Teflon
Girl, Demon Girl, Angel Girl
by Sterling
Chapter 1 of 6
"Hello, Melanie," said Dr. Greaves, the head of her division, showing
her into his office. "Have a seat."
Dr. Melanie Cook sat in the chair offered while her boss walked slowly
around his desk and sat in the giant swivel chair.
"Melanie,
we've been over this a number of times. People have told you just about
every way they know that you have to let this drop. We all know there
is an interesting finding. But everyone knows it's going to be used by
pedophiles to advance their agenda --"
Melanie's impulse was to jump in to object, but she restrained herself.
"--
so it's a political bombshell. I know you frame this as allowing
pedophiles to express their sexuality in a harmless way. We all
disagree with that, but you keep pushing it. It's not good for your
career. Our agency is not going to highlight this finding to
policymakers or the public. Ever."
"But it is one of the most striking findings ever!"
Dr.
Greaves shook his head. "We realize that in statistical terms that's
true. If somebody digs it out, our response is simply that it is an
interesting tidbit. There are a few lucky 'Teflon kids'. Interesting,
but of no practical importance."
"But --"
Dr. Greaves
waved his hand angrily. "So let me make it very clear. You work for me.
I've discussed this with the higher-ups. If you don't drop it, we will
terminate your employment."
That got Melanie's attention.
"Do you agree to drop it?"
She
thought just a moment. She needed the job. "Yes. I do. But I'm
disappointed. This agency has done such great work, and it's hard to
see a good idea quashed because of bigotry and prejudice."
"Politics,"
said Dr. Greaves. "Even if I agreed with you personally, you can't
ignore politics. The public's not ready for it, and it would be a
disaster for the agency if they knew we were working on it."
Melanie sighed. "OK."
With
that she was dismissed. She stewed about it. She bent her husband Bob's
ear about it until the usually patient man said he'd had enough. And
then she dropped it and immersed herself in her next project -- whether
a certain gene that predisposed people to high cholesterol had a strong
enough effect that it had public health implications.
Melanie
worked under Dr. Greaves in the PMGA ("practical medical genome
applications"), a government agency whose mandate was to find patterns
in an accumulating mass of big data, research any other relevant
findings, design follow-up experiments, and make policy recommendations.
The
big data came from two sources: the genomes of hundreds of thousands of
people, and the online detailed health records of millions of people.
Those records now stretched back over 20 years. It had been a very
productive source of health policy initiatives. The targeted
interventions that slashed cancer mortality are well known, as are the
success with a wide range of genetic disorders. It gave crucial hints
that led to the virtual elimination of STI transmission.
But few
statistical results were as dramatic as the one Melanie had discovered.
Big data can make fine distinctions that epidemiologists of the 20th
century could only dream of. Child sexual abuse can be characterized in
various ways, and the one category this applies to is: prepubescents,
apparent consent, and adequate family environment. Among the general
population, 12% of adults look back on such abuse negatively or very
negatively. Among over a million cases identified, that is over a
hundred thousand cases of regret. Next we bring into the picture two
genes, "sexual resilience 3" (SR3) and "childhood trauma resistance"
(CTR). As the names imply, these are genes that confer a resilience in
the face of negative sexual experiences, and resistance to ill effects
of trauma in childhood. The combination is present in about two percent
of the population. In the sample that the scientists were examining,
precisely 4,558 had suffered that particular form of sexual abuse. The
number who reported a negative or very negative experience was three.
That's right, three (3). The expected number if this group didn't
differ from the rest of the population was 540. Scientists were able to
track down two of the three individuals and found that the negative
result was in fact a coding error -- a glitch in the medical records.
The third individual had died of unrelated causes.
Attitudes
about child sex abuse had liberalized somewhat in recent decades, but
society's position was still firm. Enough children were damaged by
early sexual experience that it was always prohibited. Men who were
caught engaging in such abuse typically served one to four years in
prison if the child had agreed to the activity at the time. But here
was a population of children that appeared to have a vanishingly small
likelihood of suffering ill consequences.
Some people at the
agency suspected that Melanie's passionate interest in this case meant
she had some personal interest in the matter. They were right.
Undoubtedly one reason Dr. Melanie Cook was so passionate about this
finding was that her brother Mark was a pedophile -- a man attracted to
young girls and whose sexual interest dropped off sharply after a girl
turned 11 or 12. Mark was fully closeted, and she and her husband were
the only two people who knew his secret. They could try to cheer him
up, but they couldn't do anything about his ever-barren sex life.
The
Cooks had a daughter Katy, an only child and six years old at the time
of Dr. Greaves' ultimatum. Katy's Level 2 genome results came in
shortly after. And Melanie was astonished to learn that she had the
magic gene combination of SR3 and CTR.
Katy was a delightful
child in anyone's book. She was intelligent, funny, socially engaging,
and physically daring. She was a gorgeous child, with big blue eyes, a
round face, and shoulder-length light brown hair. She had also been
more sexually curious than the average child.
Starting at age
two, she'd play with her toys in the bath for a while, but pretty soon
her right hand was down between her legs and she was staring off into
space, rubbing slowly. Put her in a high chair or a car seat and she
was rubbing against the center post. Her parents would find her sitting
on her big stuffed bear's head, the hard nose between her legs. She'd
sometimes giggle and say something like, 'Fuzzy is kissing my hiney!'"
Bob
and Melanie were baffled but generally took it in stride. They were
embarrassed when she began her explorations in front of strangers. They
gently suggested she only do it in private, and she'd stop for the
moment. But minutes later she might be at it again, and she'd say, "But
it feels so good!"
And
then there was Mark, poor pedophile Mark. His niece Katy had been a
bright spot. Bob and Melanie noted how good he was with her. Melanie
trusted him, but she couldn't blame Bob for wanting to have a serious
talk with him. So he did before they agreed to leave Katy alone in his
care overnight. Bob was satisfied.
When she turned five, Mark
said he was developing a little attraction, and it had grown. But he
remained confident he would never act on it, and Bob and Melanie were
content.
Mark
hit the remote, switching to yet another unsatisfying and dull show.
Katy had been asleep for a couple hours. They had had a lovely evening
together. Dinner, bath, games, story. But he was feeling more
dissatisfied than usual. She was so beautiful, so lively, so curious,
so sensual...
His thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of the
motor opening the garage door. Bob and Melanie were back from their
evening out. They had gone to the theater. He flipped the TV off and
sat.
Mark knew what would happen next. Bob would excuse himself
after a quick greeting, Melanie would engage him in a few minutes of
polite conversation, and Mark would leave. Behind a locked bedroom
door, Melanie would join Bob, and they would soon be lying in bed
making out passionately. An evening out put Melanie in the mood, and as
long as Bob had pretended in reasonably convincing fashion to like the
play, he was going to get laid. Before long, Melanie would push Bob
onto his back and mount him, impale herself on his twitching cock and
ride him for several minutes as Bob traced his hands over her buttocks
and breasts, thrusting upward into her now and then at first before
holding still. At the end Melanie was in full control of every
sensation, every detail of pressure and timing, and then it would end
with an all-consuming orgasm. After a few seconds she would roll off to
the side and let Bob's penis spring free. He would then leap into
action, wrestling the smiling and panting Melanie onto her stomach,
lifting her butt up into the air, where all she had to do was hold
still with back arched like a good female mammal. Bob would mount her
from behind, slide his cock back into Melanie's happy pussy and grapple
her hips. He would then pound away hard and fast, and within a minute
he would reach his own climax, spewing his semen into the depths of
Mark's baby sister. They would then rest side by side in mutual
satisfaction and fall asleep. Mark wasn't sure of the details of any
one encounter, but Melanie had confided enough to him over the years
that he could paint a composite picture. He and his sister were close.
Mark,
meanwhile, would go home and sit naked in front of his Computer of
Loneliness and bring up pictures of smiling little girls in bathing
suits. He would stroke, his pleasure would build, and he would spew his
sperm onto his chest. He focused on the pictures of little girls he
would never meet, but images of Katy would intrude -- on his lap
snuggling back against him as he read to her, standing naked after her
bath as he dried her, humping her teddy bear on the living room floor
as she stared off into space with a vague expression. After cleaning
up, he would toss and turn in bed, his sexual tension relieved for the
moment, but overall profoundly dissatisfied.
He rose to greet them. "How was the play?"
"Great!" said Melanie, who looked at Bob.
"Very enjoyable," he said.
"How was Katy?" asked Melanie.
"I'll just head for bed," said Bob and headed back to his study to
check his email.
"She was just fine. A real angel this evening."
"Oh, that's great. You're so wonderful to sit for us."
"I don't think I can do this any more."
"Oh, why not?" Melanie's sexual satisfaction would have to wait a few
minutes.
"It's just -- well, you know the basics. I just love her so much. It's
just so frustrating!"
"I'm sorry, Mark," she said, offering him a sisterly hug.
A
chink in his defenses opened, and a torrent of words poured out. "I
just want to kiss her on the lips and hug her and -- bury my face
between the legs -- you can't believe how much I want to lick her
little clit!"
Melanie looked at him uncertainly. He knew she was
accepting of his pedophilia and trusted him with her daughter, but
maybe she wasn't comfortable knowing his fantasies at this level of
detail.
"I'm thinking I should let them move me to Mountain View
-- it would certainly be easier to collaborate there." The main reason
he insisted that Google let him stay in Boston was to be near Katy --
and his sister, of course.
"Oh, well, yeah, I know. Katy would
sure miss you, though. Want to take a walk tomorrow afternoon, just the
two of us?" Right now, Melanie wanted to go get laid.
Just then they heard a rustling at the head of the stairs.
"Katy?" said Melanie. "What are you doing out of bed?"
Padded
pajama feet appeared on the stairs, tripping down amazingly fast -- too
fast, as she slid on the fourth step from the bottom and landed on her
bum. But that barely slowed her down in her rush to get to Mark.
"I don't want you to go, Mark!" she said, wrapping herself around his
legs as he stood.
"You can kiss me!" She puckered her lips. "And lick my privates, if you
really want! That would be naughty but fun!"
Melanie said, "Now, now, Mark was just saying those things. It's time
for you to get back to bed."
Mark
excused himself with a whispered "Sorry!" to his sister, who was left
to put her girl back to bed and then, hopefully, still get laid.
Brother
and sister walked briskly along. Crocuses and snowdrops were visible
here and there in many front yards. He'd made his decision and
explained it. His expressed desire to get ahead at Google wasn't a very
convincing argument, he realized, as he'd said many times that family
was more important to him. He loved his work, but as he neared his 42nd
birthday his passion had faded somewhat.
Melanie gave a big
sigh. "I was thinking, this seems so crazy. Katy desperately wants you
to stay. She remembers what you said and talks about it. She asks about
you licking her between the legs, but it's all curiosity and no 'yuck'.
She asks if men do that to women." Mark smiled, and when Melanie saw
she nudged his shoulder hard with hers, pushing him off the sidewalk.
He knew she really wanted Bob to do that sometimes, but he just didn't
want to. "Those genetic tests show she wouldn't suffer for it later.
Heck, even if you did stuff she didn't want she'd grow up to be just
fine."
"Yeah, it's a funny world, isn't it," sighed Mark with some bitterness.
After half a block Melanie said, "But I'm serious. Why can't we..."
Mark stopped in his tracks. "Don't make it worse, OK? Your judgment is
clouded by the prospect of losing free babysitting."
Melanie looked at him defiantly, and from a lifetime of watching that
face, he knew he'd struck a nerve.
"I've
been thinking about that all along, discounting it -- or trying to. It
just seems so crazy. You'd be happier. Katy would be happier. Bob and I
would be happier. But we can't. What's wrong with this picture?"
"What if she goes blabbing to her friends?"
"She's
already had the chance to tell everyone what she heard you say that
night about licking her privates, but we haven't gotten any calls. And
she hasn't even told her daddy -- I'd hear about it from Bob if he
knew. She's pretty good with secrets in general."
Mark faced her. "You're serious."
"Very serious."
"Like you've decided, not just musing about it."
"Yes."
"Have you consulted Bob?"
"Yes."
Bob's
first priority was his work. He was in Europe more than half the time,
it seemed, and was rarely home during the week when Katy was awake.
Father and daughter got along fine, but it was a more reserved
relationship. Bob left all the decisions about Katy to Melanie, and
Mark knew Bob was open-minded on matters of sexual morality. He
wouldn't have been at all sure he was quite this open-minded.
Mark started trembling and reached out tentatively.
Melanie
gave Mark a big, warm hug and reached up to kiss his cheek. "I'd never
let anything bad happen to Katy, but since I can't figure out how she'd
be hurt -- you deserve it, big brother."