her slit.