by Kin Asdi
Lily guided her to the living room and ordered, “Sit down and listen to me.”
Alice knew she had to comply and sat down on her favourite love seat. Lily’s eyes were fiery when she said, “I’ve never met a man with such an incredible soul. He is sweet, thoughtful, interested in other people. Hell, he’s a gift from heaven! And you dare to let him go?”
Alice sighed because she had never seen her sister so wound-up and deep in her heart she knew Lunn was exactly what she longed for, but it scared her so much that it was making her chest constrict. She sniffed and fussed, “I don’t deserve him. It’s too good to be true, Lily.”
“Damn right it is! And you are going to love it because you deserve it.”
Alice retorted with a shiver, “Until he finds another girl who is prettier than me.”
She saw Lily stand up and pointed her finger Lily stressed, “Believe me, he is only interested in you. I envy you, Alice. He is.....”
Alice knew what word her sister was looking for and mumbled softly, “Perfect.”
It was why Alice was so afraid it would turn as bad as her previous relationship. She looked at Lily, whose face showed that she understood her fear. Lily sighed, “Alice, forget the past. Lunn is different, and you know it!”
Alice’s voice trembled when she said, “Really Lily? He is as gorgeous, as sweet, as nice as…..”
She remembered the horrible pain when her former lover had left her. She sighed and buried her face in her hands and sobbed, “Oh Lily, I don’t want to get hurt like that ever again. I’m better off without a man.”
Lily asked her with a soft voice, “And why are you in such a state, my sister? Do you just like him or is it more?”
Alice whispered, “Much more.”
“Are you sure he is perfect?”
Alice didn’t understand Lily’s question and asked surprised, “What do you mean?
“How long have you worked for him?”
“About four months.”
“Did he ever mistreat a woman in that time?”
Alice recalled what had happened between Lunn and Miss Danette and she realised that Lunn wasn’t a saint after all. He had his flaws, but he had always been genuine. She sighed and retorted, “He can be somewhat wild and unthoughtful but always regrets it later.”
Lily laughed and smirked, “Ow? Well, there is a crack in his armour already!”
Alice realised Lily was right, but she still found meeting her own self-imposed expectations suffocating. Lily murmured, “You know Alice, nobody is perfect, not even you.”
She was shocked to hear that from her sister and said wearily, “I don’t understand, Lily.”
“You need to talk to Lunn and find out together what you both want. He is crazy about you. Trust me on that.”
Alice sighed and shook her head as she murmured, “I don’t know what to say. I’m so scared I’ll mess up.”
“I’ll bet he is more scared than you.”
“I don’t believe that,” Alice huffed.
Lily offered her hand to Alice and murmured, “Come.”
Alice had no choice than to follow her and to her surprise Lily asked her, “Why don’t you ask him if he is scared?”
Alice gasped: shocked by her sister’s sudden and unexpected challenge. When it dawned on her that Lunn had been waiting outside her apartment all the time, she felt even more insecure, and she whispered, “Is he waiting outside?”
Lily smirked and shouted, “Lunn? Are you still there?”
Alice couldn’t help that she admired the dark bronze voice, but she was also able to detect the uncertainty when he retorted, “I am, Lily. I assume it’s best to leave now?”
Alice knew she had to act now and opened the door. Her body had reacted before she was aware of it and she found herself hugging him tightly. She whispered in his ear with tears running down her cheeks, “I’m sorry.”
He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her firmly as he said, “Don’t be. I’m happy to be here with you.”
Alice looked into his eyes, and it seemed as if time had stopped. The soft caress of his thumb wiping the tear away from her cheek made her shiver. The strong warm feeling in her chest grew bigger and turned into happiness. She kissed him passionately, and he responded by lifting her from her feet. The passion between them grew until Lily cleared her throat and said, “I really would like a donut now.”
Alice’s face lit up as she asked him with glee, “Donuts? You brought donuts?”
“Yup, sugared.”
Alice’s smile broadened as she cooed, “Yummy! Where did you get them from?”
She loved to hear his chuckle and was curious what his answer would be. He said, “There’s only one baker who can make the real donuts: Otellos.”
Her heart was beating a little faster as she purred, “Coffee?”
The rumble in his chest made her body tingle all over. He kissed her softly on her lips and told her off playfully, “I thought you would never ask.”
Alice huffed friskily as she chided, “Be careful mister or there won’t be any donuts left for you!”
Meleda went back to her desk after she was sure her brother was sound asleep. His reaction to her desire to speak with Tancred was both interesting and annoying. It felt like he was hiding something from her. He apparently believed that it was too shocking for her. Meleda sighed, choosing to let it go for now because she was more intrigued by what was happening with the androids and the hybrid girl Andena.
She eagerly started the application and watched as the androids left the hall. She was a little annoyed that she had missed all the action. She checked all the other channels, but it seemed that it was very quiet at Bionex.
The only thing she could do was to prepare the detection system at the Bangly plateau. Getting the equipment up there had cost her a considerable number of credits, but she knew it was worth every cent. It was a very simple system and had been neatly disguised, making it look like the rocks on the plateau. Because the androids were made mainly of metal, it would be possible for Meleda to create a fail-safe detection network that would send a signal just strong enough to the antenna array. Her system would be activated as soon as the androids were detected.
She figured that Bionex would start to train there from tomorrow. Therefore, it was the right time to initiate the system. It was an incredibly dull and boring job, as she waited impatiently for confirmation that the network was online.
Her headache was starting to be annoying. It had been niggling her intermittently throughout the day but was now becoming incredibly painful. She barely noticed when the detection system successfully came online as her head was spinning. She had known that this was about to happen, and she wasn’t shocked when she saw the few drops of blood dripping from her nose; It confirmed she had reached the next stage.
She shivered, and she had to resist the urge to cry. She was determined not to succumb to her feelings; at least until her plan was complete. Her time was clearly running out fast, and she hoped she would be strong enough to finish her mission.
She unlocked the drawer of her desk and retrieved a little pot of pills which was carefully stashed away in a secret compartment. She sighed deeply as she dropped one of the black charcoal pills on her palm. The tiny and shiny tablet looked like a black pearl and was toxic enough to kill an infant.
She estimated she had about four weeks before she would be unable to hide her medication’s side-effects any longer. The disease ran in her mother’s family, and only daughters were susceptible to it, and unfortunately, it was incurable. She hadn’t had the guts to tell Haruz when she was diagnosed with this horrible condition. There was always a valid reason not to tell him, and besides, he had suffered enough when their parents had died from a drug overdose.
Luckily the medication was doing its job, and she felt a lot better. She knew she would be okay for about a week or two, as long as she took her pills, and that would hopefully give her enough time to finish the plan.
>
Andena looked dumbfounded at the pouch with bottles that Miss Danette had just brought to her. It was a travel set and to her surprise, it contained a bottle of shower gel, shampoo, and a conditioner. It wasn’t the only thing which had her made feel a lot better: She had found a clean suit on her bed, but the sets of clean underwear and a large sleep T-shirt had made her day. She had never thought that such basic things could make her feel happy. It made her feel human again! She had enjoyed the shower, and she was brushing her hair in front of the mirror. Even though it wasn’t the type of shampoo and conditioner that she preferred, Andena thought her hair looked a lot better. With a contented smile, she was staring at herself in the mirror when without warning her display showed, “Node Zero Zero requested to connect with you. Do you want to connect (Y/N)?”
She was startled because she instantly understood what was happening: her computer core was trying to ‘connect’ with her. She wondered what to do.
It bothered her a lot that it was only happening now and hadn’t occurred any sooner. Was the core malfunctioning and what if she wanted to disconnect from it for a certain reason?
Andena realised she was stuck with it, and she was resigned to the fact that she would probably have to live with this situation for the rest of her life. She regretted that she never had any control over what happened to her, but she also accepted that dwelling on it was pointless.
She took a deep breath and commanded, “Yes.”
Andena was flabbergasted when her display only showed, “Hi.”
She snorted and responded, “Hi. Is that all you can say?”
“No.”
Andena had to count to ten to curb her frustration at the ridiculous manner in which this non-conversation was progressing.
“Maybe we should disconnect again.”
Andena was shocked by this text, and then it suddenly occurred to her that the core was behaving as if it was unsure.
She quickly asked, “Why?”
“It seems that you don’t like it.”
“I think that I have to get used to it.”
Nothing else happened, and the texts disappeared after a few seconds, which was normal. Andena panicked a little and sent another text, “Look, can we start over again? I’m a bit shocked as to why it took you so long to decide to connect with me. Is there something wrong?”
“No, all systems are running as normal. I decided to connect to you when I saw a smile on your face. It usually means that someone is at ease.”
Andena gasped. Was it the first time she had smiled to herself in the mirror? She had to admit: from the moment she had woken up in this building nothing had felt ‘right’. More than that, she hadn’t had the opportunity to contemplate her situation. Here she was, having an odd but confronting conversation with a computer core that was buried somewhere deep inside of her body.
“Maybe it was a wrong decision, and we should disconnect.”
Andena was alarmed by the text, and she responded instantly, “No! Please stay. I want to get to know you better, and I need to understand what has happened to me.”
“But you look scared.”
“I do because you’re about to disconnect which I don’t want. Please stay.”
“I’ll stay connected.”
Andena slowly exhaled the breath she had been keeping in all the time and smiled to herself in the mirror. She said, “There! I’m smiling again.”
“It’s different.”
“It is a smile.”
There was a moment of silence and Andena didn’t know what to say.
“Why is your left breast smaller than your right? Did they make a mistake with the mould?”
Andena was suddenly aware that she was standing naked in front of the mirror. She was surprised that the core had commented on her appearance, and she subconsciously covered her breasts with her arms. Rather than being angry, she was amused by the question and said, “I’m a human, and it’s normal that they should differ slightly.”
“Why do you suddenly cover them with your arms?”
“I do that when I am aware that someone is watching me.”
“It was merely an observation and analysis. Does it bother you?”
“No, not really,” and by that Andena dropped her arms again.
“It seems that I don’t know your real name, do you care to share it with me?”
Andena was taken aback by that question, but then she remembered the text she had received when she had asked the core who she was. She pondered this for a short while and said, “You can call me Andena but do not share this name with the others. Miss Danette and the androids are addressing me as Double Zero, which is fine at the moment.”
“I’m pleased to meet you Andena. How do you want to address me?”
Andena thought for a moment about what she should call her core, “How about Z? It’s short for Zero Zero.”
“That will work fine A.”
Andena giggled because she liked the way Z was responding.
She was quite tired, and she was starting to get cold. She wanted to put on the clean T-shirt and then crawl into bed for a proper sleep. She yawned as she replied, “Okay Z. It’s time for me to go to sleep. I’m very tired.”
“I can assume you need your sleep to regenerate?”
“Sort of yes. Shall we continue our conversation tomorrow?”
“That is fine with me. I’ll disconnect. Sleep well Andena.”
Andena didn’t believe that Z’s remark was genuine, after all, it was a program running at her core, but she replied, “Thanks, Z. See you tomorrow.”
Andena thought it was strange to know that she could have a conversation with her computer core. It was scary as well but she figured that she might now be able to tweak some of her settings. She’d had it with the constant popups which always seemed to appear at the most inconvenient times. But most importantly was the list of people who had control over her. If it were up to her, the list would be empty!
It was the first time that Andena had crept under her sheet with a feeling of contentment, and as soon as her head hit the pillow, she fell asleep in an instant.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
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 muscle
s 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.”
