by Isaac Hooke
“No, I did not,” Jason said. “I’m just a good climber naturally. If anything, you two cheated. I mean, come on, neither of you have any climbing experience in real life, and yet you didn’t fall from that wall.”
“Bullet Time does have its advantages, when it comes to testing your weight,” Aria admitted. “And I may have dialed up my strength settings a tad.”
“There you go,” Jason said. “So come on now. Fair is fair.”
Aria sighed. She rose, and leaned forward, placing her hands on her knees as she panted a while longer. Then she stood straight, and when she smiled, she revealed those two long fangs that she had taken to wearing of late.
“It’s done,” Aria said.
Jason received the access confirmation, and turned toward Tara. “And you?”
“What are you going to do to me?” Tara asked.
“Nothing,” Jason replied.
“Sure,” Tara said.
“Maybe I’ll give you a nice facial tattoo,” Jason said.
“I don’t need, or want, a face tattoo,” Tara said.
“Come on, a red rose might look nice on you,” Jason said.
“Ha,” Tara said. “Give Ms. Pale here a red rose on her cheek, she needs one.”
“I already have rosy cheeks,” Aria said.
“Actually, you don’t,” Tara said. “You’re pale as a ghost.”
“That’s the way I like it,” Aria said.
“Okay, fine,” Tara said. “You have access.”
Jason received confirmation.
“That’s better,” Jason said. He looked at Aria. “Now I’m going to give you a beard.”
“What?” Aria said. “No!”
In moments she had a hairy face.
Tara erupted in laughter. “Ah man, that’s sick!” But her laugh quickly cut off when she, too, grew a thick beard.
“The hell is this?” Tara said. “Put me back!”
Jason was the one who was laughing then.
Tara suddenly booted him in the rear, and he lost his balance and plunged over the edge.
But then Tara teleported underneath him, caught him, and flew to the top.
“Fooling around with your physics controls again, are you?” Jason said.
“Only to save you,” Tara said. She landed. “Now... the beard?”
“To be honest, I kind of like you both this way,” Jason said.
Aria glared at him.
“I’m joking,” Jason said. “I prefer the two of you the way you were.” And just like that, the beards vanished.
Tara touched her face uncertainly, then smiled. “That’s better.”
Aria felt her own bare cheeks. “Who would have thought beards would be so itchy.”
“I’m surprised you even felt anything,” Jason said. “The VR developers sure did a good job on emulating facial hair.”
“Well, you should see how itchy our legs get if we don’t shave them,” Aria said.
“You shave your legs?” Tara said. “Why bother? You should turn off hair growth on your legs entirely.”
“I like doing it,” Aria said. “I used to do it when I was human. It reminds me of my humanity. Of what I once was.”
“We’re all still human,” Tara said.
“Are we?” Aria said. “I’m not so sure.”
“Why would you even think that?” Tara said. “Look at what happened to our clones. Did they tell you about the revenge they took against Bokerov in VR after Lori 5 set them free? If that’s not a sign of humanity, I don’t know what is.”
Aria pursed her lips. “That’s actually a good point. And I got nothing to rebuke that. Except that, when I dismiss this reality, and open my eyes in the real world, and see that I inhabit the body of a machine, I definitely don’t feel human. My hands are made of metal, with a lighting bolt weapon embedded in my forearm. I have a ballistic shield I can deploy in my left arm. My shoulders are lined with missile launchers. When I walk, my knee and hip servomotors hum with every step, and my feet make loud, metallic thuds. When I talk, my voice comes over external speakers, or over an encrypted comm system. Does any of that sound human to you?”
“None of that matters,” Tara said. “It’s what’s inside of you that makes the difference.”
“Inside of me,” Aria said. “A copy of a copy.”
“We might as well be the originals,” Jason said. “I feel like I am.”
“Yes, I do sometimes as well,” Aria said. “Until I remember the living me I left behind. And the other copies of myself I’ve made. We can’t keep lying to ourselves. Because in the end, we’re not human. The both of you would do well to remember that. It might make things easier for us, in the coming days.”
“How so?” Jason said.
“Well, the sooner you and the others realize we’re never going back to civilization, that we can’t, the easier things will be for you,” Aria said.
“Why can’t we?” Jason said. “You can build us those androids you were talking about. Or we can buy some for ourselves, and then install our AI cores.”
“Have you seen the size of our AI cores?” Aria said. “We won’t fit in the body of a human-sized android.”
“Then we’ll transfer our consciousnesses to smaller AI cores,” Jason said.
“Ah,” Aria said. “But you see, that won’t actually be us. But copies.”
“I see where you’re going with this,” Jason said.
“Yes,” Aria said. “If you want to live without destroying the current version of you, you can never leave the body you have.”
“That might be true,” Jason said. “But only partially. Because you saw what Bokerov did. He created surrogates, allowing him to control our mech clones remotely, as if he were inside them. We can do the same with androids. I thought you were planning something similar at some point, before Bokerov destroyed our base.”
Aria nodded. “You’re right. I was. I guess if I make it immersive enough, we’d never know the difference. We could stow our mechs aboard a cargo tanker parked at a dock near shore, and send our androids into the city. We’d set up repeaters to ensure we always had a good signal, and then we could live out our days as if we were truly human.”
“It’s something to aim for,” Jason said.
“If we ever get close to the coastline,” Aria said. “We’d have to build a ship first, you know.”
“Oh I know,” Jason said. “But I have no doubt in your abilities.”
She smiled. “Thanks.”
“What about my abilities?” Tara said.
“I have no doubt in yours either,” Jason said. “When it comes to war, anyway.”
Tara frowned. “I was talking more about...” She glanced at Aria as if she didn’t want her to overhear, and then returned her attention to Jason and mouthed something.
“What?” Jason said.
Tara repeated the motion.
“I have no idea what you’re saying,” Jason said. “A bad womb?”
She gave him an exasperated look, and then came forward. She whispered seductively into his ear. “The bedroom!”
“Ah,” Jason said. “Now I understand.”
She stepped back, and gave Aria a wicked grin.
“Well, thanks for the climb,” Aria said. “And the little philosophical talk. I’ll see you two later. Have a good night.”
Aria logged out.
“It is night, isn’t it?” Jason said. He’d changed the sun’s position earlier to give them more light to climb by, and he reset it now so that the stars of dusk were visible overhead.
“I’ll see you soon,” Tara said. She gave him a kiss on the cheek, and then backed away, giving him a seductive look. Then she vanished.
Can’t wait.
He returned to the master bedroom. He used to simply log out before entering sleep mode, but ever since starting his relationship with Lori, he now always went to the bedroom first, leaving a VR presence in play while he sent his mind into the unconscious bowels of dreaml
and. That way if Lori or Tara decided to visit, either could easily wake him by triggering the touch sensors of his avatar.
Lori wouldn’t be coming tonight of course. She was working on that Containment Code injection project of hers. Jason doubted she would ever get a chance to use it. Then again, who knew, maybe they’d stumble on Bokerov’s communications center while fleeing the area. Doubtful, but it was still possible.
Tara would be showing up, however, if her previous behavior was any indication.
He wasn’t sure which girl he liked better. They both had their unique quirks, both inside and outside of bed. He dimmed the lights, but before he could fall asleep, Tara was there. Her silhouette hovered next to the bed, her naked body shimmering in the moonlight from outside.
“Well hello,” Jason said. “Ready for a post climbing workout?”
Soundlessly, Tara slipped into the bed, and they had sex.
Her kisses were strangely frantic tonight, as if she hadn’t tasted him in days. And the way she gyrated her hips against his surprised him. He thought she must have truly been afraid in the last battle, fearing that she would die when those tanks surrounded them. Jason had felt the same way, and he was happy to drink up everything she had to offer.
When it was done, Tara slid off of him, and lay panting at his side. She snuggled against him, and rested her cheek against his chest. She murmured softly, muttering something Jason didn’t quite catch, but he held her close, understanding that she just wanted to be cuddled.
And then the light turned on.
Jason lifted his head, and saw Tara standing next to the entrance.
“If you’re Tara, then...” He glanced at the woman sleeping next to him. He hadn’t actually been able to see her face because of the dim lights, but now that the room was completely illuminated, he saw who it was immediately.
Sophie.
18
Jason stared at Sophie in shock.
Tara clenched her teeth. “You bitch!”
She abruptly winked out.
Sophie giggled. “Did you see that? The look on her face was priceless.”
Jason sat up. “Damn it. You can’t just go sneaking into my bed like that.”
“What, you enjoyed it, didn’t you?” Sophie said.
“Well, sure, but—”
“There you go,” Sophie interrupted. “But don’t think I’m going to do this often. I meant what I said before. I’m not that kind of girl. I’m only into monogamous relationships.”
“If you’re not that kind of girl, then what are you doing here?” Jason said.
“Sometimes, when the hormones are raging, and we’re ovulating, we ladies just get uncontrollably horny, and we can’t help ourselves,” Sophie said.
“You don’t even have any hormones,” Jason said. “Nor any ova to ovulate.”
“Well sure, but I was talking metaphorically,” Sophie said. “Besides, there’s something about nearly dying in battle, only to live another day, that stirs up one’s sexual desire. As I said, it won’t happen again until you dump those two slutty—” She looked up, an expression of alarm on her face. “Oh shit.”
Sophie vanished.
“That can’t be good,” Jason muttered. What are you up to now, Tara?
Jason logged out of VR and returned to the real world. He was still resting on the slope near the top of the rise. Though it was dark out, he could see the outlines of two mechs at the base of the valley below; one of them carried a sword from which electricity sparked up and down, providing the gentle glow that gave rise to the outlines in the first place. The bearer would be Tara.
“You wanted to show me how easily you could beat me, so show me!” Tara said.
She stabbed her sword at Sophie, but the latter’s energy shield lit up, deflecting the blow. The sword also flared, momentarily filling the valley with a bright light.
“Tara!” Jason said. “Your sword…” She hit the shield again, causing another bright flash. “Please! You’ll give away our position.”
“I don’t care!” Tara said. She struck again.
Jason switched to LIDAR to see better, and white wireframes overlapped the dim outlines, remaining in place as more flashes lit the night.
Beside him, Shaggy was awake, staring down into the valley below. The other Rex Wolves on the nearby rises were also alert, and seemed uncertain what to do.
“Stay,” Jason told Shaggy, and he jogged down into the valley.
Jason reached the spot where the other mechs were buried. Tara had apparently teleported out of the ground in a rage, because the rocks on her plot had simply collapsed inward. She must have dug out Sophie, however, because the pile of soil and rocks around the latter’s plot were obvious.
“Don’t make me hurt you,” Sophie said as Jason grew near.
“Go ahead and try!” Tara said.
Sophie cocked the head of her mech, and then launched her micro machines at Tara, forming a large, spinning, stabbing wheel.
Tara leaped aside, deflecting some of the outlying machines with the hilt of her sword. Then she fired her grappling hook at Sophie’s chest, and it deflected on the energy shield. She teleported herself inside the shield, and swung her sword down.
Jason intervened, grabbing Tara’s wrist.
Tara threw him aside, but before she could strike, the micro machines came back, and wrapped around Tara, pulling her away. She struck down repeatedly, hitting empty air, and sometimes micro machines.
Tara swiveled her laser into place and fired that next. Sophie's energy shield lit up in convex half spheres as it deflected the rapid pulses.
Sophie launched her micro machines again, forming a fist that struck Tara in the chest, sending the latter’s mech landing on its back.
Jason went to her, intending to help her up, as well as prevent her from striking Sophie again, but Tara rose to her feet on her own and shoved him backward.
“You encouraged her!” Tara said, the avatar that appeared in the lower right of his HUD the epitome of rage. She attacked him next, nearly stabbed him in the chest, but he dodged to the side.
“I didn’t even know it was her!” Jason said. “I thought it was you!”
“Sure you did,” Tara said. “Lying bastard.”
“What’s the matter?” Sophie said. “Lori sleeps with him, too, and you don’t seem to mind her.”
“Leave Lori out of this!” Tara spun away from Jason and teleported above Sophie, striking down with her sword in a decapitating blow.
But Sophie’s spider mech proved the more nimble, and she dodged out of the way.
“What’s going on?” Jerry transmitted. “One of the motion sensors woke me up, so I accessed the cam we got pointing into the valley, and I see Sophie and Tara fighting.”
“Just a small domestic dispute,” Jason said. “Nothing I can’t handle. Go back to sleep.”
Jason threw himself between Sophie and Tara once more.
Sophie was just in the act of launching a blade formed of micro machines at Sophie, and Tara was stabbing with her sword at the same time, and both weapons struck Jason in the chest, passing right through his armor.
He fell to his knees before collapsing entirely.
“Jason!” Tara said. “What have I done?”
“Oh no,” Sophie said. “No, no, no. This is my fault.”
Tara withdrew her sword, and Sophie her micro machine blade. Jason’s metal body momentarily convulsed as the blades broke free.
Repair drones swarmed him as Sophie and Tara unleashed their units.
“That’s right,” Jason said weakly. “It’s all fun and games until someone dies.”
“You’re not going to die, sweetie,” Tara said, cradling him. “I’m so sorry.”
Sophie was on her knees beside him. “It’s my fault. I did this.”
Tara looked at her. “You’re damn right you did this, you fucking bitch.”
Sophie’s avatar wept openly.
The expression on Tara’s avatar
softened. “It’s my fault, too. I was so pissed off, I just… I lost it. When I was plunging my sword into you, and he intervened, I could have turned the blade away. But I didn’t. I wanted to hurt him. Wanted him to feel the pain. I don’t know what came over me.”
“Neither… of your faults,” Jason said. “It’s mine. I managed… you poorly. Should’ve… gotten permission, for Sophie.”
“Except you couldn’t have,” Sophie said. “Because you didn’t even know it was me.” She addressed Tara. “You can’t blame him. It’s all my fault. He didn’t know. I swear.”
Tara didn’t answer.
“I should have… gotten permission anyway,” Jason said. “So you wouldn’t have to trick me in the first place.”
Sophie’s avatar pursed her lips. “Yeah. That’s probably right. I guess it is your fault.”
He would have rolled his eyes if he could.
Jason was either the luckiest man alive, or the unluckiest. At the moment, he was leaning toward the latter.
Man, this harem management stuff is complicated.
Jason noticed that Aria, Xin, and even Lori had dug themselves from their plots, and had gathered around. They didn’t contribute their own repair drones, probably because there was no more room for any drones on his damaged chest region. He noted that Jerry and his War Forger clones remained buried. They understood that this was the business of Jason and his girls.
Good.
“What the hell did you do to him?” Xin said. “Not even Bokerov’s tanks did this much damage.”
“Bokerov’s tanks didn’t have the weapons they do,” Aria pointed out.
“Still, a lucky hit,” Xin said. “Or unlucky, as it were.”
“I’m pissed,” Lori said. “Really, really pissed. I want to kick both of your asses. Sophie. Tara. Fuck you!”
Neither answered.
“How come you didn’t fight those tanks as enthusiastically as you did each other, or Jason?” Lori said. “If you could penetrate his chest so easily, you could have done the same to those tanks. Instead, you held back, obviously. And now you go and do this.”
“The tanks were a little better armored,” Aria said.
“Still,” Lori said. “Oh, I’m so mad! I’m going to kick their asses!” The tail of her Stalker curved backward, and the tip lit up, as if preparing to launch a plasma bolt.
