I Dated a Supervillain

by Viola Grace

  The team members froze, and the escorts chuckled.

  “Um, Miss Kitten, how long have you worked in this capacity?”

  “Eight months.”

  “How many interactions did you have in that time?”

  “Three.” Salat nudged her. “Six. Three individuals and then one persistent repeater. Three formally arranged dates. I am now on an exclusive contract.”

  The male on the left said, “I thought it would be more. You are a very attractive woman.”

  Khytten snickered. “I am suited for a niche market. My active adaptation means that I am either very attractive or completely repulsive depending on my partner’s preferences.”

  “What is your active situation?”

  She grinned. “None of your fucking business. Odds are it would be trial and error, but Zera kept folks from going after me as a novelty. The two other guys I met up with were nice, but there were no sparks beyond the obvious.”

  Salat murmured, “And as for her being for a niche market, I like her niche very much.”

  Laughter rippled through the room. Khytten looked resigned.

  Salat continued. “Fortunately, there are no restrictions against actives mating and breeding in Aksalla. We do not have any trouble with folk attacking our families. They know better than to bring in civilians or to risk being eradicated with extreme slowness.”

  Zera was amused as Khytten’s eyes bugged out. Apparently, they hadn’t had that conversation yet.

  “So, you are his romantic partner?”

  Khytten blinked. “Um, yes, but he still has to book me.”

  Salat grinned. “A bargain at twice the price.”

  “You... he still has to pay?” The woman was surprised.

  “Sure. I still have bills. Housing, that kind of thing.”

  “Oh, my god, you are the milkmaid.” The woman blinked. “I saw your file... you...” She blinked. “Your name is actually Khytten.”

  Khytten wrinkled her nose. “Yes, and don’t call me the milkmaid unless you want a solid punch to the nose.”

  Zera grinned. Khytten was armed to the teeth, and she was a superior shot. Sharpshooting might have been her second active category when she should have only had the one.

  The tribunal looked at each other and brought up Khytten’s file based on their next question.

  “How will you deal with your partner being a citizen of a country you are banned from?”

  Khytten snorted. “First, that is in the future, and second, we don’t need to live in the same place to spend time together. We don’t now, so I don’t foresee an issue.”

  Salat growled. “It will be sorted.” He tightened his arms around his kitten until she squeaked.

  Zera smiled. “They are the first solid match that the Blind Date Corporation has created.”

  “What about you and Torun?” The man on the left spoke.

  “Our match created the Blind Date Corporation and the legislation that lets the team members pay for escorts.” She smiled. “Once that was in order, we could date in public with the auspices of the law on our side. Of course, given my nature, I welcomed other patrons, but Torun still gets to go first when he is available.”

  Tycho chuckled. “And sometimes we make group arrangements.”

  There was a combination of nervous laughter and knowing chuckles. The tribunal looked at each other and shrugged.

  A gavel banged, and the speaker said, “As regards to the dispensation of Researcher Zera, we find that there are no grounds to hold her, and she may resume her normal activities in her various businesses. The findings of this tribunal are that she is of more use to her country in her standard capacity than as a research subject. She is free to go but is requested to answer a questionnaire as to her status with medical reports every six months. Is that acceptable, Zera?”

  “It is. You have my contact information, so if you don’t mind, I have somewhere to be this evening. I would like the return of my com if you could manage it.”

  One of the peacekeepers came up and handed her the com. She put it on her wrist. “Any luck decrypting it?”

  The female in the tribunal snorted. “No. Whoever did your security is a monster.”

  Zera laughed. “Yeah, she is.”

  “Why isn’t she working with the government?”

  “She doesn’t like peacekeepers.” Zera smiled. “Also, she is another person whose interests became a secondary activation.”

  The tribunal looked at her. The man on the left said, “Do you have her name?”

  “She’s here in this room. Ask her yourself. As for me, I am on my way out. Have a pleasant day.”

  She left, and the room emptied out behind her, silent footfalls of those who found her useful created the feeling of a gathering storm. They exited the room, and the gathering outside encapsulated her while leading her to one of the team vehicles.

  Tycho got behind the controls, and Ryma took the passenger seat, while Torun sat next to Zera in the back. “Where do you want to go, Zera?”

  “I need to head to the research building. There is a project I have to attend to.”

  Torun raised his brows. “I thought we could celebrate.”

  She snorted. “We celebrated yesterday in front of the researchers.”

  “I thought we could celebrate as a team.”

  “As soon as I check on this project.” She took his hand and squeezed it. “This is really important to me.”

  Tycho was already driving. “To the research centre we go.”

  She paused and then said, “Wait. Take us to Blind Date Corporation. That way, we won’t need to use a portal.”

  Ryma asked, “We were going to use a portal?”

  “Yeah, but out of everybody who was in that room, this is the group I trust with what I am going to show you.”

  She gave them the coordinates, and Tycho headed for her building. Now that they knew she was the owner of Z-Tech, things made a lot more sense, she could tell. Tycho’s next words confirmed it. “I know you were a developer for the peacekeepers and the teams, but when did you open Z-Tech?”

  “When I was fourteen. Susara’s parents were killed shortly afterward.” She sighed. “That is what started all this.”

  They pulled up in front of the building, and she got out, squared her shoulders, and headed for the main entrance. The team was behind her, and they went through the lobby, nodding to security on their way to the executive lift.

  It was funny to have them all in the lift. “This is the tightest fit I have ever had with you three.”

  They chuckled, and Torun pulled her against him. “Why are we going down?”

  “Because I picked this location perfectly. A secure spot was needed.” They went down sixty feet, and then, the doors opened to Zera’s private lab.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “Holy gods.” Tycho stared as they exited, and some of the most exotic tech on the planet was laid out before them.

  “Yeah, don’t peak too soon.” Zera went to a wall with a huge metal door and used her hand, eye, tongue, and vocal registry. “Time to wake up, Dainty.”

  The door clicked and slowly opened. The vault opened, and the team members behind her stared in shock at the tube and the two dozen recumbent beds with the bodies of Susara on them.

  Torun asked, “Zera, what is this?”

  “This is Dainty’s true activation. She started to make copies of herself when she activated. They were living bodies but not awake or aware. It wasn’t until she was killed with our parents that we understood what they were for. The oldest body got moving, but she was missing her memories, so I found a mind transfer active and hopped through them. After that day, I kissed her forehead and downloaded her mind once or twice a week.”

  Torun was staring. “I have seen you do that. So, Susara is alive?”

  “She is. Her heart beats, her body moves, and I just have to give her her mind back. So, we are here today to get me my sister back.”

  Ryma loo
ked around. “How many backups does she have?”

  “Here, twenty-four. Around the world. A few more.” She laughed. “Before you ask, they age as she ages.”

  “That is so odd.” Tycho looked into one of the enclosed beds and looked at the empty shell. “Why couldn’t you just upload her psyche into her empty body?”

  “The connection between body and soul was broken. When the doll maker did his work, he shredded through memory engrams, shorted out nerves, and gave her a dying brain. There was no coming back from that.”

  She triggered the tank to flush the fluid that the body had been in, and when the body was curled on the empty grill, she had the tube rise.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Removing the electrodes that have been helping her with muscle tone. One time I had to do this, and she just flopped around for a week. So, now I have a series of electrodes that I put in, and it runs her body through an exercise regimen. She’s still weak, but she will be able to walk with help.” Zera went to a cupboard and pulled out an adorably soft blue suit with rigid struts in it.

  Torun asked, “What is that?”

  “It’s a walking suit.”

  Tycho looked at it. “I have seen those in hospitals for paralyzed victims. They can get them up and around until a healer for their issues can be located. It keeps their organs healthy.”

  “And handles waste until muscle control can be regained.” Zera set it down near the body that was sleeping peacefully.

  She picked up her sister and carried her to a cleaning station, washing and drying her before setting her in a chair. Zera noticed that she had an audience. “Can I get some privacy?”

  The team said, “No.”

  She snorted. “Fine, I guess I did invite you down here.”

  She sat next to Susara and leaned in, pressing a kiss to her forehead. She exhaled, and her mind expanded to let the backup of Susara flow into her. The data had already been updated by the machines. This was to restore her soul.

  Susara was still for a moment, and then, her eyes moved, and her lashes fluttered open. “Zera! How long have I been gone?”

  “Just over a week.”

  “How much time did I miss before upload?”

  “Two days, including the day that you died.”

  “Aw, geez. I am so sorry. Hopper, why are there three team members looking at me?”

  “It has been a helluva week. Oh, and all our stuff burned, except for what I put in storage. The house is gone.”

  “What? Damn. Is my suit ready?”

  “Of course, bossy boots. It’s good to have you back.” She stroked the candy-coloured hair away from her sister’s face. “I missed you.”

  Zera took a deep breath and continued the briefing, “Oh, the Blind Date Corporation had been exposed because of a mouthy purple jackass who shall not be named.”

  “Zera, I am right here.”

  She ignored him.

  “How is the team?”

  “They are good. We have lost Eleven as an escort. She’s still on the books, but she has an exclusive contract.”

  “Wow, we can do that now?”

  “Her patron insisted, and since she is specific, it seems right.”

  Torun chuckled. “If Zera could handle it, I would go for the exclusive immediately.”

  Zera smiled. “But then, he would have to stay home and spend hours satisfying me, and then, do it all over again the next day.”

  Dainty smiled and struggled into the bodysuit with Zera’s help. When she was dressed, she asked, “Did we get him?”

  “We got him. Mentor dead, doll maker dead and in pieces.”

  Dainty hugged her. “Did you see Delvis?”

  Tycho said, “He was taken into custody.”

  “So, you didn’t kill him?”

  “No, if you want to, though, you aren’t technically alive again yet.”

  Dainty giggled. “You have made improvements to the suit.”

  “Nothing is too good for my little sis.”

  Tycho asked, “Why do you call each other sisters? You are obviously not related.”

  Susara smiled. “She was there when I was born, she helped me with my first steps, and she went through school with me, held me when our parents died, and helped me train for the program. Ohmygod. Did we take the exam?”

  Torun chuckled. “You did. You passed, top of your class. Zera passed, too, using analytical skills and surprising physical prowess.”

  Susara blinked. “What?”

  “I wore him and punched my way out of a rubble pile.”

  “Nice.”

  Torun laughed. “It felt most peculiar. Like she was touching me from the inside.”

  “I got out of you as fast as I could.”

  He chuckled. “We have very different instincts. When I am inside you, I want to stay there as long as possible.”

  Susara got her suit sealed, and she wavered to her feet. Her eyes went wide, and she winced. “Right. So, the suit has attached.”

  Zera chuckled. “Great. Let’s go break in your stomach.”

  She looked at the team. “Did you want to come? We are going up to the Blind Date headquarters.”

  They nodded. “We are at your service until we get a call, researcher.”

  “Right. Out of the vault and into the lift.”

  Susara smiled and let Zera help her as they left the vault with her bodies inside and the door locked up behind them. They headed to the lift, and Tycho asked, “If I am a very good boy, can you bring me back here and give me a tour?”

  Zera held her sister up and gave the ocular scan for the upper levels where Blind Date was located. They exited the lift, and once again, they looked like they had stumbled into a candy store.

  Torun asked, “Does every escort have their own rooms?”

  Zera nodded. “Of course. Makeup, bathing, and grooming facilities. The wardrobe tailored to that particular escort, it is all here.”

  She walked Susara to the kitchen area and looked at her companions. “Anyone hungry?”

  Everybody agreed that they were hungry, and that was enough. Susara grinned. “Oh, this is gonna be good.”

  Zera started chopping, mincing, sauteing, and moving around the kitchen while noodles cooked and rice steamed. In half an hour, plates were slid in front of Susara and the team. “Susara eats first.”

  The team got the hint, and Zera brought out another round of fried dumplings and blazing hot dipping sauces. Susara liked heat.

  The food-prep orgy stopped, and she put stuff in the washer before heading to the table. The sticks were all that she had provided, and the team wasn’t nearly as dexterous as they should be for international travellers.

  She took a few bites, and then, she turned to Torun. “Open.”

  He opened his mouth, and she dropped in a mouthful worth of stir fry.

  He ate, and Tycho leaned forward and opened his mouth. She fed him and Ryma as well.

  She got what she needed first and then helped them speed up their eating while Susara giggled.

  Susa chuckled. “By the way, Zera, you and Torun totally look like a couple. I like that suit.”

  “Thanks. They gave it to me for the teams’ tribunal today that decided whether I would be allowed to walk free.”

  Susa said, “What? Catch me up.”

  Torun grinned. “We had to have sex in front of researchers for hours to prove her activation.”

  Susa frowned. “Wasn’t that one of the top ten fantasies in your file, Torun?”

  He blinked. “You read that?”

  “Sure. She can’t vet all that information on her own. I design the costumes tailored to the fantasy lists. Zera’s extruders make the designs come to life. I had some great ones for Eleven, but I never got a chance to see them on her.”

  “I showed a few to her, and we just have to let her patron pick. I am sure he is going to go for the spring priestess outfit.”

  Susa smiled. “Nice, who is her patron?”

>   The team answered as one, “Salat.”

  Susa blinked. “Really? Wow. Oh, wait. The human milk-cream thing. Right. Makes sense.”

  Ryma asked. “You don’t even comment on the compatibility issue elsewhere?”

  Susa shook her head. “No, Eleven has all of the characteristics of a woman who has just given birth; she could fit a melon in there if she absolutely had to.”

  Torun sighed. “Ah, I am in mourning for a missed opportunity.”

  Zera smiled. “Try it with her now. I dare you.”

  His look was black. He wouldn’t admit it, but Salat was more dangerous than he was. The projection blades he wielded could easily behead an opponent, and Torun would have to crush Salat before he got close enough to murder Torun. No one did well without a head.

  Zera kept eating, and when she was finished, she waited until the team and Susa had their fill. She boxed everything into containers and put it in the fridge for any escorts who were peckish after their dates. There was an open-fridge policy.

  As if summoned, Fifteen came into the space and froze. She had her mask dangling from her fingertips, and she blushed crimson in seconds. “Uh. Hi. Sorry, Zera, I just came in to get a drink before I get ready.”

  “It’s fine. Sorry. We were just having a meal because Susara is back with us.”

  Susa grinned and waved. “Hello again. Rumours of my death were accurate. I am the backup of the backup of the backup. It’s one of my activations.”

  “Well, I am just going to ease past you and grab a drink and then be on my way to my changeroom.”

  She eased past the team and grabbed a sports drink from the fridge. She then eased past them again, and Zera watched as Torun and Tycho were looking at their available escorts, and Fifteen wasn’t on their listing.

  Torun asked Zera, “Why can’t I see her profile?”

  “She isn’t for you. She doesn’t have physical resistance, she has mental resistance, and you don’t need that.” Susara sipped at the tea that Zera had made for her. “There are other patrons rather than the ones who can lift cars.”

  Zera nodded. “If either of you two got excited, you would tear right through her.”