As a reminder, you can find MORE of this on my SubStar (dot adult slash KajaWilder), it's posted up past chapter 60 there... And if you guys haven't seen an update in at least a week, please let me know! I have a busy life, and I get distracted and forget things. This story (and PTaL) are supposed to be updated WEEKLY from now until they're both caught up with each other (like I was doing with FwB until this weekend).
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MERRY CHRISTMAS, Happy Hannuka, Happy Kwanzaa, or whatever holiday you do or don't participate in this time of year! I won't be repeating this message for the next (few!) posts, but be aware (as many of my long-time readers are), I tend to drop a few chapters at least, on this particular day of year. So expect more! In fact, expect more of this, too. ;) There will be more ZPoW, PTaL, and FwB in fact. :)
Chap. 39: Re/Set/Up
"What the fuck just happened," Maline roared as she stepped into Lab One at a near-sprint, her boss and Lt. Colonel Phillips hot on her heals.
"We don't know," one of the scientists shouted right back. They were clearly as incensed, as worried, as she was. But Maline didn't care, didn't have time to care. Not if their project was going to succeed.
"Then find out! We need to know what happened to that Portal!" The speaker then was Phillips, who sounded not only incensed, like she and her boss were, but terrified, too. He was keeping a tight lid on it, but she had known the man since he retired from active field research and taken the lead on GameFreak's project from the Military Research Division of Pacific's security forces. He was smart, a decent leader and a decent man, but he was not one who hid his emotions well.
"I don't understand," another scientist grumbled loudly, "The Portal's been stable for forty years! Why did it suddenly flicker, and then wink out? And how did Yggdrassil know it was going down?"
"Could've been a time delay," a woman half-way across the room called back, "We've suspected there might be one between the dimensions for a while, but this could be proof. Most of the computer's housed on that end, and if it saw the portal flicker it might've pulled the plug in time."
Maline gasped and sent a horrified look toward Robert Jones, the VP of R&D, her immediate supervisor. "If we lost that whole batch of testers..."
"We'll never get approval for another one," Jones muttered darkly as he set his hands on the railing that separated the administrator's dais from the control room floor.
"As touching as that concern is," Phillips hissed with almost uncontrolled fury, "I'm more concerned about Specimen RDV and that wonder-couple Maline's always going on about than the rank-and-file. They have the best chance of success, I could care less about the little people."
"Touching," Maline grunted back, forcibly restraining herself from poking the military scientist in the chest with a hard finger, "how much you care. Need I remind you that you should care? We need them as backups if nothing else, if something happens to the 'stars'. For genetic diversity, too. The seeding process has started already, yes, but if we lose too many too fast, it could derail the whole thing. Not to mention finding another batch of candidates, funding and training them, building their Combinants..."
"Yes, yes, I know all that," Phillips groused, and visibly calmed himself. At least, outwardly. "The fact remains that they are replaceable, though. Even your precious stars. But RDV is not."
"We have a dozen other candidates who've already received their first or subsequent injections of Ditto DNA," Jones told him quietly, "with any luck at all this will be a more successful run than the last one. Even RDV isn't irreplaceable. With the new training methods we've come up with based on her own growth, we estimate we could have another candidate of her power level and ability within six years instead of sixteen."
Phillips' hands tightened on the same railing Jones' were gripping, his voice low and just shy of threatening so it didn't carry over the hubbub below, "Good, but what if we don't have six years? You know what the environmental reports say. The tumult of the mid-late 2000's was nothing compared to what's coming if they're right."
"Domes-" Jones began.
He was cut off by his subordinate, who forced her smaller frame between the two men bodily, to take a similar position though her own arms were crossed beneath her chest to help distract them both. "This isn't a dick measuring contest, gentlemen. Robert, we all know Domes might work, but it's risky. They failed on Mars and the aerial cities on Venus just won't be feasible if we can't get the mag-lev tech to the right level, and right now it's just too power-intensive given how weak Venus' field is compared to Earth's. Ten times is a lot, and it requires sixty times the power to make a city- or even a single generator- float at that altitude. The winds' too fierce for balloons, unless you forgot that experiment in your history books. We have two choices if this fails: Europa, or we die. And Europa's too cold and small to sustain us for long.
"Greg, he's right. We can't give up because of one setback. We built the portal based on dreams, remember? Dreams of another world. Those dreams were sent. We don't know by who, but we know to who. We have the records, the schematics. If we have to, we can build the whole thing from scratch again, send a 'mon through- maybe a home-grown Combinant- and re-establish connections with that side of Yggdrassil to restart the program. It's not the end of the world, it's a setback. A setback at worst. We're going to get through this, so keep your fucking heads, both of you."
"Ma'am," the same female scientist who'd offered up the time delay looked up at the big screen, a gesture from the haptic command unit on her left hand duplicating her display to the large holo-screen. "We- we did lose a few, about six people, mostly- no, entirely- those with lower Sync Rates. They took too long to disengage."
"Who?" Maline asked, ignoring the two men who might both be considered her bosses for the moment.
Most of the eyes in the room moved to the large display as the woman read them off. "Carter, Camille; Cho Yurie; Sugimoto Kensuke; Valentine, Elias; Uriel, Throckmorton; Porter, Harriet. That's all six, ma'am."
One or two of the names sounded vaguely familiar to Maline, but she put them from her mind for the moment. "And the rest made it back alright?"
"Yes," a man to the first speaker's right split the large screen to show his own, "One came really close to suffering permanent memory loss, but we think he came through okay."
"Get a med- and psych team to that man's room, and the vegetables, as soon as possible," Jones ordered, "and send someone to collect the vegetables. They can at least be useful in creating more Combinants through artificial means."
He turned to Maline next, "What's the protocol for replacements?"
"We don't have one in place yet," she said, forcing herself not to care that her boss had just ordered six human bodies- alive but brain-dead- to be used for DNA harvesting or even gestation and insemination. It's what had to be done, whether it was pleasant or not. Even those with lower Sync Rates made better Combinant descendants than those who had never even been in the 'game'. No one really knew why, but something about passing even their psyches through the Portal helped the bodies convert to accept Ditto DNA easier. Her personal theory, as wild as it seemed, was that whomever, or what-ever, had sent the dreams that lead to the creation of their successful franchise and eventually the designs for the Portal itself were one and the same... and that the same being was altering, somehow, everything that came through the Portal. At least, every living thing. She had no proof, but it was a strong feeling regardless.
"Why not?" Phillips asked, sounding more confused than upset now.
"Because we've only lost one until now, and it wasn't necessary," Maline huffed, her eyes still scanning the screens of several of the scientists and technicians below them. "With seven down total we'll probably need to look into it, but for now we can continue with two hundred and ninety-four."
"The Rattata rapist?" Jones asked quietly.
Maline nodded, "Yes. We do have other candidates in mind, we'll just have to alter the procedure a bit to let them know they're replacing others who washed out of the program for one reason or another. Don't have to make a big deal about it, so they won't ask questions."
Jones snorted, "They won't ask too many questions anyway. The rank and file know better, and the smarter folks like your pet Ward already know we've got something else going on."
"Details," Maline gave a wane smile, "Anyway..."
She turned her attention to the staff below, "Lab One, here's your primary directive going forward. Get. That. Portal. Up. Once it is up, find out why it went down. Lab Two is going to be assisting with a few personnel if needed, so liaison with them to figure out what you need. We don't-
"Ma'am! Sirs! The Portal- it's- it's back online!"
Seven hundred meters away, in a room none of them could see with their own eyes, Lab Two's main monitors started feeding onto the largest holo-screen in Lab One. Indeed, the massive circle that lead to the other universe was shimmering once more, clad in the same silver and gold sparkles that whirled endlessly within its golden ring, as space itself warped within the impossibly thin disk into a vague purple-black... nothing. Even looking at it now, Maline felt both horror at the impossible void within, and an incredible excitement, because she knew what was on the other side. When it was first built, the Portal was not stable, but it always, always went to the same place while open. This time would be no different.
"Then go to step two," she ordered sternly, "figure out why the hell it went down, and get that report on my desk yesterday. We can not afford to lose more people during the testing phase. It takes too long to get new ones ready to go and in the right mind-set to start seeding. What happens if the Portal goes down while our people are whole-sale moving over, huh? It cannot happen again, so figure it out."
Then she turned to Jones and Phillips, "I'm going to go question a few of the Testers. See if they heard or saw anything unusual right before Yggdrassil sent them back."
"I'll stay here and work on this end," Jones nodded, "Keep me updated."
"I suppose I'll get back to Fifty-Five and light a fire under the crew updating the new MMI interfaces to the SoNinten system. We need as much help as we can get if we really are going to have a new batch of Combinants as promising as RDV is in six years. If we last that long."
"We will," Maline assured him, "At least, we will. You might not if you keep grousing like that, Phillips."
Much of the anger and fury and fear had left the two men as soon as it was announced their lifeblood, the Portal to another world in an entirely different dimension that was not only livable but inviting to human life, was operating once more.
Adisa shuddered, wracked with spasms as her body finished the orgasm it had been undergoing when the emergency server shut-down had kicked her out of the game. She had been fucking Morley doggy-style, taking him as she now enjoyed her 'mons, with one hand stroking her adorable, powerful Machop, when she had received the message inlaid into her internal HUD. Server crash... a countdown of five seconds, and then she had left the game before she could stop it, or even stop him.
And her sheets were drenched, the tiny room at the middle of the first hall, sixty-seven, smelled of her arousal and orgasm quite strongly. She groaned and sat up, feeling herself dizzy and faint. The nanites that took care of her body while she was asleep must have been working overtime, because the feeding tube was nearly dry as she pulled it from the mount in her side before the techs could get to it.
They took forever anyway, since they always had so many questions and started in the first couple of rooms before making their way down the hall numerically. She'd probably even have time for a shower. But first, the datapad on her end table hit her hands, and a simple command went out.
Sheets changed, room sixty-seven. In shower. Questions can wait.
It was sent to the office just outside the residential area (or so they'd been told) of the floor the Special Beta Testers had occupied, where it would be relayed to those who needed it, most importantly the housekeeping staff.
When she stepped out of the shower, a handsome young man a year or two older than herself was changing the sheets as she had requested. "Sorry, ma'am, I'll be right out of your way."
After the last weeks in the game, Adisa thought nothing of this stranger seeing her naked and dripping, but she covered up with a towel to save him from embarrassment if nothing else. He seemed to appreciate it. "Don't worry about it," she told him, "I just... was having a bit of fun when the server crashed and kicked me out. Apparently my body didn't want to stop so close to the edge."
The housekeeper snorted with a sense of embarrassed amusement, "That's gotta suck. At least you, uh, finished, right?"
"Looks like it," she chuckled, "Sorry if it's gross."
He shrugged as he wadded the sheets into the bag he would be using to transport them to the cleaners on some other floor of the colossal GameFreak Headquarters, her new ones already stretched out over the bed. "I've had worse."
"Sorry. You... aren't going to sniff them, are you?"
For some reason, that made the shy man laugh out loud, and she heard him say, "I'm not into that. Not into women, actually... so you're safe with me."
"Ah," Adisa acknowledged as she opened the narrow drawers that held some of her more comfortable clothing for walking around the floor in the real world, "Well, that's alright. What's your name? I'm Adisa, Adisa Chuke."
"Kelso Abernathy, at your service, ma'am. I'm normally the orderly for one through ten, but they've pulled out all the stops with the crash, so we're doing extra work today. I just happened to be available when you woke up."
She blinked, "When- When I woke up?"
Kelso scratched his jaw as he stood up, hefting the bag with her soiled sheets, "Yeah, I don't really know why, but when stuff like this happens people wake up at different speeds. I just finished with all ten of my rooms, in fact, when I came down here. Your own orderly hadn't gotten through room three. You were one of the last to wake up, actually."
"That's strange," Adisa murmured, "Because I was... well, I was still finishing when I woke up."
"Huh. That's strange, for sure. Maybe talk to your tech or doctor about it? I don't know enough about it to say, sorry. I'm just a cleaner and orderly."
"I'll make sure to mention it," she agreed as he stepped toward the door that led into the hall. "Good to meet you, Mr. Abernathy."
"Just Kelso, ma'am," he shot back with a grin, all embarrassment at having her sheets covered in evidence of her orgasm or her recent nakedness seemingly forgotten.
"Just Adisa then. Good to meet you- I hope you have a pleasant day."
He tipped a non-existent brim of a hat and left with a smile.
She so enjoyed meeting new people, even if she could've done without being nude for it. At least he hadn't minded, some companies' HR departments would've had a field day with that. Now, she just had to wait for her tech to come ask some rather silly questions, and she could get some real food for once.
Nanites might keep her healthy with the nutrient-rich liquid that came through the tube, but it was no substitute for actual food in her stomach when she was awake to feel it.
None at all.
Alex was just stepping out of the bathroom and reaching for his robe when Maline Greengrass herself, with a rather attractive young Orderly he wasn't familiar with yet walked into his room without knocking. "Mr. Ward," she said by way of preamble as he hurried to cover himself with one hand and reach for his bathrobe with the other, "As you might know, this server shutdown was unintentional."
"I thought something was off, yeah," Alex grumbled, very frustrated. He didn't even really have time to be embarrassed that Maline and the Orderly who was efficiently going about changing his sheets was trying not to look at his cock.
It just... wasn't going down. Even with the two beautiful women in the room when he was all-but naked. Even with the release that Stirling had given him, he was just too pent up. He and Elle had been waiting for what felt like an eternity to finally go all the way, seal the deal, actually have real sex. Then, right when they had been about to do it...
Cockblocked.
Again.
While he forced himself to act as casually as possible while Maline sat on one of the small chairs by the window into the hallway, he had the stray thought, Maybe I won't change Cock's name. Especially if he's going to turn into a defense powerhouse. Cockblocked... story of my life.
"The reason is still being investigated," Maline told him, and was almost proud of herself because the statement was true, even if it wasn't because of any server instability, "but rest assured we're looking into it. In fact, the system- the server- is actually back online now. But we care about our Testers and employees, and we don't want anyone going back in until we're sure everything's alright."
Alex frowned as he took a seat on the bed, as was customary during the questions GameFreak liked to ask whenever they left the game after an extended period. "That doesn't sound good. Were there problems? Did something happen?"
Maline lied easily, "No, no, nothing like that. We've had a couple of people willingly log out and discontinue the program we'll be replacing, but aside from that nothing too terrible has happened. Well, except for this crash, of course."
"So it actually went down?"
Maline lied again casually, a little frustrated that one of the highest Sync Rates they'd had on any Tester so far was also in a person smart and brave enough to ask the kind of questions she didn't want to answer. "Not completely, but it was about to. We got it shut down in time ourselves. When one of the big AI systems go down these days they can take weeks to boot back up properly and re-learn everything they need to, so it's good we got it shut off in time."
"I'll say," Alex grumbled, "That would've been tough, losing out on a couple of weeks of test time."
"I know," Maline chuckled, "Can you just imagine, three hundred people cooped up on one floor of a building for that long? I'm not sure the folks upstairs would approve any leave given the time you all have been inside. The NDA is good, but it's not infallible and we really can't afford for too much to get out at this juncture."
Alex nodded along, "Well, if it goes on that long I have to say I'd definitely prefer to get out. Not that the facilities here aren't more than adequate, but I do have a family and responsibilities outside the game, too."
Maline raised her hands to suggest there was nothing she could do, "I'll ask about it, of course. I wouldn't blame you all for feeling a little cooped up in here, with that big wide world you've all been exploring so avidly. But hopefully we can keep you all... entertained. After all, most of the things you can do in the game you can do here, too."
Alex couldn't help but think the timing of the attractive older woman shifting her legs to flash him a view of red lace panties was hardly a coincidence as she said that, but he wasn't sure how to respond, so he said nothing.
"At any rate," Maline told him as she picked up the datapad she had just put down a moment before, "Let's get started with the questions, and I've a couple more I'll need to record your answers for based on the server issues."
"Fair enough," Alex nodded. Thankfully, he was quite used to the thirty-something questions they asked by now, and was able to give his responses quickly since he could process the answers needed before the question itself was asked. The whole process took about eight minutes, then she switched the 'pad's audio recorder on and set it down.
Maline leaned in next as the Orderly finished wiping down his bathroom, and opened her legs like a man might sit, emphasizing both the underwear he was sure she knew she was showing him, but also the generous cleavage that was displayed by her expensive suit. "Alright, Mr. Ward, can you tell us anything else about the crash you know of? Anything unusual that you might have seen or done before it went down?"
He turned red. "Uh..."
Maline smiled and licked her lips, pointedly glancing down at his crotch beneath the robe, where his dick, which had just started to relax finally under the barrage of questions, stiffened once more. "No need to be embarrassed. I checked on the way in, you were about to have some fun with Miss Berkman, yes? We understand- I'm a little jealous to be honest, she's quite a cutie, and you're a fine-looking man yourself."
He swallowed nervously, "You- you aren't going to tell me not to?"
"We've been over this," Maline reminded him, "She's legally an adult in every way that matters, now. Do what you want with her. In game, or out, it doesn't matter as far as we're concerned. Keep it confined to our floor if possible, at least until she's what most of the world considers of a more appropriate age, but you two aren't so far apart I see anything wrong with it. I can assure you, we didn't forcibly shut down that entire po- program- just to keep you from having sex with an avatar of a girl you clearly have feelings for."
Alex gulped again, "I... I suppose that would be a bit much, right? So... well, no, then. I mean, I had just gotten by Armory Badge."
"Congratulations on that, by the way. I've seen your attempt against my counterpart in The Underground, as I've mentioned to you before, but I haven't watched this go. Miss Berkman's run against The Aerie was impressive, though she relied a little too much on luck."
Alex nodded, "But she still won."
"That she did, and the game is supposed to factor all possible skills in. Luck itself- while unreliable- could be considered a skill all its own. I do like her style, though. If I were a player myself, I think I'd favor hers over yours, but that's just me. Nothing wrong with the way you play. Still, you noticed nothing unusual? Nothing strange happened in the hours or even day before the system shut down?"
He swallowed, "Well... I mean, after I beat the Gym Leader, she, uh, took me to her office... and we..."
"You fucked Brigid? That bitch," Maline laughed, ignoring the young Orderly's blush as she moved to stand patiently by the door, her job finished for now. "I heard she's a great lay, but not a lot of people have earned that right yet. Yggdrassil did a great job with her... she's one of the ones the system came up with on its own, not modeled after anyone in the real world."
And it was true, in a way. Nadine Minier was Maline's literal counterpart, a Combinant version of herself, but Brigid Stirling was a native of that world, and as far as anyone at GameFreak knew, she didn't have a counterpart on their side of the Portal. It was just her luck that the woman would be so intractable to their plans. At least she wasn't directly opposing them.
"She's... she is impressive, I'll give her- you- that," Alex agreed, "even if she's not what I go for. And yeah... it was amazing. But no, I... if that's not 'unusual', then I haven't seen anything weird. Our Pokémon were behaving normally, and all the people I interacted with didn't do anything unusual that I could spot, either. The only thing I really noticed was a bank account issue."
"Oh?"
He nodded, "Yeah, Elle noticed it actually. She's missing about two thousand out of her Trainer account. She's still got a fair bit, but now I'm the wealthy one."
Maline's hands blurred through several dozen screens of the datapad, then she read for a moment before snickering, "Ah, I see the issue. The withdrawal was made a couple of days ago, and it seems quite legitimate. She was probably just too busy getting herself worked up to notice you offering the concierge a 'generous tip'. He took out a very generous tip indeed, it seems."
Alex grunted, "That thief..."
"Is he, though? You told him to take a tip, and make it good. You could have set a limit... and it isn't like he bankrupted the girl."
"I suppose not," Alex grumbled, "but she's going to blame me."
"Well, it is sort of your fault," Maline said with a smile, and leaned back once more before reaching to undo the top button of her jacket. "But I'm sure you'll be fine once you get logged back in and can make it up to her. But in the meantime, there's something else we should discuss, you and I. Miss Carlisle, go over there and suck Mr. Ward's cock, would you?"
"Yes, ma'am," the Orderly murmured quietly, and her face turned bright red but she didn't hesitate in setting her bag of used linens and cleaning supplies down before crossing the room between he and Maline. She was already on her knees when Alex found the mental power to protest, "Hey, what the- stop! What're you doing?"
Maline's smile only widened, "As I said, Mr. Ward, I'm sure we can keep you entertained. There's a reason I sent Mr. Abernathy to a different section today. I'm aware Miss Carlisle fits your preferred 'type' as far as appearance goes... you find her attractive, don't you?"
"W- Well, yes," he grumbled, one hand over his erection, the other trying to keep his robe closed even though the girl was pretending to put up a fight and tug it open. "But that doesn't mean I- I need to just- stop, would you?"
"Oh, let him be for now, Miss Carlisle. Just stay there, I'm of a mind to change his. That's a good girl." Then she turned her attention back to Alex and leveled a piercing look his way, "I'm trying to do you a favor, Mr. Ward. Alex, do you mind if I call you that? You can call me Maline, too, if you wish. Or ma'am."
His eyes narrowed slightly, but he nodded, glad that the girl had at least stopped trying to completely undress him, even if his cock begged to let her continue. "I just- ordering someone to do that isn't- it's not right."
"Isn't it? Do you want to do it, Miss Carlisle? Would you like sucking him off?"
"I think so, ma'am," the girl answered quietly. She was cute, young, probably part Nipponese but with a bit of Afrikaans in her too, a modern mishmash of ethnic groups. A little curvier than Elle, but shorter too, and about his own age.
"Then I don't see what the problem is," Maline questioned, "You're a cisgender heterosexual man who has a girl between his legs willing to blow him, and you're turning her down? That's surprising."
"She's not- I don't want just anyone to-"
"Ah," Maline grinned wider now, "I see what the problem is. She's not Elle Berkman."
He swallowed, but said nothing.
The woman seemed to consider that a win, for her grin turned into a full-on laugh for a few seconds before she quieted down and wiped a tear of mirth from her eye. "Oh, that's brilliant. Alex- let this poor girl suck your dick. You can't go back into the server today, and you'll want the relief, trust me. We need to make sure things are stable before we let people back in. As I said, it might be a week or more. If you want to fuck Elle tonight, be my guest... but my understanding is she wants to do it in-game first, using your Avatars. Something about wanting to lose her V-card more than once, if I recall."
"You fucking know everything, don't you," he whispered, amazed and a little horrified at how much they did seem to know.
"Not about everyone," Maline admitted, "but I will happily let you know I watch you and Miss Berkman quite closely. You are the top three and four of the entire group in Sync Rate tests currently- or you were at the crash report. Normally, you're two and three, with your own rate averaging about point-two higher than Elle's. That makes you both prime candidates for a benchmark in later iterations and entire systems in the future. It also helps that you're a bit ambitious, and want to win... and you're willing to take the slow road to get there. Lots of people with more drive than brains have lost entire teams of Pokémon already. Dead teams, and a few Trainers have completely washed out, among those the ones we discussed earlier.
"You're taking Elle on the same ride, both encouraging her to do better and tempering her more impulsive nature. It's my professional opinion that you're both destined for greatness in the game. As testers, in the real world... and at GameFreak in general. My boss, Mr. Robert Jones, you remember him? The man who started your interview?"
Alex nodded, still trying to ignore the girl between his legs who was licking her lips as she watched him incessantly.
"He complains that I call you and Elle my 'stars', and he should, because I do. Yes, I watch you very closely. Not all the time- I have to sleep, too- but a good portion of my day is invested in making sure you two in particular, but the top five performers overall, do well. To that end, I'm willing to go the extra mile... so to speak. I want you to enjoy the game. I want you to enjoy your time in the real world. I don't want you to be endlessly frustrated- I want you to fuck that girl relentlessly when you're able. She wants it to, believe me. A girl- a woman- knows. But in the meantime, just let me help you. Let Miss Carlisle gobble down that delicious dick of yours, and help take the edge off. Or, if you prefer, I can do it myself."
Alex swallowed.
"Oh, intrigued...?"
He couldn't help the red face, but Alex shook his head, "N- No... no, that wouldn't be right."
"I don't see why not. It isn't like I'm offering you a promotion based on it, or anything," Maline reminded him, "it's just two people enjoying each other. But if not me, then at least let Miss Carlisle. She's begging, don't you see?"
He looked down, and indeed, the young woman was practically salivating with her hands on her knees, submissive and waiting, staring not at his face, but between his legs. Alex would be lying if he didn't want very much to give in, the sight was that appealing... but he suspected there was more to it. More to this. He shook his head again, "I'm sorry... I can't. Maybe- Maybe next time. I don't like being used."
"Suit yourself," Maline shrugged, "Go on, girl... go clean up. You'll have to wait until later, I'm afraid. Maybe the girl in the next room will let you go down on her, if her boyfriend is too loyal."
"Yes, ma'am," the young woman replied without a moment's hesitation. She glanced back just once as she passed the window outside, headed for, he realized too late, Elle's room.
Once he heard the young woman knock and enter Elle's room through the muffled walls, Maline stood up and gave him a much more predatory, hungry smile than before. "You can play coy all you want, Mr. Ward... but I know you, and men like you. I'm surprised, honestly, that you said no... but not that surprised. You think I'm trying to either get you in trouble with Elle, which I'm not, because she'd be mad if she knew you turned this offer down, or trying to entice you into things. Which I am... sort of."
"Explain," he told her, not really expecting any such thing.
Maline turned the recorder on the datapad off, then reached behind herself to shut the blinds on his window. Next, she looked toward the nearer of two cameras in the room, "Ident code: Seven-Seven-Seven-India-Six-Nine, Upsilon. Deactivate cameras and audio recording in room thirty-zero-one for thirty minutes."
"Confirmed," a crisp, female sounding AI voice chimed over the intercom, "Cameras off: thirty minutes."
"Now we can talk a little more freely," Maline murmured, then stepped in to stand in front of Alex, "So let's do this."
She reached inside his robe and wrapped long, cool fingers around his shaft before starting to tug on it gently, "I'll tell you what I want, Alex Ward... and you'll give it to me, one way or the other. I can reward you for it, or I can take it the hard way. So here's the thing...
"I want you and Elle to succeed. That's really it: Fuck everything you want, everything you can. Get her pregnant. Get Nurse Joy pregnant. Fuck Brigid Stirling. Fuck Nadine Minier. Fuck them all. In the process, get stronger. Fight everyone you can, and come out on top. I want you as Champion of Kanto when the playtest moves into Phase Three. I want Elle at your side, a regular fuck-buddy and companion... and someone to watch your back. Because you'll need it. Not against those who'd Challenge you... but the people who'd stab you instead. And yes... I want to fuck you, too. I'll come right out and say it, I think we can have a lot of fun together. But if that's not what you want, well... I do enjoy the chase as much as the reward at the end."
"Wh- What's in it for you?" Alex grunted, trying hard not to let himself enjoy the slow hand-job Maline was giving him, or how her breasts felt against his cheeks as she pushed into him a little more.
"Pleasure? I do enjoy men and sex, you know... but why I want you to be Champion? Why I want you to enjoy the freedom represented in our little game? Because that's what will make it work. Imagine it, Alex... holovid of you and Elle, or you and her little Bellsprout in the early days, just trying things out to entice new players... players who have begged for that kind of functionality to come into the games since GenWun. Little perverts... only it's everyone, with no fear, no hesitation... just knowing they can have what they've always wanted. You're good advertising, a handsome man and sexy girl like her... and you're so into it, even if you don't know it yet. That's what I get out of it. Money, wealth, power, prestige... all the things that come with being a lead assistant VP on a major project like this when it has a runaway success."
Alex swallowed again... she was really good with her hands, and he knew she was gorgeous. He wanted to just let loose in her hands, stain her clothes, or force her down onto the bed and mount her shamelessly, as she seemed to be begging for. But he held back, because she wasn't telling him everything. It all sounded good...
Too good, to be honest.
Maybe that's why he didn't believe her.
"There's more you aren't telling me," he protested. He hoped she gave up soon, because he wasn't going to be able to hold off much longer. Not as pent up as he'd been since that morning in-game, even if he had just gotten to fuck a hard-body like Stirling.
"Of course there is," Maline teased, then leaned in to whisper into his ear, taking care to drag her lips along the sensitive skin as she did, "every woman needs her secrets, Mr. Ward. We have to leave the mystery, or you men lose interest. At any rate, this is fun... but I think I've wasted enough of your time. Why don't you go take care of this since you don't want Miss Carlisle's or my own help with it."
She gave his cock a last squeeze, then chuckled as he groaned when she pulled away, all business once more. "Sorry, Alex, you had your chance to cum for me. Maybe next time... as you said. We'll be in touch about when the servers will be stable and you'll be going in again. In the meantime, enjoy the facilities. I've got to go speak to the other candidates."
Then she was gone, and gave him a saucy wink as she shut the door.
"Fuuuuck... what a tease. I was about ten seconds from finishing... again!"
"Miss Berkman," Maline said with a smile as the girl, panting, came down from an orgasm and Miss Carlisle licked her lips with relish. "I hope you enjoyed that. Your idiot boyfriend actually turned down a blowjob from this pretty girl, can you believe it?"
Elle couldn't even care that she was naked, her twat glistening with fluids from her sex and the Orderly's saliva as she fought to catch her breath. She was masturbating furiously when the Orderly had knocked and come in, so it hadn't taken her long to finish with the extra help. She wanted Alex, but... at least this would help, for now. "He's an idiot," Elle breathlessly, "that's for sure. What- what happened? With the server?"
Maline explained in a slightly briefer way than she had given Alex, then turned to her questions. Once they were done, with Elle replying that she hadn't seen anything unusual except a slightly higher sense of arousal from herself since getting a Badge and meeting the siblings, Lana, Lilah, and Kenny, which the admin was happy to assure Elle was perfectly normal.
Once Miss Carlisle was finished with the cleaning, Maline ordered her once more, "Lick Miss Berkman's pussy once more, dear. I'm sure she'll appreciate it, unlike her ungrateful boyfriend. Won't you?"
"I won't turn down another orgasm, no," Elle chuckled, "Like I said, he's an idiot." Then, shamelessly now, she opened her legs at the edge of the bed for the dusky-skinned woman a few years older than herself to get on her knees. "Mm... that's pretty good."
Maline smiled, "I trained her myself in that art. Maybe one day I'll let you learn at my feet, too. I also taught her how to give a blowjob, but, well, he's an idiot, so..."
Elle grinned conspiratorially, "I'll make sure I tell him that, and next time he doesn't have to say no."
"Good. I'd love a chance myself, if you don't mind sharing. He's quite handsome."
"I know," Elle grinned, and reached down to pull the Orderly's mouth closer by her hair, "More. Harder- just get me off, you don't have to make love to my pussy."
"Do as she says."
Elle seemed to appreciate it, given the sigh she let out as she leaned back on one arm. "That's the stuff... she's almost as good as Alex."
"I take offense to that as her teacher," the higher-up chuckled, "but personal taste and love, I suppose. Anyway, Miss Berkman, now that the questions are over, I want to remind you of something."
"What's that? Mm... don't stop."
"We own you. You should not be here, and you cheated to get here."
Elle's eyes widened in sudden fear, only slightly muted by Maline's raised hand, "Now, I know I said we didn't mind. I encourage it. A little bit of espionage never hurt anyone, and we're well aware you have no stake in selling out our product or secrets to our competitors."
"But I didn't-"
"Don't bother lying. That dongle has a tracker, silly girl. They all do. We knew where you were the moment you tried logging on with it."
Elle paled. "But I- why didn't you...?"
"Stop you? Why would we? You weren't doing anything we didn't expect. You also didn't learn anything we didn't want you to know. I'm only saying this to you now to remind you, Elle... we really do own you. We could put you and your family- your deadbeat, drunkard father at least- away forever. Or..."
"Or...?"
"Or you can be a good girl, and do exactly what I say. I promise you, one way is easier than the other..."
Elle climaxed before she could respond to the unfinished statement. She didn't know if Maline Greengrass had planned it that way or not, but she didn't think it mattered. She was right, after all.
Elle was screwed if she didn't obey... and only probably screwed if she did.
"What is it?"
"Don't worry, you'll enjoy this... I guarantee it, you little harlot. Keep licking, Miss Carlisle, at least one more round for our precious little spy."
Elle could only moan again as Maline started giving her instructions.
