by P. S. Power
Under that was an interplay of worry for their person on the ground. Whoever that was.
The dark skinned woman, who was in a nice red outfit that seemed more like something that a person would wear in VR than in the real world, stood up then, and turned to the wall behind her. There was no visible holo-projection, but an image popped into place with a wave of her hand. What showed was a layout of a rather large building complex. Actually, there were seventeen large structures there.
Ben didn't even have to count, since blue numbers flashed up inside his head, letting him know that when he thought to check.
"Cenprohub. The main trunk line for data and information in the continental United States." The image tightened a bit, as the lady mimicked tapping at it with her right index finger, even though she was about five feet away from the three dimensional image that floated in the air. "Our operative will be here. In building nine. This might change at any time however. The plan right now will be to send in a special team to get them out. No image will be used. Carlos, you know what they look like. Don't say any names. Not to anyone."
The large man looked slightly confused, but then gave a single nod. It made some sense, given that he'd trained almost everyone how to fight. Probably for years. His job meant that he was in a great place to know who was who.
It also meant that if he was caught, the man could potentially be a huge danger to them all. Not that much though. It came down to what he really knew about the organization. That they were trying to take down the government was kind of a big deal, but if Ben knew that much, so would everyone else. Except the spies.
"Understood." The deep voice sounded confident, even though the woman had to mean that Carlos was going in to find this person. Into a heavy fortified facility that probably had hundreds of guards, and attack robots, meant to prevent anyone from disrupting the line of data.
Almost as if reading his mind, the black lady smiled at him and nodded.
"They have a team of six guards at any given time. They're largely civilians with stunners and a shiny plastic badge, so we need to make certain we do everything carefully. What we need to do is send in a team to find our person and bring them out, while the main computers are disrupted. That's where you come in." She looked at Clark, but also over at Ben, and smiled. "Glenda, you have that part?"
Standing, the light haired lady winked at Ben.
"We need you two to get close enough to act on this, while being far enough away for plausible deniability. Clark has an outer range of nearly thirty kilometers, and right over here..." She waved then, and the projection moved, meaning she was tied into the control system for it. The other woman would have had to pass the link over to her, without him noticing it at all.
That probably meant she was more than she seemed. At the very least she had a direct mental interface with the computer. Which meant the hand waving and tapping was done to either throw everyone else off, or make them feel more comfortable. Probably the last one, since it wasn't the kind of thing that the machines would let go unnoticed, if nothing else.
"In this location. As you can see this is the city of Salt Lake, Utah. Easily large enough for a person to vanish into, but what we need you to do is go here, to this spa." The building appeared and grew in the air. It wasn't a huge thing, only having a single level, but looked well cared for and clean.
"Which would be fishy as fuck if two straight men went in there. Obviously, we'll need Ben to keep you operational, given the location in a densely populated area. So, as a cover we've arranged for all of you to go. Ali will be in charge of communications for us. Also in charge of you lot. All you ladies need to do is go in, and drag the boys along for your treatments. Get massages and facials. Just make certain that Clark can get his work done at the right time. Ali, you'll turn the bedroom into the command center. Yes, you're all sharing. We have the specs for the communications system. That part will have to be done off-line, or it will be flagged. Any questions?" She looked at them like they'd better not have any.
Mags raised her hand anyway. That got an annoyed look from Kyle, and a grin from the woman that probably had a computer inside of her someplace.
"Are we supposed to hold our position after the retrieval, or act as backup?"
Glenda blinked, but gave a serious nod. It was so clear that she hadn't expected a good question from Mags that it showed on her face. To Ben. The others seemed to not get it as clearly.
"Be ready for both. Right now the idea will be to have as little overt presence as possible in relation to this situation. If needed you might all be called on however. In that case, remember not to do anything stupid."
The whole thing felt hurried and slapdash to Ben. Not that he knew how that kind of thing really worked. One thing was certain however. They weren't being told the whole thing. On purpose.
Kyle sat up, getting their attention. His hair was a darker and more natural color than Lissa's, but also shorter. His lined face grimaced a bit.
"You'll all need to leave before morning. No need to pack anything, we've taken care of that for you, as well as identification. You're using your real names for this, since you aren't hiding where you're going. It will be flagged by the system, but that's fine. As long as you're just using the facilities, no one will be able to do more than look in that direction. Our way around that is acting at a distance. This is far from perfect, but if we can get an agent out in time we do it."
So that they wouldn't have to kill themselves to prevent their minds being ripped apart by machines. Not that it actually hurt. It was just a known thing that the mind reading devices would eventually catch you. If they had enough time to work in.
That meant they couldn't allow that kind of time for the things to do their work.
Ben raised his own hand, slowly.
Glenda glared at him, and so did all of the people at the head of the table, except the younger looking white man, who rather absently waved a hand at him. Probably not knowing how new Ben was.
"Yes?"
"If this person gets caught... Do we have contingency plans in place? To prevent... Any information from being taken from them directly?"
There was a funny thing that happened in the room then. Half the people instantly got what he meant, euphemisms aside, and the rest didn't. The ones that understood were at the front of the table, too. The younger looking man, which given the place they were in meant nothing, Ben knew, exhaled sharply.
"There is. If captured, our person will attempt to kill themselves. If that doesn't work, and they're being drained, then we have a secondary plan in place. What we don't have is that kind of a thing in place for any of you." It was a lie, and Ben rolled his eyes, not meaning to be that rude.
"Right. That's not a thing. None of us could be allowed to fall into enemy hands either. Especially me." It sounded self important, but Kyle sighed and gave him a solid look about then.
"Trust me, none of us want to put you out into the field like this. Especially with the man that can turn off most of their powers. Clark won't be able to get close enough yet without your assistance, and most of this is hinging on his abilities. We have other options, but of the ones that might work, that we can put in place in time, this one has the best chance of working." Then Kyle shrugged at him, and looked at the far wall. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to kill yourself if captured?"
It was spoken directly to him. Like they all figured that he would be the weakest link that way. Which was probably correct. On the good side he didn't know anything really. A bit, but not enough to take anyone down.
On the bad, all anyone had to do was cuff him and rub the others against him, to keep them sane and brain drain ready. If they were worked up and losing it, the machines wouldn't work very well. If they were just kind of stressed, having been captured... Well, that's the kind of thing they were designed for. That, and helping people who were trapped in their own bodies communicate.
"Yeah. It doesn't thrill me, but that kind of has to be a th
ing, doesn't it?"
The rest of his group, the psychics, all looked at him like he was insane. Glenda didn't however. She just nodded at the words, like they made sense.
"This isn't a game. What you're doing, if it were ever found out, would be enough to have all of you locked away until you died. The only reason we're sending you at all is that this will allow us to hit from a direction that no one expects. Now, we need to get some things ready. Meet out front at... Zero four in the morning. Try to get some sleep before then, if you can. I'll show you out."
There was no more small talk, or any ideas about the least painful way to kill yourself in captivity. Honestly that would have been helpful, since Ben had no clue how to get that done. Well, other than stepping off of a high building. Maybe slashing his wrists with a sharp bit of metal or composite. Other than that he didn't have a clue, having never really thought about it before becoming a Cymed. Worse, recalling the cell that he'd been in, there hadn't been anything there to use for that.
Thinking about it caused him to relive the whole thing, which was far less than fun. By the time he shook that part off, he was outside, and had gone to his knees. He was covered with sweat and his wrists hurt. His shoulders as well, from his hands having been behind him for so long.
Micha was shaking him as well.
"Ben? Ben?"
He blinked and faked a smile for her.
"Sorry. Um, flashback. Hyper-realistic. It's like virt, only better. Or in this case, worse. Why can't I ever flash back to old porn virts?" It hurt to stand, but that was just his sore legs, so he didn't mention it or let it show too much on his face. He tried not to anyway. "I'm good now."
Then they all started walking again. Clark was still off at his place, on the other side of the compound and Mags was in her old cabin as well. That meant they both broke off after a bit, promising to meet them at four. Which was still nearly eight hours away. That meant he could get a bit of a nap, if nothing else.
Not that he was tired yet.
Lissa moved into cabin five, but Micha followed him into his place, and shut the door behind her. Then smiled up at him as she pulled her shirt off.
"I need a shower. You should come too. I can do your back for you?"
Ben nodded, figuring that this was a clever way to get around the listening devices that they had, or something similar. Instead, Micha just set the water, and actually washed. He did the same, and bravely stood out of the stream of warm water for most of it. Her tan body was tight looking, and her small breasts had a nice firmness to them. Not that he was trying to stare.
After all, she didn't really think he was attractive. He knew that one for a fact. Worse, unlike the first time they'd done anything, he was actually worried that doing anything would be hard for her now. If she didn't want to, then it would be...
That part was hard to work out. After all, she was an adult, and he wasn't forcing her to do anything. He hadn't asked for her to come in with him, or even looked all that needy. As it stood he'd kind of been figuring that she just wasn't going to bother with him that way any longer. She had Clyde after all. True, he was a government spy, but also much better looking than Ben was.
The other part was clear to him however. She'd said that she liked women more than men, but nothing that she'd done, not a lingering glance or sly word, actually suggested that was real. It was just her way of trying to let him down easy. A thing that was fair enough, given everything. Ben just wasn't what women wanted. That had meant that he'd just given up on that idea a long way back. Not in a hopeless sense, but in one that was kind of liberating.
He knew where he stood in the world, so had just worked from there. Lots of good VR porn, and things to keep him occupied. Even a real job, making the coffee flow. Most people didn't have most of that, and just kind of floated through life. Which, honestly, he'd been doing as well. There had been a small bit of direction to it however.
Mainly from David.
When that had been taken away, Ben had freaked, at first. Not knowing what to do. Even climbing onto the Free Web to find solutions had been nearly impossible for him, at first. The information was all out there, in the regular data flows, but good people didn't go to places like that. Even unreal ones. Ben had however, and ended up there. In a shower with a real woman that was wet, naked... And not interested in him that way.
Smiling he shook his head, and let her soap up his back for him. It felt slippery and interesting, if nothing else. His body tried to respond, of course, since he wasn't dead, even if he was a bit too sore to do much.
They dried, helping each other again, and got out. Instead of putting clothes on, his friend, if that's what they were to each other, moved to the small bed.
"Come on. Over here?" It was tentative, and not take charge, which got him to feel awkward about it all.
He did it, and tried to seem pleasant when he spoke.
"I... You know that I read how you feel about me, the other day? You don't have to make yourself do things with me." Then Ben smiled, taking a deep breath. That made his shoulders ache again, even if the pain there had really faded, as far as the physical portion of things went. "Not that you can't if you want to anyway. It isn't like I don't want to, I'm just... It's the empathy stuff. I should just be tossing you down and doing whatever I can get away with, but I can't... Which sucks."
Thankfully she laughed at that, and patted the bed.
"I'm... Yeah, so you aren't the best looking person ever. Most aren't. I'm not either, so who am I to judge?"
Sitting he laid back, since his feelings aside, his body still wanted Micha. "Well, most women do judge, don't they? Isn't there a thing where eighty percent of women think that only twenty percent of men are good enough looking for them?" Ben didn't know where he'd heard that, but an actually study that he'd passed over on the web flashed up. He'd spent maybe two seconds on the page, but could read it all now. It was an older thing though, so might not be valid any longer.
A warm hand found him, and started to stroke.
"And yet the world somehow goes on. I think that people confuse attraction with good too often. I mean, I'm not a good person. You know that, right?" She seemed worried about that, her face showing it clearly.
Ben hadn't seen her do anything too bad, as of yet, but kind of took her meaning anyway.
"None of us really are, in the end. We can't be. The Cymeds, whoever is actually running this thing, you, me... We all have our own goals and wishes, and most of them are kind of dark and selfish when seen from the outside. Your mind wasn't any worse than most people's however. Not that I spent a lot of time in there." He was surprised when she climbed on top of him, and put him inside of her. It was distracting, since it was his first time. "Ah... Okay, that's nice. So, what's your... Dark secret? That you actually work for the government and are spying on us?"
The words had come up as a prompt for him, along with some interesting suggestions as to how to have sex. At the moment the woman on top of him, as tiny as she was, did all the real work.
"Yes." She kept going, as if she hadn't really said anything at all. "And I need you to join me."
Then she moved as well as she could, trying to make it seem like she actually cared about him in the slightest. Even Ben wasn't going to fall for that though.
Chapter seventeen
It was tricky, trying to get out of the room after that pronouncement. It could have been a joke, but given where they were and the fact that they actually had government agents all over the place, that didn't sound too likely to Ben. No, she was either telling the simple truth, and was trying to win him over with sex, using the fact that he was a young man against him, or Micha was testing him for the people in charge. If that was the case, then simply reporting her as soon as possible was a great idea.
For all he knew it had all be that kind of a thing. A way of making sure he was going to be loyal to them, and not just betray their trust as soon as he had a chance. The Cymeds. A group of people that hadn't
even tried to tell him their basic information yet. Glenda had mentioned that she planned to, and just hadn't gotten around to it for some reason.
There was a strange scent in the air. Something that reminded him of flowers a little. It was coming from the woman in front of him, her light brown skin slightly prickly looking as she kept bouncing. She did that until she tightened, letting out a soft groan. It wasn't a pleased sound. Not even a little bit. If anything it sounded annoyed.
"I fucking hate that part." Micha climbed off of him rapidly after that, and stared into his eyes. Then, about ten seconds later, she just nodded. "There we go; your pupils have expanded like they're supposed to. I was engineered to secrete a chemical cocktail that will pretty much turn anyone in close enough contact with me into a slave. You should try to move. You probably notice that you can't? Not without me telling you to." She stood as if waiting for him to try it, but Ben didn't.
After all, there were scrolling words off to his left as he looked at the figure standing next to his little bed. They told him to not move. To stall. They also reminded him that this girl, who looked young and pixie like, was fully trained to fight. Not just him, but people in full military combat armor. She had super human strength, and he was still sore enough that jogging was probably out, for the time being. That didn't give him a lot of confidence, as far as a fight went.
So he did nothing, and after half a minute or so, she nodded.
"That's right. You have to do what I say. Only me. Do you understand Ben? You do what I tell you to, and if anyone wants you to do anything other than that, I need you to check with me first. Tell me you understand."
His chest felt swollen, and burned on the left hand side. Whatever was happening inside his body, it kind of felt like he was going to have a heart attack. Before he could panic about that, and start gasping uncontrollably, he was back in medical, looking at the screen that Clyde had shown him in particular the new gland or organ that he had above his heart. Hopefully that was an indication that he had a way to beat whatever Micha was doing at the moment.