by Kin Asdi
Zero One’s smile disappeared and said, “Yes you are, but not via the wireless link, it is much more efficient.”
“Wireless link?”
Zero Five responded, “Yes, we see you’re there. You are node Zero Zero, but you are not connected to our ring.”
Andena was speechless for a few moments and had to think hard as to what she would do. Zero One asked, “Is there a reason why you’re not connected to us?”
Andena answered instantly, “No, not really. I just didn’t know it was possible.”
“Do you want to connect with us?”
She had to make up her mind quickly because she reckoned that Miss Danette would be back soon. It was a wild guess because she didn’t know what she would get herself into but it might be something which might help her to get more information. She inhaled deeply and let the breath go again and answered, “I would like to, but I don’t know how to do that.”
The android smiled and said, “Just accept the requests to connect from each of us.”
A second later her display showed, “Node Zero One requested to connect with you. Do you want to connect (Y/N)?”
Andena smiled to the android and gave the command to connect. After she had given the command nine times her, display suddenly filled with little sentences which scrolled up so quickly that she couldn’t read them at all. Andena shouted, “Okay, okay! Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea! I can’t read that fast!”
The text messages stopped straight away, and Zero One asked, “Are you different because you’re a hybrid?”
Then it dawned on her, and she whispered, shocked by the revelation, “Yes, I’m a hybrid.”
She saw a message popping up, “Miss Danette is approaching.”
It came from Zero Nine which was the closest to the door and Andena just had enough time to compose herself as if nothing had happened. She decided to send them all a message, “Thank you for inviting me to join your group.”
Her display showed only one message from Zero One, “You are welcome Double Zero!”
She wondered whether she should ask them to address her with her real name but as long as she didn’t know where she was and why she was here it probably wasn’t a smart move.
Miss Danette entered the hall with the mug and walked straight to her and said, “Here you are.”
Andena took a few gulps from the refreshingly cool water and said, “Thank you.”
There was a small smile on Miss Danette’s face as she said softly, “Err, and if nature calls just point to your stomach. The restrooms are just outside the door on your left.”
Andena felt odd being treated like a little girl and decided just to nod.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Lunn awakened with a start upon hearing Lily’s voice so close to his ear, “Hmmm, I want you.”
His headache had improved, and the sight of her divine body lying on top of him made him feel hot. He stroked the small of her back, and he was pleased that she was still wearing her hot pants. Lunn hadn’t been surprised when Lily had confessed late that night that she desired him. It was a little awkward to be so close to her and yet not act upon his feelings. However, he had come to realise that he loved her sister, Alice, and didn’t plan on doing anything that would hurt her. Lily played with his hair and sighed deeply causing her warm exhaling breath to brush against his ear. She moaned softly and pushed her pelvis against his warm crotch, “It’s so unfair.”
He had trouble resisting the temptation to tilt his hips and savour more of her delicious body. He knew what she was referring to, but he couldn’t resist teasing her a little more. It was as hard for him as for her! He chuckled and asked, “What is so unfair Lily?”
“My sister can get what she wants but runs away from it. And here I am with the most gorgeous man in town, who is crazy about her, still completely dressed.”
Lunn saw the humour in it and said, “I’ll bet that is a first for you.”
She huffed, but she didn’t say anything. Lunn was pleased when she stopped grinding. She pushed herself up on her arms and looked him straight in the eye. Lunn loved Lily’s relaxed expression on her beautiful face and moved his head up to kiss her on her lips. Just before he touched her soft lips, she moved away and whispered in his ear, “If we’re going to kiss, you’re going to be mine. I can’t do that, Lunn. I don’t want to hurt Alice.”
Lunn took a deep breath and realised that the intimate conversation, they had last night, had made him hungry for her affection. The two sisters had a remarkably lovable quality in common but the bond that he shared with Alice was stronger, and as he patted Lily on her butt he said softly, “You’re right, Lily. It’s time to get things sorted. I assume you’re going to help me?”
“Yup. You won’t have a chance otherwise.”
Lily rolled off his body and lay next to him, stretching luxuriously. It took an immense amount of willpower on Lunn’s part not to pull her warm, voluptuous body back close to him. He couldn’t help that his body craved the sexual satisfaction, and he saw he was not the only one. Lunn knew that he had to pull himself together, and he had to get up as soon as possible before he lost control. With an immense surge of willpower, he swung his legs on the floor to sit up. With a reluctant sigh, Lily let him go. Lunn stood up a bit too fast, and he had to lean against the wall to stop himself falling back on the bed. He heard her giggling, and he warned her playfully, “Don’t you dare laugh or I will have to spank you very hard.”
She gasped and breathed, “Oh my, Lunn, such an inviting threat.”
Her sultry voice was making it even harder to leave her bedroom, but he had to go. He needed a long shower and a shave before facing up to the difficult task ahead. He turned around as he was at her door and asked, “Pick you up in an hour?”
Lily was leaning against the doorpost wearing only her ultra-short hot pants and the flimsy tank top. Lunn couldn’t help but notice that Lily’s flushed cheeks made her seem so desirable. She nodded and agreed with a smile, “Yes and bring a few sugared donuts.”
Lunn smiled back as he asked, “Sugared donuts?”
“Her favourite treat.”
Meleda stared at her screen waiting for the right moment to fire up the last two bots which would bring everything into sync. It had taken her two hours to gain control of the bots at several of Bionex’s secure locations. There had been some hairy moments when it seemed like her bots would be discovered, but she always managed to distract the operator at the other end by placing one of the old bots at an unsecured location. It was her saving grace that the other person had taken the bait and had missed the other bots that Meleda had placed. All she had to do now was wait patiently for the other operator to move away from their desk. It was a waiting game.
In the meantime, she had checked her messages, and she was very pleased to learn of Lunn’s good news. It meant that another piece of her plan had fallen into place, and the timing was spot on.
Now she had to wait for the right moment to strike. Meleda had to admit that whoever it was at Bionex was pretty good, but lacked the tools to do the job properly. Bionex was easy to hack thanks to her new encryption method.
The moment had arrived. She was about to compromise Bionex with her beautiful and carefully built trap. The gate was free and with a trembling finger, Meleda hit the key to launch the last two bots. It would take about five seconds before she would know if everything was functioning as planned. With her heart in her mouth, she saw the red lights changing one by one from orange to green on her screen. Within a few seconds, the last one flickered from orange to green. It felt like she had conquered an entire army and Meleda screamed euphorically, “Yes! I’m in!”
A new application appeared on her screen which showed all the video streams Bionex had running. She chose one where she watched a group of women walking into a large hall, and she realised it was the group of androids. When the last android passed the camera, Meleda gasped, “Oh my goodness!”
She was almost certain i
t was the girl that Haruz was constantly talking about, but she needed to have another look to be sure. She scanned the available streams and found two video feeds of the large hall in which the androids were being put through their paces. One of the feeds seemed to be controlled by someone at Bionex, who zoomed in on the androids who were sitting on a bench. Meleda felt a chill down her spine when she saw that it was without a shadow of a doubt, the woman Haruz was continually talking about. She was sitting next to the androids and Meleda didn’t like how the girl was staring at the opposite wall. She appeared to be heavily sedated. She had read about the hybrid woman called ‘Hybrid-00’ in Miss Danette’s report, but she would never have made the connection with the missing girl, Andena. Now Meleda faced an enormous dilemma, and she didn’t know what to do. Well, at least she knew one thing had to happen no matter what: the androids had to go before Bionex deployed them in a coup.
The fact that the hybrid woman was the missing Andena made it all more complex and she couldn’t see any easy solution to prevent the woman from being killed as well.
Meleda looked at the screen and saw how well the androids were moving around the obstacle course. It was fascinating and scary at the same time. It was clear they were training for an armed attack because they all carried a long stick. She knew that her actions were justified because someone had to stop the lunatic in charge of Bionex. However, the thought of being personally responsible for Andena’s death chilled her to the core.
She heard Haruz entering the apartment, and she quickly shut down the application. She hated having to keep this information to herself, but she couldn’t see any other option. Meleda realised that it would change her relationship with him forever. It would scar her deeply, and she knew if she ever told him about Andena he would risk his life to rescue her. Even if he did succeed in freeing her, then Andena would only live for a year or two because it was inevitable that her body would eventually reject her biotechnical implants. Death, when it finally came would be excruciating.
Her mind was set: Lunn had to use the ring to disable Bionex’s army. She hoped that her voice distorter would work as well as it had in the cave when she gave the command via phone. It was also the ultimate test as to how well the ring was performing, as she was more than ever convinced that they would need to use it in their fight against the aliens.
Haruz felt completely wrecked as he entered the apartment. It was only because of his empty stomach, which was complaining about the fact that he hadn’t had food since the previous morning that he was staring into the fridge. He hadn’t noticed Meleda until her soft voice startled him as she asked, “You want something to eat, Haruz?”
He had hoped he wouldn’t have to face her because it was difficult enough for him to deal with the fact that the world would soon be overrun by aliens.
Three billion bloody aliens!
More than twenty thousand space ships!
How the heck could they survive that?
“Haruz! What’s wrong?” his sister asked wearily.
He looked up at her and forced a small smile and said, “I’m shattered, Meleda. I haven’t slept or eaten since yesterday.”
He heard her sigh, and he wasn’t surprised when she softly chided, “You’re such a fool. What is more important than your health, silly?”
He wanted to defend his behaviour but when he saw her fiery expression he knew she was right. It wasn’t that smart to ignore the needs of his body. Haruz was fascinated by the confidence in her movements when she took all kinds of ingredients out of the fridge. He could look at her for ages when she was busy in front of the cooking island: hypnotised by her graceful movements which looked more like dancing. He was shaken by her question, “What was so important that you simply forgot to eat, Haruz?”
His mouth watered when she placed a plate full of steaming hot and delicious looking food in front of him. He moaned with pleasure as he tasted the warm and spicy food, and after he had taken a mouthful, he knew she was waiting impatiently for an answer.
“We were chasing after Tancred.”
The stern look on her face softened a bit as she asked, “Oh and did you get him in the end?”
“Yes. It was a real challenge to get those bloody androids working again. We lost a lot of time assembling three working androids.”
Haruz was really relieved when he saw that Meleda believed what he had said. She asked, “Where is he now?”
“Somewhere safe, far away from civilisation.”
“I want to speak to him.”
Haruz was taken aback at the resolute nature of his sister’s voice and protested, “Forget it, Meleda. He was already starting to get withdrawal symptoms, and they were worse than I have ever seen.”
“I don’t care.”
Haruz sighed.
He knew he had to keep her away from Tancred for as long as possible. He couldn’t bear her hearing the truth from the bastard. The longer Tancred was deprived of his drug, the more incoherent he would become. Haruz ate a few more bites before asking, “Can I sleep first?”
He loved the way she was massaging his sore shoulders and was very relieved when she softly said, “I guess it can wait.”
He took her hand and patted it gently as he murmured, “Thanks. Wake me in five hours.”
He slowly hoisted his tired body from the chair and walked towards his bedroom. He was too tired to think of anything other than having a decent sleep. Before he stepped into his room, he smiled at her and said, “Thanks for cooking me that wonderful meal.”
She responded in such a way as to say that his gratitude was unwelcome, “Yeah, yeah, but don’t expect me to do that every day.”
He sensed that her smile was not completely sincere which he blamed on the fact that she had to wait before she could talk to Tancred. He was hoping that the alien would lose his mind in the coming hours due to being forced to go cold turkey.
Andena was still a little breathless when Miss Danette ordered the group to stand to attention. Miss Danette had made an effort to create the most complicated track ever and was busy increasing the complexity of the route by adding extra obstacles. It was easier than Andena had thought it would be. Her computer core had helped her on several occasions such that she had completed the track not only without any mistakes, but she also had outrun the androids. Having to carry the long stick made it all more complicated and in the beginning, the androids clearly had some difficulties with it.
While she was sitting on the bench, she received a question from Zero One, “Why are you moving your chest up and down that fast?”
“I’m a hybrid which means I still have to breathe air in the same way as any other human being.”
“We know you are, but why are you breathing faster than normal?”
She wondered if it still was such a good idea to be connected to their ‘ring’ but it was more comforting than being totally alone. Her relationship with Miss Danette had changed completely, and she was disturbed by the woman’s impersonal approach towards her. The fact she still addressed her as Double Zero worried her. Andena was pulled back from her thoughts when another message appeared, “Don’t you know why?”
She responded quickly to the question, “I’ve used my muscles extensively, and they need more oxygen.”
She was surprised when the message read, “That will preserve your power pack.”
She smiled inwardly as she replied, “Yes it does.”
“We were wondering whether your algorithms were compatible with ours.”
Andena was puzzled, “Algorithms?”
“We have seen how fast you were able to master the handling of the stick, and we would like to incorporate your algorithms in our systems.”
That answer was both funny and upsetting at the same time. It brought the cold-hearted fact that she was dealing with androids that were connected to an Artificial Intelligence system to the forefront of her mind. She had nearly forgotten that they were androids because they looked and acted like real wom
en. She was reluctant to answer that question, but could see no way around it. “I’m afraid that I can’t help you with that. Those algorithms are not compatible. I’m sorry!”
“There is no need to apologise. There was a 10% chance it would be compatible, but we decided to ask you anyway.”
She was startled when Miss Danette voice disturbed the silence in the hall by shouting, “Right! I’ve changed the route. First, you’ll explore it twice and after that, you’ll do it again carrying the stick.”
Andena followed the track and relished the challenge. She was unsurprised and indeed pleased when she heard Miss Danette say, “Double Zero, show the others what you can do, and I’m sure you won’t disappoint me.”
With a broad smile on her face, Andena answered, “Yes Miss.”
Alice slowly got dressed after taking a long shower. She felt better than she did the previous day, but her brief sleep had given her a bad headache. As she looked at her reflection in the mirror, she nearly burst into tears. She felt lonely, and her empty stomach was making her feel sick. It was further confirmation that she allowed herself to get too close to a man, and the pain of separation was so painful!
She was startled when she heard a knock at her door, but she was so pleased when she heard Lily’s voice saying, “Alice, open the door. It’s me, Lily.”
She knew that her sister was a true friend who she could ask for support. Lily had been her saviour during many dark times just as she had been there for Lily when things got out of hand. As she opened the door, Lily stepped in and gave her a big hug. She heard her sister whisper in her ear, “It’s going to be okay.”
Alice suddenly realised that Lily already knew what had happened, and she gasped as she pushed herself away from her sister. She started to shake as she groaned, “No! You have spoken to him!”
Lily nodded with a sympathetic smile on her face. Alice was genuinely horrified that Lily had met Lunn, and she asked with a small voice, “What did he say?”
